Lesson 6 - 1

1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.

I chose scrapbooking ideas, my search generated two results; I think I had set my search options too strict, I changed my search to just scrapbooking and received the same results.

I chose a few other topics just to see how the results would come out.  This can be a great resource if you have the time to search for a spacific topic.

Lesson 6 -- EBooks on EbscoHost (formerly NetLibrary)

1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.
In my search for articles about scrapbooking, my most precious me time hobby, I found this comical article about the Michael's stores.

Scrapbooking, yarn and Godiva.

Authors:

Lindell, Crystal

Source:

Candy Industry, Jul2012, Vol. 177 Issue 7, p40-42, 3p, 4 Color Photographs

I this this resource could be a bit overwhelming if you are not very spacific in what you are searching for. First I typed the word "scrapbook" in the search box.  The search generated over 8,000 differant articles and books, Yikes!

Lesson 5 -- Gale Virtual Reference Library 2

2. At the top of the page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.
I looked for raspberry ketones an interesting new diet supplement.  The database did not contain information about this subject so I went back to zinc.

As an acne suffer I found the acne diet article interesting. The article contained information about prevention, what food to avoid, and supplementation foods that help clear up acne. 

Lesson 4 -- Proquest Pt 2

2. Click the Publications tab at the top of the page. You will see an alphabetical list of the periodicals indexed in Proquest and the years included. Notice that this list is "Full text only." Do a search for a journal in your profession by typing a title or keyword in the search box. Report your findings and observations.

When I put assistant librarian or library assistant in the keyword search I came up with nothing.
When I put libriaian in the search I still come up with very little.  Two results one was a librarian BLOG the other "Teacher Librarian" while this periodical had a lot of articles to choose from most were more related to teachers and school librarians than to a public librarian.

When I simply put library in the keyword search I found what I was looking for many differant publications for librarians of all kinds.

This shows that it is important to be as spacific as possible with your searches to return the most useful information out there.

Lesson 4 -- Proquest Pt 1

1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.
I created a search for scrap booking one of my hobbies and one I know I share with many others.  There were only three article that came up but I liked that you can preview the article, get a feel for the article before opening the full text version.  If you are looking for information for someone else you can email the article to that person saving time and paper. You can save your search, this would be valuable if there were a large number of articles to choose from. You can print the article and the site gives you the citation information if a student is using the article for a research project.



1.a. See what your Challenge cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Challenge blog, read that person's post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each other's blogs throughout the Challenge as you learn together.

Lesson 3 : SIRS Issues Researcher

SIRS Issues Researcher
1. Select a leading issue and discuss the information located there, noting the topic overview, research tools and articles.
At Issue: Cheerleading
This page give information about how and when cheerleading got started.
Pro/Con Issues and Essential Questions
Research Tools
News Articles about the topic; which can be sorted by Relevance, Date, and Lexile scores

The more and more I work with these lessons I am wondering whether this information was available when I was in school.  So much information at your finger tips, one stop shop, no need to use google or wikipedia which isn't always reliable.


2. Select "Curriculum Pathfinders" on the right hand side of the window and mouse over the course subjects, noting the range of topics covered. Pick your favorite subject and discuss the information located there.
math, science, social studies, language arts, fine arts and health appear at the top of the page.
Putting the mouse over fine arts I find a list of more in depth topics; dance, music, opera, theater and arts
Click on any of these to receive a list of article on the chosen topic. Depending on the topic you choose the information can be sorted more in depth, for instance when I click on music, I am given a list of types of music ranging from big band/ swing to world music, clicking on one of these links narrows down the list of articles better.

Lesson 3 -- SIRS Discoverer

1. Look up armadillos (or your favorite animals) and discuss the results. Note if you find pictures and the various reading levels of the articles. (Remember, articles in SIRS Discoverer are selected, so you may not find something from yesterday's news.)

I decided to click on the animal icon on the home page just to see where this link would take me, then I clicked the title link this sorted by title.  Knowing exactly what you want to research narrows down the search considerably but meandering around the sight I found a fun article about "10 Smart Animals".  So many fun facts and articles gears towards this age group.  There were a few photos in this article I liked the best that at the bottom it contained the following information ...
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Citation :

 You can copy and paste this information into your own documents.

Newman, Aline Alexander. "10 Smart Animals." National Geographic Kids. July/Aug. 2004: 22-27. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 05 Feb 2013.

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making it easy for kids to site their article without problems. For teachers the lexile score would be very helpful assuring that their students are getting articles that they can read and understand independently.



2. Some of the most useful features in SIRS Discoverer are the "Database Features" located on the right hand side of the window. Explore this section by:

• selecting a country in "Country Facts" and noting the information located there.
• Country Name, Official Name, Capital, Population, Size (in sq km), Continent/Region, Government Type, Government Official, Agriculture, Climate, Currency, Languages (official), Holidays/Observances, Major Events in History, Did you know, Map of France, and the France Flag.
• selecting a map in "Maps of the World" and discussing a potential use.
• Wow! This is an awesome link, students working on research papers can use this area to print off maps for the paper or copy the map into presentation software for a great visual of the area they are reporting on.
• selecting one other area in "Database Features" and discuss the information located there.
• Science Fair Explore link breaks down the many aspects of science and gives students possible science experiments.  This link would be useful for students looking for a science fair topic or teachers looking for new innovative experiments for their classroom.