The biggest thing I have learned from this challenge is very general, I have learned I need to remember when helping patrons and students alike to use the databases we have available. I think as a library assistant I always get caught up in helping people with books, I forget what other resources are just a click away.
This challenge has really opened my eyes to all the possibilities of the databases and although I will never remember everything, it is a good start.
Monday, March 17, 2014
#9
First I looked myself up in Ancestry Library. I found one entry further down the line that had one of my previous addresses listed. It was the wrong dates though. There was not much there. I then looked up my grandfather Gordon Hamlin. I did find the census that had been filled out when they had first moved back to the farm. My aunt Evelyn was listed as being 2 years old. I imagine my grandmother was pregnant with my uncle Bill at the time but he had not yet been born. It was amazing to see the old record. When I searched for South Dakota and then looked in pictures, I admit I was a little confused. I checked out some pictures of professional baseball players, but then there were several entries saying they were high school yearbooks but when I opened them, one was a play and one was some jokes and another looked like an article a professor at Vermillion had written.
When I looked in Heritage Quest I searched for my home town of Highmore SD. I was not sure if I was supposed to pick books or any of the other options that are first given. I did however find a book on the history of Hyde County. I then looked on Sanborn maps and tried to look for Highmore again and it was not listed as having any maps. So I looked at the maps of Pierre. A lot has changed over the years!
When I looked in Heritage Quest I searched for my home town of Highmore SD. I was not sure if I was supposed to pick books or any of the other options that are first given. I did however find a book on the history of Hyde County. I then looked on Sanborn maps and tried to look for Highmore again and it was not listed as having any maps. So I looked at the maps of Pierre. A lot has changed over the years!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
#8
First part of the challenge was to look up books in Worldcat. I actually use this database a lot because of inter library loan. I do not usually use the advanced tab, but have in the past if a book I want is not coming up under the general search. I did however follow the instructions and decided to look up a book I know the library does not own. The book is Day of War by Cliff Graham. 248 other libraries own this title and the first one on the list is Dakota Weslyan University (SDW), the call # is 813.6. I then clicked on the author's name and other books by him came up including Covenant of War. Other related subjects listed are Bible, Old Testament, History of Biblical Events. It was interesting to see only 248 other libraries in the country own this title.
The next part was to look up South Dakota in OAIster. I clicked on the first title to come up, a biennial report of the surgeon general. It is only found at one library, the State Library and it is a government publication.
The next part was to look up South Dakota in OAIster. I clicked on the first title to come up, a biennial report of the surgeon general. It is only found at one library, the State Library and it is a government publication.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Ebooks on Ebsco Host
For my first task, I mentioned in my last blog I would like to know how to make my blog look fun like some of the other blogs! So I searched how to make a blog, but only one book came up it was only a basic computer book. I tried a couple of different ways but really came up with nothing. I then just searched the word library and that search brought up many different options. I did look in one of the books to see how it looked. I really liked the most relevant pages option. The next task was to look up books for constitution day. I used the phrase constitution day but was not impressed with the options. I then tried a couple of different searches, just "constitution" and "United States Constitution". These were a little better. The last task was to do an advanced search using PB Publisher to look up either Nebraska or Oklahoma. I first looked up Nebraska and then Oklahoma. The Nebraska search did not yield any relevant results, and the Oklahoma one yielded few more. I then tried searching a couple different ways but was not very much more successful.
My opinion of this database is if you know what book you are looking for specifically or if you have a very specific topic like parrots or birds, you would be able to find many different nonfiction options. When doing more generalized topics it is much harder to find a relevant book.
My opinion of this database is if you know what book you are looking for specifically or if you have a very specific topic like parrots or birds, you would be able to find many different nonfiction options. When doing more generalized topics it is much harder to find a relevant book.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Gale Virtual Reference Library
The first thing I did was look up zinc. I should not admit this, but it took me a minute to realize it was only showing me the part of the book related to the topic I wanted. Very helpful not to have to scan the whole book looking for the information you want. Scrolling to the bottom other related topics were listed but it said they were not hyperlinked which I was a little dissapointed in. How dare they make us go back out of the article and actually have to type in another topic :) I have to giggle at myself, I can't believe I was actually dissapointed they were not hyperlinked! I then looked up The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn and found several articles. It was convenient above the article it said if it was a critical essay, work overview or just a plot summary, etc. I liked the way you could limit your search (on the left hand side of the page) by document type, publication type, subjects or languages. I also really like the options to save your article and with a click of a button look at previous searches. I also loved the dictionary button at the top, because I am a huge fan of looking up any word I don't know. Another great option was the language button at the top, with a click of my mouse I could change the article into another language. One thing I did notice is with the more resources tab at the top I was able to change databases. This would be a good option for someone looking for reference materials in a general area such as medical or law.
I did take a look at a few other blogs, I went to Shayna's Fandom of things and The Tatted Librarian because I liked the names of thier blogs.....the main thing I noticed is I am way out of my league with blogging!! I am not sure how they got their blogs to look so cool! I am going back to the GVRL to look up how to design a blog!
I did take a look at a few other blogs, I went to Shayna's Fandom of things and The Tatted Librarian because I liked the names of thier blogs.....the main thing I noticed is I am way out of my league with blogging!! I am not sure how they got their blogs to look so cool! I am going back to the GVRL to look up how to design a blog!
Proquest
The first task on Proquest was to look up something that interests me. I work with teen programming at my library and so I chose to look up the topic "Teens and the Library". I was suprised to find so many articles about the topic come up! I only had time to browse but I did see some good programming and grant ideas as well as articles on how to get teens more involved at your library.
The second task is to look at someone else's blog. I just chose the first one, Faith library. I looked at their proquest post and noticed they talked about not having time to keep up with the blogs, but I quickly realized they are two ahead of me :) I browsed around and found on one of the posts they are planning on doing a newspaper article and are going to be offering a class to the public on learning more about the databases and how to use them. I thought that is a really good use of what we are learning in this class.
The third and final task was to look up a topic under publications. I used the word library and found there are many journals with the topic available, for example The Booklist. I know we carry a monthly copy of The Booklist at our Main library, but for readers who are not able to get there to read it or check it out it is a great way to let people know it is still available to them at any of our locations on the computer or even at home.
Databases like Proquest are a great way to get research articles for writing papers or just for patrons interested in certain topics and like reading journals. I remember as a college student having to search through stacks and files of journals in order to find the article I wanted. This is definately a much easier, more efficient ( not to mention greener ) way to look up journal articles.
The second task is to look at someone else's blog. I just chose the first one, Faith library. I looked at their proquest post and noticed they talked about not having time to keep up with the blogs, but I quickly realized they are two ahead of me :) I browsed around and found on one of the posts they are planning on doing a newspaper article and are going to be offering a class to the public on learning more about the databases and how to use them. I thought that is a really good use of what we are learning in this class.
The third and final task was to look up a topic under publications. I used the word library and found there are many journals with the topic available, for example The Booklist. I know we carry a monthly copy of The Booklist at our Main library, but for readers who are not able to get there to read it or check it out it is a great way to let people know it is still available to them at any of our locations on the computer or even at home.
Databases like Proquest are a great way to get research articles for writing papers or just for patrons interested in certain topics and like reading journals. I remember as a college student having to search through stacks and files of journals in order to find the article I wanted. This is definately a much easier, more efficient ( not to mention greener ) way to look up journal articles.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
#4
SIRS Discoverer
I looked up armadillos on the SIRS Discoverer database. I was impressed with the colorful graphics which made finding what you are looking for easy. If the article had pictures with it or what reading level, if it was a reference, magazine or newspaper article were all very easy to tell. I then looked up Ireland under the countries tab. I discovered a brief but very informative facts as well as a map and picture of the countries flag. With just a click the map and flag both enlarged. Clicking on the learn more link took me to many different articles relevant to the country. Next I looked up the map of the United States under the maps tab. I was suprised to find it not only had all the states individually but contained maps such as Earthquake Hazard Map. All in all it was a very good resource, especially if kids need articles from somewhere other than the internet.
SIRS Issues Researcher
I would just like to say first, I wish I had something like this to help me when I was in school! I know my parents would have appreciated it too! Especially my father who came up with most of my paper topics for me :) I thought the current issues was absolutely fantastic. I picked teen automobile drivers because my twins are newly 14 and taking drivers education this spring. There was a great pro/con question, overview of the topic, and many many articles. It was also easy to distinguish between newspapers, magazines and reference. The lexile scores were readily available to help with what article would be best for the grade level. After this I looked at the research tools. Of course I picked English Lit my favorite topic. There were several articles available to look at all with lexile levels and easy icons to let me know if it was on the web or from a newspaper or magazine. I especially liked the ithink tutor! How easy for a kid to have help writing a paper!
I looked up armadillos on the SIRS Discoverer database. I was impressed with the colorful graphics which made finding what you are looking for easy. If the article had pictures with it or what reading level, if it was a reference, magazine or newspaper article were all very easy to tell. I then looked up Ireland under the countries tab. I discovered a brief but very informative facts as well as a map and picture of the countries flag. With just a click the map and flag both enlarged. Clicking on the learn more link took me to many different articles relevant to the country. Next I looked up the map of the United States under the maps tab. I was suprised to find it not only had all the states individually but contained maps such as Earthquake Hazard Map. All in all it was a very good resource, especially if kids need articles from somewhere other than the internet.
SIRS Issues Researcher
I would just like to say first, I wish I had something like this to help me when I was in school! I know my parents would have appreciated it too! Especially my father who came up with most of my paper topics for me :) I thought the current issues was absolutely fantastic. I picked teen automobile drivers because my twins are newly 14 and taking drivers education this spring. There was a great pro/con question, overview of the topic, and many many articles. It was also easy to distinguish between newspapers, magazines and reference. The lexile scores were readily available to help with what article would be best for the grade level. After this I looked at the research tools. Of course I picked English Lit my favorite topic. There were several articles available to look at all with lexile levels and easy icons to let me know if it was on the web or from a newspaper or magazine. I especially liked the ithink tutor! How easy for a kid to have help writing a paper!
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