Wrap-up

Have really enjoyed this challenge. The majority of the research sites were very useful and
interesting. I'm pumped about getting both staff and students to use some of them.

The one I found really exciting was the very first one on the World Book site. Am really
going to encourage the students to use this for all types of research. The pictures were really
great espcially for junior high students who often seem to need them for reports or speeches.
I liked the use of topic headings and the comprehension questions were excellent.

The amount of articles on any given subject was very impressive. Since I will probably not
be ordering another set of encyclopedias because of monetary costs this is an excellent source
to rely on. Once again this was well worth the time and effort.

Ancestrey Library etc.

AncestryLibrary

Neat site which would be really excellent to use for geneology research. Put in my name
and came up with my birthdate, address and phone number.
Put in my grandmother's name and came up with her birthdate, last residence and date
of death.
When I put in South Dakota under "Photos and Maps, clicked on Library of Congress Photo
Collection and came up with 929 pictures.

Heritage Quest
Put in Sioux Falls and came up with 225 sources. Seemed like a lot of family histories.

Sanborn Maps
Put in Aberdeen and found the Ward Hotel witch is still standing today. Actually has a
wonderful bar and restaurant.

Learning Express

Fun and interesting site. Took a reading comprehension test and was impressed on how easy it
was to take and score.
Good site for counselor and Juniors and Seniors.
Chose some eBooks but not to impressed with this.

ArchiveGrid & Camio

Wasn't real excited about this site. Probably because would use it very rarely in my library.
Seemed to be more for academic librairies. Put in Sitting Bull and came up with a brief summary
and more information at Cornell University.
Then put in Calamity Jane and came up with 79 hits with listed sites including New York Public
Library, Montana Historical Society and Montana State University. Was a little fuzzy on how
to access the information.

Camio on the other hand was quite impressive. I enjoyed enlarging the pictures. Found a teaspoon, sugar bowl, tea urn, Sons of Liberty bowl and teapot all made by Revere. The enlarged
pictures were beautiful. Not only would this be a great resource for the Art teacher but could
also see it being incorporated into Language, History and Government courses.
When I typed in Sioux got 63 wonderful prints that once again would be great for History.

Found the creating a webpage fun and very useful. Wasn't to hard. Will definitely introduce this to the art teacher.




Was a little surprised that my first 3 artists I searched for weren't listed espcially Georgia
O'Keefe. Did get 730 hits for Rembrandt which again would be great for art courses.

WorldCat

1. Often heard about this site but had never used it. Interesting but would probably only use
it to solve a really tough cataloging problem. Noted you can search using Author, Subject, Title
and Publisher. Liked that you can also use the ISBN code since this usally is the last solution.

2. Put in the title War and Peace. Came up with 1107 hits with the top libary being
Augustana in Sioux Falls. When I looked at the full record found the call number which again
would be useful in cataloging. Also found the Abstract or description to be helpful. Call # was
891.734 although this would most certainly go in the Fiction section.

3. Went to OAIster and got 145 hits for South Dakota. Some interesting ones. Everything
from Bats in South Dakota to the menu for the Cherry Creek Grill in Sioux Falls.

I don't think this would be my first choice to steer my students to for your research but
will definitly use it when stumped in cataloging. I will admit it was very easy to navigate.

Netlibrary

1. Put in the subject Knitting and only got 2 books. Both were good sources though and
I did use the Related Topics heading to check out some more. Then put in Tuscany and
came up with one book which sounded so good think I will buy it if I can. Also used the
Newest First option when looking which I really found useful. Put in the subject Italy and
got lots of hits with some also having information about Tuscany.

2. Got a lot of hits on Fitness but the most recent was 2005. Recent information seems to
be the only drawback to this site. For research for papers this site wouldn't work for up to
date topics but could definitely be used for past history such as American Indians, Civil
War, Abraham Lincoln etc. Chose Fitness for Dummies and Complete Idiot's Guide to Yoga
as books.

3. Would never have known to put those two subject headings in the Publisher box. Guess
that's why I'm doing this. Got 77 hits for Nebraska and about the same for Oklahoma.
Majority of the books were on Indian tribes.

I had never used this site before and found it very informative. Liked being able to
look at the Contents of a book by chapter and if course being able to read sections. Will
definitely introduce this to the teachers and classes.

Gale Virtual Reference is definitly a plus since I'm not ordering very many reference books
since everything is on line now and they do take up a huge amount of space. Really liked the
show all feature which lets you see the collection a a glance.
I chose Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream and from the Table of Contents
chose The Great Gatsby. Lots of information and very easy to understand, espcially for older
students. Liked the Historical Overview. Good source for teachers preparing to teach this
book.

Did a basic search on Swine Flu and pulled up 5 sources. Chose Gale Encyclopedia of
Science and found a very brief article. It was good but would probably need a little more in
depth info. Did like the Source Citation at the end of the article for Juniors learning how to
cite sources. The "Read to Me" feature is probably not key with high school students but is
interesting.