Monday, March 12, 2012

Week 10 Wrap Up

Discovery Exercise

1.  What was your biggest discovery?
I enjoyed exploring the different areas at SD State Library's website. I was told that an hour a lesson would be plenty to finish the work. I really disagree with that estimate. I feel that 2-3 hours per lesson would be more accurate. Otherwise we really don't know what is in each area and therefore we wouldn't return to use it again.
2. How will you promote or use the resources with your patrons, colleagues or students?
I have already tried to promote Learning Express, World Book For Kids and Proquest. I have one person that is truly interested in Learning Express, but the usual answer that I get is that they are too busy to have me explain it to them. In other schools where I worked I frequently provided in-services to the teachers or students on the various databases. Later I would get questions or emails so I know that they were exploring them. I am not sure how to get around the very real concern of never having enough time.
Thanks for the opportunity to explore all the great databases at the SDSL!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Genealogy Ancestry HeritageQuest and Sanborn Maps

1. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be dead to be listed in AncestryLibrary and can frequently find useful information in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002. You may even find your marriage license. Search for your own name in AncestryLibrary and report the results.
I found my previous address in 1988, but it had an incorrect birthdate for me. When I used the feature "tell a little more about" and tried to put in my birthplace Huron, SD it came up with Huron, Pennington, USA. However Huron is in Beadle county. This brought up the previous correct address with incorrect birthdate. I tried adding my father's name, and again my father and mother's name. Neither of these brought up me.

2.  In AncestryLibrary, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census.  Report your findings.
I used my paternal grandfather and added my grandmother's name and it brought up a census report listing the names and ages of his children which were correct.
I also tried my father-in-law and got far more information on him, such as christening records, social security number, record of his grave, etc.


3.  In AncestryLibrary, perform a search under the "Photos and Maps" tab for "South Dakota" as the keyword.  Report your findings. 
I don't think that I am doing this correctly. I used my name and didn't find any correct information. But it did bring up a high school cheerleading yearbook photo of my cousin. Since I actually know what she looked like I can believe that this is really an old photo, but if you were trying to find out information that you didn't know how would you be sure that it was really about the person you were researching?


4. In HeritageQuest, there are over 28,000 family and local histories in their online historical books.  Search for a place or browse the publications.  Report back on something that interested you.
At first I tried Wisconsin places because that is where my grandfather was born. I quickly switched to Iroquois, SD because I grew up there and thought I might recognize some information. There was an interesting book that I could read page by page, but I did not find anything about Iroquois in it, without reading the entire book. The other 13 items appeared to have nothing to do with Iroquois, South Dakota.
Kingsbury, George W. [View Citation] [Table of Contents] [Page Numbers]
History of Dakota Territory
Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1915, 5625 pgs.


5. In Sanborn Maps, select South Dakota. Then select your town or a town with which you are familiar. Choose a date. Look at the first page containing the Index. Then navigate around the pages and see what you discover. Try to find a building on the map that is still in use today. Report your findings.
I chose Iroquois South Dakota and then switched to Huron, SD. I could find the railroad tracks, and the state fairgrounds which are both still there. I used a couple different years in my search.

ArchiveGrid and CAMIO

ArchiveGrid

Discovery Exercise Part 1
1. Type “Sitting Bull autograph card” in the search box, using the quotation marks. Click the link and read the description. What did you learn about Sitting Bull?
I pretty much knew the information that was here (not that I could have come up with the statements that were printed!) I see in the Notes section that there is a typo "was a Native American shaman and leader of the Hunpapa Sioux." They do spell Hunkpapa correctly later. I think what you are getting at is that even if we can't instantly access the photo we still get a lot of valuable facts that would help with research even if we don't go farther. Also because he was famous and had postcards he will show up in other people's papers. If you look at these materials you might find some unknown facts about Sitting Bull.
2. Do a search of your own. What results did you get? What institutions have the materials? What other observations can you make about this resource? I tried my maiden name and found 1 - 20 of 184. Then I limited it to my grandfather's complete name Emil Ernest Henkel and got
1 - 13 of 13. I then realized that I should have used quote marks because it brought up other people with variations of his name. This provided no results. There were mostly civil court documents, personal papers for other people, and two in German. I think that this would be a good site for the person who wants even small bits of information about their topic and is hoping to find starting points to where they can look for the primary source documents.
Next I searched the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (because I have recently read a young people's fiction book Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix with the author's research notes)
and it gave me an interesting account of the investigating commission.
 
CAMIO
Discovery Exercise Part 2

1. In the search box, type “Paul Revere” (quotation marks unnecessary). What items do you see made by the legendary Revolutionary War hero? Many beautiful serving pieces! He certainly spent the time to make his creations beautiful and not just utilitarian. My favorite was the salver. What is the difference between a sugar basket, bowl, or urn?
2. In the search box, type “Sioux” and blog about your results.
I found many interesting items. I especially like the photo titled 100% American/ sioux Mother and Child 100% Amer. I read the copyright information.
George Catlin certainly gave us a wonderful look into the past with his artwork.
3. Search for your favorite artist and blog about your results.
I tried Thomas Kinkade and Terry Redlin and got no results.
I used Gilbert Stuart and got 85 results but when I used Gilbert Stuart George Washington it brought up 10 results with the famous painting of Washington.
This is the actual painting that I was thinking of.

What other observations can you make?
I looked at many beautiful old photographs in the Mothers and Children section. One was particularly beautiful of a mother reading to her two small children. It would be fun to project this on the screen and have fourth and fifth grade students write about their earliest memories of someone reading to them.
5. CAMIO has a lot of potential for personalizing and presenting research. Do a search on a subject of your choice. Choose 3 or 4 favorites by checking the box to the left of the image number. Click "Add to Favorites" toward the top of the page under the number of results. Read the box that appears and click "OK." Then click "View Favorites" in the upper right of the screen. The left part of the screen allows you to view a slide show, move the images around, compare images, and create a webpage using these images. Try out these features and report your findings.
It was nice to be able to compare two images at a time.
Making a webpage and saving it in my photos would certainly make it easier to show my students rather than going through all the steps while they were waiting for me to find the art. I might use this as a springboard for discussion about the importance of reading and being able to read.
4. How would you and your community use this resource? It would be useful for the fifth grade class when they are studying the American Revolutionary War. 

WorldCat and More





1. We recommend using the Advanced Search screen for best search results. Click the “Advanced” tab on the toolbar 2nd to the top. In WorldCat, the right set of search boxes say “Keyword.” Click on the drop down menu to see other ways you can search.
2. Choose Title Phrase search, and click on the limiter (below the search boxes) “Books.” In the search box, type a book title. Note the number of results.
WorldCat results for: ti= "My Antonia" and dt= "bks" . (Save Search)
Records found: 445 (English: 351)
How many libraries worldwide have item #1?
Click the link. What is the top library?
Augustana College
3. Click into result #1 and look at the full record. What is the call number (class descriptor)?
 LC: PS3505.A87; Dewey: 813/.52
To see what else the author of your chosen book has written, click on the author's name.
Records 1 - 20 of 38
To see what else is available on that subject, click on a subject. What other information do you see?
There were no subjects listed for My Antonia. When I clicked on the other SD libraries I noticed that the only one that are working are the College and University libraries. The public libraries say that the file is not found. I think the reason is that it is The Early Novels and Stories so it is a collection. I tried the second record for My Antonia and for subject it gave me many more titles that I might like to read.

Discovery Exercise part 2

Discovery Exercise part 2
The OAIster (pronounced “oyster”) database is one of the few mostly full text databases in WorldCat. Choose OAIster from the dropdown menu next to “Search in database.” In the “Keyword” search box, select “Subject Phrase.” In the search box, type South Dakota. Select one of your results. Click on the link next to “Access.” Add to your Lesson 7 blog posting by writing about your findings and your impressions of this tool.
I enjoyed just reading the titles of what I could look at! I finally decided to try a Big Stone Lake photo, but it came up as an error, as did the second similar photo about someone's father near Big Stone, but my third choice was fabulous! It was Log Shanty with flag, woman and seven boys, possible South Dakota. If seeing that photo and your accompanying thoughts of how hard that woman had it trying to teach those children doesn't make you glad to be teaching now, nothing will.
I might be hooked because I have to go back to see what else is there.

Take a look at other participant's blogs and see how their experiences compared with yours.
I searched several but only a couple had completed this assignment. The first one that I looked at had also accessed the Log Shanty photo.

When I tried to save the first part of this blog entry last night I got an error message, so I hope that it will work today. Here goes!
Well, now I am really confused. After an hour of trying different things I see that last night's entry has posted and now I will see if this will publish.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

EBooks on EbscoHost

1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.
I used Children's Literature and got 155 results.
I read parts of Informational Picture Books for Children the illustrations were not included
Quizzes for 220 Great Children's Books
Children of the Civil War
Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a  Book Club
Wildlife Watching with Charles EastmanThe reason that I would continue to use ebooks is so that I could preview them to see whether I would want to purchase them. I guess I still like holding the book best of all. However the ebook would be great to print the quizz for the student reading a specific book or you could even have them type the answers on the sheet to email to you.  The Children of the Civil War and Wildlife Watching with Charles Eastman would both be great so that you could project them with the LCD projector and all students could see everything together. You could also use the note feature and dictionary for whole class instruction this way.

2. Constitution Day is looming and several students need more material. Search EBooks on EbscoHost and recommend some appropriate titles.
I searched for a long time but never found anything that would be appropriate for the K-5 grades that I teach. I used US Constitution and just Constitution with different results. US Constitution was better.
3. A class is doing projects on Western history. They have exhausted the library's print collection. In EBooks on EbscoHost, click "Advanced Search." In the "Select a Field" box, choose "PB Publisher." In the search box, type "Nebraska" or "Oklahoma." Report your findings.
Again, I searched for a long time but never found anything that would be appropriate for the K-5 grades that I teach. I used Nebraska for a search term.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

A patron asks, “What foods have zinc in them?” You scratch your head. Your reference collection is small and outdated. Where do you turn?


A student needs literary criticism of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He’s getting a late start on his project, and all the usual materials are already checked out. You go to a reference book only to discover that the desired pages have been torn out. Plus, kids really prefer online information. Where do you look?

1. Getting to know the titles in GVRL is similar to getting to know the titles of your library's reference collection. Click "Title List" on the upper right to view all the titles available in the collection. Click a book title of interest to you and access an article via the table of contents. Notice with the multi-volume titles, you can select which volume you look at. Discuss the title you selected and how you may use it.
This is kind of exhausting. I looked up Education and then chose the Scholarships, Fellowships and Loans Material. From here I used library 95 hits, children's librarian 1 hit, then various forms of librarian, school library media specialist, library media specialist, etc. These were not successful.2. At the top of the page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.
Used Zinc Showing 1-20 of 405
Search within results using foods Showing 1-20 of 106
I chose Mineral Deficiency and used foods rich in zinc to receive 9 results. I use the third choice which discussed Macular Degeneration. In this article is had a long list of foods to eat in order to combat zinc deficiency.
A student needs literary criticism of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Showing 1-20 of 26
I read one and it ended with a list of sources including a url for "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000," American Library Association.
Test the "Listen" feature.
The computer voice was pretty clear except when it would come to a red highlighted phrase. Then it was like the voice had something in her throat or a double voice was talking. I guess I just don't like computer voices.


3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants' blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.
I read Hopeless and Library Challenge 2. Library Challenge 2 also did not like the listen feature.

Proquest

Discovery Exercise
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Proquest. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.
1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.
1) searched for ebooks 4243 results
2) searched for ebooks for children 756 results
I read several articles and then sorted for publication date because I noticed that several articles were quite old-2001 for instance. I think this helped me to find more relevant information for my purposes.
1.a. See what your Challenge cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Challenge blog, read that person's post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each other's blogs throughout the Challenge as you learn together.
I read several different blogs and the first one turned out to be a co-worker. I hadn't even realized that they were taking this course. I left a comment for them.

2. Click the Publications tab at the top of the page. You will see an alphabetical list of the periodicals indexed in Proquest and the years included. Notice that this list is "Full text only." Do a search for a journal in your profession by typing a title or keyword in the search box. Report your findings and observations.
Used title search.
I searched for elementary school library media specialist periodicals-none.
I searched for school library media specialist periodicals-none.
I searched for library media specialist periodicals-none.
Then I changed to summary followed by publication summary, each produced some of the same results but also different periodicals. So I should try each limiter. I also noticed that I should be less specific to see what is available before limiting to exactly what I want or I might miss some things that I can use.
A strategy to remember is go from broad to narrow when searching.
I also noticed that the periodical issues are delayed one year. That seems fair, but next year our periodical budget will be eliminated so our patrons will not really have the most recent issues available to them.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012


SIRS Discoverer
1. Look up armadillos (or your favorite animals) and discuss the results. Note if you find pictures and the various reading levels of the articles. (Remember, articles in SIRS Discoverer are selected, so you may not find something from yesterday's news.)
This was fun! I like that SIRS brings up all articles in its first icon but then sorts them out into newspapers, graphics, etc. I thought that the armadillos rolled into a ball would be great fun to show on a large screen and allow the children to guess what it is. I have grades 5 and under and all of them would enjoy guessing what it was. The reading level of the article is very important too, especially with the younger or struggling readers. The citation information at the end is wonderful because HS students still struggle to record the information correctly so younger children really don't understand how.2. Some of the most useful features in SIRS Discoverer are the "Database Features" located on the right hand side of the window. Explore this section by:
  • selecting a country in "Country Facts" and noting the information located there. I used the United States. I think that it would be way more fun to project this information using the LCD projector rather than trying to have children look thing up in the Almanac. It also gave three different levels of graphic organizers for students to fill in the information that they found.
  • selecting a map in "Maps of the World" and discussing a potential use. The historical maps and the ability to print a PDF of them would be a good feature when discussing the American Revolution. I really liked the outline map PDF especially since you can copy and cut just a portion of the map, if necessary.
  • selecting one other area in "Database Features" and discuss the information located there. I chose biographies because the Fourth Grade students are researching them right now. I liked the photographs of the people that I looked up. This would be great because it is too hard to photocopy an encyclopedia photo.  I also looked up fiction and the poetry section would work well to print a poem and have the children illustrate the poem. I thought Garden Salad and A Potato Has Eyes would be fun for the children. The bonus is that all the copyright information is already listed with the poem. This way children can see that we give credit when we use information.
  • Garden SaladView Subject(s)This article is fiction.
    Christian Science Monitor; Oct. 14, 2008; Lexile Score: 1420; 1K.
    Summary: A poem about a garden is presented.
    Descriptors: Children's poetry, Gardens, Salads
    Moderate Reading - View Source & SummaryA Potato Has EyesView Subject(s)This article contains an activity.This article is fiction.
    Christian Science Monitor; Jan. 9, 2008; Lexile Score: 540; 1K.
    Summary: A poem for kids is presented.
    Descriptors: Children's poetry



LOS ANGELES TIMES
(Los Angeles, CA)
June 16, 2002, p. E5 © 2002, Los Angeles Times. Reprinted by permission. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

The Food With No Name

is a humorous story that the students would enjoy reading and then writing a short story using their own imaginations to make up a new food and its name.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Learning Express



2.12.2012
Learning Express, the SD State Library provides a 2-page handout, and Learning Express provides a tutorial.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog post discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Learning Express Library.  All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1.  Set-up an account in Learning Express and browse through the available exams. 

2.  Choose one and answer a few questions. Then click "Score my test" in the top toolbar. Ignore the warnings and continue to have your test scored, so that you can see how the diagnostic page looks. Then click "View Answers" at the bottom of the page. What did you think about this test experience?
I have used this testing site before in other schools where I worked. The teachers were very interested in using it, particularly since it grades immediately, has the reasoning behind why each answer is correct, and which skill the student is using. I knew that I liked it, but I have fallen out of practice in recommending it to other teachers. I intend to show the Fourth and Fifth Grade teachers this important test practice site.

3.  Job searching and resume writing are among the self-paced courses in Learning Express.  Click on the "Job Search and Workplace Skills" learning center and add one of the courses to your center.  Take a few minutes to explore the course and note your observations.
I chose the TOEIC Practice Test. It was grueling! I am glad that I have always spoken English or I don’t think that I would have been able to pass this test! I wish that they would break the test into smaller parts. Fatigue must play a huge part in whether the people pass the real test or not. I think that I will tell the Literacy Network about this test so that they can use it when they are helping ELL clients learn to read.
4. Type a search term in the search box in the upper left of the home page for a skills improvement or career topic in which you are interested. Notice that results are sorted by tests, courses and eBooks (if all of those are available for your chosen topic). Please select an eBook and look through its pages.
I took time out to email two of my sons about an ebook that may be of interest to them. I also enjoyed skimming through a book about vocabulary.
OR
From the home page, bottom right, click the link for eBooks. The list will open in a new window. Browse the titles and take a look at one that interests you.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about World Book School Edition.

1. Using World Book Kids, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.
This would work very well for the young children. I think that they would enjoy the great photographs and short articles.

2. Using World Book Student, search for information on the same mammal you searched in World Book Kids and compare the amount of information.
There is a lot more information here. I felt that the aardvark photo wasn't as good as the Kids edition.

3. Using World Book Advanced, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the left and right side bars of the first results screen. Click on the link for your desired country, and again notice the types of information on the left and right side bars of the screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?
The maps would be very helpful to my students. The information would be too difficult for some of my fifth grade students, though. I only have K-5 students.

4. Using World Book Discover, use the browse function on the right side of the screen to find an article about American government. Notice the features on the article page. How will World Book Discover help your patrons who are not good readers of English?                                                                           I like the double click dictionary. I do not like the computer reading voice, though. I think it would make ELLs have a harder time understanding the information.

Discovery ExerciseCreate a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about World Book Foreign Language Edition.

1.  Check out the visual dictionary in either language and look for an animal.  Discuss how this could be used in your library.
I used dog and got two articles, one was Elvis Presley and the other appeared to be an article about English as a second language in school. Then I used dogs with no better luck. I cut and pasted the word astronaut from the first article so that it was written in Spanish. This produced several articles about people who were astronauts.
2.  In the Spanish language encyclopedia, Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos, look up an article and listen to it being read aloud.  How could this feature be useful for your library?
This was much easier to understand than the English version in the other World Book editions, even though I don't speak English. This could possibly be used in our Spanish Club after school but the children don't know enough Spanish words yet.