News from EBSCO

EBSCO sent an e-mail announcing:

"We have recently upgraded the Book Collection : Non-Fiction database to display:

Geographic terms in citations

Publisher information on the Publication Details screen

Related series information in citations"

These new features are available on Book Collection: Nonfiction through GALILEO.

Ebsco also said:

"Please visit EBSCO's Support Site to learn about new features, search among thousands of FAQs, download Flash tutorials, Help Sheets or User Guides, or communicate with Technical Support at any time, using the EBSCO Support Form .

The password to access these Ebsco products through GALILEO is available from your Georgia librarian.

Romance online

Listening to NPR this morning I heard that Harlequin Books are making their romance novels available as e-books.

And their reasoning: "There are lots of reasons to love eBooks—they're instant, portable, always available and you can find exclusive editorial like SPICE Briefs, Minis, Bundles and much more. Plus, we've added Gold Eagle, to our World Wide Library. Enjoy!"

Yes, electronic books are convenient. NMTC has over 40,000 NetLibrary books. Check out e-books - you'll find they aren't as clunky as they used to be.

Free People Read Freely ® (ALA)

Banned Books Week - Sept 29-Oct 6, 2007

From the ALA (American Library Association) site:

The "10 Most Challenged Books of 2006" reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

"And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;


"Gossip Girls" series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;


"Alice" series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;


"The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;


"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;


"Scary Stories" series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;


"Athletic Shorts" by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.


"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group


"Beloved" by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;


"The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

YES!

Oh this is going to be so very helpful as you gather articles and e-books for a project. The RSS that Ebsco has implemented does allow you to open up the document off campus in your feed reader without going through GALILEO or entering a password.

I created a folder in my reader for Ebsco articles. This will be a very convenient way to get the resources together for a project.

Where was this as I worked on papers?

New beginnings

Today is orientation (three sessions) and open registration for Fall Quarter (which begins next Wednesday!)

We're busy giving directions and helping students find their way.

Events impact literature

Literary Reference Center (a new to us Ebsco database) has a Literary-Historical Timeline (top of the box on the right side of the screen). Interesting to note what was going on in the "world" while authors were telling their stories.

The list of historic events is interspersed with the literary highlights. The literary items are linked to the database so you can quickly move from the history timeline to the literature.

When you need a timeline- this is one place to search!

(They have an RSS feed next to the publication titles...I just created an alert. From school I can open my feed reader and voila there is the article- no password needed- but I'm at school. I'll have to see how this works at home.)

Get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

RSS or Alert

I neglected to note yesterday that the publications in Consumer Health Complete may also be accessed via RSS or a Journal Alert (through your e-mail).

The RSS feeds make it very easy to keep up-to-date without wading through pages of e-mails.

The NMTC password to access GALILEO from home has changed for the quarter. Ask your Georgia librarian for the current password.

Health information

I attended an on-line workshop yesterday about Consumer Health Complete by Ebsco. It’s not just for “consumers”. They have compiled an extensive list of publications (professional journals, etc) to be used while searching for information.

I’ve created instructions on how to sift through Academic Search Premier and ProQuest to create a journal alert. But one has to “ know” the periodical is medically related.

Consumer Health Complete has “sifted” for you!

GALILEO
…Select the tab Databases A-Z (far right across the top)
…..Jump to C
…….Consumer Health Complete
………..Select Advanced Search (only a text link)
…………....Select Publications (a link on the far right under North Metro Technical College)
……..Listed are a wide variety of publications- some are “embargoed” for a year- the publishers do want us to buy the print version.

A question was asked about how different this interface looks from the "standard" Ebsco product. Yes, it does look different - and I like it!

The Thinker

Last week I noticed a fellow employee resting their head on their fist, reminded me of The Thinker by Rodin.. Over the weekend I read a mystery where a picture by Rodin is hidden. Sunday the AJC (Arts & Books, K 6) described the opening of a Rodin exhibit at Ogelthorpe University's Museum of Art.

Does that happen to you? Thoughts, ideas, images, things come to your awareness in clusters.

Ebsco Images offers 6 images with a search for Rodin.

A little further down the Databases A-Z list in GALILEO is Grove Art Online with 42 links to images. The Grove links may take you to a Museum site.

And of course you could use Google Images.

Look at the work by Rodin - and think about art!

The password is about to change for NMTC access to GALILEO. Ask your librarian for the current password for home use!

The delights of RSS

This morning my RSS feed delivered this literary treasure from Typo of the day for librarians : "Today marks the first working day of autumn, a bittersweet commemoration of the ineluctable slide from summer into winter...."

The picture those words create for me is one of a child sitting on a cardboard box and sliding down a hill amidst lightly falling colored leaves.

Words....the English language has a plethora of ways to communicate from simple vulgarities to the heights of erudition. Go for the heights- broaden your vocabulary.

Alls Quiet - mostly

NMTC is on break. Faculty are posting grades. Banner will be up with grades on September 25 at 5PM if you're looking for the results.

The Facility crew is stripping the floors outside the library. It's a little difficult to get in here but some are able to find their way!

Added the University of Texas Native Plants site to Horticulture at Del.icio.us.

Fall is coming and it feels like it!

So now you know!

Autumn Rambles

The change of season is wafting through the air, a difference in the wind pattern, a slight chill in the morning, the sun angle changing.....are you thinking about a drive to see the leaves change colors?

Would you rather do a little arm chair traveling? We have a NetLibrary title Autumn Rambles, New England: An Explorer's Guide to the Best Fall Colors
Hunter Travel Guides by Mike Tougias c.1998.

Each chapter takes a New England state and plots a route through the countryside noting inns and historic locations. The caveat is the book is 9 years old so the inns may no longer be in business or the phone numbers may have changed.And even the roads may have changed - but arm chair planning is free!

Electronic books make it possible for you to explore a title without leaving your desktop! There is a video on how to create a free NetLibrary acount if you need a reminder.

How many times do you :) ?

The first use of an emoticon happened 25 years ago! What would e-mail be like without that :) ?

Using the search term emoticon, limiting to full text and the past week - 13 articles came up in LexisNexis. 2 articles showed up in ProQuest

Using GALILEO brings you credible news quickly! Get the password from your Georgia librarian.

Ahoy there!

Did you remember that tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day?

And yes, you may search through Academic Search Complete or MasterFile Premier and find erudite articles on pirates and pirating.

Wouldn't you rather just sway and swagger and wear your eye-patch....especially since we're on break!

Ripping and gluing for Art

From Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus the definition for collage is:

Main Entry: col·lage
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, gluing, from coller to glue, from colle glue, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin colla, from Greek kolla
1 : an artistic composition made of various materials (as paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface
2 : the art of making collages
3 : an assembly of diverse fragments
4 : a work (as a film) having disparate scenes in rapid succession without transitions

On our shelves is a title by Brandon Taylor, Collage : The Making of Modern Art (N 6494 .C6 T39 2004) which begins with Picasso and ends in the 1970's. There are 206 illustrations with 91 in color.

Interesting to read how artists utilized a simple process of piecing together portions of pictures to create a visual more memorable than the original.

And you thought collage was a kid art project!

The most amazing document

September 17, 2007 is the 220th anniversary of the United States Constitution. It is a miracle of human governance. Read more about the Constitution in GALILEO -

I tried several search strategies using the terms Constitution United States:
- Quick Search in General Topics
- Quick Search in Social Sciences
- GALILEO Scholar Beta - limiting to the standard three, Lexis Nexis and Newspapers
- Advanced Search (link under the regular GALILEO Quick Search box)- this looks similar to the Beta GALILEO Scholar Search

Interesting articles came up with each search.

Happy Birthday to US!

Can you find them?

On LM_NET, a post referred readers to the Librarian in Black who referred readers to "Addy Will Know" by SNMNMNM -

Listen carefully for the 4 call numbers- they are LC not Dewey. How would you find those titles?

I looked in World Cat through GALILEO using Expert search and limited my search to LC (LC call numbers).

I admit- I didn't find the titles but it could be I didn't listen carefully to the words or I didn't write the call numbers down correctly. More clues for the titles are in the beginning of the song.

See what you find!

And of course, you get the password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Now this is a Visual Search

The Distant Librarian mentioned oSkope. The Distant Librarian asked "Would a display like this make it more "fun" to use the library catalogue? "

oSkope is self described as "a search assistant with a highly intuitive visual interface. oSkope lets you browse quickly through a large number of images and preview information with minimal paging. Selected items can be saved by registered users. In its beta version, oSkope allows to search for products and images on popular web services like Amazon, Ebay, YouTube or Flickr. More services will be added soon."

I'm playing with it- on this Friday morning it seems to take awhile but it is pulling pictures. I selected Amazon- figuring I'd find books and videos. I did a search for "Roald Dahl" once without quotes, once with. Didn't seem to make a difference.

It pulled up some interesting tumblers and moisturizer. I couldn't figure out what the tie was to Mr. Dahl. I do like the book covers and the way the cursor makes the picture jump out with a box of information next to it.

For me this is a "visual search" using pictures to define/describe what I'm looking for. Will it replace my use of WorldCat or my local catalog?

Not likely in its present incarnation though it definitely is a visual search for those who think the cover helps describe the content.

How far is it?

The first question when planning a trip is followed by "how long will it take to get there"? The road maps distributed at Welcome Stations can help answer the first question but the second question is usually a guess. Travel time variables are like the weather- changing!

Once you get to your destination, the local Chamber usually has a local map that helps you figure out how to get around the community.

Comparing road maps can be a fun activity before a trip. Noting the new roads, being reminded of back roads that just might be quicker because they are less congested.

How can you get older local maps to be able to compare the changes in the area?

In GALILEO the Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps for Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922 consists of 4,445 maps by the Sanborn Map Company depicting commercial, industrial, and residential areas for 133 municipalities. There are maps for small towns that you might not find a map for today!

Go to the Sanborn maps, type in the city you're interested in and look at the number of maps that are retrieved. Searching for Americus retrieved 70 hits. The first four referred to Albany but then you see Americus from 1885.

Comparing maps is a lesson in urban growth.

You can get the password for home use of GALILEO from your Georgia librarian!

How do you remember?

Yesterday was a day of remembering and honoring those who died when we were attacked.
What did you do to remember 9/11?

I used the new search function in GALILEO Beta to pull up articles about 9/11. How nice to easily limit my search and to add Newspaper Source, Google, and Google Scholar.

What popped out is the way Google and Google Scholar display results - so random. The contrast with Academic Search Premier and Research Library might convince students that the subscription databases actually make it easier to find timely articles.

I noticed the Print Results, Save Results, and best of all E-mail Results at the top of the search results. I don't remember that from the "old" GALILEO. It could be I'm looking more closely because it's Beta. I like that I can e-mail the results to myself or my study group.

Go test out the Beta GALILEO scholar. It's a work in progress. The items available now are pretty impressive. When it rolls out as complete I think you'll be blown away!

The password for home use of GALILEO is available from your Georgia librarian.

E- books

You know you want to access a book, not just an article, on-line from home. How do you find an electronic book?

Karen Minton at GALILEO sent an e-mail noting : " E-Books Index, an OCLC FirstSearch database, has been added to GALILEO database menus.

E-Books Index includes records for more than 450,000 eBooks that have been cataloged by OCLC member libraries, including titles available from NetLibrary and other providers."

I did a search, limiting the results to NetLibrary because that's what NMTC has purchased and voila - I can open up the title right there. A third access point to the electronic book collection. The two other access points are NetLibrary and our catalog.

If you see a title you'd like to use but it's not part of our library collection - look for a print edition and order it through interlibrary loan or if you're willing to drive to the owning library's location and use their computers you can access the title online.

As the sayings go "all roads lead to Rome" or "there are many ways to skin a cat".


Get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

A dillar, a dollar, a ten o'clock scholar

That childrens rhyme ran through my head as I scrolled through the GALILEO Scholar Beta site and ran across the Google Scholar link. It's on the complete list for an individual search as well as the list of databases one can select to search.

I have heard that Google Scholar will pull up materials from proprietary databases (like those done by Ebsco and ProQuest) but you can't access the articles because you don't have access to the subscription. I wonder if because I'm going through GALILEO, I'll be able to get to the article...I doubt it because I'm not "in" GALILEO (no GALILEO banner)

Testing, testing....

I used the phrase "time warp trio" in Academic Search Complete by Ebsco and in Google Scholar. They pulled up very different items. Hmm..
Back arrowing out of Google Scholar returns me to GALILEO .

Handy to have.

Exploring

Have you tried the Beta version of GALILEO Academic?

When you log on to our portion of GALILEO Academic, there is a lovely bright orange link to the beta version.

Beta means - not finished yet, testing, trying it out, making sure everything works. The more complete GALILEO will go into production in December.

That gives us 3 months to play, explore, look carefully and let the folks at GALILEO know what we think.

They can't do everything we might wish but they can do a lot- if we just let them know what works well as we're searching for information.

When I got up this morning I did a little looking around. I like that the Search feature highlights the "Try These First" with the big boys Ebsco and ProQuest along with the Encyclopedia Britannica.

A little history : When Quick Search was implemented, folks complained that they couldn't limit the quick search to their favorite ProQuest or Ebsco databases from the home page (these two were prominently displayed as options on the home page pre Quick Search).

This new search feature seems to have answered that concern! See, they are listening.

Go and explore- if you find something you like- tell them. If you find something you wish were a bit different - tell them.

And no, I don't work for GALILEO but I do treasure it as a fantastic resource. Georgians have no idea how fortunate they are to have this available to them.

Get the current password for home use of GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Just like Christmas

Waiting, anticipating, wishing, waiting some more, will the day ever arrive? Some have been waiting for the "new" and "improved" GALILEO to be unveiled.


The wait is over. The scholar interface is here.Wow! The look is intuitive. The color is cool and crisp. I've only been able to play for a few minutes but so far so good.

Look at the search tab- the "Try These First" includes the Encyclopedia Britannica (which is todays spotlighted database). That's very helpful if you're not positive you know the basics about your topic. Going to the Encyclopedia can build your foundation of working knowledge.

Oh boy! I'm going to explore today! I hope you will too.

You will need the current password to use GALILEO at home. Ask your Georgia librarian for the password.

Art in the Park

It's time for Fall Festivals. Arts and crafts in the parks. Celebrations of a successful harvest.

The Digital Library of Georgia has a snapshot of Art in the community of Atlanta that can be accessed through GALILEO

"Community Art in Atlanta, 1977-1987: Jim Alexander's Photographs of the Neighborhood Arts Center from the Auburn Avenue Research Library consists of fifty-five documentary photographs of the Neighborhood Arts Center (1975-1989) that capture significant African American-centered cultural and community events in and around the Atlanta-based organization, a brainchild of the late mayor Maynard Jackson.

This body of images documents a visit to the Center from the legendary Romare Bearden, as well as Atlanta-area outreach projects, arts festivals, and social demonstrations that took place during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Taken by photographer, community activist, and Neighborhood Arts Center staff member Jim Alexander, these photographs demonstrate the Center's service commitment and its promotion of urban community arts."

There are links to the photos, art organizations, archives, and resources that highlight art in America.

Testing, testing, testing

The techy folks tell me that IP addresses mark a location. That IP address acts as a sign to other computers. That's how WorldCat recognizes when I'm searching from school (where WorldCat in GALILEO is accessible).

I tried to access the NetLibrary books from home through the public WorldCat and didn't succeed.

Fascinating how important that IP address is in identifying the computer and how seamless it is.

If you're at NMTC you can access the Request Items link in the public WorldCat. Off campus you'll need to use WorldCat through GALILEO to access that Interlibrary Loan request form.

Maybe?

At school I can use WorldCat to find an electronic book in the NMTC NetLibrary collection. The link goes directly to the title if the book is part of NMTC e-book collction.

I'll have to test this at home to see if it works off campus.

My guess is you'd need your NetLibrary login to access the book through WorldCat off campus. There is an instructional video for Creating a free account in NetLibrary.

WorldCat has such possibilities for making resources available through one catalog.

I'll be testing this at lunch.

How do they do that?

Yesterday, I was so excited about the public WorldCat having a Request Item link direct to NMTC from my MySpace and the blog . When I went home to admire the resource link- it wasn't there but it shows up at school.

How do they do that?

Reading History

George Eberhart notes his reading choices in the Britannica Blog article Reading Backwards Through History : The 1990's.

How would you select the event and then find a book to read? In GALILEO you can start with Encyclopedia Britannica's Timelines (there is no "history" tab though there are interesting lists for Architecture, Art, Sports, Science, etc). If you are looking for current events - try the Year in Review- those links go from 2006 to 1993

When you've found a topic, you can search through Book Index with Reviews limiting your search to non-fiction, adult.

Once you see a title that intrigues you, notice the WorldCat button. You can request the book by clicking on the link in World Cat - "Request Item" and completing the form. The title will be sent to the NMTC library for you to pick up. We'll e-mail you when we know it is coming and then send a second e-mail when the item arrives for your pick up.

What events highlight a year for you?
What book would you read to learn more about that event?

Use the tools in GALILEO to help make the choices.

You can get the current password for home use of GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

It really is coming!

I told you it was coming...Lauren Fancher from GALILEO e-mailed:

We are pleased to announce that beginning on Monday, September 10, 2007, GALILEO Scholar will be available for preview in beta via a link from the GALILEO production homepage. [Please note that access to the production system is not expected to be affected in any way other than the addition of the link on the homepage.]

Oh boy! Wait till you see it!

Well, you can take a peek at screen shots...

"More information about the new beta interfaces as well as screen shots of the prototype homepages is available at the GALILEO Upgrade Project
website:
http://www.usg.edu/galileo/about/planning/projects/upgrade/redesign.phtml "

I am excited about this upgrade. The folks at GALILEO do listen to their users.

Where did that information come from?

Teachers are regularly telling students to "cite their sources". Those who do family research (genealogy) are also reminded to cite their sources. Where did one find that birthdate or marriage date? The Genealogy blog Family Matters reminds their readers of the wonders of World Cat and its ability to create an MLA or APA citation for you.

--- The "free" World Cat does one thing - lets you know which library has the item you're looking for.

--- The subscription World Cat (available through GALILEO) does much more.

------you may request a book through interlibrary loan

------the Databases tab lets you search through three FirstSearch databases at once

"Free" is great when you only want to find who has the book but the "subscription" version allows you to do much more.

The password for home use of GALILEO is available from your Georgia Librarian.

On a Claire Day

No, this is not a play on the song title "On a Clear Day" though the comic strip authors may have had that thought.

The comic strip in the Atlanta Journal Constitution has been focusing on libraries the past few weeks. If you missed it in the newspaper- you can read the series on line- start with the week of August 19th.

You can create an RSS feed for this comic strip. Create your own "funnies".

All work and no play

...yes, all work and no play does make someone dull.

Refocus, rejuvenate, reinvigorate on Labor Day as you remember those who made it possible for you to get paid for taking a holiday.

Read the history of Labor Day in Encyclopedia Britannica.

EB is a available through GALILEO.

Who said it first?

This morning I heard NPR share a story about warm gasoline expanding and filling the tank with vapor not fuel.

I went hunting on LexisNexis to find the transcript. Transcripts used to be available within 6 hours. I'm having troubles finding the current days NPR transcripts in the "new" LexisNexis.

The transcript is pending through NPR.Org. You can listen to the story right now.

Where else in GALILEO might the transcript be located?

I did a Quick Search and interestingly - two articles came up in Academic Search Premier:

15 Dec 2006 Suit Challenges Warm Gasoline from the New York Times

5 Jul 2007 Motorists steamed over 'hot fuel' losses in warm weather sue ... from USA Today

Fascinating- look at those dates..... but I never did find todays transcript.

You can get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

Preview

I like previews! Here's one for you...

The "Catalogue of the Trustees, Officers, Alumni and Matriculates of the University of Georgia at Athens, Georgia, 1785-1906" site, a new resource from the Digital Library of Georgia has been added to the GALILEO demo system and is available for your preview.

An announcement describing the resource from the Digital Library of Georgia is below.

Digital Library of Georgia is pleased to announce its newest Web resource: Catalogue of the Trustees, Officers, Alumni and Matriculates of the University of Georgia at Athens, Georgia, 1785-1906.

As early as 1853 the University of Georgia started issuing a listing of faculty, officers and graduates, entirely printed in Latin. The work was periodically reissued with more recent graduates being added. By the time the last issue appeared in 1906, the Catalogue of the Trustees, Officers, Alumni and Matriculates was being published in convenient English and had accumulated a wealth of biographical information about the men associated with more than 100 years of the institution’s history.

The 1906 Catalogue complements the Centennial Alumni Catalog of 1901. The 1906 publication includes more individuals, while the 1901 offers greater detail about those listed.

The 1906 University Catalogue site is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia in association with the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

The catalogue is available in both PDF and DjVu versions.

Visual representation

Can you see it? Can you picture it in your head? Words create pictures- mention a barn and I see a big red building that houses farm animals. What do you see if someone mentions a barn?

Ebsco Images is a database just for pictures, images, visual representations.

I did a search for barn. Pictures of barn owls, authors signing at Barnes & Noble, and finally a red barn.

There are still photos from television shows, movies, newspapers! Search and see if you can find a picture that matches the image you create in your mind when you hear a word.

The password to use GALILEO at home is available from your Georgia librarian.

Ah, the smell of fresh brewed coffee

What envelopes me when I walk into Starbucks is the smell. Delightful, fresh, full of promise. Followed by the cheery smiles of the people. Cartersville has a new Starbucks on Main Street with a grand view of the hills. It is a delightful place to read, think and enjoy- but this isn't an ad for Starbucks.

We have acquired "The Starbucks Experience : 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary" (HD9199 .U54 S736 2007) by Joseph A. Michelli. Mr. Michelli "discovered that the success of Starbucks is driven by the people - the "partners" - who work there".

The key to success in any venture is the people. Read the principles- see if you could or would apply them to your enterprise.

What a web we weave

No, I'm not going for the Sir Walter Scott quote

"Oh what a tangled web we weave
when first we practice to deceive."

The internet can be a place of entanglements designed by some to deceive us. I plug the resources available through GALILEO as reliable and authentic resources.

As wonderful as GALILEO can be, it isn't perceived to be as easy as Google (but just wait till the new interface is rolled out).

At the Britannica Blog : Where Ideas Matter, Untangling the Web : a Student Guide to the Internet, by Michael Ross - August 28th, 2007 notes resources that might be useful to bookmark (or place in your del.icio.us account).

Mr. Ross says "One thing I’d suggest to parents is that they subscribe to a recognized general-reference service like Britannica.com and supplement it with free sites by respected organizations, such as NASA, the Smithsonian, and the Library of Congress. Information from major publishers and government agencies is usually reliable."

NMTC users have access to Britannica.com through- yes, through GALILEO.

Untangle the web by using reliable resources.

Career and Technical Education

What can you say about careers and technical education?

Career and Technical Education, a ProQuest database in GALILEO notes that it "contains over 400 titles, all in full text and many in full image, which contain the charts, diagrams, graphs, tables, photos, and other graphics originally published with the text.

Subjects include automobile, electronic, and computer technology; the building trades; graphic arts; medicine, nursing, and pharmacy; child care; food service and hotel management; office skills; veterinary technology; retail work; public safety; and other practical studies. "

The variety of publications is intriguing but the Technical College System of Georgia teaches an intriguing variety of courses.

Our programs run the gamut from Cosmetology to Radiologic Technology! The NMTC message is "Education That Works". With a degree, diploma, or certificate from NMTC, you will be able to get a job!

Looks like you can say quite a bit about Career and Technical Education!

The current password to use GALILEO at home is available from your Georgia librarian.

It's coming

I must admit excitement is in the air as I anticipate the upgraded GALILEO roll out. A new look for GALILEO will be coming this fall. I can hardly wait!

Passwords will be changing the end of September. You get the current password to GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Something new for VCM

New materials are beginning to arrive. We do have a New Materials link in our catalog.

This 2007 title struck me as pertinent - Communicating Design : Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan M. Brown.

I just attended a day long workshop on assessing and evaluating web sites. This book notes the first step in creating a good web site is to communicate exactly what one can deliver to the client!

Knowing in your head what you can do and then describing that to the client can sometimes create a huge problem. English being what it is- my use of a word and your understanding of the word may not be the same.

Dan M. Brown divides the book into three sections : User Needs Documents, Strategy Documents, and Design Documents. My skimming of the book sent "ah ha's" running through my brain as I turned the pages.

Come see what else we have that might help you design and deliver a great web site!

It's getting dark out there

Early on the 28th there will be a lunar eclipse - read the article by Joe Rao, Skywatching columnist for MSNBC:

"Tuesday morning, Aug. 28 brings us the second total lunar eclipse of 2007. Those living in the Western Hemisphere and eastern Asia will be able to partake in at least some of this sky show." ......

click here for the rest of the story (with graphs)

Then get up early and watch it happen!

Business, business, business

What is happening in the business world? ABI/Inform Dateline has articles on regional and national businesses. Lots of articles on business.

When you're searching do you ever have a spell of writers block? You have car in mind and forget to use automobile or transportation. There you are searching using the same term and getting the same results. You know there has to be a better way.

Some databases have a thesaurus that offers you options. GALILEO's Quick Search has a Thesaurus. The thesaurus can jog your thinking so the correct search term pops right up and you have succeeded in finding the appropriate article.

ABI/Inform Dateline Proquest offers a Topic tab that can assist you in narrowing or expanding your search.

ProQuest describes Topic Guide through the About link:

"The ProQuest Topic Guide lets you find documents by searching an index, or by exploring a hierarchical subject directory. Indexed topics may include subjects, companies, people, and locations.

Enter a term and select whether you want ProQuest to Suggest Topics or Look up Topics A-Z, then click Find Term. Or, click browse subjects by topic to view the Subject Directory.

Once you have found a topic, click View documents to run a search using the topic.

Or click Narrow below the desired topic to narrow the search using related terms. From the narrowed list, find a term you want to use and click View. "

Go searching and when you have that lapse of memory- use Topic Search or the thesaurus to get a jump start in searching. Words do matter!

How often do you check it?

OK- you do check your e-mails at least once a day. If you didn't it would just become overwhelming and depressing.

You’d like to read a book but who has time to go to the library, find a book, check it out, read it quickly so you can return it on time…..

Here is a solution… DailyLit

These folks have gathered the classics (no best sellers but you did want to read Mark Twain anyway) and they will send you 1 e-mail a day with readable chunks of the book. They have divided the titles into categories including Mysteries!

How cool is that? A treat for getting through your e-mails.

And I didn't even mention GALILEO where you can get to NetLibrary and read more current titles on line.

Thanks to the Librarian in Black for noting this! I read her musings through my RSS feeder.

How do you say that?

Ebsco offers a separate interface for Spanish.
Gale offers a separate interface for Spanish.

In both cases you select either the English or Spanish interface and begin your search.

ProQuest offers the option to change the interface language within the database (upper right corner of the screen). This allows you to change the language of the interface without closing out and going to another database. ProQuest offers more than Spanish as an interface language. It is very interesting to see the Chinese characters displayed across the screen.

Comparing and contrasting shows that one database doesn't do everything. You need to pick and choose the right resource for your search style and information need.

Fortunately we have a variety of resources available through GALILEO.

The current password for home use is available from your Georgia librarian.

Compare and contrast

Comparing and contrasting is a favorite task for teachers to assign. It helps the teacher know that the student really understands the concepts.

I just wrote about Gale Groups RSS in Informe and I've written about Ebsco's RSS feeds. Who else offers RSS as part of their product?

ProQuest offers alerts via e-mail but they haven't added RSS (yet).

LexisNexis lets you e-mail your search but it doesn't seem to provide alerts for new information added to the database. No RSS feeds.

LION offers a "What's New" in LION RSS feed. When I did a search I didn't see a place to create a feed for that particular search.

I have found RSS feeds to be very helpful. It puts all my searches in one place.

These databases are available through GALILEO. The password to use GALILEO from home is available from your Georgia librarian.

Feeding time

I read on another blog that Gale Group (an information vendor) offers RSS feeds. We already know that Ebsco provides RSS feeds as well as e-mail alerts.

Through GALILEO we have access to Informe which is a Gale product. Yes, you can create an RSS feed easily - you can even create an e-mail alert and an RSS feed from the same form page. That is convenient.

Informe is described by GALILEO as "a database of 46 full-text, Spanish-language and bilingual magazines. It includes popular publications such as Actual, Latina, and ¡Siempre! as well as the full text of El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language newspaper from Miami, Florida, as well as the Spanish editions for Newsweek, Time, People, and PC Magazine. This database covers topics such as lifestyle, cultural and entertainment issues; health, family, and parenting; as well as current events and politics."

Informe has two interfaces, one in English and one in Spanish.

The articles are in the language they were originally published. The Spanish interface will pull up articles written in English and the English interface will pull up articles in Spanish. You can practice your language skills with the different interfaces.

You may get the current password to access GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Something new

MagillOn Literature Plus has been added to the NMTC portion of GALILEO.

Ebsco notes "MagillOnLiterature Plus is the definitive online source for editorially reviewed critical analyses and brief plot summaries of the most studied works in the history of literature. This database, which is compiled by Salem Press, contains all of Masterplots and Masterplots II, Cyclopedia of World Authors, Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, and Magill's Literary Annual."

Yes, Masterplots - I remember using those resources. Nice, very nice to have right at my fingertips 24/7 through GALILEO.

It will be very helpful for our English Literature classes.

You get the current password for GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Visual Boolean

Reading Merryll's comment about Visual Search in Ebsco, I had an "ah ha" moment.

Visual Search seems to works like a Boolean search in limiting (and then organizing) your results with a picture (squares and circles). I checked out Grokker, too. It is intriguing.

It begins to makes sense and I can see how it would be helpful if you weren't exactly sure where you wanted to go and what might be available.

Merryll sent a link to Oklahoma State as another example of a visual search.

Reminds me of the PennTags by the University of Pennsylvania social bookmarking site.

A picture can be worth a thousand words.

FYI - Merryl is GALILEO's Merryll S. Penson, Executive Director, Library Services, Office of Information and Instructional Technology, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Thank you for reading and commenting.

Different ways to search

Ebsco offers a graphical way to display a search through their databases. They call it Visual Search.

After a demo yesterday, I'm not sure how it would be helpful to me - but someone must think it helps. Here's an Ebsco tutorial that might make it clear to you what their graphical search results mean.

You can access Ebsco databases through GALILEO. The current password for home use is available through your Georgia librarian.

And the wind blows

Search hints- I used the word hurricane in GALILEO Quick Search and didn't come up with anything useful. When I switched to hurricane Dean articles were found that gave me information of interest. ProQuest Newspapers had 35 articles this morning on Hurricane Dean.

If I want up to date facts on the weather then I'd go to the Weather Channel.

Knowing who has the information you need is the best way to start searching.

Get Advised

Can you believe it is time for Fall Quarter Advisement? The Summer Quarter isn't done yet!

Do make an appointment and get advised this week- find out what will be the best courses for you to take to finish your program quickly.

Early registration for Fall Quarter begins next week.

There is no time

The Media keep telling us to eat less and excercise more. The game machine Wii is being touted in the Sept/Oct AARP magazine as a way for older adults to get more excercise. According to The News Market the Wii was demonstrated at a recent AARP gathering and received glowing comments.

What if your job requires you to sit at a computer for hours at a time? How do you get excercise during your work day?

You can walk to ask a question rather than send an e-mail.
You can climb the stairs rather than take the elevator.

What else can you do? At DIYLife Dan Chilton notes several web sites that offer suggestions for ways to get moving and tone muscles while sitting at a desk.

And of course in GALILEO there is Consumer Health Complete an Ebsco database (with pictures as entry points for books). Use excercise as the search term, look at the tabs across the top - there is a tab for video and animation! With an RSS feed.

This is a much friendlier Ebsco interface.


Get the current password to GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Comings and goings

Every day someone is born and someone dies. Reading the obituaries notes the passings. How do you find birthdays? Google helps - type in birthdays and the date- several sites come up with links to the persons born on that date.

GALILEO isn't Google but doing a quick search with birthdays August 16 in the General search did turn up an interesting list of articles about the birthdays of famous people. The bulk of the articles are from LexisNexis.

I then tried LION, NoveList, Book Index with Reviews, and Encyclopedia Britannica to pull up a list of August 16 birthdays- no luck.

Knowing who will have the information you need is half the battle in research.

Who thought this would work?

At an Introduction to Usability Testing workshop this web site was shown for examples of - well- just someone not thinking how the item would be used.

I never thought about the human factor in design but it is very important. GALILEO's Quick Search limiting the search to Science and Technology using the phrase human factor design, turned up some interesting articles on the human factor in design.

"The Doh! Effect" (Industrial Engineer: IE; Sep 2005, Vol. 37 Issue 9, p26-26, 1p) discusses how common sense failed in terms of human factors design.

GALILEO has more articles in the various databases than you could possibly read! Get the current password from your Georgia librarian and start reading.

Organization

My favorite hint on keeping organized is "Just say no". From Zen Habits the list of 27 ways to keep your life organized. Very helpful.

I knew a person who used 3x5 cards - one task per card. Kept the cards in their pocket- could pull them out to make notes on a card as something was done, shuffle the cards to see what could be done quickly, never needed batteries. Could file the cards in a file box to keep track of individual tasks and their history of accomplishment!

A Quick Search in GALILEO for "personal organization" (used quotes to keep it a phrase) pulled up a few articles. Scrolling through the list the one on Closet Makeovers in Research Library struck a nerve. There's a place to make life easier, organize the closet!

And then the article on using empty cereal boxes to organize paperwork......

Getting organized does make life much less stressful.

What goes up....

...must come down

or so says the common proverb based on our experiences. Nothing goes up forever.

The Stock Market has gone up and up- it comes down a bit but goes up again. Could it be the Stock Market is the one activity that proves the rule? Something can just keep going up?

Business Source Complete : Business Searching Interface (powered by EbscoHost) is described by GALILEO as a database that "provides full text for over 2,345 journals covering all aspect of business.

In the advanced search interface, quick access is available to company profiles, country reports, industry profiles, market research reports, SWOT analyses, and articles.

In addition to full text articles, this database offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 2,440 journals.

Business Source Complete contains popular business publications such as Business Week, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and hundreds of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals."

The Basic Search offers links directly to Company Profiles (Datamonitor Report), Country Reports, Market Research Reports (RSS feeds), and Industry Profiles (RSS feeds).

I am very fond of RSS feeds. They are a super aid for keeping up with information changes.


Get the current password to access GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

Oh what Fun!

There is a new to me link on GALILEO for Book Collection : Non-Fiction by Ebsco.

The description by GALILEO tells us that "Book Collection : Non-Fiction is a cross-curricular research database that contains abstracts and searchable full text for more than 3,800 popular nonfiction books for youth on core subject areas, as well as information on careers, health, sports, adventure, technology, life skills, and more. It provides content representing a wide spectrum of works, including popular series from top book publishers such as Allosaurus Publishers, Bess Press, Inc., Branden Publishing, Capstone Press, Compass Point Books, Fulcrum Publishing, Lerner Publishing Group, Mason Crest Publishers, Morgan Reynolds, Inc., Morning Glory Press, Oliver Press, Rourke Publishing, LLC and Stackpole Books. "

Notice it says youth but what does that mean?

You already know I think the basic Ebsco interface is boring and this is the basic Ebsco interface- you don't have to learn anything new.

Yet, there is a different link noted for Books (instead of Publications). What is very intriguing is there is an RSS feed link next to each title.

You could do the RSS feed to your aggregator and read a bit of the book each time you check your aggregator! It puts your reading where you'll see it most!

That is so helpful.

Hints on using the Book Collection- it is not NetLibrary.

Each book is broken into chapters or sections with the chapters or sections being treated as an article in the book.

Find the book you're interested in - the Book Link has them alphabetized by title. You can search by keyword or subject or author.

Click on the title- a bibliographic card appears- telling you about the book. On the right is an All Issues link that you click - similar to searching for a magazine title in the publication link in the other Ebsco products with a link to the issues.

Click on the year and the sections appear. I've noticed some books are more complete than others- you might get only one section of the book.

There is a dictionary link- not as handy as NetLibrary because you need to leave the book, go to Dictionary then do another search to find the book again. NetLibrary has the dictionary in the same screen as the book.

A compare and contrast with NetLibrary might leave the Book Collection wanting but it does have that RSS feed. That is very intriguing!

What is art?

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.
::: Scott Adams ::: Art Quotes


Arts of the United States is described by GALILEO as "a joint project between the Lamar Dodd Art School, University of Georgia and the University of Georgia and Yale University Libraries, contains over 4000 images of works important to the study of the history of art in the United States. The pieces, dating from the 17th century through the 20th, include architecture, decorative arts, painting, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, and stage and costume design as well as Native American art and artifacts. Although the majority of artists represented in the database are American, significant works created by non-native artists while in the United States are included."

Look and see what is thought of as art!

You know where to get the password for home use of this database.....

700th post

Who would have thought there would be 700 things to say about the View from the Library?

Yet, here we are with our 700th posting with something new about searching in the First Search databases.

There are 9 First Search products in the NMTC portion of GALILEO:
1. ArticleFirst (magazines/journals)
2. ClasePeriodica (CLASE and PERIÓDICA)
3. GPO Monthly Catalog (U.S. government publications)
4. MEDLINE (medical and health sciences) (at FirstSearch)
5. PapersFirst (conference papers)
6. ProceedingsFirst (conference proceedings)
7. World Almanacs Full text of multiple editions including The World Almanac for Kids.
8. WorldCat Catalog of books and other materials held by libraries worldwide.
9. WorldCat Dissertations and Theses Catalog of disserations and theses indexed within the WorldCat database

Most of us don't want to go from database to database which is why GALILEO created the Quick Search box that will search through multiple databases.

First Search offers something similar:

• Open up any of the First Search products
• Select the tab Databases
• Click on up to three (it will only do three at a time) databases
• Select
• Enter your search term(s)
• The results will be in a tab for each database allowing you to go from place to place within the First Search product you selected

That was our 700th post!

Ch - Ch - Ch - Changes

From GALILEO.....

On Friday, August 10th, the following databases will be replaced on GALILEO menus:

Academic Search Premier
Business Source Premier
Business Source Premier Enhanced
Health Source Consumer Edition
Revistas de comercio (Spanish interface to Business Source Premier) Revistas de Investigacion (Spanish interface to Academic Search Premier)
Salud: Informacion para los Consumidores (Spanish interface to Health Source Consumer Edition)

These databases are replaced by these new databases:

Academic Search Complete
Business Source Complete
Business Source Complete: Business Searching Interface Consumer Health Complete

GALILEO announcements and status updates are available at: http://www.usg.edu/galileo/status/

All Roads Lead to Rome

"All paths or activities lead to the center of things. This was literally true in the days of the Roman Empire, when all the empire’s roads radiated out from the capital city, Rome." from Bartleby.com

How many ways can you access your library resources? Are there multiple paths to the information you seek?

Electronic full text books for North Metro can be accessed through our card catalog, through GALILEO jump to NetLibrary, through NetLibrary direct and now through World Cat in GALILEO!

You may search World Cat for a title that meets your information needs. If it is an electronic book in our collection- a note that the title is Full Text and a link directly to the book will be evident.

Many links do lead to the resources of the library!


Your Georgia librarian can give you the current password to use GALILEO at home.

Self serve

Do you like to do it yourself?

At the GOLD/GALILEO conference last Friday, there was a presentation on customizing WorldCat.

One of the customizations allows the user (you) to request materials from other libraries.

As you search for a title, you see what you would like to read. Before this customization, you'd have to print out that record or write down the information and contact your librarian to order the book. With this direct link you send a request right from WorldCat.

The item(s) will be delivered to NMTC (if the owning library is willing to loan it- sometimes they aren’t- material might be too new or out or lost or so very rare that they don’t let it out of their sight but if they are willing and can loan it they will send it to us….) We'll contact you to let you know if it's coming and contact you again when it arrives.

You access NMTC's link to WorldCat through GALILEO. Each library can customize their view of World Cat- not everyone has opened the direct link to borrowing.

Keeping up

It feels like a tsunami of information is barrelling down upon us. How does one keep track of their favorites without clicking on each site, every day? Yes, some sites have an RSS feed but what if they don't? Yesterday I noted the Librarian in Black's suggestion of Feedity.

Today let me share sites suggested by another librarian in Georgia:

Change Notes and Page Change deliver results via email.

Page 2 RSS delivers results to your aggregator like Feedity

The school year begins and now is the time to utilize resources to make information gathering easier! Pick the resource that suits your style using either your e-mail or an aggregator.

Everybody wants to be a News Director

• Do you check several news sites to get the latest stories?
• Do you check several blogs to read what they have to say?
• Do you create a Google search for the same topic several times a week? ( you can create an RSS feed for a Google search!)
• Do you feel overwhelmed checking all these sites?

What can you do? Common Craft has created a video, RSS in Plain English that explains in simple language (with pictures) what RSS is and why it might be helpful. (I blogged about this in mid-May)

But some web sites don't have an RSS feeder......so now what?
Just go back and keep checking the site in case the author puts up something new? Who has that kind of time?

Feedity was mentioned by the Librarian In Black as a tool to create RSS feeds for web sites that don't have the little orange block!

MySpace doesn't allow RSS feeds (or I haven't figured out how to add one) but you can create a Feedity link and VOILA- automatic RSS feed- if the profile changes....you get a message at your Feed Reader.

Be your own publisher- gather news stories and information that you want from sites you'd normally go to anyway by creating a Feed Reader of your own.

Desperate Librarians

There is a list serve for School Librarians, LM_NET, that has over 10,000 subscribers!

School is about to start in many parts of the country. School Librarians are checking out different ways to start the new school year with a flourish.

This suggestion by author Judy Freeman can be used by GALILEO users (you get the current password for home use from your Georgia librarian):

"I can't believe how fast the summer is zooming by. For those of you back to work already and those getting ready, here's directions to an article I did for NoveList in June, with lots of picture book ideas to do with all ages, K-6, and lots of back-to-school ideas."

On NoveList's homepage, click on the School Resources tab, top right.
Under "Teaching with Fiction" click on Preschool and Elementary articles
Click on Archives (link in middle of first paragraph)
Scroll down, past my article "Book Performance Art" which also has good ideas, to "Desperate Librarians . . .or, When You Need a Few Good Ideas.

Whew. You made it! I hope you'll find some good, practical ideas there.
I'm working on another Desperate Librarians article that will be up in late September or so.

Good luck with the new year.

Judy Freeman
Children's Literature Consultant
"Wild About Books" columnist
School Library Media Activities Monthly
Author of Books Kids Will Sit Still For 3
(Libraries Unlimited, 2006)
and Once Upon a Time!:
Using Storytelling, Creative Drama, and
Reader's Theater with Children in Grades K-6 (2007)
65 North Sixth Avenue
Highland Park, NJ 08904
/ BKWSSF@aol.com
http://www.JudyReadsBooks.com

Home Schools and parents wanting a bit extra for their child might find these suggestions helpful for extending the appreciation of a good book.

Keep Learning

One never stops learning. Some of us attend formal events where new information (to us) is presented. Today is one of those days for librarians in Georgia. Many of us will be attending GOLD/GALILEO in Athens. Read the descriptions of the presentations- lots of discussion about Web 2.0 and reaching the distant patron with resources.

Where are we?

Maps are such useful tools.

• They help us figure out where we are in relation to another place.
• They note distances.
• Comparing an old map with a new map provides assorted "ah HA" moments as you see where growth has occured.
• The naming of places (roads, towns, subdivisions) becomes a memorial to people and families that were important to the area.

Maps tell a story.

The University of Georgia has a map collection at their Map Library. Some of the maps are on-line

GALILEO has a link to the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Georgia.

What has happened to your part of Georgia in the past 100 years? Who is remembered by the names of the roads, bridges, and places?

I wish there was a book in dictionary form that gave a brief biography of the people that a bridge or road was named for- now there's a doctoral project!

Lies, damn lies and statistics

Being the first of the month, the librarian compiles statistics to show use of various resources both print, electronic, and physical (the rooms and computers). What do numbers tell us? Is more really better?

A Quick Search in GALILEO using the word statistics pulled up an interesting array of articles.

MasterFile Premier's (Ebsco) list of 125744 articles started with two articles from the Journal of Economic & Social Measurement but followed up with two articles from World Almanac For Kids!

Research Library (ProQuest) pulled up 155598 and put two articles from Computers & Operations Research first!

What do the numbers tell us? There's a lot of writing going on about statistics. Numbers sometimes tell a very clear story but then again sometimes the numbers are just numbers.

Ask your Georgia Librarian for the password to use GALILEO at home.

A picture is worth what?

Topic Search, an Ebsco product, pulls together articles about current events. They don't list the publications used. They offer a link to - images. You can search for an image, copy and paste, get the citation, snazz up your report or presentation with current photos of persons or places of interest. Citing your source is very important- stealing a picture (using a picture without permission or acknowledgment) is a violation of copyright law.

There is a link to images in other Ebsco products! See if the picture tells you more than the text of an article.

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

New Look!

North Metro Technical College has a new look on-line. Wander around and make sure to look at the Library portion.

Is it a real savings?

The annual Georgia Sales Tax Holiday for Back-to-School shopping is this weekend! Are you thinking of buying a computer? Do you want expert opinions on what is the best buy? Do you wish you had Consumer Reports at your fingertips?

You do have Consumer Reports at your fingertips!

Go to GALILEO and do an advanced search in Academic Search Premier , an Ebsco database.

Academic Search Premier
....Advanced Search
.......type in your subject
.......fill in the Publication Search box with Consumer Reports
Voila- articles from Consumer Reports! You won't see the issues from the last three months but the 2007 Buying Guide is available.
To use GALILEO at home, ask for the current password from your Georgia librarian.

Now what?

Have you been to the doctor and heard something surprising? Where do you go for clear, easy to understand medical information?

In GALILEO there is a tab for Medicine & Health. There are a number of resources aimed to the professional and at the consumer.

The consumer sites are a bit easier to understand- one site is Consumer Health Complete. It is powered by Ebsco but it's not the traditional green and blue Ebsco layout. It is pleasing to the eye and seems easy to navigate for a person who wants specific information about something the doctor said.

The Quick Find terms are in "people" language but they do link to more "professional" terms. There is a Medical Dictionary link.

If you have a question or a concern about a medical issue- check out GALILEO for comprehensive medical information that you can understand.

To use GALILEO at home ask your Georgia Librarian for the current password!

Pretty is as Pretty does!

In the NMTC portion of GALILEO there are two links to Agricola information. The Ebsco version and the USDA : National Agricultural Library version.

Both are an access point to the index of materials, neither offer the full text.

But to my eyes the USDA site is "prettier". Does beauty matter when doing research? It's the information that counts. It takes time and effort (and money) to create a "pretty" web site or database. You have an option on the NMTC GALILEO portion- try them both- see which one you prefer.

Get the password for home use of GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

And now what?

You finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - what do you read next?

NoveList (an Ebsco product) in GALILEO offers a Find Similar Books link.

Search for the title, click on the title so you see the full page description, under the book cover is a blue/purple button. You can limit your next search to adult titles or childrens titles. The New York Times classifies Harry Potter as a children's book but I know as many adults reading the series as children.

Interesting what NoveList suggests. It does give one some ideas of other authors that just might have a great story to tell!

You get the current password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia Librarian.

Links and more links

Added the NMTC Librarian MySpace to the links in GALILEO and on del.icio.us.

Trying to get information out to users by linking everywhere. A circle of information!

Hall monitor

It's Day 5 of the Quarter. I'm doing SCT 100 classes to talk about GALILEO


I finished HP7 in 11 hours on Saturday - whew - it's easy to read, story moves right along. No spoiler here. Go read and enjoy!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Words have power

We do seem to be slipping back to a pictograph style of information sharing- the ubiquitous icon that tells us what to click.

Yet, there are games that don't use high powered graphics to entice and intrigue gamers. Interactive Fiction was the first gamers gig and it still exists. Here's a bit of history by snakemeister:

"There was a time, before personal computers became capable of producing anything worth the moniker of ‘graphics,’ when text was king. ‘Text Adventure Games,’ ‘Text Games,’ ‘Adventure Games’ and occasionally, ‘Graphic Adventure Games,’ are all terms used to describe a genre of computer games which relied on nothing more than a textual description of the player’s location, and a text prompt allowing the player to control which actions their avatar performed. Today, the genre is known as ‘Interactive Fiction’ or IF, and if you’re sitting comfortably, I’d like to give you a quick look at its history."

You can read it all right here. Then go explore the text games he suggests. Words do have power- be your own graphics designer by creating the pictures in your head!

Do you want to know?

GALILEO offers a search box called Quick Search . Quick Search wings through several databases at once. You link directly to the article.

Voila - search, retrieve, read, use.

O'Reilly Radar notes the introduction of Science Direct-ly into Google. The Elsevier product Science Direct is being indexed by Google Scholar.

You can't access the articles unless your institution subscribes to the Elsevier product.

Reminds me of the prescription medicine commercials - the advertisers hope you'll go tell the doctor what you need.

After using Google Scholar will you go tell your librarian you "need" Elseviers product?

An impression is made

Dr. Haim Ginott said “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” I think he meant ideas, activities, songs, words, actions not sticks or bricks.

Taking the concept that ideas, activities, songs and words do make an impression on a child like a solid object falling on wet cement - try out Britannica's Learning Zone.

It has been available to Public Library users of GALILEO in Georgia.

Today it is available to DTAE users of GALILEO.

This is great for our Early Childhood Education program. Those students now have a chance to explore this resource while studying about Human Growth and Development.

The description in GALILEO tells a lot....Britannica Learning Zone is designed specifically for young learners. Students will find engaging and developmentally-appropriate activities including an interactive atlas, learning games, engaging audio and video, and effective vocabulary builders. The Britannica Learning Zone teaches concepts such as geography, time, shapes, numbers, and reinforces relevant vocabulary, all in a fun and safe online environment. There is also an area where students can demonstrate their creativity and practice what they've learned.


You get the current password to use GALILEO from home from your Georgia Librarian.

Are you happy at work?

Sometimes reading about another line of work makes one feel quite content with their current line of work. Read the professional magazines for an assortment of jobs to get a taste of the other side of a job.

Vocational & Career Collection an Ebsco database "provides full-text coverage for 400 trade and industry related periodicals including American Machinist, Contemporary Longterm Care, Pediatric Nursing, Wireless Week, Drug Store News, Video Business, Reeves Journal, Hotel and Motel Management, Restaurant Business, Advertising Age, and many more. In addition to the full text, indexing and abstracts are provided for 650 journals. The majority of full-text titles are available in native (searchable) PDF, or scanned-in-color. Full-text content in this database dates as far back as 1985."


You get the current password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian!

Summer Blockbusters

Harry Potter opens today - you can read reviews by going to Advanced search in either ProQuest or Ebsco and limiting your search to movie reviews. You can also check LexisNexis for NPR transcripts- you know someone has something to say about the movie!

But what if you missed the last summer blockbuster? What if you'd like a Cliff Notes version of a popular movie just to have something to nod wisely about during casual conversation.....check out the 30 Second Bunnies Theatre by Starz. It's amazing how they can animate and tell the story in 30 seconds!

Slapstick comedy

Ancestry Library Edition is only available at your Georgia library (Public or DTAE).

Heritage Quest, another genealogy database, is available to use at home through the public library in Georgia. Heritage Quest has the census, PERSI, books, and How To Articles. You will need to get the current password for your public library in Georgia to use Heritage Quest at home.

Before you go searching the census, take a walk down memory lane and watch this clip from a Three Stooges movie! It did bring a smile. I doubt the census takers behaved quite like Curly and Moe!