North York Central Library Blog

The Book A Librarian service allows patrons to book a 30 to 60 minute appointment with a librarian for assistance with understanding how to do research, get readers' advisory assistance, or learn how to use and access library resources and services.   Appointments can be made in person at the library of your choice or online. 

Recently, we had an interesting query that resulted in a Book a Librarian appointment in the Science and Technology Department on the 5th floor.  The patron was interested in knowing the types of trees that grew in New York and Massachussetts, and the characteristics of those trees, for example, the height and strength.  After viewing a couple of reference books such as:

Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs by Michael Dirr	Trees and Shrubs: a gardener's encyclopedia by Geoff Bryant & Tony Rodd

the patron clarified that he was looking for maps which showed the locations and species of all the trees in New York and Massachussets.  The question appeared to be quite daunting; however, when I demonstrated to the patron how to evaluate information on the Internet, using the CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose), we discovered a treasure trove of useful sites:

Did you know that NASA, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey created a map documenting the tree population in the U.S.?  The map depicts the measure of organic carbon stored in the trunks, branches and leaves of trees.  The darkest green reveals where there are the densest and tallest forests. This map, created in 2012, will be used to measure future tree loss or gain.

"The Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program reports on the status and trends in forest area and location; in the species, size, and health of trees; in total tree growth, mortality, and removals by harvest; in wood production and utilization rates by various products; and in forest land ownership."  Tools are available to create Forest Inventory Maps for individual states. 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a website which allows one to search for trees and plants by state.  This one-stop shop provides information on the growth habits of trees, fact sheets on tree species and detailed views of tree locations by state.

Individual states also have associations that track forest inventory.  For example, the New York State Flora Association has created a plant atlas, which provides listings of all the plants growing within any given county.

Showing the patron how to find relevant information online was a great learning experience for me, too; it was amazing to see the amount of current information available from reputable sources–way more detailed than the pages in the oversized atlases of my childhood.   Just a caveat: the purpose of Book of Librarian appointments is to teach how to research information.  For those who are time-strapped and would like a librarian to do the research, IntelliSearch is the library's fee-based custom research service.