How to Use Our Card Catalog Online

To search for a particular book in our library online, go to our webpage @ aberdeen.sd.us/library.  You should see a screen as seen below.

Search on the left side for "Online Resources/Services".  Choose "Online Catalog".   You can log in as "Guest" or with your library card.  Make sure that the library at top says "Alexander Mitchell Public Library".  

A screen will then appear that says to "Select type of search".  Enter your words, title, etc. making sure the library chosen again says "Alexander Mitchell Public Library".  Then click "Search".  

For example, let's say we are looking for the book - Deadly Heat by Richard Castle. 

We would select our type of search as title and type in Deadly Heat.
Then click search. If our library has this book, a record will come up.

Click on the title of the book you would like.  The next screen will show you the availability.  If it is on hold, you can click on "Request" and your name will be added to the hold list after signing in with your library card. Make sure that the library selected again says "Alexander Mitchell Public Library".  The screen below shows "Deadly Heat" is currently on hold for another patron.

You can then continue searching for other items by repeating this procedure.

If you encounter any problems, please feel free to contact

any of the staff at the Alexander Mitchell Public Library. 

Lesson 10 - Wrap Up
   My biggest discovery was the amount of information that is available through the alphabetical listing from the State Library.  I knew of some of the databases but had never had the time to check them out.  With this library challenge, I made time to see what they were and learned of even more resources.
   I will try to recommend these to our library patrons when the need arises for a particular source of information. I already use WorldCat frequently for interlibrary loans and many of our patrons do, too.  Now the challenge will be to make better use of all the other resources available.            

Lesson 9 - History and Genealogy Resources
   When I searched for my name with no date, 387 results came up.  Some of these even spelled my last name differently.  When I searched for my marriage license, it was not found.  The records do not cover more recent dates in Iowa.  I put in my grandmother's name and did find her listed in the 1930 census.  They spelled her first name differently.  They did list my mother's name and her siblings.  Some of these dates were also approximate.  I'm sure it was difficult recording correct information back then. 
   In the photos & maps section, I found an 1890 print with a female advertising "free homes, government lands & cheap deeded lands in South Dakota".  I also looked at a print of the Corn Palace in Mitchell in 1909.  I liked the "page tools" on the right hand side where you could view the original or print a copy.
   In my Heritage Quest search, I looked for information on Spirit Lake, Iowa.  I didn't find anything when I abbreviated the word Iowa.  When I spelled it out, I found the Lake Region Blue Book & Club Directory of Spirit Lake & Vicinity. It was interesting looking at the table of contents and actually reading a few pages.  
   The Sanborn Maps almost made you want a magnifying glass or extra glasses even as you enlarged it.  I looked up Aberdeen in July 1929 and found what Central High School looked like then.  I advanced to 1938 and checked it out again.  They had added a gymnasium which we now call the Civic Arena. 
   Overall, there really is a lot of information out there through these resources.  A person would need a lot of time to look up information.  They also would want to gather as much information, dates, and names as they could before beginning their search to make it go more efficiently.   

Lesson 8 - ArchiveGrid and CAMIO
   When I searched "Sitting Bull autograph card", I learned other names he was known by.  I also was not aware that after Sitting Bull's capture he toured with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show.  I think this would have been humiliating to be in a touring show after the life that he had lived.
   I tried searching with Laura Ingalls Wilder, Oregon Trail, and Prairie Schooners.  To do an effective search for these, I would need more time and use a more specific search term.  Most of these had sources that said contact an archivist.  The Oregon Trail had various people's letters, journals, etc.  Again, it would be easier if I had a specific name or topic.  I could, however, see this as a good reference tool. 
   In CAMIO, it was interesting to see photos of teaspoons, tea services, goblet, sauce boats, and etc. that Paul Revere created.  I especially liked the coffee urn.  
   With just using the term "Sioux", results included places, people, and furniture.  A pipe bowl & stem showed great detail.  Intricate beadwork was amazing on a baby bonnet and an 1890 doll. I also saw a sculpture entitled "Get Out of Way" which was a Lakota on a horse with a person between the horse's front legs. 
   I was unable to find my favorite artist - Thomas Kinkade.  It was disappointing.
   CAMIO could be used in a school setting to provide further information for social studies classes.  Besides learning about geography and famous people, the arts could be included.  Or, perhaps finding paintings that depict that era of time that was being studied.  This would probably be a good resource for museums within a community to help with background information for display purposes. 
   My subject of choice was the "Blessed Virgin Mary".  I compared paintings between several countries.  Those from the Netherlands seemed to be more colorful with red being the dominant color.  Italian were more renaissance looking and very similar to the French.  The German paintings were more like drawings in black and white or brown tones.  It was kind of fun moving the images around and comparing them.
   Overall, I would probably not use ArchiveGrid and CAMIO myself very often.  However, it is nice to know this is available to recommend to others.   

Lesson 7 - World Cat
   I searched for the book "The Beach Club" by Elin Hilderbrand.  There were 782 results on the first entry with Brookings being the top library.  The second entry had 164 results with Alexander Mitchell as the top library.  I noticed that different entries had different book covers.  Several books were listed under the author's name.  The subject matter included summer resorts and hurricanes.  More titles were listed under hurricanes than summer resorts.
   There were 14 indexes listed including WorldCat.  Good descriptions were given for these indexes.  WorldCat is the one I have used the most.
   OAIster database was one I wasn't aware of.  The first one I selected had no info found when clicking "Access".  My second choice "Plunge Bath, Hot Springs" had 1 access link that did work and I was able to see the photograph.  I also chose "Sylvan Lake and Hotel" and was able to see the photograph.  I noticed that most of the results were either internet resource or visual material.
   The other blogs I checked out were already past lesson 7.  Most did comment that there were lots of ways to research thru WorldCat.  This is the one we use daily when requesting interlibrary loans.      

Lesson 6 - eBooks on EBSCOhost
    The first topic I searched was "kite-making".  It was amusing to see that "Complete Idiot's Guide to Bird Watching"  and "Romantic Vacations in San Francisco" came up.  When I put in just "kites", I did get some better references including "Crafts to Make in Spring" by Kathy Ross.
    When searching for titles for Constitution Day, I ended up scrolling through quite a few books.  The ones I thought that looked to be the most helpful were:  AP U.S. History by Stephen Armstrong, Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts by Robert Madder, Handbook of Human Rights Law by M.T. W. Arnheim, American Congress: The Building of Democracy by Julian E. Zelzer, Companion to U.S. Constitution and Its Amendments by John Vice, and Constitutional Politics in Canada and U.S. by Stephen Newman.  I especially liked the prompt on the left hand side called "Find Similar Results". 
   For the third exercise, I chose Nebraska for the PB Publisher.  All the books found were published by the University of Nebraska Press.  There were several books with reference to Native Americans and Lewis and Clark.   I would start with True West: Authenticity and the American West - edited by William Handley to learn more about Western History.   It was enlightening to see that if you needed regional information, there were regional publishers available on line.            

Lesson 5 - Gale Virtual Reference Library
   I selected the book - Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. It was listed as being 2006.  I was wondering if they had a newer edition or if there could be a link to it with all the changes that are going on in medicine.  I picked thalassemia which is a type of inherited anemia.  This was technical and interesting.  I was amazed to see that some symptoms were a craving for ice, paint, and dirt. Sounds like what some toddlers would put in their mouths. 
   When I put in a search item, I selected Wuthering Heights as this is a required reading for an AP English class.  I had seen part 1 of this movie and wanted to get some background information.  I learned that in that time period owning land was a big deal.  There wasn't much to do so they liked romance novels. They married within their relatives to keep the land and did other strange stuff.  I decided I was glad I never had to read the book and did not need to watch part 2 of the movie.
   The other search item I chose was sapphire.  It discussed in general gemstones and their hardness, clarity, etc.  A sapphire is a 9 in hardness with 10 being the hardest.  There were also tables to look at.  I used the "Listen" feature with this article.  It was very clear and followed along with highlighted words.  This would be an excellent tool for those with reading difficulties, learning to read, and those that learn best through listening. 
   I saw through reading other blogs on this lesson that they also discovered the many uses of this reference library.  Some were more familiar with this than others.  This was another one that I was not aware of as being on our databases.