Blog reflection 5.....

This semester really has flown by !!
Lib 3 is my first online class, and I’ve enjoyed it tremendously. It has been both interesting, and challenging.
It’s hard to say if I had more, or less, interaction with other students, because I have sat in classes and had limited interaction, all semester, with the other students. However, I’ve also made really good friends from other classes I’ve attended.
I don’t have a preference between online or face to face classes, because there are good points in both areas. Online classes give you the opportunity to do the work, on your own time. You do need to set time aside to complete the assignments. This develops good time management skills. I would set a timer for say one, or two hours, and just knuckle down, and complete as much work as possible. On the other hand, face to face classes give you instant reactions / discussions, and you can have one on one conversations with the instructor.
I would say that my last set of comments would answer the question regarding if online classes are either easier, or harder than traditional classes. Not having to drive to class makes it easier. However, not being able to collaborate, or share information with fellow students makes it harder.
Online learning is definitely appropriate for library research courses, because of the nature of research. You are already on the internet. You can search, read, scan, copy, and link all kinds of documents, articles, stories, all at your computer.
If the course had a face to face workshop, I probably would have come.

To reiterate my earlier comment, this class has taught me a lot.
Thanks Dena.

Go 4th and Blog reflect ;)

Firstly, I thought the video was very cleverly designed, and definitely "hit the nail on the head" regarding the constantly evolving Information Revolution.
I do think that Information Competency is very important. It gives you the ability to decipher what information is relevant, or not, when putting together research papers, and not wasting your time, by going down the wrong path by searching for unrelated topics.
Information Competency to me, means being able to accept the fact that you can find information, in many forms, and from many sources; Books, Periodicals, Video tapes, Compact discs, Libraries, Internet databases, and Multimedia. You are not restricted to one particular source. You are also organized in your research, knowing how to save links, articles, documents, and then assemble them together, when you need to create your school work / research paper / presentation.

I wouldn't say I was totally an Information Competent student, just yet, but I have definitely learned a lot from the Class, and the instructor. There have been so many websites / databases that I've been exposed to, where I can draw information from.
After this course, I'll continue to utilize the databases, because they are constantly changing to give us the most up to date information.
Also what I've found, by searching various sites, is that I can see information that is not always presented on mainstream media. Important stories that, for some reason, or another, are not covered. Or if they are covered, then there's a certain bias towards the story.

Blog reflection the third

My opinion on the research process has definitely changed since starting this online class. I used to only use Yahoo, or Google, but now that I've seen the multiple ways to search for information, I know I can look at several sites to find it. It really has become easier for me to do research. In the past I would just type in a word, in the subject header, and use the first couple of result sites that appeared. Now I use advanced search, with specific details entered in the search boxes.
A few tips I've found are to use different search engines, for information, such as Dogpile, or Alta Vista. They often come up with alternate information not covered by Yahoo or Google.
Another tip is to investigate all the drop down menus, or links within links. These give you even more options for searching by opening up more links.

Blog reflection 2

The past few weeks have been interesting. I didn't realize how important, and versatile libraries are. They aren't just buildings with books in them !! There's so many sources of information in there. When I had questions, it didn't matter which library I was in, Main, local branches, or LBCC, the librarians were always helpful.
I don't think libraries are not needed, in fact it's the contrary. They are a great place to interact. You just can't beat the human contact element. Plus there are some things that can't be accessed on the Internet.
The Internet plays a big role in my life. I use it because it's convenient - mapquest;
fast - instant news / sports; informative - website links that can lead to other previously unknown links.

Project 1 Library visit

For my library visit I chose the Main branch Library of the Long Beach Public Library, in downtown Long Beach.
It is located at 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90822. Phone number 562-570-6744
The website address is www.lbpl.org.

As I made my way on Friday, 20th, the first impression on walking towards the library, was one of a modern building, with interesting angles on the exterior walls. The outside design blended in with the surrounding architecture. In fact, the whole complex had a futuristic feel to it.
Once inside it is very spacious, and there’s plenty of room to work, or study, on the tables. There is also plenty of room between the tables themselves. As I sat and looked around the library’s first floor, I got the impression of a well planned, and laid out environment. The book stacks started at 000, and progressed around the floor up to 999, which made it easy to follow.
The front desk had free Dewey Decimal classification guides to help you understand the system.
There are basically three main sections in the library: An Adult section: a Teen section, and a Children’s section.
The library has an extensive collection of multiple materials to choose from. They have books, periodicals, WPA murals, books on tapes, and cds amongst others. They also have dvds and videos available for renting. The library also has a very large selection of sheet music, which is something different in today’s digital age.
They also have two very large sections concentrating on Arts, and also Business.
They even have art displays, throughout the first floor, that change every two months. Members can purchase the art.
The library offers a variety of services, three of which are: an Information Center for people with disabilities, located on the lower floor of the library. An Inter-library loan service which enables the library to loan books for the members receive books from other libraries within the country. Also, a programming service that includes authors coming into the library to read excerpts from their books. This also includes a story theater, where children’s books are sometimes performed and acted out. The room has actual steps in it, giving it the feel of a real theater.

The Dewey Decimal classification system is used in the library. The library is a Public City library.
There are four segregated reference sections within the library. The first is directly behind the head librarian’s desk, and contains the instantly available books. Secondly, there is a section called the Central reference, which is off to the side of the Librarian’s desk. This section is accessible through a locked door. The third section has reference books dispersed throughout the regular book shelves of the library. The fourth section is downstairs, and has Government publications, Presidential papers, California codes, and tax forms, to mention but a few.

Also, downstairs is the Miller special collections room, where they have a room furnished similar to an old fashioned reading room. It is only open on certain days.
There’s also an auditorium meeting room downstairs as well.

The online resources are very extensive. I asked the librarian for the most popular ones, and she said there are quite a few. The Bizconnect website gives information on businesses including number of employees, product output, location, anything that someone who was interested in about a company, large or small, could want to know.
One of the other online resources is called the A-Z List. This has links to 57 databases, covering subjects such as the American Civil war reference library, Ancestry library, Chilton’s auto repair, CQ researcher (Social issues / current events), Reference USA.
There are a few databases that can only be accessed within the library itself. One of these is the Ancestry library. This has information on genealogy within the United States and the United Kingdom, covering census, vital, church, court, and immigrations records.

There were several things that I liked about the library, one being the friendliness, and cooperation of the librarians. The fact that there were specific areas for Teens, and for Children, was a plus for me. The children’s area even had a cloth covered bath tub. How cool is that for a kid !!
Another positive for me was that the internet access computers weren’t just in one area. You could go to several different areas, and use the internet, for either library online catalogs, or the world wide web. The only negative was the parking, which really is a small thing compared to the wealth of knowledge that’s available inside the library.

Reflection 1

So far this online course has been very interesting, and informative. To be honest, because this is my first online course, I had no idea what to expect. Would it work out for me ? Would it be interesting ?
Well so far, I know it has. I never realized that there was so much attached to libraries. Documents, online resources, the Dewey decimal system, information technology were things I was unaware of, until this course.
Working with computers isn't new to me, however, hearing terms such as blogging, and discussion boards, had me feeling uncertain, only because they were areas I hadn't ventured into before. Now that I'm actually doing them, it gets better each time.
Like with anything in life, something new, and unfamiliar seems unsurmountable initially, but the more you get into it, the easier, it becomes.
I'll definitely take another online class, in the future. The online system, once you get used to it, is very easy to use.
One of the things I like about the course, is having the flexibility to work at any hour. That definitely helps me a lot.

Blog 2

This is my second blog, as stated on the title.
I have never created a blog before, except for the previous one !!
This is the only blog I've got, so far anyway. I look forward to creating more blogs, and getting creative with their content.
The only blogs I've read up to now, were ones from Pete Townshend, and Rachel Fuller.
These blogs are now closed, because they were only up while The Who were touring last year.
Cheers