October 2012 - Gardiner Public Library

MARVELous Invitational Lesson 4 – Hobbies and Crafts

May 31, 2017October 27, 2012 by Gardiner Public Library

This week I am exploring the Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center of the Marvel databases. This sounds like fun!

First I watch another short and wonderful tutorial about this resource. I have to say that these tutorials have all been concise and extremely easy to follow! A huge thank you to those who created these learning tools.

The home page for the Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center is very colorful and attractive. I have several choices or ways to search this database. I can browse by general categories such as Arts & Craftsor Outdoors & Nature. I am able to browse by Popular Sources such as Creative Costumes & Halloween Décor: 50 Projects to Sew & Craft or Knits for Men: 20 Sweaters, Vests & Accessories. I also see Season & Holiday, as well as Kids’ Crafts. WOW, what fun – Pintrest watch out – this is AMAZING!

Okay. I’m back – this database is truly one of those places I could get lost. Just browsing is so much fun, but now on to a “Real” search.

Since I have been learning to read the Tarot, I type tarot in the search bar. Eighty-two results! Several on the first page look interesting. The periodicals these articles range from Action Figure Digest to PolymerCAFE Magazine. I check a few of the articles and see that a couple of them actually do have a bit about the Tarot, but many don’t.

Next I try the Projectstab to see what this brings up. Three fun articles about creating a fantasy type character. Two of these projects are soft sculpture. Neither appears to have anything specific to do with tarot, but fun to see. The third project uses the Foolfrom the tarot deck as its inspiration for a wall hanging.

I check the other tabs – Periodicals and Reference Books – interesting information but not specific to my search term. I was hoping for a bit of information on creating a tarot deck, or perhaps inspiration for a tarot reading, but no luck this time.

The Help button at the top right of the screen is an interesting feature. Clicking this button, I find the usual help functions – how to search ; system requirements ; how to save results ; tutorial (I liked the one provided by the Maine State Library better than this one) ; etc. I do discover that there is a Citation Styles area. This will be extremely helpful when assisting folks needing to cite there sources!

Whether or not I have found what I was initially looking for, this is a wonderful database! I know I will definitely be using this with some of our patrons in the future.

MARVELous Invitational Lesson 3 – Maine Newsstand

May 31, 2017October 20, 2012 by Gardiner Public Library

This week the MARVELous assignment involves Maine Newsstand and the ProQuest Database. Those who have been reading along as this blog progresses, may remember that I posted about Maine Newsstand in July. So much for my originality!

The first piece of this assignment is to look at the Maine Newsstand homepage. This page, as are most of the databases, is pleasant to look at – not a lot of extraneous things to distract the user. The Basicsearch works really well, so enough said on that I guess.

Next on my list is to watch the tutorial about Maine Newsstand and ProQuest. This is another very informative and easily understood visual aid created by the staff at the Maine State Library.

What to search?

“Gardiner Public Library” is what my fingers type – notice the quotation marks, I learned my lesson when I blogged about Maine Newsstand in July. I check the Full Text radio box, my results are 346 items. On the right side of the page I see that of the 346 items, 334 are Newspapers, and 12 are Wire Feeds. Not exactly sure what the difference is, I click on Wire Feeds. These look to be articles, originally printed in a local, Maine newspaper and then picked up for distribution through a Wire Service. Not sure whether this was a “DUH” or an “AHA” moment, but either way, I learned something new.

Part of this assignment is to save my search. Easy-peasey – I just click on the Save Search button on the right side of the page, just below the search bar. I am asked to name my search – “library” – makes sense to me. A pop-up window tells me that my search is saved, and I can access the search from Save Searches in the My Researchsection of this page. Because I’m curious, I check My Research.

The My Researchpage has several interesting tabs, which include Searches. Clicking on this tab shows me my search, what database I searched, the date I saved the search, as well giving me a place to add notes, modify my search, delete, or create an alert.

This looks like a database I will be using!

I have checked on several of my fellow bloggers. We all seem to be learning and exploring some exciting information!

MARVELous Invitational – Lesson 2 – Britannica!

May 31, 2017October 13, 2012 by Gardiner Public Library

My first assignment is to use Britannica – Public Library Edition and research something current.

What to research??? I consider local elections but decide that might be too narrow a target, so I decide to find what is available in regards to the elderly woman who recently attempted to clean a holy painting.

Once I am in Marvel and find the Britannica Public Library Edition, I see the familiar search box near the top of the page and several interesting features on the rest of the page. Below the Britannica title I see a Guided Tour and try it. Everything looks pretty straight forward to me, so I begin.

In the search box, I type religious painting clean (notice, no quotation marks) and have five results, none of which appear to be what I am looking for. Next I try “religious painting” + “clean” – over 2100 results. I skim the first few pages and don’t see what I’m looking for.

Hmmm….

I change my search terms to “fresco” + “clean” + “Spain” + “2012” – and am told that there are no matches for my terms, but using alternative spellings there are 264 results.

Okay, what am I doing wrong??

I decide to “Google” it and make sure I have the correct terms. Of course I realize that the correct term is “restoration”! I change my search term from “clean” to “restoration” – 1 result. I try clicking on the Content Sources on the left; these are no help in this search.

Back to Google I go. This time when I search Britannica, I search the term “ecce homo fresco”. Google has told me this is what the painting is. I’m sorry to say, still no luck.

Giving up on this search, I am back at the home page looking through the Research Tools.

Media Collection looks interesting. Clicking on that brings me to a new page with lovely pictures. I try a search – Milky Way. This searches Britannica, but not specifically the Media Collection.

Back at the home page, I click on Timelines. Looks like fun, however not particularly user friendly. I see several varied choices of timelines, and click on one randomly. There seems to be no way to narrow the timeline search. I try moving the pointer to a year not listed. This doesn’t work. If I want a specific year, it seems I have to wait for the slideshow to get there.

The Biography of the Day and This Day in History have a bit more meat. Clicking on those brings a new page with some information about the person or the day highlighted.

All in all, this assignment has been interesting, but Britannica is not going to be my first choice when asked a “current event” reference question in the future.