I read through the blogs of "Gentle Reader," "Discover FCS," "Gentle Reader," "Teacher CJ," and "My Library Blog."
I found that several of them had very similar comments to my own. I was interested to see what topics they chose and the books and publications they found. I noticed that they didn't have the same library listed at the top as I did, but we also didn't look for the same book. I noticed that when I was looking for juvenile literature stories that involved dogs and horses, that Alexander Mitchell Library came up first several times, and Brookings Public Library came up several times. I decided that they must have excellent children's sections in their libraries. I have visited the Alexander Mitchell Library in Aberdeen and did find it to be a wonderful place for children's stories. Since I teach younger children, I am always looking for good picture books and quality stories for children in grades K-5.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
World Cat
I did miss this lesson the first time through.
I started by looking up books on dogs in juvenile boys' literature. I found the Diary of the Wimpy Kid,. I also found a cute book about April Fools. I looked through to see what library had it. I plan to order the book through the library. Next, I looked up a book with the title, Sounder. There are 3,634 libraries that have the book. Alexander Mitchell Library from Aberdeen came at the top of the list for me. The Class Description for Sounder is 813/.54.
I looked to see other books written by the author. I found A Reading Guide Through Troubled Waters, Reading Sounder, and a sound recording of William H. Armstrong. I checked to see how many libraries had the sound recording, and there were only 4. It is a cassette, so that would explain why few have it.
Next, I checked the OAIster list of records, and I typed in "South Dakota." 58 records were found for SD. I looked at the Heart of the Badlands, A Homesteader and his Church Building, and A Farmer's Homestead.
I was interested to see that some of them are very old and have scanned photos from long ago. I looked through the Table of Contents of the Farmer's Homestead to see what would be available to see without ordering thee information. They only show the one picture of the farmer's log cabin. The Table of Contents looks interesting, though, and I think it would be a great book to look through for research on early settlers' homes in the Dakotas.
I started by looking up books on dogs in juvenile boys' literature. I found the Diary of the Wimpy Kid,. I also found a cute book about April Fools. I looked through to see what library had it. I plan to order the book through the library. Next, I looked up a book with the title, Sounder. There are 3,634 libraries that have the book. Alexander Mitchell Library from Aberdeen came at the top of the list for me. The Class Description for Sounder is 813/.54.
I looked to see other books written by the author. I found A Reading Guide Through Troubled Waters, Reading Sounder, and a sound recording of William H. Armstrong. I checked to see how many libraries had the sound recording, and there were only 4. It is a cassette, so that would explain why few have it.
Next, I checked the OAIster list of records, and I typed in "South Dakota." 58 records were found for SD. I looked at the Heart of the Badlands, A Homesteader and his Church Building, and A Farmer's Homestead.
I was interested to see that some of them are very old and have scanned photos from long ago. I looked through the Table of Contents of the Farmer's Homestead to see what would be available to see without ordering thee information. They only show the one picture of the farmer's log cabin. The Table of Contents looks interesting, though, and I think it would be a great book to look through for research on early settlers' homes in the Dakotas.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wrap-up session
First of all, I would say my biggest discovery from taking this class was all the online training sessions. I hope to try to check in on one of these during the school day. It doesn't always fit our schedule, but I am going to try to make it work.
I am positively amazed at all of the information available at my fingertips that I can find through the South Dakota State Library. What a person needs to do is take notes and save them in a special account so I can remember which data base I used for each topic. I am not accustomed to using this as a starting point, but I am working in that direction as I have my students look up the answers to various questions.
I had two of my students order library cards today so they can use the online World Book, the practice tests, the ebooks, etc. I called their parents and explained the purpose of the card and invited them to spend a little time with me to make better use of the card for their families.
I checked the puzzle site with all of the various resources available. I also looked at the other links listed.
I hope to continue to spend some free time at least once or twice a week to familiarize myself with more of the information so I can refer my students to the correct data bases that I want them to use for the research I assign.
It is good to use a safe site. I find searching with Google to be quite time consuming for students because there is too much information that does not apply specifically to what they are needing. Labeling the articles with the ease of reading labels helps a lot. Using the Google way is often very difficult for younger students because they can't skim for the information fast enough, and they get frustrated. Using information written at their level will be very helpful for them and their teacher.
I am positively amazed at all of the information available at my fingertips that I can find through the South Dakota State Library. What a person needs to do is take notes and save them in a special account so I can remember which data base I used for each topic. I am not accustomed to using this as a starting point, but I am working in that direction as I have my students look up the answers to various questions.
I had two of my students order library cards today so they can use the online World Book, the practice tests, the ebooks, etc. I called their parents and explained the purpose of the card and invited them to spend a little time with me to make better use of the card for their families.
I checked the puzzle site with all of the various resources available. I also looked at the other links listed.
I hope to continue to spend some free time at least once or twice a week to familiarize myself with more of the information so I can refer my students to the correct data bases that I want them to use for the research I assign.
It is good to use a safe site. I find searching with Google to be quite time consuming for students because there is too much information that does not apply specifically to what they are needing. Labeling the articles with the ease of reading labels helps a lot. Using the Google way is often very difficult for younger students because they can't skim for the information fast enough, and they get frustrated. Using information written at their level will be very helpful for them and their teacher.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Ancestry Archive Library lesson
I was able to find my grandparents and parents in the census collection using this database. I was unable to find my own marriage license, however. I tried my maiden name and also my married name. I was able to find information on my husband's family, too. I tried to read about some of the families that would be connected to my students, but I wasn't able to find any. I am assuming it is because I am missing some information that would help get me to the place. I am going to have my students try it and fill in the information that they know. If they can't remember it all, they can ask their parents, and we can try it again.
I was puzzled by the fact that I couldn't find my Dad's military record since he was a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II. I think that I didn't quite get all of the correct information typed in, so the information would not show for me. I plan to try again to see what I can find.
It was quite amazing to see all of the handwritten work the people did during the early years to record all of the people in each area. What a huge task!
I was puzzled by the fact that I couldn't find my Dad's military record since he was a captain in the U.S. Army in World War II. I think that I didn't quite get all of the correct information typed in, so the information would not show for me. I plan to try again to see what I can find.
It was quite amazing to see all of the handwritten work the people did during the early years to record all of the people in each area. What a huge task!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Sanborn maps and Heritage Quest
I checked through the Heritage Quest Census for my grandparents, and none of their names came up in SD or IA. I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong, so I typed in George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. I found information on both of them, so then I knew I was doing the search right. Next, I checked out Samuel Clemens from Missouri. I found information on him. Next, I decided to try my husband's grandfather's family name. I found information on him! So I saved a copy to my file to show to my husband.
I checked through the Sanborn maps. Tyndall, SD was the closest town to my hometown. I found the Tyndall Presbyterian Church which I know is still there today. I also checked out the courthouse at Parker, SD, and found it on three different maps showing how the size of the building increased over the years. It stayed in the same location. It would have been fun if I could have looked at maps from my home town of Springfield, SD. It is a little easier to know where historic buildings are if it is in a person's hometown.
I checked through the Sanborn maps. Tyndall, SD was the closest town to my hometown. I found the Tyndall Presbyterian Church which I know is still there today. I also checked out the courthouse at Parker, SD, and found it on three different maps showing how the size of the building increased over the years. It stayed in the same location. It would have been fun if I could have looked at maps from my home town of Springfield, SD. It is a little easier to know where historic buildings are if it is in a person's hometown.
CAMIO Library
I looked through the Paul Revere prints and other pictures. The thing I found interesting was to compare how various artists depicted historical pictures. I looked through the pictures, drawings, and paintings of the Sioux. I saved and watched a slide show of what I kept. I also looked up famous SD artists from our study in SD history. I looked up John Audubon, George Catlin, and Bodimer's works. I plan to show these to the students when we do our weekly lesson on SD Pathways.
I also typed the theme of "Missouri River" to see what paintings, etc. would be available. I plan to show the students some of those as well.
I have showed my students different ways of making pictures, and this will give me a way to quickly find examples of the type of art I am teaching about, woodcuts, sculpture, oil painting, collage, etc.
As far as community use, I think it would be good to show it to people that are part of the community library staff so they would know this site is available. Some times people like to know the history of a particular painting and this site would provide that information for them.
I also typed the theme of "Missouri River" to see what paintings, etc. would be available. I plan to show the students some of those as well.
I have showed my students different ways of making pictures, and this will give me a way to quickly find examples of the type of art I am teaching about, woodcuts, sculpture, oil painting, collage, etc.
As far as community use, I think it would be good to show it to people that are part of the community library staff so they would know this site is available. Some times people like to know the history of a particular painting and this site would provide that information for them.
Archive Library lesson
I went to the school and worked on the Archive Library site. It is an amazing resource.
I looked at some of the information on Sitting Bull. I was mostly interested in looking at the texts and abstracts available online in children's literature. I saw book titles that I have not seen before. I am familiar with the more common ones, but these looked more interesting for my students since they are quite familiar with the common stories about Sitting Bull.
I checked out other children's stories about George Washington, stories about communism, and American history. I didn't quite understand at first what they meant when they said "full text PDF." I thought that meant you could view the book online and read parts of it. Instead, you get an excerpt from the School Library Journal that gives a review about the book. The review and short description of the book are very helpful and would certainly help a person make a good decision about whether a particular book is fitting for the child or lesson that the book was needed for.
It is a great site. I think it would be the most useful for a person who was not sure of what he/she were looking for, and also for research when the person has to be sure the information is at the level of reading that it needs to be.
I looked at some of the information on Sitting Bull. I was mostly interested in looking at the texts and abstracts available online in children's literature. I saw book titles that I have not seen before. I am familiar with the more common ones, but these looked more interesting for my students since they are quite familiar with the common stories about Sitting Bull.
I checked out other children's stories about George Washington, stories about communism, and American history. I didn't quite understand at first what they meant when they said "full text PDF." I thought that meant you could view the book online and read parts of it. Instead, you get an excerpt from the School Library Journal that gives a review about the book. The review and short description of the book are very helpful and would certainly help a person make a good decision about whether a particular book is fitting for the child or lesson that the book was needed for.
It is a great site. I think it would be the most useful for a person who was not sure of what he/she were looking for, and also for research when the person has to be sure the information is at the level of reading that it needs to be.
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