Break is over, Quarter begins

It has been very, very busy at the North Metro campus of Chattahoochee Terchnical College as students arrive to begin the Winter Quarter. There have been a few technical glitches which the library staff have worked around to help students figure out where they needed to be and when...

New materials are arriving! We'll share what they are in the next few days.


-kls

Who lived there?

Carolyn L. Barkley notes:

"I have written on several occasions about the exhilaration of moving beyond names and dates and adding detail about the lives of our ancestors. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to put their feet on the ground in a specific place and time. A significant resource in that effort can be found in Sanborn fire insurance maps."... here's the rest of the article

If you are traveling to visit family this holiday season, it seems appropriate to share the two resources available through GALILEO that can help you find the information to flesh out the story about the family home.

The two resources are the Georgia Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and the US census in Ancestry Library Edition.

Go to GALILEO
Select Databases A-Z
....A for Ancestry Library Edition which is only available for use at the public library
.......Select census collection, US census.
.......It's not easy to search by location but once you have the township you can browse through the list. It's easier to find a person in the census than a house.
....S for Sanborn Fire Insurance or go directly to the Digital Library of Georgia (no password needed).
........It's easier to find the house than a name in the Sanborn collection.

You'll need to use your detective skills to figure out how to find the people in one source and find the house in the other. And let me know how you do it!

Happy holidays.... see you in January.

-kls

It's the busiest day

The news reports are noting how busy the post office, Fed Ex, and UPS will be in helping move presents around the country! We are a generous group of folks who live too far apart.

I wondered where I might statistics on the mail. Yes, I could do a Google search but, well, I'm fond of starting in GALILEO. I know the stats probably won't be in Academic Search Complete or Research Library. They are great resources for articles but not for statistics.

I clicked on Databases A-Z, searched for 'statistics". 16 databases came up. I scrolled through and I'm not sure any of them are just right but I'll try World Data Analyst. I selected United States from the list of countries. A seven page pdf file was revealed with all sorts of statistics on the United States - the most current seem to be from 2006. None have anything to do with the post office or Fed Ex or UPS.

Still thinking- where else might these numbers be? I went back to Databases A-Z, selected all database and just 'browsed' through the list till I came upon the Feds sites USA.gov. This is not a proprietary site. I could have found it through Google but - it's nice it's in GALILEO(our virtual library). A search for postal statistics pulled up an assortment of pdf files that show use per quarter. 2009 is listed!

-kls

Festival of Lights

At sundown Jews begin celebrating the Festival of Lights that we also know as Chanukah or Hanukkah. I wanted to find information that I could rely on - not just any old web site freely accessed on the web. I went to GALILEO and did something a bit different - because sometimes one wants to narrow the search for information by using "off the beaten path" databases!

I selected the search tab
..typed in my search term
....left full text and peer reviewed unclicked
....did not change the years
Unclicked Academic Search Complete and Research Library (yes, these are the big boys but I wanted to try something a bit different)...
Then selected Show more databases
Scrolled down and clicked on Encyclopedia Britannica, the Religion database, and World History

I searched this group three times. I used Chanukah, Hanukkah, and Festival of Lights.

Using the word Chanukah turned up 1 article in EB, 1 in World History and a few more in the Religion database.

Hanukkah resulted in 14 EB, 2 World Historyand 32 in Religion.

Changing the search term to Festival of Lights brought up 32 in EB, 6 in Religion and 5 in World History.

Fascinating what a difference a word makes in the search. Get off the beaten path- explore different databases using the search tab and the Show more databases option!

-kls

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

Just browsing

When a sales clerk asks if I need help in a store, I regularly respond with "I'm just browsing". Patrons in the library respond the same way when I ask if they are finding what they need on the shelves -"just browsing, thanks".

ABI Inform (a Proquest resource) has a Browse tab (fourth tab from the left) for those who don't know exactly what they want but are looking to see what's available. Most ProQuest resources do not have this feature.

What does Browse do for you that a regular search does not? ABI Inform has noted specific topics and categories:
-- Industry and Market Research
-- Commodity Reports
-- Company Reports
-- Country Reports
Under each heading are links that focus the browsing.

When you aren't sure what to search for but you have some general ideas on what you might like to know- use the Browse tab in ABI Inform.

-kls

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

Weeding and New Stuff

Greetings,

Weeding is the term librarians use to describe the process of sifting through the collection and removing materials that are out of date or no longer necessary. This is done so that the library's users won't be given false or incorrect information in a book. Indeed, the accrediting bodies related to our college's programs often check to see that the materials in the library are current and up to date. Medical books in particular are removed in most cases no later than five years after their publication.

Often there are those who see this as a waste. My own father does not believe old encyclopedias should be discarded. The 'someone might get something out of them' argument is used to defend this position. But what if the 'something' were incorrect? This could potentially be harmful, particularly if it is medical information.

This week I have gone through the reference section at the Mountain View campus and have removed some items. These were items of a statistical nature for which we had a more recent version. A few other items I left on the shelf, but made a note to order the most recent version the next time I do a book order.

The weeding of the reference collection freed up some shelf space. I have decided to dedicate this space to the creation of a new materials section. This small area will house books that are new to the library. The idea is to make faculty and students more aware of the books' existence. Just one more way to promote our materials.

Remember friend, you can find out the new materials in the library's collection. Just go to the library's catalog. Click on the button that says 'new books,' located in the top left corner of the page. You will then be able find out the newest materials in the collection by campus.

JF

Listening

Are you a visual or an aural learner? Gale Literature Resource Center offers an audio icon with the option to download the text as an MP3 file. I'm listening to a file as I type - the female voice is pleasant but there is an electronic quality to the reading that is a bit like listening to a good SciFi movie.

From Gale's help screen:
What types of content can be read aloud?Full-text documents. Citation-only or abstract-only documents will not display the Listen icon. You will also be able to listen to Help pages and Dictionary definitions.
The audio player may not read aloud all links within the document. In addition, it will ignore image captions.

I can see this being used by athletes, travelers, and folks who just want to listen! Being able to select articles on topics I'm interested in, then downloading the article to my MP3 player makes it possible for me to create a library of short audio titles for free!

Chattahoochee Tech users may access the Gale Literature Resource Center through GALILEO. Stop by your campus library to get the current password.

-kls

Let's not forget

Hat Tip to Dear Myrtle

Footnote.com Opens Their WWII Collection Free To The Public During December
Lindon, UT – December 7, 2009 – In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, Footnote.com announced today that they will make the largest interactive WWII collection on the web including the Interactive USS Arizona Memorial free to the public during December. Featuring over 10 million records, documents and photos from the National Archives, this collection helps family members and historians better understand the people and events of WWII......

GALILEO offers Ancestry Library Edition in the library. There are ten resources in Ancestry Library Edition that have World War II in the title.

- U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 Military USA
- U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 Military USA U.S.
- Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945 Military USA
- World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas Military USA
- World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945 Military USA
- World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946 Military USA
- Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II Military USA
- World War II Japanese-American Internment Camp Documents, 1942-1946 Court, Land, Wills & Financial USA
- World War II Young American Patriots, 1941-1945 Military USA
- New York Southern District, World War II Military Naturalization Index, 1941-1946 Immigration & Emigration USA

If you're looking for the person in your family who served during World War II, come to your Georgia library and use Ancestry Library Edition

Go to GALILEO
..select Databases A-Z
....select A
......select Ancestry Library Edition
scroll down to More Collections, click on list all databases
type in World War II for the title


-kls

What's new at GGP

An announcement from the Digital Library of Georgia:

The Digital Library of Georgia is pleased to present the redesign of the Georgia Government Publications.

Developed in 1996 as GALILEO's first digital conversion initiative, the Georgia Government Publications database contains born-digital publications and scanned print documents produced by Georgia state agencies. The GGP provides a comprehensive repository of state publications 1994 to the present, and project participants are actively scanning documents printed before 1994 to provide researchers with a valuable source for online historical research.

The Georgia Government Publications(GGP) database consists of over 44,000 documents produced by 100 Georgia state agencies. Georgia agencies are required by law to submit print and electronic publications that they produce for the public to the official depository at the University of Georgia Libraries. These publications are all included in the GGP, which features such publications as Guide to Alligator Hunting in Georgia, Members of the General Assembly of Georgia, rack cards on the Georgia state parks, images of Georgia's song birds from the Traveling Songsters poster, and thousands of other items generated by Georgia's executive branch of government.

The Georgia Government Publications database is part of the Digital Library of Georgia, a GALILEO initiative.

I will say the Guide to Alligator Hunting in Georgia looks especially intriguing to this city girl!


-kls

the Great Game

The term the Great Game denotes the imperial struggles between Russia and Great Britain in central Asia during the 1800's. The nation of Afghanistan was used as a buffer state between the Russian and British colonial holdings in southern Asia. It has been suggested that some of the blame for the recent geopolitical troubles in Afghanistan can be traced back to the playing of the Great Game. The Great Game started a long history of involvement in Afghanistan by foreign powers for various reasons.

Doing a general search in Galileo for 'Great Game' and 'Afghanistan' (don't put in the quote marks when searching) then sorting the results by relevance, yields some good results. Some of the highest relevancy ranked results deal with a new playing of the game in Afghanistan, now involving India and Pakistan.

JF

Afghanistan

Did you do a Google search on Afghanistan after the Presidents speech? Google pulled up Wikipedia (the 122 references in the Wikipedia article had more than a few Find It buttons connecting to GALILEO ) and the CIA Factbook.

Thinking about those reference links in Wikipedia, I did a search on Afghanistan in GALILEO, I selected:
Browse by subject
..History
....History
......Typed in Afghanistan
........ I unclicked the Digital Library of Georgia. I selected more resources and clicked on Encyclopedia Britannica.

Thousands of articles were pulled going back years. The Google search did give me resources for basic facts. GALILEO provided depth for my quest for information about the topic.

Sometimes "just the facts" is enough. Sometimes depth is necessary.


-kls

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

Little cat feet

When I see fog, I think of the poem by Carl Sandburg that I had to memorize in elementary school. This picture of Fog is copyright © copyright-free-pictures.org.uk

CTC Library subscribes to Literature Resource Center which provides biographies on thousands of authors, as well as literary criticism, historical context, and social implications of literature .

A basic search for Carl Sandburg turned up 56 biographical references. As I scrolled the list, I noticed only 4 that seemed to be specifically about Carl Sandburg. I'm guessing the others referenced him in some way. I started playing to see how I could narrow the search to just biographies on Carl Sandburg.

At the Basic Search page, I typed in Carl Sandburg
..I clicked on the radio button Person - By or about
....I unclicked the content type options leaving only biographies
Search pulled up 5 biographies - a much easier to peruse selection!

Narrowing the search by learning what buttons to click is worth the time and effort! Play with the databases till you can create a search that pulls just what you want - not too much and not too little (as Goldilocks might say - it's just right)!

-kls

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

How does your garden grow?

Frost was again on the roof (and yard) this morning. People who like to garden are curling up with seed catalogs. They are preparing for the spring planting!

What if you aren't sure what you might be able to do with your garden? Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index in GALILEO provides access to articles about gardens and plants, including topics such as horticulture, botany, garden and landscape design & history, ecology, plant and garden conservation, garden management, and horticultural therapy. A highlight of the database is its focus on environmentally sustainable horticultural and design practices. This index and abstract product is designed for gardening enthusiasts, professionals, and students of horticulture and of garden and landscape design & history. It covers more than 300 core serial titles that include general gardening titles of national, international, and regional interest, and titles devoted to specialty gardens and plant groups.
Because Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index is an index - you'll mostly pull up citations with a Find It button to let you know which library has the journal. If you select Linked Full Text- this will limit your search to those articles available in the database full text. PDF files have full color pictures.

Curl up with your lap top and peruse the articles. You can beginning planning your spring garden while enjoying the warmth of the fireplace!

-kls

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

More H1N1 resources

Online vendors are sharing their expertise and resources to help all of us get the most accurate information available to help us weather the flu season.

ebrary understands there is a lot of anxiety, confusion, and frustration regarding H1N1. In fact, we are experiencing it ourselves.

This site was created by ebrary employees, who in the course of researching H1N1 to protect our families and friends, realized that our technology can help.

While some of the most important information in the world is contained within PDF documents, it is a very difficult format to search, use, and manage online. To enable people to discover valuable H1N1 data, we created a highly interactive database of PDF documents from government agencies and other authoritative sites (copyrights permitting or with permission).

We plan to continually grow this collection and welcome your feedback by emailing h1n1@ebrary.com.


-kls

The sky is falling!

Do you remember fire drills in school? Some were a surprise to instructors, some were noted on a faculty calendar. All were intended to prepare students (and staff) to exit the building in an orderly fashion without panic or confusion. At an education conference, meeting in a hotel banquet room, there were over 300 instructors seated for a meal. The hotel fire alarm went off. 300 adults calmly stood up, pushed in their chairs and exited the space. The hotel people were trying to tell us it was a mistake and we should stay inside. We continued to exit down the stairs, not taking the elevator and gathered at a safe distance from the building - practice does make it possible to cope with an emergency without chaos.

Which brings me to disaster movies (and books). Are they the fire drill for the mind? Do we watch the end of time movies and get ideas on how to best respond when the end appears?


The Road [PS 3563 .C337 R63 2006] by Cormac McCarthy which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize has been turned into a movie.

The book discussion guide in NoveList through GALILEO offers thought provoking questions, several responses to the questions noting that each reader brings their own thoughts to the task.

The book discussion guide concludes with 6 other titles to read that have similar themes. I was glad to see Alas, Babylon c1959 mentioned.

The survivors of a nuclear holocaust are forced to rely on their own resources as they join together in the struggle for survival amidst the ruins of Fort Repose, a small town in Florida.

I was intrigued that 50 years ago the apocalyptic story revolved around a group gathering together to help each other rather than individuals struggling on their own.

What do we learn from these two stories? Has our societal response changed so much in 50 years? Books can be fire drills for the mind!

-kls

Get the password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.

What to watch?

What will you be doing this weekend? Will you be looking for a movie to watch, a book to read, or an event to attend? Do you want to know what someone thinks about the movie, book, or event before you invest your time and money? How do you find a review?

You can find Movie Reviews (and other reviews) in GALILEO by:
Selecting Databases A-Z
...Select P
.....Select ProQuest Databases
........Select Advanced Search (second tab)
..........Type in the movie title
Leave the citation and abstract as the search.
....Scroll down a bit - and click on More Search Options. This opens up the bottom of the screen.
........Scroll down to Document Type
..........Click on the drop down box
............Select Film review (for the movies)
Press enter

Now you have the opinions of others to help you decide if you want to invest your time and money!

Hope your holiday weekend is just what you want it to be.

-kls

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

Visual Learning

Are you a visual learner? Does seeing someone do something help you process the directions?

ALA Facebook suggested the Flu videos for kids posted by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Yes, our Government has a You Tube channel.

If you're looking for visual information on how to protect your self or teach your child how to protect themselves from the flu - just watch a video.

And don't forget to read about the latest news in flu protection at the EBSCO Influenza: Evidence based portal or checking Flu.gov.

Stay healthy over the holidays.

-kls

On the go searches

Have you started using your mobile device for quick searches?

News from the GALILEO folks:

Beginning today, you will find the following custom EBSCOhost Mobile links appearing in GALILEO - EBSCOhost Mobile Academic.

Each of these interfaces has been configured to provide a direct multi-database search of EBSCOhost databases that are appropriate for the indicated audience. For detailed information regarding which databases are included in the search, please see the “More” link that follows the database name within the Databases A-Z list.

Please note that your phone must have javascript enabled in order to use EBSCOhost Mobile. Although EBSCOhost Mobile should work on all javascript enabled smartphones, it was exclusively beta tested on the most popular models:

Blackberry

Dell Axiom

iPhone

Palm 750

To get more information about this service
go to GALILEO
...select Databases A-Z
.....select E
........scroll to EBSCOhost Mobile Academic - click on the More... link to find out more about this resource.

I admit- I do not have a 'fancy' phone. I can't test how this works. If you do have a 'fancy' phone- please do share how well you can search with EBSCO on your phone. Or if it has glitches- you can share that too.

You will need the current password to use GALILEO. You may get that password from your Georgia librarian.

-kls

Can you find it?

Sometimes professors have students search for information that might not be as easy to find as the professor thinks. Case in point- an unnamed professor at another educational institution told his class to find an article he had written that was in an Ebsco database. The task was to write an APA citation for an article by the professor. The professor gave his name and the database. That should have been enough information. You know from the way I started that - no, this is not enough information.

One of the professor's students has a friend who is a librarian. The student had searched and figured they just weren't doing it correctly. They asked their friend the librarian. This librarian couldn't find an article in the noted database either. The librarian asked me. I also did not have any success searching in the particular Ebsco database for the professors name. I used initials, quotes, full name, last name only- and nothing came up. It could be Ebsco.

I did a Google search for the professor. This professor fortunately has an educational biographical web site. The professor happily lists their publications. Publish or perish being the mantra for many higher education institutions. I was able to note in which journals this professor had published.

...With the journal information
......I could search in the Ebsco database using publication search
........Ebsco offers a search this publication link
Victory! I found several articles. They aren't full text but they do give enough information that the student can complete the assignment.

I have no idea why the professor's name did not pull up articles in the Ebsco database. There are ways to work around a problem!


-kls

Carl Hayden

Until today, Carl Hayden was the longest serving member of Congress in United States history. Originally a sheriff in Phoenix, Arizona, Hayden was elected as the first Congressman for the new state of Arizona. He represented the entire state, which at that time was still a rural state with very few people.

Hayden was later elected to the US Senate and served for over forty years. He retired in early 1969 when his last term expired and died in 1972. He lived to see his sleepy state grow into one of the fastest growing in the country.

Much of the information here was gleaned from Hayden's entry in the Biographical directory of the United States Congress, an official government resource. The photos of former members of Congress on the website are considered government property and are in the public domain, hence they are often used for Wikipedia entries.

JF