Friday, January 20, 2012

SDSL Challenge Lesson #2

This lesson focused on the Learning Express Library, with which I previously had little experience.

It is very helpful to know about the practice exams; at USD, students frequently ask about practice exams for various standardized license or entrance exams.
I chose to experiment with the MCAT practice exams. The MCAT is the medical school entrance exam. The interface was easy to work with, and the feedback was helpful. This is a great resource for pre-med students.

For the second part of the lesson (Job Search and Research skills), I tried the Career-course "Succeeding on the Job." Because Librarianship is a career change for me, there is still much to learn about succeeding as a librarian. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the content. The part I read was heavy on introductory pages; there were multiple pages that had little content that were all introductory in nature (such as "in this section, you will...").

After clicking through several introductory pages, the actual content was less than stimulating. There were a lot of bulleted "dos and don't s," without references, and specific examples were few and far between. There is much better advice for job success in the Chronicle of Higher Education's blogs.

Finally, the e-books included many of the practice exams as well as other content. I downloaded and added to "My Center" the "Just in Time Algebra."
Once again, after wading through an entire chapter of introductory material, chapter 2 starts with some algebra practice. Although I have a science background, my algebra skills could use some sharpening. This e-book appears to be a handy way to practice a bit each day.
I also like the organization of "My Center:" this is a very easy way to manage all the content one is interested in.


Overall, I am glad I know about this resource, and I expect that I will be sharing this with patrons quite a bit.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Goatsucker! Before we go on, I'd like to clarify that the electronic resources covered here are provided free to all citizens of the state by the SD State Library. This Challenge is sponsored by the SD State Library. SDLN is a separate member organization. Moving on, we are really excited that you see possibilities for this resource with your patrons. MCAT and LSAT are two that are very pertinent at your university! Some of the other tests may be valuable for undergraduates that need to improve their skills in a certain area. Thanks for giving this resource a try!

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