MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 11 - Grand Finale!

MARVELous Maine Invitational

Grand Finale!

Where in Maine can you find:

A team of consultants who will lead you to a wondrous place where you can find answers to a world of questions? Why the Maine State Library of course! I accepted the invitation to participate in this creative and fun way to become more familiar with a free resource which is often forgotten, and greatly under used.  Thank you for the opportunity to learn along with fellow participants.

Where in Maine can you find:

Information about blogging, http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs

The value of participating in a blogging community; and help in making use of this social and educational tool?

The suggested blogging sites were Blogger and WordPress. I began this adventure without a blog, but now I have two blogs. I used Blogger to create a blog for the MARVELous Maine Invitational. I have since started a personal blog using WordPress. Both were easy to set up and use. My plan for the future is to use blogs to connect with patrons through our website. This could work for book discussions, writers groups, our Tightwad Exchange group, and more. As social networks continue to grow, more and more people use these tools to connect with others.

I followed the advice of our consultants accepted this as a fun assignment! “Think PLAY” is their suggestion. Preparing for using MARVEL as our source, I viewed the three videos on the Maine State Library site. These would be a great place for patrons to get a brief overview of this wealth of information!

Where in Maine can you find:

An online encyclopedia for all ages, accessible anytime and anywhere there is internet connectivity? Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Britannica offers four online editions, preschool, school, public library and academic. There is something for everyone. The features include great audio and visual tools to accommodate different learning styles. There are atlases, timelines, Google translator, eBooks and more. There are options for storing your research to be shared with others who may be working on a project with you. This would be a great tool for teens who might be assigned as teams to do a report. Some areas of Maine have very diverse language groups, here they could learn in their native language. Just amazing! I will also enjoy exploring this site with my grandchildren, as they are just full of questions!

 Where in Maine can you find:

Full text of Maine’s top five newspapers, as well as over 500 national and international newspapers?

Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Maine Newsstand and Newspapers is sure to be a hit with our patrons. It is a friendly interface with a Google type search feature.  I have personal interest in the film documentary by Ryan Cook, about Donn Fendler. It was great to be able to read newspaper interviews from various reporters, giving a fuller picture of this event.

The Obituary feature is a great resource.

I was also drawn to Maine Memory network, and Windows on Maine, as I watched the tutorial.

  

Where in Maine can you find:

Videos with instructions for knitting, craft projects to do with children, instructions for pursuing your favorite hobby and magazines for related activities?

Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Hobbies and Crafts reference Center was almost like playing on Pinterest. I found some great videos on knitting, nicely done for the beginner.

My search for ‘baby gifts’ under the projects tab, lead to lots of cute projects to make for my granddaughter due in April.

For those who collect for a hobby, there are several topics for collectables, from antiques, firearms, and stamps, to toys. I browsed the antique area for a while, looking for dealers. Maine Antique digest is available. That seems like a reference some of our summer visitors might enjoy. We often have people looking for information on coin collecting. This data base provides another option for our patrons.

Where in Maine can you find:

A list of your favorite author’s books, the series order, read-a-likes and suggestions for book displays?

Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

NoveList Plus is a resource I have become familiar with for RA. While I did not discover anything new with this visit, a refresher of the features is always nice. I use the summaries to describe books for my book group reading list. It helps them to make their selections. Showing patrons how they can find read-a–likes is something I do when the opportunity is present.  Just seeing the joy on their faces as they learn how to use a new tool to fuel their reading passion is so rewarding!

There is a section for professional Resources where one can find suggestions for book displays each month, among many other aids to help librarians improve RA skills.

Where in Maine can you find:

information on business trends, regional businesses, and investing tools?

Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Business Resources include Business Source Complete, EconLit, Regional Business News, and Value Line. While this area was the most challenging for me to explore, it widened my base of knowledge, making me aware of resources I might not have thought about when assisting patrons who are interested in business or investing. Maine has a lot of entrepreneurs trying to make a living by owning their own business. Here are some resources they can browse and search to explore their options.

Where in Maine can you find:

The latest information on diseases, prevention, treatments, drug interactions, alternative medicine and more?

Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

HealthSource-Consumer Edition and MedlinePlus are valuable research tools for maintaining good health, and being an active participant in one’s personal health care. This is an area of MARVEL I have referred patrons to many times. They often come to the library after being given a specific diagnosis. Being a public library, not a medical library, we have limited materials on specific illnesses. Rather than leaving them empty handed, we can provide information with these two resources.

HealthSource – Consumer Edition is searchable and very understandable for the average consumer. While detailed, the information is not steeped in medical terminology. The references include magazines, pamphlets, and reference books.

MedlinePlus is not part of MARVEL, but an internet resource. This resource contains much of the same information as HealthSource – Consumer Edition, but I find it to be more user friendly. It is accessible without creating an account, which is helpful for those who have limited computer skills.

Where in Maine can you find:

Information about your ancestors, build a family tree, view obituaries, military records, birth, marriage and death information?

Why MARVEL! , Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Ancestry Library is a data base available at your library only. It is a great Genealogy resource which is only available by paid subscription. Access to this resource has recently been made available to Maine libraries by visiting your library and accessing the MARVEL data base and selecting Ancestry Library for use within public libraries. I was pleased to learn that even photos are available!

Where in Maine can you find:

How to write a resume, cover letter, prepare for an interview, brush up on math skills, prepare for exams, including CNA, CDL, even U.S. citizenship?

Why MARVEL!, Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Learning Express is a fabulous tool for learning all of the above mentioned! I was amazed at the topics covered, and loved taking some of the tests! Our college prep books seem to walk off the shelves so this is a great resource available at all times.

The economy has limited jobs for way too many applicants. The information contained here could make the difference from an average resume to an outstanding resume, giving one the best opportunity to have the employers take a second look at you!

I use this resource often with our patrons and they just love it.

Where in Maine can you find:

Non-fiction eBooks to supplement your library collection, information for students and teachers working on reports, crafts for children, medication info for seniors?

Why MARVEL!, Maine’s Virtual Library, of course!

Using the EbscoHost databases and Ebsco eBooks one can search for non-fiction books, lesson plans for teachers, popular topics, even information on medications. I was surprised that the medications were not limited to the Health resources. 

Now that this adventure is coming to a close, I have enjoyed exploring the deeper levels of MARVEL. Most of it was very enjoyable and I had relative success. I love to learn and to explore. I have learned more about what options are contained in MARVEL, and have more resources to provide information to our patrons. Parts of the program were difficult to achieve the results I was hoping for, but other areas surpassed my expectations with maps, photos, timelines and videos.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate!

MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 10

EbscoHost Family of Databases and Ebsco Books

Discovery Exercise

EbscoHost .
I entered the Ebsco databases by clicking on 'E', then choosing the EbscoHost database link.

I clicked on the 'publications' tab, and saw a few publications listed, but when I clicked on 'more' there were many more to choose from. I searched for gluten-free food, limiting it to the past 10 years. Vegetarian Times was one of the magazine titles.

MasterFILE Premier provided an article about Gluten-Free Quackery, in the Running & Fitnews Magazine.

APA

(American Psychological Assoc.)

References

Gluten-free Quackery?. (2012). Running & FitNews, 30(4), 5. 

I checked 6 blogs before I found a couple who had made it through to week 10. I really appreciated the honesty regarding some of the difficulties using these data bases.

Ebsco eBooks (formerly NetLibrary)
Discovery Exercise:
I searched 'Maine' first and came up with places to visit, Native American history, colleges, and legal matters. I noticed that many of the results were Gutenburg ebooks. Next I searched 'hiking' and found 10 books, related to parks in various states, and one about dogs. I assume that involves hiking with your dog.

Searching for  Constitution Day in NetLibrary brought only result. When I went to the data bases and selected Teacher Reference Center, the results were wonderful! One could easily locate lesson plans here. I need to remember this data base for our teachers and home schoolers.

Using 'Western history' as a search term, and the  “Advanced Search” with 'Nebraska' in the   Publisher box, I came up with one result, a book "Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in the Summer of 1859".

I explored hiking in the MiddleSearch Plus data base. I learned that I should not underestimate the information here. I found Scouting magazine, and articles from other outdoor type publications.

As I browsed the data bases in Ebsco, I also found AHFS Consumer Medication Information. Information is written for the consumer and also available in Spanish. Another find was Highlights for Children Magazine. I stumbled up on this as I was searching the Primary Search sources.

There is information to be had for sure; searching is an acquired skill!

Explore posts in the same categories: Ebsco

MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 8

Genealogy Resources—Ancestry Library

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog posting discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Ancestry Library, Heritage Quest and Sanborn Maps.


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.

When I searched for myself, I was taken to information in US Public Records Index Volume 1, and saw the two address where I lived before my current address.


2.  In Ancestry Library, search for a grandparent or great-grandparent and see if you can locate them in the census.  Report your findings.

This was in interesting search. I searched for my maternal great grandfather. It was interesting to note the different forms of his wife's name. Some locating had her as Susan, others reported Suzie. One of my great uncles did an extensive family genealogy which included that branch. I was also able to locate my great grandfather's World War I Draft Registration card. I made a copy of this to include in the genealogy materials I already have for that family. 


I also searched another family member and compared the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 census. It was interesting to note the different family members and the ages, living in the household at the different times. I can see why so many people spend hours of self discovery with searching their family trees. 

3.  In Ancestry Library, perform a search under the “Photos and Maps” tab for “Maine” as the keyword.  Report your findings.

It took me a bit to locate the Photos and Maps tab. I finally ended up with a page where I could select a Maine county to see the unique collections for the county. There were not many photos in this area. I did enjoy the US Historical Postcards for Maine. I was less interested in the Professional Baseball Players images! Nice to know they are there, for those who might enjoy them!

MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 9

LearningExpress

Discovery Exercise:
Create a blog post discussing the following questions and other observations you have about Learning Express Library.

1.  Set-up an account in LearningExpress and browse through the available exams.
I set up my account, browsed, then searched by 'test' and located a CNA 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?

"Nursing Assistant/Nurse Aide Practice Test 1" is the exam I chose.  I did 20 out of the 70 questions, and really enjoyed myself! I would love to go back when I have more time and re-take the test. In the interest of completing this assignment in a timely manor, I submitted my answers and scored my test. The results were broken down into areas of study so one knows what their strengths and weakness are. The exam also allowed me to view my answers, which boosted confidence to see the correct answers, and increased knowledge by providing the correct answers to the questions which I answered incorrectly. This was a great experience!

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 learned that TOEIC means 'Test of English for International Communication'. 

I chose Career Course: Interview Tips to Get the Job You Want. The course allows you to spend as much time as you need on it, and to come back to it later. Some interview guidelines are able to be printed out for reference. This course offers wonderful information on preparing for an interview! 
We have so many patrons looking for work, preparing resumes, cover letters and preparing for interviews, I can't wait to let them know about these valuable tools!

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.

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.

The sheer volume of information available is incredible. I chose Jobs and Careers eBooks. there is everything from Real Estate, Fire and Police, Nursing, Vet Tech, Postal Worker, Plumber, Civil Service , and more. I am wondering if some of this information might be useful to a student who is trying to decide what career they might enjoy. 

In summary, I must say that this part of MARVEL is just as intriguing to me as the Hobbies and Crafts, as I love to learn and have a variety of interests. I could easily spend hours and hours here.

MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 7

Health Source – Consumer Edition

Discovery Exercise:
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.
Seeing as I love the health field, this is a fascinating area to explore! While I have searched some specific information in this section before, I had never explored the publications link. I explored by the alphabetical listing, the tried searching by subject. There is a wealth of information about healthy backs and I discovered a fun read with "Proverbs for Program People • Lessons for Life A Do It Now Foundation Publication by Hal Ackerman". Parenting seems to be well covered as well as drug and pharmaceutical information. Even AARP magazine was represented! Guess I am disclosing my age generation here!

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.
With diabetes running in the family, this was a logical search. When sorting to the most current publications, I found a nice article on the benefits of eating nuts to help prevent type 2 diabetes.
AMA

(American Medical Assoc.)

Reference List

Palmer S. Go Nuts for Health!. Environmental Nutrition [serial online]. November 2012;35(11):1-6. Available from: Health Source - Consumer Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 12, 2012.

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 reference cited above was very easy to understand for the average reader. No need for a medical dictionary!


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.
Discovery Exercise:
1. Go to Medline Plus 
I did check out Medline as well as Medline Plus.  Medline Plus is available on line at:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ and it seems to be geared for the general consumer to understand. I did some searching on Medline in MARVEL, and the articles were very professional, and detailed, for the scientists and doctors who would be using them as resources.

2. Look at a few of the links on the main page. What’s in the news column on the right side? Indicate in your blog post what some of the top searches are as listed on the left side of the page

Could not fine the top searches in MARVEL in Medline. The link above has the top searches. They include amlodipine, aspirin, asthma, autism, diabetes, gabapentin, hypertension, lisinopril, metoprolol, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, shingles, trazodone, and 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 looked up Proair, an inhaler for COPD. The information provided is fairly complete for the layman. One can read why it is prescribed, how to take it, side effects, other brand names, generic name, how to store the medication, what to do if overdose occurs etc. 

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?
Again using diabetes as a topic, the information is very different.To me it seems easier to find general information. The right side of the page has a medical encyclopedia with terms, and a section of related topics.
The main page has an overview with hyperlinks to related topics, then there is a wealth of information as you scroll down, including management, alternative therapies, informational videos, clinical trials, and journal articles. It is easy to navigate. Personally  I enjoy this site more than the Health Source. I might like Health source if I were looking to do serious research for a report, but on a personal level, Medline Plus is easier to find information.
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?
I launched the Paraesophageal Hernia Repair. This is really serious stuff! One sees an actual surgery taking place in the OR at the University of Maryland. While not everyone will have the stomach for this type of viewing, I found it fascinating, and very sobering as to the seriousness of the surgery. It really makes one think and weigh the risks before how to handle a health issue. Of course, prevention is always the best cure.

MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 6

Welcome to week 6 of MARVELous Maine Invitational!

When I first read the assignment for this week it seemed daunting! I took it a step at a time, and managed to work my way through most of it. I will come back to it to complete it. Nice that we have an extra week for Make-up work!

Since week 5 assignment, I have completed my visit to all of our participants' blogs, and left comments on a few. I admire the creativity and precise writing of some of our bloggers. I also appreciate the all out effort of others; and to those who have gotten behind, keep plugging along, we can do this! 

Business Source Complete 

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.

I typed in the term FM Radio. The result was that my initial search query did not find any results, but the program used SmartText Searching, and came up with 3952 results. The sources were predominantly from Academic Journals and Periodicals. I later limited it to newspapers and the results were 72. 

2. Look for the visual search option and try it. Does it make searching easier or harder?

Using the same search term, it came up with nothing . . . unless I did something very wrong! So I decided to do a visual search for L.L. Bean. That produced results! I learned that the block display style worked best for me. The results showed a lot about their telemarketing plans.

EconLit 

Discovery Exercise:
In your blog post your findings and observations regarding the following:
1. Complete a search to find resources for small business owners.

Using 'small business owners' as my search term, I stayed with the visual search. This produced lots of information, and I noticed how the relevance was scored in each of the blocks in the visual block style format. The Relevance Key is in the upper right corner, and there is a nifty little map where you can drag the red outlined box to different areas of the search results. That was fun to play with! The resources included demographics, entrepreneurship, retirement plans for small businesses, and so much more.

2. Complete a search for items that pertain to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and small businesses.

 Found an article which focuses on the Star Energy program for small businesses.

AMA

(American Medical Assoc.)

Reference List

Trimming bills to improve profits. Aftermarket Business [serial online]. April 2004;114(4):8. Available from: Business Source Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2012.

3. Complete a search for items that pertain to tax policy and small businesses.

I used the term 'tax policy' and 'small business' and 'United States', even though I thought I was in EconLit, the results were for all data bases, so I had to scroll down to the lower left and select EconLit, that greatly reduced the number of references. I had already limited my search to include only the past 10 years, so I had 9 results with those limiters.  

References

Bruce, D., & Deskins, J. (2012). Can State Tax Policies Be Used to Promote Entrepreneurial Activity?. Small Business Economics, 38(4), 375-397. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ursus-proxy-9.ursus.maine.edu/10.1007/s11187-010-9262-y

Regional Business News 

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 searched Home Depot. They recently merged with USHS.
Works Cited

PR, Newswire. "The Home Depot and U.S. Home Systems Close Merger Transaction." PR Newswire US 29 Oct. 2012: Regional Business News. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.

2. Narrow the regional search to something more appropriate for this area of the country.

L.L. Bean was my search term. It produced 102 results.

(American Psychological Assoc.)

References

PR, N. (2012, October 17). HealthFitness lauds employee health focus of L.L. Bean, Inc., 2012 C. Everett Koop Award recipient. PR Newswire US. 

3. Choose a Maine company to see what information is available about either the company or its industry.
I entered Roy Toy, a Machias based log building toy company. Only two results came up.

Reference List

Timothy Jack W. CURRENTS: LOG CABIN KIT; A Keeping-It-Simple Toy. New York Times [serial online]. December 25, 1997:3. Available from: Regional Business News, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 14, 2012.

I tried a different company, looking for more results. Stonewall Kitchen only produced 6 results, and the most current was February 2012. 

I was disappointed in the results of these searches, to me it shows that Maine business, for the most part, is not world news.

Value Line 

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.  
I found the 'description' to be very helpful. The Investment Education page is priceless for anyone who is new to investing, and using investment sites.

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.
1.  Ratings and Reports: provides full page stock reports, past, present and predicted.
2.  Selection and Opinion: provides Value Line's views on the economy and stock market.
3.  Summary and Index: provides the latest quarterly, summary and most recent data on stocks
4.  Standard R&R Cover Page: provides page numbers for various industries and a few Noteworthy tidbits regarding specific companies. For example, Microsoft was mentioned in regards to Windows 8 being well received, but needing to catch up in the tablet area.
5.  Standard R&R Supplementary: provides brief reports on selected companies.

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.
SBUX is the symbol for Starbucks. There is a "full research report" available as a single page PDF document. Back to the quotes page, the graph tab showed that the company took a dip in August. The news tab showed that they were opening a second location in Costa Rica.

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.

I searched for (small business) AND (health care) and below my search were some suggested subjects, including health insurance and health care policy. 
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 limited the articles to 2012. This narrowed the results to a manageable number. It is interesting that the number of results are 991 for Wall Street Journal (Online) and 593 for Wall Street Journal. Under document type, one can limit to commentary or editorial, which might be something a business person would be interested in to find out the thinking of the readers. The Person tab  allowed options to select political figures such as Obama, Romney, and others. 
3. Familiarize yourself with the options available to follow up on your search, such as creating alerts.
One could create an alert to be notified daily, weekly monthly or quarterly. Another way to receive notice of newly published or newly added material is by setting up an RSS feed. If you choose to create a research account, you can also save your search. 

Well, I do believe that I have completed this assignment. It was a challenge for sure, and I am happy that I am not in business or accounting!

MARVELous Maine Invitational - Week 5

Time has passed quickly for this invitational! Here we are, half way through the 10 weeks, which felt a little daunting in the beginning!

NovelList Plus is the feature being explored this week. While I have managed to keep fairly up to date with NovelList Plus, and taken webinars offered by ebsco, I am, in good faith, completing the assignment for this week in its entirety. I am sure I can learn new things and refresh the old!

I watched the NovelList Plus tutorial featured on the Maine State Library page. I had forgotten that the difference between NovelList and NovelList Plus, is that the Plus includes non-fiction, where the NovelList is for fiction only. I  am accustomed to using NovelList Plus exclusively.

Discovery Exercises:

1.  I chose Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Series. The view options enable the patron to see a 'detailed' view, which gives a brief summary. This is my personal favorite. The 'brief' view is condensed, yet allows the viewer to hover over the magnifying glass to see the details of the book. The 'brief' view is useful for printing a list of title for the patron who would like to keep track of the titles they have read, and what comes next. The 'grid' view might be useful for the patron who is very visual, and may remember the book cover but not the title. They may be able to pick out the ones they have already read, and know what title they would like next. I also find the Read-a-like Print list to be helpful. I can pass it to a patron so they can explore other authors.

2.  I see that I jumped the gun on this question! I do love the way that NovelList Plus offers suggestions as I type a name in the search box . . . as my spelling may not always be accurate. As I type in David Bald . . . I quickly find his name in the suggestions list. It is always interesting to learn a bit about author writing styles, which is nicely displayed in the author Description section. As I mentioned above, the Read-a-Like Print list is a great way to quickly give patrons a list of similar authors to explore. Even better is showing them how to obtain the list on their own. For some patrons, it might be overwhelming, but for others it is very empowering and they love it!

3.  Having patrons who enjoy the Amish stories, I searched using 'Amish' for my term. I limited my results to 'forthcoming' and 'adult'. I found a couple of titles I would enjoy reading, so I saved them to my folder for future reference.

4.  I have viewed over 28 blogs from fellow participants. I have posted a couple of comments. That was a little tricky to do if they were not of the same blog site as I use. I chose to use Blogger, as I already have an email account with Gmail. It took me a bit to be able to post to a Word Press blog.

As this is only my 5th blog post ever, I am still on a huge learning curve. I appreciate this opportunity to start blogging, and look to the future in serving our patrons in the best way possible. I am looking for my blog posts to improve as I take part in this opportunity! Today, I added a label to my blog post. As time allows, I may go back and edit some of my previous posts.

Onward to week #6 . . .