Wrap Up

I didn't have a big database discovery during this Electronic Resources Challenge, but many smaller discoveries such as finding new tests available in Learning Express, using visual search in EBSCO EBooks  and locating information from AncestryLibrary newspapers.  I will continue to promote all the great electronic resources that the State Library provides!

Thanks for another great learning challenge!

Lesson 9 -- History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps

1.  Using Titanic as a keyword in the Passenger and Ships database brought 6 results including photographs. The description of the Olympic mentioned it being a sister ship of the Titanic.

2.  Using the phrase “The Hindenburg”, eliminated many articles not related to the airship disaster.

The Stars and Stripes newspaper had several articles concerning the crash. Two that caught my attention were one about a survivor of the crash and another about the builder of the Zeppelin airships.

3.  For general historical information about Minnehaha County I chose to search Books. I clicked on Places and typed in “Minnehaha County”. The first two items in the results were books specifically concerning the history of Minnehaha County. PERSI can also be used to search for county information, however, this is an index and not full-text articles. I chose “History” for the record type. The results included more individual stories happening in the county and in Sioux Falls.

Lesson 8--ArchiveGrid and CAMIO

1.  Theodore Schultz Papers are available at University Archives, Iowa State University Library.

Theodore Schultz was an agricultural economist and graduate of South Dakota State University and the University of Wisconsin. He taught at Iowa State for thirteen years and resigned following the “oleomargarine controversy”. He also was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979.

2.  I first searched for information using the terms – dress Victorian fashion; and 1837 -1901 as the date.

The results included photographs of dresses from that era. I then tried using fashion as a subject term with the same date preference. This brought up many illustrations of women’s fashions in the Victorian Era. Finally, I substituted “clothing” as the subject term. The results included a couple of men’s clothing illustrations.

WorldCat and More FirstSearch Indexes

1.   Using Advanced Search I typed in Luther, Martin in the first search box and selected subject. In the next line I selected “not” and put Jr. in the search box. This will exclude many items concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. Other limits I used: Language: English; Type: Year: 2000-; Books; Subtype limits: Juvenile, not fiction.

    Not personally knowing the reading level of the students, I would choose Martin Luther: a man who changed the world by Maier and Copeland and Martin Luther: father of the Reformation by Somerville. The first one is geared for younger readers, and the other for more advanced. Also, both are available at many regional libraries.

2.  I chose to look for “graphic novels” as a subject phrase and Jane Austen as author and limited by search to only books. (Yes, I am a Jane Austen fan!) The results included several graphic novels adapted by Nancy Butler and published by Marvel.

3.  I typed “My Fair Lady” in the first search box and selected “title”. I then put vocal score in the next search box and checked the box for Musical Scores. The item with the most holdings was accession number 26429906.

EBooks on EbscoHost

1.  I used Visual Search to find Alaska tourist information. I compared searching using the block and the column display and found I prefer the block format. Several books concerning travel or cruising to Alaska were available, however nothing newer than 2005. I found an interesting chapter in one of the books about the history of Fairbanks and interesting museums to visit there.

2.  Using the term “fairy tales” in the search box in both the basic search and visual search resulted in finding books by Andrew Lang: Blue, Violet, Red, and Yellow Fairy Books. For those you like seeing full records immediately plus books covers, Basic Search is the way to go. However, I preferred using Visual Search with the block display style. 

Lesson 5 -- Gale Virtual Reference Library

1.  Typing Spring Festivals brought up 444 results. The best resource for general information concerning holidays appeared to be the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays. Several results covered spring holidays from this resource.  Clicking on Holiday cooking under Subjects brought up many examples from the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World. It might be more useful to limit any further searching to these two resources.

2.  Using Advanced Search and limiting the publication year to within 2012 brought up 28,952 item results. On the left hand side nine titles were listed under Publication Title.  I think a faster way of finding the newest titles is to click on Title List and sort by Publication Date (Descending.

     I first chose to browse through Gale E-Commerce Sourcebook because my younger daughter’s job is as an e-commerce merchandise coordinator. This sourcebook appears to be a good overview of the expanding facet of business today.

    I then browsed the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World  (I was hungry and lunch was calling…). Because I am a proud Scandinavian, I looked for recipes from those countries. No Danish or Norwegian recipes, only Swedish. Pictures accompanied some of the recipes, and I appreciated the links to internet sources.

Lesson 4 - Proquest

1.  Les Miserables:

  To limit the results, I chose Reviews under Document Type and Novels under Subjects. That reduced the selection to forty. I then chose Literary Criticism within the Novels subject area which reduced the results to eight.

2.  Hurricane Sandy and libraries:

  I decided to use advanced search, and inserted hurricane Sandy in one search box and libraries AND librarians in another search box. I decided to leave both boxes at all fields + text to get as many hits as possible. I narrowed the results by using the publication date bar graph and choosing Oct 2012 and up. I also sorted the results by publication date – most recent first. The most recent article out of eleven was published February 13, 2013. 

Lesson 3 -- SIRS Issues Researcher and Discoverer

SIRS Discoverer

1.  I would use Advanced Search and choose Easy for the Reading Level. Using “solar system” for a keyword search brought up several articles that the student could use. The student may also want to perform separate searches for individual items such as Neptune or comets.  I performed another search checking the Encyclopedia and World Almanac boxes. This brought up many General Reading articles that may be helpful to the student, but also may be too high of a reading level.

2.   I first tried searching for “volcanoes” by clicking on Pictures and Maps of the World under Database Features. The results were: 105 pictures and 21 maps. I next performed a subject term search for Volcanoes, and then chose “Volcanoes” from the 18 subject headings provided. That search brought up 179 graphics (maps, pictures, etc.) concerning volcanoes.

SIRS Issues Researcher

1.  I would suggest using a keyword search for Suicide Prevention. This brings up 970 results, which can be narrowed to 7 WebSelect sites.  This is a quick way to get reputable sites. However, if a longer list is needed, then a Google search might be necessary.

2.  I would search for information under the subject headings of Water Use, Conservation of Natural Resources and perhaps Environmentalism. I believe Water Use should be searched first. This brings good results including interesting Pro/Con issues.

Lesson 2 -- Learning Express Library

1.  I would first show the student the Grade 4 Reading Comprehension Practices under the Reading Skills Improvement Section. Then, the student can move on to other sections such as Informative, Narrative, and Persuasive practices.  After using the practice modules, the student may want to take the diagnostic tests. Also, the e-book Getting Ready for the 4th Grade Assessment Tests, under FCAT 4th Grade Reading Practice has a section on Language Arts that the student may find helpful.

2.  I would direct her to the Job Search & Workplace Skills section. She can get great tips on interviewing for a job and also brush up on her business writing skills. I would also recommend the Skill Building for Adults section. This section has writing, reading, math, and public speaking skills practice - skills that may improve her qualification for an office manager.

3.  For information about a nursing career, the student should visit the Nursing and Allied Health section under Jobs & Careers. Becoming a Nurse within the Career Guidance area gives a good overview of this profession. Then the student should check out nursing tests in the Entrance Test Preparation and Licensure and Certification Test Preparation sites. 

    Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) information can be found in the College Students section under Graduate School Entrance Exams Preparation. Also, the student may wish to browse the College Preparation section for practice tests concerning math and science which are important subjects for both nursing and pharmacy students.

World Book Online - Encyclopedia and More

Lesson 1a -- World Book School Edition

1.  I chose to delve into the Maps and More special feature of World Book Kids to look up info on Alaska. (I'm traveling there soon to visit my daughter in Fairbanks.)Typing "Alaska" in the World Book Atlas search box brought up articles ranging from a general overview to biographies of important Alaskans. This is a great place for students to create reports on specific states or countries.                                                                                    

2.  I am a trivia buff, so of course I clicked on Trivia Quizzes under Quizzes and Activities in World Book Student. I think this is a fun way for students to test or review their knowledge on various science and history topics.

   Students looking for a little humor with their history will enjoy digging into the features of Surf the Ages.  I checked out the Leif Spot – as a full blooded Scandinavian, I’m proud of this Norse explorer.

3.  I chose to check out The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the eBook section in Word Book Advanced.  Among the special tools available, I thought the “hear the text real aloud” was great. In my previous life as a Title I instructor, I worked with several students who would have appreciated this tool.   

     The Related Information and Related Encyclopedia Content provides more opportunities to explore the book and also Mark Twain’s life.

4.  I explored all the Reference Tools in World Book Discover. I wished I had Citation Builder when I was in school. I enjoyed creating a Timeline after setting up a My Research account (yes, it concerns Alaska…). I was hoping to dig in deeper into How to Do Research, however, individual topics never fully loaded to my computer.

Lesson 1b -- World Book Public Library Edition

1.   In World Book Online for Kids I chose World of Animals and explored the bear category. (Alaska has several species of bears…) This feature provides basic bear information and links to pictures and videos that would interest younger patrons.

2.  In World Book Online InfoFinder I continued my search for Alaskan fun facts using Interactive Earth. I clicked on Explore the USA and selected Alaska. I found a wealth of information about anything Alaskan including a visitor’s guide. Patrons might also appreciate the list of suggested reading materials.

3.  In the E-book Center in World Book Online Reference Center I chose Emma, one of my favorite books (and the name of my younger daughter). After downloading the book in the preferred format, patrons may also be interested in the Jane Austen website provided under Related Information.

Lesson 1c -- World Book Foreign Language Edition

1.   I decided to explore the World Book L'Encyclopédie Découverte. This was a great opportunity to practice what I learned in four years of high school French! I typed Dakota in the search box and came up with info on both North and South Dakota. The sidebar grouped the information into articles, images, and maps.

   The browse feature was very easy to use. To find Dakota du Sud: Click on Explorons les Monde - Pays -  Amerique du Nord – Etats Unis – Dakota du Sud. Voila! Easy.

2.  The browsing feature would probably be used when you might not be sure of the exact place, person, or subject term.  Also, browsing is a way to find a topic to research, or just to brush up on general knowledge.

    Using search box is faster if you are looking for information about specific person, place, or topic.