WorldCat

I looked up Mew Mew as a title phrase.  I wanted to find Tokyo mew mew. Volume One, and I did!  It is located in 381 libraries worldwide.  The library at the top of the list is Ames Public Library.  The call number for the book at this library is YA MANGA TOK V1.  Linking to the author's name brought up more books in the Tokyo mew mew series.  I linked to the subject Heroes--Juvenile fiction--Comic books, strips, etc.  This found two more books.

When I conducted a search using OAIster, I did not see where to select "Subject Phrase."  I did the search using the keywords South Dakota and I found over 8,000 results.  I opened a few of the links, but I'm still not sure what I am looking at.  I'm going to wait and see what other people post about this source.

OK.  Thanks for the help with this source Timmi and Jane.   I made sure I was in advanced search mode and had better results.  I really like using this Blog and feeling like we have our own support group :)

Ebooks on EbscoHost

1.  I started with a search for the book How Full is Your Bucket? since I recently attended a district inservice that referred to that particular title.  I did not find the exact book, so I repeated the search using quotation marks around the search terms.  I did not find the book.  I then altered my search using the term positive attitude.  I found 5 pages of results with the most current being from 2001.  I selected The Idiot's Guide to Motivating People.  I liked that it showed the pages most relevant to my search, so that I could see right away if the book was useful.
2. When I looked up the constitution of the United States, I found 66 results.  The books were very academic looking.  An indication of reading level would be helpful in choosing a book to use.  I used advanced search to narrow the search and I chose to search for the subject constitution of the United States.  I only found 3 articles.  They were less relevant than I had hoped for.
3.  I searched for Nebraska and found 56 results.  The books listed look very interesting, but I can see that a person using this database needs a good foundation of searching skills.  That was pretty cool, so I tried South Dakota.  I didn't find any results.

GVRL

1.I have not used GVRL before, so this was a new experience.  I looked at the book DRUGS AND CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS.  I was interested in information about heroin because I know that our book in the library is very outdated.  When a student recently checked our book out, I commented on how old it was.  If that happens in the future, I may recommend that the student use the resource available through GVRL.

2.  I couldn't get an article to read to me.  Help?

Proquest

Proquest is my favorite database to use for personal searches.  I think it is such a bargain.  I will search for consumer information whenever I am planning to make a major purchase.  I also have used Proquest to finish an article I may have started reading in a Dr. waiting room and didn't have time to finish.  I use it to look up book reviews.
Occasionally, I show students Proquest and tell them to share it with their parents.  We will do a math exercise by having them look at the cost of a print issue of the magazine and then multiply it by the number of issues available in the database.  They have to figure out how many issues are published per month and multiply by the years, etc.  I haven't done this recently due to lack of time, but it is a fun activity.  Then we look at how many titles are under just one letter of the alphabet.  I don't think middle school students are as impressed as I am, but I wish I could have their parents here for a day :)