Exploring these online resources has been very educational. I knew that there was lots of resources out there but I didn't know that these resources were available through the library. I know that I will be using them in the future especially if I'm teaching next year. It's good to know of reliable resources that are appropriate for children/students/adults and accurate. I would say that the most exciting resource for me right now would be the geneology resources. However, I'm not sure how much I will use them considering my distance from the library/school. I know World Book and Learning Express will be used most by me and my family. If I am teaching next year in the same capacity as this year, I'm sure some of the research resources such as SIRS and Proquest are going to come in handy. Printing out the handouts to have on hand for parents and students maybe a great idea just in case it comes up.
I have already been promoting these resources to friends, family and collegues. Many people don't know that the resources are there and are intruged when I tell them that I've been doing this challenge. I need to share this with the homeschool families I know, too!
This has been a very educational experience. I thank Jane and Julie for providing this learning opportunity.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Heritage Quest
I have spend the last several hours on Heritage Quest as well as half an hour long distance on the phone with my Dad. Left a message on Mom's phone. Wow! Found lots of cool stuff. I was able to locate several family members on the Census and find family names in several different books. I don't have many names that go back very far and some information is pretty vague. It is always very neat to see a digitized copy of the actual document.
I decided to google some of the names I had a found a geneology that someone already had. I then took the names and punched them into Heritage Quest to check them. You have no idea how excited I am. I meet my paternal grandparents when I graduated college in '98. Our family is not that close. Even when I called my Dad, he didn't know much and doesn't really care too. I found my great, great, great grandparents. They came from Ireland and then to Canada and ended up in Michigan where most of that side still lives. I will definately be using this resource more!
There were several publications that our name appeared in too. I tried to search Proquest for those publications but no luck!
I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My husband is warning me not to become a computer zombie since I've been on most of the day!
I decided to google some of the names I had a found a geneology that someone already had. I then took the names and punched them into Heritage Quest to check them. You have no idea how excited I am. I meet my paternal grandparents when I graduated college in '98. Our family is not that close. Even when I called my Dad, he didn't know much and doesn't really care too. I found my great, great, great grandparents. They came from Ireland and then to Canada and ended up in Michigan where most of that side still lives. I will definately be using this resource more!
There were several publications that our name appeared in too. I tried to search Proquest for those publications but no luck!
I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My husband is warning me not to become a computer zombie since I've been on most of the day!
Sandborn Maps
I chose to look at Sturgis. That is the closest city to where I live and the one I'm most familiar with. One of the things that stuck out to me was the growth of Sturgis from 1885 to 1891. In 6 years, the city seemed to almost triple, if not more. And basically from then on the town just kept on growing and getting denser. That was over 100 years ago. I expect that kind of growth now but back then? Wow!
I'm sure Main Street is full of building that have been around since then but I personally couldn't pick one out that I knew for sure was that old. I'm also sure there are many houses but I couldn't say exactly which ones. I could zoom in and around the maps and if I was really familiar I'm sure it would be much more exciting. I'll have to locate an old building next time I'm in town and try to find it on the map.
There is a Sanborn Map legend that explains the various types of construction, types of structures, their "fireproofness" and a glossary as well as an index on each map that explains the symbols. It would be very interesting to see the maps in color to see all the various materials used.
I'm sure Main Street is full of building that have been around since then but I personally couldn't pick one out that I knew for sure was that old. I'm also sure there are many houses but I couldn't say exactly which ones. I could zoom in and around the maps and if I was really familiar I'm sure it would be much more exciting. I'll have to locate an old building next time I'm in town and try to find it on the map.
There is a Sanborn Map legend that explains the various types of construction, types of structures, their "fireproofness" and a glossary as well as an index on each map that explains the symbols. It would be very interesting to see the maps in color to see all the various materials used.
Ancestry
Wow! I put my name in the search and there were 3 results that were me. The "wow" was that there was an area to click on neighbors. It listed several of the people in the neighborhood, along with spouses, phone number and years resided.
The family history part of this exercise is very interesting to me. I wish I could access this from home since I'm 45 miles away from the school/library. I am not very familiar with much of my family and I would love to get more info. My half-brother just told me the other day that he is doing some research on family history. He has been using Ancestry.com which I'm guessing is the commercial version of this. He has much of his mother's side of the family traced pretty far back but our Dad's side, not so much...yet!
I found my maternal grandmother and grandfather. There was more info on my grandfather than grandmother. I believe that I found my maternal great grandparents. There were from Puerto Rico. Neither had attended any schooling but they knew how to read and write. I found that out from the records I was able to access. Very interesting. I need to get more info from my parents about our familly in order to do more research.
When searching South Dakota in photos and maps, which took me a minute to figure out, I found many photos of people and buildings. I don't recall the number of results but it was lots.
I hope that I am able to complete all of this before the time is up, considering the distance I have to the school. Eeek!
The family history part of this exercise is very interesting to me. I wish I could access this from home since I'm 45 miles away from the school/library. I am not very familiar with much of my family and I would love to get more info. My half-brother just told me the other day that he is doing some research on family history. He has been using Ancestry.com which I'm guessing is the commercial version of this. He has much of his mother's side of the family traced pretty far back but our Dad's side, not so much...yet!
I found my maternal grandmother and grandfather. There was more info on my grandfather than grandmother. I believe that I found my maternal great grandparents. There were from Puerto Rico. Neither had attended any schooling but they knew how to read and write. I found that out from the records I was able to access. Very interesting. I need to get more info from my parents about our familly in order to do more research.
When searching South Dakota in photos and maps, which took me a minute to figure out, I found many photos of people and buildings. I don't recall the number of results but it was lots.
I hope that I am able to complete all of this before the time is up, considering the distance I have to the school. Eeek!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
ArchiveGrid & CAMIO
ArchiveGrid would appear to have a crazy amount of "stuff". When searching "Sitting Bull Autograph Card", I learned that Sitting Bull or Tatanka Iyotake was a Native American leader that fought in many battles including the battle of Little Bighorn and was against the encroachment of the white men. Sitting Bull toured with the Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show and was killed while resisting arrest. After going through all he did, that is ironic to me.
I did a search for Titanic passengers. Many of the results were family papers or correspondence regarding memorial funds for passengers and crew. Sources varied from New York City Department of Records & Information Services to Yale University to Mystic Seaport. I will be thinking about some other things to search. This would come in handy if you were doing research. The proximity search looks interesting too.
In CAMIO, you can put in your search and refine it very easily. You can refine format, subject, date and creator. Paul Revere is quite the silversmith. There are many photos of sterling tea service sets, a tea urn, teaspoons and other pieces. Who knew? Not I!
There were 63 results for Sioux, various formats, creators and times. From pencil drawings to clothing. Amazing.
I searched Georgia O'Keeffe and spelled her name incorrectly. It showed no matches. I knew that wasn't true so tried various spellings until I got it. Through this I learned that CAMIO will only search exactlly what you put in.
There are 69 results for O'Keeffe. Four of them being Gelatin Silver Prints. Never heard of such a thing! They are photographs of the artist. Therefore telling me that the results show things created by the artist as well as things containing the artist.
I was telling my in-laws about this resource and asked them how they thought it could be used by the community. My father-in-law said that when he was in 1st and 2nd grade his teacher used "masterpieces" to teach basic art concepts such as composition. I believe that would be a great use of this resource. We are far from many museums and such and this resource would be great to see those items we may not be able to see in person. Even if it's just for exposure to them.
The view favorites feature in Camio was very easy to use and fairly extensive. You can zoom in on an item and pan around to focus on a portion of the item. You can compare 2 works next to each other and scroll through others, create a slide show and even a webpage. This feature would be beneficial for someone comparing and contrasting styles or artists or anything really. Pretty neat.
I did a search for Titanic passengers. Many of the results were family papers or correspondence regarding memorial funds for passengers and crew. Sources varied from New York City Department of Records & Information Services to Yale University to Mystic Seaport. I will be thinking about some other things to search. This would come in handy if you were doing research. The proximity search looks interesting too.
In CAMIO, you can put in your search and refine it very easily. You can refine format, subject, date and creator. Paul Revere is quite the silversmith. There are many photos of sterling tea service sets, a tea urn, teaspoons and other pieces. Who knew? Not I!
There were 63 results for Sioux, various formats, creators and times. From pencil drawings to clothing. Amazing.
I searched Georgia O'Keeffe and spelled her name incorrectly. It showed no matches. I knew that wasn't true so tried various spellings until I got it. Through this I learned that CAMIO will only search exactlly what you put in.
There are 69 results for O'Keeffe. Four of them being Gelatin Silver Prints. Never heard of such a thing! They are photographs of the artist. Therefore telling me that the results show things created by the artist as well as things containing the artist.
I was telling my in-laws about this resource and asked them how they thought it could be used by the community. My father-in-law said that when he was in 1st and 2nd grade his teacher used "masterpieces" to teach basic art concepts such as composition. I believe that would be a great use of this resource. We are far from many museums and such and this resource would be great to see those items we may not be able to see in person. Even if it's just for exposure to them.
The view favorites feature in Camio was very easy to use and fairly extensive. You can zoom in on an item and pan around to focus on a portion of the item. You can compare 2 works next to each other and scroll through others, create a slide show and even a webpage. This feature would be beneficial for someone comparing and contrasting styles or artists or anything really. Pretty neat.
Friday, March 16, 2012
World Cat
When initially logging on to World Cat, it looks intimidating but pretty basic. I noticed that you could change the page to various languages, set up an account and have a staff resouce sharing. I saw the 13 databases that you could search.I found the various types of materials interesting as well as the ability to limit audience, content and format. I used advanced search, changed to title phrase and typed in The Elevator Family per my 10 yrs. request. There were 11 results and 671 libraries had result #1. Alexander Mitchell Library was the first library on the list. The book is found in Juvenile Fiction and contains elevators, hotels and motels for subjects. The author had 31 other results under his name some of which were duplicate titles. I had the option to access specific materials such as sample text and biographical information. When I did a different search, it gave me information of Genre, art techniques used and awards.
When searching through OAIster, I found a digital image of a log shanty, flag, woman and 7 boys. I got to see the very old photo that was possibly taken in South Dakota in 1908. The Stevens County Museum & Historical Society, in Morris, MN has possession of the original photo. Very cool resource.
It seems that other participants had trouble with long downloads or inability to access. Mine came right up, no problems.
When searching through OAIster, I found a digital image of a log shanty, flag, woman and 7 boys. I got to see the very old photo that was possibly taken in South Dakota in 1908. The Stevens County Museum & Historical Society, in Morris, MN has possession of the original photo. Very cool resource.
It seems that other participants had trouble with long downloads or inability to access. Mine came right up, no problems.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
EBooks on EbscoHost
I am having all kinds of interesting computer experiences this last couple of months. I tried to work on this assignment on my school computer and it wouldn't let me actually view an ebook. I could see the cover and click on a revelant page but it wouldn't show me the whole book. Frustrating! So, here I am trying again.
I was really looking forward to exploring the ebooks and what was available. I still can't get over the information available out there. If only these resources were around when I was in school!
My first attempt at searching was pretty frustrating. I was able to search and find but not actually see. However, it was easy to search. The search screen is very self explanatory and nothing fancy but gets the job done. I checked out the advanced search and can see that you could do a very specific search if required. This would come in handy for research. I like that there is a photo of the cover. If I knew the book I was looking for this would be useful. The search results can be refined by source type, subject and category among other filters. There is also an option to choose the database that you would like to search. I was able to finally view an ebook on aromatherapy. I had the option to download the book as well.
While searching for constitution day, I couldn't find anything specific to that topic. There were many books having to do with the constitution including Representing Popular Sovereignty : The Constitution in American Political Culture and the Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts. I did end up googling Constitution day and learned that it is also called Citizenship Day but I found nothing on that topic either. The illustrated dictionary had some interesting info and photo that could easily be used by students.
When using advanced search for Nebraska, the results listed books published by the University of Nebraska. There were all different topics. I see how you could use this search to select a specific publisher instead of or as well as a topic.
This resource was very interesting but quite frustrating. However, I see it's usefulness. Especially for those of us that live in "the middle of nowhere."
I was really looking forward to exploring the ebooks and what was available. I still can't get over the information available out there. If only these resources were around when I was in school!
My first attempt at searching was pretty frustrating. I was able to search and find but not actually see. However, it was easy to search. The search screen is very self explanatory and nothing fancy but gets the job done. I checked out the advanced search and can see that you could do a very specific search if required. This would come in handy for research. I like that there is a photo of the cover. If I knew the book I was looking for this would be useful. The search results can be refined by source type, subject and category among other filters. There is also an option to choose the database that you would like to search. I was able to finally view an ebook on aromatherapy. I had the option to download the book as well.
While searching for constitution day, I couldn't find anything specific to that topic. There were many books having to do with the constitution including Representing Popular Sovereignty : The Constitution in American Political Culture and the Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts. I did end up googling Constitution day and learned that it is also called Citizenship Day but I found nothing on that topic either. The illustrated dictionary had some interesting info and photo that could easily be used by students.
When using advanced search for Nebraska, the results listed books published by the University of Nebraska. There were all different topics. I see how you could use this search to select a specific publisher instead of or as well as a topic.
This resource was very interesting but quite frustrating. However, I see it's usefulness. Especially for those of us that live in "the middle of nowhere."
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Can you believe how far we've come? Seriously, I stand in awe of the availability of information and technology. I'm sitting at home, in the "Middle of Nowhere, SD", on a computer that is pulling information from thin air and posting my writing on and in a place that others from all over the world can read and comment on. Wow!
I used the GVRL to look at The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. I am interested in essential oils and aromatherapy so I searched for that in the appropriate volume. I have the options to print, email, download or even listen to this article. The article can also be translated.
We use goggle often in our home when topics of discussion come up. I think that I will try to use this resource and some of the others instead. In music class, I often challenge my students to research something that they ask questions about. I will encourage them to use GVRL.
I searched gluten sensitivity. There were 10 results that were related in some way. The results were found in various references that may help to narrow down your search. I looked at the Food Allergies article in the Encyclopedia of Medicine. The article actually didn't mention gluten sensitivity but was interesting. I wasn't looking forward to using the listen feature because I've used some that were very hard to understand. I was pleasantly surprised. The voice was very clear.
Hopefully, I remember to use this resource when an opportunity presents itself.
I used the GVRL to look at The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. I am interested in essential oils and aromatherapy so I searched for that in the appropriate volume. I have the options to print, email, download or even listen to this article. The article can also be translated.
We use goggle often in our home when topics of discussion come up. I think that I will try to use this resource and some of the others instead. In music class, I often challenge my students to research something that they ask questions about. I will encourage them to use GVRL.
I searched gluten sensitivity. There were 10 results that were related in some way. The results were found in various references that may help to narrow down your search. I looked at the Food Allergies article in the Encyclopedia of Medicine. The article actually didn't mention gluten sensitivity but was interesting. I wasn't looking forward to using the listen feature because I've used some that were very hard to understand. I was pleasantly surprised. The voice was very clear.
Hopefully, I remember to use this resource when an opportunity presents itself.
Proquest
I did a Proquest search for music education. There were 181021 results coming from scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, trade journals, other sources, wirefeeds, books, reports and conference papers and proceedings. LOTS! Before the full text articles, there was an abstract of the article. It is amazing that you can find full text articles online.
I am noticing that many of my cohorts are affiliated with the library in some way. I am a parent and part-time music teacher. Even so, I am finding all these resources VERY useful.
I searched for a music publication and found The American Music Teacher. I chose to browse the current issue. It listed all 34 articles in order of occurance in the magazine. I also had the option to reverse order. You could mouse-over the preview icon and view an abstract of the article.
Right this very moment, I'm not sure if I personally will use Proquest as much as the other resources.
I am noticing that many of my cohorts are affiliated with the library in some way. I am a parent and part-time music teacher. Even so, I am finding all these resources VERY useful.
I searched for a music publication and found The American Music Teacher. I chose to browse the current issue. It listed all 34 articles in order of occurance in the magazine. I also had the option to reverse order. You could mouse-over the preview icon and view an abstract of the article.
Right this very moment, I'm not sure if I personally will use Proquest as much as the other resources.
SIRS
SIRS stands for "Social Issues Resources Series." I searched for Armadillos.Wow! I am loving how everything is organized! There are tabs showing how many articles in different resources (newspaper, magazine, reference, graphics and websites. There are icons that tell me what reading level the articles is, the lexile level and if there's a photo. There is an article summary as well as the date and source.
The Database feature is pretty neat. In the Country facts, there is a list of many countries that you can chose from. The list shows the difficulty of reading and a camera icon if there is a photo. When chosing a country, the article is organized and easy to collect information. Population, Geography and Weather, History and Economy are just some of the topics covered in the article.
The Maps of the World are very cool. I am often involved in conversations where these would be useful. Whether it's where Uncle Keith was in Afghanistan to what's going on in the news to where Auntie Lisa is in Thailand, this resource will be very useful.
The Science Fair Explorer is very handy. There are lots of relatively quick and easy experiments with explanations. I love making everything a learning opportunty (sometimes to my kids' groaning) and this resource will be very useful.
SIRS Issues Researcher is for older students. When looking up leading issues, SIRS gives you an issue overview, pros and cons (as well as examples and links to specifics of each), timeline, global impact and statistics. You can also write your own analysis. There is a link to an organizational tool for note taking.
The Curriculum Pathfinder provides various topics listed under curriculum subjects. Within a sub-topic, there are many articles. I looked under Music to New Age and found an interesting article on Ambient Music. I may have to use the Curriculum Pathfinder in my music class.
I am glad to be taking this challenge and learning MORE about all these resourses available to us.
The Database feature is pretty neat. In the Country facts, there is a list of many countries that you can chose from. The list shows the difficulty of reading and a camera icon if there is a photo. When chosing a country, the article is organized and easy to collect information. Population, Geography and Weather, History and Economy are just some of the topics covered in the article.
The Maps of the World are very cool. I am often involved in conversations where these would be useful. Whether it's where Uncle Keith was in Afghanistan to what's going on in the news to where Auntie Lisa is in Thailand, this resource will be very useful.
The Science Fair Explorer is very handy. There are lots of relatively quick and easy experiments with explanations. I love making everything a learning opportunty (sometimes to my kids' groaning) and this resource will be very useful.
SIRS Issues Researcher is for older students. When looking up leading issues, SIRS gives you an issue overview, pros and cons (as well as examples and links to specifics of each), timeline, global impact and statistics. You can also write your own analysis. There is a link to an organizational tool for note taking.
The Curriculum Pathfinder provides various topics listed under curriculum subjects. Within a sub-topic, there are many articles. I looked under Music to New Age and found an interesting article on Ambient Music. I may have to use the Curriculum Pathfinder in my music class.
I am glad to be taking this challenge and learning MORE about all these resourses available to us.
Learning Express
I am really excited to check out this resource!!!
It was very simple to set up an account, but it helps if your computer is working properly. The home screen if fairly self explanatory but gets a little overwhelming once you chose a section. At least it did for me.
I chose the look at the Praxis Earlychildhood Exam. There were results for tests, courses and e-books. It was very easy to take a pre-test and see your score. It showed you the answers to all the questions and explanations of each. Very simple to navigate through this portion of Learning Express.
I explored the resume course. There was a course overview that explained everything that would be covered in the course. I thought this was very useful. It gave me an idea of what information I would need and what was to come. The course provided alot of thing to think about such as questions that an employer will want to be answered and variouse format suggestions. There are even resume templates.
It was very easy to search and download e-books.
I am looking forward to using Learning Express myself and sharing it with others.
It was very simple to set up an account, but it helps if your computer is working properly. The home screen if fairly self explanatory but gets a little overwhelming once you chose a section. At least it did for me.
I chose the look at the Praxis Earlychildhood Exam. There were results for tests, courses and e-books. It was very easy to take a pre-test and see your score. It showed you the answers to all the questions and explanations of each. Very simple to navigate through this portion of Learning Express.
I explored the resume course. There was a course overview that explained everything that would be covered in the course. I thought this was very useful. It gave me an idea of what information I would need and what was to come. The course provided alot of thing to think about such as questions that an employer will want to be answered and variouse format suggestions. There are even resume templates.
It was very easy to search and download e-books.
I am looking forward to using Learning Express myself and sharing it with others.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Lesson 1c -- World Book Foreign Language Edition
I believe the World Book Foreign Language Edition could be used in various different ways in our library. It could be used to introduce young children to different language. There is a link to see the same article in english so you could compare and contrast the written and verbal language and teach vocabulary words. For older student that may be learning the language, it would provide opportunity to develop reading and grammar skills among other things. There is a browse in English options which I found helpful.
Lesson B: World Book Public Library Edition
WB Kids Online offers games, activities, project ideas and more at a click of the mouse. It is graphics and icon driven, making it easy for younger children to use. Information on animals is readily available and comparable using the World of Animals. Information is presented very simply in an outline format. However, when I clicked on an animal, the picture was half off of my screen. Not sure why.
Info Finder provide much more specific, detailed information written at a higher reading level than Kids. There were links to search in other areas as well as connections of other sources.
When searching for Spain in the WB Online Resource Center, the results gave me options to look at Primary Sources, E-Books and Encyclopedia. It also gave me options to search in various other locations such as maps, pictures, videos and sounds. The information provided by WB Online Resource Center is very thorough and detailed. It is organized well with a quick outline reference on the left and other related information on the right. This edition would be useful for someone searching for detailed information.
Info Finder provide much more specific, detailed information written at a higher reading level than Kids. There were links to search in other areas as well as connections of other sources.
When searching for Spain in the WB Online Resource Center, the results gave me options to look at Primary Sources, E-Books and Encyclopedia. It also gave me options to search in various other locations such as maps, pictures, videos and sounds. The information provided by WB Online Resource Center is very thorough and detailed. It is organized well with a quick outline reference on the left and other related information on the right. This edition would be useful for someone searching for detailed information.
World Book Discover
World Book Discover is easy to navigate with its colorful icons and link options. This edition would be very useful for someone who does not read English well. There is a read a-loud option as well as a translate option. The article may be translated into over 30 languages. I like the define it option for words that you don't know. The articles are not as simple as WB Kids but not as detailed as WB Advanced. There are links to other editions for more information. I also noticed links at the bottom of the page to sources outside of World Book.
World Book Advanced
The World Book Advanced is very user-friendly. The home screen provides research tools and various link options as well as a search option. Search results provide links to many different sources of information including primary source documents. When searching for Thailand, I could look at maps, pictures, listen to sounds, view U.S. Presidential paper and other thing. This search provided me with detailed information about the country's cities, government, people, land, economy and history. I believe the format of this information is very easy to use and well organized. If I were doing research on this country, all the information provided would be useful.
World Book Student
World Book Student is less focused on pictures and graphics than "Kids" but is still easy to explore. World Book Student provides considerably more information that is much more specific and detailed. It gives you options to search in other areas besides encyclopedia articles, such as maps, pictures, sounds and websites. The outline in the left side bar helps to show you the information that is provided in the article. Throughout the article are links to maps, pictures and such. I love the "how to cite" at the end of each article in all the World Book additions.
World Book Kids
World Book Kids is very easy to use. When searching, I could type in my search item, choose an icon or click through pictures. I searched for tigers and found basic information that could be read a-loud or translated into various languages. World Book Kids has lots of colorful graphics and icons that make it easy to use for beginning researchers.
The South Dakota Library Challenge
I am taking a challenge to learn about the South Dakota library resources. It should be fun and educational.
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