Week 11: Wrap-Up

Phew!  It's all over.  I got behind as time went on, but I caught up in the end.

I didn't read as many other blogs as I probably should have.  I got too overwhelmed by the entire list.  I would have liked to have known who was blogging near me, so that maybe we could get together in person and talk about something.  As it was, I chose to look at blogs that were by people I knew.

I think I enjoyed looking at the Health-related databases the most, since those are the ones that I might have a use for now and again.  I also enjoyed just looking again at all the different services that MARVEL offers.  Sometimes I feel like I don't do a lot of reference work here other than book recommendations.  However, I am currently planning a post to our website about Learning Express and what it does.  I also might do something about the Hobbies and Crafts database, since we have an active knitting group here at the library.  I myself am not very crafty but this may change my mind.  

I did enjoy going through all the databases week after week.  I don't know how it would be structured, but it would be great if there was something similar going over social media or website creation for librarians too!  Thank you so much for all your hard work, consultants!

Week 10: EBSCOHost

I decided to look at MasterFile Premier as my EBSCO database of choice.  This is stepping a little outside of my box, because normally I go to Academic Search Premier for everything.  Consumer Reports is included, which is the magazine I get the most questions about.  I also looked for "Fine Gardening" which was not included, but "Architectural Digest" was.

Even though it's a medical term, I decided to search for information about ear infections, since I'm currently suffering from a few.  I read an article from 2010 about alternative cures for ear infections from antibiotics.  

Here is what it said:
If it feels like> AN EAR INFECTION

Use mullein and garlic eardrops "Mullein flower is anti-inflammatory and garlic is antibacterial," says Wilson. Drop garlic in the ear, as it's sensitive to stomach acid. BEST BUY Herb Pharm Mullein/ Garlic Compound (Ear Drops) ($12; herb-pharm.com)

Take quercetin "Like vitamin C, quercetin relieves the histamine-induced swelling that jams fluid [a breeding ground for bacteria] in the ears, but unlike C, higher doses of quercetin won't cause loose stool," Wilson says. BEST BUY Natrol Quercetin ($10; natrol.com)

Chew xylitol gum "This sugar alcohol is antibacterial specifically against the pathogens that cause ear infections," says Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., author of 2009's Prescription Alternatives. BEST BUY Spry Green Tea Gum ($9; xlear.com) or Jarrow Formulas XyliPure Xylitol powder ($10 and up; jarrow.com).

Pop a protease "Taken on an empty stomach, the same enzymes that digest protein can break down mucus and slow its production, helping clear the ears of bacteria," says Crain. Bromelain, in particular, has promising antibacterial and antiviral properties. BEST BUY Enzymedica Repair Gold ($50; enzymedica.com)

I can't imagine putting garlic in my ear.  I'll let you know if I get that far.  I'm sticking to Western medicine for now.

I had no idea the Idiots Guides were available via NetLibrary (or EBSCO Ebook Collection)  I scanned the list of children's nonfiction.  It's sort of an interesting collection. I wonder if there is a way to add it to our library catalog.  The fiction selection is even smaller, but I suppose the point of this guide is to increase the state's nonfiction.  Maybe my search skills need to be brushed up, but it seems to me that there are only three Idiot's Guides in the database.  For me, it doesn't appear that Full text is the default.  I did a search for alternative medicine as well and saw there was a few titles that looked like they might be interesting to flip through.

I got better results for Constitution Day when I searched within the results as well as the titles.  When I first did the search, I got a lot of Asian titles.  When I searched within the results, I got more books about the US Constitution in American culture.

When I do a search with Oklahoma as the publisher, I get titles printed by the University of Oklahoma Press.  These do not necessarily have anything to do with the state itself.  The University of Oklahoma Press seems to have more to do with ancient Greek culture than Oklahoma.  I suppose if they were doing something on very ancient Western history, that might be appropriate.

Week 8: Ancestry Library Edition

Did anyone else encounter that the first Ancestry tutorial on the MSL page had no audio?  I found that a little weird, and got distracted wondering what was supposed to be going on, or was I supposed to just be staring at the screen?  Strange.

I wasn't expecting to find too much information about myself in Ancestry.  After all, I've never been married.  Sure enough, I don't seem to exist at all.  I'm not sure whether or not I should be disappointed by this.  I can't find my birth certificate no matter how specific I get.  Oh well.  I was able to find my grandmother in the census results, but it took some finessing.  I had to use her maiden name rather than her married name.  Funnily enough, my grandmother was still not a US citizen in 1935, which I never knew.

The photos and maps search for Maine I found to be not particularly useful.  I noticed that there were a lot of other images that came up, rather than historical images of Maine.  If I were using it for a project, I would try to get more specific and look for specific cities to try to narrow down the search.

Week 9 Learning Express

I am skipping week 8 for the moment, which is Ancestry.com.  Since you have to be in your local library for that to work, and I am home sick with multiple infections and bronchitis, I think everyone will be happier with that solution.  So obviously, while one is home sick, catching up on Marvelous Maine is the best option.  So here it is:  LearningExpress.  I think this is a great resource.  I haven't recommended it to many patrons yet, since I don't have a lot of patrons coming in asking questions that these resources would speak to yet.  However, I can see myself using some of them.  There are programs that I would like to learn how to use better, like Microsoft Access.  Also, I have always wanted to take the U.S. Citizenship Test, to see if I would pass.  I am pretty sure I would not.  I mean, who doesn't take a Citizenship Test when sick?  I was reading the Youth Literature National Book Award nominees, but I got a little depressed (the Killing Fields of Cambodia, conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo, now I'm reading about a race to build and steal the atomic bomb.  Good thing I had Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel to shake things up a bit.)

So I thought the US Citizenship Test would be one of those scored tests, and it wasn't, but I took it anyway.  I think I could become a citizen, which encouraged me.  I didn't get a perfect score (Phooey!) but I feel pretty confident that I could become a citizen if I had to take the test tomorrow.  So to look at the testing aspect like I was supposed to, I'm going to take a 4th grade Algebra exam.  Mix it up a little.  I got 14/15 right.  The test was pretty easy, but I wish the answers were all available on one page.  I think the one I got wrong was at the end, and I didn't want to have to scroll through all my right answers to get to that one.

For a job search course, I looked at one about writing cover letters, one of my least favorite parts of the job search process.  It seemed pretty straight forward.  I liked that they showed a layout of a sample cover letter and I like that they walk you through making a cover letter on your own.  I think that I would use it in my next search for a job.

Originally I wanted to look for a book about Microsoft Excel, which, other than Access, is my least favorite Microsoft Office program, but they only had ecourses.  So I looked at an ebook on Green Careers instead.  I flipped through it quickly.  I liked it.  I would definitely move it to my e-reader though.  It is 254 pages long.  

Week 7: Consumer Health Resources

Health Source, Consumer Edition:  Wow!  There are a lot of magazines included in this resource.  I am intrigued that I see a magazine dealing with LSD in the first few resources.  I'm sure it's for true medical reasons, but the inner middle schooler is tee-hee-hee-ing over drugs.  (And AHA News probably isn't about the band, either.)  No resources start with Q, in case you were wondering.  I picked fibromyalgia as my disease, since my best friend suffers from it.  I was able to sort the results by date, but they looked like they were mainly about drugs.  I scanned a report on fibromyalgia by RelayHealth.  I could understand everything in the article as a layperson.

MedlinePlus: I don't like MedlinePlus as much as Mayo Clinic personally, but that's not the point of this exercise. :)  The right-hand column of MedinePlus has health news.  Current topics include that flu season is hitting early this year (and hard), most teens with mental illnesses are not on medication, and a study finds a pattern in brain injuries and contact sports.  Popular searches on the left side today include diabetes, hypertension, acetaminophen, aspirin and Vitamin D. To practice the drug search, I looked up Lexapo, or escitalopram.  You can find out why the drug is prescribed, how it should be taken, side effects, any special precautions or dietary restrictions, what you should do if you forget a dose and what to do if there is an emergency overdose.  Fibromyalgia information is organized in a way that I would find easier to show to a patron.  I have to say, I think Medline Plus has undergone a website redo since I last used it, because it's much easier to use now.  I watched a short video on allergies.  It gave a short overview of what causes allergies.  I'm not sure how useful it was, but maybe if I had just been diagnosed, I would find it more helpful.