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Homework Bits - "Exploration" using RESEARCH databases

by ryanikoglu

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A 4th/5th grade assignment is to find information on “exploration of north America”. To use the RESEARCH databases, Choose MY ACCOUNT and login. These databases are not on the internet. They are only on library websites through your AADL library card.
The articles provide the citations you need to prove your research.
1. Choose the RESEARCH tab along the top of the website.
2. Use the link to "browse databases by subject".
3. Choose “Kid’s and Teens”.
4. Choose “Kid’s INFOBITS”.
5. Choose” Advanced Search” and enter keywords.
I used “discovery”, “OR”, “exploration”, “AND”, “north America”. You will come up with articles to read, or print.
6. Now the challenge is finding "historical" exploration, and "keywords" for further research.

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Reference U.S.A.- looking for someone or info on companies?

by Robb

So your old friend moved to Nevada but you don’t know where. Try using the library’s research product Reference USA to find them. Reference USA is found on the library’s website under the Research tab.

Another very important & useful feature of this software is looking up businesses by region/etc and limiting the search to specific types of companies. It’s a great resource for sales & marketing leads. My search for info on ICE CREAM & FROZEN DESSERTS (MFRS) in Michigan yielded 40 businesses.

Use Reference USA at any Ann Arbor District Library location or from your home / business computer. Off site usage requires your Ann Arbor District Library card #.

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Help for Literature Students

by Nicole R

Are you taking a lit class this semester? Before you tackle that term paper, check out what the Literature Resource Center database has to offer.

Literature Resource Center contains journal articles, selected websites, and reference articles on over 128,000 authors! Find criticism and overviews of works, author biographies - even see a timeline of literary events.

Access this database in the Arts, Literature, & Humanities section of our Research page. Use your Library card to search the database from home.

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Blog Post

The Perfect Yawn?

by Nicole R

Ever ‘caught’ a yawn from someone else? According to University of Maryland professor Robert Provine, about 55% of viewers seeing a yawn will yawn themselves. Provine embarked on a quest to design “the 100 percent contagious yawn” (inspired by a Monty Python sketch).

Intrigued? NPR’s All Things Considered talked to Provine about his experiments on September 24th. See if you can make it though the story without yawning yourself – I couldn’t!

Want to learn more? Read Provine’s article about his early research in the December 2005 issue of American Scientist. The full text of the article is available through the General Reference Center Gold database on the library’s Research page.

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Blog Post

Champagne at the Gandy Dancer

by annevm

Today is the birthday of world renowned poet Donald Hall, and to celebrate, The Writers Almanac is displaying one of his poems, “The judge was decent, but . . “ about Hall’s 1972 marriage in Ann Arbor to poet Jane Kenyon. As the poem says, it was a basic municipal marriage -- but afterwards they did drink champagne at the Gandy Dancer. Five years later they remarried in New Hampshire, ". . . joyful
in a wooden church,
a Saturday afternoon in April,
only Jack Jensen our
friend and minister with us . . ."
Hall taught at U-M from 1957-75, first as assistant professor, later as professor of English. The couple moved to New Hampshire, where Kenyon died in 1995 of leukemia. To read more about this famous literary couple, hop to our database Literature Resource Center.

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Resources for students - graphics for presentations and papers

by Nicole R

Need a photo or chart to spruce up that research paper or presentation?

You’re sure to find one among the 3.5 million images in the Associated Press (AP) Multimedia Archive. This database allows you to search or browse AP images from as far back as 1860 – then download, email, or print them to use in your assignments.

Find the AP Multimedia Archive in the General Interest section of our Research page. You can also access the database from home with your Library card.

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ACT/SAT Test Practice on Thursday, September 6

by K.C.

Taking the ACT or SAT soon? LearningExpressLibrary can help you get ready. Join us 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the Pittsfield Computer Training Center and take an e-practice test.

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Quick facts about countries for students (and parents)

by Nicole R

Looking for information about different countries? Find quick facts about geography, government, history, and more in the SIRS Discoverer database. See country flags and maps, too!

Find SIRS Discoverer in the Kids & Teens section of our Research page. Once you’re on the SIRS homepage, choose Countries from the Database Favorites menu on the right side.

You can access SIRS Discoverer from home with your library card.

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Little Useful Tricks For Finding Stuff You Like

by Brad B.

Looking for a new great read? Give NoveList a try. For instance, say you love-love-love Walter Mosley, but you've read everything by him. Well, Novelist can give you a list of similar authors. Not only that, it can explain to you how they are similar. Just go under our research tab to see our list of databases and click on Novelist.

Now, say you're looking for this great book that was really popular 3 years ago only you can’t remember the title or author; or this CD from 1982 that had this blue cover...; or what was that movie last summer that everyone saw but you? Infoplease is this super online encyclopedia that has tons of info, including a year by year account of events (including popular books, music, and movies that came out)! Check it out to jog your memory. So how do you get there on our site? Go under 'Research' and then on the left click on 'AADL Select Sites'. Go under 'Decades', and there it is: Infoplease year by year.

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SAT, GRE, and MCAT – oh my!

by Nicole R

If college or graduate school is in your future, so are entrance exams.

While you’re studying for those tests, check out LearningExpressLibrary.com. This database offers online practice tests for the SAT, GRE, MCAT, and others, as well as general tutorials in math, reading, and writing skills. Best of all, AADL cardholders can access all the practice tests from home!

Find LearningExpressLibrary.com in the College, Careers, and Education section of our Research page.