Lesson 7a : Discovery Exercizes and Personal Thoughts

Auto Repair Reference Center

1. I chose to search for my dream car:

I quickly found a whole slew of information on the 1971 models. 89 returns on 'General Information and Maintainance', 37 on 'Body and Trim', 38 on 'Breaks', 53 on 'Chassis and Electrical', 41 on the 'Drive Train', 74 for 'Emission Controls', 99 for 'Engine and Engine Overhaul', 30 for 'Engine Performance and Tuneup', 132 for the 'Fuel System', and 47 for 'Suspension and Steering'. Guess my dream car is pretty popular with people who are fixing up older vehicles.

2. Sadly, my current ride is just a plain old 1998 Ford Escort. Looking at the Service Bulletins and Recalls page brings up 68 results! The El Camino is looking better and better all the time. Given that my car is, shall we say, pre-owned, looks like just about everything needs to be inspected. Never thought that my digital resources class would be reminding me to change my engine coolant. One thing I wish was explained on the maintanance page is the difference between 'normal' and 'severe' service charts. Is this referring to the weather and general wear and tear that the car is subjected to? Its not explained on the maintainance page.

The auto repair center is one of our most used resources at the library. In fact, we have set up an extra link on our public use internet computers for it! So this was a great refresher course on how to navigate through the maze of different car repair manuals.

Lesson 6 : Discovery Exercizes and Thoughts

Its Mango time!

I am particularly excited to use this resource because it is something we have been actively promoting at the library, and this is the first chance I've had to really play around with it. I chose to try the Italian "2.0" class to start, mostly because it is a language that I've been taught in a traditional classroom, and I thought it might be nice to compare and contrast the differences in approach.

I'd heard that people have had problems setting up an account, but the whole process was quick and painless for me (using gmail). I did have some problems getting the first lesson to load, and had to refresh several times, but it ran smoothly after that. My first impressions were that, yes, the lessons are very basic. They seem to rely a lot on repetition of words, with very little of the 'conceptual' language stuff you would get in a traditional class. For example, they don't talk about the differences between feminine and masculine nouns in the first lesson, but set up scenarios where you learn several of them. You learn about the verb 'stare', which literally means 'to feel', and how it is used in Italian greetings. One thing I liked is the small cultural asides that were given throughout the lesson, such as the body language involved in a traditional Italian greeting (kissing the cheeks, of course). From a technical standpoint, I like that all of the lessons have voice over as well as text, which helps people who have visual disabilities, and people who are auditory learners.

After getting through the first two lessons, I think I have a better understanding of what Mango is for. I think that it is helpful for people who are looking for a basic understanding of a language, perhaps as a prep tool for a traditional class, or as a way to keep your existing language skills sharp. I don't think that it could replace a traditional classroom learning experience though.

Working at a public library, I think that the best use of Mango might be for people who are learning English as a second language. This is especially relevant because there are not a large number of resources readily available for people who might want to take English classes. We sometimes get questions from people who are interested in finding a tutor or learning English, and this could be an excellent resource for them, one that I will continue to reccommend.

Lesson 5 : Discovery Exercizes & Thoughts

Welcome back to my blog! I'm sorry for the hiatus. Here are the discovery exercizes for Lesson #5:

1. There are 6 dictionaries with 'habeas corpus' entries.

2. The purpose of the 'Links for this subject' seems to be a catchall reference index for English language resources. Its incredibly varied in scope, but grammar, writing, slang, and major publications in English seem to be a focus. The popular song used to illustrate nouns on the 'Guide to Grammar and Writing' site is My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music.

3. There are 14 examples of boats and ships in the Visual English Dictionary link. Although, if you look up 'ancient ships' you can find even more than that!

4. There are 18 English Language Reference titles offered.

5. Options available to process results using bilingual dictionaries: print search results, email search results, widen your search, search tips, results per page, and reorder results alphabetically.

6. The quote from John Locke is as follows: "The end of law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom." If you browse for the word 'abolish' instead of doing a general search, you get much more detailed results, with many different catagories or meanings of the word listed, allowing you to narrow down your search to the correct intent.

7. Types of maps available when searching for 'Syria': world flags, map of the country, map of the continent.

8. The World Encyclopedia seems to be a reference for basic facts, with an emphasis on geography and history. A Guide to Countries of the World seems to focus more on economy, modern politics, and current events. According to the source itself, the focus seems to be on outlining "contemporary social, economic, political and religious issues." http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/BOOK_SEARCH.html?book=t42

9. I get 252 search results for 'recycling' from the homepage quick search. I am not actually seeing the 'refine by book' option from this page though, only 'refine by subject'.

10. See above!


Thoughts:
This was a great lesson, and there is a lot I can apply here to my work at a public library! I think that this is especially good for parents and children who might come into the library looking for book report information, or sources to cite for a child's project. The collection as a whole is very easy to navigate, but has a great depth to it, especially with all of the outside links. I also love the bibliographical citations that you can see at the bottom of all the entries!

Lesson #3 : Discovery Exercizes & Personal Thoughts

Lesson #3 : NoveList, aka the Librarian’s Best Friend

NoveList has quickly become my go-to site when I receive questions about books. It has actually become so useful that I can hardly imagine life without it! Although there are plenty of other sites that offer similar services and lists, it is useful to have all that information in one spot, easily accessible (I have a link on my desktop that goes directly to it). My other favorites are GoodReads and Shelfari, although I don't use those much at work because NoveList has almost everything I need for the projects and common questions I get. GoodReads is something I would recommend to patrons who are interested in browsing titles, and Shelfari is something I might use myself for inspiration (I love book collections, especially obscure ones!) However, these don't fit in as well in our small public library system if people are looking for something to read right now.

1. Here at the Wasilla Library we’re coming up with titles for our adult reading programs, with books based in the future being one of the themes. As such, I’ve had science fiction on the brain recently, so I looked up one of my favorite futurist authors, Cory Doctorow. First author read-alikes pulled up were Connie Willis, Suzanne Collins, and Margaret Peterson Haddix. This makes sense, as Cory Doctorow has written a mix of adult and young adult novels, but it would have been nice to see a few more adult fiction writers listed, especially since Haddix has written a lot of grade-school level fiction as well. Still, fairly accurate to the author (plus, I’m extra picky about what I read, which doesn’t help).
Looking at series reccomendations, I used the Hunger Games Trilogy, since Doctorow doesn't have any series written, and its one of our most popular titles at the moment. This list will be extremely useful after the movie comes out and people are interested in reading more things like it!

2. I like the idea of setting up different sub-folders within your account for different projects. Its something I'll have to work on when I get the time!

3. I pulled up a series search for The Warriors by Erin Hunter basically because it is the bane of my existence, and seeks to confuse me at every turn. Nothing in the way they are catagorized or labled makes sense to me, and it doesn't help that there are 3 seperate series of books that fall under the same series name. If someone says they want book 3 of the Warriors, are they talking about Warriors - New Prophecy : Book 3 Dawn? Or are they referring to Warriors - The Original Series : Book 3 Forest of Secrets? Or maybe they were talking about the Warriors manga series, which is another different set of books. In this case NoveList is more than useful, it is a lifesaver for sorting out a long and confusing book series.

4. I just want to say how nice the Reader's Advisory Toolbox is for a librarian, especially the training and articles. This really is a resource that seems like it was built with us in mind, although I think a resourceful patron/book enthusiast would get a lot of mileage out of it as well. I think the most brilliant parts of this tool is that it allows the librarian to really zone in on the common questions a patron might have about what they want to read; genre, series, and theme made into catagories that are understandable yet varied. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this resource to patrons, but I feel its more useful as a tool that librarians and patrons can use together.