Hobbies & Crafts

Great fun to read through. Our library doesn't get many hobby and craft magazines. I especially liked the "Fun with Kids" magazine. I was looking up gourds for a subject. We were wondering how a gourd birdhouse was made and I happen to come across a few articles that I can check out. The site is easy to use and seems to suit my needs. It really takes time and effort to search for just the right article. I had no trouble getting right to the article and checking out pictures and there was even a list of more information that I could look at if needed.

I also liked how the hobby selected gave not only a crafty thing to do but recipes and stories associated with the general hobby. The online help gave detailed instructions on how to save or search and was very useful

My first try at the newspaper search! Since we had an earthquake last night, I tried to research Maine Earthquakes. I got over 4000 hits!. Some were applicable some not so. Lots of media sources to choose from as well. I used the Maine Newspaper to get more local articles and then plugged into Proquest for a more broad perspective. They were interesting to read. I tried to get pictures and graphs but that was not going to happen. Perhaps there are no pictures of Maine faults or graphs of Maine earthquakes. Very disappointing as I am sure there are somewhere. Just have to ask the right question.

Then I played with the obituaries. I couldn't find folks I personally know who have died. Like my mother for instance. Finally, because I asked in a certain way I was able to locate her obit. I think it is so aggravating how that works. It is not limited to this Marvel site but all data search engines it seems. I was ready to give up and just reread her obit that I have ! I probably can't find that either however! In any event I enjoyed searching through newspapers and seeing how far a subject or topic can be broken down until it is not relevant anymore.

Because I do not deal with the public as much as some, I cannot comment on how I have helped someone else. Although, I will say I mention Marvel  to my college aged daughter alot lately!

My other main issue concerns the Alert tab. I had to make yet another account. I read one other blogger comment on this as well. Annoying. In any event when I tried to create an alert on my topic, I was unable to do so due to a server error. Computers will be the death of me! I cannot stand that aggravation so I sent a text off to the help guru and he replied to clear my cookies. So I will and see what happens. Now if I didn't know what he meant I would simply go have dessert! Maybe that is the best solution after all. Everything works better after a healthy dose of cookie jar cleaning!

I have tried to read others blogs but not many have done their homework as yet. I will try later on in th week.

Britannica
Public Library Edition

I thought the Britannica home page was well organized. I did however have a hard time getting a current event. I am not sure how often the site is updated. I looked up "Gulf War" and found some interesting articles as well as great pictures and videos. Articles ranging from health issues to politics could be useful and interesting  to add to a research paper. I liked the fact that the citation was visible and easy to read. I know with past experience with my children's research we never knew how to cite an on line resource.

 The workspace idea is a great way to organize articles and keep them safe for later review. I would tend to forget where stuff is otherwise. And writing information down can be a bother.

"This day in history" is always fun and a great tool to look sor atopic to write a paper about. Everyone wants to know what happend on their birthday!  I can see students using this tool for projects.

I loved the Quotable Quotes research tool. Comparing countries I can see would come in handy for a Social Studies project. I was not impressed by the Classics tab. I was looking for Shakespeare and did not find anything. However, when I typed him into the search field there was a wealth of information. Incidentally, when i was browsing the Academic edition I was excited to learn that he was in the spotlight field on the bottom. My daughter happens to be taking a class currently on Shakespeare and is reading some of his works. She might be interested in knowing that she can get more information about the plays using the MARVEL site!! I shall have to tell her!

Now the question I have is how would she have known about it if her mother wasn't nosing around and playing this game? I think people are basically unaware and although we have signs and talk about it to folks, are students getting the clue that they can use this site? Now I am wondering if the spotlights change occasionally? Just curious questions

I absolutely love the prek-2 site. I could see my kids using that when they were young. I wonder about the vocabulary section though. It seemed a little old and wordy.

Just plugging October is Dysautonomia awareness month. This is a debilitating disease of the Autonomic Nervous system. My daughter and many others suffer from this horrible disease. Use Marvel to read about it!!

So I am basicaly new at this blogging idea. Not much of a wordy person so I will keep this short and to the point. Looks like of lot of folks are bloggers and I will do my best. What lovely and useful information on the blog sites. I may spend alot of time reading everyone's site. Because I have never set up a blog page, I may have a very boring page. I will try to doll it up for you!

Loved the tutorials. They are easy to follow and can't wait to get started! My first real experience with Marvel! Hope to share it with family and patrons.