I Am Currently a Soldier in the US Army. I Am Deploying To

Kenneth Raining

INFO 511

IPL Project

Question #1

Needed by: no need by

Question:

I am currently a soldier in the US Army. I am deploying to

Afghanistan in Jan of 2009. I plan to work towards becoming a

librarian after i return to America. That being said i was

wondering if there is any advice or helpful information you could

pass along to me to aid me in my career choice

from:

confirm:

location: Fort Drum NY

area: Library

reason: In my own professional development.

school: No

sources_consulted: N/A

Response:

Hello from the Internet Public Library. Thanks for your question

about information on careers in Library Science. While the IPL

can't endorse any particular program our career path, we can

provide you with resources to help you along.

One excellent source for library- related information is the

American Library Association. Here is their web site:

From the front page, you’ll find a link for Education and

Careers:

Another good source is GradSchools.com, an online resource of

graduate school information. Their web site is here:

By selecting “Communications” as your field of study and

“Library and Information Sciences” as your subject in the search

box on the home page, you can find a map allowing you to search

for schools offering library science degrees by state:

Here is a shorter URL for that page:

Also, I found a good article explaining what the Master’s in

Library Science entails at Suite101.com, an online career

counseling site:

You can find the article, by Stephanie Cox, here:

I found the second and third sites by doing a Google search for

“masters of library science”.

I hope you find these resources helpful in making your education

and career decisions. Thanks again for using the Internet Public

Library!

Feedback: none

Time spent: Approximately one hour

Critique: I have to admit, I chose this question because I had an idea where to get started. I knew that I wanted to provide him with the ALA site, plus at least one list of grad programs.I went right to ALA (having done so during my own school search), then simply Googled “masters of library science”. What’s interesting about that search is the amount of time I had to spend determining which “guide” sites were sponsored—meaning that they weren’t inclusive. Gradschools.com was far and away the best type site that I found. I next had to wade through several Google pages referring to specific university programs. After investigating the Suite 101 site, I thought that it provided a very good overview of the profession, and the education required. I was also very happy to be able to provide a different type of information, and thus provide three different sites that all provided unique, useful information. Overall, I’m very pleased with my results, and I would use the same search strategy again.

Question #2

Needed by: no need by

Question:

Do you have the book Woodsong online by Gary Paulson?

from:

confirm:

area: Literature

reason: Wondering if you have this book

school: Yes

Response:

Hi Jennifer:

Thanks for using the Internet Public Library. The book you’re

looking for is indeed available online. Here are a few places to

find it:

You can go to Google Books and find the text. Here’s the home

page:

You can find your book here:

Here’s a shorter URL for you to use:

Another great resource for books online is the Library of

Congress. Here’s the web site for their catalog:

http://catalog.loc.gov/

There are also many library catalogs online that have electronic

books available. Here’s a web site that indexes thousands of

online library catalogs:

I found your book by going to Google.com and selecting “books”

under the “more” tab:

I then did a search for “online library catalogs” again at

Google, and located the library index site.

Thanks again for using the Internet Public Library!

Response: none

Time: approximately 45 minutes

Critique: Well, the first thing that I discovered pretty quickly was that the submitter had misspelled the author’s name! After I discovered that, it was pretty easy to determine that the text of the book was available for free from Google books. I wanted, however, to offer a few other sources that might help the patron look for books online in the future. Google Books, obviously, was where I started. I decided to include the Library of Congress’ web site (even though they did not have an electronic copy of the book in question), then did a search for online library catalogs (as I indicated in my answer). I found libdex.com pretty quickly and determined that it met my needs. I’m very happy with my answer; obviously it wasn’t all that hard to find an e-copy of the book in question, but I wanted to use this as an opportunity to explore tools for the patron so that she may be able to use them in the future.

Question #3

Needed by: 11/8/2008

Question:

I am looking for a reliable biography of Pat Summit. She is an

excellent basketball coach. I am just looking for something for

about 3 minutes of introduction. All the rest of it is done.

from:

confirm:

area: Biography

reason: I am trying to put together a presentation for a

kinesiology class.

school: Yes

sources_consulted: I have used a few biography resources

available for school and looked in books.

Response:

Hello and thanks for using the Internet Public Library. I’ve

found some sites for you to explore with information about Pat

Summit.

The first source is her official web site:

You can find the biographical information by clicking on the

toggle next to “people” and looking under “coaches”:

Another good source of information is the official site for the

University of Tennessee’s women’s athletic program:

Here’s their page on Coach Summit:

Knoxnews.com, a web site gathering news about Knoxville, TN, has

a page devoted to Pat Summit. Here’s their home page:

And here’s the page on Pat Summit:

I found all these sites by doing a Google search for Pat Summit:

I hope these provide you with what you need! Thanks again for

using the IPL!

Bottom of Form

Feedback: none.

Time: Approximately 45 minutes

Critique: This was not the hardest question to answer, I admit, particularly after I discovered that Pat Summit had a web site. The other two sites took a little more time to find, as I had to sift through several sites that just used the same biography that Summit’s site had. I went to the NCAA’s official site, which led me to the University of Tennessee’s site, which led me to the Lady Vol’s basketball site. The knoxnews.com article was discovered through a google search. Here’s where a little more information from the patron would have been more helpful; since she didn’t specify what type of biographical information she needed, I didn’t want to get too specific. I think the resources I provided contain an excellent selection of material, however, so I’m satisfied with the results.

Question #4

Needed by: no need by

Question:

industrial application of graphite

1. bulk density

2. electric resistivity

3. thermal conductivity

4. specific heat capacity

from:

confirm:

location: Nigeria

area: Science

reason: mineral exploration and exploitation

school: Yes

sources_consulted: internet

Response:

Hello from the Internet Public Library. Thanks for your question about the industrial uses of graphite and its’ properties. I have found several good sites that I hope will answer all your questions.

The Mineralogy Database is a great resource for questions about minerals, and has a very good page about graphite. Here’s the home page:

And here’s the page on graphite:

Another great mineralogy database is Mindat.org. Here’s their home page:

And here is their page on graphite:

And for more general information on graphite, you can look at the AZoM.com, the A to Z of Materials. Here’s that home page:

And here’s their page on graphite, written by CERAM Research:

I was able to find all these sources by doing a search for graphite on Google:

I hope these sites can answer all your question about graphite! Thanks again for using the IPL!

Feedback: I received this from the IPL:

Dear Kenneth,

I am writing about your response to this question:

Reference Sources Questions TBA, article 12028657:
Subject: SCI: Resources on the industrial application of graphite (no need by)

There were several critical issues with the content of your response. The first two sources do not answer the patron???s questions. The only question they addressed was ???density,??? but it wasn???t ???bulk??? density. The last source had a great chart that gave all of the specific information the patron requested except the link to the ???graphite??? page was not provided. We tried to follow your search strategy by typing ???graphite??? into ???Google,??? but could not find the page on graphite that began with the ???AZoM??? homepage URL.

Here is the URL for the graphite page not given to the patron:

The answers to all of the questions are listed in a chart under ???Properties.???

Because we weren't sure if the patron was able to find the answer, we sent additional resources to the patron. Please do take a look at the second response sent.

If you have any questions at all, please let me know. And if you are ever unsure of a response when doing your research, you can post a Need Help message and/or send an email to the IPL inbox (.)

Malissa Ruffner

Time: Approximately 2 hours.

Critique: Well, this was obviously not my finest effort. The main thing that I learned was that it’s very important to have a better understanding of the subject you’re attempting to search. I fully believed that the sites I linked to provided all the information that the patron requested; but, as I am not a scientist, I was unable to fully comprehend all the information on the pages (and I was also unaware of the differences between bulk density and density). My mistake was in assuming that a page containing the properties of graphite would include the ones that the patron had requested. In the future, I would do a search for graphite with each term, hopefully finding pages that would have most if not all of the patron’s requested information.

The bad link that I provided is an inexcusable oversight on my part. I always double check my links before submitting my answers, but this one slipped through my fingers. The link Malissa provides is indeed the page I found in my search.

Question #5

Needed by: 11/21/2008

Question:

How has the ivory trade affected Congo (DRC)?

from:

confirm:

location: Seattle,WA

area: Geography

reason: for a project

school: Yes

sources_consulted: google, wikipedia

Response:

Hi Derek:

Hello from the Internet Public Library. Thanks for your question on the effect of the Ivory Trade on the Democratic Republic of Congo. I’ve found some resources that I hope will be of use to you.

A great place to look for science articles is PubMed Central, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/

Searching for Ivory Trade in Congo brought back several results. Here’s the most relevant:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1845160

The Independent, a newspaper out of Great Britain, published a very good article on elephant poaching in the DCR. Their home page is here:

And you can find the article here:

Here’s a shorter URL for you to use:

The University of Pennsylvania’s Africa Studies Center is a wonderful resource for information on the continent. You can find their home page here:

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/

They have a page devoted to Congo, with links to several resources:

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Country_Specific/Zaire.html

I hope these pages provide you with the information that you need. Thanks again for using the Internet Public Library!

Feedback: none

Time: Approximately 1:45

Critique: This was a case where the patron’s lack of detail in asking his question made it very difficult to answer. The Ivory Trade has affected the Congo in several different ways; it’s nearly impossible to find a comprehensive answer without a little more detail as to what specifically the patron is looking for. Basically, it’s affected everything! I’m farmiliar with the Africa Studies Center (my stepfather has been a member in the past) so that gave me a place to start. I found several articles that talked about the ivory trade, and I chose the ones that seemed most general and most specific to the DRC. But this is really a case where a reference interview would have been a huge help!

Question #6

Needed by: no need by

Question:

Who was Edward James Patten (1905-1994), mayor Perth Amboy NJ and

congressman of 15th district NJ (1963-1980) married to?

from:

confirm:

location: Ruidoso, New Mexico

area: History

reason: general information

school: No

sources_consulted: biography of US congressmen

Response:

Hello and thanks for using the Internet Public Library. I’ve found a few resources to answer your question on the name of Edward J. Patten’s spouse.

I managed to find an obituary for Edward Patten on the New York Times web site. Here’s that home page:

And here’s the link to that obituary. His wife’s name is at the end:

Here’s a shorter URL for you:

I found a page created by a relative of Patten’s using geneology.com. Here’s that home page:

And here’s the page that was created about Edward J. Patten.

Here’s a smaller URL for you to use:

There was also an obituary published by the Press of Atlantic City:

By searching for Edward Patten in the archives, you can find this obituary. However, this site will require you to register to view the archives.

I hope this answers your question. Thanks again for using the IPL!

Feedback:

Patron responded with:

Thank you ever, ever so much. You made my day!

Time: approximately 2 hours

Critique: I knew that the key to answering this question would be to find an obituary for Edward Patten, which I didn’t think would be too hard, considering his prominence. I was wrong. I searched the Biography Resource Center and found nothing. I searched several different newspaper databases and found nothing. So I tried Google. I was able to find biographical information on Patten easily, but nothing with his wife’s name (confirming that an obituary would be my best bet). This did come in handy, though, when I stumbled across the genealogy page and was able to determine that the Edward Patten listed there was indeed the one I was looking for, using his years of birth and death. So I had my answer, but I still wanted to find an obituary to confirm this information. And eventually I was able to turn up the NY Times obituary, as well as two others from New Jersey newspapers, although they were inaccessible without registering at that site. I have no idea why those obituaries didn’t turn up in my earlier searches, but I was glad to finally find them. The patron’s response made my day as well, as I was still smarting from the earlier graphite debacle.

Question #7

Question:

How the precious stones or gems are made or formed?

from:

confirm:

area: Science

reason: for Science Fair Project

school: Yes

sources_consulted: None. I want to use illustrations.

The IPL also included the following message:

Since this is for a science fair project, you could try locating

geology projects related to this question.

Here are the "Experiments & Science Fair Projects" resources in

KidSpace:

and the IPL's "Science Fair Project Guide"

Response:

Hi Victoria:

Thanks for using the Internet Public Library. I’ve been doing some research on gemstones for you and I think I’ve found some great sources for you!

A great resource for science projects is Socrates, a web site maintained by the University of California at Berkeley. Here’s that home page:

http://socrates.berkeley.edu/

They have several pages on gems. The first is called “What is a gem?” By clicking on the links at the bottom of the page, you can move on to the others.

http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/wisc/Lect2.html

The US Geological Survey is a great resource for all geology topics, including gemstones. Here’s their homepage:

http://www.usgs.gov/

You can search for gemstones here and find several great resources. One of the best is entitled “An Overview or Production of Specific US Gemstones”. It has pages for individual stones and some great photos you can use. Here is that page: