Week 11 Wrap Up

Sunday December 9,2012

The MARVELous Maine Invitational is drawing to a close! The weeks have sped by for us, and we have appreciated your comments. Your blog posts indicate your fulfillment of the Invitational’s goal of exploring the resources in MARVEL and thinking of ways to use them.

Keep the excitement of the Invitational going!
• Use the tutorials on the Maine State Library website for trainings or as a reference. Print or e-mail them for patrons or students.  If you create your own electronic guides for any of the resources in Marvel!, let us know so we can link to them from the Marvel! homepage.  Libraries are all about sharing – why reinvent the wheel if another library has developed a great training tool?
• Learn more about the resources with webinars and face-to-face training opportunities listed on our training calendar.
• Finally, explore resources the Invitational didn’t cover. MARVEL gives you access to Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts which covers all things libraries. You can also access WorldCat, OCLC’s huge bibliographic database. There’s also Literary Reference Center which is a full-text database that provides information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and time frames.

Discovery Exercise

1.  What was your biggest discovery?

2. How will you promote or use the resources with your patrons, colleagues or students?

Congratulations!

You have completed the Invitational.  Please contact us when you’ve made your last blog entry.  When we’ve evaluated your blog, we’ll send you a link to the post-Invitational survey.  When you’ve completed the survey,  you will be directed to your CE certificate and your name will be entered in the drawing for the iPad.

Keep spreading the word about the electronic resources!

Thank You! for participating and making the Invitational a huge success!

The MARVELous Maine Invitational is modeled after many self-guided learning programs available. We modified the South Dakota Library Challenge: Electronic Resources Edition to encourage librarians to explore and discover the subscription electronic resources.  We thank Jane Healy and Julie Erickson of the South Dakota State Library for allowing us to use their materials in our program.  Jane and Julie modeled their program after the “23 things” program developed by Helene Blowers of the Columbus Metropolitan Library and formerly of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County . Her program, Learning 2.0, was also a blog that taught PLCMC staff members about web 2.0 tools. The Learning 2.0 model is being used in libraries all over the U.S. and around the world to encourage lifelong learning among library staff. Take a look at the original Learning 2.0 blog.

Week 10 EbscoHost Family of Databases and Ebsco eBooks

Sunday, December 2, 2012

A patron asks, “What foods have zinc in them?” You scratch your head. Your reference collection is small and outdated. Where do you turn?

Dr. Oz just mentioned a rare medical condition. Where can I find out more about it?

A high school student is doing a project on the Harlem Renaissance. Where can the student find good, scholarly information?

My administrator wants me to learn more about the latest trends in my field. Where can I look?

The answer? EbscoHost.  EbscoHost delivers full-text journal articles from scholarly publications and popular magazines. Titles range from Agricultural Research to Reading Research Quarterly to Good Housekeeping to Newsweek. Ebsco brings you feature articles, book and movie reviews, editorials and more.

EbscoHost includes over a dozen different databases.  The entire list is here.  There are general databases and specialty ones like Georef.  This number of options can seem rather daunting to try to decide what database or databases to use.  Most public and school libraries will have good luck using one or two of the following:

• Academic Search Complete – comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database
• Masterfile Premier -Designed specifically for public libraries, this multidisciplinary database provides full text for nearly 1,700 periodicals with full-text information. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, it also contains full text for nearly 500 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 592,000 photos, maps & flags. This database is updated daily.
• MiddleSearch Plus- full text for more than 140 popular, middle school magazines. All full text articles included in the database are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles). Full text is also available for thousands of biographies and historical essays. Middle Search Plus also contains 84,774 biographies, 105,786 primary source documents, and a School Image Collection of photos, maps and flags
• Primary Search- full text for more than 70 popular magazines for elementary school research. All full text articles included in the database are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles), and full text information dates as far back as 1990.

Discovery Exercise
Create a blog post discussing the following questions and other observations you have about EbscoHost . All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1.  You get to these Ebsco databases a couple of ways.  The easiest way is to go to the MARVEL homepage by clicking on the alphabetical list link above.  Pick one of the databases mentioned above from the alphabetical list or pick Ebsco Host from the list and then choose the database from that list.

2. One of the first things to figure out is what journals and books are actually indexed in the database.  To do that, click on “Publications” in the blue menu bar at the top of the page.  Scroll down the list or search for a popular magazine title.  Is it covered in the database you’re in?

Now, click “Basic Search” and type a search in the search box. Search for answers to the question about zinc in foods posed at the beginning of the post if you can’t think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Discuss your results.

3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants’ blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.

Ebsco eBooks (formerly NetLibrary)

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a larger nonfiction collection at your library? NetLibrary provides all Maine libraries with an expansive non-fiction collection containing books on topics ranging from Kathy Ross’s craft books to resume books to historical information about Maine. Other books include many classic novels, “Idiot’s Guides”, “Cliffs Notes” and more.

NetLibrary books are limited to one user per book, so you may get an “item in use” message when you try to view a book. The books are released after 15 minutes of inactivity or by “closing item” when you are done looking at the book.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about NetLibrary. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list. For best results when accessing NetLibrary from home, close all browser windows and open a new window. You should not need to type in your library barcode and password again.

1. Do a search for a topic that interests you. Note the default search is “full text.” You may want to change the search to keyword. Review your findings and observations.

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

3. A class is doing projects on Western history. They have exhausted the library’s print collection. In NetLibrary, click “Advanced Search.” In the Publisher box, type “Nebraska” or “Oklahoma.” Report your findings.

Week 9 LearningExpress

Sunday November 25, 2012

Are your library’s practice exam materials outdated?  Is a certain practice exam always missing?  Struggle no more!  Learning Express  provides access to current practice exams, self-paced courses and e-books for grades four through adult.

LearningExpress gives users from elementary school to adult skills-improvement exercises, practice exams for career preparation, college prep and self-paced courses.  This resource can be promoted to high school students who want to prepare for the ASVAB (military test), ACT, CLEP out of college courses or study for an AP exam.  This resource can also benefit job seekers by providing a self-paced resume course along with skills improvement in areas like writing. For those entering new careers, LearningExpress includes practice exams for certification tests in Nursing and Allied Health, Commercial Drivers’ License, Cosmetology, Civil Service, Electrician and many more.  The U.S. Citizenship test is also included.

To become even more familiar with LearningExpress, take a look at the tutorial. There’s also a short tutorial on the Maine State Library site.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog post discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Learning Express Library.  All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1.  Set-up an account in LearningExpress and browse through the available exams.

2.  Choose one and answer a few questions. Then click “Score my test” in the top toolbar. Ignore the warnings and continue to have your test scored, so that you can see how the diagnostic page looks. Then click “View Answers” at the bottom of the page. What did you think about this test experience?

3.  Job searching and resume writing are among the self-paced courses in LearningExpress.  Click on the “Job Search and Workplace Skills” learning center and add one of the courses to your center.  Take a few minutes to explore the course and note your observations.

4. Type a search term in the search box in the upper left of the home page for a skills improvement or career topic in which you are interested. Notice that results are sorted by tests, courses and eBooks (if all of those are available for your chosen topic). Please select an eBook and look through its pages.

OR
From the home page, bottom right, click the link for eBooks. The list will open in a new window. Browse the titles and take a look at one that interests you.

Week 8 Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library

Sunday November 18, 2012

With nearly 75% of Americans interested in family history, and history required in schools, genealogy and local history information is in demand. The State Library provides Ancestry Library as a link to the past to help students and patrons. This resource offers access to historical books, census records, indexes and more. Be careful—once you start exploring, you might join the family history craze (if you haven’t already!)

Ancestry Library contains over 4000 different searchable databases and indexes. In addition to census information, you can find historical maps, yearbooks and indexes. One of Ancestry Library’s best features is their continuous index updating and additions, so if you don’t find something today, check back in a few weeks. Here are several ways to find out more–three short tutorials provided by the Maine State Library, a two minute video and sample searches provided by Ancestry Library.  Due to contract restrictions, Ancestry Library is available only inside your public library.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Ancestry Library.  This resource can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be dead to be listed in Ancestry Library 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 Ancestry Library and report the results.

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

3.  In Ancestry Library, perform a search under the “Photos and Maps” tab for “Maine” as the keyword.  Report your findings.

Week 7 Consumer Health Resources: Health Source Consumer Edition and MedlinePlus

Sunday, November 11, 2012

On a limited collection development budget, how can you keep your medical books current when the Physician’s Desk Reference costs nearly $100 before discounts and the pace of new research means that medical information changes almost as quickly as computer technology?

One way to offer your patrons current and accurate consumer health information without breaking your budget is to use the Health Source-Consumer Edition from EBSCO via MARVEL or MedlinePlus which is the National Library of Medicine’s consumer database on the Internet.

Health Source – Consumer Edition
Health Source – Consumer Edition is produced by EBSCO for the public to use. The interface is just like all the other EBSCO databases available in MARVEL. Health Source indexes journals and magazines in the medical sciences, psychology, food science and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine, health care law and general health.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Health Source – Consumer Edition. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.
1. In Health Source – Consumer Edition, click on the Publications link at the top of the page and explore the types of magazines and journals indexed in the database.
2. Search for a disease or condition, such as diabetes. Sort your results by the most current publication date by clicking on the ‘Relevance Sort’ option.
3. Pick one of the articles you found and read through the full text. Was the article written in terms you could understand without consulting a medical dictionary?

MedlinePlus is produced by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. All the content in this resource is written with the consumer in mind. You’ll find overviews of medical conditions, pamphlets that can be printed, videos of surgical procedures and much more.  MedlinePlus is not part of Marvel.  The Medline database that is available in Marvel contains information intended more for the medical practitioner than for the consumer.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Go to Medline Plus   (http://www.medlineplus.gov)
2. Look at a few of the links on the main page. What’s in the news column on the right side? Indicate in your blog post what some of the top searches are as listed on the left side of the page
3. Click on tab “Drugs and Supplements” and search for a medication you take or you have seen ads about recently such as Prilosec or Cymbalta. Note the kind of information available.
4. Click on “Health Topics” and search for the same disease or condition you looked at in Health Source. How does the information in MedlinePlus differ from that in Health Source?
5. Look at the list of videos available by clicking on “Videos and Cool Tools” tab. Pick one video and launch it so you have an idea of what a patron would experience. What did you think of the video?

Week 6 Business Resources

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Perhaps one of our most underserved populations is the business sector. According to the Small Business Administration there are approximately 35,000 small businesses and 120,000 self-employed people in Maine, generating nearly $3.5 billion in revenues and employing more than 500,000 people. With the current economic climate, a library can be an invaluable resource for businesses, helping business owners keep abreast of current trends and future opportunities.

MARVEL has a number of interfaces that can help business people navigate the ins and outs of good business practices. This is where they can find news articles, information about competitors and prospects, and general business advice. MARVEL provides a quick link to several business resources: Academic Search Complete, Business and Company Resource Center, Business Source Complete, EconLit, Regional Business News, Value Line Investment Survey (public library and academic library editions), and Wall Street Journal. Each platform offers a number of options and with good guidance from a librarian well-versed in using these resources; business men and women will be most appreciative of the service we offer them.  All of these resources can be accessed via the alphabetical list or the subject list on the MARVEL!  homepage.

The first interface, Academic Search Complete, is part of the EBSCOHost family of databases and will be covered in Lesson 10.

Business Source Complete indexes and abstracts more than 4,800 scholarly, trade, popular, and special interest serials in the fields of business and industry. More than half of the publications are peer-reviewed, and approximately 3,700 provide full text. Additional full-text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, faculty seminars (videos), and more. Updated daily.

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Do a search for available information on FM radio. Pay attention to the types of sources found.
2. Look for the visual search option and try it. Does it make searching easier or harder?

EconLit contains economic literature including accounting, capital markets, econometrics, economic forecasting, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, and urban economics.

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Complete a search to find resources for small business owners.
2. Complete a search for items that pertain to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and small businesses.
3.Complete a search for items that pertain to tax policy and small businesses.

Regional Business News is a collection of news information from all over the world. Information provided by these sources covers business, political, economic and other diverse, international news events. This resource contains the most recent 30 days of information from each of these wire sources. Several hundred articles are added to the Regional Business News database each day.

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Pick a nationally known company. Search under the company’s name and look at the results.
2. Narrow the regional search to something more appropriate for this area of the country.
3. Choose a Maine company to see what information is available about either the company or its industry.

There are two Value Line formats available through MARVEL. Value Line Investment Survey for public libraries provides independent investment information, analyzing over 1,700 stocks. The Rating & Reports section details the history, current status, and projected performance of individual stocks. It covers the current three months, updated weekly on Friday afternoons. (Note: Many of Value Line’s products are listed on their site, but not accessible under this license. They are indicated by a gray lock.) The number of users at a time is 6 for the entire state so you may have to try several times to access this resource.  If you have no luck after a couple of attempts, just indicated that in your blog.

Unless you have a good background in business or stocks, much of the information contained in Value Line may look like Greek to you. The goal of this exercise is not to understand the information contained in the reports, but to be able to navigate through the database to help a patron find the information they are looking for.

Value Line Research Center for academic libraries covers stocks, mutual funds, options and convertible securities as well as special situation stocks. This is available only to academic libraries and is also restricted to 6 concurrent users.

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Look at the current issue of Value Line. Explore the various links for the “Investment Survey,” which is the primary tool available to public library users. Start with “Description,” which gives a good description of the site.
2. Look at the various reports offered: Ratings and Reports, Selection and Opinion, Summary and Index, etc. Familiarize yourself with the information contained in each report and how they differ.
3. Pick a well-known stock such as Starbucks, General Motors, Apple, etc., and do a company search using either the general search box at the top of the page or “company look up.” Familiarize yourself with the type of information provided by linking to the various tabs at the top of the report. Also look to see if there is a “full research report” available for the company.

Wall Street Journal provides indexing to and full text coverage of the nation’s leading business daily from 1984.

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Using the advance search feature, look for articles on small business and health care.
2. Look at how the results are returned and the suggested limiters offered by the site. What might a small business person be interested in?
3. Familiarize yourself with the options available to follow up on your search, such as creating alerts.

Week 5 NoveList Plus

October 28, 2012

Is your library able to connect with readers no matter where they are 24/7? Do your patrons want to know what title comes next in their favorite mystery series? Are your patrons looking for something similar to their favorite author until his/her next book is published? Are you trying to increase awareness of the collection you’ve worked hard to build, for both new and older items? NoveList is a wonderful tool to help connect your readers with the books they will love!

NoveList Plus, an upgrade to NoveList, is EBSCO’s classic readers’ advisory database. NoveList Plus describes both fiction and nonfiction titles for all ages, offers expert reading recommendations from professional librarians, and suggests read-alikes for every title, author and series. Also available in Marvel are the following subsets: Novelist K-8, NoveList, NoveList K-8 Plus, and NoveList Plus.

If your library is like most libraries across the country, your readers are visiting you in person as well as virtually. So how do you reach out to them, wherever they are, whatever time of the day it is? That’s where NoveList Plus comes in. The staff at NoveList has created readers’ advisory services and outreach solutions aimed at meeting your readers no matter where they are or what time of the day it is by putting librarian-crafted content and reading recommendations on the website, in their inboxes, and in the catalog.

NoveList Plus includes such features as Grab and Go Book Lists (books on a range of reading levels in a variety of interests), 300 + Recommended Reads, Book Discussion Guides (with questions and answers as well as suggestions for further reading), nearly 2,000 searchable awards lists, featured articles, booktalks, and curricular connection articles on a variety of topics. Put simply you won’t find a more complete, robust readers’ advisory database anywhere. To help you get started, NoveList provides some great tutorials on their website.  There’s also a short tutorial on the Maine State Library website.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and observations you have about NoveList Plus. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1. The basic search bar appears on every page in all of the NoveList products. Pick a series that you would like to read. Type that series into the search box, check “series” then select search. Right above your results you will see a bar that includes “sort by” and “view.” Post on your blog how the use of the “view” component could make your job connecting readers with books easier.

2. You have just finished the last David Baldacci book. You really enjoy plot-driven, fast paced suspense stories. How can you find something new to read that is similar to Baldacci’s style? Type into the search box “David Baldacci,” check “author” then select search. David Baldacci will appear on the screen. There will be a brief description of his writing style, information about the appeal factors for his work and a listing of all the books he has written. Look to the right of the page and you will see “Read-alikes from NoveList.” In this case there are 9 authors recommended. The first three are displayed underneath. By hovering over the magnifying glass a box will pop up to tell you why this is a solid read-alike choice. If you click on the author link it will give you the same information for that author. If you hit the “Print All” you will get a page with all 9 authors listed and a brief reason for their placement in this category. In your blog, tell us
how using this tool could make your job easier and promote better customer service in your library.

3. Take some time to explore this robust database. How can using NoveList Plus help you to increase awareness of the collection you have worked so hard to build, for both new and older items? Share what you take away from this exercise on your blog.

4. Take a few minutes to read what your fellow participants have said about the previous question on their blog.

Week 4 Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center, from Ebsco Publishing, provides full text content for most of today’s popular hobbies, crafts and recreational activities.  The database includes over 740 magazines and books and more than 700 videos.  Your patrons can find instruction and inspiration using this resource.

Warning!  If you are a crafter, beware.  This resource can be very addictive!

The homepage is divided into 3 sections with the search box at the very top.  Categories for browsing are in the middle and at the bottom are featured magazine titles.  On the right side of the screen are featured seasonal and children’s crafts.  Follow this link to a short tutorial on using this resource.

This database is a lot of fun to play in so let’s get started.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1. Pick a subject category to explore.  Choose an area that interests you or something you’d like to learn about.  Pick a subcategory too.  On the results page, notice the ‘Find’ box that contains the search terms used.  Does your library subscribe to any of the magazine titles listed?

2. On the results page, look at the projects tab.  What projects would you like to download and try?

3. Look at the “Help” link at the upper right.  Tell us something you learned by browsing the online help guide.

Week 3 Newspapers and Maine Newstand

Sunday, October 14, 2012

These two resources, from the database supplier Proquest, give you and your patrons access to the full text of more than 500 U.S. and international news sources including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and the Times of London and hundreds of other news sources and news wires.
The Maine Newsstand is a special subset of the larger Proquest database that includes an index and full text coverage of five Maine newspapers:

• Bangor Daily News (12/92-present)
• Kennebec Journal (6/93-present)
• Lewiston Sun Journal (2006-present)
• Portland Press Herald (11/95-present)
• Central Maine Morning Sentinel (8/93-present)

Take a look at the homepage for Maine Newsstand. At the top, under the title, there are several options for looking for information.  Basic search  is the default. There is also advanced search which lets you enter more criteria to focus your research.  You can also search just obituaries or a particular newspaper publication.  Let’s talk about basic search first.

The basic search function works a little bit like Google or Yahoo search. Begin typing your keywords and a menu of choices will pop up.  If one of the options fits what you’re looking for, choose it, otherwise, keep typing and when you finish, hit return.

Before searching, click the box beside “Full text documents only.” Your results will have full text in html, pdf or both. Use the Set Alert feature to have Proquest run searches for you and inform you when something new on your topic has been added. Email the search results or complete articles to yourself or someone else.

Advanced search allows you many more options up front for refining exactly what you’re looking for.  You can search for words in different places in the documents, search date ranges, or for specific companies or people mentioned and several other options.  All these options help you manage the number of articles that you will ultimately have to sort through.

Discovery Exercise

Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Proquest. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1.The first 3 minutes of  the short tutorial “Maine Resources in Marvel” is about the Maine Newsstand.

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

3. Save this search to perform again or create an alert which will let you know when something new is added that fits your search criteria.

4. See what your Invitational cohort is discovering. Choose at least one other Invitational blog, read that person’s post (about this or a previous lesson), and comment on it. You may like to check each others blogs throughout the Invitational as you learn together.

4. This is Maine Library Snapshot Week which makes it the perfect opportunity to report how many patrons/users/members you have helped find the information they need using this or any other MARVEL resource.  Blog about an experience you had showing a patron how to use MARVEL.

Week 2 Britannica

Sunday, October 7, 2012

This lesson focuses on the Britannica editions available in MARVEL. All the resources are linked on the State Library homepage and can be accessed via this alphabetical list. Scroll down to the Britannica edition you are interested in. (Check out the FAQ if you have access questions.)

Britannica offers different interfaces for varying age levels and library types, making it a resource that can be successfully used by kids and adults. Britannica Online also helps make research fun by providing additional features, such as videos and sounds. Even better, great features support all kinds of learning styles, such as a read aloud option for all articles and e-books in the English and Spanish language versions.

Britannica has four online editions—the online learning zone for preK to grade 2, school edition (K-12), public library and academic. Spend some time exploring the edition that you would find useful for your library or classroom.  Pick just one of the lessons below and have fun.

Lesson 2a — Britannica School Edition
Britannica School Edition offers four different sections.

Learning Zone – PreK-2
Elementary
Middle School
High School

Britannica Learning Zone and Britannica Elementary offer a kid-friendly interface that encourages pointing and clicking to find information. It contains pictures, videos and short, easy-to-read articles. Other features include games and teacher resources. An online guide is available for Learning Zone.
Britannica Middle School contains longer articles and more features, such as a citation creator, and timelines. Another online guide that covers all the sections is available.
Britannica High School provides high school and college aged researchers access to encyclopedia content plus primary source documents and e-books. Users can create accounts to save research. Use the online guide above for more information on this resource.

Each section offers teacher resources, learning materials, a workspace for students to save their work, access to the dictionary and a guided tour.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and any other observations you have about Britannica School Edition.

1. Using Britannica Elementary, search for information on a mammal of your choice. Find a picture and information about its habitat.

2. Using Britannica Middle School, search for information on the same mammal you searched in Britannica Elementary and compare the amount of information.

3. Using Britannica High School, search for a country. Notice the types of information available on the right side bar of the results screen. What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?

4. Using either the Middle or School level, click on Help (top right).  In the index which is on the left side, click on “Working with Articles” and then on “Workspace”.  How useful will this feature be for your students and teachers?

Lesson 2b – Britannica Public Library Edition

Britannica Public Library Edition

Created for public libraries, Britannica Public Library edition contains timelines, quotations, articles, videos and more.  Explore the online guide for more information or watch the short video on the Maine State Library  homepage.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Britannica Public Library Edition.

1. Using Britannica Public Library Edition, search for information about a current event, such as the Arab Spring.  Notice the 3 sections of the result screen.  Click on any of the articles and read a little about the topic you chose.  Notice the Google Translator at the bottom of the article.  Would this be helpful for any of your patrons?
2. Using Britannica Public Library Edition, click on any one of the Research Tools on the left side of the homepage.  To get back to the homepage, just click on the Britannic Public Library Edition logo at the very top of the page.

3. Now, just explore the other features available on the main page such as the Biography of the Day or This Day in History.  What types of information will be most valuable to your patrons?

Lesson 2c- Britannica Academic Edition

Britannica Academic is very similar to the public library edition.  It contains the same types of research tools and materials as the other interfaces.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Britannica Academic Edition.

1. Using Britannica Academic Edition, search for information about a current event.  Notice that the result screen is divided into 3 sections.  The middle section contains the list of articles that met your search criteria.  When you scroll over any of the titles, a short overview of the articles appears on the right side of the screen.  Click on any of the articles and read a little about the topic you chose.  Notice the citation style choices at the bottom of the screen.
2. Using Britannica Academic Edition, click on any one of the Research Tools on the left side of the homepage.  To get back to the homepage, just click on the Britannic Academic Edition logo at the very top of the page.

3. Now, explore creating a workspace by clicking on the logo and returning to the homepage.  Tell us briefly how you might use the workspace at your institution.