Intelecom

Today I researched the Database Intelecom. Intelecom is an online database that provides "digital learning resources and curriculum-based courseware". It is intended to be a source for educators to use to improve their instruction. Users can select their area of study and watch videos that pertain to that area. I selected education and then watched a video about healthy eating in classrooms. It is really easy to use and pretty specific. There are limiters that can narrow down searches. One thing I did notice is that the there is not a huge selection of videos under each topic. This can be a good or bad thing. Its not overwhelming, but in some cases there may not be a video that meets certain patrons needs. One option i always love is the citation option. This site gives a quick citation for each video, which comes in handy! The database is accessible to vision impaired patrons as well. There is an option for bigger font right on the front page. All in all i think this is a great database. Sometimes it is refreshing to be able to watch a video instead of reading article after article. It seems like there are some holes in the collection where the selection is not as great as I would like it to be, but other than that I give it a thumbs up!

How to Supervise Former Peers

Even though I have been a supervisor for a while now I still deal with many of the issues that are stated the article. One issue I really struggled with initially was how to establish the supervisor/employee relationship with my friends. Eric and I were friends outside of work and we had to work at creating that relationship when I became a supervisor. I don't think he intentionally tried to take advantage of me but because of his personality I had to really push that I was in charge and not just someone to talk to at the desk. I believe that it is possible to still be friends with those people. I don't think because one person was promoted is a reason to end the friendship but it does require some work.
Knowledge is one of the areas addressed in the article. I try to take a "learn something everyday" approach to supervising. I don't think because I have this position, that I know it all. I think it is wise to try to learn something new everyday about the position and I am excited to do so. I think always broadening your knowledge makes you a better supervisor. And if your workers see you always pushing yourself they will be encouraged to do the same.
I think it is so exciting that we have three new supervisors. I look forward to helping them establish their management style. I may have "seniority" on them but i think the student supervisors should work as a team. We all have the same goal, and I am excited to work with them to get that goal achieved.

Management

I think the best way to manage is with a team perspective. I try to keep in mind that in order to be successful everyone in that team must pull their load. There are things that the student workers can handle without me and then things that they can't. When one part of the team is lagging it affects the other parts of the team. I try not to lord over my student workers, but i think there is a fine line between being their supervisor and acting like one of their peers. Sometimes certain personalities don't deal well when that line is not clear.Some may try to take advantage of the situation while others are unsure if they can trust your ability to keep things running smoothly. I think that there is a great responsibility when you are in a management position. That responsibility must be taken seriously but not to an extreme where you seem like a dictator. I want my student workers to feel like they can approach me if a situation arises. I don't want then to feel like I am not on their level. But i also expect them to respect me and take what I say seriously when it comes to work. I think trust is a huge part of leadership.

Project Gutenburg

Project Gutenburg is an online resource to free ebooks. Project Gutenburg is an online resource with over 36,000 free ebooks that can be downloaded to kindles, androids, and other devices. You do not have to register which is really handy. They run on a volunteer basis and they guarantee that each book has been proof read and does not contain viruses or glitches. There are tons of books on here. There are many ways to search including by author, by subject, or by keywords. If you don't really know what you want you can view the top 100 list and see what is downloaded most. One thing I thought was really neat was the bookmarking option. Users can read books online and save their spot for when they return. You do have to create an account to enjoy this option though. One drawback is that most of the books are really old. There aren't any current releases on the database. Also some of their collections are lacking, like the children's section to be specific. I also had a little trouble with the keyword search option. You have to be very specific to get the database to return what you want. All in all its a really neat database and its especially awesome that its free!!!

Side note- The founder of the database just passed away a few weeks ago... sad :(

Music Index

I looked at the ebsco product, Music index, today. It is exactly what it says it is, and index for all things music. I did a search on Lady Gaga :) and returned almost 1000 sources. The database is a collection of magazine articles, interviews, books, and occasionally a music clip. There are all the usual tools that ebsco products provide, including a listening option where users can have the articles read to them in different accents and reading speeds, which I thought was entertaining at least. I found some really interesting articles on this database. I found some reviews of songs by different artists and critiques as well as some interviews with the artist where they interpret the meaning of their songs...I enjoyed that. All in all this is a good database. I think ebsco products are not very appealing to the eye, which this is not, but it is a great source of information....just not too exciting.

ImageQuest

I am doing my presentation over imagequest so I thought it might be helpful to jot a few notes about it down here. First of all this database is very very simple. It really is just a conglomeration of pictures where the rights have been cleared to use for educational purposes. It is also very user friendly. The search is very straightforward, not the least bit complicated. When you search something, like barn for instance, little thumbnails of the photos are returned. You can click on the picture and it will bring up the larger photograph. There is a little background information to the right of most photos and a citation can be found in the bottom right hand corner of each page. Users can also chose which citation style they prefer.Users can also start a lightbox, which is basically just a folder where you can store all the pictures you may be interested in using. One draw back of the light box is that is does not allow you to save your photos for future use if you were to leave the database you lightbox will empty as well. This has it up side also, because users are not required to make an account to utilize the lightbox. Personally I think i will get a lot of use out of this database. I think it it a really great resource for education majors and teachers and would be great to use for making bulletin boards or presenting in the classroom.

First Research Database

Today I looked at the First Research database. It is a business database where users can find out just about anything they want to know about a certian busniess or industry. The database also has business statistics for countries, cities and states. Users can view a cities unemployment rate or growth and development rate. It gives information based on the national average. I did a search on the Cruise Ship Industry. I found information like the annual revenue of the cruise ship industry. I also found out that ticket sales account for about 75% of annual revenue. I also found out about the industries demographic. Most passengers are 50 and above and are ranked in the upperclass. The articles goes on to give regional and international information as well as recent developments on the industry and much more. At the side of the article the industry information is broken into chapters. Users can view the industry trends, all the financial information, and industry forcasting. I think this website is very useful and could be really beneficial to anyone that is a busniess major or just looking for business information.