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.