1. There are so many resources available to people if they're just willing to take the time and look. I admit I had many problems finding/searching some of the different sites but that doesn't mean everyone did. If someone's serious about doing research some of these sites can be incredibly helpful.
2. If someone comes in and is doing research I will definitely recommend the sites that would relate to what they are searching for. I've been talking to my coworkers about the sites as we do them, letting them know about their availability.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Lesson 9/March 2015
AncestryLibrary's "Ship Pictures and Descriptions"
1. I did my search in "Passenger Ships and Images". First I looked up the Titanic to find out which shipping line she was from. I then did a search on "White Star" and in history put in sister of Titanic. This brought up a list from which i found the Olympic, she was in service from 1911 to 1934. After the sinking of the Titanic her construction was altered and it increased her tonnage. She served as a troopship during WWI and was dismantled in 1937.
2. I tried searching but was unable to figure out where to go or how to do it. Seems like they were always asking for peoples names or a place. It is very frustrating for me at this point.
HeritageQuest
3. I used PERSI for my search, not sure if that's the right one or not. I went to places, entered the state as SD and county as Hand (where i grew up). It gave me a few hits but you have to order the articles which were in the SD Genealogical Society Quarterly and SD History. I then tried Search Books and Directories using Miller, Hand County, SD. I got over 5 million hits. If i narrowed the scope to county and surrounding counties I got no hits at all.
1. I did my search in "Passenger Ships and Images". First I looked up the Titanic to find out which shipping line she was from. I then did a search on "White Star" and in history put in sister of Titanic. This brought up a list from which i found the Olympic, she was in service from 1911 to 1934. After the sinking of the Titanic her construction was altered and it increased her tonnage. She served as a troopship during WWI and was dismantled in 1937.
2. I tried searching but was unable to figure out where to go or how to do it. Seems like they were always asking for peoples names or a place. It is very frustrating for me at this point.
HeritageQuest
3. I used PERSI for my search, not sure if that's the right one or not. I went to places, entered the state as SD and county as Hand (where i grew up). It gave me a few hits but you have to order the articles which were in the SD Genealogical Society Quarterly and SD History. I then tried Search Books and Directories using Miller, Hand County, SD. I got over 5 million hits. If i narrowed the scope to county and surrounding counties I got no hits at all.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Lesson 8/March 2015
WorldCat
1. I went into the advanced search, did keyword Martin Luther, keyword 'not' King. I also limited it to juvenile and biography. It's so nice to be able to limit your searches, many sites can't do this so you spend hours searching for what it is you really want. I chose the book called Martin Luther by Harry Emerson Fosdick. Not so much for the content of the book, but it was hard to find books about Martin Luther in South Dakota and Mitchell owned this title.
2. I found it easier to use graphic novel as the first search and classic novel and the second. I chose Tom Sawyer by Tim Mucci, published by Sterling, New York, 2008.
3. After a few false starts I figured out how to do this one. Pretty simple actually. Searched the title phrase My Fair Lady and chose musical scores for the type of material. USD and NSU both have the vocal score. The Accession number is 26429906.
1. I went into the advanced search, did keyword Martin Luther, keyword 'not' King. I also limited it to juvenile and biography. It's so nice to be able to limit your searches, many sites can't do this so you spend hours searching for what it is you really want. I chose the book called Martin Luther by Harry Emerson Fosdick. Not so much for the content of the book, but it was hard to find books about Martin Luther in South Dakota and Mitchell owned this title.
2. I found it easier to use graphic novel as the first search and classic novel and the second. I chose Tom Sawyer by Tim Mucci, published by Sterling, New York, 2008.
3. After a few false starts I figured out how to do this one. Pretty simple actually. Searched the title phrase My Fair Lady and chose musical scores for the type of material. USD and NSU both have the vocal score. The Accession number is 26429906.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Lesson 7/March 2015
Ebooks on EbscoHost
1. I chose college basketball, tis the season. It started as a very broad topic but using the refine results area you can really get down to what it is you truly want. I wasn't looking for anything too specific, just seeing what i could find. I especially like that you can pick the years to search. Too many search engines won't let you do that and you end up having to sort through a bunch of titles that are way too old. On the other hand if you are looking for something older, more history of a subject, you can use it that way too. March Is For Corporate Madness, Too was quite an interesting article, talking about how much corporate sponsors spend on the NCAA tournament, buying the expensive suites and most of the tickets available. Which is bad for an ordinary person that might want to try to get tickets.
2. After trying to do a word search for these books i finally decided to go a different route. I clicked on eBooks at the top of the page, then browsed by category (Children's and Young Adult Fiction). I refined the search by clicking on fairy tales, and there they were! Andrew Lang's Red.Violet, and Yellow Fairy Tales. Fairy tales were alot different back then, that's for sure. These are not all of them. I then Googled Andrew Lang and found he actually did 12 of these books, published between 1889 and 1910. Grandma sure liked them!! :-)
1. I chose college basketball, tis the season. It started as a very broad topic but using the refine results area you can really get down to what it is you truly want. I wasn't looking for anything too specific, just seeing what i could find. I especially like that you can pick the years to search. Too many search engines won't let you do that and you end up having to sort through a bunch of titles that are way too old. On the other hand if you are looking for something older, more history of a subject, you can use it that way too. March Is For Corporate Madness, Too was quite an interesting article, talking about how much corporate sponsors spend on the NCAA tournament, buying the expensive suites and most of the tickets available. Which is bad for an ordinary person that might want to try to get tickets.
2. After trying to do a word search for these books i finally decided to go a different route. I clicked on eBooks at the top of the page, then browsed by category (Children's and Young Adult Fiction). I refined the search by clicking on fairy tales, and there they were! Andrew Lang's Red.Violet, and Yellow Fairy Tales. Fairy tales were alot different back then, that's for sure. These are not all of them. I then Googled Andrew Lang and found he actually did 12 of these books, published between 1889 and 1910. Grandma sure liked them!! :-)
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Lesson 6/March 2015
Gale Virtual Reference Library
1. I admit, once again I was having some difficulty, but then i discovered the title list and away I went! I found Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes and of World Holidays. I think the food and recipes might be my new favorite encyclopedia. I love to cook and have already found a few recipes to try. But anyway, it would take a little research from both the titles to find out all the information you would need. I was a little surprised by the number of countries that celebrate Festivals of the Dead. It seemed like Easter was about the only holiday celebrated on the same day and many were celebrated within weeks or months of each other. I will definitely remember and use this site.
2. I certainly didn't get as many hits when I narrowed the search down to after 2012 (6 compared to 93). Therefore there wasn't nearly as much information about the topic. On this particular topic more up to date information probably isn't as necessary since recipes and the history of holidays don't really change.
1. I admit, once again I was having some difficulty, but then i discovered the title list and away I went! I found Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes and of World Holidays. I think the food and recipes might be my new favorite encyclopedia. I love to cook and have already found a few recipes to try. But anyway, it would take a little research from both the titles to find out all the information you would need. I was a little surprised by the number of countries that celebrate Festivals of the Dead. It seemed like Easter was about the only holiday celebrated on the same day and many were celebrated within weeks or months of each other. I will definitely remember and use this site.
2. I certainly didn't get as many hits when I narrowed the search down to after 2012 (6 compared to 93). Therefore there wasn't nearly as much information about the topic. On this particular topic more up to date information probably isn't as necessary since recipes and the history of holidays don't really change.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Lesson 5/February 2015
ProQuest
1. Oh my there are a lot of variables you can pick and choose from. Takes some time to look through them but you can really narrow down your results by using the drop downs on the left hand side. This however will take much less time than if you'd have to look through the thousands of articles not relevant to the students search. I'm sure the student will be very happy with the results she can narrow down to.
2. Ok, I've been working on this about every day this week. It's like I have a block and I can't get past it. I'm going to let it go for now, come back later. Any hints or tips would be great though!
Thanks to Jane I was able to work through this, I tend to forget quotation marks. The newest installment is
It's mostly about Michigan but it references Hurricane Sandy and how libraries on the East Coast had helped to get information out and keep running after the event. There were plenty of articles that you needed to really sift through to get to what you wear looking for, but you could find it. I know I would rather live through another blizzard like the one a few years ago than go through a hurricane.
1. Oh my there are a lot of variables you can pick and choose from. Takes some time to look through them but you can really narrow down your results by using the drop downs on the left hand side. This however will take much less time than if you'd have to look through the thousands of articles not relevant to the students search. I'm sure the student will be very happy with the results she can narrow down to.
2. Ok, I've been working on this about every day this week. It's like I have a block and I can't get past it. I'm going to let it go for now, come back later. Any hints or tips would be great though!
Thanks to Jane I was able to work through this, I tend to forget quotation marks. The newest installment is
Michigan Public Service Commission Submitted Comments to the Federal Communications Commission in Response to the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Declaratory Ruling Requesting Input
Targeted News Service [Washington, D.C] 05 Feb 2015.It's mostly about Michigan but it references Hurricane Sandy and how libraries on the East Coast had helped to get information out and keep running after the event. There were plenty of articles that you needed to really sift through to get to what you wear looking for, but you could find it. I know I would rather live through another blizzard like the one a few years ago than go through a hurricane.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Lesson 4/February 2015
SIRS Discoverer
1. First thing I had to do was find a chart of the Lexile numbers as I really don't work with them too much. After doing so and figuring where this child would fall, I did the advanced search and put in 200-600 where you can limit the Lexile parameters. In doing so, while searching solar system, I only found 2 articles. One was on the sun and the other on Saturn. I expanded the upper Lexile to 700 and two more articles appeared. Hopefully these will be enough for what the child needs.
2. The 2 searches you can do are the word search or use the subject tree. I found it much easier to use the word search as you get there in fewer steps. I did however find it interesting that there were a different amount of hits for basically the same search. Under graphics, for instance, a word search gets you 151 hits and the subject tree (science, geography & geology, volcanoes) gives you 184 hits.
SIRS Issue Researcher
1. Once again, easy site to search. Use the list to pick suicide and there you go. Not only do you get articles (which are separated by newspaper, magazine, ect.) on the subject but also have easy access to the history of it. The Pros and Cons section would help these teachers quite a bit i would think. This would be better than Google since it doesn't give you a lot of junk, it's more specific to what you're looking for. Especially the way it is organized.
2. I find that using the topics given to you easier. I tried putting in water restrictions and didn't get any viable hits. Again, the Pros and Cons sections would be helpful either way to the citizens.
1. First thing I had to do was find a chart of the Lexile numbers as I really don't work with them too much. After doing so and figuring where this child would fall, I did the advanced search and put in 200-600 where you can limit the Lexile parameters. In doing so, while searching solar system, I only found 2 articles. One was on the sun and the other on Saturn. I expanded the upper Lexile to 700 and two more articles appeared. Hopefully these will be enough for what the child needs.
2. The 2 searches you can do are the word search or use the subject tree. I found it much easier to use the word search as you get there in fewer steps. I did however find it interesting that there were a different amount of hits for basically the same search. Under graphics, for instance, a word search gets you 151 hits and the subject tree (science, geography & geology, volcanoes) gives you 184 hits.
SIRS Issue Researcher
1. Once again, easy site to search. Use the list to pick suicide and there you go. Not only do you get articles (which are separated by newspaper, magazine, ect.) on the subject but also have easy access to the history of it. The Pros and Cons section would help these teachers quite a bit i would think. This would be better than Google since it doesn't give you a lot of junk, it's more specific to what you're looking for. Especially the way it is organized.
2. I find that using the topics given to you easier. I tried putting in water restrictions and didn't get any viable hits. Again, the Pros and Cons sections would be helpful either way to the citizens.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Lesson 3/February 2015
1. English Language Arts Skills Improvement where you can do both informational and literature practice tests. The tests not only improve your reading skills but also are quite informational (I had to try one of course). I also think that the practice essays would be helpful as writing is also a good way to learn.
2. The Career Center is a super place for adults to find help with just about anything they need help with. Build Your Workplace Skills would be the place to start for this person, just about everything she'd need to brush up on is here. I would also highly recommend looking at the Interview with Confidence area under the Job Search and Workplace Skills. Your interview is your first impression on a future employer and the most important.
3. The Career Center is also where i would send this person. You can look at the different careers, find out what nursing or pharmacy really involves. There are a couple different spots, Guidance and Learn about a career where you can go to read about your possible new profession.
Wish there had been something like this when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. Not that I'm complaining about what I do, I love what I do.
2. The Career Center is a super place for adults to find help with just about anything they need help with. Build Your Workplace Skills would be the place to start for this person, just about everything she'd need to brush up on is here. I would also highly recommend looking at the Interview with Confidence area under the Job Search and Workplace Skills. Your interview is your first impression on a future employer and the most important.
3. The Career Center is also where i would send this person. You can look at the different careers, find out what nursing or pharmacy really involves. There are a couple different spots, Guidance and Learn about a career where you can go to read about your possible new profession.
Wish there had been something like this when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. Not that I'm complaining about what I do, I love what I do.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Lesson 2/February 2, 2015
ChiltonLibrary
Extremely easy to use and navigate. Even as someone who is lucky just to know how to check the oil I'd feel pretty confident using this site to repair/change something on a car. The instructions are what I'd call 'dumbed down' so that anyone could use it, step by step. The videos are great for people who need to see how something is done rather than read about it. After all, we all learn differently. I believe the part number for the transaxle is A131L. I've tried to suggest this site to some of our male patrons who come in looking for the manuals and unfortunately most of them what the book. I will keep trying however.
Mango Languages
I would have him take a look at the list of languages to make sure the specific one he wants is available. After that show him how to set up and account and learn away. Mango makes it so easy to maneuver their site. Reminds me that i once started to learn Spanish and should get back to it. :-)
TumblebookLibrary
Tumblebooks is such a fun site. I do, however, find myself playing more games than anything else. Searching is pretty simple, put in author, title, subject or genre to get results. So, for the kid looking for mysteries, simply type in mystery and show him what's available. For the STEM story time I would suggest Bones Never Lie by Elizabeth MacLeod. I think forensics is an interesting topic for people of any age and learning history never hurts.
Extremely easy to use and navigate. Even as someone who is lucky just to know how to check the oil I'd feel pretty confident using this site to repair/change something on a car. The instructions are what I'd call 'dumbed down' so that anyone could use it, step by step. The videos are great for people who need to see how something is done rather than read about it. After all, we all learn differently. I believe the part number for the transaxle is A131L. I've tried to suggest this site to some of our male patrons who come in looking for the manuals and unfortunately most of them what the book. I will keep trying however.
Mango Languages
I would have him take a look at the list of languages to make sure the specific one he wants is available. After that show him how to set up and account and learn away. Mango makes it so easy to maneuver their site. Reminds me that i once started to learn Spanish and should get back to it. :-)
TumblebookLibrary
Tumblebooks is such a fun site. I do, however, find myself playing more games than anything else. Searching is pretty simple, put in author, title, subject or genre to get results. So, for the kid looking for mysteries, simply type in mystery and show him what's available. For the STEM story time I would suggest Bones Never Lie by Elizabeth MacLeod. I think forensics is an interesting topic for people of any age and learning history never hurts.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Lesson 1/January 2015
1a World Book School Edition
1. I looked into the science projects section. I'm not much into science so thought it would be a good place to start. There were lots of cool and easy projects listed. Kids would have an easy time finding something they liked to do.
2. I took a look at the Quizzes and Activities section. It was great. I failed miserably at the quizzes i took however. Our children's librarian does a Jeopardy! event with the older kids so I told her about it to give her ideas about questions she can do.
3. Being able to email the book to yourself or saving under your research is awesome, readily available. The fact that you can have the book read to you is very helpful as many students drive to school so they can listen on their tablets on the drive.
4. The "How to Research" section has great information. It pretty much walks you through, step by step, on how to research and then write it up.
1b World Book Public Library Edition
1. I went under Compare Places where first I looked under Belize as I have 2 nieces that live there. I like how on the first page you get the quick facts first. This has most of the information kids would need when giving a report. Then you can delve a little deeper into the place you are researching. Then when i picked the second place to compare (Costa Rica) I was impressed with how it showed the 2 side by side so you could easily compare them.
2. What a cool site. I looked at the Interactive Earth maps. Everything you need to do a report on a state or country is right there at your fingertips. Again the fact that you can save the information, email it or even listen to it is a plus for busy people.
3. Very similar to the school edition. Easy to find, figure out how to do the citations and save.
1c World Book Foreign Language Edition
1&2 Since I do not know any foreign languages this was a challenge for me. I could search since it is basically the same as the English edition and figured you can do all the same things with it, such as saving and emailing. I searched the term 'cat' but 'gato' didn't come up. Mo Willems did though (I love Elephant and Piggie by the way). I was confused. We don't have much of a foreign language speaking population here so not sure how much it will get used. I do however know it is available and that is the first step.
1. I looked into the science projects section. I'm not much into science so thought it would be a good place to start. There were lots of cool and easy projects listed. Kids would have an easy time finding something they liked to do.
2. I took a look at the Quizzes and Activities section. It was great. I failed miserably at the quizzes i took however. Our children's librarian does a Jeopardy! event with the older kids so I told her about it to give her ideas about questions she can do.
3. Being able to email the book to yourself or saving under your research is awesome, readily available. The fact that you can have the book read to you is very helpful as many students drive to school so they can listen on their tablets on the drive.
4. The "How to Research" section has great information. It pretty much walks you through, step by step, on how to research and then write it up.
1b World Book Public Library Edition
1. I went under Compare Places where first I looked under Belize as I have 2 nieces that live there. I like how on the first page you get the quick facts first. This has most of the information kids would need when giving a report. Then you can delve a little deeper into the place you are researching. Then when i picked the second place to compare (Costa Rica) I was impressed with how it showed the 2 side by side so you could easily compare them.
2. What a cool site. I looked at the Interactive Earth maps. Everything you need to do a report on a state or country is right there at your fingertips. Again the fact that you can save the information, email it or even listen to it is a plus for busy people.
3. Very similar to the school edition. Easy to find, figure out how to do the citations and save.
1c World Book Foreign Language Edition
1&2 Since I do not know any foreign languages this was a challenge for me. I could search since it is basically the same as the English edition and figured you can do all the same things with it, such as saving and emailing. I searched the term 'cat' but 'gato' didn't come up. Mo Willems did though (I love Elephant and Piggie by the way). I was confused. We don't have much of a foreign language speaking population here so not sure how much it will get used. I do however know it is available and that is the first step.
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