Lesson 10 -- Wrap-Up

This is how I was when I started Summer Challenge. I am glad I decided to do the Summer Challenge. I wish I would have had more time to devote to it but things have just been busy here with the new computers and everything. I would say my biggest discovery would be everything. I never took the time before to check out what all was available. I am excited to show all this to the community. I thought about putting an article in the paper. I am also putting together a binder with all the handouts for the patrons to refer to if needed. We have discussed at our board meetings of possibly having an open house sometime in the Fall showing all that is available and the new computers. Only thing I hope is maybe now it will work when I need it to. AND this is how I am after I completed the Summer Challenge.

Lesson 9 --History

I am a genealogy junkie. I was very excited when I found out that we were able to access the 'full' Ancestry from the library. I guess I am not 'history' yet because I was not found when searching. I guess that could be good and bad.

I have searched for my grandparents and my husband's. My side is not as easy as my husband's. Of course, the side I have questions on is the tougher side to get info on, so I will need to keep searching. I was able to search as far back as the ancestors coming to America though.

I have to admit I did not notice the 'photos and maps' tab until I took this course. I found some of the photos to be quite interesting. You can tell that some people get into a lot of detail when doing their family history. That is very helpful to others just starting out.

When reseraching Sanborn maps, I decided to go with the town I grew up in since my current town was not listed. It was interesting to find where my childhood house was and finding buildings that are still there and some no longer.

With all that is available, I can see how people could become addicted to genealogy. I am looking forward to doing research.

Lesson 8 --Learning Express Library

All I can say is 'WOW'! I did not realize how much I forgot. I used to be good with Math so I took one of the math tests. Well I evidently have not been using my Math skills. I did not realize how much I forgot. I did find it to be helpful. I can not wait to show the 'LEL' to my patrons.

Next I checked out the 'Job Search and Workplace Skills' learning center. I found it easy to navigate through. I liked that it is self paced. We have patrons coming in to use the computers for job searching. Now they can work on their job searching skills so this will hopefully help them find that job that is out there for them.

Ebooks -- There is a variety of ebooks available. There was so much available that I did not know where to start.

Learning Express Library will definitely be beneficial to our library. Who would have guessed there is so much available to a person. All you need to do is turn on the power.

Lesson 7 -- ArchiveGrid and Camio

Wow, feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. I am feeling like everything is the same thing. But it is not. ArchiveGrid and Camio are interesting resources available to us. They will be helpful.

First, we have ArchiveGrid. I started with 'Sitting Bull autograph card'. I knew of Sitting Bull but did not know any information about him. I found that he was killed while resisting arrest for his unwillingness to abandon the traditions of the ritual Ghost Dance, which had been outlawed. It goes to show that times have changed and we have freedom.

Guess what my search was when I had to choose a subject. If you have been following along with my blog, you might figure it out. Yes, I chose to search 'soda pop'. I came up with 17 different results. I found info from Brigham Young Univ., Stanford Univ, and Univ. of MD, college Park to name a few. I decided to double click on the Brigham Univ info about urban legends regarding Coca Cola. Very interesting! It makes more curious about the many uses for Coca Cola.

Next, I took a glance at Camio. When searching Paul Revere, I found he made ta urns, sugar bowl and creamers, and federal style tea service. When searching 'Sioux', I received 68 results. I found pictures of the Sioux Tribe, decorative 'Sioux' items, and also. pictures of Sioux Springs. My favorite artist was a tough one. The artist I like showed no results as of yet. Some day though. If you are wondering who it was, it is Terry Redlin. The only other artist I came up with was Norman Rockwell. I only found 6 results which surprised me.

Lastly, trying to find my favorites. I have to admit I am not an artsy person so this was tough for me. I do however like the features that are available to use with the art. Will these resources help my community? Yes, they should. They will be helpful to the students who are working are school projects. But I think they are beneficial to us because we are a small library and now we have so much more we can access with a little patience and time.

Lesson 6 -- WorldCat

Yeah, WorldCat finally worked for me. One down and one to go. I enjoy using WorldCat. It has helped me a lot with the non fiction books and for people looking for a certain book.

The book I chose was 'Eat Pray Love', (it was sitting on my desk at the moment waiting to be carded). I found 1880 libraries worldwide have this book. Wow! The first library listed was the Alexander Mitchell Library. The call number for this book is dc 910.4.

WorldCat has everything you need to know about the book and is user friendly. I liked that you can click on different items of the book to get more info. Now I know where to go if someone really enjoys a book and wants another by the author, subject or anything else about the book.

OAIster is interesting. WorldCat has a lot of helpful information available to us the librarians but OAIster has ALL the detailed info you would ever need. I chose different items to research OAIster. I was able to find pictures, letters, and all the publications you could think of.

Both of these will be very helpful.

Lesson 5 -- NetLibrary

I will be coming back to this lesson. I am not able to access NetLibrary at this moment. Stay tuned.

Lesson 4 -- GVRL

GVRL is interesting. I found it easy to navigate through. I chose 'Scholarships, Fellowships, and Loans' as a my topic to research. I thought this would be helpful to my patrons who are looking into to financial aid for schooling.

I did not realize until I searched for foods that have zinc in them how important zinc is for your body. GVRL was very helpful and provide a variety of information.

When I first starting testing GVRL, I was not to sure about it. However the more I played with it, the more I liked it.

I was disappointed that I am not able to try out the 'Read to Me' feature. For some reason, it is not provide. I checked the tutorial pages and what it shows is not listed on the screen when I log in. This would be helpful to patrons who do not like to work or those who comprehend by listening. This way they could download it to their MP3 to refer to while researching.

Onto lesson 5 I go, what will I learn now.