Potter County Library: Yup, we're on Facebook

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Lesson 8

April 10, 2015

Worldcat

Here at the Potter County Library, we have two small books very popluar with our older readers that enjoy German/Russian history.  They are The Last Bridge and A Distant Promise and they detail the life of a girl in southern Russia in the 1800s.  These books were printed by Midstates Printing in Aberdeen in 1984. There a few references found in the State Library search, but none found on Worldcat. I needed to replace these books for our library, and I felt very fortunate to find them on Amazon. I thought it was very interesting that I could find no reference to these books on Worldcat.

I searched in Worldcat Dissertations for the dissertation of a college classmate of mine, Glenn Daman.  His dissertation is titled Developing the Small Church Ministry.  This dissertation has led to Glenn writing four different books related to developing, leading, and shepherding a small church.  Pretty cool finding a good friend’s books on Worldcat!

On OAIster I checked out the Western Prairie Fringed Orchid. It brought me to a 1- page link from the University of Nebraska. This link gave me info on what book to find more information on this plant, and gave a brief summary of the plant.  This was an interesting tool to search an obscure plant and tweaked my interest to use it more often.

Lesson 10

Wrap Up

I appreciated learning about the Electronic Resources available for our local library patrons. I believe I found the genealogy portion the most interesting.   I struggled, though. I do not believe the site is especially user-friendly, certainly not if you are short on time.  I signed up on new patron for the e-card for the State Library. She is a home school mom and was excited about the resources for her family, but she also felt this site was cumbersome and not as user-friendly as she hoped it would be.  We also have a patron coming in this afternoon to sign up, since we do not have the information available in our library to fulfill her report requirements. 

We are using some of the sites with patrons now, and will continue to let them know of what is available to them on this site.  As a Library Director, I appreciate having this information available for our patrons.  I called in to the State Library Reference Department for help in finding information for a patron, and they were very helpful. They went so far as to finish the search for me and then sent me the links to the entire text article. Thanks for all your help!

Lesson 9

History and Genealogy

I typed in my name and found two public records, one of my residence from 12 years ago and one of my phone number at that same time.

I typed in my mother’s married name. ( I can’t remember my grandparents’ names; I never knew them.)  I found her grave site information.  I then typed in her maiden name, and found the census list from 1930. I wonder if so little is available, such as church records and marriage license, because she passed away in 1972. Quite an interesting search!  I did find a cousin, though, which was an unexpected bonus!  I then typed in my deceased older brother and found quite a bit of information. He passed away about 5.5 years ago, so much more information is available on him.

I could not find anything in Pictures. Don’t know if I was doing something wrong or what.

Heritage Quest:  Could not find any information.???

Sanborn Maps: Could not find anything of interest to me.  None of the towns I wanted to look up had a map, and the one I did look up then was Greek to me!

Lesson 7

I did a search on “Allergies in babies.”  The latest thinking (as I am told by my daughter-in-law!) is no honey or nuts til the baby is two years old.  I got one page of books; they ranged from arthritis help to reflexology to herbs for a healthy pregnancy. There were a couple books that perhaps could answer the questions I had. I was amused by the scope of books that came up in response to my query.

I found several books on the Constitution and  books that dealt with interpreting the Constitution. I also found a pdf of the Constitution, and also an AP book on U S history that might be relevant.

I did a search on Nebraska, since I am from there. I found information on Nebraska football ( of which I am a huge fan!) Native Americans, pioneers, and some information that I did not think relevant to what I was looking for.

This site gives a person access to a different section of information than what you may find when you do just an internet-based search.

Lesson 6

When I checked out the titles available in Gale Virtual Reference Library, I was surprised. I knew they are “selected” titles, but frankly I had expected more availability for more obscure research items.

I did research on Bahai faith, since I know a family that follows that belief.  I knew nothing about it prior to reading the article.  It is an offshoot of a sect within the Muslim religion, and it preaches good works and peace oneness to its followers.  I thought that was a very interesting idea, since the Muslim faith and its beliefs regarding peace or conflict are in the forefront of the news right now.  The article also mentioned that the spiritual center for Bahai is in Israel.  This is an interesting fact:  all the world’s major religions have a claim on Israel!  The article was very complete, and covered the history and basic beliefs of the faith very well.  The article also had very complete citation information, making it easier for someone who has to write an English paper with citations and bibliographies.

The “Listen” feature did not work on my computer, but I think it would be a great feature for those who don’t read well or learn better by listening.

Kelcy25 was the only blogger who had this section done already.  I enjoyed reading her comments; she does a great job writing and explaining things! I enjoyed her references to clothing inventions/discoveries in the 1910s!