Week 10

I think the biggest finds for me this year were Sirs Discoverer E-books and I also found many new e-resources on Gale Virtual Reference Library that I didn't know about.  I also learned about some new features in the Advanced search methods that I hadn't used before.  I have already put some of these finding in use as we have started our literary analysis papers in the junior and senior classes. 

I will continue to promote these resources whenever I can. I work with most of our ELA classes throught the year. I try to connect with other teachers as well in using the resources.

I am also setting up a foreign-language station that will utilize the Mango database in using language resources. 

A lot of wonderful resources!

Lesson 9

Ancestry Library

1. For finding the sister ships of the Titanic, I went into the advanced search and typed in a keyword search for "Titanic Sister Ship."  I then selected the Ship Pictures and Descriptions category. I came up with 3 results with pictures and descriptions: The Titanic, The Majestic which was actually a replacement ship for the Titanic, and the Olympic which was a sister ship.  I googled sister ships for the Titanic to double check and came up with the Olympic and the Britannic. However when searching on Ancestry I could not verify that the Britannic was the sister ship so conflicting information there.

For the Hindenburg search, I again went into the advanced search and searched for Hindenburg. On the left I limited the search to Newspapers and Publications, so 436 results. I  selected the tab at the top for categories and noticed they were arrange by dates. I selected the time period for 1937 and had it limited to 42 results. I scrolled through the results. Many of these were images from newspapers of survivors, testimony, etc.

Heritage Quest

I searched in heritage quest for Lac Qui Parle County, MN, where I grew up.  I searched books, census and the Persi for places. I had many results of interest. There were books about the Sioux or Dakota Uprising and I recognized many names in the census. In the Persi there appeared to be many results of interest, but it seems you have to request the article in order see it?  Anyway, only the citations appeared. There were many on the school district and Indian Mission but again just the citation for it, not the actual article.

Lesson 8: World Cat

1. World Cat: I used the Advanced Search and put in "Martin Luther" not "King".  I also used the sub-type limiters to request a juvenile book and not fiction. I limited the type to books. I also sorted by date and just looked at the more recent ones at first. I found several such as Martin Luther: man who changed the world which was at Brookings Public Library and Martin Luther: father of the reformation which was at Watertown Public Library.

Graphic novels: After a little trial and error, I ended up putting in Graphic novels in the genre/form field and classics in the keyword field and not Garfield to eliminate those. I ended up with over 500 classics graphic novels. I would choose Count of Monte Cristo published by Papercutz.

With My Fair Lady search, I entered "My Fair Lady" as a title phrase and limited it to a musical score. I had over 500 results. I chose the third result and the ascension # was 26429906.

2. Camio--I tried the different search terms and then used the limiters on the side for the dates and browsed through the results for the 1831-1902 time period.

Lesson 7: EbscoHost Ebooks

1. I tried out the advanced search feature first using South Dakota as a seaerch and browsing through books on hiking and Native Americans. Then I put in "Literature" as my search and then narrowed it down by subject such as African American authors, Race Relations, and Class in Literature. This source is helpful for my English Lit courses when they do their research papers. I did notice the "Most relevant pages" feature which I believe is new. That is helpful to look at those first.

I also played around with searches putting in Literature and 18th Century, etc. Limiting by category is helpful: "biographies, literary criticism," etc.  Or, Literature and Surrealism; any of these will work for our research.

2. Fairy tale series:  For this search, I put in Fairy Tales as a subject search in the advanced search and had 16 results. The author of the series is Andrew Lang and titles are Violet, Yellow, Blue, Red.

Lesson 6: Gale Virtual Reference Library

Question 1: Spring Holidays Around the World

a. Spring festival traditions in different countries:

I searched for "holidays" and then used the limiters on the left side such as cultural overviews, recipes, etc.  I also tried selecting by publication title; choice included Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Junior Worldmark Ecyclopedia of Nations, and Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Holidays. And just searching for Holidays and then searching within for spring was effective.

The Encyclopedia of Islam had the following:

NAWRUZ

Nawruz, literally "new day," is the Iranian holiday that celebrates the beginning of spring

 

I was also able to use the subject limiter and limit my search to holidays.

 

Another finding:

Rose Monday Parade in Cologne

The highlight of Karneval in Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Mainz, Germany, is the Rose Monday Parade. The parade in Cologne is the largest in Europe. It starts at 11:11 A.M. on the Monday before Ash Wednesday and features floats, bands, and groups of people masquerading as fools. More than seven thousand people and three hundred horses participate in this procession. Those riding on floats throw candy into the crowd lined up along the streets to watch the parade.

And the Ukraine:

Introduction

Easter, called Velykden (pronounced vuh-LICK-den; Great Day), is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's most important holiday. The celebrations combine modern innovations with ancient traditions to render the holiday one of the most enjoyable of the year. Ukraine is famous for its elaborately decorated Easter eggs.

b. Traditional Foods and their recipes: 

 I did my search much the same as for the above question. I used some of the same titles but also found the Worldmark Encyclopedia of Food & Recipes. I browsed through the titles quite a bit longer than I planned. Very interesting. I also tried searching under spring festivals and then limiting to food and recipes. The following for Ching Ming festival:

Foods, Recipes

Cooked meals are most often offered to the dead on Ching Ming, but some families keep an old custom called the Cold Food Feast. This custom comes from an ancient story that restricts the making of all household fires on the day before Ching Ming (see "Legend of Cold Food Day" under "Folklore, Legends, Stories"). Because people could not cook any food, they prepared cold meals that did not require cooking. This feast once lasted for three days. Today, people place foods such as uncooked rice and noodles and unpeeled fruit and vegetables on the graves.

I also found the Easter holiday in Greece and a recipe for Easter honey pie or Melopitta.

c. Spring festival games: 

By this time, it was easy to find the information. Diwali is a spring festival in India:
 Because it is believed to be a time of good luck, playing games of chance involving dice is popular among Indian men on Diwali. The goddess Parvati is said to bless those who gamble on this day with prosperity throughout the year.

It was very easy to get distracted and read and browse more than I should have, but well worth it!