Wrap Up

What was your biggest discovery?

My biggest discovery was that Marvel has changed tremendously. And I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to use it properly. I had tried to use this resource quite a few years ago and ran away from it because it was not kid-friendly, but the new look and feel is much more friendly to kids and adults. Some my favorite databases for school that we viewed were Britannica K-12 and K-2, the Learning Express and the NoveList K-8 Plus. The Britannica series has been very useful so far this year when I teach researching to my third and fourth graders. The younger version is very helpful for my K-2 students because it has more multimedia options for them. The Learning Express was a great option for teachers to use to prepare their students for upcoming tests. I love that they have different regional options for the tests, too. The NoveList K-8 Plus is a great resource for teachers also. This helps them find appropriate books for their students by age, Lexile reading level and genre. What a great tool for teachers and students to use. Personally, I really liked the Health Source and Medline Plus database because I have an autoimmune disease and these two resources offer many different reading options for my researching. I can not only look up my disease and find out the latest news, I can also look up any medicines I am going to try or what homeopathic options are available. I love that resource. I also liked the Newspapers and Maine Newstand database because I don’t always have time to read the newspaper and then I will hear about an article someone has read and I want to read it. This resource gives me that option. I was able to look back about 4 or 5 years and view an article about Bee Venom therapy that I have never read. I found out some real interesting things about it that I did not know.

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

I have already used the Britannica resources with students at both my elementary schools that I work at since we started this class. I also have shown a few of my colleagues some of the resources available to them for free. I think a good way for me to promote this site is to either have a class on it during a workshop day or spend time showing it off at a staff meeting. The word does need to be spread about this because it is so much easier to use and it is such a valuable, free resource for educators and students. Too many people are unaware of Marvel. I think it is so valuable that more families need to know about this also. This is where promotion becomes more difficult because the connection between home and school is not a real strong one for many schools and many families in my area still do not have internet access. I will definitely have a link to this site from my portaportal site (bookmarking site) so home access can be easier. I will also keep using it as a resource for my students to use during research time and keep telling them that this resource is free and accessible from home for free. Not too many things in this life are free, so we need to take full advantage of things that are free, especially when they are so valuable to many.

Ebsco Database and Ebsco eBooks

EBSCO Databases

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.
I chose the primary search in EBSCO because I work mainly with elementary students and wanted to see how it worked.
 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?
There were a lot of publications associated with the primary search. I checked to make sure that some typical kid publications were available. I found Boy’s Life, Girl’s Life, Sesame Street, and Highlights just to name a few. There were pages and pages of publications, though.
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.
I searched for Zinc in Food and found only one article that had anything to do with zinc. I tried many different versions of putting these word together, but always came up with the same results. The article that was really about my search topic, Powerful Food to Pack Your Plate, from Girl’s Life magazine. In this article I learned that red meat has lots of zinc. Zinc is essential for immunity and growth in children. The other search results had to do with countries like Portugal and Macedonia. One thing I really liked was that the primary search offers the ability to have the article read to you instead of reading it yourself.

EBSCO eBooks

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.
I found out right away that the eBooks do not load in Firefox. You have to use Safari  (or another browser) when you are on a Mac to view the eBook online. I searched for Rheumatoid Arthritis because it is an interest of mine. I like to keep updated on info about this disease because I have it. I searched for an eBook on RA and found one from the Mayo Clinic. It was very informative and I learned a lot while looking through it. I found out, through a web link from this eBook, that the FDA just approved (new news release today) a new class of oral medication for RA for people who do not respond well to methatrexate, a common medication used in treatment for RA.  Also I found out that there are many herbal plants that can help with RA inflammation, like cinnamon, ginger and celery seed. I learned more about Bee Venom treatment, which is my medication for my RA, and why it is working well for me. Overall I really enjoyed the experience and now have a new way to research and find books to support my research.
Constitution Day is looming and several students need more material. Search NetLibrary and recommend some appropriate titles.
Abraham Lincoln, Constitutionalism, and Equal Rights During the Civil War Era, The American Republic : Constitution, Tendencies, and Destiny, Representing Popular Sovereignty : The Constitution in American Political Culture, and The Constitution of the United States of America would all seem to be appropriate eBooks for this topic.
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.
I found that all of the 11 results, when limiting it to Nebraska, were straight from the University of Nebraska. The results focused on the Cherokee Indians that inhabited Nebraska, diaries of people during the Oregon expansion, a book about Joseph de Maistre’s social and political thought, human ideals defenses, crime and society, and a book about Georgian desertion during the civil war. When I narrowed it down by the history category I only had 4 results. The first 2 were about the Georgian army desertion and Abraham Lincoln. The next 2 were about the diaries from the Oregon mission and the westward expansion. 
I found the same when I limited the publisher to Oklahoma, even though I had 105 results. I received information about 16 different eBooks published by the University of Oklahoma Press when I limited the category to just history and the U.S.. The topics ranged anywhere from Oklahoma prehistory to native Americans in the area to battles of the west to Californian history. It was much easier to wade through the results when it was limited to history and the U.S in both instances.