Week 8/Thing 19.1: Digital Pipeline

I took the database class at last year's summer academy, and am amazed at how much things have changed in a single year! Thanks to that class I already had an Ebsco account and some journal alerts set up, but I did edit them to come to my home e-mail address instead of the ASD account.

I watched the Flash video about Ebsco's new search (coming in July 2008 - soon!) and was generally impressed. (The video was a bit long and I wonder how many kids or teachers will sit through it all - it might have been wise for them to break it into a few smaller chapters.) But some of the highlights for me:

--The new search interface looks so Googly-simple. I think that's a good thing! So much time has been spent convincing folks to use these tools, and if the search strategy is familiar then it will be an easier sell. People don't like huge learning curves: if Google is easier, that's where they go. This new interface makes Ebsco just as simple, and the results will still be superior. Once people realize that, they'll most likely play with the advanced search features or be more open to some lessons about it. ONE STEP AT A TIME! (But I do still worry about all the "clicks" necessary to get to Ebsco in the first place...)

--The date slider is very nice! I realize the option to narrow results by date has always existed, but this is a visual tool that will appeal to many people.

--The images look great.

--I like that you can mouse over the various databases to get a description.

--At the end of the video, it said something about "EBSCO 2.0." Obviously 2.0 has become a catch phrase... I know that Ebsco's interface has gone through revisions before - certainly more than 2.0 would indicate! And I'm not exactly clear about how it's a 2.0 tool... where is the interactive element? Did I miss something?

I watched some of the tutorials on the Digital Pipeline. I think the manga characters will appeal to kids, but some of the language doesn't seem to match. They instantly throw around words like "database" and "academic search premiere" that I think warrant some definition for school audiences. Other than that I think they do a really good job. On a terribly nit-picky note - I noticed the wrong form of "its" was used on the very first screen. I'm kind of a grammar-phobe that way. (Although "grammar-phobe" is probably not even a word!)

As for the Consumer Health Index - how fabulous! I really like how the search results could be sorted into categories: alternative, evidence-based, video, etc. I honestly remember conducting lessons about databases and explaining to kids that one of the only differences between the online version and print was that the online version didn't have all the pictures... I would literally hold up an article from Sports Illustrated while simultaneously projecting the text-version of the article from the computer. My how times have changed... just that quickly!

I spent most of this assignment researching eczema (our 2 year old has it) and learned SO MUCH. Even as a librarian, I sometimes forget about these wonderful database tools. I am energized with many alternative, natural therapies to try for her - if it works, I will owe an even bigger debt to this course!