EBooks on EbscoHost (formerly NetLibrary)

1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.

As it was stated in the description of this database the books are not from within the last five years. When referring this database to customers the type of searches that would work best for this database or the ones that are not time sensitive. If I had a customer looking for, example, a book on Algebra this could be a good resource because the information doesn't change much over time. The database did have books on remodeling a bathroom and such things that could be helpful for customers. I'm assuming plumbing and electrical techniques don't change much over time.


2. Constitution Day is looming and several students need more material. Search EBooks on EbscoHost and recommend some appropriate titles.

I would recommend Our Elusive Constitution by Hoffman, Daniel N.

3. A class is doing projects on Western history. They have exhausted the library's print collection. In EBooks on EbscoHost, click "Advanced Search." In the "Select a Field" box, choose "PB Publisher." In the search box, type "Nebraska" or "Oklahoma." Report your findings.

In the many pages that this search returned, one thing was the same all of the books had the word Nebraska in the name of the publisher.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.

As a part of the Advance Food class we will look at different cultures and how their diets vary from one another. Students will be assigned a cookery style and they will be required to use a cookbook from EBSCO eBooks to pick a dish and look and the way the meal is prepared in comparison to American cuisines.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

1. Getting to know the titles in GVRL is similar to getting to know the titles of your library's reference collection. Click "Title List" on the upper right to view all the titles available in the collection. Click a book title of interest to you and access an article via the table of contents. Notice with the multi-volume titles, you can select which volume you look at. Discuss the title you selected and how you may use it.

I selected the book "Alternative Energy." This book could benefit both the student doing a research paper on alternative energy sources as well as, a customer who wants to find an alternative to his/her current energy source.

2. At the top of the page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.

I searched the topic geothermal heat pump. It returned three books that had references to geothermal heat pumps. Each book had a brief summary making it easy for me to tell what type of information I would get if I clicked on the link. When you clicked on the PDF link you were taken directly to the page in the book that you need to be at. This type of referencing makes it very easy for both students and library patrons to find what they need without having to search through every index or table of contents!

I was impressed with the quality of the voice that read the article. The article does also highlight the text as it is read making following along a very easy.

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

I completely agree with LuckyMom's comments about how easy databases have made it for students to cite. This is something that we all must do and I'm glad it is becoming easier than ever!

Faith Library brings up a good point that if you don't have your search terms specific enough you could really be overwhelmed with the number of results you get. I guess I would rather have too much and then work my way down like she did then have to get create of use a database that was limiting in it results.

Common Core Connection

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

I will assign a topic to students asking them to use different only resources. I will ask that they use the GVRL as their source for at least one of the "print" resources. They will also need to use material that has been published within that last five years.

Proquest

1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.

I did a basic search on geothermal heat pumps. The number of results I received was a bit overwhelming. I was able to sort the result to find the newest articles first. I could also limit the type of results I received from just viewing magazine articles to reports. I could even view articles only written in a specific country. I found that by even doing a basic search you have a wide variety of options to help you find what you needed.

1.a. See what your Challenge cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Challenge blog, read that person's post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each other's blogs throughout the Challenge as you learn together.

I looked at Journey Library's blog posting for Proquest. It looks like we discovered many of the same things. Even though we searched different topics we both came up with a large number of results. I guess, this speaks to the size and breath of the Proquest database!


2. Click the Publications tab at the top of the page. You will see an alphabetical list of the periodicals indexed in Proquest and the years included. Notice that this list is "Full text only." Do a search for a journal in your profession by typing a title or keyword in the search box. Report your findings and observations.

I discovered that the search would be very limiting if you didn't know the title of the journal you were searching for. You also have to be very careful with your use of singular and plural. I searched public library and used "in publication summary" and received 0 results but by switching library to libraries i was able to find two journals with full text articles in this database.

In your blog post, name the standard and briefly and specifically describe the lesson you will teach using ProQuest to help meet the standard.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

I would have students research the topic of geothermal as an alternative heating and cooling source. They would need to use bother scholarly sources as well as magazines and newspapers. Most articles I found talked about more than just geothermal. Students would need to come using geothermal to one other source. This would require students to use skills to filter through articles that may not be relevant to their topic but contain information about the topic.

Learning Express Library

1. Set-up an account in Learning Express and browse through the available exams.

That was easy! Setting up an account in Learning Express requires only a couple of quick entries and you are set up ready to go.

2. Choose one and answer a few questions. Then click "Score my test" in the top toolbar. Ignore the warnings and continue to have your test scored, so that you can see how the diagnostic page looks. Then click "View Answers" at the bottom of the page. What did you think about this test experience?

I found Learning Express practice test to be very realistic. The timed factor on the simulation test helps you develop your ability to complete the test in the allotted time. The ability to test in different modes is a nice feature allowing every level of user to get the experience he/she needs. The test was very easy to navigate and I’m assuming that this will be a very similar feel to what the test taking experience will be like for real.

3. Job searching and resume writing are among the self-paced courses in Learning Express. Locate the career resources and add one of the courses to your center. Take a few minutes to explore the course and note your observations.

The course was very simple to navigate. It a matter of a couple of quick clicks I was able to save the course to my portfolio to save my place and return to it later. One of my favorite features of the courses was that there was not an overwhelming amount of text on a page. Each topic was broken down into manageable pieces.

4. Type a search term in the search box for a 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 your chosen topic). Please select an eBook and look through its pages.

I searched "Social Networking." There were two eBooks available through Learn Express on this topic. I was surprised by the eBook. I was figuring the book would be a condensed version but this book looks to be the full version and contains a Table of Contents to help you navigate the text. I was able to save the book to my computer and easily access it for later use.

Common Core Connection

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10
By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
I could use the Information Reading Test to help students who are struggling to meet the reading standard. The Informational Reading Practice Test will give extra practice in reading information text and then get tested on the material to determine if they are retaining the information. In the Learner option you are able to see your answers as you go and if you answer a question incorrectly you are given the correct answer and then told where the answer could be found in the text to help the student with the learning process.

Chilton Library and Mango Languages

Chilton Library
1. Look up the maintenance schedule for your vehicle. View the whole chart and list 3 things that should be done at 30,000 miles.

I drive a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. It is an automatic sedan with a 4 cylinder diesel engine. According to the maintenance schedule at 30,000 miles there are several things I should be checking or replacing at this point. The three big ones, in my opinion are: service/inspect Brake pad thickness, service/inspect rotate tires, and replace Engine oil and filter.

2. What was the most recent Technical Service Bulletin or Recall notice on your car about and when was it issued?

The most recent Technical Service Bulletin for a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta was issued on October 3 2013. The Technical Bulletin was issued because customers were experiencing issues with the about of oil being consumed was higher than the standard consumption of up to .5 quarts per 600 miles.

3. Click to the Repair tab and note some of the information about brakes for your car.

I don't know the first thing about my car, which is one of the many reasons I'm so thankful for my husband! After looking under the Brakes, I found out that my brakes are an Anti-Locking System and there are both hydraulic and mechanical components.
I also felt like I was reading a foreign language when reading through the descriptions and information listed under the Brakes drop-down. There were specifications listed for the Brake system that I’m sure are very helpful for people who know what they are doing.
The Chilton Library is a great tool but as a people not knowing about cars found it very difficult to read through.
 
Common Core Connections
1. How could you use Chilton Library to meet Common Core English Language Arts Reading Standards in the area of Integration of Knowledge and Ideas?

In the Chilton Library they use both text and visual materials to give directions on how to repair or replace components of a vehicle. Chilton Library is using a diverse format as well as using a variety of formats to convey their message.

Mango Languages
1. In Mango, choose a language. Read about the language and culture. What did you learn?

I selected Irish. Ireland has been a dream destination of mine for many years. I am fascinated by the deep history and numerous castles. Irish is only spoken in Ireland and there are about 355,000 people today who speak Irish.

2. Try out a lesson. How helpful would this program be to help you learn a language? What did you like? What didn’t you like? Why?

I found the Mango languages to be a very help language learning tool. There were several pieces of the lessons that i found liked. I like that you could have the translation repeated as many times as you needed. I found the pronunciation of the translation to be extremely helpful. When i saw the pronunciation I was then able to better hear how to pronounce the translated phrases. There is lots of repetition in each lesson, which for myself, is the best way I learn.
The only complaint I have about the database is that I found it a bit confusing on how to start the lessons. I assumed I needed to click on the "1 course available" when that was actually directing me lower on the page to the lesson and needed to click on the image.

Common Core Connections
1. How could Mango Languages help you meet the Language standards in English Language Arts?

We can use the English Courses for non-English speakers to help our foreign exchange students improve their English speaking abilities. This will help them to better meet the English Language Art Standards.

World Book

1. Using World Book Kids, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.

I decided to use World Book Kids to search for a mammal that for some crazy reason I love, the pig. I first used the icons in the middle of the page to help me locate the animal I was looking for. I clicked on "World of Animals." I was then able to narrow my search to only land mammals using the filter tool located in the upper right hand corner of this page. Next, I was able to scroll through a list of land mammals that also included a picture of the mammal, a nice feature for this target age group. Finally, I spotted
the pig I was looking for, although it was listed as hog, I was quickly able to locating the mammal because of the illustrations. I'll be honest; I didn't even look at the printed words. I just looked for the picture of the mammal I wanted to find.

Once I clicked on the picture of the pig additional options appeared to the left of the list. I was able to click on a link labeled "Go to the Hog Exhibit" and "View Article." The "Go to the Hog Exhibit" link gave me a list of facts on the mammal including its habitat, grasslands and forests. The "View Article" link brought me to a new page that had pictures of the mammal, more information about the mammal and how to correctly site this website if I were to use this information.

2. Using World Book Student, search for information on the same mammal you searched in World Book Kids and compare the amount of information.

When using the search box on the World Book Student page I searched pig and then was given a list of terms associated with pig. I then selected hog which took me to an article about the mammal. This article contained more detailed text about the mammal and additional photographs.

The lexile score for the kids and student edition were almost the same. Both articles contained an article context with the student edition containing more detail, which is to be expected with the additional detail that is in the article.

3. Using World Book Advanced, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the left and right side bars of the first results screen. Click on the link for your desired country, and again notice the types of information on the left and right side bars of the screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?

I'm searching for the country of Greece. I first notice the resources on the left hand side of the page. There are links to maps, pictures, website, etc. The resources on the right are a repeat of a couple of the results from the left side. These results are further broken down with links to additional topics. In the center of the screen in where I find links to the World Book articles. The first one is Greece, just what I'm looking for!

Once in the article about Greece I can quickly go to different topics about this country using the Article Context on the left hand side of the screen. The right hand side of the screen has carried the related information from the first screen to this one. This feature makes it easy to quickly navigate to other resources from this page.

Just like with the other two versions of World Book the work cited information is all complied for the user.

The ability to find credible websites for the information that is being looked up is huge for our students. If they can go to one resource and know that they are able to get a variety of resources in one location this helps save time.

4. Using World Book Discover, use the browse function on the right side of the screen to find an article about American government. Notice the features on the article page. How will World Book Discover help your patrons who are not good readers of English?

One of the first features I notice that would be very beneficial for people who struggle to read English is that the article can be read to the user. Users can also print out the article if they are having a hard time reading it on the screen. It also makes it available for later reference.

Common Core Connection:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

I will have students use World Book Advanced to search a topic that is related to the book "To Kill a Mockingbird." Students will be required to research the book and determine relevant topics to research and write a 500 word paper on the topic of their choice as it relates to "To Kill a Mockingbird." Students will be required to use three different types of sources which will all be available through World Book Advanced. The 500 word essay will need to include at least two quotes and contain proper citations including a work citied page.