That's a Wrap Said the MARVELous Parrot

Lately I've begun to feel like a MARVEL parrot. Every other sentence out of my mouth goes something like, "you can get there from MARVEL" or "MARVEL has a great resource for that". I would border on obnoxious if it wasn't so damn helpful.

The resources of MARVEL are crazy expansive for any library. Exponentially so for a library with limited square footage. When there is only so much physical space to hold materials things can feel limited. With the virtual wonders of MARVEL the shelves seem everepandable. (I think I'm headed for the ridge of cheesy reflection here so I will head back to safe land before I can't stop the metaphors.)

Coming to work in the library as a reader has skewed my experience: before employment here I came simply for the books. Though I contend that right now bookshelves are the biggest draw for patrons, the ways in which the community as a whole is using the public space are changing. And will continue to change, in perhaps conceivable ways. MARVEL's virtual presence will surely help bridge (metaphor!) today's library with tomorrow's.

For this to happen MARVEL needs some press. I will advocate like the squawky parrot as much as possible. I've also been toying around with how to present to the local public all MARVEL has to offer - some sort of feature of the week, easel board, online blast, etc.  Most patrons don't know what they are missing, and for this resource to go untapped is shameful.

I'm not going to pick one resource to declare as the most helpful. Especially as I haven't finished learning about all MARVEL has to offer. Though my next "discovery exercises" (ahoy, there be yoga!) will be unguided I plan to investigate all corners of this crazy valuable resource. A truly stealthy ninja would do no less. Maybe the next time I check via this alphabetical list (har har har) there will finally be a "what is that blue book" app. Really, could MARVEL get on that already?

Thanks to the three ladies for guiding this MARVELous journey.
Plus thanks for listening to my rants. (Is twelve times too many to say MARVEL in one post?)

And, as always, Happy Reading & Cheers!

No Bees in the (Awesome) Hibernation Cave

Why hello there EBSCOhost MasterFILE Premier! Pleasure to meet you. You say you are updated daily - that's an impressment. I can barely remember to pick out matching socks daily. And that's only two options. You have hundreds and hundreds of periodicals. Color me impressed indeed.

As per usual I'm more comfortable with the > rather than the < so I opted to search the entire database instead of picking out a specific publication. I did spot check to see if AFAR magazine was included in the resources. Sadly, not. But there were several travel options, Nat Geo Adventure among them so I will not hold a grudge.

Coming up with something to search for was harder than it should have been. I couldn't get zinc or doctor Oz out of my head. Plus no oddball reference questions yet this week. Hmm, music is good. Then I couldn't decide which band/artist to search for. Can I really put my hideously random taste in music out there for all to see? The one random guy in Sweden religiously reading this blog surely won't mind but what about my stateside reader. Then I thought, don't judge - you know everyone went through a (insert embarrassingly good but publicly shameable band here) phase. I almost copped out and went with the Beatles but in the end that felt less honest than I like. And then - and then - I remembered how awesome ZZ Ward is, and how I want to tell everyone I meet to check her out. So, ZZ Ward. She is awesome! Check her out! I can point you to a Billboard (Vol. 124 Issue 37, p35-35, 1/3p) article showcasing her (awesome) debut album and a bit of biographical info. The "Listen" option is great for the visually impaired or those of us who simply want to be read to. The Australian option was not as sexy as I had anticipated. In fact, it kind of sounded like a lilting Stephen Hawking (I know, I'm going straight to hell.) The other ZZ Ward (still awesome) entry I came up with was from Entertainment Weekly and was a bit NoveList in nature as it featured a "so you already love this song/artist now you should try this other song/artist". Sounds like a read-alike to me. One last time, ZZ Ward is awesome, check her out.

As my ZZ Ward (still awesome) obsession is more about pop culture than academic affairs I also researched "hibernation". Specific to bears. Many many results with this topic. I knew from a previous discovery exercise to try the Visual Search so breakdown was indeed visually pleasing in blue and green boxes. Ursus americanus sleeps for five to seven months! I'm almost jealous of that kind of nap. I again learned to be on the lookout for clever journalists. I thought I was going to be reading about an actual species of Russian bears. Turns out Putin has a nickname. Or maybe there was some sort of historical pun I missed. Clever of you Peter Valenti of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Jul2005, Vol. 24 Issue 5, p38-39. Moving on.

The last thing I queued up was gluten-free diet. Everyone and their brother seems to be jumping on this bandwagon. Breadboxes full of results. Mostly how-tos from a variety of publications - Natural Health, Running & Fitness, American Journal of Nursing, The Progressive Grocer. I'm repetitive and redundant to mention again the left hand filter bar. However, it is still great to be able to at any time refine the search results by year, relevance, etc. My only bummer with my EBSCO experience is the lack of pictures. More than half of the sources I viewed claimed to have photos. Several in fact cited "PHOTO (COLOR)" yet I saw none. Perhaps this is a user error on my part. EBSCO also makes ProQuest seem like the less favored child. I have a supposedly prince-like brother so I can relate.

Onward to the former NetLibrary! "Beekeeping" is a nonstarter which is a bit shocking. "Bee" yields 61 results. The first two results were children's books. "I Wonder What It's Like to Be a Bee" and "Let's Take a Trip to the Beehive" were on topic. Cool to virtually flip through pages. Also cool to be able to print and save and download and email and cite from the right hand toolbar. Then things got wonky. After the first two relevant results came a handful of dubiously off topic eBook results including "Financial Aid for African Americans, 1991-2001" "When Aseneth Met Joseph : A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered", and "Casino Gambling the Smart Way : How to Have More Fun and Win More Money". Uhm? Switching topics I keyed in "Antarctica" and the results were a bit better. Several options on icy exploration. Full page makes the font pleasantly readable but I like having the icon options surrounding the text so I switched back to fit-page option.

Actually, Constitution Day isn't looming but the end of the world might be. You know students want info on apocalyptic events. Just a few options here including "Mapping the Mayan Calendar", "American Science Fiction" and "Arguing the Apocalypse". Glad to see ESBCO will correct my spelling blunders. Apocalypse was a tricky one.

Since I already broke the rules and skipped Constitution Day I continued my rebellious streak and didn't type in Kansas or Oklahoma. I instead opted for Arizona. Lots and lots of results here including "Dead in Their Tracks : Crossing America's Desert Borderlands", "Vision in the Desert : Carl Hayden and Hydropolitics in the American Southwest", and "Vanished Arizona, Recollections of the Army Life by a New England Woman". Plenty of material to help with any class project.

I didn't seem to have any trouble with user access or "item in use" with the eBooks. Then again I tend to be MARVELous at three in the morning. I wonder if this would be a problem during the school day? Most likely that depends on the popularity of the topic or specific title. A second observation revolves around copyright date. With bees, Antarctica and Arizona the results all seemed to be a bit dated. Copyrights from the 1990s in general. There is probably a free press, Gutenbergy reason for this. Also, things may be improving and updating as we speak.

Ok, EBSCO and EBSCO eBooks conquered. Off to take a nap. Not a five to seven month nap but a nap nonetheless.

Happy Reading and Cheers!

Airplane Landing Snowmen with Great Abs

Is there a MARVELous site for remembering all the usernames and passwords I have acquired for MARVEL sites?

Set up complete with my Learning Library account and I am ready to read, review and test! But where to start? I'm not ashamed to tell you with pride that I rock standardized tests. Most likely this is less due to smarts, and more due to my love of filling in tiny bubbles. The bonus of online tests, of course, is the lack of paranoia over whether or not yours is really a number three pencil.

I thought about trying High School Math but that brought on immediate sweating and panic so I started with the 4th Grade Math Diagnostic 1: Algebraic Thinking & Patterns. A short 15 questions later and I had my raw score, score report and answer key. The score report is useful to identify areas of success or needed study because it breaks down the questions into subcategories, while it is also helpful to see the answers to each question to understand specific skills. The recommended courses based on individual test results feature helps direct testers to appropriate study resources.

I skipped through the rest of public schooling - ack SATs - and took the Culinary Arts Practice Exam for fun. I watch a lot of Food Network. I must have picked up some demonstrable skills? Not so much. I don't know a béchamel from a hollandaise. I couldn't chop a carrot into a julienne even if I knew the proper dimensions, and I'm guessing my souffle would come up short as apparently you need eggs for that? So I learn that taking an online test is also good for know nothings. By this I mean, sure the practice exam is applicable to future culinary school applicants - already having an interest or aptitude in the field - but it too can serve as a window into the culinary word for someone who has just a passing inkling of wonder about the field. Most likely I will never be a police officer but it might be interesting to see what they go through to pass their standards. Might also be a good ice breaker. Or bar bet winner.

I took a look at the Career Course: Creating a Great Resume as this seems to be a real life skill asked about weekly in the library. And a skill it's good to keep up to date on (you know, in case I do go postal and poke in the eye the next person looking for that elusive "blue book"). The Course Overview lays out the goal to be reached and skills to be learned. From there there is a brief self discovery survey geared to which kind of resume is most helpful to use. Each resume type is clearly broken down and easy to follow. Each page of format has a "print this template" feature that could be phenomenally helpful. The timeline-like checklist of course sections at the left of the page is great to know where you are in the learning process - what you have and will cover. I also like that you can skip around if desired. The Putting It Together section towards the end is a great space to work out an actual resume. Very practical. I will certainly herd patrons to this resume corral in the future. Probably the near future.

My only complaint about taking a course is that while taking it there was no link to get back to Learning Library home. It felt like I had left the site and was not able to get back to "My Center. Not the end of the world as I have a trusty back button in the browser. Wonder of wonders.

Sometimes I try to speak and it comes out in yeti so "communication" seemed like a good search term for skills improvement. Plenty of results in Tests, Courses and eBooks. The only thing out of place here among the eBooks Goof-Proof Grammar, Communication and Literary Skills, and Interview Techniques was the Air Traffic Control Test Prep. Though on second thought I am sure it does take excellent communication skills to land a jet on a strip of tar without taking out the surrounding buildings or small children.

Because it promised to provide "proven techniques for increasing your writing and communication skills" I added Visual Writing to My Center. I was not expecting a PDF file as the courses and tests had all been site based. That said the PD format has all the benefits of a...PDF document. Charts, pictures, activities and lessons abounded in this file. Truthilly, I skimmed most of it but did pick up a couple of tips. I don't want to completely lose my yetiness in case I run into the abominable snowman this winter. (I think I've completely made up several words in this paragraph. Pardon that please. I also at first wrote "abdominal" snowman if you want a funny visual.)

Hmm, when using a blank search bar to select eBooks only twenty results come up. Better to click on the link from the homepage to see the complete list of titles. This may have been user error.

The Skill Building for Adults category is full of fantastic review like eBooks. I have heard several times from parents wanting to brush up on what their kid is studying to be helpful at homework time. Learning Library would be a super place to direct these parents.

I think that about covers it. Now to learn how to land that plane. Or roast that goose.

Happy Reading & Cheers!

My Great-Great-Grandfather was a Nut.

I count myself among the 25% of Americans not interested in family history. Growing up my mother always told me we were descendents of the guy who fell off the Mayflower. She could have been pulling my leg but the image has stuck with me. I do have an aunt who’s nutty for genealogy so I’ve endured my fair share of your great-great-great-great-great uncle so in so is (insert random old-timey name here) and he married blah blah blah from (insert random French Canadian town here). Makes for some thrilling family reunions. But then we play horseshoes and eat jello so it's not all bad.

I’m glad to not be named Wilhelmina or Hockey Stick or Hashtag. Or have some funkadelic spelling that was never found on a customized toothbrush. That said, mine is in the vanilla category as far as names go. It’s also the most popular baby girl name of 1981. And 82. And 83. Combined with the top 34th most common surname in the US I knew I was in for boat loads of results with an Ancestry.com search. I think I got the whole navy:

503,169 results with first name, last name.
908,271 results with first name, middle initial, last name.
1,001,061 results with first name, middle name, last name.
837,284 results with full three names plus Maine.

Strange that there are more results when narrowing the specifics of a middle name. I did notice that sometimes results were for middle-as-first-name people. This could be helpful when looking up great aunt Susan Henrietta Jones who went by Hetty. When I further narrowed the results to Farmington, Franklin, Maine I still had an abundance of results but no me. There were three listings for a Jennifer Scott born in Rangeley circa 1956. Then there was the disclaimer “Matches below are less likely to be your ancestors, but still might be helpful”. Well, matches above the line weren’t helpful either. I don’t discredit Ancestry.com for lack of info on yours truly. I am not offended in the least.  Perhaps by the time future generations search for my name I will have done something warranting a listing in the database. Or perhaps a different Jennifer will do something fabulous and I can take credit. For now, you can Google my name and find an old Myspace picture of me drinking beer out of a Popple if you really feel the need to waste 2 minutes of your life.

I had better luck looking up a grandparent. A great grandfather to be specific. Helon Taylor. Pronounced He-Lynn for those in the know, or He-Lawn for wayward hikers of the Helon Trail up Katahdin. I never met the man but have been told he was a pretty descent fellow. I also have to admit I did have that small spark of oh hey I know him/budding genealogist when I saw the classic black and white pictures on Ancestry. I found several US Census listings, Birth Record, Social Security Death Index, Military Listings, and a Yearbook photo to boot. Find a Grave navigates externally of Ancestry.com but I am glad it was included as I could there see more photos, a gravestone and read Helon's obituary. I also learned the name of my great-great-grandfather. If you thought Helon was an odd name, how about Almond. Who names their kid after a nut? Maybe Helon was indeed grateful for his moniker, mispronunciation and all, as his sister was Olive. The food theme could have continued - he could have been Grapefruit Taylor.

Maps and Photos of “Maine” were extensive. I particularly liked looking through the baseball cards from the early leagues. Such a history there. Also some great photos and maps of Baxter State Park in the early years.

Excellent resource for the 75%. And the rest of us. It’s a research tool I know local library patrons are using. I have fielded a handful of reference questions about genealogical research, and usually Ancestry.com is part of the answer. Even for those whose ancestors may or may not have been pushed off the Mayflower.

If I have a daughter I am naming her Macadamia. A son will be Filbert.

Happy Reading and Cheers!