SIRS Discoverer/Issues Researcher

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss today!

SIRS Discoverer:
Scott Hamilton has always been my favorite Olympic athlete. From the moment I watched him win gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, I've admired him. Reading his biography on Discoverer just emphasized to me what a great athlete and person he is and the trials he has faced in becoming such an exceptional person. There were no photos or activities associated with Scott, so I did another search for Apolo Ohno. I spelled his first name wrong but last name correctly. Interestingly, Discoverer did not pick up on that and I got a "no results" message. I tried adding his middle name Anton and still no results. I finally Googled his name, discovered my error in spelling of his first name, went back to Discoverer and put it in correctly, then finally got results. That part seemed a little cumbersome. Maybe Discoverer will add a "did you mean..." like Google at some point. Anyway, I did not find a lot of biographical information about him, but there were plenty of headlines as well as some photos.

Since Chile and Haiti have been in earthquake news lately, I chose them for the second exercise here. I loved the country facts organizers for different age levels and that Discoverer gives lots of basic info about each country including maps and flags; just the kind of stuff the K-9 age group would need when writing a report about that country.

SIRS Researcher:
I chose bullying as my subject of interest for Researcher. I was impressed with the research tools section: timeline, global impact statistics, etc. I found the timeline to be especially sobering on this topic. Clicking on the topic overview link takes a user to a page that carries a lot of useful information as well, so clicking around and exploring all of the different links is important when using any database.

Having not used the curriculum pathfinders before, I found this to be a really neat tool. The stuff students have now, compared to when I was in grade and high school, is just mind boggling. Under the math heading, I noticed math careers. I chose to look closer at that because I was a math major in college. At the time I got my degree, I figured the only thing I could do with a math major was teach. Then I discovered that I really didn't like teaching middle and high school. That's another story, but if there had been more resources readily available like we now have online and in databases, I may have been more ambitious about researching what else I could do with a math major. These resources are great for grade and high school students, and even college age.

World Book

World Book has definitely evolved from the book version I knew as a kid. I've always enjoyed encyclopedias, but the online versions nowadays are so much more interactive with activities, games, videos, etc. There is actually quite a bit of difference between WB Kids and WB School edition. I searched for 'bear'. WB Kids gave me about four paragraphs of text, a few pics, some additional website referrals, and citiation info. WB Student, on the other hand, provided a lot more information, broken down into topic areas of a bear's life, bear's bodies, and the different kinds of bears.

WB Advanced Exercise: I think the type of info that is most valuable to a patron depends on what their purpose is for using the info. I picked England as my country to learn more about. If I were planning on vacationing there, I would be looking at information such as climate during certain times of the year, maps, facts in brief, food and drink, history, the Tower Bridge, Cliffs at Dover, etc. If I were planning on a job relocation to England, then I would be more interested in history, the people, the way of life, economy, education, religion and government structure. Anything in WB Advanced would be perfect for reports, no matter what age!

New Challenge

I'm signing up for the latest learning opportunity offered by the SD State Library, the Electronic Resources Edition Challenge http://sdlibrarychallenge.blogspot.com. I am planning to learn a lot more about the electronic resources so that I can use the information in my job as well as my own training sessions.

There comes a time...

Well, yes, there comes a time (or maybe an age) where one does some reflecting. I've been in that mood lately. Where would I be if I'd stayed...what would have happened if I'd done this instead of that...where would I be if I'd had the guts to...and if one doesn't like where they are now, what does one do to change it?

A great book that I read recently that seems to deal with the same type of issues is Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor. Both authors face roadblocks at different ages, and in alternating chapters, write about their struggles and their thoughts. It was a really fast read for me, and I really enjoyed it. It also spoke to me about the power of journaling, which I need to get back to doing on a regular basis.

Reference Question of the Day

Fun and timely as we in the midwest want to maximize the warm air flowing throughout our houses: which way is a ceiling fan supposed to spin during the winter?

I love these types of ref questions. You know the answer is out there and it is a matter of who can find it first. BTW...all of the sources we found said clockwise.

Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

As we celebrate another wonderful Christmas season with family and friends, remember that it isn't all about Santa and presents.

The greatest gift of all was the birth of Jesus. If you are so inclined, open up the Bible before you retire tonight and read the story yet again.

Books for Christmas

I always try to include a few books for Christmas gift giving. So far this year my list includes the following:

One Room Country School: South Dakota Stories by Charles L. Woodard and Norma C. Wilson

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: recipies from an accidental country girl by Ree Drummond

Librarian's night before Christmas by David Davis and Jim Harris (very cute book)

The raccoon and the bee tree by Charles Eastman


Give the gift of reading. What titles are you giving?