Well, my head is still spinning! I don't know if I can pick a "biggest" discovery. I didn't know about the Hobbies and Crafts section, so maybe that. I really appreciate the guidance the consultants gave us that allowed us to explore the features of Marvel in an orderly, organized way. And knowing the tutorials are there for my patrons to use is very helpful (and reassuring, since I would otherwise worry about retaining all this!).
To promote the resources more, I'll definitely feature it in my blog. I already tell people about Marvel, and we have the Learning Express poster up in the library. When we do our newsletter next year, I'll also write an article about the resources for that. Maybe we could link Marvel to the OPAC for our catalog too; I'll have to look into that.
Thanks for a great experience!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Marvelous Maine 8--Ancestry
I'm really afraid this one will be more addictive than Facebook....deep breath....searching myself....wow, there I am! And look, there's every place I lived from 1988-1996. (That's a little unsettling.) I don't show up in Maine since I've only lived here 10 years, and apparently birth records for New York are not listed, and neither are marriage licenses for New York nor voting records for Illinois. And I'm not in any newspaper articles or photos. Onward...
So, I searched for my grandfather in the 1930 census. It's very neat to see the original record! There he is with my grandmother and two of my aunts (no one else was born yet). It looks like my grandmother's family is next in the record, I guess they all lived together. Yes, I magnified the record. Wow, 12 people lived in that house, including a lodger. I printed it to show my dad.
Having a little trouble with part 3, as I can't seem to find a photos and maps tab--there's pictures, and there's maps and gazeteers. For Maine pictures, I could see college yearbooks beginning in 1892(Colby, Bowdoin, Maine State College) and high school yearbooks from the twentieth century (maybe into 21st, didn't want to keep scrolling through). I could also look at headstones, or photos of ships. Under maps...oh, cool, there's a map of Harrison (where I work) from 1871 under the U.S Indexed County Land Ownership Maps. A person could get lost in this!
I hope what I searched for section three was right, I see someone else had trouble with it too.
So, I searched for my grandfather in the 1930 census. It's very neat to see the original record! There he is with my grandmother and two of my aunts (no one else was born yet). It looks like my grandmother's family is next in the record, I guess they all lived together. Yes, I magnified the record. Wow, 12 people lived in that house, including a lodger. I printed it to show my dad.
Having a little trouble with part 3, as I can't seem to find a photos and maps tab--there's pictures, and there's maps and gazeteers. For Maine pictures, I could see college yearbooks beginning in 1892(Colby, Bowdoin, Maine State College) and high school yearbooks from the twentieth century (maybe into 21st, didn't want to keep scrolling through). I could also look at headstones, or photos of ships. Under maps...oh, cool, there's a map of Harrison (where I work) from 1871 under the U.S Indexed County Land Ownership Maps. A person could get lost in this!
I hope what I searched for section three was right, I see someone else had trouble with it too.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Marvelous Maine 10--EBSCO
I have spent quite a bit of time on this one lately, helping my daughter research school projects. So I decided to explore the library journals and searched for Library Journal, which is included, and then searched "fundraising" (always a pertinent topic, isn't it? :) ) within Library Journal. But I didn't do it right, because my results have all kinds of other journals. Let's try again...ahh, I didn't select it first to search. OK, good to know. Still not getting results, but that's because there's nothing in LJ, which seems odd. So I try "star libraries"--nothing--then "reviews"--nothing. Hhmm. I must still be doing something wrong. Back to start...well, when I just search LJ, I get all kinds of results, including the star libraries article. Odd. (Which means it must be my fault.) I click on an article about landscape design and libraries, which looks very interesting. I click the "listen" option and play around with accents (heehee). Next I go back and under "search options", specify Library Journal. That brings me better results, although I do still get other journals (i.e. Journal of Library Administration). Maybe I need to do the tutorial again...
On to ebooks. I search the titles under "Self-Help and Family"; I have a thirteen-year-old who sometimes appears to have been switched in the night, and she and my husband butt heads on a regular basis, so I've been looking at lots of these types of titles recently! I get through the searching alright, but I'm disappointed that the titles' publication stops at the year 2000. Next I search "Constitution Day" as directed. Not much that comes up would be appropriate for American Constitution Day. (Unless, again. I'm doing it wrong; maybe I need to take a break.) Took a break, still getting the same results. I'll move on to the next search. Well, that worked a lot better. I entered Nebraska and have 11 results, 3 of which are highly relevant and one on Abraham Lincoln which is borderline.
I think this is another one of those features that I need to go back and spend more time with. But how wonderful that it is here for everyone to use, and how wonderful that our district consultants saw a need and stepped in to fill it with this training. Thank you!
On to ebooks. I search the titles under "Self-Help and Family"; I have a thirteen-year-old who sometimes appears to have been switched in the night, and she and my husband butt heads on a regular basis, so I've been looking at lots of these types of titles recently! I get through the searching alright, but I'm disappointed that the titles' publication stops at the year 2000. Next I search "Constitution Day" as directed. Not much that comes up would be appropriate for American Constitution Day. (Unless, again. I'm doing it wrong; maybe I need to take a break.) Took a break, still getting the same results. I'll move on to the next search. Well, that worked a lot better. I entered Nebraska and have 11 results, 3 of which are highly relevant and one on Abraham Lincoln which is borderline.
I think this is another one of those features that I need to go back and spend more time with. But how wonderful that it is here for everyone to use, and how wonderful that our district consultants saw a need and stepped in to fill it with this training. Thank you!
Marvelous Maine 9--Learning Express
(Since I can't do 8 until I'm in the library, I'm skipping that and doing the later assignments first.)
I created an account and browsed what's on offer. I decided to do a practice test for the SAT critical reading section--no point in tormenting myself with math, right? The test is very easy to use, and they are very good about making sure you don't stop unless you really want to! I like how the diagnostic page recommends further material that would help, and I like how the answers are explained. (Mine were all correct, yay!, but very useful if you've made a mistake.)
Next, I browsed the "Job Search and Workplace Skills" section and add "Business Writing 2: Find Your Audience" to my learning center. This is great! Very useful to someone who didn't have to do a whole lot of writing classes in school. I like the practice section too. Then I downloaded "Social Networking for Career Success". Will definitely read this whole book--but later, after I get through this invitational!--and I will also explore some of the tutorials on computer software. All of this is easy to navigate through and so convenient.
I created an account and browsed what's on offer. I decided to do a practice test for the SAT critical reading section--no point in tormenting myself with math, right? The test is very easy to use, and they are very good about making sure you don't stop unless you really want to! I like how the diagnostic page recommends further material that would help, and I like how the answers are explained. (Mine were all correct, yay!, but very useful if you've made a mistake.)
Next, I browsed the "Job Search and Workplace Skills" section and add "Business Writing 2: Find Your Audience" to my learning center. This is great! Very useful to someone who didn't have to do a whole lot of writing classes in school. I like the practice section too. Then I downloaded "Social Networking for Career Success". Will definitely read this whole book--but later, after I get through this invitational!--and I will also explore some of the tutorials on computer software. All of this is easy to navigate through and so convenient.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Marvelous Maine 7--Health Resources
(First of all, I have to laugh...I'm exploring the journals and articles available, and what do I see? Acid: LSD Today. Really?)
I look for material on Parkinson's Disease, which, unfortunately, runs in my family. Of the first ten most recent articles, 7 are on medication, which isn't a very alluring reading prospect for a Sunday a.m., so I keep searching. I decide to read the full text of Using Voice Recognition as Diagnostician; I heard about this on an NPR story, and was just thinking the other day that I meant to find out more about it and never did. The article is very short and doesn't contain information I didn't already know, so I'm going to keep looking. Flavonoids May Help Protect Against Parkinson's Disease ... I'll try that. Oh, it's just a paragraph...Alright, well, after browsing through 5 pages of results, I see that I can get articles directed at the layman from sources like Mayo and Harvard Health, but I think I'll try something a little more challenging: Nutraceuticals and their preventive or potential therapeutic value in Parkinson's Disease. There is quite a bit of jargon, but I'm able to understand it; not sure everyone would, though.
On to Medline Plus...today's popular searches: amlodipine, anemia, aspirin, asthma, cystic fibrosis, gout, grapefruit (grapefruit?), hypertension. In the news column, more depressing news about sitting too much and poor diet. I don't take any medications, but my daughter is on Humalog insulin so I search that. The information is similar to what you find on the insert to the medication (yes, I am that compulsive); it would be useful if you need to look up something quickly and can't find the insert. Next I do the Parkinson's search. Wow, I think this is even better than the Health Source, especially for someone with a chronic illness that wants to get updated info on a regular basis. They've done a great job corralling different topics. I launch a video tutorial on an Abdominal Aortic Aneuryism. It's easy to use, and a good source of basic information. Definitely bookmarking this page!
I look for material on Parkinson's Disease, which, unfortunately, runs in my family. Of the first ten most recent articles, 7 are on medication, which isn't a very alluring reading prospect for a Sunday a.m., so I keep searching. I decide to read the full text of Using Voice Recognition as Diagnostician; I heard about this on an NPR story, and was just thinking the other day that I meant to find out more about it and never did. The article is very short and doesn't contain information I didn't already know, so I'm going to keep looking. Flavonoids May Help Protect Against Parkinson's Disease ... I'll try that. Oh, it's just a paragraph...Alright, well, after browsing through 5 pages of results, I see that I can get articles directed at the layman from sources like Mayo and Harvard Health, but I think I'll try something a little more challenging: Nutraceuticals and their preventive or potential therapeutic value in Parkinson's Disease. There is quite a bit of jargon, but I'm able to understand it; not sure everyone would, though.
On to Medline Plus...today's popular searches: amlodipine, anemia, aspirin, asthma, cystic fibrosis, gout, grapefruit (grapefruit?), hypertension. In the news column, more depressing news about sitting too much and poor diet. I don't take any medications, but my daughter is on Humalog insulin so I search that. The information is similar to what you find on the insert to the medication (yes, I am that compulsive); it would be useful if you need to look up something quickly and can't find the insert. Next I do the Parkinson's search. Wow, I think this is even better than the Health Source, especially for someone with a chronic illness that wants to get updated info on a regular basis. They've done a great job corralling different topics. I launch a video tutorial on an Abdominal Aortic Aneuryism. It's easy to use, and a good source of basic information. Definitely bookmarking this page!
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