Friday, July 20, 2007

Summer reading isn't what it used to be

On occasion I do tell English instructors that the classics from the 1800's were written for people who didn't have a TV. They are wordy, descriptive and ever so slow in building the story.

I'm not alone in thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, the classics might not be publishable today. J. E. Luebering writing for Britannicas Blog notes that Jane Austen was rejected, not surprisingly.

Which brings up the question- should we "teach" the fictional classics if no one would publish them now? Aren't there current fiction works that have depth, clarity, mythological undertones and a good story?

Yes, I'll be buying Harry Potter in the wee hours of tomorrow! Don't bother me, I'll be reading.

Something great for a librarian-to-be

This news release:

The Lights Go On in Georgia! Valdosta State Accredited, Giving Georgia a Library School

The State of Georgia once again has an accredited library education program. The Valdosta State University's (VSU) Master of Library and Information Science Program was officially accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of the American Library Association (ALA) at its meeting June 24.

The VSU MLIS is now the only ALA-accredited program in Georgia, following the 2004 closure of the program at Clark Atlanta University, and one of just 56 accredited programs in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

The program at Valdosta State is primarily distance education, incorporating Internet instruction and some face-to-face classes at central locations, usually weekends at Macon State College.

Approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in 1999, the program formally began in fall of 2001. After five years of evaluation, the COA granted VSU initial accreditation for the full term of seven years.

The program's next review is scheduled for spring 2014.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

A rose by any other name

....still smells as sweet

Social Science Information Gateway now called Intute welcomes you "to the Social Sciences pages of Intute. We are a free online service providing you with access to the very best Web resources for education and research, evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists."

Intute offers Tutorials on Internet searching for many subject areas including Allied Health and Agriculture. The tutorials are self guided but thorough.

They guide you to resources that you might miss in the tsunami of information from a Google search!

Intute is a free online service providing you with access to the very best Web resources for education and research. The service is created by a network of UK universities and partners. Subject specialists select and evaluate the websites in our database and write high quality descriptions of the resources. The database contains 118015 records.

GALILEO offers more than subscription databases. It is a library of quality resources.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

They want me to do what?

Ethical behaviour transfers from home to work to play.
If you cheat at baseball will you cheat on your income taxes?
If you cheat on your significant other will you cheat on your expense account?
If you care only for making a profit will you care about the quality of your work?

On the book jacket for Ethical Challenges to Business As Usual (HF 5387 .C63 2005) the publisher notes : "Shari Collins-Chobanian explores business ethics in this provacative new anthology which explains that within traditional topics and themes in business ethics, there is considerable literature which challenges the economic status quo...."

Read and think about the choices you make.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

It's prettier

Ebsco's adult databases have a spare look - green and blue tabs, search boxes, no pictures.

Their portal called Student Research Center is very different!

"Student Research Center (SRC) is EBSCO's interface designed for students in grades 6 through 12. Through the Student Research Center, users can pre-determine which content sources (e.g., Magazines, Newspapers, Biographies, Country Reports, Film & Video) will be included with their search. They can also search their databases by topic heading, make use of an online dictionary and encyclopedia, explore the top searches of the day, and limit their search according to appropriate Lexile reading levels."

The Teacher Resources button (on the far right) takes you to a screen that is similar to the standard Ebsco search screen.

What's very nice about Student Research Center is the results are similar to other Ebsco databases (adult magazines not kid zines and you can limit your search to Peer Reviewed Journals through the Teacher button).

If you're looking for a friendlier look to your Ebsco search screen- try Student Research Center

Monday, July 16, 2007

Discovering new stuff

Scrolling through the GALILEO list of Databases A-Z is like walking through a department store- you get to "see" new things!

Todays scrolling turned up Advanced Placement Source, an Ebsco product.

Advanced Placement Source is designed to meet the needs of high school students enrolled in various AP courses. It contains more than 6,100 full-text journals and over 200,000 photos, maps and flags. Subject areas include mathematics; physics; chemistry; biology; computer science; human geography; psychology; economics & statistics; government & politics; environmental science; U.S., European and world history; the arts and music.

It's interesting what turns up- articles you might not find in other Ebsco databases.

I must admit Ebsco's interface is not very pretty but it is functional and standard across their offerings.

To use GALILEO at home get the current GALILEO password from your Georgia librarian.