I didn't know anything about CAMIO or the ArchiveGrid so those were my biggest discovery. The others I had used, some more than others. But I learn a little more about each one. This exercise gives me the incentive to explore each a little more than trying to learn while doing a search with the patron looking over my shoulder.
Promoting is always a challenge. We've written up various resources in our newsletter and handed out info at back to school nights, but usage is still low. One on one at the circ desk is the best way. When someone is checking out a GED/ACT etc book, suggest the learning express. We did that with a guy wanting to get a CDL and he was thrilled.
Like everything in the library, promoting them is always something that should be in every interaction.
Thanks for the opportunity to learn. Keep up the good work!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Heritage quest and Sanborn maps
I looked for several places in Kansas where I grew up. Numerous hits for LaCrosse and most of those actually had something to do with the town. I also tried Otis which is my home town. There were a number of hits, but most of them were because someone in Kansas had been named Otis. I did find one hit that referred to my high school history teacher. I hadn't realized he and his wife had a son.
On the whole I find Ancestry much easier to use when doing straight (census, death records) genealogy, but all those books are likely very helpful to the dyed in the wool genealogist.
In the Sanborn MAPS I looked up Brookings in 1916 and 1928. Found the Carnegie Library and the spot the library is on now. Discovered a couple sections of the map are turned with north being to the left instead of up. Threw me for a loop for awhile trying to figure out why the Presbyterian Church was located where it was. I enjoy looking at these. A little clunky to move around in but great to look at historically.
On the whole I find Ancestry much easier to use when doing straight (census, death records) genealogy, but all those books are likely very helpful to the dyed in the wool genealogist.
In the Sanborn MAPS I looked up Brookings in 1916 and 1928. Found the Carnegie Library and the spot the library is on now. Discovered a couple sections of the map are turned with north being to the left instead of up. Threw me for a loop for awhile trying to figure out why the Presbyterian Church was located where it was. I enjoy looking at these. A little clunky to move around in but great to look at historically.
Ancestry Plus
I looked up myself in Ancestry and found 6 links. Four were to obituaries of my parents in several different newspapers. The other two were from US Public Records. One had my birthdate wrong, both listed addresses that I haven't lived at for more than 10 years. I didn't find my marriage license. I don't have a copy of it either. Maybe I haven't been legally married for the past 37 years.
I looked up my grandfather, Adolph Demel, and found his WW I draft card. It listed him as short and stout and that would describe him well. He was also in several census, among them in the Kansas State Census 1855-1925. The census taker spelled things phonetically. My grandmother is listed as Kerey (Carrie), my mother as Evelin (Evelyn), and her sister as Ellenora (Eleanor).
The photos of South Dakota were very interesting. I'm particularly interested in the Dust Bowl era and WW II. There was one of a very nice 1940 home in Aberdeen that was captioned "One of the few towns in South Dakota". It was taken by the War Dept so who knows what they were looking for. I did look up Brookings with the South Dakota pictures. There were yearbook references and some harvest scenes.
I shall return with more on genealogy.
I looked up my grandfather, Adolph Demel, and found his WW I draft card. It listed him as short and stout and that would describe him well. He was also in several census, among them in the Kansas State Census 1855-1925. The census taker spelled things phonetically. My grandmother is listed as Kerey (Carrie), my mother as Evelin (Evelyn), and her sister as Ellenora (Eleanor).
The photos of South Dakota were very interesting. I'm particularly interested in the Dust Bowl era and WW II. There was one of a very nice 1940 home in Aberdeen that was captioned "One of the few towns in South Dakota". It was taken by the War Dept so who knows what they were looking for. I did look up Brookings with the South Dakota pictures. There were yearbook references and some harvest scenes.
I shall return with more on genealogy.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Learning express
I chose to do the Spelling/Vocabulary practice test at the college level and did very well which I should have done, having an English degree. So I tried something I didn't know much about and tried the Police Officer Judgement and Problem solving #1. I did well. If I ever chose to stop being a librarian I could be a police officer!
The process seemed easy, but didn't try any math which is my downfall.
There were a variety of ebooks. I looked at Just in time algebra (which was Greek to me) and Parents' guide to homeschooling. After looking at the ebooks on NetLibrary, these were pretty bland looking. You could bookmark, search, print, etc. so the practical stuff was there, but not quite as interactive.
There are so many good tests and practice info in this website. I wish we could get the word out better about it.
The process seemed easy, but didn't try any math which is my downfall.
There were a variety of ebooks. I looked at Just in time algebra (which was Greek to me) and Parents' guide to homeschooling. After looking at the ebooks on NetLibrary, these were pretty bland looking. You could bookmark, search, print, etc. so the practical stuff was there, but not quite as interactive.
There are so many good tests and practice info in this website. I wish we could get the word out better about it.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
ArchiveGrid and Camio
ArchiveGrid is new to me.
Searched for Setting Bull. Interesting info, but nothing I didn't know except that there were such things as autograph cards in that era.
My second search was "iron range", the area in MN called that. I found 191 items, including a letter requesting funds to defend miners arrested in a mine uprising in 1916. I also followed a short history of the Iron Range by Macey to the Minnesota Historical Society where I searched their catalog and found even more. This would be great for research requiring original sources, such as the History Day presentations done recently at SDSU.
I took a look at the contributor list and it's quite impressive.
CAMIO is also new to me.
I jumped in before I read the lesson and searched for pieced quilts in Textiles. I found a postage stamp quilt that is made up of 69,649 pieces and took the quilter over 1000 hours to do. She must have had really good eyes!
Paul Revere made beautiful silver work such as spoons, bowls, urns, salvers (which I had to look up to discover it was a tray) and at least a few engraved prints.
"Sioux" brought up a wide variety of items such as beaded items, war clubs, drawings, and books. I actually thought there would be more than 63 items listed.
I searched for Van Gogh and found many beautiful paintings and drawings with some text that allowed me to place the painting in the time frame of his life. It also gave me an idea of which museums/galleries might be worth visiting.
Even if I would like to visit all the museums that interest me, I know I never will. This site can show the works, many times not the most famous of the creator, to be enjoyed and learned about. Obviously students can cite these sources and use them in papers. I even put one of the Van Gogh's as my wallpaper. (hope that's not illegal!) The slideshow is pretty neat, too. I picked a few of my favorite Van Goghs. This would be useful for presentations.
All in all, two new resources to help us learn and assist patrons.
Searched for Setting Bull. Interesting info, but nothing I didn't know except that there were such things as autograph cards in that era.
My second search was "iron range", the area in MN called that. I found 191 items, including a letter requesting funds to defend miners arrested in a mine uprising in 1916. I also followed a short history of the Iron Range by Macey to the Minnesota Historical Society where I searched their catalog and found even more. This would be great for research requiring original sources, such as the History Day presentations done recently at SDSU.
I took a look at the contributor list and it's quite impressive.
CAMIO is also new to me.
I jumped in before I read the lesson and searched for pieced quilts in Textiles. I found a postage stamp quilt that is made up of 69,649 pieces and took the quilter over 1000 hours to do. She must have had really good eyes!
Paul Revere made beautiful silver work such as spoons, bowls, urns, salvers (which I had to look up to discover it was a tray) and at least a few engraved prints.
"Sioux" brought up a wide variety of items such as beaded items, war clubs, drawings, and books. I actually thought there would be more than 63 items listed.
I searched for Van Gogh and found many beautiful paintings and drawings with some text that allowed me to place the painting in the time frame of his life. It also gave me an idea of which museums/galleries might be worth visiting.
Even if I would like to visit all the museums that interest me, I know I never will. This site can show the works, many times not the most famous of the creator, to be enjoyed and learned about. Obviously students can cite these sources and use them in papers. I even put one of the Van Gogh's as my wallpaper. (hope that's not illegal!) The slideshow is pretty neat, too. I picked a few of my favorite Van Goghs. This would be useful for presentations.
All in all, two new resources to help us learn and assist patrons.
World cat
I've used World Cat numerous times and have always found it helpful, particularly when Aleph is down. We can still find out if we own a title and what the call number is which is very helpful.
I searched for Floor of the Sky by Joern. We own it along with 896 others, and of course we're listed first. The call number for us is FIC. For the rest of the world it's 813.6. Other info includes a summary of the plot, subject headings which can be used for "read alikes", and publisher info.
I did a search in ArticleFinder for Personnel performance reviews and found 45 articles, most of which seemed relevant (better than NetLibrary!), many of which were available in SD.
I did the OAIster search, clicking on the article beginning "Hardwood tree decline . . " I was able to took at the citation and the first page of the article from JSTOR. This is definitely for research and as a last place to look for articles. I thought ArticleFinder easier to use.
I also noticed the clock was ticking when I did the OAIster search. Must get only15 minutes.
On the whole the First Search databases are good to know about and I hope I remember their availability when those really indepth research questions happen--which I might add are becoming more rare in the past five years.
I searched for Floor of the Sky by Joern. We own it along with 896 others, and of course we're listed first. The call number for us is FIC. For the rest of the world it's 813.6. Other info includes a summary of the plot, subject headings which can be used for "read alikes", and publisher info.
I did a search in ArticleFinder for Personnel performance reviews and found 45 articles, most of which seemed relevant (better than NetLibrary!), many of which were available in SD.
I did the OAIster search, clicking on the article beginning "Hardwood tree decline . . " I was able to took at the citation and the first page of the article from JSTOR. This is definitely for research and as a last place to look for articles. I thought ArticleFinder easier to use.
I also noticed the clock was ticking when I did the OAIster search. Must get only15 minutes.
On the whole the First Search databases are good to know about and I hope I remember their availability when those really indepth research questions happen--which I might add are becoming more rare in the past five years.
Monday, May 3, 2010
NetLibrary
I did several searches in both key word and full text to find info on the Olympic games (Olympics). Mostly found info on the mountains in Washington State or a few references to the olympics. Must not have any books on this topic.
Then decided to brush up on performance reviews since I have a couple scheduled. I figured by searching for keyword or subject I would be able to limit my search to a managable list. Mostly didn't get any results, or very minimal, so I tried an advanced search of personnel, reviews, and performance and got 243 hits. Some of the books look really good, such as Action tools for effective managers. However, I likely will never read a book online because it really bothers my eyes, I'll have to look for this on ILL.
My fitness person deals with older people so I recommended the book Staying fit over 50. Although it didn't have alot of new exercises, it had some interesting info on stretching, running, and motivating us older exercisers. I also suggested Exercise for older adults by Cotton as another possibility. It also had motivational info and lots of suggested routines. The book is also aimed at trainers which is what she wanted.
My publisher search using Nebraska came up with 56 books, many of them native american history. Although nothing is newer than 2002, there may be some titles that this patron hasn't read.
I don't find ebooks particularly appealing due to my tendency for eye strain. We do assist people who find these titles in SDLN with getting signed up for NetLibrary.
Then decided to brush up on performance reviews since I have a couple scheduled. I figured by searching for keyword or subject I would be able to limit my search to a managable list. Mostly didn't get any results, or very minimal, so I tried an advanced search of personnel, reviews, and performance and got 243 hits. Some of the books look really good, such as Action tools for effective managers. However, I likely will never read a book online because it really bothers my eyes, I'll have to look for this on ILL.
My fitness person deals with older people so I recommended the book Staying fit over 50. Although it didn't have alot of new exercises, it had some interesting info on stretching, running, and motivating us older exercisers. I also suggested Exercise for older adults by Cotton as another possibility. It also had motivational info and lots of suggested routines. The book is also aimed at trainers which is what she wanted.
My publisher search using Nebraska came up with 56 books, many of them native american history. Although nothing is newer than 2002, there may be some titles that this patron hasn't read.
I don't find ebooks particularly appealing due to my tendency for eye strain. We do assist people who find these titles in SDLN with getting signed up for NetLibrary.
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