Lesson 10 - Wrap Up

Lesson 10 - Wrap Up

1.  What was your biggest discovery?

The biggest discovery I found over the last ten weeks was the "American Decades" resources on the Gale Virtual Reference Library. I believe this will be a very useful tool for compiling general data for museum exhibits moving forward. It's a simple resource that is packed full of information!

A close second would be the Ebooks on EbscoHost. The ability to pull up full texts on an endless number of topics, is another resource I see playing a major role in my general research from here on out.

2. How will you promote or use the resources with your patrons, colleagues or students? In my role with the museum, I do not interact with patrons, however I fully plan to pass along my findings to my colleagues. I believe anyone that does research of any kind can benefit from all the resources featured over the last 10 weeks!

Lesson 9 -- History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps

Lesson 9 -- History and Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps

1. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be dead to be listed in AncestryLibrary and can frequently find useful information in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002. You may even find your marriage license. Search for your own name in AncestryLibrary and report the results.

I ran a search for my married name “Kathryn Vandel” and maiden name “Kathryn Higdon.” Neither my married name or my married name brought up much. The only record to come up was from a phone directory from when I was in college.

2.  In AncestryLibrary, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census.  Report your findings.

I ran a search for my paternal grandmother, Bessie Higdon. I pulled up the first census record that came up, 1940 United States Federal Census. My grandmother, grandfather, aunt, and father are all listed on the record. The Census was taken on April 20, 1940. My father would have just been born, his birthdate is March 2, 1940. Although my dad is Clifton Baxter Higdon, Jr. he is listed simply as Baxter. The family was living in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. When I pulled up the map of the area, it is no longer residential, but part of the business district downtown.

One feature that Ancestry offers, when using the census records, is the highlighted and transcribed text. This is great when the handwriting is not clear and makes it much easier to find the information.  

3.  In AncestryLibrary, type "South Dakota" in the location box and click Search. On the left side of the next screen is a link for Pictures.  Click Pictures, see what's there, and look at one or more. Report your findings. 

As I have said, I work as a curator at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center. The Museum opened an exhibit on baseball in October 2014. I decided it might be fun to click through some of the baseball images. I found an image of a baseball card for Jim [James] Scott, “Death Valley Jim,” that is identical to one that we have on display. Neat to get information on the date of his first game (listed as 25 Apr 1909) and last game (listed as 17 Aug 1917).

I also clicked on an image of Reuel Eck and Tilda Knutson on their wedding day from 1928. The annotation reads, “They took out their marriage license in Peking county, S.D. They were first married at dad's parents in Adams county, N.D. when the minister noticed they had to be married in the county in which the license was issued. So they all drove to the state line.” Too funny!

4. In HeritageQuest, there are over 28,000 family and local histories in their online historical books.  Search for a place or browse the publications.  Report back on something that interested you.

I looked through a history on Tippacanoe County, the location of my college. The volume that resulted was quite massive (published in 1909), but provided some interesting information about the area. Using a keyword search, I found an entire chapter on Purdue University, my Alma Mater. I found it interesting that this statement, on the school founding in the 1860’s, still holds true today, “A long-desired want was foreshadowed, and the means appropriated whereby that advantages of an educational system adapted to the process of developing those elements of knowledge which especially appertain to the agriculturist and mechanic were ultimately to be utilized.” Purdue stands, to this day, as an engineering and agricultural university, but you can still get a liberal arts education there too!

5. In Sanborn Maps, select South Dakota. Then select your town or a town with which you are familiar. Choose a date. Look at the first page containing the Index. Then navigate around the pages and see what you discover. Try to find a building on the map that is still in use today. Report your findings.

I started with the earliest map, from 1884. I was curious to see how much the city has changed in over 130 years! Although it is not the same building, it was interesting to see that there was a business labeled “club room” at about the same location as where Bob’s Lounge is located today. I also wonder if the “bank” listed at the corner of Pierre Street and Dakota would have been Bankwest?

Next, I pulled up the 1903 maps. From the maps it was obvious that the town had really expanded. More residential neighborhoods are included and a lot more property is dedicated to the railroad. It’s also interesting to see plots laid out where the Capitol sits today.

Lesson 8—WorldCat, CAMIO and More

Lesson 8—WorldCat, CAMIO and More

World Cat

I was not able to log in to Worldcat using my library card and password.

I was able to complete the following without logging in to my library account.

1. We recommend using the Advanced Search screen for best search results. Click the “Advanced” tab on the toolbar 2nd to the top. In WorldCat, the right set of search boxes say “Keyword.” Click on the drop down menu to see other ways you can search.

Worldcat offers a variety of options to search, title, isbn, author, etc. This makes it reletively easy to track down a book/publication.

2. Choose Title Phrase search, and click on the limiter (below the search boxes) “Books.” In the search box, type a book title. Note the number of results. How many libraries worldwide have item #1? Click the link. What is the top library?

I searched for a title that I just finished. The title was only available in English and available as a book and ebook. The search retrieved 4 results. I did not see a list of worldwide holdings for this title.The top library was University of Washington Libraries in Seattle, Washington.

3. Click into result #1 and look at the full record. What is the call number (class descriptor)? To see what else the author of your chosen book has written, click on the author's name. To see what else is available on that subject, click on a subject. What other information do you see?

The result did not bring up a call number or class descriptor. The author, Charlie McDowell, also  is also attributed as a writer for the film "The One I Love."  The available subject that I found the most intriguing was "Self-Realization Fiction." A click on this subject brought up 2,354 results! The top result was "Jeremy Fink and the meaning of life" by Wendy Mass. I can further refine my topic search by format, author, publication date, language and more.

CAMIO

1. In the search box, type “Sioux.” Click on an image and notice what information is given and how you can manipulate the image. Blog about your results. 

As I scrolled through the images and search results, my eye was drawn to an amazing writing table. According to the object description, the table (or Bonheur-de-Jour) was created by Michael Gabriel Commelin in France between 1777 and 1780. The object description also includes all the additional artisans that played a role in creating the piece. The piece is part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and was acquired from the donor Eleanor Elkins Rice in 1939. The object description also includes the building materials and dimensions of the writing desk.

Using the tools in the image window I can scan the object and also zoom in. I can also view the image in its own browser window, adjust the size of the image, rotate the image, download, and print the image. An additional image provides a detail of the beautifully painted porcelain and bronze detail.

By clicking on any of the highlighted sections within the object description I can find other pieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art or more works by the same artist.

I could also find that this image is licensed for non-commercial, educational use, with proper citation.

© 2015 Philadelphia Museum of Art http://www.philamuseum.org

2. How would you and your community use this resource? What other observations can you make?

I would define “our community” as the staff of and visitors to the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center. I believe that for educational programs, discussions, and research this would be a vital tool. Using the resources from other institutions this community can compare and contrast works of art with our own and further understand the artifacts that make up our collection.

In a broader sense, I believe this tool is invaluable for learning about the arts and cultures that make up our global landscape. Taking the time to better know and understand the artifacts, works of art, and materials of past cultures and other modern cultures helps us to better understand who we are and where we come from.

3. CAMIO has a lot of potential for personalizing and presenting research. Do a search on a subject of your choice. Choose 3 or 4 favorites by checking the box to the left of the image number. Click "Save to Favorites"on the toolbar at the top of the results next to "Relevance" and "Display Options." Then click "Favorites" in the gray bar in the upper right of the screen. On the left sidebar, click to export to PowerPoint or Zip Archive File. This allows you to manipulate and use the images in a variety of ways. Try out these features and report your findings.

American designer, Charles Eames, is one of my favorite designers. I ran a search on his name in CAMIO to see what would come up. Although the search did not bring up many results, the results were all iconic works. I chose to export my findings as a PowerPoint file. This is a great feature! The slides created include the link back to CAMIO and information on each of the pieces. This would be a great way to pull artwork into any presentation. Again a great tool to compare and contrast works of art from around the globe with those in local collections or to teach about the arts and cultures that make up our global landscape.

 

LCW chair (Lounge Chair Wood)

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, USA

Licensed for non-commercial, educational use. http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/

 

Lesson 7 -- EBooks on EbscoHost

Lesson 7 -- EBooks on EbscoHost (formerly NetLibrary)

1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is "Find all my search terms." You may want to change the search to one of the other options. Review your findings and observations.

I used to be a yoga instructor and still try to practice yoga as often as I can to stay limber and avoid injuries from running (my first choice for exercise). A friend of mine has recently picked up an exercise routine and was asking for some tips for stretches to keep him limber for weight training and for his golf game this spring. I did a search on EbscoHost for something on yoga and found Yoga for Golfers : A Unique Mind-body Approach to Golf Fitness by Katherine Roberts. Using EbscoHost I could review the text for content, search for specific poses that I think would be helpful, and save pages to pass along to him later on. I was also able to giggle at the fact that the text links golf terms to yoga, unrelated to the "research findings" but good all the same:) I also

I see this as a valuable tool for research also. The ability to take notes on content, save resources, and search for key information will be very useful.

2. Constitution Day is looming and several students need more material. Search EBooks on EbscoHost and recommend some appropriate titles. 

I ran a search in EbscoHost for "Constitution of the United States" and opened the full pdf of A Companion to the United States Constitution and Its Amendments by John Vile. One of the features of EbsoHost and ebooks in general, is the quick access users have by clicking through the table of consents of the document along the left hand of the screen. I was quickly able to access the Preamble of the Constitution and learn about the purposes of the Constitution. Using the "create note" tool, I could make a note that the Preamble it the opening paragraph of the Constitution. Using the "dictionary tool" I could look a definition for the word "posterity".
I also opened a full pdf of the title, Place and Belonging in America by David Jacobson. I felt that this would give a more social perspective on the U.S. Constitution. I used the "search within" tool to find instances of "constitution" within the text. I found one instance (page 61) that discussed how the Constitution sought to overcome the "state minded" thinking in an attempt to create "union" of states and a unified people. As expected, this title provided a more social perspective on the Constitution, with the focus on the social landscape at the time and the impact of the document and less on the context of the document.

3. A class is doing projects on Western history. They have exhausted the library's print collection. In EBooks on EbscoHost, click "Advanced Search." In the "Select a Field" box, choose "PB Publisher." In the search box, type "Nebraska" or "Oklahoma." Report your findings.

The search results brought up several titles related to baseball on the plains and many ethnographic materials on plains tribes and history. The majority of the publications listed were attributed to The University of Nebraska Press and the University of Oklahoma Press. I could see where this would really come in handy if you had exhausted all the more main sources of information on this topic. Searching among the publishers of the states you are studying would bring up more specific stories and data for review.

Lesson 6 – Gale Virtual Reference Library

Lesson 6 – Gale Virtual Reference Library

1. Getting to know the titles in GVRL is similar to getting to know the titles of your library's reference collection. Click "Title List" on the upper right to view all the titles available in the collection. Click a book title of interest to you and access an article via the table of contents. Discuss the title you selected and how you may use it.

Thanks to a tip from one of the other participants, Jennifer Littlefield, I looked up the title “American Decades.” As I stated last week, I work as a curator for the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society. We are planning our next gallery exhibit on the 1970’s. This volume of information on the decade will be vital to provide general information on a variety of topics from the 70’s. Using the “search within results” I was able to enter “South Dakota” to refine results to items directly related to the state. I could them limit the search results to the “1970s decade.” With these results, I can quickly pull information that is specific to both my topic and time frame. 

2. At the top of the home page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results. 

a. “What foods have zinc in them?”

To answer this question, I searched “Zinc nutrition.” Many titles came up and I pulled up The Gale Encyclopedia of Children’s Health: Infancy through Adolescence. After a little digging, I found a few foods rick in zinc, including “seafood, liver, pine nuts, cashew nuts and wholegrain cereals”. [Mills, Emma. "ADHD Diet." The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 42-46. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.] Again, the listen feature on these types of resources is great for people that want to gather the information, but may not be able to read the text in its entirety.

b. To find literary criticism of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I searched The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Then I clicked on “critical essay” from the “limit search by” options at the left hand of the screen. Quickly, a list of 15 results popped up.

Lesson 5 – Proquest

Lesson 5 – Proquest

1. Do a basic search on something of interest to you. Report your findings and observations.

I work as a curator for the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society. We are planning our next gallery exhibit on the 1970’s so I thought it might be fun to see what information I could find on 1970’s disco fashion. A variety of articles, from newspapers, scholarly journals, and mainstream magazines came up in my results. I especially like how there are images from the articles included in some of the results. The breadth of articles, from politics to disco parties, was also incredible and very interesting. The ability to narrow my search results by topic (I chose “history”) was helpful in eliminating a lot of the outlier articles.  

2. Click the Publications tab at the top of the page. Do a search for a journal in your profession by typing a title or keyword in the search box. Report your findings and observations.

As I stated earlier, I work in the Museum located at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. When I ran a title search for “museum,” very few titles came up. However, when I searched “museum - In publication summary” a number of results were returned. I was rather excited to discover that I could view the latest issue of Smithsonian Magazine  in its entirety!