First of all, I would like to say that I truly enjoyed this journey into all the resources the State Library has to offer. It has been a few years since I have actually gone into the different resources, and it is amazing what is there and how much more it there since I was last searching the resources. Since I'm not much of a "techy" this was not always easy for me to do, but with some help I think I was able to get the job done!
1) I think my biggest discovery was the sheer scope of the resources and the information within the resources! It really is astounding! There are many more resources than when I was a librarian. Anyone who can use a computer has all of this at their fingertips.
2) I have already told my daughters about the resources available and when I am able to see the grandkids, I will help them look up some information so they know how to use it. When I'm subbing at school, I can and have already told some students about the website and some of the information found there. I will tell anyone that I visit with about the site and what can be found there. I'm sure there are people out there that are not aware of all you have to offer.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Challenge #9 AncestryLibrary, HeritageQuest and Sanborn Maps
This was a fun, but frustrating activity. It's fun and exciting when you find something, but frustrating when you can't! I was also difficult to do the AncestryLibrary because I couldn't do it from home. I spent two hours at the school working, and I felt there was so much more to look for.
1) I was able to find my name three times, but the information was correct on only one. I couldn't find my marriage certificate either. I then tried my husband's name and he had about four entries and only one of those was correct. I couldn't find the marriage certificate that way either. Maybe we aren't married??? Ha!
2)I spent quite a bit of time on the census portion and found a wealth of information. It was so cool to find my parents and grandparents and their siblings in the census. I also found my maternal great grandparents in an Iowa census before they moved to South Dakota. It is interesting that I found them on this resource and not on the HeritageQuest source. I seemed like you needed to know some key information to get anywhere though. I would have liked to have spent more time looking for more, especially the older ancestors.
3) In the photos and maps, there were maps of the counties and areas before they were counties in South Dakota. I looked at an early map of Mitchell and saw how much smaller it was, but there were still some of the landmarks that we know today. I also saw a map of Spirit Mound that is north of Vermillion. I remember driving past it when I taught in Vermillion. I often wondered what ceremonies the Native Americans held there.
4) In the HeritageQuest, I looked up my grandparents and great grandparents. I found a great many of the same name, but the information was incorrect. I did find my great, great, great grandparents in an 1880 census. I think I would be able to find more information on the older ancestors, but not the more recent ones. I think I needed more information on some of the searches and then maybe I would have been more successful.
5) I looked up Kimball, SD. When I looked at the map from 1928, I found few of the buildings that still exist. The church buildings are there, but now are privately own and are housing, because a new protestant church was build for all denominations. The Catholic church is still there, but has had a teaching center added. The two elevators are still standing, one has been empty for years and the other is functioning and prosperous. The school is still in the same place, but a new elementary school was built on to the high school in 1962. In 2003 a new high school was built and attached to the elementary school. I remember many on the buildings from when I was a child that were on that map and are no longer there: the depot, two lumber yards, an opera house(then a creamery), the NWPS light plant and several more.
Overall, I found this a very challenging activity and I know I'll use some of the sources more. Now I will know where to go to work on my family history. Since I've retired, my son thinks I should do some work on that--since I have nothing else to do!
1) I was able to find my name three times, but the information was correct on only one. I couldn't find my marriage certificate either. I then tried my husband's name and he had about four entries and only one of those was correct. I couldn't find the marriage certificate that way either. Maybe we aren't married??? Ha!
2)I spent quite a bit of time on the census portion and found a wealth of information. It was so cool to find my parents and grandparents and their siblings in the census. I also found my maternal great grandparents in an Iowa census before they moved to South Dakota. It is interesting that I found them on this resource and not on the HeritageQuest source. I seemed like you needed to know some key information to get anywhere though. I would have liked to have spent more time looking for more, especially the older ancestors.
3) In the photos and maps, there were maps of the counties and areas before they were counties in South Dakota. I looked at an early map of Mitchell and saw how much smaller it was, but there were still some of the landmarks that we know today. I also saw a map of Spirit Mound that is north of Vermillion. I remember driving past it when I taught in Vermillion. I often wondered what ceremonies the Native Americans held there.
4) In the HeritageQuest, I looked up my grandparents and great grandparents. I found a great many of the same name, but the information was incorrect. I did find my great, great, great grandparents in an 1880 census. I think I would be able to find more information on the older ancestors, but not the more recent ones. I think I needed more information on some of the searches and then maybe I would have been more successful.
5) I looked up Kimball, SD. When I looked at the map from 1928, I found few of the buildings that still exist. The church buildings are there, but now are privately own and are housing, because a new protestant church was build for all denominations. The Catholic church is still there, but has had a teaching center added. The two elevators are still standing, one has been empty for years and the other is functioning and prosperous. The school is still in the same place, but a new elementary school was built on to the high school in 1962. In 2003 a new high school was built and attached to the elementary school. I remember many on the buildings from when I was a child that were on that map and are no longer there: the depot, two lumber yards, an opera house(then a creamery), the NWPS light plant and several more.
Overall, I found this a very challenging activity and I know I'll use some of the sources more. Now I will know where to go to work on my family history. Since I've retired, my son thinks I should do some work on that--since I have nothing else to do!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Challenge #8 ArchiveGrid and Camio
1) I really enjoyed these resources and didn't even know that they existed. I would have much rather had them available at home, but since I was subbing at school it worked out well. When I typed in "Sitting Bull autograph card" into the ArchiveGrid, I found out his dates, and where this card is located. Then I found out that he was at the battle of the Little Big Horn and then went to Canada with his tribe until they surrendered. He toured with the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show and was killed while resisting arrest for his unwillingness to abandon the ritual Ghost Dance. I think it is a sad end for a very brave leader. I would liked to have seen a photo of the card that is on file.
2) I then did a search for Crazy Horse and found 20 sources from prints of the mountain carving in the Black Hills to books, eye witness accounts, correspondences, articles and news clippings. Items came from Brigham Young University, Cornell University, Utah State, New York State Archives, the Museum of American Indians, US War Dept, University of Oklahoma and Nebraska Historical Society. I found that he was called Tatanka or Tatanka Lyotake and he was a shaman and leader of the Hunpapa Sioux tribe. He fought the Crow Indians and was wounded.
1) In the Camio resource when I typed in Paul Revere I two photos of paintings that dealt with the Revolutionary War, and photos of the silver items that he made: a teaspoon, a tea urn, a spoon, two sugar bowls with covers, a federal style tea service, 2 cream pots, a sauce boat, a tankard and a goblet. The items are beautiful and anyone would love to own them.
2) When I typed in "Sioux" I found paintings by George Catlin, Ed Barein, Seth Eastman and Indian painters. I also found photos of many Indian artifacts such as: gauntlets, a scalp shirt, a pipe bowl, blanket strips, a coat, 4 different pipe bowls, a pouch, a doll, a quilt, tobacco bag, parfleche, sculpture, beaded dress and a baby bonnet. I found this very interesting almost as good as going on a field trip to a museum!
3) I researched Picasso and found over 1,000 records. I looked through them and saw photos of some of his paintings, prints and sculptures. This sight it gave the type of work it was, the date of the work, a photo of the piece, and where it is located. I found it interesting to see the scope of his work, since his famous works are so different.
4) I think these resources could be very useful in schools for art classes, history classes, and research for papers and many more areas. I could also see college students using it for research. Many of these items are not available to us in this area, so the only way to view them is online. I enjoyed the searches.
5) I chose to look for Ansel Adams prints and found about 20 of them. I chose 5 pints of trees in snow, a mountain, a lake and the ocean. I put them into my favorites and I moved them around and tried to remove one, but I couldn't get that to work for me. I can see that teachers and students could use this feature to present lessons on certain types of art or photos and students making presentations for a class. This was a nice feature of the resource.
2) I then did a search for Crazy Horse and found 20 sources from prints of the mountain carving in the Black Hills to books, eye witness accounts, correspondences, articles and news clippings. Items came from Brigham Young University, Cornell University, Utah State, New York State Archives, the Museum of American Indians, US War Dept, University of Oklahoma and Nebraska Historical Society. I found that he was called Tatanka or Tatanka Lyotake and he was a shaman and leader of the Hunpapa Sioux tribe. He fought the Crow Indians and was wounded.
1) In the Camio resource when I typed in Paul Revere I two photos of paintings that dealt with the Revolutionary War, and photos of the silver items that he made: a teaspoon, a tea urn, a spoon, two sugar bowls with covers, a federal style tea service, 2 cream pots, a sauce boat, a tankard and a goblet. The items are beautiful and anyone would love to own them.
2) When I typed in "Sioux" I found paintings by George Catlin, Ed Barein, Seth Eastman and Indian painters. I also found photos of many Indian artifacts such as: gauntlets, a scalp shirt, a pipe bowl, blanket strips, a coat, 4 different pipe bowls, a pouch, a doll, a quilt, tobacco bag, parfleche, sculpture, beaded dress and a baby bonnet. I found this very interesting almost as good as going on a field trip to a museum!
3) I researched Picasso and found over 1,000 records. I looked through them and saw photos of some of his paintings, prints and sculptures. This sight it gave the type of work it was, the date of the work, a photo of the piece, and where it is located. I found it interesting to see the scope of his work, since his famous works are so different.
4) I think these resources could be very useful in schools for art classes, history classes, and research for papers and many more areas. I could also see college students using it for research. Many of these items are not available to us in this area, so the only way to view them is online. I enjoyed the searches.
5) I chose to look for Ansel Adams prints and found about 20 of them. I chose 5 pints of trees in snow, a mountain, a lake and the ocean. I put them into my favorites and I moved them around and tried to remove one, but I couldn't get that to work for me. I can see that teachers and students could use this feature to present lessons on certain types of art or photos and students making presentations for a class. This was a nice feature of the resource.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
World Cat
I did several searches on the advanced search, from teaching strategies to Shakespeare. It was interesting to see the number of records for each topic. Shakespeare had the most at over 400,000. Most of those records were books. It is interesting to see how a person can limit the type of sources. I can see how this would be helpful for research. There is a wealth of information out there is one just knows how to access it.
On the title phrase search I used the book Where the Red Fern Grows and found 243 records, 2016 libraries that had the book, and Black Hills State University came up as the first library. There were many libraries from the surrounding states included.
On the full record the LC call number is PZ4.R261 and the Dewey call number is FIC. I couldn't find any other works by him, but there were things about him and the book. Some of the related articles were hunting, human-animal relationships, dogs, and hunting dogs.
I think the First Search would be very helpful and time saving for the researcher. One can see at a glance what material is covered and if it would be a good fit for the research one is doing.
When I did the Discovery Part 2 I found pages and pages of information, but not many really had much to do with South Dakota. Just the mention of the word in the text and it was listed. When I clicked on the "Acess" it took me to the original source. I think if one were researching this would help find primary sources easily.
On the title phrase search I used the book Where the Red Fern Grows and found 243 records, 2016 libraries that had the book, and Black Hills State University came up as the first library. There were many libraries from the surrounding states included.
On the full record the LC call number is PZ4.R261 and the Dewey call number is FIC. I couldn't find any other works by him, but there were things about him and the book. Some of the related articles were hunting, human-animal relationships, dogs, and hunting dogs.
I think the First Search would be very helpful and time saving for the researcher. One can see at a glance what material is covered and if it would be a good fit for the research one is doing.
When I did the Discovery Part 2 I found pages and pages of information, but not many really had much to do with South Dakota. Just the mention of the word in the text and it was listed. When I clicked on the "Acess" it took me to the original source. I think if one were researching this would help find primary sources easily.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Challenge #6 Ebsco
1) I chose the topic of "restless legs" to explore in the science and biology area. I found several articles on what it is, what are the causes, and some of the medications to use. I also found an article that thought a certain gene carried this ailment and that means that it is inherited. I didn't have any problems finding information.
2) I had a terrible time finding much of anything on Constitution Day. I didn't see any books, but in the Kids Search and Student Research Center I found several articles in magazines on the topic. There were articles in Weekly Reader, Scholastic News and Christian Science Monitor.
3)When I looked for western history I found many books on native Americans, the different tribes, their culture, literature and leaders. I also found books on the buffalo, frontier armies, Rapid City Indian School, Father Desmet, Buffalo soldiers, the orphan train and the Sioux Wars.
I think this was the most frustrating search for me!
2) I had a terrible time finding much of anything on Constitution Day. I didn't see any books, but in the Kids Search and Student Research Center I found several articles in magazines on the topic. There were articles in Weekly Reader, Scholastic News and Christian Science Monitor.
3)When I looked for western history I found many books on native Americans, the different tribes, their culture, literature and leaders. I also found books on the buffalo, frontier armies, Rapid City Indian School, Father Desmet, Buffalo soldiers, the orphan train and the Sioux Wars.
I think this was the most frustrating search for me!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Library Challenge # 5 Gale Virtual Reference
I chose the topic of terrorism to research. The book I chose was Terrorism: Essential Primary sources, 2006. I checked the chronology of terrorism in this book and was surprised to see that the list was very extensive and dated back as far as 1800 and as current as 2005. Then I checked counterterrorism and the first entry was in 1808. There were not as many entries as there were for terrorism, but it did go up to 2005. Then I searched cancer and found a very long list of the different sources and types of cancer. I looked up several of them to see what the entries were like. Then I went to Literary Works and Historical events that influenced them. I researched My Antonia and found all the events in America as well as in Europe that had bearing on the writing. It was interesting to see what may have been the reasons for the book to be written.
I used the search box to research vitamins and looked at vitamin B-12 and found many sources. I then went on to other vitamins and found some very interesting information on what the vitamin does in the body, what foods contain the vitamin, if there are any side affects from too much of the vitamin and what can be done medically to help when there is a deficiency in the diet.
I could see these sources being used for reports and research papers, as well as for teachers in the classroom. I think the "listen" feature could be used to help a vision impared student/teacher or for an English as a second language student/foreign exchange student. I found it easy to follow as the person read the information. All of these sources gave the reader other possible sources and there was a bibliography of the sources. I found the searches interesting and worthwhile.
I used the search box to research vitamins and looked at vitamin B-12 and found many sources. I then went on to other vitamins and found some very interesting information on what the vitamin does in the body, what foods contain the vitamin, if there are any side affects from too much of the vitamin and what can be done medically to help when there is a deficiency in the diet.
I could see these sources being used for reports and research papers, as well as for teachers in the classroom. I think the "listen" feature could be used to help a vision impared student/teacher or for an English as a second language student/foreign exchange student. I found it easy to follow as the person read the information. All of these sources gave the reader other possible sources and there was a bibliography of the sources. I found the searches interesting and worthwhile.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Library Challenge # 4 Proquest
I did a basic search in the medical field on pancreatitis and found the information in the journal articles quite difficult to understand because of the medical terminology and jargon used. I then tried to read some articles on the same topic in the magazines and found them to be much easier to read and understand. Then I decided to look up information on William Shakespeare and found many articles about his writing and his life. I found an interesting article camparing "The Taming of the Shrew" and the movie "10 Things I Hate About You." It reminded me of when we did the play in class that the students came up with that same comparison! When I clicked on the publications tab I was amazed at the number of sources that are available. I searced several in the education field and looked for information on essay writing and found a great number of articles. I kept looking and found the English Journal, which I subscribed to for many years. The number of articles for any topic seemed to be endless and I'm sure that anyone doing research would be able to find the information they would need.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Library Challenge # 3
I have worked with SIRS before, both from students ordering copies from the State Library (that really dates me!) and we had some issues years ago in our library. I found them very useful for speech research, reports, and research papers. Now that they are online, I think they will be so much more helpful for anyone doing research in any area. When I was in the Discover edition I looked at several magazine articles. Most had a photo, gave the reading level and lexile scores and the article also tells the reader if there are other related newspaper, magazine articles or websites. There is also a dictionary and thesaurus and each individual article has a sort of outline on the left so the reader knows what information will be covered. I chose to look up the Czech Republic (as I am of Czech descent) and found all sorts of facts including: population, flag, photo, map, facts about the country, geography, weather, economy, government and history. The article also listed where to go for more information and also told how to cite the article in research.
In the Researcher edition I looked in several areas: Skills Discover, Fiction, Maps and Educator Resources. I could see a classroom teacher using this site in the classroom for assignments, extra practice in certain areas, as grammar and math, and for those students that are bright and need more things to do. I chose Language Arts in the Curriculum Pathfinder and found the scope to be very broad. It covers so much and I could see using this as another means of teaching a certain concept in the classroom. Students who would like more practice in certain areas could use the this to prepare for tests too.
In the Researcher edition I looked in several areas: Skills Discover, Fiction, Maps and Educator Resources. I could see a classroom teacher using this site in the classroom for assignments, extra practice in certain areas, as grammar and math, and for those students that are bright and need more things to do. I chose Language Arts in the Curriculum Pathfinder and found the scope to be very broad. It covers so much and I could see using this as another means of teaching a certain concept in the classroom. Students who would like more practice in certain areas could use the this to prepare for tests too.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Library Challenge # 2
Well, this has been an interesting week! I'm not at school all the time, because I'm a retired teacher. When I was there subbing, I had no troubles getting into places, but once I tried to do it from home, it didn't work. So, I spent a few frustrating days trying to get into Learning Express and finally had to call our school librarian for help. When I finally was able to get in, then the password wouldn't work--I think because I had been librarian and had ordered books from home. I finally got that all figured out and set up an account and had fun doing a middle school test and a high school English test. I could tell that the high school test was at a higher level. It was challenging because I didn't know what all was being tested, but I soon found out when I checked my score! I think these courses and tests could be used to help students who are having trouble in an area or are studing for a special test. I think it could also be used to help adults who are getting a GED or studying for a specific career test. I also went into the career unit and downloaded a book on resumes and cover letters. I think this would be very helpful for students who are practicing looking for and applying for a job and also for adults who are looking for a job. I also downloaded a grammar book and looked at that. I can see that these books would be helpful so the person could work at his or her own pace. I think that students who know about these could make very good use of them.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Library Challenge #1
I researched "mountain lion" on the school Kids World Book and found that it had a picture, a video and on the left side there was an outline of the information given. In the tools at the top of the page I saw there was a place where the article could be read to the reader. I think smaller children would enjoy the video and having the piece read to them. (My grandson would love this feature!) The Student Edition was on the same format, but was more involved and had more infromation. It also had the video and the reading of the information, which students would like. The Advanced Edition had the outline of the information given on the left and lists of related information on the right side. Because I'm involved with students, I would say this information would be used in the classroom for reports or for people who love knowledge and like to look up information. I noticed that the Discover version was the same version, but was also in French and Spanish and also had the read aloud option. I think this would be used by foreign exchange students or people who have that language background. I could also see a classroom teacher using this to help in a foreign language class to help students learn the accents of the language or to learn vocabulary.
The public library version of the World Book had a different cover page, but the information seemed to be arranged in the same fashion as the school versionf for both the Kids and Info Finder. There was the tools section on the top and the outline on the leftt. They also had pictures, videos and the read aloud option. The Reference Center was similar to the school Advanced version. The tools were on the top, outline on the left and related topics on the right side. I could see the classroom teacher using the technology to help students with research or reports for class.
The visual dictionaries could be used for people to find information on a topic, for students to do research and reports for a class and for class projects. The Spanish article would be good for someone trying to learn the language on their own, for a Spanish class or for Spanish teachers to assign topics for their students.
The public library version of the World Book had a different cover page, but the information seemed to be arranged in the same fashion as the school versionf for both the Kids and Info Finder. There was the tools section on the top and the outline on the leftt. They also had pictures, videos and the read aloud option. The Reference Center was similar to the school Advanced version. The tools were on the top, outline on the left and related topics on the right side. I could see the classroom teacher using the technology to help students with research or reports for class.
The visual dictionaries could be used for people to find information on a topic, for students to do research and reports for a class and for class projects. The Spanish article would be good for someone trying to learn the language on their own, for a Spanish class or for Spanish teachers to assign topics for their students.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Annie's Ideas
I am excited to learn more about what the State Library. I know some things because I am a retired teacher and have heard about some of the things we will be working with. I substitute at the local school, so perhaps I can help students when I am there.
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