Accessing Websites through Library Catalogue

You may or may not be aware that we are now able to add websites to our Library catalogue. The major positive about this is that Students (and staff) will be able to search for a subject on our catalogue and not only find resources that we have in our library but also websites that have been vetoed by Library staff.

If you have any topics you’re currently teaching that you would like me to find websites for please let your LAL know so they can pass along the list of topics to me. If we could maybe stick with one or two topics each to start with while I get this going I’d appreciate it.

 

If you’re unsure of where to access the Library Catalogue you can find it at http://v-library.scr.vic.edu.au/vlibrary From there you will be able to conduct your search. Please let me know if you need any help accessing and searching websites using vLibrary.

Google Research Tool

Google has just made multitasking that little bit easier, using Google docs and their new Google Research tool which you can use side by side. Simply named 'Research' the new tool allows you to conduct searches for terms related to your document or search for images, maps and websites from a panel that appears next to your document.
Here's how to search for things using Research:
Maps: searching for a location will automatically bring up a Google map. You can insert this into your document as is or edit it by zooming in or out.
Photos: These can be inserted directly into your document after conducting a search. The great thing is that photos can be filtered to include those that are licensed for free use - a way to avoid copyright issues.
Webpages: for webpage results, hovering over the link will allow you to see a preview of the page. If you like what you see click 'insert link' to add it to your text.

What I like about this tool is that it allows you to insert a citation, automatically formatted, into your document. All you have to do (after you've inserted a link) click 'cite'. Google will add a footnote number to the link in your text and generate a properly constructed footnote at the bottom of the page.

If Research doesn't automatically appear next to your document all you have to do is select Research from the Tools menu, or alternatively press Ctrl + Alt + R on your keyboard.

Here's a great video from Bright Ideas that shows how to use Research and shares their first impressions of Google's new tool.

Library Guides from the State Library

Librarians from the State Library of Victoria have put together some Library guides on a range of different subject areas in order to help people with their research. These are pretty much to guide you through the research process in order to shorten the time you spend searching for information. The guides will help you find books, pictures, maps, documents, newspapers and online tools and resources to help you with your research.

The following is just a small selection of the types of guides that have been created:
1. Aboriginal people and the law
2. Bushfires
3. Court cases in Australia
4. How to find items in Newspapers
5. Magic and magicians
6. Victorian immigration and emigration
7. Water
8. Protest, advocacy and dissent in Victoria
9. Adoption and forgotten Australians
10. Finding poetry

There are also 28 other guides on a range of topics. You can see the entire list here.

Top Apps

I had a chat yesterday with a staff member who showed me a few of the apps he has on his iPad. I was really impressed with some of them so I thought I'd share them with you. These are all available for download through iTunes.
Life:
(Free)
Life Magazines photography collection is now available through your iPad/iPhone. Through this app you will be able to explore Life's archives as well as view their most recent photos. The photos are of excellent quality, and would be great not only for photography or art students, but to use in English and Humanities classes.

Qwiki:
(Free)
Qwiki is a great little app that I was very impressed with. You can search for information about any place, person or thing that you can think of, and Qwiki gives you an interactive summary about your chosen topic. You can even explore the area that you are currently in, to find out more about it. We did a search on Rupertswood, as the app could tell where we were, and it opened up a little video with pictures and information about Rupertswood. This would be great for those needing information on different countries or places they plan on visiting, or just if you need basic information on the fly. Qwiki contains information on over 3,000,000 topics!

Wikipanion:
(Free)
Wikipanion is a great, fast and easy way to access Wikipedia through your iPad. It allows you to bookmark your favourite topics, view your history so you can go back to a certain topic, save images to your photo library and more.

Planetary:
(Free)
This app is more for fun than for any educational purpose. But I really like the idea. Through Planetary you are able to explore through your music collection which has been presented in a 3D universe. Suns represent bands/singers, Planets represent albums, and moons represent songs in this very cute app available only through your iPad.

Aweditorium:
(Free)
Another music based app, however this is directed at those who want to find some new music to add to their collection or to find out more about a particular artist. Aweditorium brings together photography, lyrics, videos and interviews related to an artist, all in the one place. This could be another fun app, but would also be great for music students needing to find information on a particular artist, or to be able to experience various types of music.

Garage Band:
($5.49)
Garage Band turns your iPad into a full recording studio, giving you access to a collection of touch instruments and allowing you to make your own music. The instruments available at the moment are pianos, organs, guitars, drums and basses. A great app for music students (or teachers) or any artists in the making!