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.
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