My final blog on my exciting MARVELous Maine Invitational adventure. Where did the time go?
My biggest discovery was really the VAST amount of information available to all Maine residents through MARVEL. I realize I've only touched the surface and need to explore the other databases not covered, but I still appreciate so much this adventure that opened my eyes, an amazing adventure I won't forgot. So excited to share what I've learned with our patrons.
Plus I have a BLOG - BML Director Tales - oh my goodness, never thought that would happen. I'm seriously thinking about linking my blog to our library webpage and share with our patrons my adventures through MARVEL, and other sources of information I discover along the way. Learning never stops.
I've been thinking about using our Facebook account to ask a Question (monthly or bi-monthly) and reference a MARVEL database(s) where answer may be found. Still working out this idea in my mind. My biggest challenge will be time, I'm a one-person staffed library, but I think this would be a great way to expose MARVEL to people.
Even thought about creating a bulletin board in the library, highlighting a certain MARVEL database each month. I'd also like to host workshops to introduce the databases, using the tutorials from the Maine State Library to start as I've done with Ancestry.
Thank You for my awesome adventure through the land of MARVEL. I promise to continue my exploration of MARVEL's databases and share what I learn with our patrons.
So long!!! Maybe we'll meet again in blog-land.!
Cheryl
So many "resources", so little time
Monday, December 10, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
I'm down to the home stretch...... Oh my! Let my adventure move on to EbscoHost.
I picked Masterfile Premier to explore. I was impressed with the extensive Publications list. For a popular magazine, I looked up Better Homes and Gardens and found the database has Bibliographic Records:01/01/1984 to present only. I wanted to find a popular magazine with full text available so I continued my search and discovered Good Housekeeping is available in full text from 01/01/1996 to present.
For my basic search I decided on "Digital Literacy" because I recently attended a workshop on this and wanted to see what was available. One article of interest "The Intersection of Public Policy and Public Access: Digital Divides, Digital Literacy, Digital Inclusion, and Public Libraries." was not available in full text, only the abstract. So I continued perusing the list and found the article Digital Literacy Takes Center Stage, chapter 6 from Library Technology Reports August 2011, an interesting article that "examines the need for libraries to position themselves as digital literacy experts, support staff competencies to maintain the level of expertise required in the digital landscape, and explore opportunities to expand digital literacy initiatives." (quote taken from abstract). I found this article very appropriate, tying into the workshop I attended.
Now on to Ebsco eBooks - I decided to search knitting (my favorite topic) but no results which didn't really surprise me. Then I tried Greek Mythology in basic search with full text which resulted in 25 ebooks, little disappointed the latest date was 2000. "Earthly Daugthers" looked interesting, but the ebook "Star Trek and Sacred Ground" seemed a little odd. I decided to do an advanced search with full text and boolean/ phrase to narrow my search - resulting in 20 ebooks dating from 1998-1999. Again disappointed nothing more current.
In search for Constitution and United States, ending in 41 results, I located two books that might be helpful - "State Constitutions of the United States" by Maddex and "Founding Friendship" by Liebiger. In searching for Western History and Nebraska or Oklahoma, the results pulled up books by University of Nebraska Press and University of Oklahoma Press. A couple books looking interesting for western history - "Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in Summer of 1859" (Nebraska Press) and "Creating the National Park Service" (Oklahoma Press).
I really like the feature on the home page of "Highlights" and "Featured ebooks"., excited to see the ebook ASVAB : Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery: Maximize Your Score in Less Time. I recently had a patron ask for material on ASVAB so excited to refer her to this eBook and LearningExpress Library. The browse by category is another helpful feature.
Well that's all for now, my exploration has ended. Anxiously waiting (ha ha) for the post test.
My MARVELous Maine Invitational has been so rewarding, even though at times I had a hard time keeping up with my homework. There are so many valuable and informative resources for our patrons to use. Can't wait to share what I've learned with them. THANK YOU for a great exploration.
Cheryl
So many "resources", so little time!!!
I picked Masterfile Premier to explore. I was impressed with the extensive Publications list. For a popular magazine, I looked up Better Homes and Gardens and found the database has Bibliographic Records:01/01/1984 to present only. I wanted to find a popular magazine with full text available so I continued my search and discovered Good Housekeeping is available in full text from 01/01/1996 to present.
For my basic search I decided on "Digital Literacy" because I recently attended a workshop on this and wanted to see what was available. One article of interest "The Intersection of Public Policy and Public Access: Digital Divides, Digital Literacy, Digital Inclusion, and Public Libraries." was not available in full text, only the abstract. So I continued perusing the list and found the article Digital Literacy Takes Center Stage, chapter 6 from Library Technology Reports August 2011, an interesting article that "examines the need for libraries to position themselves as digital literacy experts, support staff competencies to maintain the level of expertise required in the digital landscape, and explore opportunities to expand digital literacy initiatives." (quote taken from abstract). I found this article very appropriate, tying into the workshop I attended.
Now on to Ebsco eBooks - I decided to search knitting (my favorite topic) but no results which didn't really surprise me. Then I tried Greek Mythology in basic search with full text which resulted in 25 ebooks, little disappointed the latest date was 2000. "Earthly Daugthers" looked interesting, but the ebook "Star Trek and Sacred Ground" seemed a little odd. I decided to do an advanced search with full text and boolean/ phrase to narrow my search - resulting in 20 ebooks dating from 1998-1999. Again disappointed nothing more current.
In search for Constitution and United States, ending in 41 results, I located two books that might be helpful - "State Constitutions of the United States" by Maddex and "Founding Friendship" by Liebiger. In searching for Western History and Nebraska or Oklahoma, the results pulled up books by University of Nebraska Press and University of Oklahoma Press. A couple books looking interesting for western history - "Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in Summer of 1859" (Nebraska Press) and "Creating the National Park Service" (Oklahoma Press).
I really like the feature on the home page of "Highlights" and "Featured ebooks"., excited to see the ebook ASVAB : Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery: Maximize Your Score in Less Time. I recently had a patron ask for material on ASVAB so excited to refer her to this eBook and LearningExpress Library. The browse by category is another helpful feature.
Well that's all for now, my exploration has ended. Anxiously waiting (ha ha) for the post test.
My MARVELous Maine Invitational has been so rewarding, even though at times I had a hard time keeping up with my homework. There are so many valuable and informative resources for our patrons to use. Can't wait to share what I've learned with them. THANK YOU for a great exploration.
Cheryl
So many "resources", so little time!!!
Monday, December 3, 2012
A little late, but here I am.... let's discover Learning Express Library. I'm somewhat familiar with this resource because I've used it with our patrons - a great tool to direct our patrons to who want to expand their knowledge, improve there skills, or prepare for tests etc. There is so much material available, an exciting resource.
I decided to explore the 4th grade Reading practice: informational text 1 to see what was involved and to see how the Score section was handled. I particularly liked the View Answers section of Score My Test, so helpful to have explained why certain answers aren't correct. I think a student (adults) would have a very positive experience working through this test and others available within Learning Express.
Within the Career Course: Job Search and Workplace Skills, I decided to investigate Job Search and Networking Skills. Again I was very impressed - a clear concise overview of the course is provided first, then detailed step-by-step one needs to do to begin a job search such as getting organized, list of possible online job sites, etc. There was a list of common abbreviations found in classified ads which I thought very helpful (which could be printed off too). Excellent. Can't wait to share this others.
For an ebook, I decided to pick Goof Proof Personal Finance. Our library will be participating in Money Smart Week in April 2013 and I thought this resource could be a good one to refer to. It has a great appendix of Online Resources & CD-Rom's referenced - I'd like to check many of them out to see it they are current and still available, noting the copyright of the book is 2005. From what I perused, the book looks like a helpful resource to reference and recommend.
So excited to have LearningExpress Library available for our patrons. I'll continue to reference this great resource and work to connect even more people with it.
I need to close for now. One database to go in my MARVELous Maine Invitational adventure, where has the time gone?
Cheryl
So many "resources", so little time!
I decided to explore the 4th grade Reading practice: informational text 1 to see what was involved and to see how the Score section was handled. I particularly liked the View Answers section of Score My Test, so helpful to have explained why certain answers aren't correct. I think a student (adults) would have a very positive experience working through this test and others available within Learning Express.
Within the Career Course: Job Search and Workplace Skills, I decided to investigate Job Search and Networking Skills. Again I was very impressed - a clear concise overview of the course is provided first, then detailed step-by-step one needs to do to begin a job search such as getting organized, list of possible online job sites, etc. There was a list of common abbreviations found in classified ads which I thought very helpful (which could be printed off too). Excellent. Can't wait to share this others.
For an ebook, I decided to pick Goof Proof Personal Finance. Our library will be participating in Money Smart Week in April 2013 and I thought this resource could be a good one to refer to. It has a great appendix of Online Resources & CD-Rom's referenced - I'd like to check many of them out to see it they are current and still available, noting the copyright of the book is 2005. From what I perused, the book looks like a helpful resource to reference and recommend.
So excited to have LearningExpress Library available for our patrons. I'll continue to reference this great resource and work to connect even more people with it.
I need to close for now. One database to go in my MARVELous Maine Invitational adventure, where has the time gone?
Cheryl
So many "resources", so little time!
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