Lesson 10 - Wrap Up

Basic, Advanced & Common Core Correlations Discovery Exercise

1.  What was your biggest discovery?

• My biggest discovery was that there's more than one way to get to an answer and you just need to try different words, phrases, etc. Really look over the web page you're on to discover what links are there to help you. Don't be afraid of using Advanced Search options, like I was. I always thought it would be too hard to figure out and it isn't.

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

• I'm going to share with the management team what a great idea it is to do this challenge. Not only is it fun, but it is a great way to learn what's available and with Jane and Julie to help you, it's not hard to do. I want to do it again next year even though I've done both just so I can keep up with what's going on. I will also keep exploring the resources for family history and share those with my cousins.

Thank you ladies for another great year.

Lesson 9 -- History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps

Advanced Challenge 1. You have heard that the Titanic had a sister ship or two and want more information, including a picture, if possible. You try AncestryLibrary's "Ship Pictures and Descriptions" collection. Report your search and your findings.

• Okay, I probably cheated on this one, but I needed a starting place so I did a Google search for Titanic sister ships and found the Olympic. After I had a name I went to Passenger Ships and Images; Browse the Collection and put in the letter "O" and then scrolled to Olympic. There were eight images for the Olympic.

 2. A student is working on a report about the dirigible, the Hindenburg, and comes to you for help. You try AncestryLibrary's Newspapers & Publications collection. What are your results?

• I started with a Newspaper search for the Hindenburg and it showed 437 articles. I then clicked on publications and it added four more for a total of 441. When I looked at some of the articles I noticed that it was also using Hindenburg as a person's name. So I edited the search and added the word dirigible and came up with 596 newspapers and 22 publications. Again, in looking a lot of the items were for names. When I narrowed it further to "dirigible Hindenburg" I came up with 7.

3. Your county is celebrating a big anniversary, and townsfolk want some historical information. In HeritageQuest, which collection do you search? What are your results?

•  One of the collections I searched was the PERSI archive under places and put in the county where a lot of my ancestors lived in the past. I got 17 hits for Spink County and the majority had something to do with what I was looking for. Some were too broad.
• I also went on Maps and saw how the county changed over the years and thought that would be interesting information to have also.
• I had a lot of trouble on this one. I was hoping to do better, but it just wasn't happening.

Lesson 8—WorldCat, CAMIO and More

Advanced Challenge 1. You want to know if it’s possible to borrow a non-fiction book about Martin Luther (NOT Martin Luther King) to use for a couple weeks with your 4th & 5th grade Sunday school class. You have nothing in your collection, so you check WorldCat. How do you conduct your search? (Try to use some of the special search features and limiters.) What title(s) would you recommend? What is the nearest owning library?

• I started my search for Martin Luther - Named Person, limited to English, then books and finally the subtype limits of juvenile and nonfiction. This gave me 891 so I knew I needed to limit things a lot more.
• I went to advanced search and wrote in Martin and Luther not King; which limited the number down to 137 books. I still wanted less and noticed some were quite old.
• I limited my date range from 2000 to 2015; which brought up 23 which was a respectable number.
• I liked the first book on my list: Martin Luther: a man who changed the world which is a Primary school book with only 26 pages. I thought this would work for the upper elementary class as a starting lesson because it could be gone through in one sitting. Plus, it would come from the Brookings Public Library so it wouldn't take long for it to arrive.  Then I chose the second book: Martin Luther: Father of the Reformation. This is a juvenile book with 112 pages so it would help supplement the first book. The closest Library is the Watertown Reg Lib.

2. Your library doesn't have many graphic novels. You think adding classics that have been made into graphic novels would be beneficial. To see what's already in libraries, you check WorldCat. Describe your search terms and limiters. Name 1 title you would add and its publisher.

•  I did a search for graphic novels and tried material type
• Then I tried genre/form and limited it by fiction
• I decided I didn't want to limit it to juvenile or a year.
• The Title I would add would be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel by Puffin Books Publishing.
• I added this book because it has been a favorite of mine.

3. The local theater director would like to do My Fair Lady but is afraid the vocals may be too difficult for the available cast. She wonders if a vocal score is available so she can take a look at it. Describe your search terms and limiters. Give the Accession number of the item you choose (found at the bottom of the record, where it says "Accession: OCLC:").

• I searched for the Title phrase: My Fair Lady and limited it to English and Musical Score. The one I chose was

  Accession No:

  OCLC: 22601829

Advanced Challenge - CAMIO
1. A student wants to do a project on the way people dressed in Charles Dickens’ England (the Victorian Era was from 1837-1901). What results can you find in CAMIO, and how did you find them? (search term hints: “dress” “fashion” “clothing”)

• I started with a basic search of fashion and then clicked on 1873 which brought up 5 items.
• Next I searched for clothing and the date of 1858 which produced 4 items.
• Then I did dress and 1843 which produced 10 items. The woman in the wedding dress was beautiful. The dress was so intricate.

Lesson 7 -- EBooks on EbscoHost (formerly NetLibrary)

Advanced Challenge1. Try out the “Advanced Search” feature. Click “Advanced Search” under the search box. Do a search on a topic that interests you, or search “South Dakota.” Play around with options and choose one title. Report your explorations and how you think patrons or students would like this feature.

• I decided to work in the subject field first so I typed in genealogy or family history.
• Then I set the date to 2000 or later
• I then checked for which ones could be downloaded to use offline and most of the 20 could

I found some very good books that I know I will use for my own family history quest. I think this is a great tool for people. I think some people who aren't as computer knowledgeable would need some help with how to use it, (I could even use some help with the notes, etc.) but I still think it is great.

2. You and your grandmother are talking about childhood books. She recalls enjoying a series of fairy tale books. Each one was a different color. Find these books in Ebooks on Ebscohost. Report your search process, the author and the titles you found.

• This one took some thinking, I cleared everything out by doing a new search, then I went to ebooks at the top of the page, then I clicked on children young adults fiction, to narrow it down more I went and clicked on Fairy Tales and started scrolling down and found them; the Yellow Fairy Book, the Violet Fairy Book and the Red Fairy Book. The author is Andrew Lang and they were published in 1996.

Lesson 6 -- Gale Virtual Reference Library (Advanced)

1. Your civic organization is sponsoring a community event with the theme, “Spring Holidays Around the World.” The organization needs your help in finding the following: a. Spring festival traditions from a variety of countries b. Traditional spring festival foods and their recipes c. Spring festival games or pastimes Report your findings and how you found them in GVRL.

• This gave me a pause while I tried to figure out how to go about this search. I finally went to the Title list and then typed in spring festivals in the search engine. To narrow it down I went to the left side of the page and clicked on festivals and got 118. Here is what I found.
  
  • MIMOUNA FESTIVAL -Mimouna is a springtime celebration marked by Jews in Morocco and elsewhere in North Africa. It begins on the evening that Passover ends and continues into the next day. Women set tables adorned with green stalks and filled with dried fruits and nuts, fava beans, wheat, honey, sweets, milk, a fish, and a crêpe prepared after Passover ended. Families visit each other throughout the night, with greetings expressing the beginning of a year full of merit and blessing. The following day, they go outdoors, picnicking in fields or near water.
  • NOWRŪZ (lit., "new day"), the Iranian national festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. A festival of renewal, hope, and happiness, Nowrūz begins on the first day of Farvardīn, the first month of the Iranian solar calendar, at the spring equinox, and continues for twelve days. It is the most widely celebrated, the longest, and the most colorful of Iranian festivals, and though inherited from Zoroastrian Persia, it is the only festival that is not confined to a single religious group.
  • HOLĪ is a popular North Indian festival noted for its Saturnalia-like excitement celebrated each year at the full moon in the lunar month of March–April. The ceremony is not found in South India, but a similar festival in honor of the god of love, Kāma, takes place there at the same time. While there does not seem to be a direct link between the two rites, literary sources suggest that both occasions are examples of an age-old tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring.
• I decided to do another search for spring holidays by entering that title in the search box. The Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures came up in my search choices. When I saw my choices and found there was a country I'd never heard of called the Azerbaijan Republic, I decided to look at their holidays to see what they had. One of their most happy and anticipated holidays celebrated on March 21st is called Nawruz. It is celebrated throughout central Asia. Women make cookies and sweets and boys build bonfires and jump over them without getting burned. There were many others listed.
• I did another search for spring holiday games and found the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays as well as many individual populations back in the World Cultures books. The World Holidays book has food, recipes and games to go along with their holidays. I read about Poland's Holy week customs and found a recipe to make Easter Cheese.
• I also did a search for holiday food and recipes  and what that showed me was the Junior Woldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World.

2. Use Advanced Search to find recently added 2012 and newer titles. Then explore a couple titles and report your findings. 

• I put in a date of after 2011 and then narrowed it to education. I found a title on Hmong's that I thought I'd explore because I wanted to see if they were the same people who have come to my home town of Huron that speak the Karen language and now I found out they aren't the same people.

Lesson 5 2015

ProQuest

1. I decided to try starting with the Literature Subject heading on the main page. Then I narrowed it down to "literary criticism of Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Miserables" which gave me 421 results. I then went to the right sidebar under Subject and chose "Literary Criticism" which narrowed it down to 41 results. In looking through them, not all of them would apply to the patron, but it narrows it down to a managable number to preview. All of them are either about the novel or the man.


2. I started with searching for "hurricane Sandy" and added libraries. Then I went into the subject section on the right and clicked include libraries and that narrowed it down to 12. Then I put libraries in quotes. Next I did just the words libraries, communities, hurricane sandy. I got some different documents/publications each time.

This was a nice article that talked about how libraries aided their communities.

ALA Council Recognizes the Contributions of Libraries During Emergencies.
Targeted News Service [Washington, D.C] 23 July 2013.

When Superstorm Sandy arrived in the Northeast in October 2012 and Hurricane Irene in 2011, communities throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont were severely affected, experiencing severe flooding, destruction of property and long term disruption of Internet access and electrical power. Many residents of these areas were isolated without access to electrical power, Internet access, heat or important information about storm relief and recovery efforts.
During those events, many libraries, even if in areas affected by the storm, were able to serve as gathering centers for their community, providing information, a warm location, a place to recharge cell phones and access to Wi-Fi and Internet. In addition, these libraries increased their efforts to serve their communities by extending hours, increasing staff presence, scheduling special programs, providing resources to shelters and even by simply adding multiple power strips for recharging purposes.
Library support staff such as maintenance and custodial workers also responded to the needs of their community in an emergency situation, by ensuring that generators had fuel, ensuring safety in buildings that were affected, and working overtime to ensure that facilities could be opened as soon as possible after the storms.
These libraries clearly demonstrated that a library serves as the center of the community and can go beyond traditional roles to meet the immediate needs of the residents of a community.

November 5, 2012 - Congressional Documents and Publications

IN BRIDGEWATER : Lance's mobile office will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at the at the Bridgewater Library (part of the Somerset County library system) located at 1 Vogt Drive. The Library is serving as the town's warming and charging center.


Pallone Announces Federal Grant to Improve Cultural Institutions Damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
Congressional Documents and Publications (November 29, 2012)

In addition, many humanities organizations, like libraries, served as shelters, emergency supply distribution centers and charging stations during the storm. The funding may also go to these organizations to defray hurricane-related costs.

I thought these three matched the question the closest. 

Lesson 4 2015

Advanced Challenge
SIRS Discoverer
1. A third grader who reads below grade level needs articles on the solar system for a school project. How would you find appropriate materials for this student, and what are your results? (Hint: Advanced Search is useful here.)  Thanks for the hint. I went to the advanced search and put in solar system, then I marked only easy (green) and arranged it by Lexile scores. I came up with 47 results with Lexiles between 510L and 1290L, because this student reads below grade level I would probably stick with the top four that have have reading lexiles below 700L.

2. What are two ways you can use SIRS Discoverer to find maps/images of volcanoes? How many results did you get with each? The first way was to do a keyword search for volcanoes and then I clicked on the graphics tab which showed 151 graphics of volcanoes. The next search I did was for the words map and volcanoes. I got back 16 specific graphic maps for volcanoes. There were also over 200 articles in which I could also find maps. The second way was to use the subject tree search for science. Then I clicked on geography and geology. Then the subtopic of volcanoes. Through this process I found 184 graphics. What this showed me was not to just rely on one way to find information.

SIRS Issues Researcher1. A committee of teachers needs good websites about suicide prevention for teens. How do you help them using SIRS Issues Researcher? I would show them the A-List and the search engine, then after they find suicide, prevention I would have them click on the 5 websites in the left hand box so they could check out the websites. Is this a better way to search for web sites than using a search engine such as Google? Why or why not? This is a better way to search because they are vetted by educators and are safe. This is important when you're working with schools.

2. Recent drought is causing your town to consider restrictions on water use. Citizens disagree about the need for restrictions. What subjects would you search in SIRS Issues Researcher to provide information for civic discussion? This was a fun one to figure out. I went to leading issues. There I found a topic of water use which led me to a great page which had the pro/con issues and essential questions. Exactly what I was looking for. There was also an interactive USGS Groundwater Data for the Nation link. I went to South Dakota just to see what was there and you can really find a lot of information. How neat.
I think a lot of people would be amazed by how much information our libraries have available to them. The public can go in and access this information for free. There is no better bargain than our libraries.

Lesson 3 2015

Advanced Challenge - Learning Express 1. A fourth-grader needs help with reading comprehension. What are 3 things you will show him on Learning Express? I would show the student how to get into Learning express and where to find the elementary section. Since the student is having trouble with reading comprehension I would point out the English Language Arts skills improvement and then the Informational Reading Practice and the Literature Reading Practice. Both have two practice sets for fourth grade.

2. A recent high school graduate has her eye on an office manager job, but she knows she needs to improve her skills before she applies. What do you recommend for her in Learning Express? I would have the graduate go to the Career Center and Build Your Workplace Skills. This section has multiple ways to help someone prepare for an office manager job. I would also encourage the person to check out the Preparing for WorkKeys Assessments. It is a ways for someone without work experience to show a potential employer they have taken a job skills assessment.

3. A high school student comes to you for help on his report on careers. He is interested in being either a nurse or a pharmacist someday. What do you show him on Learning Express? In the Careers Center there is a section for becoming a nurse which has everything a person might need to know.  I wasn't able to find pharmacist in the Learning Express. I did a general search for all areas and was able to find pharmacy technician but that was as close as I was able to come.

Lesson 2 2015
Chilton Online Auto Repair

Advanced Discovery Exercise

1. Your neighbor needs to replace the steering wheel on his 1982 Jeep Cherokee. He thinks he can do it himself, but he’d like to see some videos before he gets started. How can you help him?  I'd send him to the Chilton Library where he can look up the year, make and model of his vehicle. Then he can go to "steering" then "steering wheel removal and installation." This will not only give him videos, but animations and tech tips.

2. What is the Transmission transaxle part name/number for a 1989 Geo Prizm with 3 speed automatic transmission? Now if I found this correctly I believe the part name/number is A131L, which is a transaxle for a 3-speed automatic. I also found a nice diagram under transaxel identification which shows you where to find the automatic transaxle identification number.

 

Mango

Advanced Discovery Exercise

1. A Christian seminary student is struggling to learn the languages of Old and New Testament times. What would you show this student to help?  I would show this student the Mango library and then see what the student is looking for. I went to Biblical Hebrew to start with. It was a very interesting lesson. I don't think I'd ever be able to learn it, but it was interesting to listen to him reading and how the English words changed into the Hebrew.

 

Tumblebook Library

Advanced Discovery Exercise
1. Alex, a 3rd grader, has read every mystery in the library. Use TumblebookLibrary to find titles Alex hasn't read. Describe the process and your recommendations in your blog posting. I put in the word mystery in the search enginge so I could show Alex the different books that were available to him. My recommendation for Alex would be Private I. Guana. It looks like a great book, is in his reading level and has a video to go along with it.
2. You are preparing for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) story time for school-age kids, connecting a fiction book with a science activity. You would like to offer some ebooks as enrichment. What TumblebookLibrary fiction books would you recommend? The first book I'd recommend would be Science which is a collection of three books: Gotcha, A Moldy Mystery and Our Seasons. Another cute book is Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar as well as Don't Squash That Bug.

 

Lesson 1 2015
I checked out World Book Online Kids in two areas; games and activities and animals. I was looking for something I could do with my grandson when he comes to visit. I was very impressed with how the games start very simple and work their way up. I did the addition color sheets because I wanted to see if that was something he'd be able to do and I was happily surprised. I like the fact that you can also print your color sheets to complete them by hand coloring or to print the completed color sheet after you've colored it online. I also wanted to check out the animals because my grandson loves animals. They have great pictures and the information is easy to read and understand. I had no idea a cobra could stand up to 6 feet tall and had a speed of up to 5 mph. Yikes!

Next I reviewed the World Book Online Info Finder's Virtual Tours. I took the swamp tour. What I like about the virtual tours are that the videos are short and to the point, it is easy to move back and forth between the videos and they give you a lot of additional resources and I thought the interactive green swamp was intesting. There are student activities and teacher activities. The easy science lessons would work well as a home activity also. I think because the videos are short and interesting it would keep a student's interest.

Lastly I reviewed the World Book Online Refence Center for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book is broken out by chapters and with the online tools you can even have it read to you. The tools also allow for online translation which could be very helpful for both adults and children where English is not their first language. In the related information you can find websites that can give you more information on not only the book you are currently reading, but the author and his other works. There are also primary sources you can research and back in time articles. These really give you a broad picture of the time period from which this work comes.

Lesson 10 Wrap up.

I have really enjoyed the library challenge. I didn't know that there were so many things available on the web for people to access. I will definitely use the genealogy resources the most. I already use Ancestry.com, but I found more things I can do with it through this challenge. I know I'll continue to look at the lessons in Heritage Quest. They have some great lessons for people wanting to know more about genealogy and how to use tools available to them. I'm also going to use Sanborn Maps to put pictures into my ancestors' profiles that show the time and the place where they lived.

I've been telling the people I work with about the challenges each week and what I've explored. I'm going to continue to do so and to keep my ears open in case someone is looking for something or needing information and I can say, "Have you tried....." This has been such a fun, learning experience. Thank you Jane and Julie.

Lesson 9

I've patiently been waiting for this week. I'm so excited it is here. I love genealogy and I'm excited to get exploring.

ANCESTRYLIBRARY
Question 1
I started with putting in my maiden name and I found a number of year book pictures of me. It will be fun to add those to my site at home. I also put in my married name and found telephone/address lists from previous years and family trees with my name in them.

Question 2
Next I searched for my grandma Hannah Hester Brugger. I found her birth information, her death information and I found her in every census from 1900 to 1940. I was able to track her from her maiden name of Brugger to her married name of Wendland and where they lived during that time period.

Question 3
I had problems finding the location part so I went in to search and found pictures and then typed South Dakota. I found some post cards that linked to South Dakota including the Court House in Highmore, SD and the Government Building in Deadwood. Now there isn't a date on the post card of the Highmore Court House, other than circa 1900 - present, but I'm amazed at how big it looks. I'll have to drive through Highmore and see if it's still there. There are some great old pictures of Huron that I'll definitely use in my genealogy.

HERITAGE QUEST
Question 4
I chose to browse and I found the new Learning Center and found a gold mine of information. There are some great videos that will help with your genealogy research. I chose to watch County Histories and Your Family. It was a nice presentation that included a PPT presentation. There are others on Census Tracking for Beginners and Getting Started with Family History Research.

SANBORN MAPS
Question 5
I looked at the block between 3rd and 4th street and Dakota and Wisconsin avenues in Huron in the time period between the late 1920s to the mid 1940s. The old Marvin Huett hotel was around then as it is now, but now it is apartments. There were also a couple of banks on the block that were around back then. It was interesting to see things like "fireproof" or "fireproof except for wood roof" and things like that.

Week 8 WorldCat, CAMIO and More

I started this week with WorldCat. Again, this was a totally new experience for me. I knew this existed. I decided to search for one of my classic favorite books, "The Hound of the Baskervilles."
I've always been a Sherlock Holmes fan. There were 1,808 records found that had The Hound of the Baskervilles either alone or as part of a set of other stories. Of that 1,168 were in English. The number one entry showed 1,189 libraries world-wide that had that book. The top link showed that the book was in Pleasantville, N.Y. library.

The call number or class descriptor is: LC: PR4621; Dewey: 823/.8.  I went to click on the author's name to see what else would be listed and found that there were 28,972 records associated with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Wow! Of those 17,457 were in English. I then went to the descriptor which I figured was the subject and found that I was looking for English detective and mystery stories. When I clicked on the link it took me to 10,872 records (in English) that dealt with the subject I was looking for. I didn't know the Lee Child was considered in this category. I really enjoy reading his books, as well as P.D. James and of course who could forget Agatha Christie.

I clicked on Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James to see where it was located as an audio book. The Brookings Public Library was the only library in SD that had it listed, but a number of Iowa, Montana and Wyoming libraries had it listed in audio format.

DISCOVER 2
Next is the OAIster. I'm glad someone added the pronunciation for me. I looked at what was available and chose the Retirement Planning Information brochure from SDRS (since I can take early retirement in a little over two years if I choose to I thought this was a good choice). As long as I was here, I scrolled some more and found another document from SDRS on Level Income Payment Option.

When I checked out another couple blogs, I noticed that one of the bloggers looked at the same OAIster that I did.

DISCOVERY 3
I typed in Sioux to the CAMIO search link. It showed 63 results, beautiful pictures, books, sculptures, photographs, etc.. I took a close look at the first item in the listing because of the title, a Scalp Shirt. The shirt is circa 1890 and is Lakota Sioux. According to the description it says the Lakota Sioux Scalp Shirts were often painted blue or green on the top to represent the sky and yellow on the bottom to represent the earth. According to the description, the hair on the shirts aren't scalps, but locks of hair from family members or friends who've donated them. Each lock represents a war exploit performed by the shirt's owner. After 1870 (the Reservation period) the wars ceased so the scalp shirts became items of ceremonial or formal attire.

Another great exploration week. Thanks for the tours.

Lesson 7 EBooks on EbscoHost

I've listened to testimony during session from parents that have children with Autism and have tried Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and say they are getting great results so I wanted to read more on this subject.

Applied behavior analysis is the field of study that focuses on the principles, methods and procedures of the science of behavior. ABA focuses on the behavior of people. Interventions are directed at changing environmental events to improve behavior. Differential reinforcement of other behavior is used as a way to provide social reinforcement for appropriate play, academic activities, self hygiene and so on.

Typically, target behavior and the events that proceed and follow the responses are counted for several days. This develops a baseline and treatment is withheld so that a later change in behavior can be evaluated. Following this baseline assessment a behavior plan of action is developed. The plan includes target responses, consequences that follow different actions and long term goals.

It was easy to search for chapters in the book and go to the specific chapter I wanted to read on ABA.

Next I searched for appropriate titles for students for Constitution Day. My search showed 38 titles. Since there wasn't a lot of information on ages of students I looked for different titles for different ages. One that would work for younger students was "Colonies and Revolution" which is a juvenile nonfiction. There was a dictionary of American History that I thought would work for information and a companion to the US Constitution and it's amendments for older students.

For the next task I followed the directions using PB Publisher and Oklahoma and came up with 61 search results. Everything from "Boots and Saddles: Or, Life in Dakota with General Custer"  to "A Tour on the Prairies". Everything was listed as University of Oklahoma Press.

Another interesting learning lesson for me.

Lesson 6 Gale Virtual Reference

I started out searching the Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer because my husband has a very rare form of cancer so I like to search out information on his type. I found that there are only one to two cases of neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors for every 100,000 people. The average age of diagnosis is 53 years of age and he was diagnosed at age 56. It talked about the shot he gets each month (Sandostatin) and through the references I found out how nutrition can help with the symptoms.

I used the search feature to see if there were any other articles on neuroendocrine tumors or carcinoid tumors in the Gale library. There were a couple more that I looked at to see what more information I could glean. Then I tried out the "listen" feature. It wasn't bad, but it would take some getting used to listening to the computer voice. What a great reference this was for me. The article was easy to read and understand. The encyclopedia was 2010. I don't know when they put out an updated version, but I think it would be great to get the newest information because cancer research is changing all the time.

I then used the search at the top of the page to look up the Mediterranean Diet and found an article called the Anti-Cancer Diet which has a lot of the principles of the Mediterranean diet. Since the Anti- cancer diet talked about the Mediterranean diet my next article was on this diet. I learned it isn't really a diet as it is a way of life. How many times you should eat red meats per month, what you should eat weekly and what you should eat daily.

I checked out Tolliver's Tablet and found she learned about the highlighting of words and sentences in the listen feature so I went back and utilized it on a paragraph in one of the articles I was researching. It is a nice feature. I also checked out Karen's Blog and found she looked up the Encyclopedia of Cancer too.

Lesson 5 Proquest

1. I searched for prediabetes and then narrowed it down to magazines. I found an article that I wanted to read titled “Do You Have Prediabetes.”  It was a good article and I’m glad I read it. It was in relation to women’s health and it had an easy quiz to see if you should visit your doctor.

Because the first article got me interested I looked up another article. This one was on how treating prediabetes might prevent a full-blown disease. It talked about a study of 3,000 people who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: one group was asked to make lifestyle changes; a second group was given the drug metformin, which lowers blood sugar; and the third group was given an inactive placebo. The goal of the program was for participants to reduce their blood sugar levels to a normal range.

The new study was to look at these individuals years later. What they found was that patients who were able to return to normal blood sugar levels, even for a short period, could prevent or slow progression to full type 2 diabetes. The researchers found that people who reduced their blood sugar had a 56 percent reduction in progression to diabetes during nearly six years of follow-up. And this was regardless of how those normal blood sugar levels were achieved (exercise, diet, medication) and even when it was only for a short time.

What I found interesting is that it didn't matter how people got back to normal blood sugar, whether with diet and exercise or with metformin or placebo, but just the fact that by getting back to normal it prevented or slowed the progression of the diabetes. The next study will need to be looking at whether the regression improves other long-term health care outcomes such as heart disease, kidney disease or blindness.

I’m so glad I read these two articles. Time for me to make an appointment.

1. a. I read Mike’s blog and commented on it. I really enjoy reading what Mike writes because it is always interesting and I usually learn something. Way to go Mike.

2. My background includes many years in special education so I looked for special education. There were three publications dealing with the topic of special education in the title. When I changed it to search for special education in the subject that number went up to 28, which included scholarly journals, trade journals and magazines. This was a good reminder for me to remember to search in different ways.

Lesson 4:

SIRS Discoverer
1. Look up armadillos (or your favorite animals) and discuss the results. Note if you find pictures and the various reading levels of the articles. (Remember, articles in SIRS Discoverer are selected, so you may not find something from yesterday's news.)

When I looked up armadillos I found a number of articles ranging in reading levels from general reading, to easy and then to moderate. There was a variety of Lexile scores to help determine the right one for students. I loved the variety of articles that were available from Ranger Rick to National Geographic. There were also a number of pictures you could choose in the list of articles.

2. Some of the most useful features in SIRS Discoverer are the "Database Features" located on the right hand side of the window. Explore this section by:

• selecting a country in "Country Facts" and noting the information located there.
• I selected Canada. There are basic facts, a map, the flag, major historical events and additional resources at the bottom of the page that includes teacher resources.
• selecting a map in "Maps of the World" and discussing a potential use.
• I looked at the World Historical and US Historical maps. Wow!! There’s a lot of maps here. I think I could find some of these useful in my genealogy study, but I found myself just paging through and looking at some of the interesting things they’ve mapped out. The Indian cultures over the years, the different wars and battles fought in our country, the explorations.
• selecting one other area in "Database Features" and discuss the information located there.
• I chose the special “Olympics” section in the database features. It has everything from websites, to newspapers to magazine articles. The reading level goes from easy to challenging and there are a number of photo links also. A great variety of articles on all aspects of the games and the host country.

SIRS Issues Researcher
1. Select a leading issue and discuss the information located there, noting the topic overview, research tools and articles.

I chose the issue of bullying. Bullying is a form of abuse that can be emotional or physical. Many children and teens are bullied at school every day. Some of these victims become depressed and lose interest in their schoolwork. There have been too many instances where young people have committed suicide to escape the torment of bullies.

The research tools that are listed would be very helpful to anyone doing research on a topic. I thought the statistics and note organizer were very helpful.  Also, the amount of articles and the way you’re able to narrow your search for the type you’re looking for (newspaper, reference, graphics, etc.) is very helpful.

2. Select "Curriculum Pathfinders" on the right hand side of the window and mouse over the course subjects, noting the range of topics covered. Pick your favorite subject and discuss the information located there.

I looked at the subject of Health. There is quite a range of information listed under health; everything from community and environmental health to wellness and diseases. The page has two interactive links as well as a wide range of courses. I can learn about obesity and stress management all in one location. This is a site I’ll be visiting again.

Week Three of the Challenge.

This week I'm learning about something called Learning Express Library. This will be another new experience for me and I'm excited to find out what it's about.

I set up my account and started with Adult Learning. I decided I needed some math tutorials, boy was I right. Yikes – It looks like I need to go back to relearn fourth grade math. Since I did so poorly I started a lesson and liked the explanation and the quick response to my answers (which were correct, so I am teachableJ).

 In exploring the Job Search and Workplace Skills learning center I was happily surprised to find there are a number of courses available as well as ways to prepare for different exams. I think this is a valuable tool for someone looking for a career or changing careers.

I chose to browse through green careers. I never thought about “green” careers before. This was interesting to see everything from how to build a green resume to networking and  even green conferences. There is a lot of good information in the Learning Express Library. I’m glad I had the chance to explore what’s available.

Week two, here we go!!!

I started off this week with the ChiltonLibrary. I never knew this existed and this is the first time I've been to the site. I found a lot of information about automobiles.

Basic Discovery Exercise

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. My vehicle didn’t have 30,000 miles as an option. It had 25,000 miles and 50,000 miles so I went with the 50,000 since that is closest to my mileage. 1) replace the air cleaner filter, 2) replace the passenger compartment air filter and 3) inspect the fuel system.

2. What was the most recent Technical Service Bulletin or Recall notice on your car about and when was it issued? A Clunk or Thump type of noise from  the front suspension was the most recent technical service bulletin.

3. Click to the Repair tab and note some of the information about brakes for your car.  I found under the Anti-lock braking system a lot of information such as: description and operation procedures, diagnostic information and procedures, repair instruction, special tools and equipment and the specifications.

Next I went on to explore Mango. I thought this would be exciting when I saw the posters up on the doors of the library and was excited to try it out. Here's my Basic Discover Exercise.

Basic Discovery Exercise

1. In Mango, choose a language. Before you click “Launch,” read about the language and culture. What did you learn?  I learned that German is spoken not only in Germany, but also in Austria and Switzerland.

2. Click“Launch” and 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 loved this. I took German in high school and boy have I forgotten a lot. It is easy to use and the lessons are short. It is free, which is always great. I also am wondering if I can use the translate tab in my genealogy to translate some German language that I don’t know.

Lesson 1 - World Book Online

Things have definitely changed since I was a kid and spent time reading our World Book encyclopedias. What a great resource for not only students, but everyone who loves to learn. I checked out the World Book School Edition and did the basic discover exercises listed, but I also checked out the World Book Advanced Public Library edition and found easy access to newspapers.

 

Using World Book Kids, I searched for information on the Giant Panda which lives in the forests of China. Giant Pandas eat Bamboo, but the Panda’s in the wild are losing their habitat.

Next I viewed the World Book Student edition where I compared the amount of information it showed when I looked up Giant Pandas. There is at least twice the information in World Book Student and it goes into more detail as you would expect.

Then I went on to check out the World Book Advanced edition and I searched for Germany. I like that the left hand side bar has the contents neatly laid out and easy to scan, while the right side has related information and the content standards.

My last exploration was to use the browse function in the World Book Discover and find an article on American government. It is great that the articles can be translated into different languages and it is very helpful that there is a read-aloud function available.