Shelley Chick-Gravel

No matter where you are on your career path, the Testing and Education Center has information to help you prepare for that perfect career.

After accessing the Testing and Education Center, you will be able to select from 5 tabs: High School Tools, College Prep Tools, Career Tools, Grad School Tools or International Tools.

High School Tools: Students in Middle School and High School will find drills and practice tests in math, reading and writing. Students taking advanced placement classes will find practice exams. Looking at Catholic high schools or private high schools? You will find practice entrance exams for private schools in this database.

Want to earn college level credit before attending college? Through CLEP you can earn college level credit through a series of exams. At the Testing and Education Center you will find practice tests to help you prepare for CLEP exams. The DSST Program is another way to earn college credit. Find these exams on this site.

David Martìn, a young writer living in 1920’s Barcelona, has a troubled past in The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn. His mother deserted the family and his father came back from the war in the Philippines a changed man. After his father is murdered, Martìn must find his way in the world. Starting out working for a newspaper, he eventually begins writing sensational novels for a Barcelona publishing house. His novels attract the attention of a mysterious French publisher who offers Martìn the opportunity of a lifetime. If he writes the book the publisher requests, he will be a wealthy man. Who is this publisher and what ultimately are his plans for Martìn?

In Bury Your Dead, by Louise Penny, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is in Quebec on leave recovering from an investigation gone wrong. While there, he is recruited to assist in the investigation into the death of an obsessive historian who was searching for the remains of Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec. The historian was murdered in the basement of the Literary and Historical Society, an English establishment, which raises a concern that his death will increase tensions between the English and French communities in the city.

While pursuing the murderer, Gamache reflects on his previous investigation that went horribly wrong. Is it possible that de Champlain was buried in the basement of the library? Will Gamache be able to deal with the ghosts of the prior investigation that continue to haunt him?

If you enjoy character-driven novels, you will like Ruth Rendell’s Portobello. Fifty-year-old bachelor Eugene Wren finds an envelope with a large amount of cash in it in London’s Notting Hill area. Instead of keeping it or turning it over to the police, he decides to find the owner himself. This decision puts Wren and his long-time girl friend, Ella Cotswold, on a collision course with a cast of characters each with their own problems and obsessions.

Have you heard about the service we offer called Live Homework Help? It sounds like it might be just for kids but it is not! 

This title of this book, In The Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time intrigued me because I have very little contact with my neighbors and have often wondered if other neighborhoods are the same. Peter Lovenheim, the author, is prompted to better understand his neighbors and his neighborhood after one of his neighbors, Dr. Wills, murders his wife and then kills himself. Their two children, who were home at the time, ran to a neighbor’s house for assistance. Although they did not know their neighbors, the children’s mother had the foresight to tell the children if anything bad happened to run to the home across the street for help.

1. Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a great place to start your legal research. You can search all legal opinions and journal articles or limit your search to either specific federal opinions or specific state opinions.

2. LexisOne
Lexisone is a free legal database but you must register to use it. Once you have registered, the database is very accessible. You can search case law, statutes and more.

3. Cornell Law School

The Government Printing Office (GPO) publishes and distributes official and authentic government publications to Congress, Federal Agencies, Federal Depository Libraries and the American public. The GPO is currently migrating their information from GPO Access to a new system called Federal Digital System or FDsys. FDsys is an advanced digital system that will allow the GPO to manage Government information from all three branches of government. Advantages to the new system include the ability for Congress and Federal Agencies to submit files and orders electronically to the GPO, Government information will reach a wider audience through the internet based system, preservation of information will be ensured even as technology changes, and the GPO will have greater control of the format of the information they receive. Movement from GPO Access to FDsys will be completed on a step by step basis, finishing in 2010.

There are several ways to conduct a search using FDsys. From the homepage in the left menu click on GPO Access - FDsys. On this page you can type a keyword in the text box and conduct a simple search. There is also an advance search option which allows you to select the publication and limit dates. You can also limit your search to full text, branch of government, category or citation. Selecting the help link provides you with information on conducting searches.

Launched in 1995, THOMAS has expanded to include information on bills and resolutions, activity in Congress, an index to the Congressional Record, schedules and calendars, Presidential Nominations, treaties, and government resources. At this site you can also learn how your government works. A link to information for teachers including classroom activities, lesson plans and more is available on the homepage. 

 Need a form for business or legal work? We do not have fill in the blank forms, but we have resources available for you. Our resources include both online and print resources. When you are looking for legal forms, Virginia Forms and the Virginia Practice Series are good places to start. The Virginia Forms multi-volume set is available at the Headquarters Branch, Porter Branch, Salem Church Branch and Snow Branch. The Virginia Practice Series is available in the Law Library at the Headquarters Branch. It is also available online through the Westlaw database available in the Law Library. In the Law Library you will also find CLE (Continuing Legal Education) books. These are the three ring binders located on the spinner in the Law Library. These notebooks contain information and examples of forms as provided for continuing education classes for attorneys. In the Quiet Reading Room at the Headquarters Branch, browse the Nolo Press books located on the wall under the window. If you need help finding forms, sign-up for Training on Demand with the Law Librarian!