I loved this article Dr. Martens shared with us.  This so interesting to me.  I guess it comes from my background in graphic design, but my brain is buzzing with thoughts of what the future will bring when it comes to “movies.”  As he points out screens showing us movie clips, etc. are everywhere.  Which makes me wonder, are we to the point where we have become accustomed to this constant barage of “movies”?  Will we become numb and miss something of quality because it is just another “movie”? Of course I also have thoughts of a different variety.  Will having access to tools to make “movies” find more gems in rough?  Will this new up-and-coming movie makers bring about a new revolution in not only the process of how a movie is made, but also the final product?  Sorry to ramble on, I just found this to be very thought provoking.  What did you think?

I was surprised, but I actually had a good time building my digital collection.  Now granted there were stressful moments, but over all I enjoyed it.  I think the main reason I had fun building my collection was I enjoyed going back and looking at all the photos I had taken.  Looking at the photos again brought back so many happy memories for me.  I was amazed that even my photos had that breath-taking quality for me as the scenic views I was photographing.  This was really the first time I had spent any length looking at my photos of Yellowstone, my most recent trip.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the photographs came out and how vivid the colors came through.  It brought back so many memories of the sights and smells of Yellowstone and the fun I had with my boyfriend and his parents.  I’m glad I chose to use my National Park photos to build my collection.  You can view my collection here: National Park Photo Collection.

Another database that has been a valuable resource to me in assisting students that have come in my library is MEDLINE.   We have several pre-nursing, med tech and rad tech students and they have found this a great source. MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine,nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree, tree hierarchy, subheadings and explosion capabilities to search citations from over 4,800 current biomedical journals.

I love this collection!  It is a great resource for librarians for both collection development and reader’s advisory.  NoveList Plus is a collection of books with summaries, subject headings, as well as author read-alikes.  Also included are book discussion guides, recommended reads, award winners, and even offers newsletters you can receive in your email.  Information is divided in to catergories by age: Adult; Teens (13-18); Older Kids (9-12); Younger Kids (0-8).  There is also a section called “Working with Kids” which offers BookTalks, Grab and Go Booklists, Curricular Connections, Curriculam Standards, and Picture Book Extenders.  NoveList Plus also offers a section dedicated just to Reader’s Advisory.  This includes articles in getting started in RA, ways to improve RA services as well as ways to promote the library.  Pioneer Library System has this collection under their EBSCOHost Databases.

This is an awesome collection essential for those who do their own work on their house.  Check your local library for this database, you won’t be disappointed.  This site is a collection of all different kinds of information for home improvement.  You can browse projects from A-to-Z or by type, for example: plumbing; electrical; decorating; woodworking; and more.  On the side panel is a toolbox that includes: a glossary of terms; conversion charts; homeowner’s journal; and full video collection of how-to videos.

Home Improvement Reference Center

As I was writing my last post and remembering the places I visited a few weeks ago, I had an idea.  While we were in Houston we traveled to Galveston, as I had never been there and my boyfriend hasn’t been there for a few years.  He wanted to see the after effects of the hurricane, and I wanted to see the ocean.  As we drove around Galveston looking at the destruction my boyfriend would tell me how things used to be.  Now fast forward to today…I recalled that conversation and thought what a great idea for a digital collection to have a collection before and after photos of Galveston.  This would serve multiple purposes.  To show the world the destruction of the hurricane and how things are different, but also to show how even after the destruction how the people are cleaning up and rebuilding.  In a way having before and after would also preserve images of things that may never be the same.  I think this would be a great idea for not only Galveston, but also other places were devastation occurs.  Just an idea, I would be interested in your thoughts.

I recently visited the San Jacinto Monument and Museum and found it very interesting. After visiting the museum I wondered if they had a website or a digital collection of all the impressive artifacts housed there. I did a search, and low and behold…they did! On their Art & Artifacts page is a link to browse their online databases. The don’t have everything in the museum in the online collection, but some of it is. The monument is impressive, and the observation deck is awesome. This is a neat place to visit and if you are ever in the Houston area I suggest you stop by. Check out the cannon below.

Replica cannon (a) with wooden ramrod (b), swab (c), and copper bucket (d). Identical to c2.a-d.

The Library of Congress has a great page on their site that describes the building of a digital collection. This page explains the technical side of building digital collections. They discuss copyright, metadata, preservation and more. This is a great source to give a better understanding of the process of building a digital collection as well as how the Library of Congress is trying to further expand their digital collections.

I decided to build my digital collection around the photographs I have taken at all the National Parks I have visited.  I love photographs, especially scenic ones or ones that are upclose or from a different angle to give you a new perspective.  I know I must be a nerd because I love visiting National Parks.  Not that there is anything wrong with being a nerd, actually I kind of like it.

I have been planning how I want to organize and tag all of my photographs, as well as which photographs I want to for sure use.  (I probably have at least a thousand, if not more.)  Out of all the parks I have visited I would say the Grand Canyon National Park has the most “take your breath away” quality, but I think the Grand Teton National Park is probably my favorite so far.  Oh, to live in Wyoming or Montana!  Just the thought of that makes this librarian’s heart go pitter-pat.

I previously blogged about two of my favorite digital game collection, but I recently discovered another one.  Big Fish Games is a digital game collection similar to Real Arcade and Pogo.  It has free games online as well as downloadable demos.  The site has a pleasant arrangement and divides the games into different genres (hidden object, puzzle, adventure, etc.) making it easier for users to find just the type of game they are looking for.  Big Fish also offers a game community for users to play games with or against other users.  Big Fish also offers games exclusive to this collection, so users of other gaming collections can still find more games to satisfy their gaming needs.