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!
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