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.

Proquest was very entertaining since I spent way to much time looking up Irish recipes for
St. Patrick's Day. Found a yummy Chocolate Bread Pudding with Irish Whiskey Sauce that I
definitly will try. Created a RSS Feed to receive more before the big day.
Then decided to get serious and do some research on cyber bullying. Liked the way you could
jump back and forth from Full Text to Citation and also always being able to Click on the Back
to Results to get back to your full list. Thought the tabs at the top Scholarly Journals, Magazines,
Trade Publications, Newspapers and All Sources really pinpointed what the researcher would
need. The interface Language was nice but why not have the actual article in the language?

When I first used the Publication tab I put in the keyword Librarians and nothing came up.
Then noticed the hint to put a asterisk by the word and 3 came up. Also put in a specific one,
Library Journal and 4 more came up. Didn't find it to hard to figure out. Like how you can always
get back to the complete list of publications.

Does make one wonder why I'm subscribing to so many magazines and using precious funds
when it is all available on line.

Loved this site. The World Book Kids was impressive even though this is not my grade level.
Thought that 25 articles was more than enough for that age level. Wouldn't want to overwhelm
them with to much information. Also liked the How to Cite feature since it is never to early to
learn. The Translate Text and Read Aloud would be really fun to use and useful.

World Book Student was very usable also. A 155 articles was more than sufficient and the
Back in Time Articles was an interesting feature.

World Book Advanced will be very useful espcially for our Juniors when they do their research
papers. The Books to Read, Magazine Articles and Web Site Icons will be extremely useful. I
really liked the topic headings ex. Climate, Economy and Way of Life.

World Book Discover was easy also. Liked the comprehension questions on the side and of
course the Translation feature both here and on World Book Kids is nice even though are
foreign student population is not an issue at this time.

Just started today. Will have more later.