The Gale Virtual Reference Library is a Valuable Resource for our Patrons.

Contagious Diseases Sourcebook Book Cover

Respitory Disorders Sourcebook Book Cover

By Librarian Nicholas Saturno

The Gale Virtual Reference Library has a plethora of information on multiple collections. Collections include health and wellness, education, environment, general reference, history, law, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, nation and the world, religion, science, social science, biography, business, technology, and African Americans. The number in parenthesis will indicate how many books are in that particular collection. For example, if you select the medicine collection you will have a total of 38 resources to reference. You have everything from allergies to sleep disorders. One virtual book I have selected as it pertains to the times we are in right now is Contagious Diseases Sourcebook. Below is a snippet on page 521 – 523 on the proper way to wash your hands.

Handwashing Prevents the Spread of Germs

Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands.

When Should You Wash Your Hands?

Before, during, and after preparing food
Before eating food
Before and after caring for someone who is sick
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After using the toilet
After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
After touching an animal, animal feed or animal waste
After handling pet food or pet treats
After touching garbage

How Should You Wash Your Hands?

Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

What Should You Do If You Don't Have Soap and Clean, Running Water?

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them in most situations. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs and might not remove harmful chemicals. Hand sanitizers are not as effective when hands are visibly dirty or greasy.

How do you use hand sanitizers?

Apply the product to the palm of one hand (read the label to learn the correct amount).
Rub your hands together.
Rub the product over all surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.

The Contagious Diseases Sourcebook can also provide information on what you need to know about germs, types of contagious diseases, self-treatment for contagious diseases, medical diagnosis, and preventing contagious diseases. Great resource for the times we are currently in. Follow link here to open virtual reference Contagious Diseases Sourcebook. All you have to do is enter your library card number 2061500XXXXXXX to gain access to virtual resource.

Another great resource from the Gale Virtual Reference Library is the Health and Wellness collection which provides virtual sources form Alzheimer Disease Sourcebook to Respiratory Disorders Sourcebook. The resource I am highlighting here Respiratory Disorders Sourcebook covers understanding and preventing respiratory problems, infectious respiratory disorders, inflammatory respiratory disorders, other conditions that affect respiration, pediatric respiratory disorders, diagnosing and treating respiratory disorders and living with chronic respiratory problems. One area in particular, to improve air quality at home you can follow steps below from page 52.

Usually the most effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate individual sources of pollution or to reduce their emissions.

Some sources, like those that contain asbestos, can be sealed or enclosed; others, like gas stoves, can be adjusted to decrease the amount of emissions. In many cases, source control is also a more cost-efficient approach to protecting indoor air quality than increasing ventilation because increasing ventilation can increase energy costs.

Another approach to lowering the concentrations of indoor air pollutants in your home is to increase the amount of outdoor air coming indoors.

For most indoor air quality problems in the home, source control is the most effective solution.

Most home heating and cooling systems, including forced air heating systems, do not mechanically bring fresh air into the house. Opening windows and doors, operating window or attic fans, when the weather permits, or running a window air conditioner with the vent control open increases the outdoor ventilation rate. Local bathroom or kitchen fans that exhaust outdoors remove contaminants from the room where the fan is located and also increase the outdoor air ventilation rate.

Air Cleaners

There are many types and sizes of air cleaners on the market, ranging from relatively inexpensive table-top models to sophisticated and expensive whole-house systems. Some air cleaners are highly effective at particle removal, while others, including most table-top models, are much less so. Air cleaners are generally not designed to remove gaseous pollutants.

The effectiveness of an air cleaner depends on how well it collects pollutants from indoor air (expressed as a percentage efficiency rate) and how much air it draws through the cleaning or filtering element (expressed in cubic feet per minute).

A very efficient collector with a low air-circulation rate will not be effective, nor will a cleaner with a high air-circulation rate but a less efficient collector. The long-term performance of any air cleaner depends on maintaining it according to the manufacturer's directions.

Another important factor in determining the effectiveness of an air cleaner is the strength of the pollutant source. Table-top air cleaners, in particular, may not remove satisfactory amounts of pollutants from strong nearby sources. People with a sensitivity to particular sources may find that air cleaners are helpful only in conjunction with concerted efforts to remove the source.

Over the past few years, there has been some publicity suggesting that houseplants have been shown to reduce levels of some chemicals in laboratory experiments. There is currently no evidence, however, that a reasonable number of houseplants remove significant quantities of pollutants in homes and offices. Indoor houseplants should not be over-watered because overly damp soil may promote the growth of microorganisms which can affect allergic individuals

When are homebound you can log on to your computer at home and access one of the Brentwood Public Library’s many virtual resource databases. To access virtual resources follow link Brentwood Public Library Databases and select the database that pertains to what you are researching. The library currently offers 54 databases for you to access free of change. All you need is a library card.