Well, I made it through, my mind is over loaded with information, and it's going to take a while to sort it all through. But now I have a notebook full of resources, papers and lots of notes to help when a patron comes in and asks: "Do you have...?"
With the limited books here, I now have a wealth of information at my fingertips! I think the biggest discovery has been the Ancestry Library with it's huge amount of information available.
It's going to take some time, but promoting this is going to be fun. Perhaps taking the puzzle and blowing up the pieces, cut them out, mount them on cardboard and make a display here might help patrons see what there is and ask questions. This is going to be a great selling point for our library to our Town Board for them to realize the need for the library here.
Kudos to the State Library for putting this Challenge together!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Lesson 9-History and Genealogy
Well, I'm hooked!!!
Ancestry Library is going to be the best resource for this library/museum. During the summer especially, I get requests from people looking for their ancestors in this area, and with a lack of books on hand, I can turn to Ancestry Library to help them find what they seek. I was able to find information I didn't have on my Great Grandparents!! If there ever was a way to get addicted, both my husband and I are on Ancestry Library. Whew, what a great resource to have available. The photos are amazing to access and what a valuable historical resource to have.
Heritage Quest is not as detailed as Ancestry Library, but nevertheless, it was amazing to move around and search through.
Sanborn Maps was lots of fun, though I was disappointed in the limits of the town available in SD. For years, my mother's grandparents had a laundry in Brookings and I was able to find it on the map of Brookings, how fun!
All in all these three Electronic Resources are about the best there are. Being able to access these will help me answer requests for ancestry research here at the library/museum. We received a letter from a man in Norway, about a year ago, searching out his ancestors in our county and with the limited books, I was not able to find very much. I (am ashamed to say) did forget about this source, but now that it is under my nose, I definitely will remember these are available.
Guess where my "spare" time will be spent now!!
Ancestry Library is going to be the best resource for this library/museum. During the summer especially, I get requests from people looking for their ancestors in this area, and with a lack of books on hand, I can turn to Ancestry Library to help them find what they seek. I was able to find information I didn't have on my Great Grandparents!! If there ever was a way to get addicted, both my husband and I are on Ancestry Library. Whew, what a great resource to have available. The photos are amazing to access and what a valuable historical resource to have.
Heritage Quest is not as detailed as Ancestry Library, but nevertheless, it was amazing to move around and search through.
Sanborn Maps was lots of fun, though I was disappointed in the limits of the town available in SD. For years, my mother's grandparents had a laundry in Brookings and I was able to find it on the map of Brookings, how fun!
All in all these three Electronic Resources are about the best there are. Being able to access these will help me answer requests for ancestry research here at the library/museum. We received a letter from a man in Norway, about a year ago, searching out his ancestors in our county and with the limited books, I was not able to find very much. I (am ashamed to say) did forget about this source, but now that it is under my nose, I definitely will remember these are available.
Guess where my "spare" time will be spent now!!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Lesson 8- Learning Express Library
Well, I found out if I ever loose this job, I can work in the Post Office!! Passed those tests with flying colors!
This is going to be great resource for students, especially ones who have dropped out of high school and want to get their GED. In a small town like ours, there are no other places for them to pre-test or even see what some of the tests look like. I was very impressed with the "E-books" section, where-by not only students, but adults, can read what it takes to become a Police person for example. This is one of the best resources for our area I can think of!! A huge thank you to the State Library for providing this site for us :-)
This is going to be great resource for students, especially ones who have dropped out of high school and want to get their GED. In a small town like ours, there are no other places for them to pre-test or even see what some of the tests look like. I was very impressed with the "E-books" section, where-by not only students, but adults, can read what it takes to become a Police person for example. This is one of the best resources for our area I can think of!! A huge thank you to the State Library for providing this site for us :-)
Lesson 7- CAMIO
What a resource!! For a small town like ours, where there is no available places to view famous anything, this web-site is going to be great for students, if anything just to show them what is available.
I didn't know Paul Revere produced so many items, he apparently enjoyed working with silver. The items found in Sioux completely fascinated me, I have always had a love of American Indian art.
Because of my love of old quilts, I checked out Quilts and found the most gorgeous pictures of old quilts. The are the most beautiful ones I have ever seen! How proud our great grandmothers must have been when they were finished with such works of art. It was fun to put them into a slide show and see some side by side. I'm still not sure how to do the web page, will have to keep working on that one.
I didn't know Paul Revere produced so many items, he apparently enjoyed working with silver. The items found in Sioux completely fascinated me, I have always had a love of American Indian art.
Because of my love of old quilts, I checked out Quilts and found the most gorgeous pictures of old quilts. The are the most beautiful ones I have ever seen! How proud our great grandmothers must have been when they were finished with such works of art. It was fun to put them into a slide show and see some side by side. I'm still not sure how to do the web page, will have to keep working on that one.
Lesson 7- ArchiveGrid and CAMIO
It's going to take some getting used to, but I like the ArchiveGrid. This is going to be a fantastic resource for students working on history papers and teachers wanting extra resources for their teaching history. I tried Sitting Bull autograph card and found it quite fascinating. Then I tried Mount Rushmore and found lots of access to papers and photos. This is such a "fun" place, I could still be playing around with it!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Lesson 6- WorldCat and More FirstSearch Indexes
I use WorldCat quite a bit for my cataloging needs as I do not have access to bound cataloging books. If I can't find a book in SDLN, I turn to WorldCat for my resource.
As the search in OAIster, I am totally wowed!! I found a picture of Ada schoolhouse and congregation, an old settlement in our county: Ada schoolhouse and congregation Author: Frank L. Moore Photographs Publication: 1923-05-23 In: Amistad Research Center (http://www.tulane.edu/~amistad/) Resource Type: image; Data Contributor: LOUISiana Digital Library (LDL);
I couldn't believe the titles in the OAIster!! I could still be looking at articles, but then I wouldn't get the rest of the assignments finished, and I'm behind as it is :-)
As the search in OAIster, I am totally wowed!! I found a picture of Ada schoolhouse and congregation, an old settlement in our county: Ada schoolhouse and congregation Author: Frank L. Moore Photographs Publication: 1923-05-23 In: Amistad Research Center (http://www.tulane.edu/~amistad/) Resource Type: image; Data Contributor: LOUISiana Digital Library (LDL);
I couldn't believe the titles in the OAIster!! I could still be looking at articles, but then I wouldn't get the rest of the assignments finished, and I'm behind as it is :-)
Lesson 5 NetLibrary
Crafts is my interest of choice and wow, did I find plenty to choose from! I found "Crafts From Your Favorite Fairy Tales" by Kathy Ross. This will be a fun book to use for future story time and to show the day care lady who is always looking for something different. This NetLibrary will be an exciting site to share!! I love the fact that one can print out the articles too.
Fitness: if you are a fitness guru (I try, but have failed miserably) there are numerouse books available for your references. The "Complete Idiot's Guide to Fitness" by Claire Walter is quite a resource for the beginner who wants to get in shape to wear that new swimsuit this summer! The fact that pages can be printed for reference is a great feature.
Using "Nebraska" as a search for Western history produced some fascinating books. Being able to click on the numbers to bring up the notes is a nice feature for students doing a research paper and to print anything needed is great. I get questions from young students on numerous subjects for simple research papers on a variety of subjects from raising chickens to training dogs and the NetLibrary is going to be the best resource for me!
Fitness: if you are a fitness guru (I try, but have failed miserably) there are numerouse books available for your references. The "Complete Idiot's Guide to Fitness" by Claire Walter is quite a resource for the beginner who wants to get in shape to wear that new swimsuit this summer! The fact that pages can be printed for reference is a great feature.
Using "Nebraska" as a search for Western history produced some fascinating books. Being able to click on the numbers to bring up the notes is a nice feature for students doing a research paper and to print anything needed is great. I get questions from young students on numerous subjects for simple research papers on a variety of subjects from raising chickens to training dogs and the NetLibrary is going to be the best resource for me!
Lesson 4- Gale Reference Library
I chose history, then the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln as my subject search. We have just received a We the People Bookshelf Grant "A More Perfect Union" from ALA and I am looking for more resources to present programming on the subject. These resources can be used to help encourage students to check out the books we received and I can use Gale Reference Library to give them more information, especially to the students who are currently studying American history. What a great resource for our library because we have very few non-fiction books, particularly for the young students.
I typed in Civil Right Movement as that is prt of the We the People Bookshelf Grant and was amazed at the number of references. Again, a great resource for our probramming for the grant. The fact that we can listen to the articles is quite an advantage for students, especially if they have reading problems and gain better to listen to the words rather than read them.
I typed in Civil Right Movement as that is prt of the We the People Bookshelf Grant and was amazed at the number of references. Again, a great resource for our probramming for the grant. The fact that we can listen to the articles is quite an advantage for students, especially if they have reading problems and gain better to listen to the words rather than read them.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Proquest
Wow, I could still be "playing" with Proquest! This is absolutely the best for research on any subject ever conceived!! First, because I have Type 2 Diabetes, I searched for a few diabetic recipes, and found some very yummy sounding ones. Then, because I am not very familiar with the Library Journal, I researched that periodical. I found it most interesting and wish we could subscribe to it. Proquest is going to be so exciting to show my patrons who come in looking for things. I was very impressed with the Publications section and the amount of information out there. It's going to take me some time to be more comfortable using Proquest, but just need to take the time to play with it. This is awesome!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
SIRS Issues Researcher Grades 6-12
1.) I chose Global Warming (certainly not around here, right?) Wow, I was blown away by all the resources available to discuss; the Pro/Con issues; the fact that one can narrow the result on the subject; one can find the meaning of some of the terms used in the articles and the research tools are great! In short, I can't wait to show this to students when they come to the library to do their homework!
2.) Curriculum Pathfinders is a double wow! Check out Find Arts in the course Subjects- you can learn how to Samba! The Interactive boxes on the right side of each subject were fun and informative. Kids play games while learning, what a concept. The Research Ideas in the center of each subject gives the student ideas to narrow their research. Immigration in the Social Studies Subject was most fascinating.
1.) I chose Global Warming (certainly not around here, right?) Wow, I was blown away by all the resources available to discuss; the Pro/Con issues; the fact that one can narrow the result on the subject; one can find the meaning of some of the terms used in the articles and the research tools are great! In short, I can't wait to show this to students when they come to the library to do their homework!
2.) Curriculum Pathfinders is a double wow! Check out Find Arts in the course Subjects- you can learn how to Samba! The Interactive boxes on the right side of each subject were fun and informative. Kids play games while learning, what a concept. The Research Ideas in the center of each subject gives the student ideas to narrow their research. Immigration in the Social Studies Subject was most fascinating.
Lesson 2: SIRS Discoverer for Grades K-9
I looked up Shaun White (aka the flying tomato). As I tried t0 think like a 5Th grader (something quite easy for me to do), I did have to do several searches before actually getting to Shaun White. Once I found the article, ti was quite fascinating. The fact that it provides a few word terms was great; the questions for study purposes would be a way teachers could work up a lesson; the Editorial Cartoon screen is a fun way to kids to interact with the article.
2 a.) Since someday I hope to go to Japan, I chose that country to look up. First, under teacher resources, the fact that one can print out a work sheet with questions for, say, a quiz, is a nice feature. The informaiton provided was not over the head of the child yet did give good facts and to the point.
2 b.) Under maps for Japan, I found not just one big messy map, but 13 maps to choose from with various subjects. The maps themselves showed detail and if a student needed to know where population was distributed, there was just a map for that. Plus, they can print out that particular map.
2 c.) I checked out "activities" under the Database Features and found it jamb-packed with fun things-like learning card tricks. Most kids I know want to learn at least one card trick.
All in all SIRS Discoverer in most fascinating!
I looked up Shaun White (aka the flying tomato). As I tried t0 think like a 5Th grader (something quite easy for me to do), I did have to do several searches before actually getting to Shaun White. Once I found the article, ti was quite fascinating. The fact that it provides a few word terms was great; the questions for study purposes would be a way teachers could work up a lesson; the Editorial Cartoon screen is a fun way to kids to interact with the article.
2 a.) Since someday I hope to go to Japan, I chose that country to look up. First, under teacher resources, the fact that one can print out a work sheet with questions for, say, a quiz, is a nice feature. The informaiton provided was not over the head of the child yet did give good facts and to the point.
2 b.) Under maps for Japan, I found not just one big messy map, but 13 maps to choose from with various subjects. The maps themselves showed detail and if a student needed to know where population was distributed, there was just a map for that. Plus, they can print out that particular map.
2 c.) I checked out "activities" under the Database Features and found it jamb-packed with fun things-like learning card tricks. Most kids I know want to learn at least one card trick.
All in all SIRS Discoverer in most fascinating!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Here we are learning about the State ...
Here we are learning about the State Library Electronic Resources, this is going to be quite an educational experience.
World Book- School Edition Kids K-5 is absolutely the best! It is easy for the kids to navigate through, simple, short paragraphs are easy for them to understand. Subjects are alphabetized, another great feature. The pictures are actual, not just a drawn figure, which is nice. The articles have other related sites for the kids to check out for more indormation
Student grades 5-9 has a lot more information, more detail, more videos and plenty of subject details. I like the fact that each article can be printed out separately.
Advanded Grades 9-12+ was most interesting. Providing a few current news events will stir their interest in what is going on around the world. The side bar where one can click on specific information is a wonderful feature. The videos were great!
I was a little disappointed in the Explore SD page. Some of the facts on SD could not be found, such as the official song; official dessert and other fun and interesting facts on SD. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right spot, but I sure couldn't find them.
Discover for reluctant readers and adult learners was fun to navigate through. The divisions on the side bars was great. I like that articles could be translated into different languages. While around here there is no need for that feature, it can be very useful in the larger areas where there are more foreign people living. It was fun to play around with it.
World Book School Edition is definitely the best resource around here. Can't wait to show it to my patrons :-)
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