Week 11, Wrap Up and Final Blog

1. What was your biggest discovery?

My biggest discovery was :  learning how much I did not know about the resources that  you covered in this “Invitational”. I am also  surprised that I didn’t  know more  about  the Tutorials and the “training” calendar on the Maine State Library page!  If I had to make one choice of the biggest discovery of all  the resources, it would be learning about the “LearningExpress”.  This to me has the biggest potential for everyone! I am still reeling from what you can do on that site! 

2. How will you promote or use the resources with your patrons, colleagues or students?

I have already been involved with promoting these resources through one-on-one with students and staff and through class intro presentations.   What I would like to do next is to do some workshops for staff and  to do a workshop covering the “LearningExpress” resource for our Adult Ed program. My goal would be to do these  workshops after the Holiday buzz has quieted down.

I know that week #8,  Ancestry Library, was an option if you are in schools , (I am in a school library) but I wanted to try it so I went to my small public library  after school yesterday(Friday).  After receiving directions on how to get on and being told that she had never used it,  I went to a computer to try the database out.  I tried looking for my marriage certificate, but had no luck.  After searching around I found that the  date that I needed was not in the data available, and I should check back again.  I went every where, in and out, but, I couldn’t find the “Photos and Maps” tab.   Next, I did a search for my grandfather under the 1930 US States Federal Census and did find information on him.  One piece mentioned his wife, his daughters and people  in the household who were “roomers”, “lodgers”(one was from Germany, one was from Ireland) and “servant”(“Negro”).  There was  a tab  where I could find his name and trips he took aboard ship to and from countries.  I really wanted to delve in more,  but the Library was getting busy and others wanted to use a computer and there were only a few available.  Even with the little time that I spent on it, I can see where this would be a great resource  for anyone doing genealogy.  For me, I can see that it will help me confirm some of the historical facts  that I have gathered on my family.  And, here is another great resource to structure an Adult Ed class around!

This will be my final Blog entry.  But, before I end, again, thank you to all that participated and shared your thoughts and thank you to all that structured this wonderful learning Invitational!  Sometimes we get so wrapped up with our day-to-day jobs, it is hard for us to make time to just explore the MARVEL databases.  By participating in this Invitational, it made me create time for me to explore and experience what MARVEL has to offer.    I also have this new level of energy to go and be creative and to share what I have learned with others!  Thank you!

Bunkie

Helen Wilson

Maranacook High School Media

Readfield, Maine

Wk#10, EbscoHost, #3, Zinc/ look at Blogs/comment

3.  Look at 2 or 3 other participants’ blogs to see what they discovered.  Comment if you like.

I ventured out  to read the Blogs on the Zinc/your own question and what database people used.  I enjoyed this because it gave me a chance to see what others used for search terms and how they maneuvered through their database.  I used the Academic Search Complete so reading about the other databases was very productive for me.  It was interesting to see who went to search the zinc and who went to search  their own ideas such as,   digital learning , hiking, Raynaud’s syndrome, acupuncture!  Since I did not do zinc, I had fun learning tidbits about zinc,  like, food born zinc supplements or zinc is found in red meat, poultry, seafood, beans, nuts and cheese! (I also did make comments on a couple of WordPress Blogs).

Now, I also read in a Blog, about someone finding an article in Masterfile Premier in Consumer Reports.  Thank you for this because I was looking this week for Consumer Reports and could not find current issues in the MAS database!  I never thought to even look in to Masterfile Premier. I also enjoyed the tidbit about the book, “Pushing the limits” and having the author be her sister! 🙂

I find myself much appreciative for all that I have learned from this “class”  Thank you to those who spent the time to put this together and thank you to all who spent hours writing into your Blogs. Finding time to read, explore and respond sometimes was very tricky. But, I found the time spent created  a very successful experience.  Now I will wait for the “post-invitational test.  Oh please be gentle with us 🙂

Bunkie Wilson (Helen)

Maranacook Community High School

Readfield, maine

Wk #10, EbscoHost, eBooks, #3, Oklahoma

3. A class is doing projects on Western history. have exhausted the library’s print collection.  In  Netlibrary, click onto “Advanced Search”.  In Publisher box type “Nebraska” or “Oklahoma”.

I typed in Oklahoma into the Publisher’s box.  I received 70 results.  As I scanned down , I found 7 of the first 10 books that I could use. (You can have the results by dates etc if you want them).  These books  were also published by the University of Oklahoma Press.  The 7  books that I found to be good resources mentioned “Oklahoma” and “History” in the subject areas. I also know that I can click onto any of the subject headings and find more books.

Now, I was curious(since the question was getting books on Western History) so I did a basic search with the search terms “Oklahoma  history” and received 40 hits.  In the first 10 books, all were the same as the books I found with the  “advanced” “publisher” search “Oklahoma”, except for just one book.  Is there an advantage  to  search for   information for the history of Oklahoma with the advanced search by Publisher instead of  doing the search “Oklahoma history” with the basic search?   Did we do the search in “Publisher” because we were looking just for books published by someone in Oklahoma?

I was going to look at others and their Blogs earlier, but decided to wait until I got this search done.  Now I will wander around and see what others have done on the  “zinc”or other questions by using Academic Search Complete, Masterfile Premier, MiddleSearch Plus, or Primary Search. (I posted earlier my findings using Academic Search on Vitimin D)

Week #10, Ebsco eBooks, #2, Constitution Day

Constitution Day is  looming and several students need more material.  Search NetLibrary and recommend some appropriate titles.

 I did my first search with the search terms, “Constitution of United States” and  I found the following two books:    “Constitution in Congress: The Federalist Period 1789-1801”,  by David P. Currie and the book, “State Constitutions of the United States”,  by Robert L. Maddex. 

By clicking onto the category words  “LAW/Constitutional” from the “Constitution in Congress…” book, I found the following book, “The Shifting Wind”,  by John R. Howard.  This book includes “The Meaning of Freedom” and  also addresses Civil Rights court cases.

With the search terms “Bill of Rights”, I  found  the following book,  “The United States Bill of Rights: the Ten Original Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Passed by Congress September 25, 1789, Ratified December 15, 1791.”,  by Project Gutenberg eBook.

These four books that I have mentioned above are what I would recommend to High School Students.  If the students wanted  more  I might then explore such things as  women’s rights, religious  freedoms or freedom of speech.

I love when Banned Book week comes around!  It gives me a chance to do displays  creating an awareness of censorship and the First Amendment.  In the past I  have done,  “Read A Banned Book!” event.  The kids got right into it!

Week 10, Ebsco eBooks, #1, Search a topic.

Do a search for a topic that interests you.  Note the default search is “full text”.  You may want to change the search to keyword.  Review your findings and observations.

I have an interest in reading about  how we  mistreated the Native Americans in our past. (Plus we do a huge unit on Native Americans in our  High School and I am always looking for new resources for the teachers to use with the kids).  I did a search using “native american murder”  for my search term.  I received  1 result: ” Exterminate Them: Written Accounts of the Murder, Rape, and Slavery of Native Americans During the California Gold Rush, 1848-1868.” By Trafzer, Clifford E.; and Hyer, Joel R.

When I clicked onto this book title, I got the “Detailed Record” of the book and to the left side I could click onto “eBook Full Text”.   On the right side of the record are those wonderful tools of, add to folder, print, e-mail, save site, export, create  note, permalink and bookmark.  I loved that I could click onto a subject or categories word and get another book.  I clicked onto the “civil rights”  and onto “human rights”.   With each I got more books. What a great way to expand what the kids are doing!  I then clicked onto the Full Text and I  had no trouble downloading the full text book.  Maneuvering through the pages was easy with the arrows to go forward or backward.  I appreciated being able to hit the “Full Page” icon on the bottom of the page and the “+” to make the print bigger!

The best part is that this book will actually  be a useful resource for the kids next spring!  And, meanwhile, I  get to read it!

It is so important to be able to have free eBook resources for students.  We still  have  students who cannot afford to buy Kindles or Nooks and they need free eBook resources like this.  I feel my job is to get the word out about Ebsco eBooks being available, free and easy to download!

Week #10 EbscoHost Family, EbscoHost, Excercise #1, #2

1.  Pick one of the databases mentioned.  I picked Academic Search Complete.

2.  To figure out what journals and books are actually indexed in the database, click on “Publications”  in the blue menu bar at the top of the page. Scroll down the list or search for a popular magazine title.  I searched for the magazine “Science News”.   Yes, it is in the database, 1975 to the present in full text.

Now click “Basic Search” and type a search in the search box. Search for answers to the questions about zinc in foods posed at the beginning of the post if you can’t think of something else.  Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find.

I did a Basic Search in the Academic Search Complete database, searched for  information about “if using  sunscreen interferes with getting vitamin D3”.  “vitamin D3 and sunscreen” were my search terms.  I got 11 results, then refined for full text and got 8.

One of the articles, “Darkness at Noon:sunscreen and vitamin D3” by Robert M Seyre (from Photochemistry and Photobiology magazine) was perfect!  It included “…it is highly unlikely that even regular sunscreen use will cause vitamin D deficiency”  To the left of this article I click onto “Find similar” and got more good information including the article “Does chronic sunscreen use reduce vitamin D production to insufficient levels”,  by M.Norval(from the British Journal of Dermatology) .

With both articles I received the abstract, read the abstract to see if I wanted to go into the full text.  The tools on the right of the articles included “Add to Folder, “Print”, “Email”, “Save”, “Cite”, “Export”, “Create Note”, “Permalink” and “Bookmark” .  I tried out the e-mailing and e-mailed one of the abstracts to me at my school e-mail  and received the e-mail with no problems. The e-mailing process is seconds fast!

I  found the database to be easy and friendly.   I was happy with my results. The subject was a subject that has come up recently within my family so I was curious about  what I might find.

Next I will peek into other Blogs to see what others have found and experienced.

Week #9, Exercise #4, Career Topic Search

#4, Type a search term in the search box in the upper  left of the home page for  skills improvement or career topic in which you are interested.  Notice that results are sorted by tests, courses and eBooks(if all of those are available for chosen topic)  Please select and eBook and look through its pages. 

My choice was teacher . (Students do teaching profession research when they do their Career assignment for English.  Also, for me,  I think to get a teaching  certificate would be a good future move for me  from my current Ed Tech career.)  For results I received,  Tests: 35, Courses: 1 and eBooks: 14 items.  My choice for the eBook was: “Teacher Career Starter”, 2nd Edition.  The eBook is by Joan DellaValle and Emmett Sawyer with Mary Masi. Copyright 2002 LearningExpress, LLC. 

The table of Contents includes: Introduction: “Why Enter the Teaching Field”. Chapters include: “All about Teacher Education Programs”, “How to Find Teacher Education Programs and Financial Aid”, “Teacher Certification”,  “Finding Job Openings and Creating Your Resume”,  “Cover Letters and Interviews”,  “How to Succeed Once You’ve Landed the Job”, “Professional Associations”, “Additional Resources”,  and “Sample Free Application for Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)”

I skimmed through and looked at the chapters that I was interested in.  At the end of the book it included  “Appendix B”,  “Additional Resources” of online and printed resources listed by categories.  I am going to look at the suggested magazine titles and then search on MAS magazines in MARVEL to see if any of these titles are available in full text.  The  ones that are available I will pass onto the Teachers!

I must say that I fully appreciated how easy it was to log off LearningExpress and then be able to log back in and just click onto my Center to retrieve my test, class or eBook! 

LearningExpress is a great resource that I will be using in the future to assist the students and to assist the staff! I just never dabbled with it until we had this assignment! 🙂

 

Week #9, LearningExpress, #3 Exercise

#3.  Job searching and resume writing are among the self-paced and courses in LearningExpress.  Click on the “Job Search and Workplace Skills” learning center and add one of the courses to your center.  Take a few minutes to explore the course and note your observations.

I click on to the “Job Search and Workplace Skills” and then went to  the “Job Search, Resume, and Interviewing”. Then I clicked on to “Interviewing” courses. Then I went into “Career Course: Interviewing Tips to Get the Job You Want”  and added this to my center. 

When I clicked onto the course I got the welcome instructions on how to navigate through the course and a clear description of the course. (Plus there is an “instruction” link at the top of each course page.)

As you click into and start the class, on the left side of this page, there is  a table of contents/outline that  outlines the class you are taking.  At the bottom of the page you can always hit “Previous” or “Next”.  If you want to click onto a section you can always click onto this on the left side of the screen.

My class has four  “Segments”.  #1 is “About Job Interviews”,  #2 is “Preparing for a Job Interview”,  #3  is “Sample Interview Questions” and #4 is “The Job Offer”.  Each segment is broken down into further divisions. 

 Under segment #1,  “About Job Interviews”,  it talks about the “Five Stages of an Interview”,  “General Guidelines for Job Interviews”,  “Scheduling a Job Interview”, “Interview Styles and Formats”, “Screening Interviews”,  “Always Send a Thank You Note” and then it summarizes it all with the “Putting it all together.  

Under the Segment #2,  “Preparing for a Job Interview”,  it is broken down into 7 divisions.  I loved  “What to Wear to Interviews” and the list of the “Top 25 Interview Mistakes”!

Under Segment #3,  “Sample Interview Questions” it give a complete sampling of questions to think about before an interview.  “As part of your interview preparation, you should try to determine the types of questions the interviewer will ask.  Spend time developing well-thought-out, complete, and intelligent answers to these questions.”  It also has  a section, “Questions You Should Be Asking”.

Segment #4 has “Evaluating a Job Offer”, “Accepting a Job Offer”, “Declining a Job Offer”, and “Negotiating Tips For More Experienced Job Hunters”. I loved the “Evaluating a Job Offer” because  of the list of question  it lists to think about while deciding whether to accept a job or not.  Questions related to things such as:   salary, benefits, paid vacation/holidays and the evaluation process.

At the end of each segment,  it gives a “Putting It All Together” summary.  At the end of the course, it gives the “Course Summary”.  I was totally impressed at how valuable  using the Job Search and Workplace Skills” center is.  What a find this course , “Career Course: Interview Tips to Get the Job You Want”  is!  Great  for  our students who are venturing  out into the working world!!  And, for those involved with Adult Ed who are trying to get a different or new job! 

Again, I am WOWed by another assignment with Marvel!  🙂

 

Week #9 LearningExpress, #1 and #2 Exercises

1.  Set up an account in LearningExpress and browse through the available exams.

2. Choose one and answer a few questions.  Then  click “score my test”. Click “View Answers”.  What do you think of the experience?

Well, setting up the account was a little bit of a chuckle!  I already had an account with MARVEL that I set up years ago…it never dawned on me that when I set it up it was with the school…thank you Stephanie for helping me with this!  So, I went in and created  another account  for a Public account, then everything fell in to place!  :).

I browsed through the available exams and my choice was High School to  Reading Comprehension Skills Improvement, to  Reading Comprehension Diagnostic Tests and finally to the Reading Skills Diagnostic 1: Information Text.(This diagnostic will help you determine the strengths and weaknesses in your information reading skills.  This test is one of a set of three diagnostic reading comprehension tests: literary text, informational text and persuasive text.  By taking this test, you can pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and practice your skill in reading informational text.  This test consists of three reading passages, followed by a series of multiple-choice questions based on the texts.)  Number of questions: 30. Time, one hour.

I really appreciated having all of this information ahead so I could see if it was really what I wanted.  Knowing the length of the test was helpful too.

I did the whole test, scored the test and viewed the answers.  At the end there were suggestions of other tests to do to improve yourself.  It was a great experience for me. It appears to be very user-friendly and I was satisfied that I got the results that I was looking for.   This is a definite to be passed on to students and staff!  I also will let the Adult Ed department know since they deal with such a variety of “students”.

Now, I am assuming that all anyone will need to do from the school is to  set up the Public account with MARVEL just as I did, then they will be all set to continue to set up an account with LearningExpress.  Or is this just available to do because we are in this class?

 

 

Week #8 Genealogy Resources

I was glad to see that this week  is an option of doing for us in schools.   I went on to the  Ancestry library site to do the two-week trial and they wanted my credit card number.  I was not too keen on doing this so I opted not to join for the two weeks.  But, I still am interested  in this  site because I do a lot of family history. What I plan to do is to go to our Town Public library and go on and try it out.  I will post my thoughts about my journey even though it will be out-of-order. :). I did look at the 3 videos, but I will look at them again  just before I go on to the site.

Thank you Stephanie for giving me the information about accessing the Heritage Quest through the Maine State Library.  I will need to get a card from you so I can get the remote access.

Both these  sites will be great resources for me to pass on to others! Now I need to get to my Town library!