ProQuest

I had no idea that this was available through the databases. The number of scholarly journals and magazines is quite amazing! I left my computer unattended during my research session because I needed to go pick up my kids from school, and when I returned my session had timed out. I got a different screen than the startup one I used through SDLN. When I tried to reaccess the database it didn't work and I had to go back to the home page for SDLN. In my trying to access adventures, I brought up a list of universities that subscribe to Proquest (many of the CA universities do) and was very impressed that we had database access equal to many of the high powered universities.

In my research, I did a search on Roman archaeology and then refined it to the archaeology of Pompeii. The results were staggering. There were many, many articles from many diverse publications, from many years. I liked the ones where the full text was included. On a couple of the ones with just a listing I tried to link to the SDSL holdings and every time I got a "server error". If you really needed those articles it would be a pain to get an error message - quite frustrating. Perhaps I was doing something wrong? However, the sheer number of sources made up for the error message - you could probably just use another source.

In accessing the publications tab, I searched for "library" and again got hundreds of results. There was everything from Current Awareness Abstracts of Library and Information Management, to Tech Library, Library Journal, and School Library Journal, and on and on and on. I delved into a couple of them to see what the listing looked like. You needed to select a year and an issue. I looked into a couple of the tech ones and was kind of overwhelmed with the level of the writing. Then I went to the School Library Journal and that was very fun! I read a neat article about ereaders. Then I read one about What Teens are Really Reading. That article had an awesome top 20 list of good series and good books that are "flying off the shelves" in libraries. Since we are looking to build our teen section it was particularly interesting to me. Very useful! I spent way longer than I had planned just cruising through the articles. Pretty fun and a fabulous resource!

To finish up I selected a couple fellow challenge bloggers to review. I picked clueless and hopeless hoping that these two were more my peers in experience. I must say that even though we had similar information in our blogs, both of theirs were much more attractively presented (with cool graphics and pictures I might add). I definitely felt out of my league in the blogosphere. Somewhere life has passed me by! I feel lucky just to get this darn thing posted correctly, never mind adding nifty pictures.

SIRS Discoverer/Issues Researcher

As directed I looked up armadillos and was impressed with the number of articles. They were spread out throughout time, not all from this year or any year particularly. I clicked on the first resource and found that it was written in British english (armoured) and had a picture with a page full of information - looked to be pretty good stuff if you were doing a report on armadillos. It was very like the World Book database including citations. The one thing I did notice in clicking on some of the subsequent articles was that there weren't very many pictures. Even in the magazine articles from places like Ranger Rick, the text was included without the pictures. I would think that this might make this resource less appealiong than World Book for younger children. The good thing was that it had so many different resources, super for older students doing reports

Under database features I selected Italy like I did in World Book so I could compare the two databases. The information was nicely organized almost like bullets, then there was a section organized by date. Pretty handy resource if you are looking for facts. I loved the graphic organizers! As for the map section, the maps seemed to be decent. They might be used to illustrate a report or clarify information.

I chose fiction fort the last area and was pleased to find stories! Fun! I also couldn't resist taking a peek at educator resources and found some potentially useful forms/ideas.

Under Issues Researcher I chose banned books. The format seems to be a short summary of the issue, pro and con statement with three supporting articles per side, there were questions for critical thinking, and additional resources with a nice research guide. Everything seemed to be updated and current. The only complaint I had was that the video didn't load properly and wouldn't play. The research tools were pretty neat, included a wealth of newspaper/magazines/graphics. The timeline was a nice touch, could help to organize information. I thought that this site provided many, varied resources that would be perfect for a mid-high school student doing a research paper. One could find enough pertinent resources/articles to do a whole paper.

The course subjects were quite comprehensive including math, science, social studies, Language arts, fine arts, and health. They appeared to be broken down into subsets that could be used to narrow focus. By selecting a subset, you were given a series of articles pertaining to the subject. I also clicked on a word in the graphic and it took me to the leading issues pages complete with pro/con.

Learning Express Library

For the first part of the lesson I chose the Praxis II test mostly because I've had experience taking that kind of test. It was incredible that this kind of resource is available for no charge. I remember buying a book, to the tune of about thirty bucks, to study for this test. This is exactly what one would need to study for a test and practice taking it as well. A very practical and welcome resource.

For the second part of the lesson I chose the course about how to create a resume because it seems a very practical and necessary thing that everyone needs. The course was very detailed and led you through the steps for making a good resume. This seems like an invaluable resource for anyone from first time resume makers to those looking to freshen up their old resume. Again, an incredible resource - great that it is available for no charge!

Lastly I looked at the ebooks about how to write great essays and also public speaking. I was surprised that they were actually full-sized books. There was tons of information in both of them and they helped to guide you through the process, which I would think would be very helpful.

This is a fabulous resource for our patrons. There is much more here than I first realized. I was surprised at the quantity of tests, ebooks, courses available.

World Book

In comparing the World Book Online Kids and World Book Online Info Finder, I was impressed with how much information was included at age appropriate levels. The Kid section had a solid and easy to read overview while the Online Info was much more detailed, had a wealth of information about many topics related to the search, and was much more specific. I also liked the included outline where you could jump to the section in which you were interested. Lots of cool pictures were included and some interesting videos made the site quite compelling. I think kids would like both of these resources and find them easy to navigate. I also appreciated how the citation for the article was included, very helpful. I can see a kid starting research and getting pulled further into the site as they explore all the available links.

As for the Online Reference Center, again I was impressed with the details and the amount of information available. The outline with links would be very helpful if one was looking for a specific area. This is very much like an encyclopedia for the digital age. If a patron was looking for solid, reliable information - this would be a good placce to send them.

1st post

I have never done this before and am trying to figure out how this all works - so lame.