Discovery Exercise part 2
OAIster
I was a little overwhelmed with the information provided through WorldCat and OAIster, and often felt like I was only understanding part of how it worked. I will need to keep exploring it to get a better handle on its true features. I did follow the steps above and found the 2013 Annual Report for South Dakota. Because there is so much information provided, I will need to get better at my navigation skills. I can see how it is important to limit the search to narrow the results. I can also see how it would save librarians time and enable them to locate information very quickly.
Basic Discovery Exercise part 1
WorldCat
I chose to look at the title To Kill a Mockingbird, and 2947 libraries have the title. After I selected the libraries, it gave me an initial list of the SD libraries that have the title. After that there was a complete list. Number one (Ashford University) kept giving me an error message, so I chose number three on the list. It was Central College. The colleges were grouped by states, and listed by proximity. So, the SD ones were listed first, then the IA, followed by MN, etc. The call number is 813 Le. 33 c.5 with 296 pages. When I selected the author’s name, it said there were 5 entries listed. However, when I clicked on them, they were all variations of the same title. I didn’t seem to get a large amount of information on this selection, and am wondering if a different selection would have led to more results.
WorldCat
I chose to look at the title To Kill a Mockingbird, and 2947 libraries have the title. After I selected the libraries, it gave me an initial list of the SD libraries that have the title. After that there was a complete list. Number one (Ashford University) kept giving me an error message, so I chose number three on the list. It was Central College. The colleges were grouped by states, and listed by proximity. So, the SD ones were listed first, then the IA, followed by MN, etc. The call number is 813 Le. 33 c.5 with 296 pages. When I selected the author’s name, it said there were 5 entries listed. However, when I clicked on them, they were all variations of the same title. I didn’t seem to get a large amount of information on this selection, and am wondering if a different selection would have led to more results.
Hi, Pam, Yes, you would get more results with a different search because the author of To Kill a Mockingbird only wrote that 1 book! I guess when you write such a great book to begin with, that's all you need to do! Just keep in mind that this is a good way to locate material held in libraries worldwide, to find call numbers, and find library materials about certain topics. You did just fine. Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDelete