Lesson 6 South Dakota Library Challenge

Gale Virtual Reference Library


1. Getting to know the titles in GVRL is similar to getting to know the titles of your library's reference collection. Click "Title List" on the upper right to view all the titles available in the collection. Click a book title of interest to you and access an article via the table of contents. Notice with the multi-volume titles, you can select which volume you look at. Discuss the title you selected and how you may use it.

I selected the area of "History" and then clicked on the "Title List."   A long list of titles appeared but the one I was interested in was titled, "America Under Attack:  September 11, 2001."  The contents page showed each chapter and the title.  I noticed at the top of the screen was options for downloading either as a PDF or a MP3.   I think patrons would love that option at times when they want to be able to have it for reference or a more convenient time. I am always drawn to information on for 911 attack in hopes of making some sense of it.  My cousin worked as an international banker for a company with offices in the World Trade Center.  He had a speaking engagement at an college and was out of the office.  He lost his job at day as the company was gone but more importantly he lost all his co-workers and was left to make sense of "why."   I am always drawn to anything that can help answer that question. 

 2. At the top of the home page, type a search term in the search box. Search for answers to the two questions posed at the beginning of the post: zinc or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn if you can't think of something else. Review the results, selecting an article to see what kind of information you can find. Test the "Listen" feature. Discuss your results.

I chose to pursue the answer to the first question, “What foods have zinc in them?” I entered "Zinc in the search bar and found a number of sources listed but I was most interested in the one titled, "Vitamins."   At the end of article it listed a reference to "other articles linked to indexed terms" and I noticed the last one was Zinc and specifically food sources.  When I went to page 298 I found information on the difference between sources that are high in zinc and sources that are fortified with zinc.   It also had a quick reference illustration that included oysters, chuck roast, burgers, beef tacos, cereals, veg soup and even unsweetened chocolate as zinc sources.   I listened to the article for a bit, but found it to not be for me.  It is quite slow moving and I am a scanner who likes a fast pace.  

 3. Look at 2 or 3 other participants' blogs to see what they discovered. Comment if you like.
I did look at many of the other blogs to see what they discovered.   I found only a few had completed Lesson 6.    I did see that "Crazy Librarian Lady had done Lesson 6.  She had also searched for Zinc but had used a different source than I had.   I agreed with her that the Gale Virtual Reference Library "is a good tool for reference and everyday learning."