My biggest discovery was probably AncestryLibrary. I was aware of it but had never used it before. After a very disappointing start trying to find myself, I found some wonderful old family documents and can certainly see how one could get lost in the past with this resource.
In my position, World Book is probably the most useful. It is the resource with which I am most familiar and I have referred my young patrons to it. Just knowing more about what is available electronically through the South Dakota State Library will make it easier to promote them to patrons. It was difficult to find the time to work through all the lessons, and I wish I could have invested more time to more thoroughly explore the resources, but it was a very worthwhile and beneficial experience. Thank you!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Lesson 9 - History and Genealogy Resources
1. I could not find myself in Ancestry.com, but I did find my husband. He was first in a results list of over four and a half million. His birthday was off by a couple years, but they did have our address. He's lived there since 1976 and it said since 1985.
2. This search was much more fun! I put in my grandmother's name and that she had lived in Vermillion. She was second on the results list and there was a link to an image of her marriage license from 1918. I also found her birthdate of April, 1894 on the 1900 Census for Clay County. I also looked up my grandpa on Dad's side and found the 1940 Census, when he was 46. It listed his wife and 10 of their 13 children, including my dad who was 11 at the time. There was also a map showing where their farm was located in Tripp County.
3. What a great feature! From the "Pictures" listings, I chose "U.S. Panoramic Photos" and found a wonderful picture of the South Dakota State House Grounds from 1913. I was trying to figure out where my house would eventually be. I lived about a block and a half from the Capitol.
4. I started out looking for information about Gregory and Tripp Counties in South Dakota, but didn't find anything. This search lead me to the book section where I found an interesting family history, The Ancestors of Charles Wesley Clabaugh and Louise Zimmerman Clabaugh and their Descendants. It appears to be a very thoroughly researched genealogy of a family from Illinois. I skimmed the early pages looking for a branch of the family tree that may have made it to South Dakota, but didn't find any.
5. I had a little trouble navigating the maps once I got them big enough to read. I chose Yankton in 1883 and was surprised to learn how many businesses there were at the time. There was a drug store, a book store, a jewelry store, a hardware story, a feed mill, and a cigar factory. And that was all in a four block area! There was a public school on Walnut Street just a couple blocks south of where the old middle school still stands. It is apartments now. Very interesting!
2. This search was much more fun! I put in my grandmother's name and that she had lived in Vermillion. She was second on the results list and there was a link to an image of her marriage license from 1918. I also found her birthdate of April, 1894 on the 1900 Census for Clay County. I also looked up my grandpa on Dad's side and found the 1940 Census, when he was 46. It listed his wife and 10 of their 13 children, including my dad who was 11 at the time. There was also a map showing where their farm was located in Tripp County.
3. What a great feature! From the "Pictures" listings, I chose "U.S. Panoramic Photos" and found a wonderful picture of the South Dakota State House Grounds from 1913. I was trying to figure out where my house would eventually be. I lived about a block and a half from the Capitol.
4. I started out looking for information about Gregory and Tripp Counties in South Dakota, but didn't find anything. This search lead me to the book section where I found an interesting family history, The Ancestors of Charles Wesley Clabaugh and Louise Zimmerman Clabaugh and their Descendants. It appears to be a very thoroughly researched genealogy of a family from Illinois. I skimmed the early pages looking for a branch of the family tree that may have made it to South Dakota, but didn't find any.
5. I had a little trouble navigating the maps once I got them big enough to read. I chose Yankton in 1883 and was surprised to learn how many businesses there were at the time. There was a drug store, a book store, a jewelry store, a hardware story, a feed mill, and a cigar factory. And that was all in a four block area! There was a public school on Walnut Street just a couple blocks south of where the old middle school still stands. It is apartments now. Very interesting!
Lesson 8: ArchiveGrid and CAMIO
Exercise 1: ArchiveGrid
1. I learned that Sitting Bull died while resisting arrest. He was being arrested for his unwillingness to give up the traditional Ghost Dance. I followed the link to Cornell University where his autograph card can be found in the Rare and Manuscript Collection. He had very nice penmanship! I found it interesting that he sold the autograph cards while touring with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
2. I entered "Roger Williams" in the search box in ArchiveGrid. From the results, I chose a letter from Roger Williams dated August 20, 1647. The link took me to the Library of Congress. I was unsuccessful at finding the letter there, but I did find The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, for cause of Conscience, discussed in a Conference between Truth and Peace... by Roger Williams dated 1644, in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. It's pretty amazing what is out there which can be accessed electronically!
Exercise 2: CAMIO
1. I knew from my American history lessons that Paul Revere was a silversmith, but I had no idea he did such fancy work! I found images of teaspoons, sugar bowls, tankards, goblets, platters, and a wine quart. My favorite is the Federal Style Tea Service and I was surprised to learn it is in Minneapolis at the Institute of Arts. I might have to go see it next time I'm in the cities to visit family.
2. The CAMIO search for "Sioux" gives me another good reason to visit the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Many of the 63 items shown can be found there. I was a little disappointed that none of the items shown can be found in South Dakota. The image collection includes many intricately beaded articles of clothing, a quilt, pipes, drawings, paintings (many by George Catlin), and a photograph of a Sioux mother and child. There were no paintings by Oscar Howe included and a separate search for him provided 0 results.
3. I was a little surprised that Georgia O'Keefe, Harvey Dunn, and Oscar Howe yielded no results. I thought maybe they were too contemporary. So I searched some other contemporary artists and found many images for Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol, and Ansel Adams. I searched for Vincent Van Gogh and that resulted in 48 of his paintings, including familiar ones like his self portrait and Sunflowers, but not my favorite of his, Starry Night.
4. I think CAMIO would be of value to art students at the University and history buffs. I was completely unaware of this resource and found it fascinating. I love that you can locate an artifact and find out where it is currently being housed so easily.
5. I searched for "Children Reading" and found many wonderful old images. I chose 4 and played around with them a little. It's a nice feature to be able to create a slideshow from images found on CAMIO.
1. I learned that Sitting Bull died while resisting arrest. He was being arrested for his unwillingness to give up the traditional Ghost Dance. I followed the link to Cornell University where his autograph card can be found in the Rare and Manuscript Collection. He had very nice penmanship! I found it interesting that he sold the autograph cards while touring with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
2. I entered "Roger Williams" in the search box in ArchiveGrid. From the results, I chose a letter from Roger Williams dated August 20, 1647. The link took me to the Library of Congress. I was unsuccessful at finding the letter there, but I did find The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, for cause of Conscience, discussed in a Conference between Truth and Peace... by Roger Williams dated 1644, in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. It's pretty amazing what is out there which can be accessed electronically!
Exercise 2: CAMIO
1. I knew from my American history lessons that Paul Revere was a silversmith, but I had no idea he did such fancy work! I found images of teaspoons, sugar bowls, tankards, goblets, platters, and a wine quart. My favorite is the Federal Style Tea Service and I was surprised to learn it is in Minneapolis at the Institute of Arts. I might have to go see it next time I'm in the cities to visit family.
2. The CAMIO search for "Sioux" gives me another good reason to visit the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Many of the 63 items shown can be found there. I was a little disappointed that none of the items shown can be found in South Dakota. The image collection includes many intricately beaded articles of clothing, a quilt, pipes, drawings, paintings (many by George Catlin), and a photograph of a Sioux mother and child. There were no paintings by Oscar Howe included and a separate search for him provided 0 results.
3. I was a little surprised that Georgia O'Keefe, Harvey Dunn, and Oscar Howe yielded no results. I thought maybe they were too contemporary. So I searched some other contemporary artists and found many images for Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol, and Ansel Adams. I searched for Vincent Van Gogh and that resulted in 48 of his paintings, including familiar ones like his self portrait and Sunflowers, but not my favorite of his, Starry Night.
4. I think CAMIO would be of value to art students at the University and history buffs. I was completely unaware of this resource and found it fascinating. I love that you can locate an artifact and find out where it is currently being housed so easily.
5. I searched for "Children Reading" and found many wonderful old images. I chose 4 and played around with them a little. It's a nice feature to be able to create a slideshow from images found on CAMIO.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Lesson 7: WorldCat and More FirstSearch Indexes
Basic Discovery Exercise, Part 1
I searched for the "Title Phrase" Gender Trouble with the limiter "books." WorldCat returned 93 records. It showed that 1046 libraries worldwide have the first item on the list. The top library listed is Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
The call number given for Gender Trouble is HQ1154 B88 1989. Clicking on the author's name in this record did not result in any additional titles, but a search for the general subject "feminist theory" yielded 67 results, while the search term "femininity" returned only 17 results.
Discovery Exercise, Part 2
Searching "South Dakota" in OAIster showed 835 results. I found the second one on the list interesting since the subject of the computer file is so near and dear to my heart and my home - Lewis and Clark Lake. The internet resource is titled "The Gorge of the Missouri: An Archaeological Survey of Lewis and Clark Lake, Nebraska and South Dakota. Volume 1." Unfortunately, the access link did not work.
The next title that caught my eye was "Bridge management: experiences of California, Florida, and South
Dakota." I thought comparing bridges in those three very different states would be interesting. This time the access link worked and took me to an attractive and informative 32 page document presented by the U. S. Department of Transportation. It contains many color photographs, including one of the Meridian Bridge at Yankton, not far from my house.
This looks like a useful resource covering a wide variety of topics and formats.
I searched for the "Title Phrase" Gender Trouble with the limiter "books." WorldCat returned 93 records. It showed that 1046 libraries worldwide have the first item on the list. The top library listed is Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
The call number given for Gender Trouble is HQ1154 B88 1989. Clicking on the author's name in this record did not result in any additional titles, but a search for the general subject "feminist theory" yielded 67 results, while the search term "femininity" returned only 17 results.
Discovery Exercise, Part 2
Searching "South Dakota" in OAIster showed 835 results. I found the second one on the list interesting since the subject of the computer file is so near and dear to my heart and my home - Lewis and Clark Lake. The internet resource is titled "The Gorge of the Missouri: An Archaeological Survey of Lewis and Clark Lake, Nebraska and South Dakota. Volume 1." Unfortunately, the access link did not work.
The next title that caught my eye was "Bridge management: experiences of California, Florida, and South
Dakota." I thought comparing bridges in those three very different states would be interesting. This time the access link worked and took me to an attractive and informative 32 page document presented by the U. S. Department of Transportation. It contains many color photographs, including one of the Meridian Bridge at Yankton, not far from my house.
This looks like a useful resource covering a wide variety of topics and formats.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Lesson 6: EBooks on EbscoHost
1. I used the topic "library programming" for a basic search. This resulted in 75 titles. The first one on the list that seemed at all relevant was #15. I did an advanced search using the terms "library" and "programming" and "teens." This showed two results, with the relevant book from the first search at #1. I have used EbscoHost quite a bit and always get better results using the advanced search option and as many limiters as possible.
2. The basic search for "Constitution Day" did not result in any books that appeared to be relevant. An advanced search using Boolean mode for "Constitution AND Day" yielded the same results. I really did not see any books on the list that I would recommend to students on this topic from this resource. The only ones that might contain relevant information were AP history books, and since it doesn't state the age or grade level of the students in the question, I'm thinking this might be too advanced for most.
3. Searching Nebraska in the field "Publisher" resulted in 56 books, all published by the University of Nebraska Press. The majority were about Native Americans and some of them were quite old.
2. The basic search for "Constitution Day" did not result in any books that appeared to be relevant. An advanced search using Boolean mode for "Constitution AND Day" yielded the same results. I really did not see any books on the list that I would recommend to students on this topic from this resource. The only ones that might contain relevant information were AP history books, and since it doesn't state the age or grade level of the students in the question, I'm thinking this might be too advanced for most.
3. Searching Nebraska in the field "Publisher" resulted in 56 books, all published by the University of Nebraska Press. The majority were about Native Americans and some of them were quite old.
Lesson 5 - Gale Virtual Reference Library
1. I have a very unusual high school book club. They really are not interested in popular teen literature. They are very socially conscious and highly intelligent. They are currently reading Gender Trouble by Judith Butler. For this reason, I chose Literary Themes for Students: Race and Prejudice from the Title List in GVRL. I thought it might help me choose something sufficiently thought-provoking for them to read next. From the contents, A Vindiation of the Rights of Women caught my attention. I thought it might be a good companion piece for Gender Trouble. I was surprised it was written in 1792. They might like it though...
2. I just searched for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The first result on the list of 70 provided sufficient information, including a critical overview and literary criticism of the work. I was glad to see the speed could be adjusted on the audio version, because when I first listened, medium was much too slow for me. The quality of the sound recording was not what I'm used to in the audio books on CD I listen to in the car everyday, but for those who need it, this is definitely a nice feature of GVRL.
3. I read a couple other posts regarding GVRL, and the Listen feature was noted as beneficial in both.
2. I just searched for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The first result on the list of 70 provided sufficient information, including a critical overview and literary criticism of the work. I was glad to see the speed could be adjusted on the audio version, because when I first listened, medium was much too slow for me. The quality of the sound recording was not what I'm used to in the audio books on CD I listen to in the car everyday, but for those who need it, this is definitely a nice feature of GVRL.
3. I read a couple other posts regarding GVRL, and the Listen feature was noted as beneficial in both.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
South Dakota Library Challenge: Lesson 4
Lesson 4: PROQUEST
1. I did a basic search on “maker spaces.” I attempted to attend a webinar on the
subject last week, but kept getting booted out and didn’t really learn
anything, so I thought I’d do a little research on my own before viewing the
archive. My search returned over 105,000
results. I looked through the first 20,
and of those, I found two very relevant articles; one from Library Journal and one from Teacher
Librarian. Maker spaces are
currently a hot topic, particularly in library services for teens. The articles I found were very interesting and
I am very excited to learn more and implement some of the ideas when we reopen
with our new teen room.
1.a. I looked at several posts and found an
excellent one regarding the search features of Proquest. I liked the search topic too!
2. I searched School Library Journal and found that Proquest has full text
coverage from January, 1996 to the present.
I skimmed some of the articles in the newest edition of the
magazine. This is a great resource, particularly
for librarians who would like to use their reviews but can’t afford a
subscription. Personally, I prefer
reading from the physical magazine, and am fortunate enough to have it available
at my library.
Monday, February 11, 2013
South Dakota Library Challenge: Lesson 3
SIRS
Discoverer
Armadillos
Picture title: Armadillo: Rolled Into a Ball
Caption: (Credit: CMSP Biology)
Armadillos are amazing! I had a lot fun exploring some of the 84 articles
about them. The articles covered all
ranges of reading levels with most of them being at the moderate level. The picture above is the most interesting
image I found among the graphics. I knew
they rolled into a ball as a defensive mechanism, but I had no idea they could
be so spherical! I was a little
disappointed that the Ranger Rick articles do not include photographs and
illustrations since they are such an integral part of the physical magazine and
what make it so appealing to kids. The
meaning of the text looses a lot without them.
Country Facts
Maps of the World
This is an extensive
resource! I looked at different maps of
India, the homeland of one of my volunteers.
She is always talking about various places and I wanted to familiarize
myself with her country. I also looked
at the historical maps. These would have
been fantastic to have when I was teaching – especially the American History
ones. The outline maps would have been
very useful two years ago when we were preparing for the “One World, Many
Stories” Summer Reading Program.
Science Fair Explorer
This will be a great
resource for the 2014 Summer Reading Program!
“Explore a Topic” offers seven choices and within each there are lots of
science activities and experiments that can be done with things found in and
around the home.
SIRS Issues Researcher
I chose “Gun Control” and
was impressed with the vast amount and timeliness of information. The majority of the articles were from
newspapers and magazines. The topic
overview and pros and cons provide plenty of background and the research tools
are fantastic. The Graphics/Media
category is great for visual learners.
It was fun to scroll over
the Course Subjects in the Curriculum Pathfinders and see all the related
courses. The word cloud of research
topics offers lots of ideas and starting points for brainstorming other
possible topics. I was drawn to the subject
of Health and was surprised at the range of topics addressed. I was thinking of exercise, fitness, and
nutrition, but also included are mental health issues and interpersonal
communication. Another great resource I
didn’t know existed!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
South Dakota Library Challenge: Lesson 2
Lesson 2: Learning Express Library
It was very easy to set up an account on Learning Express
Library. I looked at several of the
tests and chose to do a Grade 6 Reading Diagnostic test. The testing experience provided the
opportunity to practice many different reading skills within the first ten
questions. The feedback given when the
test was scored was very detailed. Not
only was the correct answer shown and explained, there were explanations as to
why all the other choices were incorrect.
I chose to explore the Career Course: Creating Great Cover Letters. I think this would be very helpful to anyone
applying for jobs. It gives a good
overview followed by step-by-step instructions which are detailed, but also
easy to read and follow.
Early literacy is always a focus of my work so I searched
the term “literacy.” The results showed
six tests, zero courses, and four e-books.
The e-book Think You Know Your
Vocabulary looks very interesting.
It claims “a well-developed
vocabulary is the single most important characteristic linked to academic and
career success.” I like the format of
pre- and post-tests, games and activities, and vocabulary “boot camp.” I may actually have to check this one out!
Monday, January 28, 2013
SD Library Challenge: Lesson 1
South Dakota Library Challenge: Electronic Resources
Lesson 1: World Book
1) 
The echidna lives in Australia and New Guinea. It has sharp claws it can use to quickly dig
down into the ground to hide for protection.
The echidna eats ants and termites and is one of only two egg-laying
mammals. The other is the platypus.
2) The World Book
Online Info Finder has more specific details and uses higher level
vocabulary. I learned a new word from
this article: monotremes. “Along with the
platypus, echidnas are the only surviving monotremes. Monotremes
are a group of mammals that lay eggs. All
other mammals give birth to live young.”
3)
I chose the country of Rwanda for the World Book Online Reference Center
challenge. The side bars on the article
make it easy to find specific information quickly. This feature would be valuable for patrons
searching for a particular fact or picture, such as the population or area of
the country or what their flag looks like.
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