Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why The Cornflower? The cornflower, Centaurea cyanus, has been grown for thousands of years and is one of our most striking wild flowers. The cornflower gets its name from the centaur, Chiron, who is said in mythology to have taught us the healing power of herbs. Cornflowers are reliable plants and are easy to grow, even in poor soil conditions.1 It has been used medicinally as an astringent, and extracts of cornflower are added to hair shampoos and rinses.2 The flower of the plant is one of the few true blue flowers of nature, and the Greater Midwest Region has been identified by the color blue in National Network maps. Hopefully The Cornflower will be identified by our readers and members, as stable, reliable, easily adaptable and medically useful.
What is a blog? According to Wikipedia, “A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. Like other media, blogs often focus on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news.”
What is the GMR Blog? The GMR Blog is media tool used to communicate news and information to and among the GMR members from the GMR staff.
What happened to the GMR newsletter, ESources? The blog has replaced the GMR newsletter. Many of the articles and updates that were communicated via ESources will now be posted in the blog. Many of the previous issues of ESources as well as 3Sources are available in the GMR Newsletter Archive.
Can I post comments to the GMR blog? The comments forum is open on many posts. Anyone wishing to comment is asked to provide a name and email address; the email address is kept private. Comments may be posted in accordance with The Cornflower’s Policies and Procedures. Updated: 12/11/08
Can I send an article to the GMR Blog like I’ve seen on ESources? GMR members may submit articles for inclusion in the blog. Email the GMR for posting information.
What does RSS stand for? Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a way of syndicating news or other updates through a feed. Check out the article Getting Started with RSS Feeds by Andrea Ryce, NLM Fellow, at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library. The NLM Technical Bulletin and PubMed provide RSS feed options. See the article by Josephine Tan that was republished in the January, 2006, issue of ESources: PubMed RSS Feeds: It’s as Easy as One, Two, Three! Included is a review of feed readers in addition to instructions on how to set up an RSS feed for PubMed.
What is an RSS reader? An RSS reader is also called a news aggregator, feed reader, or news reader. An RSS reader interprets the XML code into a readable version, much like a browser interprets HTML.
What is XML? XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. An easy way to request a feed is via the orange XML tag 
as seen on The Cornflower’s sidebar. See Wikipedia for more information about XML.
How can I be notified of updates to the GMR Blog? There are multiple ways to receive GMR Blog updates. GMRLIST, the listserv fo the Greater Midwest Region; RSS feeds; and live bookmarks are just some of the ways to keep informed.
What is a live bookmark? A live bookmark is a method of displaying web feeds, designated by the following symbol: 
. Certain browsers allow users to click on the symbol and create a bookmark of live feeds. See Wikipedia.
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