Lesson 10 - Wrap Up

1.  My biggest discovery is that I'm a lazy researcher!  True story!  Somehow, in the age of digital information, I've gotten accustomed to expecting the answers to just "be there" with little exertion on my part. As I did the exercises, it became apparent to me that my skills in searching have fallen by the wayside and I needed to hone them again.  That's the nice thing about the lessons provided in the challenge.  It motivated me to dig a little deeper, to check another link or tool provided in the databases.  Jane's helpful guidance was also a great assist, when she commented on my blog entries.  Maybe this isn't the kind of "big discovery" the ERC leaders were anticipating, but this is the biggest thing I learned.

In the ERC itself, I did discover how to navigate many of the databases more fluently, given the guidelines and lessons during the challenge.  I've found that some of them are really a lot of fun to use, while there are a couple that nearly put me in a coma from boredom.  That's okay, however, because all of the databases we covered in the challenge offered something valuable and not everything HAS to be fun all the time.  I am very grateful to have these resources available in the SDSL system!  Once I have had the opportunity to peruse the database further, I'm sure even the "boring" sites will prove less taxing on my patience. ;)  All in all, I appreciate all I learned in this challenge and am so glad I participated!

2.  The final query of the ERC asks me how I will promote or use the resources with patrons, colleagues or students.  This is something I've been sharing since first introduced to the Electronics Resource Challenge and plan to continue for as long as I'm in a position to do so.  Our library here in Clark, SD is a small public library.  Since there aren't a lot of patrons who come in on a regular basis, I've taken to utilizing some of the social media (Facebook, for example) to remind patrons about the many databases the State Library system offers to patrons.  If a patron does come in, searching for something in particular, I go straight to the Resources now, to attempt to find what they seek.  When we get a new patron, I also tell them about the SDSL system, the E-card that they can get for free from the SDSL website and then about the resources available there.  They know they can come in at any time & I am glad to assist them in their searches or if they need some guidance on using the system.

This is such an excellent tool, in the right hands, and is a very valuable gift which our library (or any other, for that matter) can offer the community.  It's so nice to know there are helpful tools like these out there for anyone who wants to learn anything.  Thank you, to the leaders of this ERC, for all of the great lessons & help they provided in the past few weeks.  Thank you so very much!

So, now that it's over, I will still use it, keep digging deeper (and not so lazily) to see what other resources are there, so it will be easier to be a good librarian for my community.  First though... finishing the challenge calls for a Recess break! Who's up for a game of tetherball?