Wrap-up 2

So, I didn't really stick to my plan of e-mailing one teacher every week with info on the databases, but I did do that a few times during this class. I think we are teaching a 2-day session on the databases this summer in Brookings, so I will have the opportunity to share with my colleagues then. I also try to make handouts from time to time that help teachers get to the right spot in the databases for what they want to do with their classes, and I try to keep everything accessible from my website. Thanks for all the great ideas and tips that made this class worthwhile!

Wrap-up 1

1. For my personal use, my best discovery was all the professional reading available at my fingertips. Sometimes I feel kind left out because I don't feel comfortable buying professional subscriptions with budget money (though I know that is valid!), so I was happy to find a spot to check it all out! I don't always take the time, but now I know I can!
2. I also liked learning some of the tricks and details of the various sites, such as using World Cat for cataloging suggestions, all the neat features of the databases, such as citing sources with one click and all the primary sources available.

Geneology/History

I enjoyed using these sites. It's fun to hunt up family history. I had more luck with my husband's family because Kirschenman is less common that Erickson or Wolf. I also realized that I have left quite a trail with moving so much in the last 20 years. My various addresses were listed, ones I hardly remembered. We don't have much call yet for these sites in high school, but I could recommend them to history teachers, especially when they do their family history projects.

Archive Grid and CAMIO

I can see that Archive Grid would be great for intensive research and hunting down primary sources, but I don't think I would use it very much for the average patron/student. I learned some background information about Sitting Bull that I didn't know before, such as their group traveling to live in Canada for a while and that he led several tribes of Native Americans, not just his own Sioux tribe. I also looked up some information about German Russians and the composer Scarlatti.

I love CAMIO. I came across it by accident this year and sent the link to the art teachers in our school. I found a great picture of flowers for my computer background, and some fun artwork of readers that we could use for National Library Week. I love how you can search by topic, artist, etc., and that a teacher could save images to use for an art lecture.

WorldCat

I've used WorldCat before, but I didn't know about all of these features! For this week, I spent a lot of time in the databases because I had never used those before. I plan to use the cataloging/call number feature in the future. I always use WorldCat as a kind of last resort for ILL when I can't get an item anywhere else. It has never failed me! Also, it is very easy to use, from finding authors and copyright dates to finding ideas for topics. I liked the hot topics option also. There is so much information out there!