It's hard to believe we've reached the end of the Resource Challenge! I guess it's true when they say "Time flies when you're having fun!"
I didn't have many surprises when working on the Challenge this year, but it's been a great review. I especially liked having specific questions to answer each week. I was able to keep my focus better, and not get distracted and off on some unrelated tangent. This Challenge has gotten me to think more about going to the databases first to answer some of our patrons' questions.
I have been using World Book each week to find information about various animals for Story Time. The "compare" feature has been fun as well as helpful. We have learned the differences between crocodiles and alligators, and lions and tigers!
We will be sure to highlight the databases when we do our school visits this spring. Since the kids can access most of them from either the library or home, these are great resources for those year-end reports and projects (especially if they've waited 'til the last minute and the books are checked out or the library is closed...). The "How to Cite this Article" feature is a bonus! I'm not sure today's tech-savvy kids appreciate this feature as much as us "older" folks do!
Thanks for putting this Challenge together and for your encouraging comments. It's been both challenging and fun!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Challenge 9: AncestryLibrary, HeritageQuest and Sandborn Maps
AncestryLibrary
Everyone seems to be fascinated by the Titanic, and I am no exception. So searching for her sister ship was a fun challenge. In AncestryLibrary I went to Immigration & Travel, then selected Ship Pictures and Descriptions. I typed the word titanic in the "More" box and got six results listed for passenger ships and images. I clicked on "passenger ships and images" and got the names and tiny pictures of six different ships. I selected Titanic and at the end of the description, it listed a sister ship: Olympic. The Olympic was in service from 1911 until 1934, serving as a troopship during World War I.
One thing I found interesting is that the Titanic was not the only ship to be involved in a collision. The Olympic had two (1911 and 1934), and the Republic, another ship from the White Star Line sank after a collision with the liner Florida in 1909. The Carpathia, which rescued survivors of the Titanic, sank after being torpedoed by a German submarine in 1918. I think what fascinates us so much about Titanic is that the ship was supposed to be unsinkable, and the tragic loss of so many lives.
Finding information on the Hindenburg was more time consuming and less successful. I began by doing an Advanced search. I typed hindenburg in the keyword box under "More." I limited the results to Newspapers & Publications, and ended up with 362. However, some of the articles appeared more than once, so there were not 362 unique results. Most of the results were obituaries for people whose name was Hindenburg or articles about World War II from Stars and Stripes, so they were not very helpful. I did find an article by a survivor of the 1937 crash of the Hindenburg, which appeared in Stars and Stripes on April 4, 1957. Searching for the terms hindenburg and dirigible gave 523 results, but once again, many of them were not applicable.
Depending on what sort of information this student is looking for, he may want to search other sources.
HeritageQuest
To find information about Brown County, I searched in Books. I searched for Places: Brown County, South Dakota with limited success. There were 30 results, but not much information in any of them. Many listed names of people who were born or died in Brown County. This could be helpful if someone was interested in early settlers in Brown County. There were also two history books about South Dakota, which might be possible resources.
Next I searched PerSI (Periodical Source Index) for Places: South Dakota [state] and Brown [county]. There were 248 results. Some of these look pretty interesting, but the articles are not in the database. Articles must be ordered, and it can take up to eight weeks to get them. There is also a charge to order articles. [Our library does have copies of Tree Climber, so if the patron comes to the library, they could read the articles here rather than ordering copies....]
Everyone seems to be fascinated by the Titanic, and I am no exception. So searching for her sister ship was a fun challenge. In AncestryLibrary I went to Immigration & Travel, then selected Ship Pictures and Descriptions. I typed the word titanic in the "More" box and got six results listed for passenger ships and images. I clicked on "passenger ships and images" and got the names and tiny pictures of six different ships. I selected Titanic and at the end of the description, it listed a sister ship: Olympic. The Olympic was in service from 1911 until 1934, serving as a troopship during World War I.
One thing I found interesting is that the Titanic was not the only ship to be involved in a collision. The Olympic had two (1911 and 1934), and the Republic, another ship from the White Star Line sank after a collision with the liner Florida in 1909. The Carpathia, which rescued survivors of the Titanic, sank after being torpedoed by a German submarine in 1918. I think what fascinates us so much about Titanic is that the ship was supposed to be unsinkable, and the tragic loss of so many lives.
Finding information on the Hindenburg was more time consuming and less successful. I began by doing an Advanced search. I typed hindenburg in the keyword box under "More." I limited the results to Newspapers & Publications, and ended up with 362. However, some of the articles appeared more than once, so there were not 362 unique results. Most of the results were obituaries for people whose name was Hindenburg or articles about World War II from Stars and Stripes, so they were not very helpful. I did find an article by a survivor of the 1937 crash of the Hindenburg, which appeared in Stars and Stripes on April 4, 1957. Searching for the terms hindenburg and dirigible gave 523 results, but once again, many of them were not applicable.
Depending on what sort of information this student is looking for, he may want to search other sources.
HeritageQuest
To find information about Brown County, I searched in Books. I searched for Places: Brown County, South Dakota with limited success. There were 30 results, but not much information in any of them. Many listed names of people who were born or died in Brown County. This could be helpful if someone was interested in early settlers in Brown County. There were also two history books about South Dakota, which might be possible resources.
Next I searched PerSI (Periodical Source Index) for Places: South Dakota [state] and Brown [county]. There were 248 results. Some of these look pretty interesting, but the articles are not in the database. Articles must be ordered, and it can take up to eight weeks to get them. There is also a charge to order articles. [Our library does have copies of Tree Climber, so if the patron comes to the library, they could read the articles here rather than ordering copies....]
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Challenge 8: ArchiveGrid and CAMIO
ArchiveGrid
Library patrons who are serious about their research and willing to spend extra time and effort to gain results will really like ArchiveGrid.
I had never heard of Theodore Schultz before doing this assignment, so I learned something new today! Schultz was an agricultural economist born in 1902 in South Dakota. He taught at Iowa State College, but resigned in 1943 because of the "oleomargarine controversy." [Researchers at Iowa State had recommended the used of oleomargarine during war time, but when dairy associations protested, the college administration backed down and did not support the Iowa State researchers. Schultz and others resigned in protest.] Schultz then taught at the University of Chicago. His early papers, including publications, newspaper clippings, letters, biographical information, and information about the "oleomargarine controversy," are housed at Iowa State University.
I found these records by searching for "theodore schultz" (in quotation marks). There were four results, two from his years at Iowa, and two which are at Cornell University (Ithica, New York) and deal with the Dairymen's League Cooperative Association Records 1916 - 1961. These records contain correspondence from Schultz. The collections at Iowa State University seem to be more relevant, so perhaps a road trip to Ames is in order.
CAMIO
I did several different searches to answer the question about clothing and dress in Charles Dickens' day. First I searched for Charles Dickens. [I found out he lived from 1812 - 1870.] There were seven results, including two portraits and one photograph. Looking at these will show how Dickens himself dressed. Next I searched for Victorian dress, and got two results: one was a bronze cast of a lady's profile, and the other was a daguerreotype of a family. These are helpful, but I knew there had to be more.
I did two more searches, for Victorian clothing, and Victorian fashion, but got zero results.
So I broadened my search to fashion, and had over 300 results. Scanning down through these results, I found fashion drawings from the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s and beyond. The drawings were very detailed and colorful. Another search for clothing resulted in 161 items, including prints from Harper's Weekly of ladies hats.
Using CAMIO to answer this question resulted in great finds. But this was one time when using a broad search, rather than a narrow one, yielded better results!
Library patrons who are serious about their research and willing to spend extra time and effort to gain results will really like ArchiveGrid.
I had never heard of Theodore Schultz before doing this assignment, so I learned something new today! Schultz was an agricultural economist born in 1902 in South Dakota. He taught at Iowa State College, but resigned in 1943 because of the "oleomargarine controversy." [Researchers at Iowa State had recommended the used of oleomargarine during war time, but when dairy associations protested, the college administration backed down and did not support the Iowa State researchers. Schultz and others resigned in protest.] Schultz then taught at the University of Chicago. His early papers, including publications, newspaper clippings, letters, biographical information, and information about the "oleomargarine controversy," are housed at Iowa State University.
I found these records by searching for "theodore schultz" (in quotation marks). There were four results, two from his years at Iowa, and two which are at Cornell University (Ithica, New York) and deal with the Dairymen's League Cooperative Association Records 1916 - 1961. These records contain correspondence from Schultz. The collections at Iowa State University seem to be more relevant, so perhaps a road trip to Ames is in order.
CAMIO
I did several different searches to answer the question about clothing and dress in Charles Dickens' day. First I searched for Charles Dickens. [I found out he lived from 1812 - 1870.] There were seven results, including two portraits and one photograph. Looking at these will show how Dickens himself dressed. Next I searched for Victorian dress, and got two results: one was a bronze cast of a lady's profile, and the other was a daguerreotype of a family. These are helpful, but I knew there had to be more.
I did two more searches, for Victorian clothing, and Victorian fashion, but got zero results.
So I broadened my search to fashion, and had over 300 results. Scanning down through these results, I found fashion drawings from the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s and beyond. The drawings were very detailed and colorful. Another search for clothing resulted in 161 items, including prints from Harper's Weekly of ladies hats.
Using CAMIO to answer this question resulted in great finds. But this was one time when using a broad search, rather than a narrow one, yielded better results!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Challenge 7: WorldCat
I really like using WorldCat. It's like having access to the world's biggest library at your fingertips!
Martin Luther
To find appropriate books about Martin Luther, I did an Advanced Search. I searched for Martin Luther in keywords and limited the type to books and the language to English. I further limited my search by these Subtype Limits: Juvenile (audience) and Not fiction (content). There were 1252 results and many of those were about Martin Luther King. So I refined my search further by adding a limiter: not King. This cut my results down to 221, a much more manageable number to search. My library actually owns several titles listed, but this patron may also wish to borrow Martin Luther by Sally Stepanek (NY: Chelsea House, 1986). Libraries in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa own this book.
Graphic Classics
I also did an Advanced Search to find graphic novels of classic titles. I searched for Graphic in Genre/Form (under subject in the drop down box), and the keyword Classic. For limiters, I selected English (language), Books (Type), Juvenile (since I am a Children's Librarian), and Fiction. I had 229 results. One title I would like to add is "The Wizard of Oz" by Michael Cavallaro (NY: Puffin Books, 2005).
I redid my search changing "classic" to "classics." This time I had 176 results.
I did my search a third time, using two of the databases: ArticleFirst and PapersFirst. [I thought there may be journal articles about classics in graphic format that would contain bibliographies.] I searched for Keywords Graphic and Classics which resulted in a list of seven articles, all from ArticleFirst. Three of the articles listed look promising. Although they are not very recent (2007 and 2009), getting copies of these articles may be a good place to see all that is available.
My Fair Lady
Finding the musical score for My Fair Lady was not difficult. I did an Advanced Search for Title Phrase My Fair Lady. I limited the language to English, the type to Musical Scores, and subtype limits to Not Juvenile and Not Fiction. There were 266 results. I chose the second in the list, which has an OCLC accession number of 26429906. This item is available at NSU, so our patron can go there to check it out.
Martin Luther
To find appropriate books about Martin Luther, I did an Advanced Search. I searched for Martin Luther in keywords and limited the type to books and the language to English. I further limited my search by these Subtype Limits: Juvenile (audience) and Not fiction (content). There were 1252 results and many of those were about Martin Luther King. So I refined my search further by adding a limiter: not King. This cut my results down to 221, a much more manageable number to search. My library actually owns several titles listed, but this patron may also wish to borrow Martin Luther by Sally Stepanek (NY: Chelsea House, 1986). Libraries in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa own this book.
Graphic Classics
I also did an Advanced Search to find graphic novels of classic titles. I searched for Graphic in Genre/Form (under subject in the drop down box), and the keyword Classic. For limiters, I selected English (language), Books (Type), Juvenile (since I am a Children's Librarian), and Fiction. I had 229 results. One title I would like to add is "The Wizard of Oz" by Michael Cavallaro (NY: Puffin Books, 2005).
I redid my search changing "classic" to "classics." This time I had 176 results.
I did my search a third time, using two of the databases: ArticleFirst and PapersFirst. [I thought there may be journal articles about classics in graphic format that would contain bibliographies.] I searched for Keywords Graphic and Classics which resulted in a list of seven articles, all from ArticleFirst. Three of the articles listed look promising. Although they are not very recent (2007 and 2009), getting copies of these articles may be a good place to see all that is available.
My Fair Lady
Finding the musical score for My Fair Lady was not difficult. I did an Advanced Search for Title Phrase My Fair Lady. I limited the language to English, the type to Musical Scores, and subtype limits to Not Juvenile and Not Fiction. There were 266 results. I chose the second in the list, which has an OCLC accession number of 26429906. This item is available at NSU, so our patron can go there to check it out.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Challenge 6: EBooks on EbscoHost
It seems like I often work on these challenges right before lunch when I am hungry. So I chose Cooking for my search topic. I did a Visual Search and got 121 results. I did spend some time looking at the books, especially "Fast and Lean One-Dish Cuisine," and "Desserts Around the World." Then I repeated my search as a Basic Search. I must say I prefer the way the results are shown for the Basic Search. It was easier to see what the result were, easier to get into the books I selected., and even easier to read them!
For the Fairy Tale question, I did a basic search for Fairy Tales. There were 66 results, which I didn't think was too many to look through. So I began to scroll down the list, and numbers five through nine were books by Andrew Lang with colors in the titles (Violet Fairy Book, Blue Fairy Book, etc.). To determine how many titles are available, I did an Advanced Search for Fairy Tales and Lang in the Author field. There were six results, but one was not a "color" title, and one was a duplicate (Blue Fairy Book). So I found four different Fairy Tale books with colors in the titles (violet, blue yellow, and red). I know these are older titles, so I would ask Grandma if these are the books she remembers.
For the Fairy Tale question, I did a basic search for Fairy Tales. There were 66 results, which I didn't think was too many to look through. So I began to scroll down the list, and numbers five through nine were books by Andrew Lang with colors in the titles (Violet Fairy Book, Blue Fairy Book, etc.). To determine how many titles are available, I did an Advanced Search for Fairy Tales and Lang in the Author field. There were six results, but one was not a "color" title, and one was a duplicate (Blue Fairy Book). So I found four different Fairy Tale books with colors in the titles (violet, blue yellow, and red). I know these are older titles, so I would ask Grandma if these are the books she remembers.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Challenge 5: Gale Virtual Reference Library
It's fun to look forward to spring when it's snowing! Searching for spring festivals makes winter seem shorter.
I did a basic search for Spring Festivals and had 444 results. The best ones were from a few specific sources: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays and Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures. So went to those two resources, did my search again, and found a lot of information.
One of my new favorite spring festivals will be St. David's Day, celebrated in Wales on March 1. Daffodils are everywhere for this festival and I love daffodils! They just seem to shout, "It's Spring!" I carried daffodils in my wedding bouquet, and have planted them around my house. I don't think mine will be blooming by St. David's Day, so I will have to buy a bunch or two to celebrate.
But back to my search.... I did find some information on activities and food for various festivals in these two encyclopedias. Another source for food and recipes is the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World.
I think this civic organization will find too many ideas for a single event. By using the Gale Virtual Reference Library, they can make "Spring Holidays Around the World" an on-going activity!
Both the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures and Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World are 2012 titles. I actually did not use the Advanced Search to find them: I went to the Title List and had titles listed by publication date (descending): new titles are listed first. There were a total of nine titles listed for 2012.
Then I did an Advanced Search and limited the results by Publication Year (within 2012). There were 28,952 hits. Are these 28,952 results separate articles from the nine 2012 titles? When I look on the left side of the results page, I have the option to limit my search by publication title, and there are the same nine titles listed....
This has been an interesting database to search - it's been easy to get distracted from the topic at hand and go off on other research paths. Speaking of distractions, perhaps I should go out and buy those daffodils...!
I did a basic search for Spring Festivals and had 444 results. The best ones were from a few specific sources: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays and Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures. So went to those two resources, did my search again, and found a lot of information.
One of my new favorite spring festivals will be St. David's Day, celebrated in Wales on March 1. Daffodils are everywhere for this festival and I love daffodils! They just seem to shout, "It's Spring!" I carried daffodils in my wedding bouquet, and have planted them around my house. I don't think mine will be blooming by St. David's Day, so I will have to buy a bunch or two to celebrate.
But back to my search.... I did find some information on activities and food for various festivals in these two encyclopedias. Another source for food and recipes is the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World.
I think this civic organization will find too many ideas for a single event. By using the Gale Virtual Reference Library, they can make "Spring Holidays Around the World" an on-going activity!
Both the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures and Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World are 2012 titles. I actually did not use the Advanced Search to find them: I went to the Title List and had titles listed by publication date (descending): new titles are listed first. There were a total of nine titles listed for 2012.
Then I did an Advanced Search and limited the results by Publication Year (within 2012). There were 28,952 hits. Are these 28,952 results separate articles from the nine 2012 titles? When I look on the left side of the results page, I have the option to limit my search by publication title, and there are the same nine titles listed....
This has been an interesting database to search - it's been easy to get distracted from the topic at hand and go off on other research paths. Speaking of distractions, perhaps I should go out and buy those daffodils...!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Challenge 4: ProQuest
ProQuest has a wide variety of articles and information, but it was hard to find exactly what I wanted.
I tried several different ways to find information for the student needing literary criticism of Les Miserables. The most successful search resulted when I used quotation marks around the title ["les miserables"]. I also did searches using the title and author's name.... I first limited the results by excluding any and everything having to do with music, theater, film, etc. in the subject option. I tried again by limiting the results to literary criticism in English. My final number of articles was 42, but not all of them would be helpful. There were book reviews of biographies of Victor Hugo, and articles that just mentioned Les Miserables in passing. This student may need to find another source of information for her assignment, but this is a good place to start. Using ProQuest provides access to journals that would not be available at the library, so it is a useful resource.
Finding information about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on libraries was even more difficult I thought. For my first attempt, I used the Advanced Search option. I searched for libraries AND "hurricane sandy." This resulted in 238 documents: the newest was February 13, 2013. However, it was an article listing who would be sitting in Michelle Obama's box at the State of the Union speech, and had nothing to do with the impact of Hurricane Sandy on libraries.
Next I limited the results by subject, including options like storm damage, library collections, displaced persons, disaster relief, etc., and narrowed the results to ten. None of these were what I wanted either.
So I tried a different search. This time I used "hurricane sandy" in the basic search box which resulted in over 9000 articles. When I searched for "hurricane sandy" impact, there were over 2000 documents. I wanted to limit either search by subject, but libraries was not an option to include or exclude.
I have spent quite a lot of time searching for relevant results with little success. What am I doing wrong? There's probably a simple way to search, and I will feel pretty silly when someone points it out to me, but at this point, I am clueless!
I tried several different ways to find information for the student needing literary criticism of Les Miserables. The most successful search resulted when I used quotation marks around the title ["les miserables"]. I also did searches using the title and author's name.... I first limited the results by excluding any and everything having to do with music, theater, film, etc. in the subject option. I tried again by limiting the results to literary criticism in English. My final number of articles was 42, but not all of them would be helpful. There were book reviews of biographies of Victor Hugo, and articles that just mentioned Les Miserables in passing. This student may need to find another source of information for her assignment, but this is a good place to start. Using ProQuest provides access to journals that would not be available at the library, so it is a useful resource.
Finding information about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on libraries was even more difficult I thought. For my first attempt, I used the Advanced Search option. I searched for libraries AND "hurricane sandy." This resulted in 238 documents: the newest was February 13, 2013. However, it was an article listing who would be sitting in Michelle Obama's box at the State of the Union speech, and had nothing to do with the impact of Hurricane Sandy on libraries.
Next I limited the results by subject, including options like storm damage, library collections, displaced persons, disaster relief, etc., and narrowed the results to ten. None of these were what I wanted either.
So I tried a different search. This time I used "hurricane sandy" in the basic search box which resulted in over 9000 articles. When I searched for "hurricane sandy" impact, there were over 2000 documents. I wanted to limit either search by subject, but libraries was not an option to include or exclude.
I have spent quite a lot of time searching for relevant results with little success. What am I doing wrong? There's probably a simple way to search, and I will feel pretty silly when someone points it out to me, but at this point, I am clueless!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Challenge 3 - SIRS Discoverer and SIRS Issues Researcher
SIRS Discoverer and Issues Researcher have been challenging. I have had some trouble finding what I am looking for and also interpreting the results.
SIRS Discoverer:
1. The third grader may have trouble reading many of the articles I found about the solar system. I did an advanced search and limited the results to Easy articles. The results listed 44 "all articles." [Okay, here's my question: there are 4 newspapers, 28 magazines, and 7 reference sources listed. I'm no math whiz, but I am sure that those numbers add up to 39, not 44. So what are they counting??]
I do not know the specific lexile range for students in third grade, but I notice that the lexiles for these articles (all rated as Easy) are all over the place! I went to the Lexile website for clarification, and it seems to me that most of the articles will be too difficult for a student reading below a 3rd grade level. A read-aloud feature would be useful here, so more information could be accessible to this student.... [I did not find an option for an article to be read aloud. Is there one and I just missed it??]
2. There are several ways to find pictures and maps of volcanoes. They all give different results. The first way is to choose the "pictures" option in the box under "Database Features" on the lower right side of the screen. Then type in "volcanoes" - this results in 105 graphics. Another way is to type in "volcanoes" in the search box at the top of the home page. This results in 933 articles, with 137 graphics. The third way I found volcano pictures, maps, and diagrams was to click on the science icon on the home page. I chose "Weather, Climate, & Natural Disasters" (from the topics box on the right). I then chose "Volcanic Eruptions" (also from the topics box). This resulted in 130 articles, with 156 graphics. This last search resulted in the highest number of graphics, but it was such a round-about way to get there. [Once again, the number of "all articles" does not equal the sum of the other types....]
SIRS Issues Researcher
1. To assist the teachers needing websites on suicide prevention, I typed in the topic (suicide prevention) in the search box, then narrowed the results to "WebSelect Sites" from the Narrow Your Results box on the left side of the screen. This resulted in seven sites. As to why this is better than Google, check out the article under Educators' Resources (top right, near the Help button) about SIRS vs. Google. The major advantages of SIRS are that the sites listed are age-appropriate, curriculum-relevant, and editorially selected. Google is consumer oriented, with many questionable sites. It would take a lot of time researching to find the best sites using Google, and time is something most teachers and librarians do not have an abundance of!
2. Pros and Cons of Water Restriction can be found by searching the topics box on the left side of the home page under Leading Issues. Click on "Water Use" to get 98 results. The Pro/Con Issues box at the top has opposing views as well. This would be a great place to start researching the issue of water restriction.
I had some issues with SIRS, but it does have good information about current issues. Discoverer also has a variety of kid-friendly of activities! The Chinese New Year Snake looks like a fun project!
SIRS Discoverer:
1. The third grader may have trouble reading many of the articles I found about the solar system. I did an advanced search and limited the results to Easy articles. The results listed 44 "all articles." [Okay, here's my question: there are 4 newspapers, 28 magazines, and 7 reference sources listed. I'm no math whiz, but I am sure that those numbers add up to 39, not 44. So what are they counting??]
I do not know the specific lexile range for students in third grade, but I notice that the lexiles for these articles (all rated as Easy) are all over the place! I went to the Lexile website for clarification, and it seems to me that most of the articles will be too difficult for a student reading below a 3rd grade level. A read-aloud feature would be useful here, so more information could be accessible to this student.... [I did not find an option for an article to be read aloud. Is there one and I just missed it??]
2. There are several ways to find pictures and maps of volcanoes. They all give different results. The first way is to choose the "pictures" option in the box under "Database Features" on the lower right side of the screen. Then type in "volcanoes" - this results in 105 graphics. Another way is to type in "volcanoes" in the search box at the top of the home page. This results in 933 articles, with 137 graphics. The third way I found volcano pictures, maps, and diagrams was to click on the science icon on the home page. I chose "Weather, Climate, & Natural Disasters" (from the topics box on the right). I then chose "Volcanic Eruptions" (also from the topics box). This resulted in 130 articles, with 156 graphics. This last search resulted in the highest number of graphics, but it was such a round-about way to get there. [Once again, the number of "all articles" does not equal the sum of the other types....]
SIRS Issues Researcher
1. To assist the teachers needing websites on suicide prevention, I typed in the topic (suicide prevention) in the search box, then narrowed the results to "WebSelect Sites" from the Narrow Your Results box on the left side of the screen. This resulted in seven sites. As to why this is better than Google, check out the article under Educators' Resources (top right, near the Help button) about SIRS vs. Google. The major advantages of SIRS are that the sites listed are age-appropriate, curriculum-relevant, and editorially selected. Google is consumer oriented, with many questionable sites. It would take a lot of time researching to find the best sites using Google, and time is something most teachers and librarians do not have an abundance of!
2. Pros and Cons of Water Restriction can be found by searching the topics box on the left side of the home page under Leading Issues. Click on "Water Use" to get 98 results. The Pro/Con Issues box at the top has opposing views as well. This would be a great place to start researching the issue of water restriction.
I had some issues with SIRS, but it does have good information about current issues. Discoverer also has a variety of kid-friendly of activities! The Chinese New Year Snake looks like a fun project!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Challenge 2 - Learning Express
Confession time: It's been awhile since I accessed Learning Express and I couldn't remember my password (or user name, for that matter!). I had to get help to get started on this assignment. But now I have all the pertinent information safely stored where I can find it easily, and I am ready to report on my findings.
1. For the 4th grader needing help with reading comprehension, I would suggest one or more of the many practice tests available under the Elementary School section. Under Reading Skills, there are several options: 4th Grade Reading Practice, FCAT 4th Grade Reading Practice, and California 4th Grade Reading Practice. The first option (4th Grade Reading Practice) has practice tests on Reading Comprehension, Informational Reading, and Poetry. Any or all of these will help this student improve reading comprehension.
2. The recent high school graduate may want to check out the Job Search and Workplace Skills section. I found e-courses and e-books on Job Searching, Resumes, and Interviewing Skills. There are also e-books dealing with Success on the Job. If this patron needs to improve basic skills, she should search the Skill Building for Adults section for courses on Writing and Math skills. Another option is the High School section, where she will find books, courses, and tests on math, reading, vocabulary, and spelling. Making use of these resources should help this patron land the job.
3. The Jobs and Careers section is where I would point the high schooler interested in careers in nursing or pharmacy. Under the Nursing and Allied Health tab there is an option called Career Guidance that lists e-books such as Becoming a Health Care Professional. Another option is Entrance Test Preparation, that has practice tests for getting into nursing school. More advanced practice tests are available in the Licensure and Certification Test Preparation option (so this student can get an idea of what will be required). If this student needs even more basic information on college entrance, they can search the College Preparation section as well.
With Learning Express, there is no reason to be unprepared!
1. For the 4th grader needing help with reading comprehension, I would suggest one or more of the many practice tests available under the Elementary School section. Under Reading Skills, there are several options: 4th Grade Reading Practice, FCAT 4th Grade Reading Practice, and California 4th Grade Reading Practice. The first option (4th Grade Reading Practice) has practice tests on Reading Comprehension, Informational Reading, and Poetry. Any or all of these will help this student improve reading comprehension.
2. The recent high school graduate may want to check out the Job Search and Workplace Skills section. I found e-courses and e-books on Job Searching, Resumes, and Interviewing Skills. There are also e-books dealing with Success on the Job. If this patron needs to improve basic skills, she should search the Skill Building for Adults section for courses on Writing and Math skills. Another option is the High School section, where she will find books, courses, and tests on math, reading, vocabulary, and spelling. Making use of these resources should help this patron land the job.
3. The Jobs and Careers section is where I would point the high schooler interested in careers in nursing or pharmacy. Under the Nursing and Allied Health tab there is an option called Career Guidance that lists e-books such as Becoming a Health Care Professional. Another option is Entrance Test Preparation, that has practice tests for getting into nursing school. More advanced practice tests are available in the Licensure and Certification Test Preparation option (so this student can get an idea of what will be required). If this student needs even more basic information on college entrance, they can search the College Preparation section as well.
With Learning Express, there is no reason to be unprepared!
Challenge 1c - World Book Foreign Language Edition
I'm trying to catch up, but in the words of my mother, "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get!"
I've been looking at the Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos, but since I don't know Spanish, I am not learning too much. I typed the word "house" in the search box and got eight results which are biographical in nature. To get similar results in the browse feature, I clicked on the picture of people (gente). On the next page I had choose one of the many options in the sidebars. I clicked on "biografias" and was rewarded with short articles of many famous people. I could also use the sidebars to refine my search further by selecting a specific type of biography I wanted (artist, educator, historical figure, etc.).
However, none of this is helpful if a want information on houses. To get useful results, I need to use Spanish terms when searching.
If I have a patron who needs information in Spanish, they will either need to provide the appropriate Spanish terms for searching, or perhaps I could find the information by using the browse feature if I know the correct category. Or I could use another English edition of World Book (such as the Online Reference Center), look of the information, and click the option to translate the article into Spanish.
I like having options!
I've been looking at the Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos, but since I don't know Spanish, I am not learning too much. I typed the word "house" in the search box and got eight results which are biographical in nature. To get similar results in the browse feature, I clicked on the picture of people (gente). On the next page I had choose one of the many options in the sidebars. I clicked on "biografias" and was rewarded with short articles of many famous people. I could also use the sidebars to refine my search further by selecting a specific type of biography I wanted (artist, educator, historical figure, etc.).
However, none of this is helpful if a want information on houses. To get useful results, I need to use Spanish terms when searching.
If I have a patron who needs information in Spanish, they will either need to provide the appropriate Spanish terms for searching, or perhaps I could find the information by using the browse feature if I know the correct category. Or I could use another English edition of World Book (such as the Online Reference Center), look of the information, and click the option to translate the article into Spanish.
I like having options!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Challenge 1b - World Book Public Library
My initial opinion of the World Book Public Library Edition is that is it very similar to the School Edition. The information in the Online Kids Special Features is virtually identical. The crafts, science projects, maps, and animals are the same in both editions.
One difference I did note is that there are different games. I think I like the games in the Public Library edition best. The spelling and history mazes were fun! Most of my patrons are more interested in computer games than research, so I think I will show them these games: kids can have fun while reviewing what they have learned!
All the special features should be popular with our many home-school patrons. They can be used to supplement lessons and provide information for various projects.
In the Info Finder, I checked out the Virtual Tours. I liked them! These are similar to the World Book Explains videos in the World Book Discover, although there are more videos on a wider range of topics in Discover. Visual learners will appreciate these short videos. One of my teacher friends does a Titanic unit with her students. I'll make sure she knows about the Titanic Virtual Tours.
The E-Book Center in the Online Reference Center is the same (or nearly the same) as in World Book Advanced. I looked at several books in the "juvenile literature" genre. I recognized some that I borrowed from my local library when I was little (like the "Twins" series by Perkins)! They were old then, so by today's standards they are practically ancient classics! Having access to classic titles could be helpful to a student who has a report due tomorrow and the library is closed! I did look up Emma by Jane Austen. I followed a trail of articles and ended up looking at a slide show of her home in England! How cool is that!?!
One difference I did note is that there are different games. I think I like the games in the Public Library edition best. The spelling and history mazes were fun! Most of my patrons are more interested in computer games than research, so I think I will show them these games: kids can have fun while reviewing what they have learned!
All the special features should be popular with our many home-school patrons. They can be used to supplement lessons and provide information for various projects.
In the Info Finder, I checked out the Virtual Tours. I liked them! These are similar to the World Book Explains videos in the World Book Discover, although there are more videos on a wider range of topics in Discover. Visual learners will appreciate these short videos. One of my teacher friends does a Titanic unit with her students. I'll make sure she knows about the Titanic Virtual Tours.
The E-Book Center in the Online Reference Center is the same (or nearly the same) as in World Book Advanced. I looked at several books in the "juvenile literature" genre. I recognized some that I borrowed from my local library when I was little (like the "Twins" series by Perkins)! They were old then, so by today's standards they are practically ancient classics! Having access to classic titles could be helpful to a student who has a report due tomorrow and the library is closed! I did look up Emma by Jane Austen. I followed a trail of articles and ended up looking at a slide show of her home in England! How cool is that!?!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Here We Go Again... Challenge 1a World Book School Edition
The Electronic Resources Challenge is up and running again, and I am behind already! Maybe it's because I've been spending too much time playing with my new iPhone! I went from sharing a "dumb" phone with my husband (he usually carried it...) to my own iPhone! There's something new to learn every day!
But back to the business at hand: World Book Student Edition.
After exploring most of the special features in World Book Kids (looking at different animals, comparing states, playing several games, putting puzzles together), I have decided that using these features is more like play than work. You can learn all sorts of things painlessly!
Our Story Time theme this session is wild animals. So I will be using the "World of Animals" feature to learn quick facts about the animal of the week. If our Children's Room was open, I would also have this feature open on the computers for the kids to explore before and after Story Time. One of these weeks I hope to do a demo for the Story Time parents and show them this site. I know the kids would enjoy looking at the pictures and videos.
When we have school classes visit the library, I show them the World Book Student. We look up topics that they are currently researching. I usually don't use the Special Features, but after exploring them today, I will remember to point them out to the kids. I had fun taking several trivia quizzes in the "Quizzes and Activities" section. I confess I did not do too well. Guess I don't know as much trivia as I thought! "Surf the Ages" was fun as well. The brief bits of information are a jumping off point for kids wanting to learn more about periods of history.
In the "E-Book Center" of World Book Advanced I looked up both of the assigned texts. I know ebooks are the wave of the future, but I prefer my fairy tales to have beautiful illustrations, which this ebook edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales did not have. I did like the fact that I could click right over to an article about Andersen and then go even further with articles about Denmark and Copenhagen.
For fun I perused some of the other titles available and found a book from my youth: The Adventures of Reddy Fox. My dad had a copy of this book when he was young, along with other Thornton W. Burgess titles. When my siblings and I learned to read, dad's old books were always available to us. So this blast from the past was a fun diversion. Unfortunately, the related article was less than helpful. It was a "back in time" article which was a list of children's books from 1960. Old Mother West Wind, by Burgess was listed way down in the article under New Editions of Old Favorites." That's all there was - no other information about the book or author. I actually went to WorldCat to see when Reddy Fox was first published (1913).
I'm not sure how I will use this with my patrons, but it's a feature I was unaware of previously. So I did learn something new today.
I wasn't sure I would enjoy World Book Discover "Reference Tools," but then I found the World Book Explains Videos. I spent quite a bit of time looking at different videos that answer all sorts of questions. (Can penguins fly? Who was the messiest president? Was there a point where the south could have won the American Civil War?....) I can see students using this feature to get answers to their questions - and maybe even answers to questions they didn't know they had!
So this is all for today. Tomorrow I will try to tackle World Book Public Library (in between sessions of Story Time).
But back to the business at hand: World Book Student Edition.
After exploring most of the special features in World Book Kids (looking at different animals, comparing states, playing several games, putting puzzles together), I have decided that using these features is more like play than work. You can learn all sorts of things painlessly!
Our Story Time theme this session is wild animals. So I will be using the "World of Animals" feature to learn quick facts about the animal of the week. If our Children's Room was open, I would also have this feature open on the computers for the kids to explore before and after Story Time. One of these weeks I hope to do a demo for the Story Time parents and show them this site. I know the kids would enjoy looking at the pictures and videos.
When we have school classes visit the library, I show them the World Book Student. We look up topics that they are currently researching. I usually don't use the Special Features, but after exploring them today, I will remember to point them out to the kids. I had fun taking several trivia quizzes in the "Quizzes and Activities" section. I confess I did not do too well. Guess I don't know as much trivia as I thought! "Surf the Ages" was fun as well. The brief bits of information are a jumping off point for kids wanting to learn more about periods of history.
In the "E-Book Center" of World Book Advanced I looked up both of the assigned texts. I know ebooks are the wave of the future, but I prefer my fairy tales to have beautiful illustrations, which this ebook edition of Andersen's Fairy Tales did not have. I did like the fact that I could click right over to an article about Andersen and then go even further with articles about Denmark and Copenhagen.
For fun I perused some of the other titles available and found a book from my youth: The Adventures of Reddy Fox. My dad had a copy of this book when he was young, along with other Thornton W. Burgess titles. When my siblings and I learned to read, dad's old books were always available to us. So this blast from the past was a fun diversion. Unfortunately, the related article was less than helpful. It was a "back in time" article which was a list of children's books from 1960. Old Mother West Wind, by Burgess was listed way down in the article under New Editions of Old Favorites." That's all there was - no other information about the book or author. I actually went to WorldCat to see when Reddy Fox was first published (1913).
I'm not sure how I will use this with my patrons, but it's a feature I was unaware of previously. So I did learn something new today.
I wasn't sure I would enjoy World Book Discover "Reference Tools," but then I found the World Book Explains Videos. I spent quite a bit of time looking at different videos that answer all sorts of questions. (Can penguins fly? Who was the messiest president? Was there a point where the south could have won the American Civil War?....) I can see students using this feature to get answers to their questions - and maybe even answers to questions they didn't know they had!
So this is all for today. Tomorrow I will try to tackle World Book Public Library (in between sessions of Story Time).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)