Drexel University Information Technology



Veda Tulasi Darby SobermanInfo 521 – Fall 2010Professor B. AbreuNovember 28, 2010IPL ProjectIPL LogQuestion #1 Bounced Question:> Question:> who were lincoln's opponents in 1860?> > location: chicktown> area: Government> reason: find stuff> school: Yes> > Greetings from ipl2!Thank you for your question about who Abraham Lincoln’s opponentswere in 1860. It was interesting to locate resources to answerthis question.I am not sure if you are simply looking for the individualpoliticians who were running against Lincoln during the 1860presidential election or which groups of people were hisopponents. However, if you consider the major politicians whoran against Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860, youshould be able to get a clear picture of what groups of peoplewere opponents of his views and politics as well.I found a few resources which I think will be helpful in yourresearch.1)The website “Lincoln at 200” discusses Abraham Lincoln’sopponents during the 1860 presidential election, and also theiropposing views on slavery: link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. Lincoln at 200 website is funded by the Institute for Museumand Library Services. Lincoln at 200 is the collaborativeproject of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, theChicago History Museum, and the Newberry Library. This websitehas two web exhibitions which use primary sources to tell thestory of Lincoln’s life.2)Wikipedia also has some helpful information under the entry,“United States presidential election, 1860.” This will provideyou with the names of Lincoln’s presidential opponents, as wellas, his opponents within his political party. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. I chose as a source because it is a well knownsource for information which provides citations for verification.A community of users maintains or edits this source. Becausemembership in this community may include non-experts, informationtaken from this source should be verified using other, morereliable sources.3)“The American Presidency Project” has information on the 1860presidential election, including the major candidates and a stateby state breakdown of votes: website was created at the University of California, SantaBarbara by political science professors John Woolley and GerhardPeters. This website has a large amount of data, archives andinformation relating specifically to the presidency which it hasconsolidated, coded and organized into a database.I located the first source by searching for “Lincoln’sopponents 1860.” search list was populated by a number of websites. I choseto look at the first, which was “Lincoln at 200.” that this was a scholarly source, I clicked on thewebsite’s first exhibition, which is “Lincoln and the West: 1809to 1860.” exhibit didn’t seem to have any information about Lincoln’sopponents in 1860. So, I returned to the Lincoln at 200 homepageand clicked on the second exhibit, “The Fiery Trail: AbrahamLincoln and the Civil War.” that Lincoln’s views on slavery could have been atopic on which many people opposed Lincoln, I clicked on thesubtopic, “I Have Always Hated Slavery.” I know that there was a presidential election in 1860, Idecided to click on the topic, “The Rail Splitter Candidate.” This seemed like a good place to start chronologically. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. revealed further subtopics, including one entitled,“Lincoln’s Opponents.” link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. provides specific information about Lincoln’s presidentialopponents in 1860 and their opposing views on the divisive topicof slavery.I located the second source by searching for “Lincoln’sopponents 1860. brought up multiple websites pertaining to the 1860presidential elections and Lincoln. I chose to focus myattention on websites which ended in -.edu, -.org, or -.gov asthese types of websites are more likely to carry more accuratehistorical information. My first source, Lincoln at 200 alsoappeared on this search. So, I decided to visit entry which was listed. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. community of users maintains or edits this source. Becausemembership in this community may include non-experts, informationtaken from this source should be verified using other, morereliable sources.The last source was located by searching for “1860election” yielded many results pertaining to Lincoln. The top resultwas the Wikipedia entry from above, but a little further down thelist I encountered a source from Tulane University. seemed to be an informative paper, but I could not verifyany of the provided information as no sources were cited. So, Ireturned to my search results for “1860 election” andclicked on the next -.edu website, which was my third source “TheAmerican Presidency Project.” hope these sources answer your question. Please feel free tocontact us again if you need further information.Thank you for using ipl2.Time spent answering: approximately four hoursSources consulted and strategies used beyond the one used for the answer: With this question, I actually began my initial search for information on Yahoo. Searching for “Lincoln’s opponents 1860” brought me to the Lincoln at 200 website initially. Then, realizing that I should first consult the ipl2, I tried the same search at ipl2 to see if I could find other resources. Interestingly, the Lincoln at 200 website was at the top on the ipl2 search results. Then my search proceeded as described above.Critique: In all, I think I did a fair job with my first ipl2 question. I hope that my interpretation of this patron’s question was correct. Opponents of a politician could mean a variety of things, but because the patron provided a specific year, which happened to be the year Lincoln was elected president, I thought it fair to presume that this person wanted to know who his political opponents were during this time. In the future, I may want to conduct a reference interview prior to answering a question which could be interpreted in more than one way.Question #2 Bounced Question:> Question:> When do growth patterns in boys and girls vary? Why?> > location: Lake Elsinore,California/United States> grade: 5th> area: Science> school: Yes> length: TwoPages> > Hello from the ipl2!Thank you for your question about when and why the growthpatterns of boys and girls are different from each other. I didsome research, and I think some of these websites can help you:1)I first found some information at website is called KidsHealth. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. site gives you information about why there are a lot ofgirls who are taller than boys at your age. This information wasreviewed by a medical doctor. So, it should have some helpfuland accurate facts.I found this website by first going to the ipl2 section for kidscalled Kidspace. the Health and Nutrition heading I clicked on the sectioncalled The Body.This brought me to 10 places on the internet that could tell medifferent things about health and the body. I decided to click on the third thing on the list which waslabeled My Body. This said it would help me learn about my body,my brain, and other things about my body. I thought they mightsay something about how the body grows. I clicked on it, it showed me a page where I could click ondifferent body parts and learn about them. This didn’t sayanything about growing, but I thought there might be somethingsomewhere else on this website. So, I clicked on the logo thatsaid KidsHealth to take me to the websites homepage. showed me three different parts of the website, one writtenfor parents, one written for kids, and one written for teenagers.I decided to click on the one written for kids. Which brought meto a website about health written just for kids. read the different topics that are listed on this page, and sawone labeled Growing Body & Mind. This seemed like it might havethe answer to your question. So, I clicked on it and it broughtme to a place with information about the changing body and mindof growing kids and the kinds of issues that older kids face. figured if I looked at the topics Boy Stuff or the Girl Stuff,it might give some information about when and why growth patternsin boys and girls vary. First I clicked on Boy Stuff. Thisshowed me a list of topics under it: Boys and Puberty, ForBoys; Trouble Down There; Getting Muscles; What’s an Adam’sApple; and Your Changing Voice. I decided that Boys and Puberty,might have the information I wanted. So, I clicked on it. Thisbrought me to an article that talks about the differences in boysand girls growing. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience.)The second site which I think you will find helpful is anarticle called “Let’s Get Growing” on the PBS Kids website. website talks more about how boys and girls growth patternsvary. And how kids bodies change as they grow.I found this website by going back to the ipl2 Kidspace. Iclicked on the more under health & nutrition resources. It’s MyLife seemed like a good site to learn about the body. on the Body subject, but didn’t see anything that mighthelp. So, I clicked on more topics highlighted topic at the top of the page was puberty. Sincethe article about puberty on the KidsHealth website had goodinformation, I thought the puberty section at the It’s My Lifewebsite could also be helpful. There was a list of topics thatcame up, and one of the topics was entitled, “Let’s Get Growing.”I thought that this may have had some information I needed tohelp you with your question.)The third website which I think will be helpful is : Pediatrics. information was written by a medical doctor and talks aboutif a short child is normal. They talk about how boys and girlsnormally grow throughout their lives. Have an adult help youread and view this site. I found this site by typed “growth rates for boys and girls” into the search box(you don’t need to use the “ ” marks).Thanks for your question. If you need more help, please email usagain. Thanks for visiting the ipl2!Time spent answering: approximately two hoursSources consulted and strategies used beyond the one used for the answer: I consulted a few of the other websites provided by the IPL Kidspace, but they did not contain any relevant information. I did know based on my personal knowledge that girls and boys have growth patterns which are different. So, this helped to guide my search.Critique: I believe that I was able to answer this question with age-appropriate and reliable sources. It was wise for me to consult the ipl2 website. One thing which I wish I had a little more guidance about was the actual explanation of how I found my sources. I followed the format provided for answering a youth question in the IPL training manual, but in rereading what I wrote, it seems a bit verbose and may be confusing for a fifth or sixth grader. At the same time, my detailed explanation (if the patron takes the time to read it), could serve as a guide to good information seeking practice for a youth to follow. In the future, I may provide a shorter, less detailed explanation of how I found my sources if the patron is a youth.Question #3 Reference Source Question:> Needed by: 11/20/2010> > Question:> I would like to know for sure if there are other insects or> spiders that live in our area (Dayton, OH), besides blackwidows> or brown recluses, that could seriously harm children oradults.> My son handles bugs of all kinds and insists that they don'tharm> people.> > name: > from: > confirm: > location: Dayton, OH/USA> area: Science> reason: I want to make sure my son is not putting himself or> others in danger by handling insects and spiders.> school: No> sources_consulted: I've looked at a couple of websites,> insectfinder and bugfinder, but they do not seem comprehensive> and they are not easy to search.> > Greetings from ipl2!Thank you for your question about insects or spiders in theDayton, Ohio area which could seriously harm children or adults,besides black widows or brown recluses.I have found a few resources which could help you in yourresearch.1) Here is a link to the website’s article“Potentially Dangerous Arachnids and Insects.” says“This article covers all of the potentially “dangerous” arachnids(spiders and their kin) and insects found in the United States.” chose this website because it is maintained by Iowa StateUniversity, so information should be reliable. Dedicatednaturalists volunteer their time to maintain the information onthe website. It has a lot of information about bugs, and you caneven submit a bug identification request. A community of users maintains or edits this source. Becausemembership in this community may include non-experts, informationtaken from this source should be verified using other, morereliable sources.2)Another website which provides comprehensive information aboutinsects is Ohio State University’s Ohioline Insects and PestsPage. If you look under the subtopic, “Insects and Related Pests– Public Health” you will see a list of insects and pests whichare cause for health concern in humans. chose this website because it is maintained by Ohio StateUniversity, which is in your area. This website could haveuseful information pertaining to your area in particular. Ohioline is part of the Ohio State University Extension officewhich delivers academic knowledge and research to Ohioans. Thisis actually part of a larger Extension system, which is theworld’s largest non-formal educational system.3)This is a link to an article about Ohio’s Spiders that Bite. Iknow that you know about black widows and the brown recluse, butthis article mentions a few other biting spiders, which can beharmful. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. chose this website because it contains information aboutdangerous spiders which are in the Ohio area specifically.I located the first source by searching for “dangerousinsects America.” brought up many websites with information about insects. Idecided to look at the first listed. community of users maintains or edits this source. Becausemembership in this community may include non-experts, informationtaken from this source should be verified using other, morereliable sources.Then I decided to search for “dangerous insects ohio”in order to see if there was any information specific to yourarea. brought me to a number of websites. I sifted through anumber of them, until on the third page of results I saw anarticle from which listed the Ohio State CooperativeExtension. brought me to the Ohio State Cooperative Extension Insectsand Pests page. found the final source among the same results I found from search “dangerous insects ohio.” I decided to look atthis website because it is an -.edu, thus is likely to haveaccurate information. link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortenedversion for your convenience. hope these sources answer your question. Please feel free tocontact us again if you need further information.Thank you for using ipl2.Time spent answering: approximately four hoursSources consulted and strategies used beyond the one used for the answer: I initially consulted the IPL for information on the subject, but found no relevant resources. My strategy was to first see what I could find in general about dangerous insects and spiders across North America. I was hoping that I would be able to then find specific information about where in the country these insects and spiders could be found, and finally which of these were present in Ohio. If I wasn’t able to find the information about the Ohio area specifically, I would have simply provided the information about North America’s most dangerous insects and spiders.Critique: Answering this question took a lot more time than I had hoped, but in the end I am pleased with the three scientific and academic resources I was able to find.Question #4 Ready Reference Question:> Needed by: no need by> > Question:> How to better manage my diabetes?> > name: > from: > confirm: > location: Arnold, MD USA> area: Health> reason: Personal use.> school: No> sources_consulted: None> > Greetings from ipl2!Thank you for your question about how to take better care of yourdiabetes. The answer to your question is you should do four things on thefollowing list daily to help manage your diabetes:?Follow your meal plan.?Be physically active.?Take your diabetes medicines every day.?Check your blood glucose as recommended.?Take other tests for your diabetes.?Keep daily records.You can find this information by reading the section entitled“Taking Care of Your Diabetes Every Day” in Your Guide toDiabetes: Type 1 and Type 2 at the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive andKidney Diseases website. chose this website because it is a U.S. government website. So, information here is reliable and based upon medical research.Here are a couple more websites which will further assist you inanswering your question.The American Diabetes Association website, contains informationabout diabetes and how diabetics can manage their condition. There should be some useful information which can help youfurther with your question. is a good resource because the American DiabetesAssociations mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and improvethe lives of all people affected by diabetes. They fund researchto prevent, cure and manage diabetes, deliver services tocommunities, provide objective and credible information, and givevoice to those denied their rights because of diabetes.Another website which could be useful to you is the DiabetesSelf-Management website. The information and tools provided herecould be helpful to your management of your diabetes. Thiswebsite includes things such as recipes, daily tips, and thelatest news in diabetes management. chose this website because it was established in 1983 topublish authoritative, reliable health information for people whowant to learn more about managing their diabetes. Furthermore, anumber of medical professionals, including doctors, nurses andpharmacists with diabetes expertise are part of the editorialboard, or they are contributing editors.I located the first resource by searching Yahoo. I searched for“How to manage diabetes.” websites came up, but I chose the first one because itwas a -.gov website, which would indicate to me that theinformation there would be reliable. This brought me to theNational Heart Blood and Lung Institute’s Manage Diabetes page. This provided information about diabetes mainly as it pertains toheart disease. I wanted more information about diabetes itself. So, I followed a link to more diabetes information. This broughtme to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and KidneyDiseases website. decided to begin my search with the Easy-to-Read Information. This brought up a number of articles, but the one entitled “YourGuide to Diabetes: Type 1 or Type 2” seemed the most likely tocontain your answer. So, I decided to look there. in this article were listed, and the one which I choseto look at was “Taking Care of Your Diabetes Every Day.” Thisbrought me to the answer to your question. the second source, I searched the ipl2. I searched for“diabetes management.” This generated a number of sources, but Ichose to look at the American Diabetes Association website, as Ihave heard this organization mentioned highly in regards todiabetes research. third source was also listed when I searched the InternetPublic Library for “diabetes management.” Because it wasentitled Diabetes Self-Management, I believed it would be usefulin your wanting to better manage your diabetes. hope this response has fully answered your question. If youstill need more information, please write back. Thanks for visiting the ipl2!Time spent answering: approximately two hoursSources consulted and strategies used beyond the one used for the answer: My strategy in answering this question was to find a resource which briefly described basic things for a person to do in order to manage their diabetes.Critique: I believe that I found three reliable and useful resources for this patron to consult. However, if I were to answer a similar health-related question in the future, I would not provide the actual answer, but just provide the patron with the resources I was able to find. I was a bit confused when working on this question because I did think that it was odd that it was a Ready Reference question. It took me a while to decide whether or not to provide this medical information in a ready reference answer. In the end, I decided to include an actual answer because I thought that I would be expected to provide an answer since the question was classified as ready reference. The answer I provided was quoted directly from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases website. This seemed like the safest thing for me to do. However, after receiving my feedback for this question, I realized that my first instinct was correct, and I should not have provided an actual answer, but just pointed the patron to resources. It is a good lesson to learn that sometimes, the categorization of a question can be incorrect, and it is important to use your better judgment in answering questions, rather than relying on someone else’s interpretation of the question.Question #5 Bounced Question:> Question:> What is a Feishtinger Calendar Clock? What year was itintroduced> and by whom ? Where can I find this?> > location: California> area: Internet> reason: I saw this in the auction at internet and this is the> first time I have encountered this kind of calendar. I justwant> to satisfy my curiosity.> school: No> > Greetings from the ipl2!Thank you for your question about what a Feishtinger CalendarClock is and who introduced the clock, and when. This was aninteresting question to consider. Charles Wolfgang Feichtinger, produced the calendar clock from1893 to the early 1900’s, in Philadelphia. You can find thisinformation at the National Association of Watch and ClockCollectors, Inc. Feishtinger Calendar Clock is a type of clock whose dial showsthe day of the week, the month and the day of the month. A moredetailed explanation can be found in an article entitled “A BriefHistory of Wall Clocks” at Clock Shop UK’s website. found the first source by searching for “Feishtingerclock.” A number of auctions and sales for this type of clockcame up in the results. The first on the list of search resultswas a message board thread at the National Association of Watchand Clock Collectors, Inc. (NAWCC) website. this thread, there was mention that there is an excellentarticle on the “Feichtinger and his clocks” in the August 2009NAWCC bulletin. Noticing that this was an alternate spelling ofFeishtinger, with a “c” replacing the “s,” I decided to continuemy search with this spelling. I searched for“Feichtinger clock.” This search brought me to another messageboard thread at the NAWCC website. This thread was actually begunby the author of the previously mentioned article aboutFeichtinger and his clocks published in the August 2009 NAWCCbulletin. The thread also has links to pictures of Feishtingerclocks and of Feichtinger himself. chose this website because the NAWCC is a nonprofit scientificorganization that serves as a unique educational, cultural, andsocial resource for its membership and the public at largefocusing on horology, the art of making time pieces, and thescience of measuring time. After reading this message board thread, I saw that when thepatent for this clock was issued on October 9, 1894,Feichtinger’s name was spelled incorrectly on the patent, as“Feishtinger.” So, I decided to see what information I couldfind by searching for “Feishtinger clock patent.” Among the list of search results was the article “A Brief Historyof Wall Clocks” at the Clock Shop UK website. chose this source because this is a clock shop specializing inthe production of modern clocks, made in the traditional way. This would suggest that they have historical knowledge of clockssuch as the Feishtinger Calendar Clock, and the information inthis article is accurate.I hope this response has fully answered your question. If youstill need more information, please write back. Thanks for visiting the ipl2!Time spent answering: approximately four hoursSources consulted and strategies used beyond the one used for the answer: In my search I found some information to guide me in the July 2009 newsletter of the Capital Area Watchmaker and Clockmaker Guild. This helped to confirm some of the other information I had found on the about the Feishtinger Calendar Clock, such as its maker, years produced, and Feichtinger’s affiliation with the Waterbury Clock Company. WorthPoint website, which contains information about antiques and collectibles, also helped to confirm some of the information I had found. strategy for answering this question was to first find out what a Feishtinger Calendar Clock is. I presumed that if I were able to find information about what this clock was, I could easily find the answer to the rest of the questions asked by the patron.Critique: In all, I believe that I was able to find some useful resources and accurately answer this patron’s question. I did make a couple of careless mistakes, such as forgetting to provide the full URL for Yahoo, and not adding the community-generated disclaimer to the link to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. message board.ReactionsReference services are an integral part of the library profession. The ability to clearly and thoroughly answer a reference question is often, in the eyes of library users, the mark of an effective librarian. The opportunity to work with the e-mail reference service provided by the Internet Public Library was an invaluable experience. Having little experience with reference questions, I was a little apprehensive about whether I would be able to effectively answer questions posted at the IPL. However, once I received positive feedback on my practice question, it seemed that the lectures, assignments and IPL training manual prepared me well enough to provide quality e-mail reference help to users. One of the most important things that I learned while working with the IPL was how to thoroughly and clearly answer or provide resources for user questions. I found that the format in which the IPL expects answers to be given is very useful. In my experience with e-mail reference, I was not provided with as well outlined an answer as provided by IPL. I do recall reading an answer to an e-mail reference request, and wondering why the librarian chose this resource. I was left questioning whether the resource was trustworthy. With the IPL we must explain to the user why we chose specific sources over others, this to me helps to show the thought librarians put into providing reliable information. Such explanations do not lend themselves to an online chat reference format where the user is most likely seeking a quick and succinct answer. In person, it could be easy to walk a person through the reference search, but it may not be as clearly conveyed as it could be via e-mail reference.The reference interview Overall the experience provided me with a deeper understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of e-mail reference. I also learned about reference work in general. Prior to this class, reference work didn’t seem the most appealing library and information science topic.I certify that:This paper/project/exam is entirely my own work.I have not quoted the words of any other person from a printed source or a website without indicating what has been quoted and providing an appropriate citation.I have not submitted this paper / project to satisfy the requirements of any other course.Signature__________________________Date ??????___________November 30, 2010__???????????================================================= ................
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