Great wrap-up, ERC's! Way to highlight all of the extra goodies on the SDSL website. Librarians don't need to create handouts, etc, because you guys have done it all for them!
I would have to say my biggest discovery were the resources that I have not used before (ArchiveGrid and CAMIO) and also being able to get a little more practice with the Gale Virtual Reference Library. I think sometimes patrons get so overwhelmed with the number of databases out there that it's hard to remember what there is to search. If I can't find it here, then I can always try there. I can only imagine the number of databases large academic librarians have to keep track of. I think the SDSL offers a good number of databases covering a nice variety of areas.
I've already had a chance to plug Learning Express Library to a patron, and am planning on plugging the rest of the databases covered in the challenge and more when I visit the Capital University Center classes this fall. When I give an overall presentation to state agency employees, I include a large variety of our databases to highlight. Even though state employees may not necessarily use World Book or Learning Express in their daily jobs, I can usually catch their interest when I ask if they've got kids in grade school, high school, or college. There really is something for everyone.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Ancestry etc.
1. I found myself via my maiden name in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, but I do not exist in the census records via maiden or married names.
2. Found my paternal grandfather in the death index and right underneath that was the record of my grandparents marriage, so that was cool. I made a copy for my dad.
3. Lots of neat digitized images of people, places, and pages from books that mention South Dakota
4. It took a while of playing around, but I finally got some interesting hits when I did a search for Fort Pierre in the places section. Doane Robinson's encyclopedia of South Dakota as well as his A brief history of South Dakota are both full text in Heritage Quest.
5. I am starting to recognize some of the old buildings in Pierre, but probably not enough to pinpoint what they are now to what they were back in 1884. On one of the 1927 Pierre maps, the HWY 14/34 bridge that now crosses the river next to the railroad bridge was called the Wagaon Bridge. It is interesting to see how cities grow over the years by starting with the first year available and then checking the last year available. When I worked at RC Public Library, we had a lot of people come in to look at the Deadwood Sanborn maps as they were researching historic preservation areas and the old Chinese laundry buildings.
2. Found my paternal grandfather in the death index and right underneath that was the record of my grandparents marriage, so that was cool. I made a copy for my dad.
3. Lots of neat digitized images of people, places, and pages from books that mention South Dakota
4. It took a while of playing around, but I finally got some interesting hits when I did a search for Fort Pierre in the places section. Doane Robinson's encyclopedia of South Dakota as well as his A brief history of South Dakota are both full text in Heritage Quest.
5. I am starting to recognize some of the old buildings in Pierre, but probably not enough to pinpoint what they are now to what they were back in 1884. On one of the 1927 Pierre maps, the HWY 14/34 bridge that now crosses the river next to the railroad bridge was called the Wagaon Bridge. It is interesting to see how cities grow over the years by starting with the first year available and then checking the last year available. When I worked at RC Public Library, we had a lot of people come in to look at the Deadwood Sanborn maps as they were researching historic preservation areas and the old Chinese laundry buildings.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Learning Express Library
This database is one I've used a lot and I think it is one of the most amazing resources around. People are always floored to hear of the variety of tests, learning activities, and skill building Learning Express offers. I actually had a few tests already set up for myself, as I was using them for training purposes. As I was continuing one of the math tests I started a while back for this activity, I was thinking how useful this database would also be for those who just want to give their brains some exercise. The push is to keep brains active to fight off alzheimers, so this would be a great resource. I play Brain Games on the Nintendo DS at home to keep from becoming a slug, but LEX tests would work for that too. It is nice that the results give one not just the correct answer, but also an explanation or detailed diagram of how the correct answer was calculated.
Ebooks - Back in one of those "what do I want to do with my life" times, I thought about doing a major career switch and going into real estate. I still think it would have been fun for a variety of reasons. The info in Learning Express ebooks would have been useful to me at that time. Books with info on why choose a real estate career, do you have what it takes, educational preparation required, how much it would cost someone starting out etc are very valuable to someone looking into this field. Read the books in the ebook section, then practice the exams in the jobs and careers section, and you'll get a really good idea if real estate is a career option.
Ebooks - Back in one of those "what do I want to do with my life" times, I thought about doing a major career switch and going into real estate. I still think it would have been fun for a variety of reasons. The info in Learning Express ebooks would have been useful to me at that time. Books with info on why choose a real estate career, do you have what it takes, educational preparation required, how much it would cost someone starting out etc are very valuable to someone looking into this field. Read the books in the ebook section, then practice the exams in the jobs and careers section, and you'll get a really good idea if real estate is a career option.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
ArchiveGrid & CAMIO
I have not had a chance to play with either of these resources, so this challenge has definitely paid off. What a neat resource ArchiveGrid is. Although the majority of the items found in it I'm sure are not available for ILL, just the knowledge that they exist will be a boon for the genealogy folks. A number of genealogists are retired and plan their travels around searching for family history, so having a resource like ArchiveGrid will assist them in planning those research vacations. The summary on Sitting Bull hits the high points. I've actually read quite a few books on Native Americans and SD history, so the info was not new to me.
Out of curiosity, I typed in Verendrye, then Verendrye National, and Verendrye Plate to see if the Cultural Heritage Center would show up in any of the results. Alas, not so. However, I did learn that ND and Fort Pierre both claim a Verendrye National Monument. The State Historical Society of ND lists a Pierre la Verendrye in their record information, while the City of Fort Pierre lists the names Chevalier and Louis la Verendrye as the brothers who buried the plate. Different explorers from the same family? Good stuff! I'll have to go visit the Heritage Center now and look at the plate.
CAMIO: This would be a great resource to push to educators for student projects. Who knew Paul Revere made things like tea urns and sugar bowls? I certainly did not! It is things like this that would put a research paper or project over the top as far as information and effort. When I present to CUC English classes this fall, I am going to use this.
More than paintings, I enjoy looking at the Sioux items like beaded dresses, pipe bags, bowls etc. Amazing how resourceful these people were using every part of the buffalo that they harvested. Unfortunately, I'm not very artsy, so I don't have a favorite artist. I do, however, have a wonderful painting of Mt. Rushmore done by Del Iron Cloud. Del incorporates a lot of Native American icons like wolves, buffalo, dream catchers etc into his paintings, but you have to look closely at the painting to find them. CAMIO did not have any results for Del.
For #5 exercise, I did a search using just Arizona. I love art from the southwest, and found some great images of pottery and kachina dolls. If I were a student doing a report, picking a few of these, adding them to favorites, and creating a slideshow would add so much to the presentation. The images are very vivid and one can see the cracks in some of the pottery. Further, you've got the information as to when the item was created and some history of the creators and their culture. Neat resource.
Out of curiosity, I typed in Verendrye, then Verendrye National, and Verendrye Plate to see if the Cultural Heritage Center would show up in any of the results. Alas, not so. However, I did learn that ND and Fort Pierre both claim a Verendrye National Monument. The State Historical Society of ND lists a Pierre la Verendrye in their record information, while the City of Fort Pierre lists the names Chevalier and Louis la Verendrye as the brothers who buried the plate. Different explorers from the same family? Good stuff! I'll have to go visit the Heritage Center now and look at the plate.
CAMIO: This would be a great resource to push to educators for student projects. Who knew Paul Revere made things like tea urns and sugar bowls? I certainly did not! It is things like this that would put a research paper or project over the top as far as information and effort. When I present to CUC English classes this fall, I am going to use this.
More than paintings, I enjoy looking at the Sioux items like beaded dresses, pipe bags, bowls etc. Amazing how resourceful these people were using every part of the buffalo that they harvested. Unfortunately, I'm not very artsy, so I don't have a favorite artist. I do, however, have a wonderful painting of Mt. Rushmore done by Del Iron Cloud. Del incorporates a lot of Native American icons like wolves, buffalo, dream catchers etc into his paintings, but you have to look closely at the painting to find them. CAMIO did not have any results for Del.
For #5 exercise, I did a search using just Arizona. I love art from the southwest, and found some great images of pottery and kachina dolls. If I were a student doing a report, picking a few of these, adding them to favorites, and creating a slideshow would add so much to the presentation. The images are very vivid and one can see the cracks in some of the pottery. Further, you've got the information as to when the item was created and some history of the creators and their culture. Neat resource.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
WorldCat
Exercise #1: Title The great eight
- three records found
- libraries worldwide that own #1 - 621
- top library - Mitchell Public Library (SD) - I like that WC puts regional libraries that own titles at the top of the list. Makes ILL much easier.
- call number - LC: BF575.H27 Dewey: 158 or 796.912092
The record contains a plethora of info that is useful to a cataloger. In addition to call number, there is OCLC (accession) and ISBN numbers, contents, description, year of publication or copyright, full title, author, publisher, and more. I noticed that some terms are used differently. For example, back when I started cataloging, an accession number was the number one physically stamped in the book for library records. Thank goodness most libraries have done away with this practice! In the record, accession number refers to the OCLC number. Also, I found the call number choices interesting. My first thought when I picked up the book (which I am currently reading) is that it is more biographical. Then again, it could also go into the sports section as a memoir of an ice skating legend. The book does deal with psychological issues, but that would probably be my last choice. That's the beauty of an online catalog. You can see where other libraries put a book, and use that info when you catalog it for your library.
Exercise #2: OAIster
WorldCat has a lot of neat stuff. The hardest part for me would be to remember all of the databases that can be used and to actually go in and use them! I liked the idea that the OAIster database includes things that might be considered out of the ordinary such as theses, research papers and image collections. More resources to make research and writing easier and more widespread than just getting a book from the library, as I used to do.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
NetLibrary
Discovery exercise #1. I was pleasantly surprised at how many full-text titles (581) NetLibrary carries on a South Dakota history search. I redid my search using quotations around my keywords and that did limit my hits to 42, but still a good number of full-text offerings! A lot of the titles are actually referenced in the South Dakota history magazine, but still relevant to my search.
Exercise #2. I think one of the very best things about NetLibrary is the fact that one can view the entire contents of the book, just as if you were picking it up off the shelf and viewing the table of contents. This is very useful for anyone working on a research project for a class. Even better is that you can search the eContent, eliminating the 'old way' of trying to figure out which chapter might include the info you need, then having to skim the entire chapter. So, for this exercise, I looked at the table of contents of my book choices and liked the subject matter from The ultimate New York body plan. I also like the fact that the author states he's not big into encouraging people to go under the knife to make themselves look better. Work with what God gave you.
Exercise #3. I got 83 hits with my Oklahoma publisher search. Number 41 was The Rapid City Indian school, 1898-1933. Might be worth a glance. Out of curiosity, I went back and added western as a keyword, which narrowed things down to 10. I'm not a person to read an entire book online. In fact, some of the titles I ran across in these exercises prompted me to find the physical book to check out. However, for research, quick info, and for those who do like to read entire books online, NetLibrary is the ticket.
Exercise #2. I think one of the very best things about NetLibrary is the fact that one can view the entire contents of the book, just as if you were picking it up off the shelf and viewing the table of contents. This is very useful for anyone working on a research project for a class. Even better is that you can search the eContent, eliminating the 'old way' of trying to figure out which chapter might include the info you need, then having to skim the entire chapter. So, for this exercise, I looked at the table of contents of my book choices and liked the subject matter from The ultimate New York body plan. I also like the fact that the author states he's not big into encouraging people to go under the knife to make themselves look better. Work with what God gave you.
Exercise #3. I got 83 hits with my Oklahoma publisher search. Number 41 was The Rapid City Indian school, 1898-1933. Might be worth a glance. Out of curiosity, I went back and added western as a keyword, which narrowed things down to 10. I'm not a person to read an entire book online. In fact, some of the titles I ran across in these exercises prompted me to find the physical book to check out. However, for research, quick info, and for those who do like to read entire books online, NetLibrary is the ticket.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Book title: WWII reference library
Search for: atomic bomb, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki
I'm thinking I assume too much, because I just figured that there would be a chapter or section that talked solely about the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I checked the first two volumes with no luck, then the primary sources. I finally had to utilize the cumulative index to pinpoint where I could find info on this topic. I then backtracked to the main article in the second volume called "The defeat of Japan", then "The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". A little cumbersome, but good experience to figure out how to get to the information, and a great resource for history projects.
I actually decided to use the zinc exercise for part 2 because my gut reaction to finding the answer to this was to go right to the medicine section and choose the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. When that did not pan out, I backed up to the basic search, tried 'foods with zinc', and still did not get results I wanted. So, I went with 'zinc' and the first artice from the Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health (which would not have been one I chose to search in) provided the information to answer this question and make me feel slightly guilty that I don't eat more meat. However, I do try to eat yogurt every day, so hopefully that will balance things out. The ReadSpeaker was very pleasant and conversational, not choppy and robotic like I've heard some other read features.
Search for: atomic bomb, Hiroshima, or Nagasaki
I'm thinking I assume too much, because I just figured that there would be a chapter or section that talked solely about the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I checked the first two volumes with no luck, then the primary sources. I finally had to utilize the cumulative index to pinpoint where I could find info on this topic. I then backtracked to the main article in the second volume called "The defeat of Japan", then "The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki". A little cumbersome, but good experience to figure out how to get to the information, and a great resource for history projects.
I actually decided to use the zinc exercise for part 2 because my gut reaction to finding the answer to this was to go right to the medicine section and choose the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. When that did not pan out, I backed up to the basic search, tried 'foods with zinc', and still did not get results I wanted. So, I went with 'zinc' and the first artice from the Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health (which would not have been one I chose to search in) provided the information to answer this question and make me feel slightly guilty that I don't eat more meat. However, I do try to eat yogurt every day, so hopefully that will balance things out. The ReadSpeaker was very pleasant and conversational, not choppy and robotic like I've heard some other read features.
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