Holy cow, I was unaware of this resource and I must confess I am pretty psyched about it. I am an avid knitter and I'm always looking for great patterns, guides, etc. that are free. There are some excellent websites out there (Ravelry, in particular) for this purpose, but I didn't realize that MARVEL was such a great resource as well. As an elementary school librarian I'm not sure if this database that will be especially useful for my students, but it's good to know about it for my crafty kids.
1. Pick a subject category to explore. Choose an area that interests
you or something you’d like to learn about. Pick a subcategory too.
On the results page, notice the ‘Find’ box that contains the search
terms used. Does your library subscribe to any of the magazine titles
listed?
I chose "Needlecrafts and Textiles" and then "Knitting." I further limited the search to "Knitting: Socks and Stockings" and was impressed with the 114 hits. The journals include Interweave Knits (including the latest one), Creative Knitting, and Wild Fibers, all exceptional knitting resources.
The "Knitting: Videos, How to" is the one section that I can envision being a great resource for my elementary school aged students. While the articles and patterns might be too text heavy for them to follow, the videos are great!
2. On the results page, look at the projects tab. What projects would you like to download and try?
When I check out the "projects" tab under "Knitting: Mittens, Hats & Scarves" the question is not so much which project would I like to download and try, but rather, can I find one that I don't want to download and try? This is awesome, and I especially appreciate that all the projects are in a PDF format, which makes them easy to download and print. The only thing I wish for that doesn't seem to exist is a little thumbnail photograph of the project in the results list. It's hard to tell from a project title what it might look like, so it would be great to have a hint before committing to downloading the PDF.
3. Look at the “Help” link at the upper right. Tell us something you learned by browsing the online help guide.
When I checked out the "Help" link I discovered that I can use RSS with my Ebsco database searches so that I get updates in my reader when a search that I've performed has a new hit. Wow! That streamlines my information gathering experience and I suspect it will become more popular with library patrons as RSS use becomes more wide spread.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Week 3 - Newspapers and Maine Newstand
This week we are exploring newspapers and the Maine Newsstand, resources that I haven't used a whole lot in MARVEL. I have a subscription to the New York Times online, so I use that as my primary newspaper resource personally and because I work in a K-5 school library, the need for these resources is fairly limited. I'm hoping that this exploration will help me find ways to use Maine Newsstand with my students.
1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.
I did my basic search using the search term "Red Sox." I read just about everything published about the Red Sox, so I was interested to see if Proquest could find something I hadn't seen. I got 680,610 hits, more than I could manage, obviously. So I began limited my search, first by sorting the results so that the most recent appeared first, and then by limiting the results to those in this decade. That was still too much (98,000 hits), so I limited things once again by choosing one of the suggested subject headings.
The first article that came up was one in the Belfast Telegraph (as in Belfast, Ireland, not Belfast, Maine) which was interesting to me because it provided a different perspective on Red Sox ownership (the owners of the Red Sox also own a soccer team in the UK). There were also more than 20 hits dated today, which obviously indicates how up to date Proquest is.
Although using this database to get news does not feel as "fun" as using my NYTimes mobile app, it is clearly better for finding specific information. If I want to browse the news I'll stick with my app, but if I (or my patrons) need targeted information, Proquest is the way to go.
2. Save this search to perform again or create an alert which will let you know when something new is added that fits your search criteria.
The "save search" feature is handy for projects that might involve several different information-gathering sessions and/or the use of different devices. The alert is great as well if you want to stay on top of a particular subject, especially one that might not be on the front pages of the news.
3. See what your Invitational cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Invitational blog, read that person’s post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each others blogs throughout the Invitational as you learn together.
I posted a comment on RSU2's blog site (http://marvelouskidsrsu2.wordpress.com/):
I too felt a certain responsibility to learn more about Proquest and a hope that I would find a resource that I could use more consistently in my school library. You picked a much more scholarly subject than I agree that your results sound somewhat disappointing. As you mention, it's hard to imagine a student navigating through the many steps that you went through. I guess our work is in order in terms of modeling, scaffolding and practicing!
Thanks for a great post!
4. This is Maine Library Snapshot Week which makes it the perfect opportunity to report how many patrons/users/members you have helped find the information they need using this or any other MARVEL resource. Blog about an experience you had showing a patron how to use MARVEL.
I generally start teaching students how to access MARVEL in 3rd grade. We use KidsSearch and Searchasaurus as introductions to the database. In 4th and 5th grade I expand instruction to Britannica and Student Research Center. I find that students become more comfortable with the databases as they get older, but the functions are fairly intuitive and for the most part user-friendly. I always make a point to preface my MARVEL lessons with a Google search so we can compare and contrast (and my goal is that every student leaving my school knows that Google is not the place to start on a research project). It definitely takes practice and repeated exposure, but I find MARVEL to be a great tool to use with my patrons!
1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.
I did my basic search using the search term "Red Sox." I read just about everything published about the Red Sox, so I was interested to see if Proquest could find something I hadn't seen. I got 680,610 hits, more than I could manage, obviously. So I began limited my search, first by sorting the results so that the most recent appeared first, and then by limiting the results to those in this decade. That was still too much (98,000 hits), so I limited things once again by choosing one of the suggested subject headings.
The first article that came up was one in the Belfast Telegraph (as in Belfast, Ireland, not Belfast, Maine) which was interesting to me because it provided a different perspective on Red Sox ownership (the owners of the Red Sox also own a soccer team in the UK). There were also more than 20 hits dated today, which obviously indicates how up to date Proquest is.
Although using this database to get news does not feel as "fun" as using my NYTimes mobile app, it is clearly better for finding specific information. If I want to browse the news I'll stick with my app, but if I (or my patrons) need targeted information, Proquest is the way to go.
2. Save this search to perform again or create an alert which will let you know when something new is added that fits your search criteria.
The "save search" feature is handy for projects that might involve several different information-gathering sessions and/or the use of different devices. The alert is great as well if you want to stay on top of a particular subject, especially one that might not be on the front pages of the news.
3. See what your Invitational cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Invitational blog, read that person’s post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each others blogs throughout the Invitational as you learn together.
I posted a comment on RSU2's blog site (http://marvelouskidsrsu2.wordpress.com/):
I too felt a certain responsibility to learn more about Proquest and a hope that I would find a resource that I could use more consistently in my school library. You picked a much more scholarly subject than I agree that your results sound somewhat disappointing. As you mention, it's hard to imagine a student navigating through the many steps that you went through. I guess our work is in order in terms of modeling, scaffolding and practicing!
Thanks for a great post!
4. This is Maine Library Snapshot Week which makes it the perfect opportunity to report how many patrons/users/members you have helped find the information they need using this or any other MARVEL resource. Blog about an experience you had showing a patron how to use MARVEL.
I generally start teaching students how to access MARVEL in 3rd grade. We use KidsSearch and Searchasaurus as introductions to the database. In 4th and 5th grade I expand instruction to Britannica and Student Research Center. I find that students become more comfortable with the databases as they get older, but the functions are fairly intuitive and for the most part user-friendly. I always make a point to preface my MARVEL lessons with a Google search so we can compare and contrast (and my goal is that every student leaving my school knows that Google is not the place to start on a research project). It definitely takes practice and repeated exposure, but I find MARVEL to be a great tool to use with my patrons!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Week 2 - Britannica
This week we dive into the exploration of the MARVEL database with a visit to Encyclopedia Britannica. This is a resource I've used quite a bit with my elementary students, so I am fairly familiar with it, although my experience with the middle school and high school modules is limited.
The assignment:
1. Using Britannica Elementary, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.
I always use "ocelot" as my default mammal when I'm teaching research skills because I am fascinated by ocelots and I am always hoping to learn something new about this elusive animal. So, away we go!
Using the search term "ocelot," I get seven results, the first one being the obvious "best" hit. I like that in the results list I see a picture of an ocelot right away, without having to click. I think that immediate gratification is appealing to kids and it also lets them know they are on the right track. When I click on the first article (titled simply "Ocelot") I am pleased to see a short article with options to either translate it into Spanish or to listen to the article being read aloud. The read-aloud feature is excellent and enables students of all reading abilities to use this resource. Additionally, a left-hand sidebar shows a scrolling slideshow of ocelot images, which is excellent. The embedded Merriam-Webster's Dictionary makes it easy to look up unfamiliar words by simply double-clicking on them. My students (and I) also very much appreciate that Britannica articles are easy to save, print or email (there are bright, user-friendly icons at the top of the article to direct these actions) and also to cite. I simply click on "Cite article" and voila, I am able to cut and paste:
"Ocelot." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
The images that I can link to through this article are clearly identified:
All in all, the Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia provides an excellent (if brief) overview about ocelots that would be a good starting place for students doing animal research.
2. Using Britannica Middle School, search for information on the same mammal you searched in Britannica Elementary and compare the amount of information.
The middle school version of Britannica returned thirteen hits (as opposed to the seven returned by the elementary version). The types of articles are similar, and the additional breadth would be appropriate for middle school aged researchers.
3. Using Britannica High School, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the right side bar of the results screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?
My search for the country "Romania" returned a surprising 971 hits. This might be a somewhat overwhelming amount of information for some users. The variety of types of information available in the high school search is significantly broader than in the middle or elementary search, as information seekers can choose journals and magazines, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia articles, the Web's Best Sites and Primary Sources and E-books (primary sources and e-books strike me as very different types of resources, and yet here they are linked). The value of these different resources depends very much on the information seeker's needs - a student writing a typical "country report" would find the encyclopedia articles of great interest, whereas someone traveling to the country might be more interested in the journal and magazine articles. All in all, the variety of resources ensures that there is information for a wide range of uses.
4. Using either the Middle or School level, click on Help (top right). In the index which is on the left side, click on “Working with Articles” and then on “Workspace”. How useful will this feature be for your students and teachers?
The "Workspace" feature of Encyclopedia Britannica has the potential to be very useful for both teachers and students. For teachers, it is a great way to gather, curate and then share resources on a particular topic. For students, the workspace allows them to save and share their resources from any device. So, a student could start a project at school with their MLTI laptop, poke around in their saved articles on their mom's iPad while waiting in the car at the grocery store, and then revisit (or expand) their resource list at home on the family desktop. The workspace could also be a great tool for collaboration amongst students (and teachers).
The assignment:
1. Using Britannica Elementary, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.
I always use "ocelot" as my default mammal when I'm teaching research skills because I am fascinated by ocelots and I am always hoping to learn something new about this elusive animal. So, away we go!
Using the search term "ocelot," I get seven results, the first one being the obvious "best" hit. I like that in the results list I see a picture of an ocelot right away, without having to click. I think that immediate gratification is appealing to kids and it also lets them know they are on the right track. When I click on the first article (titled simply "Ocelot") I am pleased to see a short article with options to either translate it into Spanish or to listen to the article being read aloud. The read-aloud feature is excellent and enables students of all reading abilities to use this resource. Additionally, a left-hand sidebar shows a scrolling slideshow of ocelot images, which is excellent. The embedded Merriam-Webster's Dictionary makes it easy to look up unfamiliar words by simply double-clicking on them. My students (and I) also very much appreciate that Britannica articles are easy to save, print or email (there are bright, user-friendly icons at the top of the article to direct these actions) and also to cite. I simply click on "Cite article" and voila, I am able to cut and paste:
"Ocelot." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2012.
The images that I can link to through this article are clearly identified:
 |
|
2. Using Britannica Middle School, search for information on the same mammal you searched in Britannica Elementary and compare the amount of information.
The middle school version of Britannica returned thirteen hits (as opposed to the seven returned by the elementary version). The types of articles are similar, and the additional breadth would be appropriate for middle school aged researchers.
3. Using Britannica High School, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the right side bar of the results screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?
My search for the country "Romania" returned a surprising 971 hits. This might be a somewhat overwhelming amount of information for some users. The variety of types of information available in the high school search is significantly broader than in the middle or elementary search, as information seekers can choose journals and magazines, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia articles, the Web's Best Sites and Primary Sources and E-books (primary sources and e-books strike me as very different types of resources, and yet here they are linked). The value of these different resources depends very much on the information seeker's needs - a student writing a typical "country report" would find the encyclopedia articles of great interest, whereas someone traveling to the country might be more interested in the journal and magazine articles. All in all, the variety of resources ensures that there is information for a wide range of uses.
4. Using either the Middle or School level, click on Help (top right). In the index which is on the left side, click on “Working with Articles” and then on “Workspace”. How useful will this feature be for your students and teachers?
The "Workspace" feature of Encyclopedia Britannica has the potential to be very useful for both teachers and students. For teachers, it is a great way to gather, curate and then share resources on a particular topic. For students, the workspace allows them to save and share their resources from any device. So, a student could start a project at school with their MLTI laptop, poke around in their saved articles on their mom's iPad while waiting in the car at the grocery store, and then revisit (or expand) their resource list at home on the family desktop. The workspace could also be a great tool for collaboration amongst students (and teachers).
Monday, October 1, 2012
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