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?
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Lesson 9 -- History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps
1. At AncestryLibrary, I entered my name & birth year, as well as one of the many cities I have enjoyed living in... Bellingham, WA. When I hit the search button, the number of results really floored me! Over 6 million hits, from just that little bit of information. Bear in mind, the results were not for exact matches, but any & all that were similar enough by one or more factors (name, second initial, birth year, city of dwelling at any time) in the search. This database allows the user to alter the number of responses a query can receive on the page, once the results come up, from ten (10), twenty (20), or fifty (50). After I'd been given over 6 million responses, I thought it best to go for 50 hits per page. Forgive me, but I only went through the first few pages and then realized I'd be working on this exercise for days, if I were to go through every result of my query. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of women with the same name, all born in the same era, with my name. In my search of the first few pages, I didn't locate "me", but that's not to say I'm not listed. This librarian just could not find the time to peruse every one of the pages offered. This does not mean, however, that I shan't return and see if I do find myself listed, at a later date. :)
2. In exercise 2, I was instructed to search for either a grandparent or great grandparent, to see if I can locate them within any census. This search, for a grandparent, gave better, less frustrating results! I discovered my paternal grandparents in a 1930 census, simply by typing in one of their names and the location where one of them may have lived. The database gave 750 results for my query, many of which were for my grandparent(s) in the search. While there, I also discovered a couple of uncles and aunts, within the confines of this same search, no doubt due to the unusual last name and the location data I provided. Now that I've found these long, lost relatives, I shall attempt to contact them & see if we can reconnect. This is so cool! I'd thought my paternal side of the family was to forever elude me, but maybe not now. :)
3. The 3rd exercise instructs to search for South Dakota, then review the "pictures" option from the menu to the left of the screen. I entered the requested term and received 220,983,931 results. The first photo/image I looked at was of some Brooklyn baseball players. They wore some funny uniforms back then. The images on this photograph resembled those often seen on old-time baseball cards. Pretty cool, actually, to see the names and photos of these ball stars of way back when. The second image I viewed was... wait a second! I looked right at it, without actually seeing it, but once I got to the "pictures" point, where each individual image is listed, there is a new menu to the left of the listed images (where I'd clicked on "pictures" previously). This menu is an index of the various categories under which the photos/images are listed. So, instead of scrolling through every single baseball photo, then the individual school pictures, I can check the index to determine whether I want to look under a different category and avoid the snail's pace of scrolling one by one! Does that make sense? I sure hope so, for the reader's sake.
Anyhow, I checked over the index and saw there are images in categories like Library of Congress Photo Collection 1840 - 2000, U. S. Historical Postcards, U.S. Panoramic Photos 1851 -
1991, Professional Baseball Players 1876 - 2004, and more. Lots more! Each category also informs the user of how many listings are available per category, which is extremely helpful. :)
My second choice is for U.S. Civil War Photos 1860 - 1865. There are 6,846 results for this search. I looked at a couple of the photos, one of the Alexandria, VA Cooks in the kitchen of Soldier's Rest, taken July 1865. Nice open air kitchen, great for summer, but probably not so fun in winter. Another photo I examined from the same category was Yorktown, VA (vicinity). Topographical Engineers, Camp Winfield Scott from May, 1862. This photograph has the image duplicated on the same photo, as if viewed through one of those old "View-Finder" toys, or through binoculars. I like looking at old photos, so I could sit here for hours and peruse this alone! I really like this feature!
4. In HeritageQuest, there are over 28,000 family and local histories in their online historical books. Search for a place or browse the publications. Report back on something that interested you.
My search in the Heritage Quest database came up with several "No results found" messages, when I attempted to look up people and some places. So, I tried searching for an older town that I once lived near, back in Montana. Plains, MT is a lovely little town, set on Hwy 200, in the NW corner of the state. It's a very lovely, small town with some very warm-hearted locals. I thought it might be nice to find some information about this place where I once lived.
The ProQuest Site has been uncooperative, when I attempted to use the links provided on the http://sdlibrarychallenge.blogspot.com page. The handout link, the video links, and tutorial videos all gave me the same response, when I attempted to view them...
so, I gave up on trying to use them for help. Today, on a whim, I tried those links again, with the same results as previously attempted. So, I did my searching the best I could, with the tools at my disposal. :)
When I entered the search info, 58 results came up for the term, "Plains, MT". This database offers the ability to do a more refined search, if one chooses. Once the results come up, the user is then able to sort the results, according to Relevance, Date of publication (ascending or descending), Author, or Title. I discovered that many of the responses that came up from my search are only listed because the word "plains", "Montana" or a combination of both words are located within the text of the publication. A feature I really like here is the "hit" button, located at the bottom of the individual entry (choose a title and then see what opens up), where the user may click the button and be taken to the page where the "hit" is in the publication. This could save the reader a lot of time, with not having to scroll through several pages to find/determine the relevancy of a hit to the search. More on this feature later...
The first two results led to a Directory of churches in Montana, where I located some in Plains, Montana. The second book, "Society of Montana Pioneers" (1899) provides the Constitution, the list of State & County Societies, the Society of the Sons & Daughters of Montana Pioneers, a list of members, officers and more. There are maps and ports and even more info on the people listed in this book. The database offers the user a total sum of "hits" in the text of the book & this book has 68. The hits on this book, are all within the "membership" chapter of this book. Upon perusing the list of hits in this book, I learned the majority of those hits were related to the phrase, "traveled across the plains..." and "Montana".
Now back to the "hits" feature I spoke of earlier ~ Some of the other places I searched were cities/towns where I once lived, or am living now. Those other searches gave similar results, where the state name counts as a "hit", so any books with the state name show up in the relevancy of results. This can be rather frustrating, if one is trying to locate something quickly. Even with the relevancy option, combined with the "hits per search", I still had to scroll through the "hit pages" to see if the "match" was related to my query. *sigh* How much more helpful this database could be, if they enabled a more in depth search tools, or at the very least, to offer an "exact word(s)" option for the user, so they might avoid the challenge of perusing so many pages to find the one actual result the reader seeks.
My search in the Heritage Quest database came up with several "No results found" messages, when I attempted to look up people and some places. So, I tried searching for an older town that I once lived near, back in Montana. Plains, MT is a lovely little town, set on Hwy 200, in the NW corner of the state. It's a very lovely, small town with some very warm-hearted locals. I thought it might be nice to find some information about this place where I once lived.
The ProQuest Site has been uncooperative, when I attempted to use the links provided on the http://sdlibrarychallenge.blogspot.com page. The handout link, the video links, and tutorial videos all gave me the same response, when I attempted to view them...
Oops!
Something went wrong. Sorry, we couldn't find your page.
so, I gave up on trying to use them for help. Today, on a whim, I tried those links again, with the same results as previously attempted. So, I did my searching the best I could, with the tools at my disposal. :)
When I entered the search info, 58 results came up for the term, "Plains, MT". This database offers the ability to do a more refined search, if one chooses. Once the results come up, the user is then able to sort the results, according to Relevance, Date of publication (ascending or descending), Author, or Title. I discovered that many of the responses that came up from my search are only listed because the word "plains", "Montana" or a combination of both words are located within the text of the publication. A feature I really like here is the "hit" button, located at the bottom of the individual entry (choose a title and then see what opens up), where the user may click the button and be taken to the page where the "hit" is in the publication. This could save the reader a lot of time, with not having to scroll through several pages to find/determine the relevancy of a hit to the search. More on this feature later...
The first two results led to a Directory of churches in Montana, where I located some in Plains, Montana. The second book, "Society of Montana Pioneers" (1899) provides the Constitution, the list of State & County Societies, the Society of the Sons & Daughters of Montana Pioneers, a list of members, officers and more. There are maps and ports and even more info on the people listed in this book. The database offers the user a total sum of "hits" in the text of the book & this book has 68. The hits on this book, are all within the "membership" chapter of this book. Upon perusing the list of hits in this book, I learned the majority of those hits were related to the phrase, "traveled across the plains..." and "Montana".
Now back to the "hits" feature I spoke of earlier ~ Some of the other places I searched were cities/towns where I once lived, or am living now. Those other searches gave similar results, where the state name counts as a "hit", so any books with the state name show up in the relevancy of results. This can be rather frustrating, if one is trying to locate something quickly. Even with the relevancy option, combined with the "hits per search", I still had to scroll through the "hit pages" to see if the "match" was related to my query. *sigh* How much more helpful this database could be, if they enabled a more in depth search tools, or at the very least, to offer an "exact word(s)" option for the user, so they might avoid the challenge of perusing so many pages to find the one actual result the reader seeks.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Lesson 8 - WorldCat, CAMIO and More
1. Oh boy! This is one cool search tool! I had a lot of fun investigating the many options available to the user with the drop down menu under the "keywords" box. I was pleasantly surprised to see the headings, some with sub-headings, that help break down the search further. These include, but are not limited to: Access Method, Accession Number, Author (broken down to 5 sub-headings: Author Phrase, Corporate and Conference Name, Corporate and Conference Name Phrase, Personal Name & Personal Name Phrase), Language Phrase, Material Type, Material Type Phrase, Musical Composition, Musical Composition Phrase, Notes/Comments, Publisher, Publisher Location, Standard Number (breaks down to ISBN or ISSN), Subject (breaks down to: Subject Phrase, Descriptor, Genre/Form, Geographic Coverage, Named Corporation and Conference, and Named Person), and Title (breaks down to Title Phrase & Series Title ). Those are a lot of options, for keyword searching. When the user adds the the other search features offered, such as limiting the year, language & number of libraries, as well as the type limits one can choose (books, visual materials, archival materials, musical scores, maps, etc) and even more, they really help narrow the search down. I did a search for a title that one of my patrons is trying to find, but didn't find any titles of the same name, nor with the Author's name. I'll try with the other exercises.
2. The title I was searching for is, "Why Are You Here" by David Christenson. Following the exercise instructions, I was presented with 34 records that matched my query, The first record, while not the book I was looking for, is found in 527 worldwide libraries. The top library, for this result, is the Burlington Public Library in Iowa. This first title is not the book I am seeking, but that only means the book is not in this catalog system. It's sure to show up somewhere, so I'll continue searching for this book.
3. Per the instructions, I opened the first record that shows on my search for the book, "Why Are You Here?" by David Christenson. Bear in mind, the first record was not the book I am seeking for a patron, but another titled, "Preaching With Sacred Fire: An Anthology of African American Sermons, 1750 to the present" edited by Martha J. Simmons and Frank A. Thomas. The call number (class descriptor) for this book is LC: BV4241.5; Dewey: 252.0089/96073. When I clicked on the first author's name (Martha J. Simmons), I learned she has written &/or edited 12 books, most of which are on the subject of preaching. Clicking on Frank A. Thomas' name resulted in 17 titles authored &/edited/co-authored by him, again mostly based upon preaching. When I clicked on the subject button, the results gave 1,223 (1,216 are in English) total titles. When all was broken down into categories, the following results appeared: Sound 610, Books 403, Visual 123, Internet 62, Archival 20, Serials 3, Computer 1, and Articles 1. There are an amazing number of books on preaching! I discovered a book of old sermons by black women preachers from 1850 - 1979! For whatever reason, when I clicked on the subject and got this search result, the first title was related to the great Martin Luther King, Jr. and his preaching. Hence, the majority of the titles listed in this search resulted in the subject matter being on black preaching/preachers. That led me to finding some books I am interested in reading, that I had previously never heard of before!
Other FirstSearch Indexes
It was good to learn WorldCat offers the access to other databases. I really appreciate the "i" icon feature that opens a pop-up window which explains the primary function of the particular database. It was even more helpful to view the guide/chart for the RACE participants, created by the SDSL with Jane Healy & Julie Erickson! They did a phenomenal job on this asset! Hopefully, these two women understand how beneficial this is to librarians and how appreciated they are for creating it. I've printed up a copy, for reference & future use. :)
Discovery Exercise part 2
On the final exercise of this lesson, I did as instructed, by selecting "Subject Phrase" and typing South Dakota in the search window. This gave OAIster results - records found 1,152. My choice was # 71, "Log Shanty with Flag, Woman and Seven Boys". Upon clicking on the "access" hyperlink, a page opened, with a photograph and information related to the image. This was not a book, nor an article provided, but just a single photograph with tons of information/hyperlinks within the page. This is a lovely feature, which helps the user locate some pretty specific information, for the most part. There is a good history behind the photograph, so the user might locate the information they particularly need. I like that it includes photographs with history, as one of my passions is photography.
2. The title I was searching for is, "Why Are You Here" by David Christenson. Following the exercise instructions, I was presented with 34 records that matched my query, The first record, while not the book I was looking for, is found in 527 worldwide libraries. The top library, for this result, is the Burlington Public Library in Iowa. This first title is not the book I am seeking, but that only means the book is not in this catalog system. It's sure to show up somewhere, so I'll continue searching for this book.
3. Per the instructions, I opened the first record that shows on my search for the book, "Why Are You Here?" by David Christenson. Bear in mind, the first record was not the book I am seeking for a patron, but another titled, "Preaching With Sacred Fire: An Anthology of African American Sermons, 1750 to the present" edited by Martha J. Simmons and Frank A. Thomas. The call number (class descriptor) for this book is LC: BV4241.5; Dewey: 252.0089/96073. When I clicked on the first author's name (Martha J. Simmons), I learned she has written &/or edited 12 books, most of which are on the subject of preaching. Clicking on Frank A. Thomas' name resulted in 17 titles authored &/edited/co-authored by him, again mostly based upon preaching. When I clicked on the subject button, the results gave 1,223 (1,216 are in English) total titles. When all was broken down into categories, the following results appeared: Sound 610, Books 403, Visual 123, Internet 62, Archival 20, Serials 3, Computer 1, and Articles 1. There are an amazing number of books on preaching! I discovered a book of old sermons by black women preachers from 1850 - 1979! For whatever reason, when I clicked on the subject and got this search result, the first title was related to the great Martin Luther King, Jr. and his preaching. Hence, the majority of the titles listed in this search resulted in the subject matter being on black preaching/preachers. That led me to finding some books I am interested in reading, that I had previously never heard of before!
Other FirstSearch Indexes
It was good to learn WorldCat offers the access to other databases. I really appreciate the "i" icon feature that opens a pop-up window which explains the primary function of the particular database. It was even more helpful to view the guide/chart for the RACE participants, created by the SDSL with Jane Healy & Julie Erickson! They did a phenomenal job on this asset! Hopefully, these two women understand how beneficial this is to librarians and how appreciated they are for creating it. I've printed up a copy, for reference & future use. :)
Discovery Exercise part 2
On the final exercise of this lesson, I did as instructed, by selecting "Subject Phrase" and typing South Dakota in the search window. This gave OAIster results - records found 1,152. My choice was # 71, "Log Shanty with Flag, Woman and Seven Boys". Upon clicking on the "access" hyperlink, a page opened, with a photograph and information related to the image. This was not a book, nor an article provided, but just a single photograph with tons of information/hyperlinks within the page. This is a lovely feature, which helps the user locate some pretty specific information, for the most part. There is a good history behind the photograph, so the user might locate the information they particularly need. I like that it includes photographs with history, as one of my passions is photography.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Lesson 7 - EBooks on EbscoHost
1. My search attempts were met with few results, when I used the default search feature. As a hobby quilter, I thought a search for fabric/fiber arts/quilting might lead to some interesting results. The results, using the "advanced search" feature, combined with the search terms I just mentioned, led to a big zero. Zip. Zilch. Uh oh. That's not good.
So, I decided to poke around on the site, to see if there was any sort of index of genres available. Once I discovered the "EBooks" button & clicked on it, it felt like hitting the lottery! On the left of the page, is that elusive index I was hoping to find earlier. That gave me a better understanding of the various genres of books within the EbscoHost system. As I have been learning, during the research on this and previous exercises, the search terms we use are highly important when it comes to achieving the results one might hope.
Hence, I switched my search to a different goal - this time I entered "cliff notes" in the search box. This produced a total of 158 titles, a much better result than my previous requests had given. The list of titles provide a variety of other information related to each result. Some include the "subject", while all offer the year, a Table of Contents and "most relevant pages" options.
This is a terrific tool for research, one that will come in quite handy for the patrons and for Librarians needing good information and fast. :)
2. This exercise requires finding appropriate titles to assist a few students with researching "Constitution Day". These titles include, but are not limited to:
"Our Elusive Constitution: Silences, Paradoxes and Priorities" by Daniel N. Hoffman
"Constitution of the Confederate States" - a Project Gutenberg eBook
The Constitution of the United States - a Project Gutenberg eBook.
"U.S. Government and Politics" by Pamela K. Lamb (eBook/study guide)
Out of the 174 possible appropriate titles, these, were on the first couple of pages. Any or all of these 4 titles would benefit the researcher (aka our students), with more options available, if the student is willing to dig through the many titles provided.
"Our Elusive Constitution: Silences, Paradoxes and Priorities" by Daniel N. Hoffman
"Constitution of the Confederate States" - a Project Gutenberg eBook
The Constitution of the United States - a Project Gutenberg eBook.
"U.S. Government and Politics" by Pamela K. Lamb (eBook/study guide)
Out of the 174 possible appropriate titles, these, were on the first couple of pages. Any or all of these 4 titles would benefit the researcher (aka our students), with more options available, if the student is willing to dig through the many titles provided.
3. This exercise gave me the option of choose Nebraska or Oklahoma, so I chose the state where I lived most of my teen years. Oklahoma is a beautiful state, rich with a history of adventure, tradition and Native American Legends. My search results, following the standard set within the exercise,
There were 80 results from my search and they subject matter varied from "Indians of North America" to "Sacred Language" The Nature of Supernatural Discourse in Lakota" to biographies of Great Native American warriors and Chiefs to "Documents of American Indian Diplomacy: Treaties, Agreements and Conventions 1775 -1979." The ebscohost site has a lot of really valuable titles that will aid the student in their research.
There were 80 results from my search and they subject matter varied from "Indians of North America" to "Sacred Language" The Nature of Supernatural Discourse in Lakota" to biographies of Great Native American warriors and Chiefs to "Documents of American Indian Diplomacy: Treaties, Agreements and Conventions 1775 -1979." The ebscohost site has a lot of really valuable titles that will aid the student in their research.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Lesson 6 - Gale Virtual Reference Library
1. From the "Title List", I clicked on "Endangered Species, 2004" for my choice of book. As an animal enthusiast, this topic is very dear to my heart. When the title opened, I noticed an option to choose a volume, from the book, which gave the choices of: (1) mammals; (2) arachnids, birds, crustaceans, insects, mollusks; (3) amphibians,fish, plants, reptiles. The animal of my choice was the Bactrian Camel.
The things I noticed while searching for an article is there are a few ways of accessing any article, using the toolbar that is just above the topic overview. One has the options of printing, emailing, downloading, listening, downloading mp3, or downloading a pdf to an eReader. There is also a tab that allows for translations, if need be. If I were to prepare a presentation on the Bactrian Camel, in order for more of my community to be aware of their endangered status, I'd be able to create a nice PowerPoint piece, given all of the choices available.
2. At the top of the page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.
With my first search term, "What causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?", there was a total of one result, but it was a good one. It wasn't as case specific, as the resulting volume covered several types of arthritis. The information I found was helpful enough that I've saved the article, for future reference. Being able to save it will be such a time saver in the future, when I want to re-read it.
My second search term, "literary criticism of Huckleberry Finn", must have been too vague, as this is the message I got -
Your library's collection of 94,047 documents were searched and no results matching your search term(s) were found.
Please check your spelling or try other search term(s).
Revise Search
So, I tried again, using the Revise Search option. I searched for "literary criticism" and found 25 results. From these choices, I was able to narrow down the search, using the menu on the left of the screen. Here I was able to choose from several keywords that allows the user to limit the search to document type, publication title, subjects, publication languages and even with images. The user can also sort by relevence within the confines of the search.
3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants' blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.
The things I noticed while searching for an article is there are a few ways of accessing any article, using the toolbar that is just above the topic overview. One has the options of printing, emailing, downloading, listening, downloading mp3, or downloading a pdf to an eReader. There is also a tab that allows for translations, if need be. If I were to prepare a presentation on the Bactrian Camel, in order for more of my community to be aware of their endangered status, I'd be able to create a nice PowerPoint piece, given all of the choices available.
2. At the top of the page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.
With my first search term, "What causes Rheumatoid Arthritis?", there was a total of one result, but it was a good one. It wasn't as case specific, as the resulting volume covered several types of arthritis. The information I found was helpful enough that I've saved the article, for future reference. Being able to save it will be such a time saver in the future, when I want to re-read it.
My second search term, "literary criticism of Huckleberry Finn", must have been too vague, as this is the message I got -
Your library's collection of 94,047 documents were searched and no results matching your search term(s) were found.
Please check your spelling or try other search term(s).
Revise Search
So, I tried again, using the Revise Search option. I searched for "literary criticism" and found 25 results. From these choices, I was able to narrow down the search, using the menu on the left of the screen. Here I was able to choose from several keywords that allows the user to limit the search to document type, publication title, subjects, publication languages and even with images. The user can also sort by relevence within the confines of the search.
3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants' blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Lesson 5 - ProQuest
1. My search was for the subject "Entlebucher Sennenhund", which is the rare breed, Swiss Mountain Cattle Dogs I raise. The search gave me a total of 5 results, of which one was completely relevant to my query. The other four (4) results provide information to two (2) of the other Swiss Sennenhund (Sennenhund means "Herdsmen's Hound") breeds that are related to the Entlebucher. Hopefully, there will be more articles on this wonderful rare breed of dog, so others can learn about their delightful characteristics in the future. *oh D'oh! - fewer articles because it's a RARE breed... ya think?*
http://search.proquest.com/docview/848439222/AC55C70EDAE64740PQ/1?accountid=47336
What I did appreciate about ProQuest, is the ability to email any of the articles to myself, for future use/reference. The site offers the user the ability to save searches, create alerts, print, create RSS, and more. There is also the option to sort, whether by date or relevance and results may be narrowed further by choosing full text, peer reviewed, source type (my search has 5 magazine sources listed), location, language, date, and more. When there is more time for me to do so, I would like to return and do further searches, for something less rare... like llamas. ;^)
1.a There are three (3) cohorts' blogs that I visited, for this section of the exercises. The first one was Mike Sanders. I read two of his entries, both of which are related to this week's exercise. I really learned something new, related to his search, about the shipping industry and it's contribution to global warming. A very nicely written blog entry, to be certain. :)
The second blog, by Elizabeth Ketterling, was visited because she commented on a previous blog entry of mine. I am unsure if she is a cohort, because her name isn't listed to the roster of participants in the ERC2014. Still, she has a lovely blog, related to food/recipes/saving a buck or two on groceries. The reader can locate her blog here: delectabledinnersdonedirtcheap.blogspot.com
Finally, I perused "Shawn on the Road", simply because I've had the great pleasure of meeting her in person & she's so smart! She writes a nice blog, too. Very concise, informative and interesting to read. Shawn's blog entry offered some good clues as to how I might improve my search technique. Thanks, Shawn!
2. My search for this exercise was done on "Language", as this is an important aspect of reading, writing and even speaking, when it comes to the library. As a librarian, I find books in other languages, but am unable to translate them, as well as having patrons who don't speak English as a first language. When my results came up on the screen, I found there are 34 publications related to the language search. On the side menu, the user is able to further advance the search by including/excluding the Publication Subject, which was really helpful for me. This function also displays how many (count) of the results apply to the subjects. I selected literature, then excluded the remaining choices, as they did not seem as relevant to my query. That decision gave the result of one (1) publication, Romance Quarterly. ProQuest has a great database here, with some excellent filters for the user. This is a database I believe will benefit anyone wishing to research new and old publications for information related to their particular subject. I think I might just go explore when I get home, using my SDSL e-card. Yes, I think that sounds like a good way to spend some time online. :)
Oh, one more thing... Happy Valentine's Day! <3
http://search.proquest.com/docview/848439222/AC55C70EDAE64740PQ/1?accountid=47336
What I did appreciate about ProQuest, is the ability to email any of the articles to myself, for future use/reference. The site offers the user the ability to save searches, create alerts, print, create RSS, and more. There is also the option to sort, whether by date or relevance and results may be narrowed further by choosing full text, peer reviewed, source type (my search has 5 magazine sources listed), location, language, date, and more. When there is more time for me to do so, I would like to return and do further searches, for something less rare... like llamas. ;^)
1.a There are three (3) cohorts' blogs that I visited, for this section of the exercises. The first one was Mike Sanders. I read two of his entries, both of which are related to this week's exercise. I really learned something new, related to his search, about the shipping industry and it's contribution to global warming. A very nicely written blog entry, to be certain. :)
The second blog, by Elizabeth Ketterling, was visited because she commented on a previous blog entry of mine. I am unsure if she is a cohort, because her name isn't listed to the roster of participants in the ERC2014. Still, she has a lovely blog, related to food/recipes/saving a buck or two on groceries. The reader can locate her blog here: delectabledinnersdonedirtcheap.blogspot.com
Finally, I perused "Shawn on the Road", simply because I've had the great pleasure of meeting her in person & she's so smart! She writes a nice blog, too. Very concise, informative and interesting to read. Shawn's blog entry offered some good clues as to how I might improve my search technique. Thanks, Shawn!
2. My search for this exercise was done on "Language", as this is an important aspect of reading, writing and even speaking, when it comes to the library. As a librarian, I find books in other languages, but am unable to translate them, as well as having patrons who don't speak English as a first language. When my results came up on the screen, I found there are 34 publications related to the language search. On the side menu, the user is able to further advance the search by including/excluding the Publication Subject, which was really helpful for me. This function also displays how many (count) of the results apply to the subjects. I selected literature, then excluded the remaining choices, as they did not seem as relevant to my query. That decision gave the result of one (1) publication, Romance Quarterly. ProQuest has a great database here, with some excellent filters for the user. This is a database I believe will benefit anyone wishing to research new and old publications for information related to their particular subject. I think I might just go explore when I get home, using my SDSL e-card. Yes, I think that sounds like a good way to spend some time online. :)
Oh, one more thing... Happy Valentine's Day! <3
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Lesson 4 - SIRS Discoverer/SIRS Issues Researcher
SIRS Discoverer
1. Now THIS is nice!! I was delighted to see the easy navigation tools on the SIRS Discoverer site. It's great to see they've broken the findings of my search for llamas down into the various results, as in newspapers, magazines, reference, graphics and webfinds. It's also a nice touch to have a dictionary and thesaurus handy at the top of the page! To make everything even better, each individual result found from my search comes with Reading Levels/Source & Summary icons. The icons aid in making a quick assessment as to whether any particular search result is what the reader might be seeking. One of the best features is located on the bottom of the page, where one is able to specify which reading level is desired, as far as getting results in a search. That's a very handy bonus.
The exercise had me look up my favorite animal, but I had to settle for my second favorite, the llama. My first favorite is the Entlebucher Sennenhund, which is a rare Swiss Mountain Cattle Dog. It didn't come up when I searched, so there it is. There are some limits to this, as far as specific breeds of some animals, I am going to guess. Had I just looked up dog, I'm sure a plethora of related items would have inundated my search results!
During my research, as I perused the various resources listed, such as Newspaper, Magazine, Graphics, Reference, and the others, it was disappointing to discover there were no graphics on the llama. The tab, at the top of the page, states there are 17 graphics, but none show up when I clicked on the link. So, I thought perhaps the graphics are accompanying the magazine articles! That page won't even load for me, so I gave up and checked out the References, the Newspaper articles and the "All Articles" tabs. When I visited the "All Articles" page, I was able to locate various magazine articles, some which declared graphics were included in the article. I chose one and learned the magazine links work, via this page, as well as the graphics links associated with each article. That helps a lot, if one has the time/inclination to "go around" in this way to complete research. I really expected to see a list of thumbnail photos, at the least, on the "Graphics" page, once the link was selected. Perhaps this is still a work in progress, I don't know. At this point, the tab for graphics is unnecessary, as well as the magazine tab, since neither one works. It's still a good resource!
2(a). Instructed to choose a country from the "Database Features", my choice was Peru, as it's the country where llamas are most commonly found. The information about the country is presented in a concise format, with facts such as Official Name ,Capital, Population, Size, Continent/Region, Government Type, Government Official, Agriculture, Currency, Languages, and Observed Holidays. Other information available includes a map, a graphic of the country's flag and Major Historical Events. There is a link provided that leads the reader to further information about the country, by returning to the SIRS Discoverer page of resources on Peru. There are quite a few articles I'd like to read there, now that I've been teased by the headlines!
2(b). Choosing the "Maps of the World", I chose Peru as my country of choice. Three (3) maps came up and each is very interesting, in regard to the data attached to it. The maps, 1531-1533: Conquest of Peru shows who the Conquerors were of the various regions of this country. 500-1000: Early Civilizations in Peru displays what it says it is. The final map of Peru shows the country and the many cities, the capital(s), the borders and more. These are pretty nice maps and they have the potential to be good tools when it comes to writing a report on this country, just for starters.
2(c). This led me to choosing "Skills Discoverer" on the Database Features, for the final leg of this exercise with the SIRS Discoverer. I could spend hours here, as it's chock full of interactive play, learning exercises and so much fun! This resource has several subjects, with sub-categories under each heading. This would definitely be a great tool for children, in that it comes more like play than "schooling" in its approach to the reader. Very nice tool. I'll definitely be going back and will share this with the students coming into the library.
1. The Leading Issue I selected is Animal Cruelty. The Topic Overview covers information regarding Animal Rights, with references to various laws enacted to protect animals and assist advocates in the animal welfare arena. Other tools available on the Overview page include, but are not limited to: Pro & Con Essential Questions, Perspectives, Statistics, Global Impact and additional resources. They provide "terms to know' related to the Leading Issue, as well as give the definition of each term. The research tools offered on this site are very helpful. There are, besides the tools mentioned above, My Analysis, Timeline and Note Organizer. These could benefit the researcher who is doing an in depth report on a topic.
This issue has provoked some very heated discussion amongst advocates and those who
against animals receiving any protections/rights. There are a number of ways to narrow down your search here. A feature provides links (and snapshot views) of newspaper articles, magazine articles, graphics & multimedia, references and viewpoints related to this topic. I like how the page gives a brief view into the newspaper article or other informational source here. This could be very helpful to someone trying to hasten their search results. With this function, the reader can see a summary of the text in any article/magazine, along with the what page the article/column might be on in which media platform (newspaper, magazine) and the Lexile score. The reader is even granted an "add to my list" feature, which has to be beneficial to the researcher perusing several leads on any issue. This is a very thorough site, complete with many links to the subjects related to the issue I chose. All in all, a very well-thought out website/resource for the researcher. :)
2. Select "Curriculum Pathfinders" on the right hand side of the window and mouse over the course subjects, noting the range of topics covered. Pick your favorite subject and discuss the information located there.
There is a nice variety of subjects one can choose .from under the "Curriculum Pathfinders" section on this site. The choices cover the average courses offered by most schools, including Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Fine Arts and Health. Each course, once you "hover" over with your mouse, displays the break-down of the course, giving the sub-topics under the umbrella of said course. For example, I chose Language Arts for my course, because I'm a lover of words and books. The break-down shows American Literature, Composition, Creative Writing, Drama, English Literature and Journalism. Following that break-down, another is given which covers the History of the Language Arts. These sub-categories range from American Literature, English Literature (19th Century), English Literature (Middle English - 1100 to 1500), Medieval Literature, Canon Literacy and Modern Literature (20th century). Following those categories, there are categories of different languages, as well as writing and reading helps. All of these fall under the left hand column on the page with the title, "My Courses". In the center column, Research Ideas are given, with hyperlinks to a page, per tag word, to a page with links to many websites, news articles and more, that are related to the topic. In my case, still under the Language Arts, I chose Creative Writing, then under Research Ideas and clicked on the link for Utopian Literature. The page that opens has several hyperlinks to newspaper, magazine and ezine articles. I plan on reading one of those later tonight, as the summary was very enticing.
One may think this resource has given enough, but wait! There's more!! Below the Research Ideas area, there are a few more tidbits of information provided. There is a 'How Do I?" where you can learn how to analyze a work of poetry or fiction. There's a "Literary Criticism and Interpretation", which is a Virtual Interactive Fiction Tutorial (takes the reader even further in depth into the realm of Fiction and its' elements, the Cultural Contexts for Fiction and the Critical Approaches to Fiction), which allows the researcher/student an opportunity to learn about an author of a story (3 are given) and to start writing about the story in a virtual notebook. This site provides an eBook, in this case, "Beowulf in Hypertext" and a link to a Notable Person in Language Arts (Wm. Shakespeare), which is a fun page to visit, actually. One part of it is written in Ye Olde English, just like back in old Bill's day. The Wm. Shakespeare page is chock full of hyperlinks to some amazing sources of information that ye old librarian would not have considered checking, until I saw it on the page. This resource is a gold mine!
Finally, in the third column, the reader will discover interactive tools to help make their research a bit more fun. There is an interactive game here, "Lord Of the Flies" that, once I learned how to play it, was very educational and quite fun! Another interactive tool provided is the "Printing Press", which enables the researcher to create Newspapers, Brochures or Flyers/Signs/Posters. They offer templates, which you can select and edit at your pace. The ability to save drafts to your computer is handy, as well as the options to add images and edit the fonts, size, alignment and many other editing tools one might find in Word. Once the reader/writer's document is completed, they are able to print it with the tools given within the program. This is a lovely feature and could easily encourage young writers to take a running leap at the realm of creative writing!
All in all, I was sort of bored, upon first examination of this site, but soon fell head over heels in "Oh Yippeee!" with it. Once I began perusing the many features, it began to reel me in. This may be a site that is geared towards young people, but this adult really appreciates the easy navigation, the plethora of incredible information provided and the fun aspects of the interactive tools. This is a great resource and I've already shared bits about it with a couple of the teen patrons who frequent our library. That makes for a good week, I think. :)
1. Now THIS is nice!! I was delighted to see the easy navigation tools on the SIRS Discoverer site. It's great to see they've broken the findings of my search for llamas down into the various results, as in newspapers, magazines, reference, graphics and webfinds. It's also a nice touch to have a dictionary and thesaurus handy at the top of the page! To make everything even better, each individual result found from my search comes with Reading Levels/Source & Summary icons. The icons aid in making a quick assessment as to whether any particular search result is what the reader might be seeking. One of the best features is located on the bottom of the page, where one is able to specify which reading level is desired, as far as getting results in a search. That's a very handy bonus.
The exercise had me look up my favorite animal, but I had to settle for my second favorite, the llama. My first favorite is the Entlebucher Sennenhund, which is a rare Swiss Mountain Cattle Dog. It didn't come up when I searched, so there it is. There are some limits to this, as far as specific breeds of some animals, I am going to guess. Had I just looked up dog, I'm sure a plethora of related items would have inundated my search results!
During my research, as I perused the various resources listed, such as Newspaper, Magazine, Graphics, Reference, and the others, it was disappointing to discover there were no graphics on the llama. The tab, at the top of the page, states there are 17 graphics, but none show up when I clicked on the link. So, I thought perhaps the graphics are accompanying the magazine articles! That page won't even load for me, so I gave up and checked out the References, the Newspaper articles and the "All Articles" tabs. When I visited the "All Articles" page, I was able to locate various magazine articles, some which declared graphics were included in the article. I chose one and learned the magazine links work, via this page, as well as the graphics links associated with each article. That helps a lot, if one has the time/inclination to "go around" in this way to complete research. I really expected to see a list of thumbnail photos, at the least, on the "Graphics" page, once the link was selected. Perhaps this is still a work in progress, I don't know. At this point, the tab for graphics is unnecessary, as well as the magazine tab, since neither one works. It's still a good resource!
2(a). Instructed to choose a country from the "Database Features", my choice was Peru, as it's the country where llamas are most commonly found. The information about the country is presented in a concise format, with facts such as Official Name ,Capital, Population, Size, Continent/Region, Government Type, Government Official, Agriculture, Currency, Languages, and Observed Holidays. Other information available includes a map, a graphic of the country's flag and Major Historical Events. There is a link provided that leads the reader to further information about the country, by returning to the SIRS Discoverer page of resources on Peru. There are quite a few articles I'd like to read there, now that I've been teased by the headlines!
2(b). Choosing the "Maps of the World", I chose Peru as my country of choice. Three (3) maps came up and each is very interesting, in regard to the data attached to it. The maps, 1531-1533: Conquest of Peru shows who the Conquerors were of the various regions of this country. 500-1000: Early Civilizations in Peru displays what it says it is. The final map of Peru shows the country and the many cities, the capital(s), the borders and more. These are pretty nice maps and they have the potential to be good tools when it comes to writing a report on this country, just for starters.
2(c). This led me to choosing "Skills Discoverer" on the Database Features, for the final leg of this exercise with the SIRS Discoverer. I could spend hours here, as it's chock full of interactive play, learning exercises and so much fun! This resource has several subjects, with sub-categories under each heading. This would definitely be a great tool for children, in that it comes more like play than "schooling" in its approach to the reader. Very nice tool. I'll definitely be going back and will share this with the students coming into the library.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
SIRS Issues Researcher1. The Leading Issue I selected is Animal Cruelty. The Topic Overview covers information regarding Animal Rights, with references to various laws enacted to protect animals and assist advocates in the animal welfare arena. Other tools available on the Overview page include, but are not limited to: Pro & Con Essential Questions, Perspectives, Statistics, Global Impact and additional resources. They provide "terms to know' related to the Leading Issue, as well as give the definition of each term. The research tools offered on this site are very helpful. There are, besides the tools mentioned above, My Analysis, Timeline and Note Organizer. These could benefit the researcher who is doing an in depth report on a topic.
This issue has provoked some very heated discussion amongst advocates and those who
against animals receiving any protections/rights. There are a number of ways to narrow down your search here. A feature provides links (and snapshot views) of newspaper articles, magazine articles, graphics & multimedia, references and viewpoints related to this topic. I like how the page gives a brief view into the newspaper article or other informational source here. This could be very helpful to someone trying to hasten their search results. With this function, the reader can see a summary of the text in any article/magazine, along with the what page the article/column might be on in which media platform (newspaper, magazine) and the Lexile score. The reader is even granted an "add to my list" feature, which has to be beneficial to the researcher perusing several leads on any issue. This is a very thorough site, complete with many links to the subjects related to the issue I chose. All in all, a very well-thought out website/resource for the researcher. :)
2. Select "Curriculum Pathfinders" on the right hand side of the window and mouse over the course subjects, noting the range of topics covered. Pick your favorite subject and discuss the information located there.
There is a nice variety of subjects one can choose .from under the "Curriculum Pathfinders" section on this site. The choices cover the average courses offered by most schools, including Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Fine Arts and Health. Each course, once you "hover" over with your mouse, displays the break-down of the course, giving the sub-topics under the umbrella of said course. For example, I chose Language Arts for my course, because I'm a lover of words and books. The break-down shows American Literature, Composition, Creative Writing, Drama, English Literature and Journalism. Following that break-down, another is given which covers the History of the Language Arts. These sub-categories range from American Literature, English Literature (19th Century), English Literature (Middle English - 1100 to 1500), Medieval Literature, Canon Literacy and Modern Literature (20th century). Following those categories, there are categories of different languages, as well as writing and reading helps. All of these fall under the left hand column on the page with the title, "My Courses". In the center column, Research Ideas are given, with hyperlinks to a page, per tag word, to a page with links to many websites, news articles and more, that are related to the topic. In my case, still under the Language Arts, I chose Creative Writing, then under Research Ideas and clicked on the link for Utopian Literature. The page that opens has several hyperlinks to newspaper, magazine and ezine articles. I plan on reading one of those later tonight, as the summary was very enticing.
One may think this resource has given enough, but wait! There's more!! Below the Research Ideas area, there are a few more tidbits of information provided. There is a 'How Do I?" where you can learn how to analyze a work of poetry or fiction. There's a "Literary Criticism and Interpretation", which is a Virtual Interactive Fiction Tutorial (takes the reader even further in depth into the realm of Fiction and its' elements, the Cultural Contexts for Fiction and the Critical Approaches to Fiction), which allows the researcher/student an opportunity to learn about an author of a story (3 are given) and to start writing about the story in a virtual notebook. This site provides an eBook, in this case, "Beowulf in Hypertext" and a link to a Notable Person in Language Arts (Wm. Shakespeare), which is a fun page to visit, actually. One part of it is written in Ye Olde English, just like back in old Bill's day. The Wm. Shakespeare page is chock full of hyperlinks to some amazing sources of information that ye old librarian would not have considered checking, until I saw it on the page. This resource is a gold mine!
Finally, in the third column, the reader will discover interactive tools to help make their research a bit more fun. There is an interactive game here, "Lord Of the Flies" that, once I learned how to play it, was very educational and quite fun! Another interactive tool provided is the "Printing Press", which enables the researcher to create Newspapers, Brochures or Flyers/Signs/Posters. They offer templates, which you can select and edit at your pace. The ability to save drafts to your computer is handy, as well as the options to add images and edit the fonts, size, alignment and many other editing tools one might find in Word. Once the reader/writer's document is completed, they are able to print it with the tools given within the program. This is a lovely feature and could easily encourage young writers to take a running leap at the realm of creative writing!
All in all, I was sort of bored, upon first examination of this site, but soon fell head over heels in "Oh Yippeee!" with it. Once I began perusing the many features, it began to reel me in. This may be a site that is geared towards young people, but this adult really appreciates the easy navigation, the plethora of incredible information provided and the fun aspects of the interactive tools. This is a great resource and I've already shared bits about it with a couple of the teen patrons who frequent our library. That makes for a good week, I think. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)