Looking back on this blog and on our class, I realize that I was going through the motions of reference before, but without any thought behind it. Now I have strategies, set in stone, that I know will work, and have thought through the motivations and actions of myself and actual/potential patrons. I know that I like to go to Google, but now I know why I do it, and why it's okay, and when to move on. I know how to incorporate mini-lessons when helping a patron, showing them click-by-click so they are empowered to do their own research, but also showing them the reasons to click instead of just where to click. I can use the time to sneak in a lesson on controlled vocabulary versus natural language, and explain how that will help them to build better search strings while writing a research paper. I can show a patron when a subscription database is more useful by starting at Google and working my way up the ranks and comparing the two responses. I knew "how" before, but now I know "why," and I also know it's important to give patrons both.
Also, in my very own commitment to Web 2.0, I have labeled my digital portfolio with tags to indicate which entries belong to which parts of the assignment. A, B, C and D items are tagged on the lefthand column as reference practice, internet public library, reflection, personal activity, group activity, etc. The tags are to organize my portfolio for my professor to see I have fulfilled all requirements, but also for my readers to zoom in on any possible topics of interest, and to get a bigger picture on what it is I discuss in this blog.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Librarianship is so exciting!
Ellie Collier was such a great person to have speak to us. My little sister always comes to me for advice over our parents because she knows I was just there a few years before her- I just struggled with decisions like what to do after college, what to do with creepy boyfriends that you can't seem to shake, and what it's like to be a independent twenty-something in 2007. Ellie felt like that older sister to me. She just finished library school at UT. It took her a little while to find a great job. She wanted to stay in Austin. That's just like me and my classmates. Because of this, I felt I could really take her advice to heart. I wrote down a bunch of ideas, even though she so sweetly linked us to all of them. I was just that excited.
Ellie gets to incorporate what she likes best about being a librarian into her daily life at work. That is so important, but hadn't really been clear to me before. She gets to read blogs and teach people about Google Gadgets. I love reading blogs and teaching people about the latest and greatest web tricks! I want a job where I get to give presentations to my audience, which happens to be teens. It's okay that I want to book talk to them about 14 year old protagonists- in fact, it's great! I should be excited to show them swaptree.com and yelp.com, because Ellie gets excited to show her fellow staff members about customized search engines. I'm doing the same things, but my audience is a little different. The whole idea of this got me really excited, and I loved running parallel lines between Ellie's life and mine, and seeing that she was so happy and satisfied made me really happy and satisfied. Hooray for Ellie Collier! She got me so motivated and proud!
Also, I added a Google Gadget she showed us to my Google iHome. It's flickr's gadget where it shows you the last 10 photos uploaded by your friends. Loving it!
Ellie gets to incorporate what she likes best about being a librarian into her daily life at work. That is so important, but hadn't really been clear to me before. She gets to read blogs and teach people about Google Gadgets. I love reading blogs and teaching people about the latest and greatest web tricks! I want a job where I get to give presentations to my audience, which happens to be teens. It's okay that I want to book talk to them about 14 year old protagonists- in fact, it's great! I should be excited to show them swaptree.com and yelp.com, because Ellie gets excited to show her fellow staff members about customized search engines. I'm doing the same things, but my audience is a little different. The whole idea of this got me really excited, and I loved running parallel lines between Ellie's life and mine, and seeing that she was so happy and satisfied made me really happy and satisfied. Hooray for Ellie Collier! She got me so motivated and proud!
Also, I added a Google Gadget she showed us to my Google iHome. It's flickr's gadget where it shows you the last 10 photos uploaded by your friends. Loving it!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Revisiting old Entries
I am also to revisit my entry on the process of finding scholarly information on the last US Presidential Election. Here's my first entry:
Speaking of examples, I should maybe list a few of my favorite subscription databases (although most of my favorites seem to always end up being the ones targeted for kids, like NetTrekker and Searchasaurus). I can tell them the advantages to these databases (which are also available earlier in this blog, dear reader- I am here to serve you!) and why sometimes it's easier to go to a trusted source than to figure out whether a random source is trustworthy.
Since anyone can post anything on the Internet, it's imperative to evaluate your sources if gathering information on the Presidential Election. Information that has been reviewed and considered sound by a group of the writer's peers is referred to as "scholarly information." Sometimes it's easier for the researcher to immediately limit their search using only sources of scholarly information than having to evaluate previously unevaluated material. For this reason, many people, when researching a topic like the latest Presidential Election, go straight for sources of scholarly information, where they know everything they come across will be logical, reliable, and authoritative.
Typically, places where a lot of research is done, like schools and libraries, love to give lots of options of scholarly information to their students or users. They will use their funding to supply these sources, usually by subscribing to lists of information that is owned by a trusted company who has a reputation for only listing scholarly information. These lists of information are called databases, and can be mind bogglingly large. They can contain many kinds of information of many different subjects.
To find the information you need, you can perform a search. A search is just what it sounds like- you tell the database what you're looking for, and it tells you what it has on those topics. The trick is that you have to carefully choose your search terms. Perhaps using the name of a candidate would work- but make sure to be specific. Searching for "Clinton," for instance, will return scholarly information on both President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2008 Presidency.
Now, let's see what I would change. Since I know now that I should use every available opportunity to educate a reader/learner, I should give more information on the critical importance of evaluative skills, and give a couple examples. Examples are the best way to learn. I give an example on Clinton meaning Bill or Hillary, but I should also explain the difference between controlled vocabulary and natural language searches, and how you can pearl between the two of them for better terms by doing a subject search.Speaking of examples, I should maybe list a few of my favorite subscription databases (although most of my favorites seem to always end up being the ones targeted for kids, like NetTrekker and Searchasaurus). I can tell them the advantages to these databases (which are also available earlier in this blog, dear reader- I am here to serve you!) and why sometimes it's easier to go to a trusted source than to figure out whether a random source is trustworthy.
The Internet
I am to revisit my mental model on how I would explain the Internet to an intelligent recluse who has been shacked up since the 80s.
I think that generally, I stand behind all of my previous notions. My big revelation of the semester being that you can always sneak a little more information in, though, means that I need to edit. At the end of my previous take on the Internet, I typed this paragraph:
Websites exist for many purposes. You can make a page with your basic personal info on a commercial site (mostly popularly http://www.Myspace.com, for instance) with the sole purpose of connecting with other users. Make a list of addresses of interesting sites and store the list on a website, and get to all these sites by directly clicking (using a mouse) on the address. The address will typically be underlined and in blue text to let you know that the text is linked to another site. That's why these instances of underlined blue text are called "links." Make a page for your business. Sell your products online in the global market- just tell your customers what you have available, and make a form they can fill out with their credit card information. Don't worry- many customers shop frequently online and are comfortable with giving you their credit card information. Once you get an order, ship out (or email) your good or service. In fact, you can buy and sell books, groceries, stocks, memberships to certain websites, or anything else you can think of on the web. Meet your future mate by joining a dating site that calculates compatibility using complicated mathematical algorithms. Got another idea for expanding the Internet? I bet you can put it on a website, get the word out, and chances are that it will catch on!
I still agree with all this, but I think this would be a great opportunity to talk about the importance of evaluative skills. I can also talk about how evaluating websites, since anyone can post one, is a critical skill taught in schools and libraries today.
Similarly, in a section of my previous passage where I talked about search engines, I could talk about how certain search engines are better for different purposes, and go into the differences between the free web and subscription databases. I could also relate this to evaluative skills.
I think that generally, I stand behind all of my previous notions. My big revelation of the semester being that you can always sneak a little more information in, though, means that I need to edit. At the end of my previous take on the Internet, I typed this paragraph:
Websites exist for many purposes. You can make a page with your basic personal info on a commercial site (mostly popularly http://www.Myspace.com, for instance) with the sole purpose of connecting with other users. Make a list of addresses of interesting sites and store the list on a website, and get to all these sites by directly clicking (using a mouse) on the address. The address will typically be underlined and in blue text to let you know that the text is linked to another site. That's why these instances of underlined blue text are called "links." Make a page for your business. Sell your products online in the global market- just tell your customers what you have available, and make a form they can fill out with their credit card information. Don't worry- many customers shop frequently online and are comfortable with giving you their credit card information. Once you get an order, ship out (or email) your good or service. In fact, you can buy and sell books, groceries, stocks, memberships to certain websites, or anything else you can think of on the web. Meet your future mate by joining a dating site that calculates compatibility using complicated mathematical algorithms. Got another idea for expanding the Internet? I bet you can put it on a website, get the word out, and chances are that it will catch on!
I still agree with all this, but I think this would be a great opportunity to talk about the importance of evaluative skills. I can also talk about how evaluating websites, since anyone can post one, is a critical skill taught in schools and libraries today.
Similarly, in a section of my previous passage where I talked about search engines, I could talk about how certain search engines are better for different purposes, and go into the differences between the free web and subscription databases. I could also relate this to evaluative skills.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Why We Teach
In class on 11/12, we received a handout that outlined the major players and ideas of libraries since 1960s. A dossier on the revolution, so to speak. I wrote some margin notes and ended up with a little theory I'd like to share, though it's not the most radical. I found a strong correlation between what was happening in the libraries and what was happening outside the libraries as well.
In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a lot of struggle for equality between genders, races, etc. In the libraries, patrons were also struggling for equality, and librarians, or the leaders from a library's point of view, were fighting to give their patrons equal rights. How cool is that? Libraries are a microcosm for the outside culture.
In the 1980s, libraries focused on the individual, and how to best suit everyone's needs. Well, its called the "Me Generation," isn't it? I bet librarians and patrons both donned large shoulder pads, as patrons learned how to teach themselves to best use library resources.
By the 1990s, Generation X took over. They were skeptical, critical, and cynical. Libraries took a more positive take on this, focusing on evaluation, and teaching patrons to be more critical of their sources, both in print and online.
When the 2000s rolled around, library anxiety and affective needs were hot-button issues in libraries. This makes sense with our current culture of "talking about feelings," discussion of the possible mental health crises, etc.
In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a lot of struggle for equality between genders, races, etc. In the libraries, patrons were also struggling for equality, and librarians, or the leaders from a library's point of view, were fighting to give their patrons equal rights. How cool is that? Libraries are a microcosm for the outside culture.
In the 1980s, libraries focused on the individual, and how to best suit everyone's needs. Well, its called the "Me Generation," isn't it? I bet librarians and patrons both donned large shoulder pads, as patrons learned how to teach themselves to best use library resources.
By the 1990s, Generation X took over. They were skeptical, critical, and cynical. Libraries took a more positive take on this, focusing on evaluation, and teaching patrons to be more critical of their sources, both in print and online.
When the 2000s rolled around, library anxiety and affective needs were hot-button issues in libraries. This makes sense with our current culture of "talking about feelings," discussion of the possible mental health crises, etc.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Using the Research Process
As a new teacher (hooray for Kindergarten!) I am always looking for are called "teachable moments." It's when you didn't really think you were going to be teaching something, but you end up doing it. The letter of the week is N. We're writing down words that start with N. My student Zachary suggests "night." I go to write it down, and he asks, "That means the man that fights dragons AND when you go to sleep?" Voila- instant lesson on homophones to show night and knight sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.
Maybe because I'm a new teacher, it is kind of rare for me to plan these ahead, letting the kids thing we are temporarily derailed. I can probably get an idea of how to predict these once I get around to my second year.
In class though, we collaboratively developed a cheat sheet- a veritable list of ways to sneak in meta-lessons: lessons on the lessons! While teaching kids the research process (gather your sources, and don't worry- you will all be overwhelmed and that's okay!) you can sneak in a little lesson on fact tools vs. finding tools, or the differences between primary and secondary sources. Need help searching? Let me tell you all about subscription databases and the differences between controlled vocabulary and natural language. The best part is that you don't even have to tell them you're doing it. I am always taking concepts down a notch for teaching my kindergarten students- we read a version of the "Three Little Pigs" from the wolf's perspective, and the kids point out to me that that wolf seems like he's trying to trick us. I didn't use the words "unreliable narrator," but do they get the concept? You betcha!
Education is a beautiful thing.
Maybe because I'm a new teacher, it is kind of rare for me to plan these ahead, letting the kids thing we are temporarily derailed. I can probably get an idea of how to predict these once I get around to my second year.
In class though, we collaboratively developed a cheat sheet- a veritable list of ways to sneak in meta-lessons: lessons on the lessons! While teaching kids the research process (gather your sources, and don't worry- you will all be overwhelmed and that's okay!) you can sneak in a little lesson on fact tools vs. finding tools, or the differences between primary and secondary sources. Need help searching? Let me tell you all about subscription databases and the differences between controlled vocabulary and natural language. The best part is that you don't even have to tell them you're doing it. I am always taking concepts down a notch for teaching my kindergarten students- we read a version of the "Three Little Pigs" from the wolf's perspective, and the kids point out to me that that wolf seems like he's trying to trick us. I didn't use the words "unreliable narrator," but do they get the concept? You betcha!
Education is a beautiful thing.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Under the Tuscan Sun
My practice question today: The local book club is about to read "Under the Tuscan Sun" and they'd like to be able to find authentic Italian recipes, timelines of Italian history, reliable wine reviews, driving tour routes through Italy, images of old Italian houses, and/or other materials that can enhance their understanding of Italy. Help them understand how to use Boolean logic to find useful web sites, portals, magazine articles, and other resources. [Tip: identify search strings that lead to generic Italian or Tuscan tourism materials then contract that with search strings which let them drill down to specific points of focus, such as the driving tours or wine reviews.]
As you may remember from a previous post, gentle and attentive reader, I have officially decided that non-academic requests such as these are best initially attacked by a subject search on the Internet Public Library. I searched for "Italian Travel," and decided this was a search string that led to generic Italian or Tuscan tourism materials. It provided such gems as lonelyplanet.com.
I also Googled "italy" to find italiantourism.com. I "focused on" a map of Tuscany, and got information in the following categories: "general," which had a subset called "cultural." I mined it for CV terms to use as search strings that drill down to specific points of interest to these book club members. Google is also useful for image searches, for architecture and other visual interests. I used "tuscan villa" to start, and played around with it for a while to find real Tuscan homes, rather than McMansion-copycats for sale in the U.S., of which there were a frightening amount. "Tuscan architecture" ended up the best choice. What beautiful buildings!
Figuring out the controlled vocabulary gave me better search strings that led me to websites like scooterbella.com, which sells Vespa tours of Italy, and artofcookery.com, which gives Tuscan recipes. Wishing you were in Italy yet? Try using your local library catalog to search for travel books on Italy which will give you all sorts of interesting information.
Here are some other successful search strings and the subsequent websites found, on Google:
"Tuscan Wine Review" led to winereviewonline.com
"Italian History" led to knowital.com/history/tuscany/tuscany-history.html
"Tuscan Driving Tour" led to hearsajourney.com
Again, like the tip suggests, it helped to start with general sites, cull them for controlled vocabulary like "villas" or "vespas," and then use those to make more specific searches.
As you may remember from a previous post, gentle and attentive reader, I have officially decided that non-academic requests such as these are best initially attacked by a subject search on the Internet Public Library. I searched for "Italian Travel," and decided this was a search string that led to generic Italian or Tuscan tourism materials. It provided such gems as lonelyplanet.com.
I also Googled "italy" to find italiantourism.com. I "focused on" a map of Tuscany, and got information in the following categories: "general," which had a subset called "cultural." I mined it for CV terms to use as search strings that drill down to specific points of interest to these book club members. Google is also useful for image searches, for architecture and other visual interests. I used "tuscan villa" to start, and played around with it for a while to find real Tuscan homes, rather than McMansion-copycats for sale in the U.S., of which there were a frightening amount. "Tuscan architecture" ended up the best choice. What beautiful buildings!
Figuring out the controlled vocabulary gave me better search strings that led me to websites like scooterbella.com, which sells Vespa tours of Italy, and artofcookery.com, which gives Tuscan recipes. Wishing you were in Italy yet? Try using your local library catalog to search for travel books on Italy which will give you all sorts of interesting information.
Here are some other successful search strings and the subsequent websites found, on Google:
"Tuscan Wine Review" led to winereviewonline.com
"Italian History" led to knowital.com/history/tuscany/tuscany-history.html
"Tuscan Driving Tour" led to hearsajourney.com
Again, like the tip suggests, it helped to start with general sites, cull them for controlled vocabulary like "villas" or "vespas," and then use those to make more specific searches.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
As part of my assignments for this class, I wrote an article for submission in a library-related journal. I got to choose the journal, and since I'm a fan and subscriber, I knew my work would fit into Library Journal.
I wrote an article about online reader advisory- what tools to use, comparing the different tools, and why librarians still need to stay on their game to help fill in the gaps that Amazon can't close.
If you're interested, give me a holler and I'll send it your way.
I wrote an article about online reader advisory- what tools to use, comparing the different tools, and why librarians still need to stay on their game to help fill in the gaps that Amazon can't close.
If you're interested, give me a holler and I'll send it your way.
Friday, November 9, 2007
IPL Question #4: "Emperor" Andrew Jackson
Question:
Name the Louisiana Answer:Greetings from the Internet Public Library! Thank you for your question about a
I discovered that Commodore Jesse D. Elliott, Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard was a great admirer of President Andrew Jackson. President Jackson was well known and well admired for winning the battle of
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_Louisiana_politician_turned_down_the_offer_of_emperor
I began my search from here to confirm this information about Andrew Jackson. I first used Google Book Search. Google Book Search has thousands of books electronically scanned and available for searching, including many academic texts that can give much more information on an individual than might be available in a regular encyclopedia article.
To get to Google Book Search, go to the following URL:
Once there, I searched for “Andrew Jackson Emperor.” One of the first books available is called Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age by John William Ward, and confirms the information about
Here is a TinyURL for convenience:
If you would like the entire text of Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age, there are two copies at the East Baton Rouge Library. They are currently checked out but should be available soon. To access the East Baton Rouge Library’s website, please click the following link:
From there, click on “Library Catalog” on the far left menu, and then click on “Login to Catalog.”
From there, click on “Search Entire Collection- All Locations.”
In the search bar, type the title of the book: Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age. From there, you will get current information on whether either of the two copies of the book has been turned in.
More information about
Here is a TinyURL for convenience:
This information is again confirmed in another biography of Andrew Jackson that I also found as I searched for “Andrew Jackson emperor Elliott” on Google Book Search. This book is Life and Times of Andrew Jackson: Soldier—statesman—president by A. S. Coylar. The following link is to page 808, which discusses our topic:
A TinyURL:
If you still have more questions regarding Andrew Jackson’s decline of emperorship, please write us back. We’re happy to help!
Thanks for visiting the IPL!
My Take: The patron mentioned that the purpose for her question was because she heard it as a trivia question. I'm actually a fan of pub quizzes and trivia games, and have been a longtime fan since college. Questions are sometimes worded a little differently to make the question tricky, and I think this was a case of that. I was kind of worried maybe there was another politician who was involved in Louisiana that really was offered a technical position as emperor, but couldn't find any information on this, and I have to think this is what the trivia question meant. Again, I wish there was some way to hear back from the patron, to verify this is what she meant, but I can't, and hope this is satisfactory, knowing I did my best.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Chat Transcript Analysis Exercise
In class on 11/5, we did a personal activity where we read through actual chat transcripts of people asking real librarians questions. This was recommended by our readings and by a panel of my peers as a great way to learn about the "dos and don'ts" of online reference.
Without getting into great detail, here are the top tricks of the trade you need to know:
Without getting into great detail, here are the top tricks of the trade you need to know:
- Follow the patron's lead. If they are casual, go casual. If they are formal, go formal. Match your level of formality, language, even use of caps lock to theirs. Let them set the tone.
- Though it seems unprofessional, emoticons really are one of the only ways you can show friendliness and enthusiasm. Use them to replace nonverbal signs like a smile or seeming interested while listening.
- Answer their dang question! Give them the help they need! That's why they came to ask you! We read a transcript in class where the librarian was jerky, condescending and never would actually answer the person's question. See my last post for my feelings on that. Why be a librarian if you don't get a kick out of being nice and helping people with their information needs? Jeez.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Comparing Search Engines
In class yesterday, we asked the same three questions to three different search engines to see what happened.
First, the three search engines:
Regarding Emily Dickinson's biography (children's librarian interruption: check out Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World by Jeanette Winter), the best site offered was online-lit.com. It was the first resource listed by Google and Ask. It was the 2nd link offered by jux2.com, which is still pretty good. jux2 listed cswnet.com first, which was just okay. Google offered biography.com second, which was great, and Ask offered uta.edu second, which was also great. I'm going with a tie between Google and Ask on this round.
As for the change in moon tides, the best link was theboatingexchange.com, which was offered by Jux2. But their 2nd link was completely irrelevant, and third link was wikipedia, which wasn't great, but was still possibly the best of what I compared. For the moon tide question, Google offered wikipedia first, and the Global Geophysical Fluids Center (GGFC) second, which is good, because both were highly relevant, so they could possibly be the winner, as well. In fact, I'm going with Google, because while it didn't have the best site, at least it's first few links were all relevant. Ask.com was way off target, supplying links to home.hiway.net first, which I wasn't sure made any sense at all, then to other possibly or definitely irrelevant sites following.
The point countdown:
Google: 3
Ask: 1
Jux2: 1
It could be bias, because I'm a Google girl, and this seemed to differ from the opinions of lots of my classmates, but that's Kristen's call, as I see it! I just really believe in those complicated algorithms and their corporate culture calling for seventy hour workweeks- it just seems like they know what they're doing.
First, the three search engines:
- Google.com. Enough said.
- Ask.com. Also pretty explanatory (the most recent version of AskJeeves.com), but I also find it mentionable that I keep hearing people say that it's gotten a lot better recently and has come into more favor.
- jux2.com I hadn't heard of this search engine before this practice question, so I'm glad I got some experience with it. Jux2.com states that it "Compare[s] Google, Yahoo, and MSN with One Search"
- Khyber pass history
- Emily Dickinson biography
- moon tide change
Regarding Emily Dickinson's biography (children's librarian interruption: check out Emily Dickinson's Letters to the World by Jeanette Winter), the best site offered was online-lit.com. It was the first resource listed by Google and Ask. It was the 2nd link offered by jux2.com, which is still pretty good. jux2 listed cswnet.com first, which was just okay. Google offered biography.com second, which was great, and Ask offered uta.edu second, which was also great. I'm going with a tie between Google and Ask on this round.
As for the change in moon tides, the best link was theboatingexchange.com, which was offered by Jux2. But their 2nd link was completely irrelevant, and third link was wikipedia, which wasn't great, but was still possibly the best of what I compared. For the moon tide question, Google offered wikipedia first, and the Global Geophysical Fluids Center (GGFC) second, which is good, because both were highly relevant, so they could possibly be the winner, as well. In fact, I'm going with Google, because while it didn't have the best site, at least it's first few links were all relevant. Ask.com was way off target, supplying links to home.hiway.net first, which I wasn't sure made any sense at all, then to other possibly or definitely irrelevant sites following.
The point countdown:
Google: 3
Ask: 1
Jux2: 1
It could be bias, because I'm a Google girl, and this seemed to differ from the opinions of lots of my classmates, but that's Kristen's call, as I see it! I just really believe in those complicated algorithms and their corporate culture calling for seventy hour workweeks- it just seems like they know what they're doing.
Monday, November 5, 2007
"Stupid Questions": the mantra of ill-employed librarians
Tonight in class we had a discussion about how some librarians say their patrons are stupid. I watched a pretty intense talk go down, flipping my head back and forth as though I was a Wimbleton observer. I had nothing to contribute to the conversation except a feeling of mild annoyance that some colleagues of my colleagues, the coworkers of my classmates, must obviously hate their jobs and therefore hate helping people. Get another job, guys. Don't sour the disposition of my motivated, ready-to-help fellow graduates. I also silently was grateful for my awesome co-workers at the library where I work who are always helpful, always ready to explain, and would never run for the break room to badmouth a patron.
All of that had never occurred to me before because I only do reference for children and teens. I can't think their questions are stupid- all of my patrons are pretty new to a library. I help lots of people with their first projects, helping them to know how the library works. I explain multiple times a shift what "stacks" means and how books are organized. I never get mad about it. Just because some people have older people asking the questions doesn't make it a stupid question. There are no stupid questions. The only stupid thing would be to not ask it, or even worse, to judge someone for having the courage to ask it.
All of that had never occurred to me before because I only do reference for children and teens. I can't think their questions are stupid- all of my patrons are pretty new to a library. I help lots of people with their first projects, helping them to know how the library works. I explain multiple times a shift what "stacks" means and how books are organized. I never get mad about it. Just because some people have older people asking the questions doesn't make it a stupid question. There are no stupid questions. The only stupid thing would be to not ask it, or even worse, to judge someone for having the courage to ask it.
Searchasaurus: my educational finding tool
Today I submitted my part of our Finding Tool project. My "letter of the alphabet" was L, which stood for Education.
The entry as it stood included two links:
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators
After looking them over, I think they are great and should still be included. I also wanted to add one more.
Ebsco Databases for Kids: Student Research Center, Kids Search, and Searchasaurus.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=uid
Sample question: I'm in second grade and I need to do a report on Cleopatra. I need information that isn't too hard to read.
Same answer: Searchasaurus is great for giving kids your age information. From the Searchasaurus homepage, type "Cleopatra" (or any topic for any future report you do, as well!) and then all the articles you can use will be listed.
Path: Previously explored Searchasaurus for another class and found it very useful for learners that aren't advanced readers
My special-only-for-blog-addendum:
Three of Ebsco's databases are intended for children and are useable for them: Student Research Center, Kids Search, and Searchasaurus. Those are in order from the ones most appropriate for older students to the ones more suited for younger students. The Student Research Center provides magazines, newspapers, books, encyclopedias, biographies, radio and television news transcripts, country reports, state/province reports, primary source docments, photos, maps and flags and divides its information into the following topics: Arts & Media, English & Language Arts, Business, Careers, Current Issues, Health, History, Math, Science, Social Studies, Sports and Technology. Kids Search provides the same resources, and is divided into Animals, Arts & Music, Geography, Health, In the News, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Sports, with both the words and a visual image for the topic. Searchasaurus, my personal favorite, doesn't clearly state which resources it uses, but sorts its content into the following categories: Animals, Art & Music, Health, History, People & Places, Science & Math, Sports and Stories.
The entry as it stood included two links:
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators
After looking them over, I think they are great and should still be included. I also wanted to add one more.
Ebsco Databases for Kids: Student Research Center, Kids Search, and Searchasaurus.
http://search.ebscohost.com
Sample question: I'm in second grade and I need to do a report on Cleopatra. I need information that isn't too hard to read.
Same answer: Searchasaurus is great for giving kids your age information. From the Searchasaurus homepage, type "Cleopatra" (or any topic for any future report you do, as well!) and then all the articles you can use will be listed.
Path: Previously explored Searchasaurus for another class and found it very useful for learners that aren't advanced readers
My special-only-for-blog-addendum:
Three of Ebsco's databases are intended for children and are useable for them: Student Research Center, Kids Search, and Searchasaurus. Those are in order from the ones most appropriate for older students to the ones more suited for younger students. The Student Research Center provides magazines, newspapers, books, encyclopedias, biographies, radio and television news transcripts, country reports, state/province reports, primary source docments, photos, maps and flags and divides its information into the following topics: Arts & Media, English & Language Arts, Business, Careers, Current Issues, Health, History, Math, Science, Social Studies, Sports and Technology. Kids Search provides the same resources, and is divided into Animals, Arts & Music, Geography, Health, In the News, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Sports, with both the words and a visual image for the topic. Searchasaurus, my personal favorite, doesn't clearly state which resources it uses, but sorts its content into the following categories: Animals, Art & Music, Health, History, People & Places, Science & Math, Sports and Stories.
Each interface is perfect for its intended audience. Kids Search and Searchasaurus are good at using a telling icon above the words (sometimes an icon, sometimes a costumed dinosaur!) to make it clear, even for early readers. Student Research Center and Kids Search don't let the user browse. Searchasaurus does have a browsing feature, again with both text and visual searches. For Student Research Center, the simple search doesn't specify, but seems to search by subject. Kids Search is the same way. Searchasaurus' simple search is a topic search.
I asked each of these databases "How fast do pecan trees grow?" and each answered that "no results were found." I assume this means none of these databases have natural language recognition.
Kids Search and Searchasaurus both let you search images (or "pictures" as it is listed on Searchasaurus) easily from their home page. The Student Research Center also lets you search images, but not as clearly from the home page.
Student Research Center is probably not going to prevent students from using Google or Wikipedia first, but they might be more likely if using it means they don't have to do any required additional work for evaluating Internet resources. Kids Search and Searchasaurus are must more engaging and tantalizingly designed.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
IPL Question #3: "The Art of Talking to Your Teenager" by Paul W. Swets
I did my third IPL question. Here was my patron's question:
I need to know if there is somewhere online that I may have access to the book "The Art of Talking with Your Teenager" by Paul W. Swets. I need the book as soon as possible and am unable to locate it online. I've tried questia.com and a few smaller ones. I would greatly appreciate any information.
Here was my answer:
Hello, from the Internet Public Library!
Thank you for your question about the book "The Art of Talking with Your Teenager." I've found a few ways for you to get access to this book quickly.
I went to Google Book Search, which you can get to by doing a Google search for "Google Book Search."
Once there, I typed in the title of the book. The book was the first one listed among the answers, so I clicked on it. Unfortunately, they did not have the book available online, but I found another way for you to get it.
On the right side, there is a link that says "Find this book in a library." Click that link, and there will be a box at the bottom of the screen asking for your location.
I typed in "Mesa, Arizona" and found out there is a copy of this book at the Maricopa Community College, which has campuses all around your area.
I clicked the link on "Maricopa Community College" to get information about which library the book is actually located.
It's currently available for check out at the Red Mountain Campus, which is located at 1833 West Southern, Mesa, AZ 85202. Their phone number is 480 461 7680.
The library's website is as follows:
http://www.mesacc.edu/library/
You can search the catalog directly that way as well for information about Red Mountain Community College and the holdings within their library.
Another public library nearby where I also saw it was available is the Chandler Public Library's Downtown branch. Their address is: 22 S. Delaware St. Chandler AZ 85225. Their phone number is (480) 782-2800. Their website is as follows:
http://chandlerlibrary.org/
Unfortunately, I could not find access to this book online. I tried the publisher's website at the following website:
http://www.adamsmedia.com/
I also tried the other following sites that have a lot of books online:
http://www.gutenberg.com
http://www.ebooks.com
http://www.netlibrary.com
but unfortunately, none of them had the book online. You could buy the book online, and it is available for purchase on Amazon at the following site:
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Talking-Your-Teenager/dp/1558504788/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196283300&sr=1-2
a smaller version of that link, provided by http://tinyurl.com, is as follows:
http://tinyurl.com/2jrklc
Of course, the disadvantage to buying it online is that you would have to wait for it to be shipped to you, in which case, checking it out at the community college library or public library would be faster and free.
I hope that helps. If you still have more questions, please write back.
Thanks for visiting the IPL!
Kristen
Here's my take on it:
I hate that she asked for the book online and I couldn't find it anywhere, but I couldn't. I showed her a way to buy it online, but that isn't quite the same, but I still wanted to offer it just in case the issue was transportation and not time. If time is the greatest issue, then she will easily be able to go get the book at the public library or community college library. I hope that helps her. Like we talked about in class the other day, it's a little frustrating to accept that with "digital patrons," we never get to know if we really helped solve a problem or not. C'est la vie, I suppose.
I need to know if there is somewhere online that I may have access to the book "The Art of Talking with Your Teenager" by Paul W. Swets. I need the book as soon as possible and am unable to locate it online. I've tried questia.com and a few smaller ones. I would greatly appreciate any information.
Here was my answer:
Hello, from the Internet Public Library!
Thank you for your question about the book "The Art of Talking with Your Teenager." I've found a few ways for you to get access to this book quickly.
I went to Google Book Search, which you can get to by doing a Google search for "Google Book Search."
Once there, I typed in the title of the book. The book was the first one listed among the answers, so I clicked on it. Unfortunately, they did not have the book available online, but I found another way for you to get it.
On the right side, there is a link that says "Find this book in a library." Click that link, and there will be a box at the bottom of the screen asking for your location.
I typed in "Mesa, Arizona" and found out there is a copy of this book at the Maricopa Community College, which has campuses all around your area.
I clicked the link on "Maricopa Community College" to get information about which library the book is actually located.
It's currently available for check out at the Red Mountain Campus, which is located at 1833 West Southern, Mesa, AZ 85202. Their phone number is 480 461 7680.
The library's website is as follows:
http://www.mesacc.edu/library/
You can search the catalog directly that way as well for information about Red Mountain Community College and the holdings within their library.
Another public library nearby where I also saw it was available is the Chandler Public Library's Downtown branch. Their address is: 22 S. Delaware St. Chandler AZ 85225. Their phone number is (480) 782-2800. Their website is as follows:
http://chandlerlibrary.org/
Unfortunately, I could not find access to this book online. I tried the publisher's website at the following website:
http://www.adamsmedia.com/
I also tried the other following sites that have a lot of books online:
http://www.gutenberg.com
http://www.ebooks.com
http://www.netlibrary.com
but unfortunately, none of them had the book online. You could buy the book online, and it is available for purchase on Amazon at the following site:
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Talking-Your-Teenager/dp/1558504788/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196283300&sr=1-2
a smaller version of that link, provided by http://tinyurl.com, is as follows:
http://tinyurl.com/2jrklc
Of course, the disadvantage to buying it online is that you would have to wait for it to be shipped to you, in which case, checking it out at the community college library or public library would be faster and free.
I hope that helps. If you still have more questions, please write back.
Thanks for visiting the IPL!
Kristen
Here's my take on it:
I hate that she asked for the book online and I couldn't find it anywhere, but I couldn't. I showed her a way to buy it online, but that isn't quite the same, but I still wanted to offer it just in case the issue was transportation and not time. If time is the greatest issue, then she will easily be able to go get the book at the public library or community college library. I hope that helps her. Like we talked about in class the other day, it's a little frustrating to accept that with "digital patrons," we never get to know if we really helped solve a problem or not. C'est la vie, I suppose.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Balancing Online and In-Person Demands
My college roommate Anne is also in library school, attending at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. We've been comparing notes all through graduate school, having both had the same undergraduate background, to see how things are different. We also compare our jobs, both working part-time at public libraries.
At Anne's library, they have a clear cut policy: in-person patrons always come before digital ones. Tell the person on IM to wait while you help another customer. Be polite, but always service the ones that made the physical effort first. Since they made the effort, you should too.
My library isn't as clear-cut as Anne's though, and we've spent a lot of time talking about it. I like that I can do things on a case-by-case basis as I see fit, but sometimes I'm not sure what to do. Maybe it's better to have a set policy to always follow so that time doesn't have to be spent making the decision... but I think I like getting to choose for myself. If you have an online patron that only needs a little more information, it seems more efficient to wrap that up and then go on to the next person. It's easier to make someone not standing there in person wait though, as well. I go back and forth on this topic, and just will basically follow the policy in place wherever I get a job, as best I can.
At Anne's library, they have a clear cut policy: in-person patrons always come before digital ones. Tell the person on IM to wait while you help another customer. Be polite, but always service the ones that made the physical effort first. Since they made the effort, you should too.
My library isn't as clear-cut as Anne's though, and we've spent a lot of time talking about it. I like that I can do things on a case-by-case basis as I see fit, but sometimes I'm not sure what to do. Maybe it's better to have a set policy to always follow so that time doesn't have to be spent making the decision... but I think I like getting to choose for myself. If you have an online patron that only needs a little more information, it seems more efficient to wrap that up and then go on to the next person. It's easier to make someone not standing there in person wait though, as well. I go back and forth on this topic, and just will basically follow the policy in place wherever I get a job, as best I can.
Deep in the Heart of Texas
For our practice question, we were to answer the following question as submitted by email to a University library: I'm doing an informative speech on Texas for a group of visiting Scottish high school students. Can you send me a couple of web sites with some basic and/or interesting facts? I need basics like demographics and wildlife but I'd also like some memorable historical facts that will leave them with a positive impression of the state."
No problem! I just did a basic search on "Texas" on the Internet Public Library's search engine, and came up with a few good links, right away. The Texas Almanac is great at giving both hard demographic facts and historical tidbits. Texas Treasures, the online exhibit of historical artifacts and documents (produced by the Texas State Library & Archives Commission) also provides a good mix of information.
This question just seemed too easy. I must be getting better at knowing where to start looking when I get a request. I think if the request is academic, I hit up the UT libraries subject search, and if it seems less academic (like this one), my first stop is the Internet Public Library. It's hard to analyze every small decision I make when answering reference questions but I keep trying to do that, so I know the rules I make for myself and subsequently follow. I know not to be too dependent on UT libraries since I won't be a grad student forever, but since I use the Austin Public Library resources so much at work, I figure it's a good way to get practice elsewhere.
No problem! I just did a basic search on "Texas" on the Internet Public Library's search engine, and came up with a few good links, right away. The Texas Almanac is great at giving both hard demographic facts and historical tidbits. Texas Treasures, the online exhibit of historical artifacts and documents (produced by the Texas State Library & Archives Commission) also provides a good mix of information.
This question just seemed too easy. I must be getting better at knowing where to start looking when I get a request. I think if the request is academic, I hit up the UT libraries subject search, and if it seems less academic (like this one), my first stop is the Internet Public Library. It's hard to analyze every small decision I make when answering reference questions but I keep trying to do that, so I know the rules I make for myself and subsequently follow. I know not to be too dependent on UT libraries since I won't be a grad student forever, but since I use the Austin Public Library resources so much at work, I figure it's a good way to get practice elsewhere.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
IPL Question #2: Reference Process
For my second Internet Public Library question, I chose a question from someone in Nigeria who asked, "What is reference process?" I wrote the person back to ask if s/he wanted information on the reference interview, or the information seeking process, but didn't hear back, so I went ahead and gave them information on both, blending sources I had used in previous classes on the topics, and some new sources I found that used easily-readable language to give tutorials on the topics.
Here was my answer:
Here was my answer:
Hello from the Internet Public Library!
Thank you for your question about the reference process.
I wasn't sure if you wanted information on the reference
interview, or the process a librarian uses to help a user find
information. I also wasn't sure if you wanted information on the
information seeking process, which is the steps a person takes
when they want to do research. I'm going to give you information
on both.
The ODLIS is the Online Dictionary for Library and Information
Science. It is a reliable source for information that is
recommended by the Internet Public Library. It has an entry for
the reference interview, as well as a some sites that can give
you more information. The ODLIS entry on reference interviews is
at the following link:
http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_r.cfm
Just scroll down from the top to the entry called "reference
interview" and also please click on any other links that interest
you as well.
The ODLIS also mentions free online tutorials on giving reference
interviews from the Ohio Library Council. I found these for you
by Googling "ohio library council ORE online tutorial." This
sites gives links to lots of places that give you online,
interactive tutorials on giving lots of different kind of
reference interviews.
The link to Ohio Library Council's page is as follows:
http://home.earthlink.net/~stephaniegerding/accidentaltechnologytrainer/id2.html
Since that link is so long, I also made a shorter link that will
take you to the same place, in case your browser doesn't accept
the other long link. They Tiny URL is as follows:
http://tinyurl.com/324vhg
Since I wasn't sure if you needed information on reference
interviews or the information seeking process, I'm also going to
provide some links to explain the steps people take when they
search for information.
A very reputable scholar in the Information Seeking Process is
Carol Kuhlthau. She has written many famous articles on this
process. One is available freely on the internet at the
following URL:
http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-99/kuhlthau.html
A big part of the information seeking process is evaluating
sources, especially those on the internet. I found a website
that gives information on teaching web evaluation, so that your
user can evaluate his/her sources. I found this website by
Googling "web evaluation." That site is as follows:
http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/instruct/evaluate/evalbiblio.html
"Information Research: is "an open access, international,
scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of
research across a wide range of information-related disciplines"
sponsored by the Lund University Libraries, Sweden. I found this
journal by Googling "information seeking process." The website
for the journal is as follows:
http://informationr.net/ir/
There was an article published in "Information Research" on
teaching the information seeking process. The link is as
follows:
http://informationr.net/ir/12-1/paper280.html
If you still have more questions about the reference process, the
reference interview, or the information seeking process, please
write back.
Thanks for visiting the IPL!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Fact Tools
Here are my picks for the best online dictionaries:
Best Visual Dictionary: http://www.visuwords.com/
Best Gated Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com
Best Thesaurus: http://www.acronymfinder.com
Best Rhyming Dictionary: http://www.rhymezone.com
Best Metadictionary: www.dictionary.com
Best Quotation Dictionary: http://www.bartleby.com/100
Best Citation Writer: http://citationmachine.net/
Best Translator: http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Monday, October 22, 2007
treacher collins syndrome practice question
In class today, we had a practice question that was a request submitted via email to a public library. It read: Hi - I just need one thing but I need proof of it so maybe you could photocopy a page from a book and mail it to me or something. I need basic information on Treacher Collins syndrome. If possible, I'd like the genetic profile, signs, diagnosis, and prognosis. I'm looking for something concise- not too much to read at once. Thank you very much for your assistance, Margaret Wilson."
I did a subject search within health and medicine. Going down through the lines, Treacher Collins Syndrome was an option, so I checked out what they had available. This website seemed pretty helpful, to provide lots of different avenues of information concisely without going into overload. It can give her support groups, and the information she asked, as well as concise personal websites of people who have Treacher Collins. I also trust this website because it's produced by the Genetic Education Center at the University of Kansas' Medical Center. I was really curious as to her information need details, but as always, had to put that aside. Because of this, I loved the information Dr. Westbrook was telling us about the differences between Monitoring and Blunting, the process in which an information seeker goes from seeking more and more information until saturation and overload is reached, at which point the information seeker needs things to be simplified and concise. That makes so much sense. I love putting abstract names to things we all know but don't call a name.
I did a subject search within health and medicine. Going down through the lines, Treacher Collins Syndrome was an option, so I checked out what they had available. This website seemed pretty helpful, to provide lots of different avenues of information concisely without going into overload. It can give her support groups, and the information she asked, as well as concise personal websites of people who have Treacher Collins. I also trust this website because it's produced by the Genetic Education Center at the University of Kansas' Medical Center. I was really curious as to her information need details, but as always, had to put that aside. Because of this, I loved the information Dr. Westbrook was telling us about the differences between Monitoring and Blunting, the process in which an information seeker goes from seeking more and more information until saturation and overload is reached, at which point the information seeker needs things to be simplified and concise. That makes so much sense. I love putting abstract names to things we all know but don't call a name.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
IPL Question #1: Red Doors
I answered my first question as an Internet Public Librarian today!
Q: what did it mean when they painted their door red in Boston, Mass?
My answer:
Q: what did it mean when they painted their door red in Boston, Mass?
My answer:
Hello from the Internet Public Library!
Thank you for your question about the symbolism of red doors.
I've found a few explanations for red doors. They all seem to be
based on word-of-mouth instead of on real, concrete information.
I can't find any scholarly sources that say definitively what red
doors mean, but there are lots of loosely-linked ideas on the
Internet. They all seem to be based on Christian beliefs that go
back to a quotation in Exodus.
To show you this Bible passage, I first found a Bible website
that was recommended by the Internet Public Library. I found one
called
BibleGateway.com.
I searched for "red" and "blood" and found a bible verse that may
be the answer. It's in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 12. It
states that God was to take a firstborn son from every home, but
those that believed in him should put blood on their door
(coloring the door red) and he would pass over those houses,
keeping them safe. You can see the Bible verse here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=2&chapter=12&version=31
Since that link is so long, here's a TinyURL that will take you
to the same place:
http://tinyurl.com/344wu8
I found many sources on Google where regular people had different
ideas on why doors were red, as well, usually stating that the
red, a symbolism for smeared blood, meant that inside was a safe
place of Christian love and protection. I'm happy to give you
some examples of different ideas that people believe.
I also found some information on a site called everything2.com.
This website is just like Wikipedia- all of its information is
submitted by regular people, so it's not a source you can verify,
but it's a good place to start. They have an entry on red doors
that you can read at this link:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1405775
To take the theory a little bit further, even, there is also a
theory that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the doors of
the Wittenberg Church which were red, and other churches painted
their doors red to signify that they were also Reformed churches
with the same beliefs as Martin Luther.
I found evidence that Lutheran churches do agree with the
symbolism of the red door. The Trinity Lutheran Church for
instance, calls their monthly newsletter "The Red Door." You can
check it out at the following link:
http://www.tlcnc.org/
and clicking on "newsletter." It doesn't offer an explanation of
why the newsletter is named that, though.
Another person that agrees that Lutheran churches and Christian
churches in general use red doors as symbolism of their beliefs
writes a beautiful summary that accompanies a photo of a red
door. You can check it out at:
http://blog.webshots.com/?p=156
In Indiana, the Red Door Home Inspection Company does a great job
of summing up why they named their company after the "red door"
tradition. You can read their take on the symbolism of a red
door at
http://www.reddoorhomeinspections.com/
Just scroll down on the main page to the section entitled "Why
The Name Red Door Home Inspections?"
So, as you can see (especially if you want to Google "red door"
in quotation marks like that yourself), there are many ideas of
why doors are painted red, but almost all of them have Christian
traditions going back to the Exodus Bible Passage.
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of official information from
reliable sources that can confirm it.
I hope that answered your question. If you still have more
questions, or want more information about red doors, please write
back. We're happy to help!
Thanks for visiting the IPL!
Kristen
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Reference Reflection
I feel so much more confident now when I work at the children's reference desk now. This newfound confidence is especially serendipitous because it's Science Fair season, and tons of middle schoolers are coming up to me and asking for books and periodicals on increasingly difficult topics like short term memory and human metabolism of drugs. It's difficult to find age-appropriate sources for these pretty specific subjects, but I managed and felt so much more secure in my selections. Hooray for reference processes, pearling and the balance between controlled vocabulary and natural language!
Monday, October 15, 2007
M&T Information Traits
For my personal activity in class on October 15th, Sue and I partnered up as we both have our eyes on public libraries. We figured that our Information trait is specificity, which gradates from applied to theoretical. First, let's back it up for my readers (plural, surely... right?) who may not be familiar with M&T.
"Applied information is immediately useful in an operational sense. It tells how to do something, explains processes, or establishes procedures. Theoretical information gives possible reasons or clues as to why/how something works or behaves. The theoretical principles and logic of an event are sought in order to explain and predict."
MacMullin, Susan, and Robert Taylor. 1984. Problem dimensions and information traits. Information Society. 3 (1): 91-111.
So, since Sue and I plan on continuing to work in public libraries, probably with teens, we decided that Specificity of Use was a good Information Trait to focus on because our patrons will need information that applies directly to them, or information they will disseminate into school assignments.
A great example of this is teen abstinence. In practice, abstinence can very directly be applied, and exist in an operational sense. It tells how to do something (or not do it, as the case happens to be), and establishes a procedure for practice abstinence.
Theoretical information on abstinence, however, would perhaps be an opinionated source on why the author supports abstinence-only education, or why abstinence is considered by some to be the only morally correct sexual option. Readers could use these kind of theoretical sources to logically piece together their own moral decisions, and to decide their personal beliefs on abstinence and sex. S/he would follow the clues given in theoretical abstinence sources to
explain their own feelings on the topic.
The Internet Public Library provides Planned Parenthood as a trusted health resource. Their website is http://www.plannedparenthood.org/. The Planned Parenthood website gives health information in a matter of fact tone and does not judge the reader for any sexual decisions s/he makes. This would be a good source of applied information for a teen user seeking information on abstinence.
The Internet Public Library also cites Yahoo News as a reliable source. On Yahoo News, I searched their article database for "abstinence," and found an opinion article entitled: Abstinence-only education lacks effectiveness." This article is theoretical because it reflects the opinions of the author and also explains, using a few statistics on teen sex and teen pregnancies to explain what abstinence-only education programs lead to, and also to predict what will happen if abstinence-only education programs continue, according to the author. A link to the article is as follows:
http://media.www.reflector-online.com/media/storage/paper938/news/2007/10/23/Opinion/AbstinenceOnly.Education.Lacks.Effectiveness-3048710-page2.shtml
A TinyURL link to the same article, in case the long one doesn't work:
http://tinyurl.com/ynqcbx
"Applied information is immediately useful in an operational sense. It tells how to do something, explains processes, or establishes procedures. Theoretical information gives possible reasons or clues as to why/how something works or behaves. The theoretical principles and logic of an event are sought in order to explain and predict."
MacMullin, Susan, and Robert Taylor. 1984. Problem dimensions and information traits. Information Society. 3 (1): 91-111.
So, since Sue and I plan on continuing to work in public libraries, probably with teens, we decided that Specificity of Use was a good Information Trait to focus on because our patrons will need information that applies directly to them, or information they will disseminate into school assignments.
A great example of this is teen abstinence. In practice, abstinence can very directly be applied, and exist in an operational sense. It tells how to do something (or not do it, as the case happens to be), and establishes a procedure for practice abstinence.
Theoretical information on abstinence, however, would perhaps be an opinionated source on why the author supports abstinence-only education, or why abstinence is considered by some to be the only morally correct sexual option. Readers could use these kind of theoretical sources to logically piece together their own moral decisions, and to decide their personal beliefs on abstinence and sex. S/he would follow the clues given in theoretical abstinence sources to
explain their own feelings on the topic.
The Internet Public Library provides Planned Parenthood as a trusted health resource. Their website is http://www.plannedparenthood.org/. The Planned Parenthood website gives health information in a matter of fact tone and does not judge the reader for any sexual decisions s/he makes. This would be a good source of applied information for a teen user seeking information on abstinence.
The Internet Public Library also cites Yahoo News as a reliable source. On Yahoo News, I searched their article database for "abstinence," and found an opinion article entitled: Abstinence-only education lacks effectiveness." This article is theoretical because it reflects the opinions of the author and also explains, using a few statistics on teen sex and teen pregnancies to explain what abstinence-only education programs lead to, and also to predict what will happen if abstinence-only education programs continue, according to the author. A link to the article is as follows:
http://media.www.reflector-online.com/media/storage/paper938/news/2007/10/23/Opinion/AbstinenceOnly.Education.Lacks.Effectiveness-3048710-page2.shtml
A TinyURL link to the same article, in case the long one doesn't work:
http://tinyurl.com/ynqcbx
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Reflection: First Half of my Blog
My blog, or reference folio, is due on 10/15. We are required to post a 100-200 word summary of what my portfolio most clearly indicates to date. I'm to explain what I've learned about the field and about myself as a potential practitioner. Here goes:
I have been doing reference at a children's desk for a while, but had no processes in place, and having no method both frustrated and frightened me. If my few tricks didn't work, I had no idea what to do next, or where to start if I came up against a question where my “tricks” wouldn’t apply. I worried that using Amazon to find a title or Google for an initial search was wrong and beneath a real Reference Librarian. Now, I'm glad to know that I have a set process of how to search for information, and it involves cursory searches. Similarly, I knew I needed a procedure to root out the patron’s exact question, but didn’t know about reference interviews. I also made sure to be courteous and approachable, but didn’t really do it consciously or know exactly why it was helpful. Taking a reference class has helped me know the reasons behind my instincts, and has definitely given me more confidence and strategies to follow said instincts. I am learning methods to my former madness, and feeling more relieved every time I search.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I am officially a IPL Librarian!
Hooray! I got my response back- check it out!
Dear Kristen,
Your answer is excellent! You provide a variety of interesting and informative sources, and your use of TinyURL is perfect. You included the six mandatory elements in a manner that is professional and yet friendly. It was a pleasure to read your response.
You are now cleared to answer real questions in QRC. Please use the same login and password information, and if you have any trouble or questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us through this email, or, while working in QRC, you can set your question to "need help" and tell us what the problem is using "Post-a-Note."
We hope you enjoy your time working in the IPL!
Have fun!
Cathay
Dear Kristen,
Your answer is excellent! You provide a variety of interesting and informative sources, and your use of TinyURL is perfect. You included the six mandatory elements in a manner that is professional and yet friendly. It was a pleasure to read your response.
You are now cleared to answer real questions in QRC. Please use the same login and password information, and if you have any trouble or questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us through this email, or, while working in QRC, you can set your question to "need help" and tell us what the problem is using "Post-a-Note."
We hope you enjoy your time working in the IPL!
Have fun!
Cathay
Monday, October 8, 2007
Search Analysis: Spinal Arthritis
We received a handout on all the steps we should take as we search for information. I will refer to this process as Search Analysis for the duration of this blog post. We were performing Search Analysis on a specific topic as follows in our prompt:
I need to understand what causes spinal arthritis and what can be done to help with the pain. I don't want stuff on surgery at all- just the less invasive things like physical therapy and nutrition and non-addictive medicines and like that.
First, I reduced the request to its vital elements. The nouns are "spinal arthritis," "pain," "physical therapy," "nutrition," and "non-addictive medicines." Verbs: "understand"ing the "cause", and "help"ing with pain. Finally, adjectives: "less invasive."
Before I could even start my searches, I wanted to get a cursory knowledge of spinal arthritis. Wikipedia defines arthritis in great detail, but my paraphrased definition is this: spinal arthritis is a form of osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a breakdown of cartilage in joints. Therefore, I knew that my main search terms wouldn't include the word "spinal," since spinal arthritis isn't a term used by medical resources, and is a natural language term. Instead, I would use for the more controlled vocabulary of "arthritis," and if that was too specific, I would use "osteoarthritis."
From there, I went to the UT libraries page and looked for a relevant database. I chose HealthWeb, because Medline seemed like it would be too academic. On the UT libraries page, I did a subject search, choosing "Nursing" as my subject, and Healthweb was listed as one of the recommended resources. On Healthweb's main page, it is a list of subtopics to help you narrow your search. I first looked under "elder care/geriatrics," since Wikipedia said that osteoarthritis is common in the elderly, and found nothing. I went back, and tried "orthopedics," a branch of surgery that treats the musculoskeletal system, which was a better place. In the sidebar, I searched for resources on "arthritis" within the orthopedic subtopic. There, Healthweb gives you a list of websites that are authoritative resources. This website, for instance, gives you the causes and some various treatments for arthritis that are non-invasive and non-surgical. It has references also for other sources, and is published by Johns Hopkins University. Another resource, Arthritis.org, gives lots of ideas on how to treat the pain in a non-invasive manner, and gives detailed information on what they consider the best treatment: physical activity.
After this, I checked my two sources against the initial request of the patron. Both of my resources give both layman's but authoritative explanations of what causes arthritis, and both give lots of information on treating its pain, focusing on lots of information of non-invasive treatments like nutrition, dietary supplements, and physical therapy or exercise plans.
I need to understand what causes spinal arthritis and what can be done to help with the pain. I don't want stuff on surgery at all- just the less invasive things like physical therapy and nutrition and non-addictive medicines and like that.
First, I reduced the request to its vital elements. The nouns are "spinal arthritis," "pain," "physical therapy," "nutrition," and "non-addictive medicines." Verbs: "understand"ing the "cause", and "help"ing with pain. Finally, adjectives: "less invasive."
Before I could even start my searches, I wanted to get a cursory knowledge of spinal arthritis. Wikipedia defines arthritis in great detail, but my paraphrased definition is this: spinal arthritis is a form of osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a breakdown of cartilage in joints. Therefore, I knew that my main search terms wouldn't include the word "spinal," since spinal arthritis isn't a term used by medical resources, and is a natural language term. Instead, I would use for the more controlled vocabulary of "arthritis," and if that was too specific, I would use "osteoarthritis."
From there, I went to the UT libraries page and looked for a relevant database. I chose HealthWeb, because Medline seemed like it would be too academic. On the UT libraries page, I did a subject search, choosing "Nursing" as my subject, and Healthweb was listed as one of the recommended resources. On Healthweb's main page, it is a list of subtopics to help you narrow your search. I first looked under "elder care/geriatrics," since Wikipedia said that osteoarthritis is common in the elderly, and found nothing. I went back, and tried "orthopedics," a branch of surgery that treats the musculoskeletal system, which was a better place. In the sidebar, I searched for resources on "arthritis" within the orthopedic subtopic. There, Healthweb gives you a list of websites that are authoritative resources. This website, for instance, gives you the causes and some various treatments for arthritis that are non-invasive and non-surgical. It has references also for other sources, and is published by Johns Hopkins University. Another resource, Arthritis.org, gives lots of ideas on how to treat the pain in a non-invasive manner, and gives detailed information on what they consider the best treatment: physical activity.
After this, I checked my two sources against the initial request of the patron. Both of my resources give both layman's but authoritative explanations of what causes arthritis, and both give lots of information on treating its pain, focusing on lots of information of non-invasive treatments like nutrition, dietary supplements, and physical therapy or exercise plans.
Midwives on the Web: Practice Reference
This question was when I could tell I was starting to get better at reference practice. My partner and I very quickly happened upon the article we were looking for, and the way we arrived at it seemed very logical.
Prompt: I've lost a citation to a good article I wanted to read for class. It was something about how midwives use the web to find medical information. Might have been from a conference or something. It's pretty recent. Help!
My partner, Sue, and I quickly accessed the Pyschological Abstracts database in the PCL website and identified the key concepts for this request: Midwife and Web. We searched for these, and the controlled vocabulary for these terms were revealed: Midwifery and Internet. We searched again using these two synonyms, and added the term "information," using all three in a joint "AND" Boolean expression. We received a good list of hits, and the second resource, "Delivering The Goods: Midwives' Use of the Internet" by Sarah Stewart was in fact first presented at a conference. That, besides fitting the criteria very neatly, was the final reason we knew we'd found the right source.
It was rewarding to know that I am learning how to access needed information more quickly, narrowing my search terms quickly and accurately. This practice question was definitely an ego booster.
Prompt: I've lost a citation to a good article I wanted to read for class. It was something about how midwives use the web to find medical information. Might have been from a conference or something. It's pretty recent. Help!
My partner, Sue, and I quickly accessed the Pyschological Abstracts database in the PCL website and identified the key concepts for this request: Midwife and Web. We searched for these, and the controlled vocabulary for these terms were revealed: Midwifery and Internet. We searched again using these two synonyms, and added the term "information," using all three in a joint "AND" Boolean expression. We received a good list of hits, and the second resource, "Delivering The Goods: Midwives' Use of the Internet" by Sarah Stewart was in fact first presented at a conference. That, besides fitting the criteria very neatly, was the final reason we knew we'd found the right source.
It was rewarding to know that I am learning how to access needed information more quickly, narrowing my search terms quickly and accurately. This practice question was definitely an ego booster.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
My IPL Practice Question
So, I bit the bullet and did it. I completed a practice question to become a librarian at the Internet Public Library. Here's the transcript for my practice question. I should hear back within 4 days to see how I did. I'm excited to hear back because I think I did a decent job, but am also trying not to think of it, because I don't want to be too disappointed in case I botched it. We'll see!
Question:
Answer:
Question:
Dear Internet Public Librarian,
My students have been researching Duke Ellington. They have been
unable to find information on his marital status. Was he
married? I teach in Burlington, IA. Thank you for your
assistance to this question. We have no dead-line for this
response.
Answer:
Hello from the Internet Public Library!
Thank you for your question about Duke Ellington's marital
status. I'm happy to help you and your students.
Duke Ellington married Edna Thompson, his high school sweetheart,
in 1918, when he was 19 years old. However, their marriage was
marked by Duke's adulterous affairs, and in 1929, they separated.
They never divorced.
One biography of Ellington that confirms this is unfortunately
not available at your local library, but has much of its text
available on Google Books. Google Books is a part of the Google
search engine that allows you to search the text of published
books, including biographies, to get information. To get there,
click on the following link:
http://books.google.com/
and type “Duke Ellington David Bradbury” in the search field,
because we’re looking for a book entitled "Duke Ellington," by
David Bradbury. From there, this book should be the first
response on your list. Click on this book, and use the blue
navigation arrows at the top of the screen to get to page 27.
There, in the second paragraph, it gives you more details on the
falling out Ellington and Edna Thompson had over their marriage.
An exact link to this page 27 of this book is as follows:
http://books.google.com/books?id=YIwz2nivT0sC&pg=PP1&dq=duke+ellington+david+bradbury&ei=fzAKR8KAKIyKpwKygp3BDg&sig=MYp-GaVEMzGYcg4ytvRW6BuAUak#PPA27,M1
I will also provide a shortened link to the book, or TinyURL, to
this website as well, since this link is so long. Some email
clients break long URLs or web addresses up into separate lines,
breaking the link. The TinyURL is as follows:
http://tinyurl.com/32he3q
Another resource I consulted to confirm Duke Ellington’s marital
status was The Internet Movie Database. This database is listed
on IPL’s website as a trusted resource. You can access the
database by clicking on the following link:
http://imdb.com/
and then typing “Duke Ellington” in the search field. From the
selections that will then appear, click on the “Duke Ellington”
entry that appears under “Names (Exact Match)”. From there,
click on the “more” button next to Trivia. Here, you will get
lots of biographical information on Ellington, including a
section entitled “Spouse,” which states that Ellington and Edna
Thompson were in fact married in 1918 and later separated.
To get to this information directly, you can also click the
following link:
http://imdb.com/name/nm0254153/bio
Just to make sure my information on Ellington was correct, I also
checked his official website, DukeEllington.com, which is run by
the company that manages Ellington’s estate. That website is as
follows:
http://www.dukeellington.com/
From there, use the navigation bar at the far left to click on
“Fast Facts.” On the Fast Facts page, it does confirm (in the
sixth paragraph under “Did you Know?”) that Duke and Edna
separated in the late ‘20s but never divorced.
You can get to the Fast Facts page directly by clicking on the
following link:
http://www.dukeellington.com/about/fastfacts.htm
I checked your local library in Burlington to see if you had any
biographies of Duke Ellington, in case you wanted do to further
research into his life, and you do!
The website for your local library is as follows:
http://www.burlington.lib.ia.us/
From there, click on “catalog,” and in the search field, type
"Duke Ellington Reader," which is the title of one of the
biographies that your library holds. The library’s record for
this book should appear on your screen. A direct link to this
book record should be also available at this URL:
http://207.28.140.26/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1191K51Q3W443.203&menu=search&aspect=basic&npp=10&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=bpl&ri=&term=duke+ellington+reader&index=.GW&x=0&y=0&aspect=basic
I will also provide a shortened link to your library’s record of
this book, or TinyURL, to this website as well, since this link
is so long. Some email clients break long URLs or web addresses
up into separate lines, breaking the link. The TinyURL is as
follows:
http://tinyurl.com/ytre2o
At the time I write this, the book is available, so feel free to
go check it out!
If you still have more questions, please write back. I'm happy
to help.
Thanks for visiting the IPL!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Comfort Levels and Experiences
How can we question patrons? What actual phrasing works under what circumstances and why?
I would say, generally, try to ask patrons questions in a friendly, courteous manner, and to not come across as frustrating, condescending or insulting. If someone asks you something and you aren't sure what they need from it, you could ask them, "Can I ask you some more specific questions about your request to make sure I understand what you need?" Once they answer those you could verify that you understand by saying exactly that: "Let me make sure I understand what you want. You need X? Is that correct?"
What are the legitimate purposes behind our questions?
We, as librarians, need to work smarter, not harder. To most efficiently spend our time, we should make sure we are researching things that most exactly meet our patron's needs. That is most respectful to the patron's and librarian's time, and keeps everyone's frustration levels as low as possible.
How do patrons question us? Can you generate a set of categories for their questions? Would you have different categories for their f2f and chat questions? For example, in which category would you put the following questions:
I would say, generally, try to ask patrons questions in a friendly, courteous manner, and to not come across as frustrating, condescending or insulting. If someone asks you something and you aren't sure what they need from it, you could ask them, "Can I ask you some more specific questions about your request to make sure I understand what you need?" Once they answer those you could verify that you understand by saying exactly that: "Let me make sure I understand what you want. You need X? Is that correct?"
What are the legitimate purposes behind our questions?
We, as librarians, need to work smarter, not harder. To most efficiently spend our time, we should make sure we are researching things that most exactly meet our patron's needs. That is most respectful to the patron's and librarian's time, and keeps everyone's frustration levels as low as possible.
How do patrons question us? Can you generate a set of categories for their questions? Would you have different categories for their f2f and chat questions? For example, in which category would you put the following questions:
- Can you help me find a science fair project?
- Where are the magazines?
- Do you have a biography of someone from the '60s?
- Where are the art books?
- Is this website the one for my bank?
- Reference request for a younger student, Referral request for an older student.
- Non-reference request
- Reference request
- Non-reference request
- Non-reference request
Personal Activity: Tesla Coil
Prompt: Identify a question that you'd ask the patron if this were a f2f or chat interview. Identify at least 2 different answers to the question; find the information indicated by each of those 2 different answers. Characterize the difference in your search and/or the kind of information you found and/or the kind of sources you used. NOTE: there's a simple but potentially tricky problem with this question.
The Question: I heard that a Tesler coil radiates electricity for over 20 miles. Is that true? Why don't we use them instead of having electricity run through wires and come out of outlets?
My Thoughts: I knew a little bit about this question because I have seen The Prestige, which is a pretty good movie. In it, a guy named Telsa makes an electric coil similar to this patron's question. Knowing that, I recognized right away that "Tesler" wasn't the right person. The first question I would ask the patron would be if they meant "Tesla" instead of "Tesler," who performed lots of experiments with electricity and also created a Tesla Coil.
Once that was sorted out, I would start researching. I went first to the Internet Public Library's website, where it has lots of valuable, authoritative searches, since this question wasn't quite an academic one. I searched the IPL for "Tesla Coil," and was linked to a website on PBS's server that was a thorough, layman's approach to Tesla, which was perfect for me, because I wasn't going to be able to understand anything too complicated. It succinctly explains that "The Tesla coil transforms an input voltage into brief pulses of extremely high voltages. Tesla's largest coil, built at his Colorado Springs lab in 1899, was 52 feet in diameter and generated pulses as high as 12Mv. This invention was patented as part of a high frequency lighting system" (PBS).
On this PBS site, it states that "Though he kept a day-to-day diary that was rich in detail, the results of his experiments are not clear. One question has never been definitely answered: Did Tesla actually transmit wireless power at Pikes Peak?" So we are actually not even sure if Tesla could wirelessly transmit power. So if we aren't sure whether he even ever did wirelessly transmit power, much less know the details on how we did it, then we can't use it instead of plugging things into electrical outlets.
The Question: I heard that a Tesler coil radiates electricity for over 20 miles. Is that true? Why don't we use them instead of having electricity run through wires and come out of outlets?
My Thoughts: I knew a little bit about this question because I have seen The Prestige, which is a pretty good movie. In it, a guy named Telsa makes an electric coil similar to this patron's question. Knowing that, I recognized right away that "Tesler" wasn't the right person. The first question I would ask the patron would be if they meant "Tesla" instead of "Tesler," who performed lots of experiments with electricity and also created a Tesla Coil.
Once that was sorted out, I would start researching. I went first to the Internet Public Library's website, where it has lots of valuable, authoritative searches, since this question wasn't quite an academic one. I searched the IPL for "Tesla Coil," and was linked to a website on PBS's server that was a thorough, layman's approach to Tesla, which was perfect for me, because I wasn't going to be able to understand anything too complicated. It succinctly explains that "The Tesla coil transforms an input voltage into brief pulses of extremely high voltages. Tesla's largest coil, built at his Colorado Springs lab in 1899, was 52 feet in diameter and generated pulses as high as 12Mv. This invention was patented as part of a high frequency lighting system" (PBS).
On this PBS site, it states that "Though he kept a day-to-day diary that was rich in detail, the results of his experiments are not clear. One question has never been definitely answered: Did Tesla actually transmit wireless power at Pikes Peak?" So we are actually not even sure if Tesla could wirelessly transmit power. So if we aren't sure whether he even ever did wirelessly transmit power, much less know the details on how we did it, then we can't use it instead of plugging things into electrical outlets.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Personal Preferences Analysis
Our personal activity this week involved thinking about discussing affective, cognitive and behavioral issues that someone might have when working with a reference librarian. The prompt will be in italics, and my thoughts will be after it.
Affective issue: The library evinces interest in or respect for the topic on which you are working. Is this perceived as more of an affirmation of professional engagement or an invasion of your privacy? Why? I think that showing interest or respect can demonstrate friendliness and enthusiasm. That said, it is imperative that the interest is genuine. The level of interest should also be appropriate depending on the type of information sought by the patron. The librarian should read the patron's nonverbal cues like body language to get information. If the patron seems annoyed or blank when the librarian shows interest, the librarian should back off.
Cognitive issue: You feel that as an iSchool student you "should" know how to find this on your own but can not do so efficiently. The librarian recognizes your school and lack of domain knowledge from the question. What are the more effective means he could use to help you learn how to use basic databases for our field? Why? The librarian should be careful not to insult the iSchool-attending patron, and walk the student through processes and point out that there should be multiple applications for this- both immediately, and in the future, when the patron will become the librarian him/herself. They should point out that one of the advantages of being a librarian is that one is always learning, and this is just a part of that. Make a connection between the librarian now and the librarian of the future. Use this as an opportunity for scaffolding- build upon what the patron already knows and teach them something new, and go all out, because the patron will definitely use these skills again.
Behavioral issue: You are searching in a database of one of our sister disciplines (e.g., psychology or education) and it's not going well. A librarian with a nametag on who is slowly roving the banks of computers makes eye contact and gives you the social cues needed to establish contact should you so choose. What do you do and why? Could anything else have been done that might be of more use to you? I would raise my hand quietly to get the librarian and ask for help. I am frequently surprised in life by other's reluctance to ask questions, and never mind admitting that I don't know something. As a librarian, I would make sure not to be too attentive to patrons who'd rather work on their own, as to not annoy them. I wonder what would happen with a patron who has trouble reading social cues, though? How do you best handle those situations? I work at the children's desk at the Central branch of the Austin Public Library, which is located in a very high-traffic area, so I often am not sure whether someone is just walking by and happens to make eye contact, or if they have a question and are a little shy to ask, so I always just smile and say "hello," to establish myself as available and friendly, but not directly getting in their face.
Affective issue: The library evinces interest in or respect for the topic on which you are working. Is this perceived as more of an affirmation of professional engagement or an invasion of your privacy? Why? I think that showing interest or respect can demonstrate friendliness and enthusiasm. That said, it is imperative that the interest is genuine. The level of interest should also be appropriate depending on the type of information sought by the patron. The librarian should read the patron's nonverbal cues like body language to get information. If the patron seems annoyed or blank when the librarian shows interest, the librarian should back off.
Cognitive issue: You feel that as an iSchool student you "should" know how to find this on your own but can not do so efficiently. The librarian recognizes your school and lack of domain knowledge from the question. What are the more effective means he could use to help you learn how to use basic databases for our field? Why? The librarian should be careful not to insult the iSchool-attending patron, and walk the student through processes and point out that there should be multiple applications for this- both immediately, and in the future, when the patron will become the librarian him/herself. They should point out that one of the advantages of being a librarian is that one is always learning, and this is just a part of that. Make a connection between the librarian now and the librarian of the future. Use this as an opportunity for scaffolding- build upon what the patron already knows and teach them something new, and go all out, because the patron will definitely use these skills again.
Behavioral issue: You are searching in a database of one of our sister disciplines (e.g., psychology or education) and it's not going well. A librarian with a nametag on who is slowly roving the banks of computers makes eye contact and gives you the social cues needed to establish contact should you so choose. What do you do and why? Could anything else have been done that might be of more use to you? I would raise my hand quietly to get the librarian and ask for help. I am frequently surprised in life by other's reluctance to ask questions, and never mind admitting that I don't know something. As a librarian, I would make sure not to be too attentive to patrons who'd rather work on their own, as to not annoy them. I wonder what would happen with a patron who has trouble reading social cues, though? How do you best handle those situations? I work at the children's desk at the Central branch of the Austin Public Library, which is located in a very high-traffic area, so I often am not sure whether someone is just walking by and happens to make eye contact, or if they have a question and are a little shy to ask, so I always just smile and say "hello," to establish myself as available and friendly, but not directly getting in their face.
Using CV and NL in searches
In the Medline Database, I was looking to find sources for the following prompt:
How are people using the Internet for self-help or support group work on psychological problems (like depression) or social problems with psychological components (like domestic violence or gambling addiction)? I need scholarly articles based on solid research, not descriptions of bulletin boards or forums.
I began by thinking of controlled vocabulary and natural language terms that fit the reference question. I started by using words in my natural language to begin to look for appropriate sources. I made a list of terms including the phrases "online therapy" and "e-therapy." When searching for this terms, I discovered some suggestions for controlled vocabulary as well, including the terms "Internet," "remote consultation," "mental disorders" and "psychology."
From there, I used various combinations of terms, and found that the most productive searches were ones that included the "AND" Boolean expression, and connected a CV and NL term. I got the most successful hits when searching for "online therapy" (one of my natural language terms) and "remote consultation" (one of the controlled vocabulary terms I discovered). This use of both CV and NL is a logical way to best search for information because it covers both bases.
How are people using the Internet for self-help or support group work on psychological problems (like depression) or social problems with psychological components (like domestic violence or gambling addiction)? I need scholarly articles based on solid research, not descriptions of bulletin boards or forums.
I began by thinking of controlled vocabulary and natural language terms that fit the reference question. I started by using words in my natural language to begin to look for appropriate sources. I made a list of terms including the phrases "online therapy" and "e-therapy." When searching for this terms, I discovered some suggestions for controlled vocabulary as well, including the terms "Internet," "remote consultation," "mental disorders" and "psychology."
From there, I used various combinations of terms, and found that the most productive searches were ones that included the "AND" Boolean expression, and connected a CV and NL term. I got the most successful hits when searching for "online therapy" (one of my natural language terms) and "remote consultation" (one of the controlled vocabulary terms I discovered). This use of both CV and NL is a logical way to best search for information because it covers both bases.
Monday, September 17, 2007
CV vs NL
This week, we learned about the differences between using natural language and controlled vocabulary in searching. I loved learning the concept of pearling, which is when you search with a natural language term, then mine the hits for controlled vocabulary (like I did with "code cracking" and "cryptology" in the last entry, for instance). Use this new controlled vocabulary for a new search, and then with those hits, mine for controlled vocabulary. Continue this cycle until you find what you need.
This led me to think about folksonomies (also known collaborative tagging, social classification social indexing or social tagging, according to Wikipedia), which definitely blur the line between controlled vocabularies and natural language. One of my favorite sites, librarything.com, is a website where you catalog your own books. I started using it over a year ago to keep track of the books I read. After I read a book, I tag it, so that the next time a child comes to the library asking me for books on elephants, I can go to my list of tags to see what books I tagged "elephant." I have even further blurred the lines between controlled vocabulary and natural language by making my own controlled vocabulary out of my natural language! It's easy for me to find what I want because it's in the term that is most natural to me- the terms are one and the same.
This led me to think about folksonomies (also known collaborative tagging, social classification social indexing or social tagging, according to Wikipedia), which definitely blur the line between controlled vocabularies and natural language. One of my favorite sites, librarything.com, is a website where you catalog your own books. I started using it over a year ago to keep track of the books I read. After I read a book, I tag it, so that the next time a child comes to the library asking me for books on elephants, I can go to my list of tags to see what books I tagged "elephant." I have even further blurred the lines between controlled vocabulary and natural language by making my own controlled vocabulary out of my natural language! It's easy for me to find what I want because it's in the term that is most natural to me- the terms are one and the same.
Reference Practice Question
Here was our prompt:
During WWII an eccentric scientist cracked a German code that was critical to Allied military success. Credited with inventing the foundations of artificial intelligence, he died quite young. What was his name, how did he die, why did people think him eccentric, and what was his most famous mathematical finding?
While I didn't realize it at the time, I used "pearling" to figure out answers to this prompt. My initial search (on Google, I can't resist its pull!) was "WWII German code cracker." That gave me some responses that included the word "cryptologist," so I changed my search terms to "WWII German cryptologist." Again, I didn't realize it at the time, but I was changing my search terms from my natural language terms into a more controlled vocabulary. I instinctively knew that "cryptologist" would garner more hits than "code cracker," both because it was one word and because it was a more controlled vocabulary word.
Then, my hit list included some responses on two possible people. Searches on those two people quickly led me to the correct answer- Alan Turing.
If you're interested in Alan Turing, by the way, there's a movie about his life starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet called "Enigma." Put it in your Netflix queue- I did.
During WWII an eccentric scientist cracked a German code that was critical to Allied military success. Credited with inventing the foundations of artificial intelligence, he died quite young. What was his name, how did he die, why did people think him eccentric, and what was his most famous mathematical finding?
While I didn't realize it at the time, I used "pearling" to figure out answers to this prompt. My initial search (on Google, I can't resist its pull!) was "WWII German code cracker." That gave me some responses that included the word "cryptologist," so I changed my search terms to "WWII German cryptologist." Again, I didn't realize it at the time, but I was changing my search terms from my natural language terms into a more controlled vocabulary. I instinctively knew that "cryptologist" would garner more hits than "code cracker," both because it was one word and because it was a more controlled vocabulary word.
Then, my hit list included some responses on two possible people. Searches on those two people quickly led me to the correct answer- Alan Turing.
If you're interested in Alan Turing, by the way, there's a movie about his life starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet called "Enigma." Put it in your Netflix queue- I did.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Future of Reference in Libraries
Our ideal future for reference service is a mixture of both automated and human interaction. While people will become increasingly comfortable interacting with computer interfaces, there will still be a desire for human interchange. The library will still exist as brick and mortar but will evolve into an information hub and community center. For reference there will be a centralized area for service as well as the ability for librarians to circulate and to appear more welcoming for utility. Automated computer kiosks will be available for patrons who are comfortable interacting with electronic interfaces. Libraries will form a consortium to offer their patrons seamless video conferencing to provide them with access to a wider array of subject specialists. Reader advisory will be automated and user-oriented, building upon the success of sites such as Amazon.com. Patrons will be an important tool for organizing information within the library. Reviews, tagging, and recommendation of books are a few areas where patrons will be able to contribute to. Ready reference will be widely available in digital form with consistent interfaces to ease the transition from paper to digital resources.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Internet, in case you didn't know
This is how I would explain the Internet to an intelligent recluse who has been in hiding since the beginning:
All computers are linked to access the same information. They were originally linked by dialing a phone number, upon whence your computer would screech tones that were translated into information, and the information was thusly transferred through the phone line and connected you to other people doing the same thing. Now, we transmit information faster through dedicated data lines. Once connected, you can type in an address to visit a website. A website is any place on the internet (also called a page) you can visit if you know the address. You could access any website on the World Wide Web (another name for the Internet) and you can also make one for other people to access.
If you don't know an address for a site (the address also being called a URL, for Uniform Resource Locator), there are some sites (most popularly Google) where you can search for a site or browse to find the best site to fit your needs. Sites usually are prefaced by typing the following:
After the three w's and a period, you typically type in the name of the site. Google, for instance, is http://www.google.com. The" .com "afterwards indicates that you are visiting a commercial address. Other things that appear after the period are "edu" (for education) or "net" (for internet). Since you can't make a space in an internet address (or URL), periods are typically used to indicate a stopping point between words or parts of the address.
Besides getting information, you can also send "mail," known as electronic mail, or email, to communicate. As long as you know someone's email address, you can send them a note. Email addresses usually begin with something that the user chooses, often their name. After the part they choose there is an @ symbol, then the company name that hosts their email. After the company name, there is another period, and usually com, because the company that sponsors the email is commercial. My email is my first name, then a period, then my last name, @gmail.com, for instance. Email address and websites are not case sensitive, so upper and lower case letters are not distinguishable.
Websites exist for many purposes. You can make a page with your basic personal info on a commercial site (mostly popularly http://www.Myspace.com, for instance) with the sole purpose of connecting with other users. Make a list of addresses of interesting sites and store the list on a website, and get to all these sites by directly clicking (using a mouse) on the address. The address will typically be underlined and in blue text to let you know that the text is linked to another site. That's why these instances of underlined blue text are called "links." Make a page for your business. Sell your products online in the global market- just tell your customers what you have available, and make a form they can fill out with their credit card information. Don't worry- many customers shop frequently online and are comfortable with giving you their credit card information. Once you get an order, ship out (or email) your good or service. In fact, you can buy and sell books, groceries, stocks, memberships to certain websites, or anything else you can think of on the web. Meet your future mate by joining a dating site that calculates compatibility using complicated mathematical algorithms. Got another idea for expanding the Internet? I bet you can put it on a website, get the word out, and chances are that it will catch on!
Scholarly Information on Presidential Elections
Since anyone can post anything on the Internet, it's imperative to evaluate your sources if gathering information on the Presidential Election. Information that has been reviewed and considered sound by a group of the writer's peers is referred to as "scholarly information." Sometimes it's easier for the researcher to immediately limit their search using only sources of scholarly information than having to evaluate previously unevaluated material. For this reason, many people, when researching a topic like the latest Presidential Election, go straight for sources of scholarly information, where they know everything they come across will be logical, reliable, and authoritative.
Typically, places where a lot of research is done, like schools and libraries, love to give lots of options of scholarly information to their students or users. They will use their funding to supply these sources, usually by subscribing to lists of information that is owned by a trusted company who has a reputation for only listing scholarly information. These lists of information are called databases, and can be mind bogglingly large. They can contain many kinds of information of many different subjects.
To find the information you need, you can perform a search. A search is just what it sounds like- you tell the database what you're looking for, and it tells you what it has on those topics. The trick is that you have to carefully choose your search terms. Perhaps using the name of a candidate would work- but make sure to be specific. Searching for "Clinton," for instance, will return scholarly information on both President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2008 Presidency.
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