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Answer KeySuggested Answers for Module 5 ExercisesExamining and EvaluatingQ: 1. Use the Information Please Almanac or World Almanac & Book of Facts for this exercise. Print the Book Examination Checklist to carry with you. Examine the Almanac and identify each of these parts:
2. What would you say are the purpose, authority, scope, audience, and format of the almanac? 3. Choose another reference book, one you haven't used before, and answer questions 1 and 2 for that book. A: Not all parts on the Book Examination Checklist are available for every book. To check your answers, look at the catalog record for the book! Look at the main Table of Contents and Index to get the best idea of the scope and a sense of the format of the almanac. Reference staff in the library use reviews in books, journals, and online to help assess the value of reference sources for the library. Ask what review sources are used in your library. CatalogQ: 1. Locate an encyclopedia of science and/or technology in the catalog. A: If your library has one it would be listed in the catalog under the subject heading Science--Encyclopedias and Dictionaries or Technology--Encyclopedias and Dictionaries. Q: 2. Locate a handbook of chemistry and/or physics in the catalog. A: If your library has one it would be listed in the catalog under the subject heading Chemistry--Handbooks, manuals, etc. or Physics--Handbooks, manuals, etc. Q: 3. Look in your catalog for books about Ohio. Look closely at the catalog records for 2 or 3 of these items. What can you learn about dates for the authors? What can you learn about other subject headings to help you find more resources? A: The online catalog record or a catalog card will show you the birth and death dates for authors. A full record will show you "tracings" -- other authors or other subject headings for the item. TypesQ: 1. Identify one of each of the following in your library: atlas, bibliography, dictionary, directory, gazetteer, handbook, periodical (or index to periodicals), and yearbook. A: Use the types as keywords in your catalog search. Q: 2. How many of these (atlas, bibliography, dictionary, directory, gazetteer, handbook, periodical or index to periodicals, or yearbook) can you find that pertain specifically to Ohio, e.g. a periodical about Ohio or a directory of Ohio business? A: The answer will depend on your library's collection. Use the resource lists in this module if you need some ideas. Use the term Ohio with any of the other terms as keywords to find specific Ohio resources. Examples of subject headings you will find are Ohio--Encyclopedias or Almanacs--Ohio. Q: 1. Locate any of the resources on the Essential List in your library that are unfamiliar to you and use the Book Examination Checklist to examine them. Try to do at least one a day. Q: 1. Locate the non-fiction areas in your library. Each area (reference, ready reference, children's, videos, adult non-fiction, etc.) may be organized by Dewey. How many places in your library can you locate resources in the 900s? 2. What is the Dewey number for each of the resources on the List of Essential Resources? A: If you aren't familiar with all areas of the library and your library doesn't have a map, it might help to make one. Dewey numbers won't be exactly the same in every library because numbers are sometimes adjusted to fit books into a specific collection. Internet sitesQ: 1. If you have Internet access, try using the following two search engines to do exactly the same search and see what the differences are in the results, or use any two types of search engines from LITA Tool Kit for the Expert Web Searcher (described in sidebar).
2. Look at SearchEngineWatch.com to learn how search engines work, how they compare, and how they add sites. A: Search results are never the same on any two search engines because they each use different methods for searching, index different numbers of web sites, and many even sell their top sites to companies who want to be in the top ten hits! In this case, Google has a very large, seemingly reliable number of indexed sites. Metacrawler does a search of Google plus many other sites all at one time and indicates the search engine the hit came from. Google only returns sites that have all the words you used in your search. Other search engines don't automatically do this so you will get sites with just one of the words you used in your search. The LITA Toolkit looks at other sources such as blogs and Podcasts or the invisible web for resources you will miss on regular search engines. If you search the Internet to answer reference questions, be sure you talk to your supervisor and other staff about what's available for staff members on the library's site. Staff often have databases or lists of recommended web sites. Look at this ALA site to read about the different types and advantages of many different search engines: LITA Tool Kit for the Expert Web Searcher. |
There are no "right" answers for many of these questions. Discuss the questions with your supervisor or other staff members to learn how things work in your library. |
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