Week 8 & 9 - CAMIO & Ancestry Library

Finally I am in the library so I can complete the last parts of the challenge.

In CAMIO I searched for Dale Chihuly, who makes my favorite glass sculptures.  I see his work in many displays at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN.  It is so beautiful and it is hard to imagine blowing glass to look like this.  

I found three pieces of his work.  One is called "Cadmium yellow Persian set" and that is at the Cleveland Museum of Art at Cleveland OH.   Another is the "Emerald green cylinder" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC, and the third is the "Tabak basket group" at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo NY.  Of these three I like the Tabak Basket Group the best.

I find searching in Ancestry Library hard and tedious.  Maybe my attention span isn't long enough, but I get frustrated and don't want to look for more.  For this assignment I searched for people that I know about and should be able to find results.  I put in my Grandma's name and came up with the ND Census of 1925.  It shows my Grandpa, Grandma, four of my uncles and my Mom.  My Mom's name is Myrtle and it is spelled "Mertal".  Then, I looked in the 1940 US Census and Grandpa, Grandma and all seven children are listed.  I was also able to find Grandma's death date.  I really would like to find their marriage information.

The other night, Julie and I were searching for my Great aunt Nettie.  There is some confusion about her last name and Julie found her marriage certificate to her last husband with her previous name listed.  That was exciting.

Week 10 - Wrap Up

My biggest discovery is that I am more familiar with these electronic resources than I realized.  I use them for my college homework.  Instead of using the college's databases I head to the ones at the South Dakota State Library.

I  asked Julie Erickson to come to our library this summer for an Open House Training.  This will be in the newspaper and promoted by the library.  There are already people interested in attending.  Of course, there will be coffee and cookies, too!

I have to keep using and refreshing my memory concerning these electronic resources so I can tell our patrons what we have available.  And, I mention them in my monthly newspaper column.  But, until a person needs the information they don't always pay attention.

Thank you for providing this Electronic Resources Challenge.  I am glad I finally bit the bullet and took it.  It wasn't hard and it didn't take that much time to complete each challenge.

Week 9 - Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps

Since I am at home finishing this challenge, I am not able to access Ancestry Library.  But, I have spent some time there when I wasn't working at the library.  I would like to do more research on my family tree.

I haven't used Heritage Quest before and didn't realize how much material is available.  I searched the census records for my maternal Great-Grandfather on my Mom's Dad's side and found him in the 1900 census along with his wife, mother and children.  But, I already know quite a bit about him and his family so I moved on to searching for my great-aunt and could not find her.  Then, I tried my maternal Great-Great Grandmother on my Mom's Mom's side.  I found her in the 1880 census along with her parents, brothers and sisters.  She is one relative I don't know much about.  Below her family information I found more relatives.  I would like to spend more time on this site now that I know what is available.  That Great-Great Grandmother really has me questioning and looking for more information.

The Sanford maps are interesting but since nothing applied to our area of the state they didn't do me much good.  I chose Rapid City and am wondering if Julie Erickson can find her house on those maps.  It would have been fun if these maps had gone back to the early days of Harding County and a person could find out more about those times.

Week 8 - WorldCat, CAMIO

I use WorldCat a lot at work.  I use it for ILL that aren't available through the SDSL site and I use it for finding the Dewey number when I am cataloging.  It is a great database that provides a lot of information.

Searching can be done in many ways.  I searched for "Norwegian by Night" by Derek Miller.  This is the book I am reading right now.  There are 767 libraries worldwide with this item.  There are three libraries in South Dakota:  Brookings Public Library, Dakota Wesleyan University and Siouxland Library.  The call number is LC: PS3613.15337 and Dewey: 813/.6  The author has written several psychology books pertaining to youth.  There are several subjects and I chose "children of murder victims" fiction and there are 216 books on that subject.  This isn't something that I usually read and know I won't read any of these 216.

I was not able to access CAMIO from home.  I haven't been to this database before and see that it is OCLC's Catalog of Art Museum Images Online.  It looks very interesting and I will go into it at the library.  My favorite glass sculptor is Dale Chihuly, so I hope I can find out more about him and his work.

I am not sure about OAIster....

Week 7 - EBooks

I can remember using ebooks several years ago when my college textbook did not arrive in time.  I was very uncomfortable having to use the computer to read the book.  I couldn't carry it with me, if I left it for too long of a time it was gone and it may be checked out by someone else.  But, technology has come a long way since then.  I still don't like reading books on my computer or even my Nook, but I can adapt much easier.

I searched for "Technical Communications".  Apparently my last fall college class has either scarred me for life or I learned an incredible amount from that class. There were several ebooks listed and I found one that I will be going back to next fall.  It is "Speak with Confidence: Powerful Presentations that "Inform, Inspire and Persuade" by Dianna Daniels Booher.  The subjects are Public Speaking and Business Presentations.  The most relevant pages from this ebook refer to Speech, Visuals and Using Precise Technical words.  I opened this ebook in full text and it looks like an item I will be able to use next fall when I take the dreaded speech class.  I like how I can:  add to folder, print, email, save, cite, export, create note, get the permalink and bookmark.

I did another search for just "Speeches" and found several other ebooks that I know I will access.

Instead of searching for Western History I searched for South Dakota and came up with 123 results. Knowing more about Ebooks on EbscoHost will help me help the Harding County students when they come to the library looking for more information for History Day.  Our non-fiction section is sadly outdated and the students always think they have to have a book in hand for their research.

Week 6 – Gale Virtual Reference Library

This post may be a little confusing.  I worked on this database a few weeks ago and took notes in pencil all around the outside of the lesson.  I am so far behind in the challenge that I don’t want to take the time to redo it, so you will have to bear with me as I try to figure out what all the cryptic scribbles mean.  But, I do remember the database as being very interesting and informative.  And, you may wonder why I didn't post it when I first worked on it.  I thought that Lesson 6 was the next one, but after I had it researched I discovered that I had missed Lesson 5.  And…other things took over my life and I didn't get back to it.

I searched for “zinc in foods” and learned that a zinc deficiency has been associated with the development of ADHD.  That may be common knowledge, but it is something I didn't know.  Foods that are rich in zinc include seafood, liver, pine nuts, cashew nuts and whole grain cereals.  I am pretty sure that the majority of people do not get the required amount of these foods.

Then, I searched the Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer 2010 and put in “Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma” and came up with a disease disorder overview on Lymphoma.  I viewed the text and see there are other articles linked to these index terms.  The article can be translated, I can get it as a pdf or save the article. 

There are also several articles under the disease overview with drug overviews.   Some are experimental medicine.  One is “Edatrexate” which is similar to “Methotrexate”.  My husband took Methotrexate in 2001, during his first chemotherapy treatment.  This new drug sounds very promising.  “Leucovorin” is also mentioned for reducing side effects.  The second time he when through chemotherapy in 2003/2004,  he was given very high doses of Methotrexate with a Leucovorin rescue.  The Leucovorin pushes the Methotrexate out of a person’s system.  If there wasn't that rescue a person’s kidneys would be severely damaged from the Methotrexate.

Another drug overview is “Rituximab”, which is another chemotherapy drug he was given during 2001.  It is used as “Rituxan”.

Week 5 - Proquest

I have used Proquest a lot in my college studies.  It is a great source of factual information for my research.

For this assignment I looked up "Library Volunteers"...and found 56508 results.  So, I narrowed it down to Libraries AND volunteers and there were only 87 results.  That is more manageable.   I revisited an article that I used for one of my library science classes.  "Voluntarily Happy" by Gretchen Rubin, Good Housekeeping, Nov 2011.  I also found a review of one of my text books, "Managing Library Volunteers", 2nd edition by Preston Driggers and Eileen Dumas, ALA 2011.

I like being able to cite all the information that I find.

In Publications I searched for Libraries and there are 14 different publications.  9 are scholarly journals, 4 are trade journals and 1 is a magazine.

Week 4 - SIRS Issues Researcher and Discoverer

I don't follow direction very good so I looked up "Dogs" instead of armadillos.  I went to animals, then to pets and then to dogs.  Under the magazine section I found about "The Nose Knows" by Barbara Gowan. The article can be cited and it can be emailed.  When I went to graphics I found a cute article, "A Waggin Tail" and I learned that if a dog's tail wag is left biased the dog is nervous and if the tail wag is right biased the dog is happy.  I will have to check this one out on Lil' Guy...Auzzie's tail is really short.  In the newspaper section there is also an article in the NY Post about the dog's tail and what the wags mean.

The next place I went was the Database Features and checked out Country Facts.  I don't think there is any place to check out but Norway.  There is a very good selection of information with links to things like government type, vikings, etc.  There are additional resources for more information.

I was surprised to find out that there are over 3,000 detailed printable maps.  I checked the Norway map and found several maps that show the different military movements during WWII.  The Maps of the World section would be very handy for research.

In Database Features I looked at Olympics.  There are 178 articles, 64 newspapers, 41 magazine, 148 graphics, and 9 web find sites.  Graphics includes the photos from past Olympics.  But, there is good, current information in the magazines.

 In SIRS Issues Researcher I looked at the leading issues and chose Cursive writing.  There are pros/cons with 29 all sources types.  I heard on the radio this morning that with cursive not being taught in schools that the younger people won't be able to read old documents, old letters and many things that have to do with research and family tree.

Under research tools I looked at statistics and note organizer.  I think Note Organizer would be very handy for students doing research and a great place to keep track of a project.  The topic overview deals with Education Policy with pros/cons and essential questions.  There is a lot of information available and it also a person can do citations.

Curriculum pathfinder has an unbelievable amount of information available on math, science, social studies, language arts, fine arts and health.  I can see where this database would be very useful for students or anyone doing research.

Week 3 Learning Express Library

I have known about Learning Express Library for a long time, but haven't spent any time using this database. Even thought I may grumble about the "homework", I am glad I am finally taking the challenge.  The work isn't hard and it has opened my eyes up to what is really available.  So, as I try to answer this week's questions you may find me veering off course as I found things that were more for me.

I first went to the Adult Learning Center and discovered I could built my math skills, become a better reader, improve my writing, speaking and grammar and become a US citizen.  I think all of these would be great for anyone who has trouble with these areas.

Then, I went to the Career Center and prepare for an exam.  There were several to chose from and none of them were what I would be looking for.  But, I chose Culinary Arts and the practice exam with 115 questions.  I do a lot of cooking so figured I should know those answers.  But, even the practice exam was hard and it scored on several different parts...not just cooking.  It was very interesting to take this exam and I can see where these exams would help an adult or student prepare for the real exams.

In the Career Center I also went to Job Search and Workplace Skills.  The information on writing a resume was excellent.  I wish I would have had it last semester when I wrote my first resume. (Well, in reality I did have it, just didn't know it.)

My favorite was the College Center.  I found the Public Speaking - 20 simple lessons ebook.  It is a pdf and 196 pages long titled "Public speaking success in 20 minutes a day".  Since I will be taking public speaking in college next semester I know I will be coming back to this center for advice and help.

Week 2 - Chiltons & Mango

I looked up my 2006 Toyota Corolla LE and clicked on maintenance.  In order to find the complete schedule of maintenance I opened the "Full Chart" list for configuration at the scheduled maintenance intervals.  The Full Chart shows every maintenance that probably should have been done since 5000 miles! There are a lot of service needs at 30,000.  A lot are just inspect and others are replace.

The cabin air filter is to be replaced.  I think it was changed about then.  We had a horrible smell in the car and found out when we took the car to the dealer that mice had packed the cabin air filter full of grain and small pieces of cattle feed.  Before that time we hadn't heard of a cabin air filter...and it was replaced!

The drive shaft bolt is supposed to be tightened at 30,000 miles.  I don't know what the drive shaft bolt is.

Another inspection at 30,000 miles is the exhaust pipe and mountings.  This is a good idea.

It says there were three safety recalls for "certain" 2005-2008 Corollas all dating 2010.  I do remember having the replacement of an engine control module.  The recalls involved 1 - a technical recall; 2 - warranty and labor and 3 - dealer notification.

There is a lot of information about brakes.  I looked at brake fluid and the bleeding (something I have experience doing with our old farm truck!).  The illustrations and instructions are very detailed.

All of the facts and figures on the Chilton Library site would be very helpful when purchasing a used car or trying to repair a car.  We have an old Chilton book that covers our 1976 Mercedes Benz and I know it was used often.  But, with the online version we don't need a big bulky book.  This is a good resource for our library patrons.

In Mango I chose Norwegian (imagine that!).  I learned that it is spoken by 5 million speakers and spoken in Norway. (I am not one of the speakers!)  I chose people and lesson 1 "Who are you?".  It gave me the choice of conversational goals and grammar goals.  I am not sure if I will use Mango.  I don't do well with languages since there isn't anyone else that speaks Norwegian.  The translate feature uses Google Translate.  I use Google Translate with my Norwegian family and friends.  It isn't always a proper translation but it gives me the basic idea of what they are saying.  I do like it for translating from the source language of Norwegian to the target language of English.  There are many words that aren't taught, such as road signs, business signs, etc., and by translating this way I am able to find out what the signs are.  I hope that Mango is used by anyone who wants to learn a language especially since it is available for free from the SD State Library.

Week 1 - World Book

I looked for mammal in World Book Kids and was surprised to find out that an Armadillo is a mammal.  So, I am doing more research on Armadillo. It provides an appropriate amount of information for the ages of World Book Kids.  I like how it tells "How to Cite this Article".  It is never too early to learn to cite!  I can print, save, hear the text read aloud, email, translate to many languages and if I double click it will define a word.

In World Book Student there was more information on Armadillo with greater detail.  I didn't know that they host the bacterium that causes leprosy and that they are used for leprosy research.  This site provides the South Dakota Content Standards.

In World Book Advanced I had to look up Norway.  There are 276 articles, 3 primary sources, 4 ebooks, etc and all are very detailed with complete information.  I like how each section of each article can be printed.  While I was still in the Norway site I had to check out "The Scream" by Edvard Munch.  We stood on that bridge that shows in the painting.

And, in World Book Discover I looked up American Government.  Articles can be translated into many languages for patrons who are not good readers of English.  There are varied articles that apply to many parts of American Government.

And, my own use of World Book Discover is the Citation Builder.  I use it to cite in my college classes and love how easy it is to use.