Two hundred years of census population totals and selected information about Maine towns and counties are now available to the public through a new web page at the University of Maine Fogler Library. The Maine Census Data page includes information about Maine's population trends between 1790 and 1990 and can be found at: http://www.library.umaine.edu/census/  The site will be useful for students, teachers, public administrators, and others who need information about Maine's population trends. Previously, such information was located in published documents that had to be searched separately. The database does not contain family information that might be useful for genealogy studies. Users can search for information in the census database in a variety of ways. Searching can be done on a decade-by-decade basis for specific towns or by towns that had increasing or decreasing populations over a range of years. The site also contains historical maps showing county jurisdictional boundaries.

For a number of years Fogler librarians have perceived a need on campus for a site that would bring together, in one place, Internet resources on climate and weather. In early 2000 our proposal to meet this need became Fogler Library's first designated project of the Digital Library. Developed over a nine-month period, Fogler's Climate and Weather Resources is intended to serve as a virtual library of annotated links to climate and weather Internet resources that will serve students, faculty, and staff of the University of Maine. Additional, we have included sites that will be of interest to the K-12 education community as well as the general public.

The site is broken down into six broad categories of information: Climate Data; Education; Environments; Global Climate Change; Maps and Images; and Resources. Sites presented within these categories were selected to met the needs of University of Maine students, faculty, and staff -- based on reference questions and conversations with selected members of the University community that have a research interest in climate and weather information.

The Fogler Library Climate and Weather Resources site can be reached at:

http://www.library.umaine.edu/climate/ The members of the Fogler Library Climate and Weather Resources Team are: Jim Bird, Science & Engineering Center Department Head, Steve Galbraith, Social Sciences & Humanities Reference Librarian, and Frank Wihbey, Government Documents & Microforms Department Head. Questions or comments regarding the site can be directed to Jim Bird (581-1697, Jim.Bird@umit.maine.edu).

The Listening Center Online is the latest addition to the digital library offerings created by Fogler Library. Begun as a pilot project to test the technology for streaming audio to the University of Maine community, the collection currently consists of 7,200 complete tracks from a sample of the Listening Center's compact disc collection. The sample includes a variety of musical styles, such as popular, blues, jazz, folk, and classical.

In the past, the students were required to come into the Listening Center to have access to this aural material. With the introduction of the Listening Center Online, intended to support the University's music curriculum, the music can be used in classrooms, dorm rooms, and even off campus for some. Although the system is designed primarily for on campus use, remote access is available for students, staff, and faculty coming through University-based connections.

The sound files are streamed with Media Player 3, and can be accessed with any MP3 player that is downloaded to the user's computer, such as Media Player, RealAudio, or Winamp. The front page of the Listening Center Online allows you to search through the tracks by artist or performer, by composer, by either CD or track title, and by course designator for those materials on Reserve. You may also access the Reserve materials through the Electronic Reserve system on URSUS, the catalog of the University of Maine System Libraries.

"We are pleased to introduce streaming audio technology to the campus," says Elaine Albright, Dean of Cultural Affairs and Libraries. "This exciting innovation delivers the Library's music resources to the classroom and the dorms, and will assist both faculty and students in the learning experience."