I fell behind because of a reading contest that our school participates in and a Fine Arts Celebration. I find this Net Library very interesting as you can see all the aspects of the book from the cover to the index! I am assuming that high school students and college students would benefit the most.
#1 I looked up two things. An art class is making a mural and drawing sea creatures. I did find a couple of books that had some pictures that would have some photos. The Oceans and Adventure Guide Florida were two that I searched. It was fun to turn the pages on the computer!
I also love flowers and looked up "wild flowers." There was a book that had colored pictures on every page along with a description.
Net Library would be great for a research paper.
#2 The fitness search I got caught up with a book called Fat Flush Fitness Plan by Ann Gittleman. It was interesting and I probably could have read the whole book online. It gave some practical points on how fat is stored in our bodies and gave a plan on how to reduce and "flush" fat. What I liked most is that it recommended 20 minute baths three times a week!
I can see how this resource would be helpful if you were going to buy a nonfiction book and wanted to see if it would meet your needs. You could scan the book online first. Which brings me to a question. If you press the print button. Does it print just the page that you are viewing?
#3 I typed in Nebraska in the Publisher box when searching Western history. There were many books about the history of the Midwest. Several books dealt with the history of the Native Americans, there were books about Lewis and Clark and even a book about the orphan trains.
I can see this resource as being very helpful for research and maybe even for relaxation. I am eager to present this information to our staff and students. I may also recommend this to our daughter because her son has allergies and she might find information about that using this resource.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
My Inspirations
The 3rd and 4th grades in our school were given some lessons the past few
weeks on how to use our automated system to find resources in our library.
They are quite excited about finding answers to the questions on a
worksheet and eventually going to the shelves and finding books
from the information that they see on the screen.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Lesson 4 Gale Virtual Reference Library
I feel almost embarrassed that I am not acquainted with the Gale Virtual Reference Library but until recently I have only been an elementary school librarian. This resource is geared for high school and college level research.
#1 Under the Literature section of the reference collection I clicked on Literature and It's Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them.
I had recently read My Antonia by Willa Cather and looked for information about the novel. The "literary work", "events in history at the time the novel takes place", "events in history at the time the novel was written", "the novel in focus" and "more information" are all part of the information on the side bar. I could find a large amount of information about this novel.
#2 Since I have done some research on the other resources about the holocaust, I decided to
see what the Gale Virtual Reference Library would say about Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. The side bar information included this parts: Introduction, Plot Summary, Themes, Historical Overview, Critical Overview, and Critical Sources.
I also typed in "holocaust". There were 100 references under that subject. Several books were in that list. One reference was not exclusively about the holocaust but the word holocaust was in the article twice marked in red. That feature is a great help in knowing if the article is beneficial in the research you are looking for.
I decided to do something entirely different for another search. I typed in glucosamine because I have heard that it is a good mineral to use for human joints. There were 9 entries from different sources, most relating to scientific and medical resources. The basic search and advanced search came up with the same results.
How can the Gale Virtual Reference Library be used in our school?
#1 Our high school students participate in a science fair and do research for those projects. This could be a resource that would be helpful. Students doing research papers could use this resource.
#2 If the students were doing research on novels or certain aspects of literature this would also be another great source of information.
I did click on the audio "read to me" feature. This could be helpful to a slow reader but the voice is a computerized voice which is very dull and monotonous. I would rather read the article than hear it being read.
Gale Virtual Reference is relatively easy to use. It is easy to sit for several minutes and click away to a wealth of information.
As I continue with this course my biggest challenge is how I can effectively relay this information to the staff and students at our school. We have a staff meeting tomorrow after school. I might take a survey to first determine if our staff used the electronic resources that are presented in this course.
#1 Under the Literature section of the reference collection I clicked on Literature and It's Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them.
I had recently read My Antonia by Willa Cather and looked for information about the novel. The "literary work", "events in history at the time the novel takes place", "events in history at the time the novel was written", "the novel in focus" and "more information" are all part of the information on the side bar. I could find a large amount of information about this novel.
#2 Since I have done some research on the other resources about the holocaust, I decided to
see what the Gale Virtual Reference Library would say about Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. The side bar information included this parts: Introduction, Plot Summary, Themes, Historical Overview, Critical Overview, and Critical Sources.
I also typed in "holocaust". There were 100 references under that subject. Several books were in that list. One reference was not exclusively about the holocaust but the word holocaust was in the article twice marked in red. That feature is a great help in knowing if the article is beneficial in the research you are looking for.
I decided to do something entirely different for another search. I typed in glucosamine because I have heard that it is a good mineral to use for human joints. There were 9 entries from different sources, most relating to scientific and medical resources. The basic search and advanced search came up with the same results.
How can the Gale Virtual Reference Library be used in our school?
#1 Our high school students participate in a science fair and do research for those projects. This could be a resource that would be helpful. Students doing research papers could use this resource.
#2 If the students were doing research on novels or certain aspects of literature this would also be another great source of information.
I did click on the audio "read to me" feature. This could be helpful to a slow reader but the voice is a computerized voice which is very dull and monotonous. I would rather read the article than hear it being read.
Gale Virtual Reference is relatively easy to use. It is easy to sit for several minutes and click away to a wealth of information.
As I continue with this course my biggest challenge is how I can effectively relay this information to the staff and students at our school. We have a staff meeting tomorrow after school. I might take a survey to first determine if our staff used the electronic resources that are presented in this course.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Lesson 3 Proquest
I began this lesson yesterday and was totally frustrated. I could never get to articles that I wanted to research. I printed the SD Libraries Guide for Proquest and the Quick Reference Guide. It was getting late and I think my mind was on overload. This evening I started out and believe my biggest mistake was not clicking the full text document box. I was only getting abstracts and links to resources that were not available.
This evening I put Ben Carson in the search box and came up with many articles. I had clicked the full text documentation box!!! I admire Ben Carson for the person he has become and perhaps his mother even more as she was the one who demanded that he read two library books every week when he was growing up. Ben improved in school and became a famous brain surgeon. There is a new movie out about him called "Gifted Hands." One magazine article reviewed that movie. I finally felt I had learned how to use Proquest! This would make a great resource for current articles about a subject.
I went to Publications tab and typed in librarian. I printed the article that was in the December 2009 Teacher Librarian. Dave Loetscher writes the article, "Does Technology Really Make a Difference?" This article and others might help if a staff was trying to defend the use of technology.
I am hoping if I have some spare time this week to review each of the lessons this week as when I read other blogs I learn things that I have missed.
I began this lesson yesterday and was totally frustrated. I could never get to articles that I wanted to research. I printed the SD Libraries Guide for Proquest and the Quick Reference Guide. It was getting late and I think my mind was on overload. This evening I started out and believe my biggest mistake was not clicking the full text document box. I was only getting abstracts and links to resources that were not available.
This evening I put Ben Carson in the search box and came up with many articles. I had clicked the full text documentation box!!! I admire Ben Carson for the person he has become and perhaps his mother even more as she was the one who demanded that he read two library books every week when he was growing up. Ben improved in school and became a famous brain surgeon. There is a new movie out about him called "Gifted Hands." One magazine article reviewed that movie. I finally felt I had learned how to use Proquest! This would make a great resource for current articles about a subject.
I went to Publications tab and typed in librarian. I printed the article that was in the December 2009 Teacher Librarian. Dave Loetscher writes the article, "Does Technology Really Make a Difference?" This article and others might help if a staff was trying to defend the use of technology.
I am hoping if I have some spare time this week to review each of the lessons this week as when I read other blogs I learn things that I have missed.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Lesson 2 SIRS
PART I SIRS Discoverer
I had never gone to this site online and am amazed at all the resources I discovered! I could easily spend a day looking at all the features!
#1 I looked up Shaun White and did not put quotation marks around his name. Without the quotation marks there were articles that were not related but contained the word "white." The quotation marks did help narrow the search. The reading levels of easy, challenging and regular will also narrow the choices. This is a great resource for current information.
#2 The Database Features are wonderful! I researched the country of Mali. The key information of government, history, weather and current facts such as population are all included in a very short and condensed form. A flag and map were included.
The Maps of the World has so many resources. I found maps of several countries and then noticed that there were map activities. I noticed a map for the 2006 Iditarod trail race. That would be a helpful tool if you had a unit on Alaska or the Iditarod Race.
I then decided to look at the Educator's Resources. I would definitely like to print the guide to online research that is provided. What a great source for a teacher to use to help a student discover how to do research with the SIRS Discoverer. I would like to introduce this resource to our staff and find out if they are familiar with SIRS.
The other Database Feature that I chose was the fiction section. I have some ideas of how the teachers could use this or maybe even our students. They come to the libray to check out books but having them read a story on line might be fun for them to do once in awhile.
PART II SIRS Issues Researcher
#1 I chose the topic "Holocaust Denial." It was encouraging to see lists of topics. Some students get bogged down when choosing a topic for a report or paper. The list could be very beneficial.
The question posed for this topic was "Should holocaust denial be punishable by law?" There were several topics under the Yes section as well as several topics under the No section. This would make the researcher look at both sides of the issue. There were 18 articles listed that could be used for information. There were links under the articles. A majority of the articles were written in 2009 and the oldest was 2007. The SIRS Issue Researcher just seems to be a very valuable help that is very conclusive and easy to manage. I would like to suggest this to our high school students.
#2 The Curricululm Pathfinders had so many things that seemed beneficial for educators. The subjects included math, science, social studies, language arts, fine arts, and health. I took a quick look at each of them but took more time with the language arts section. I came across a short video of how to chose a book for a report or research project. This was an excellent resource. A teacher could prepare the same resource but I often think students prefer to see the power point presentations. The biggest problem I see is that you might find something you thought useful but need to organize a method in how to retrieve what you find so you can use it in the future..
I had never gone to this site online and am amazed at all the resources I discovered! I could easily spend a day looking at all the features!
#1 I looked up Shaun White and did not put quotation marks around his name. Without the quotation marks there were articles that were not related but contained the word "white." The quotation marks did help narrow the search. The reading levels of easy, challenging and regular will also narrow the choices. This is a great resource for current information.
#2 The Database Features are wonderful! I researched the country of Mali. The key information of government, history, weather and current facts such as population are all included in a very short and condensed form. A flag and map were included.
The Maps of the World has so many resources. I found maps of several countries and then noticed that there were map activities. I noticed a map for the 2006 Iditarod trail race. That would be a helpful tool if you had a unit on Alaska or the Iditarod Race.
I then decided to look at the Educator's Resources. I would definitely like to print the guide to online research that is provided. What a great source for a teacher to use to help a student discover how to do research with the SIRS Discoverer. I would like to introduce this resource to our staff and find out if they are familiar with SIRS.
The other Database Feature that I chose was the fiction section. I have some ideas of how the teachers could use this or maybe even our students. They come to the libray to check out books but having them read a story on line might be fun for them to do once in awhile.
PART II SIRS Issues Researcher
#1 I chose the topic "Holocaust Denial." It was encouraging to see lists of topics. Some students get bogged down when choosing a topic for a report or paper. The list could be very beneficial.
The question posed for this topic was "Should holocaust denial be punishable by law?" There were several topics under the Yes section as well as several topics under the No section. This would make the researcher look at both sides of the issue. There were 18 articles listed that could be used for information. There were links under the articles. A majority of the articles were written in 2009 and the oldest was 2007. The SIRS Issue Researcher just seems to be a very valuable help that is very conclusive and easy to manage. I would like to suggest this to our high school students.
#2 The Curricululm Pathfinders had so many things that seemed beneficial for educators. The subjects included math, science, social studies, language arts, fine arts, and health. I took a quick look at each of them but took more time with the language arts section. I came across a short video of how to chose a book for a report or research project. This was an excellent resource. A teacher could prepare the same resource but I often think students prefer to see the power point presentations. The biggest problem I see is that you might find something you thought useful but need to organize a method in how to retrieve what you find so you can use it in the future..
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