Health Source and Medline Plus take 2

I posted this earlier this morning, but for some reason I can't see it when I look at the public view of my blog, so I will repost it:

My responses to the exercises are in red italics.  I found these exercises to be helpful in my understanding of asthma.  My son was recently told by a physician that he may have it, and I wanted to know what it was.

Discovery Exercise:

Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Health Source – Consumer Edition. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.

1. In Health Source – Consumer Edition, click on the Publications link at the top of the page and explore the types of magazines and journals indexed in the database. 

Here I found pamphlets, books, including children's books, and magazines.2. Search for a disease or condition, such as diabetes. Sort your results by the most current publication date by clicking on the ‘Relevance Sort’ option.

I looked up Asthma and found articles written this month.3. Pick one of the articles you found and read through the full text. Was the article written in terms you could understand without consulting a medical dictionary?

The first one I tried, I could only find the abstract, not the whole article.  Next I tried an article from CRS - Adult Health Advisor and  this has a lot of very helpful information, and is very easy to understand.

MedlinePlus is produced by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. All the content in this resource is written with the consumer in mind. You’ll find overviews of medical conditions, pamphlets that can be printed, videos of surgical procedures and much more.  MedlinePlus is not part of Marvel.  The Medline database that is available in Marvel contains information intended more for the medical practitioner than for the consumer.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Go to Medline Plus   (http://www.medlineplus.gov)

2. Look at a few of the links on the main page. What’s in the news column on the right side?

Here is the list of news items:

 Advisory Panel Moves to Make HIV Testing Routine

 It's Turkey Time: Safely Prepare Your Holiday Meal

 Unemployed at Higher Risk for Heart Attack? Indicate in your blog post what some of the top searches are as listed on the left side of the page

Here are some of the popular searches:

arthritis

  aspirin

  asthma

  autism

   calcium

   cholera

   diabetes

   hypertension

   metoprolol

   multiple sclerosis

   potassium

   prednisone

   stroke

  vitamin d

3. Click on tab “Drugs and Supplements” and search for a medication you take or you have seen ads about recently such as Prilosec or Cymbalta. Note the kind of information available.

I tried Symbicort, an inhaler drug and was sent to Budesonide Oral Inhalation. I read some disturbing warnings about this.   was given this list of choices:

What side effects can this medication cause? What storage conditions are needed for this medicine? What other information should I know? Brand names Brand names of combination products

Why is this medication prescribed? How should this medicine be used? What special precautions should I follow? What special dietary instructions should I follow? What should I do if I forget a dose?

which covers many of my questions.

4. Click on “Health Topics” and search for the same disease or condition you looked at in Health Source. How does the information in MedlinePlus differ from that in Health Source?

I like the way this is set up. Instead of refering me to different articles, this is more like an encyclopedia of articles, with the references sited at the bottom. It gives quick information, without having to sort through a lot of articles that weren't that relevant to my needs.

5. Look at the list of videos available by clicking on “Videos and Cool Tools” tab. Pick one video and launch it so you have an idea of what a patron would experience. What did you think of the video?

The video I watched was an interactive tutorial which gave a basic description of what asthma is and how to treat it.  I found it informative and helpful and plan to have my son watch it.

Learning Express

These exercises were very helpful to me in understanding what LearningExpress has to offer. I was very impressed, and would refer family and patrons to this site to find job and course information. The practice test could be very helpful to people here in our town. Also, with homeschooling, I think this would be a great resourse.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog post discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Learning Express Library.  All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.
1.  Set-up an account in LearningExpress and browse through the available exam.
I watched the tutorial a while ago when I first learned about Learing Express. Today I made and account and started taking the GED practice test.
2.  Choose one and answer a few questions. Then click “Score my test” in the top toolbar. Ignore the warnings and continue to have your test scored, so that you can see how the diagnostic page looks. Then click “View Answers” at the bottom of the page. What did you think about this test experience?
I answered three questions on the Language Arts Reading Course 1.  I thought the test was fun. I was interested in how the scoring was broken down- some for comprehension, some for analysis, and some for application.
3.  Job searching and resume writing are among the self-paced courses in LearningExpress.  Click on the “Job Search and Workplace Skills” learning center and add one of the courses to your center.  Take a few minutes to explore the course and note your observations.
I looked at Career Course: Creating a Great Resume. If anyone I know needs to write a resume, I would have them try this out.  It looks like a good step-by-step project.
4. Type a search term in the search box in the upper left of the home page for a skills improvement or career topic in which you are interested. Notice that results are sorted by tests, courses and eBooks (if all of those are available for your chosen topic). Please select an eBook and look through its pages.
I typed in librarian, and had 0 results. I typed in Teaching and there were test and courses and ebooks. I chose a book called Best Careers for Teachers and found I could download it immediately. This seems like a wonderful resourse for anyone who needs information quickly.  I know that when I was in school, it would have taken days and days to track down a book I might want to read about a job I might want to pursue. 
OR
From the home page, bottom right, click the link for eBooks. The list will open in a new window. Browse the titles and take a look at one that interests you.

Ancestry Library

     I enjoyed these exercises, and have more respect for folks that are interested in the study of their ancestors.
My responses to the exercises are in red italics.


Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.
1. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be dead to be listed in Ancestry Library and can frequently find useful information in the U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002. You may even find your marriage license. Search for your own name in Ancestry Library and report the results.

I found myself listed in the US Public Records Index.



2.  In Ancestry Library, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census.  Report your findings.
I found my grandmother, Esther Marcus, and the 1900 census record of her when she was 5 living in Brooklyn with her parents and her brother and a single man from Russia.  It says both her parents were born in Romania, which I had been told.  I experienced a real rush of excitement seeing these names, and I understand why people get so excited about studying geneology.
3.  In Ancestry Library, perform a search under the “Photos and Maps” tab for “Maine” as the keyword.  Report your findings.
I had trouble finding Photos and Maps, and then I found it under "recent databases" on the side column. When I went to Maine, I found a long list of databases, that looked useful in studying geneology in Maine.

Health Source and Medline Plus

My responses to the exercises are in red italics.  I found these exercises to be helpful in my understanding of asthma.  My son was recently told by a physician that he may have it, and I wanted to know what it was.

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Health Source – Consumer Edition. All resources can be accessed via this alphabetical list.
1. In Health Source – Consumer Edition, click on the Publications link at the top of the page and explore the types of magazines and journals indexed in the database. 
Here I found pamphlets, books, including children's books, and magazines.2. Search for a disease or condition, such as diabetes. Sort your results by the most current publication date by clicking on the ‘Relevance Sort’ option.
I looked up Asthma and found articles written this month.3. Pick one of the articles you found and read through the full text. Was the article written in terms you could understand without consulting a medical dictionary?
The first one I tried, I could only find the abstract, not the whole article.  Next I tried an article from CRS - Adult Health Advisor and  this has a lot of very helpful information, and is very easy to understand.
MedlinePlus is produced by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. All the content in this resource is written with the consumer in mind. You’ll find overviews of medical conditions, pamphlets that can be printed, videos of surgical procedures and much more.  MedlinePlus is not part of Marvel.  The Medline database that is available in Marvel contains information intended more for the medical practitioner than for the consumer.
Discovery Exercise:
1. Go to Medline Plus   (http://www.medlineplus.gov)
2. Look at a few of the links on the main page. What’s in the news column on the right side?
Here is the list of news items:

Advisory Panel Moves to Make HIV Testing Routine

It's Turkey Time: Safely Prepare Your Holiday Meal

Unemployed at Higher Risk for Heart Attack?

Indicate in your blog post what some of the top searches are as listed on the left side of the page
Here are some of the popular searches:
arthritis
aspirin
asthma
autism
 calcium
 cholera
 diabetes
 hypertension
 metoprolol
 multiple sclerosis
 potassium
 prednisone
 stroke
vitamin d

3. Click on tab “Drugs and Supplements” and search for a medication you take or you have seen ads about recently such as Prilosec or Cymbalta. Note the kind of information available.
I tried Symbicort, an inhaler drug and was sent to Budesonide Oral Inhalation. I read some disturbing warnings about this.   was given this list of choices:

What side effects can this medication cause? What storage conditions are needed for this medicine? What other information should I know? Brand names Brand names of combination products

Why is this medication prescribed? How should this medicine be used? What special precautions should I follow? What special dietary instructions should I follow? What should I do if I forget a dose?

which covers many of my questions.

4. Click on “Health Topics” and search for the same disease or condition you looked at in Health Source. How does the information in MedlinePlus differ from that in Health Source?
I like the way this is set up. Instead of refering me to different articles, this is more like an encyclopedia of articles, with the references sited at the bottom. It gives quick information, without having to sort through a lot of articles that weren't that relevant to my needs.
5. Look at the list of videos available by clicking on “Videos and Cool Tools” tab. Pick one video and launch it so you have an idea of what a patron would experience. What did you think of the video?
The video I watched was an interactive tutorial which gave a basic description of what asthma is and how to treat it.  I found it informative and helpful and plan to have my son watch it.

Week 6 Business Resources

Business Resources

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Do a search for available information on FM radio. Pay attention to the types of sources found.
2. Look for the visual search option and try it. Does it make searching easier or harder?
EconLit contains economic literature including accounting, capital markets, econometrics, economic forecasting, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, and urban economics.

Found articles on devices for FM Radio waves- actually this is what first appeared:
Note: Your initial search query did not yield any results. However, using SmartText Searching, results were found based on your keywords.

I don't know what these articles are trying to do- sell something?  To Whom?  I would not find this helpful, but maybe some one who wanted to know more about FM Radio would.  Who am I looking this up for? Some one who has a radio program? Who wants to? I don't understand the assignment. I don't think I would refer anyone to this site, because right now I don't understand it.  When I tried a visual search, no results were found.   So, I decided to try a search for something near and dear to my heart- I tried chocolate, and the visual search gave me lots of options. I tried truffles, and found articles about businesses that were making truffles.  I could see how this could be helpful, although  I still feel that I would be more at ease just Googling these articles.


Discovery Exercise:
In your blog post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Complete a search to find resources for small business owners.
2. Complete a search for items that pertain to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and small businesses.
3.Complete a search for items that pertain to tax policy and small businesses.

I used the visual search for this and found a lot of articles, some were letters to the editor, some were policies.  Seems like a lot of work to sort through, and not an efficient way to do it.

Regional Business News is a collection of news information from all over the world. Information provided by these sources covers business, political, economic and other diverse, international news events. This resource contains the most recent 30 days of information from each of these wire sources. Several hundred articles are added to the Regional Business News database each day.
Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Pick a nationally known company. Search under the company’s name and look at the results.
I picked PetMeds and found articles about their earnings.

2. Narrow the regional search to something more appropriate for this area of the country.
Looked at articles about LLBean.3. Choose a Maine company to see what information is available about either the company or its industry.

I found nothing on Moo Milk, Tide Mill Farm, Monica's Chocolates or Helen's Restaurant.  I guess my downeast businesses aren't very news making.

There are two Value Line formats available through MARVEL. Value Line Investment Survey for public libraries provides independent investment information, analyzing over 1,700 stocks. The Rating & Reports section details the history, current status, and projected performance of individual stocks. It covers the current three months, updated weekly on Friday afternoons. (Note: Many of Value Line’s products are listed on their site, but not accessible under this license. They are indicated by a gray lock.) The number of users at a time is 6 for the entire state so you may have to try several times to access this resource.  If you have no luck after a couple of attempts, just indicated that in your blog.
Unless you have a good background in business or stocks, much of the information contained in Value Line may look like Greek to you. The goal of this exercise is not to understand the information contained in the reports, but to be able to navigate through the database to help a patron find the information they are looking for.
Value Line Research Center for academic libraries covers stocks, mutual funds, options and convertible securities as well as special situation stocks. This is available only to academic libraries and is also restricted to 6 concurrent users.
Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Look at the current issue of Value Line. Explore the various links for the “Investment Survey,” which is the primary tool available to public library users. Start with “Description,” which gives a good description of the site.
OK, did that.2. Look at the various reports offered: Ratings and Reports, Selection and Opinion, Summary and Index, etc. Familiarize yourself with the information contained in each report and how they differ.
OK Check.3. Pick a well-known stock such as Starbucks, General Motors, Apple, etc., and do a company search using either the general search box at the top of the page or “company look up.” Familiarize yourself with the type of information provided by linking to the various tabs at the top of the report. Also look to see if there is a “full research report” available for the company.
Amazon has the Ticker code (AMZN).  Well, their graph looks like they are doing great.

Wall Street Journal provides indexing to and full text coverage of the nation’s leading business daily from 1984.
Discovery Exercise:
In your blog, post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Using the advance search feature, look for articles on small business and health care.

Found 3534 results.
2. Look at how the results are returned and the suggested limiters offered by the site. What might a small business person be interested in?
I  tried Health insurance and small business.3. Familiarize yourself with the options available to follow up on your search, such as creating alerts.
If I created a My Reasearch Account I could get alerts about articles as they appear.

This was the hardest and least enjoyable assignment. 

Novelist

     I really enjoy using Novelist at work at the library.  I like to be able to easily find the next book in a series, and recommend books that are similar to what a patron has been reading.  So, I think this is one week where I won't be lost trying to understand how do my homework.  I am curious as to what some of the other features are, for instance "Book Discussion Guides."  Now I see that it has questions and answers and resources about the book.  Not all books have them, but it looks like ofver 800 do.
    When I looked at the series for the book Case Histories I found that it's called Jackson Brodie Mysteries.  The "Titles Only" is good for printing out a list for a patron who wants to know which book to read next.
    I have used "Read-alikes from NoveList" to find other books for patrons that they might enjoy. Sometimes I gather them up to show the patron, and let them chose what they like.
    I am looking forward to using NoveList more in the future for my personal use and for the library.