Database thing, part deux

I think that the most useful, frequently used databases are the magazines, journals, and newspapers on EBSCOHost. I can usually find whatever I'm looking for on there, and it's great for basic searches for patrons. I can't tell you how many high schoolers I have told to use the databases for research papers. Many times the kid just needs some written source with a bit of info on a person or event. Since the articles on the databases are written sources, they come in handy- especially if the student in question is a bit of a slow mover and his or her classmates have already checked out all the books on a subject. I think that the library staff needs to advertise the databases more in general. If we tell patrons about them, they can explore them more on their own and may find things they've always wondered about but didn't know how to look up before. Then the databases will be used more, and everyone will be happy. If we had to just keep one database I'd go with the EBSCOHost because it has so much stuff on there. We could probably use search engines and books to find a lot of other information. That's a tough question, though. Hopefully we will never be forced to make a decision like that.

Database Thing

Betty Jean McMichael's obituary was published March 18, 2008. She had four sons.

If I did the search right, LFPL doesn't have access to Telos, but we do have access to the British Journal for the History of Philosophy. Full text is available on a 12 month delay, and the journal is available through EBSCOhost. Clinical Medicine and Research is also available through EBSCOhost. It appears that full text is available, and there isn't a note about any delays.

The manager for the mutual fund Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 is Duane F. Kelly. Under "stewardship grade" it says that "this fund makes the grade in most respects." The overall Morningstar rating is 4 stars.

I was able to pull up an article from a 2008 issue of Consumer Reports regarding LCD TVs. The abstract is text only, but the full article is available in PDF format.

The next question was tough! I think that the biggest competitor for the 40202 zip code would be Starbucks. There are three of them. There are also two Dunkin' Donuts. This is definitely a question I would pass on to a reference librarian, though. ^ _^

Photosharing Thing

I don't recall ever getting a question about photo sharing specifically, but I do get questions from patrons asking for pictures. The most recent one needed to print some electoral maps from recent elections. Flickr and other photosharing sites are good options for getting these sorts of images. At the time, the student who needed the pictures was just sifting through a google image search. For this exercise, I searched Flickr using the same search terms she had used, and I was more satisfied with those results than what Google provided. I can also see the library staff using these photosharing tools to find images for programming. I frequently help our children's librarian prepare for storytime or other programs by printing pictures to display around the meeting room (for instance, arctic animals for a storytime on that theme). Photosharing sites would be a good place to look for these images- and I've found more results that fit what I'm looking for. Sometimes things pop up in Google searches that have nothing to do with what I'm looking for. Flickr seems to be a bit more concise.

On a more personal note, I like the "groups" feature that Flickr offers. Simple search engines don't offer tools like this. I searched 'arctic animals" and the site suggested the Animal Planet group. I love animals and would be very content to sit here and look through all 460,000 images, but I think that would be considered off task.

Social Networking Thing

I've been a member of the Facebook community since shortly after its creation, back in the weeks when high-schoolers were first allowed on, but they couldn't communicate with college students unless the collegians (Facebook's original demographic) approached them. I don't know if this is something to be proud of or not, but my knowledge of the ever-changing social network has come in handy a few times working at the library. I've also been on twitter for a few years, though I don't use it nearly as often.
I can't think of a situation in which we would need to consult Twitter or Facebook to answer a specific reference question, but I think it is important for library employees to know at least something about modern technology and popular websites, particularly since the number of people who use those sites continues to grow. That's one thing I like about this 23Things project. Even if you don't have a computer at home, or don't want to participate in social networking, librarians are here to help, and you can't help many people by refusing to learn about new things.
One way I think Twitter could be valuable to our patrons is as a source of news. If a patron is looking for a website where they can learn about news updates, Twitter can be very handy- if you're following the right people. I follow a few news sites like MSNBC, CNN, and the other popular networks, plus a few news anchors (like Anderson Cooper) and other sources (like the office of the prime minister of England). In some ways, Twitter is more convenient for learning about breaking news than visiting news websites themselves. Posts are updated more frequently. This is the only practical application I can think of offhand, though.
As for important things to tell patrons about Facebook, I always tell people that a.) the site is always changing, and b.) to be sure they read the fine print, as it were. Facebook's many issues with privacy controls in the past indicate that the creator of the site might not always be willing to share with the users when things are going to change, and what those changes entail. Our patrons are understandably appreciative when we share bits of information regarding their privacy- like, "don't forget to log out of your email because the person who gets on the computer after you might be able to read your stuff". Facebook is no exception here.

Thing 2!

I think that one of the most helpful services Google has to offer our patrons is the Google Docs application. We have a lot of patrons who come in to work on homework, resumes, etc. and they sometimes get frustrated switching back and forth through programs, saving in the right format (before we got Office 2007), remembering their flash drives, or even understanding how flash drives and floppy disks work. Google docs allow them to work on their projects using just internet access- no other programs or external memory devices. Many patrons also need to sign up for email addresses when they submit their resumes online, and the fact that they can use Google docs with a gmail address just makes things even simpler.