As you are probably aware, March is Women’s History Month.  Here in the library I like to celebrate that by visiting my favorite resource devoted to women, the always informative Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, which you might think is simply a collection of biographies of famous women.  It’s so much more than that though.  In addition to the biographies it covers geography and history; comparative culture and society; organizations and movements; women’s and gender studies; and topics in world history.  The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History includes an article on the International Red Cross.  Yep, you guessed it, March is also American Red Cross month.

In addition to the above, March also happens to be Frozen Food Month.  Mmm…  And in celebration of that fact, I thought you might be curious to read the history of General Mills, one of our local companies and owners of Green Giant.   The International Directory of Company Histories gives great background on companies – from their humble beginnings, through their empire-building years, right up through the present.  Included are subsidiaries, divisions, and competitors.  For those of you who don’t have time to read, this resource allows you to download the article to an mp3 player.   

Without Googling (or using the International Directory of Company Histories), what was the name of Green Giant’s sidekick?  Now you might be curious about the current state of the frozen food industry in the US.   Business & Company Resource Center includes both industry overviews and company overviews.   And taking it a step further, Market Share Reporter shows you that Green Giant currently holds 3.93% of the frozen broccoli market.

And of course, St. Patrick’s Day is in March, therefore March is also Irish American History Month.  The Dictionary of Irish Biography will help you celebrate in style.  For those of you who need to take it down a notch after all that excitement, you might want to flip through the Irish Times, “Ireland’s only independent newspaper.”  It goes back to 1859 (and up through 2008), so come prepared with a cup o’ joe.  Stop by the coffee shop on the first floor of the OSF library to celebrate National Caffeine Awareness Month.  A shot of caffeine will help to heighten your awareness and get you through 149 years of the Irish Times.

Told you it was a busy month!