Library 3 Reflection 5

This class was one of two online classes that I took this summer. This was the first time that I've taken any online classes and I've found both pros and cons as I have for on-campus courses. I did enjoy the length of the course as it was shortened for summer. I enjoyed the convenience of working from home which afforded me more time to dedicate to other things. However, I did have to really try to manage my time and keep on top of my assignments. On-campus classes allows for regular interaction with fellow students and instructors which I feel is a definite plus in terms of engaging students. However, I believe that in having an online class, I was able to contact the instructor and receive feedback as needed. I will definitely be taking more online classes because I am able to schedule my time. I enjoyed this class and learned more about information competency which I will be able to use in other aspects of my studies.

Final Project: Research Guide

Organic Diets:
A Research Guide

Overview:

In recent years there has been a growing trend in the United States in which organic food consumption has been promoted as a means to improve food safety and consumer health. In addition to the issue of organic food consumption, there is the related matter of organic food production, organic farming, and finding means of sustainable agriculture. As the public becomes more informed of how food is produced for local and global markets, there is a rising concern over how food production can be sustained in the coming years while minimizing the impact to the environment. As the food being produced becomes more biologically engineered, there is also a growing concern over the safety of food. The purpose of this research guide is to provide resources that provide information on what is organic food and an organic diet, how does adopting an organic diet affect nutrition and health, and how organic food production differs from mainstream food production and what is the impact on the environment.

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

• Natural foods
• Organic living
• Organic farming

Keywords:

• Organic diet
• Organic farming
• Sustainable agriculture
• Natural food
• Food safety
• Environmental resources
  
  Research suggestions: Search for “Organic diet” AND “Sustainable agriculture”, or “Natural food” AND “Environmental resources” or “Organic farming” AND “Food safety” in keyword terms.

Reference Sources:

1) Hoag, Dana L. Agricultural Crisis in America: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1999.

Call number: HD 1761.H56 1999

This reference book discusses various factors affecting agriculture in the United States including modernization, urbanization and land use, and population growth. The issue surrounding adoption of an organic diet deals directly with issues of agriculture and conservation of environment resources.

2) Grover, Jan, ed. Food Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008.

Call number: TX 360.46 F62 2008

This reference book discusses the issues of nutrition and food policy in the United States. In particular, the book addresses questions of how the production and consumption of organic foods could impact health and the environment.

3) Hanrahan, Clare, ed. Global Resources Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008.

Call number: HC85.G58 2008

This reference book discusses the limitations of our global resources, what agricultural policies should be pursued, what our energy alternatives are, and how our resources can be preserved. This book looks at several issues that relate to pursuing organic diets in terms of environmental impact and conservation of natural resources.

Print Books:

1) Lawrence, Geoffrey, Lyons, Kristen, and Wallington, Tabatha, Food security, nutrition and sustainability, Sterling, Virginia: EARTHSCAN, 2009.

This book discusses the issues of food security, nutrition and sustainability in a globalized world in relation to agricultural policy, dominating health issues, and environmental impacts. In deciding whether to adopt an organic diet, research should be made into the issues of organic farming and sustainable agriculture and how organic foods may impact personal health.

2) Burke, Cindy, To Buy or Not to Buy Organic: What you need to know to buy the healthiest, safest, and most Earth-friendly food, New York: De Capo Press, 2007.

The author of this book is a former food journalist and chef who writes about becoming truly informed and educated about what constitutes “organic” food, how to locate and purchase organic products, and how an organic lifestyle may benefit your health.

3) Fromartz, Samuel, Organic, inc.: Natural foods and how they grew, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007.

In this book, the author discusses the rise of organic food production in recent years and how it has impacted the American economy and food industry. The author looks into the roots of the recent movement toward organic food consumption, whether organic food is healthier or safer than food that is mass produced, and how food choices are changing.

Periodicals:

1) Amber Waves: The economics of food, farming, natural resources and rural America, SIRS Government Reporter.

This magazine is produced and published by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Services and is available both in printed and electronic format. The publication may be found through the SIRS database or directly from the government’s website. This magazine reports on current research and issues dealing with agriculture in relation to the global economy, food safety, environment, nutrition and national policy. Although this periodical may be considered academic in that it focuses on research, it is written to help inform public of different issues concerning agriculture in America. When researching organic diet, this resource is important in that it provides up-to-date information the United States food policy and studies in nutrition and food production.

2) Environmental Health Perspectives, Research Triangle Park, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

This periodical is a scholarly journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences with a target audience of academics and researchers seeking information on current studies concerning the environment and health. Online, full-text articles from this magazine may be found in the ProQuest database under the Publications tab. Many articles in this periodical report on scientific research conducted on the impact of different forms of agricultural farming, such as the use of pesticides or the organic farming trend, and how they impact food production, consumption and health.

3) Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

This academic journal is an international publication that reports on findings of different studies conducted throughout the world that deals with sustainable agriculture and food production. Abstracts of articles from this publication may be found on the ProQuest database searching under the term “food”. One of the biggest environmental issues concerning organic food is the development of sustainable agriculture and production of healthful food for the world’s populations.

Website Resources:

1) United States Food and Drug Administration

http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm

This government website publishes up-to-date information to the public on food and drug safety, health, and nutrition among other related topics. In terms of researching organic diet and food production, the website provides warnings to consumers on foods that have been found to pose health risks. This website provides access to information on organic food production and reports on studies conducted on the health benefits and dangers of organic food consumption.

2) U.S. Department of Agriculture: Alternative Farming Information Center

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml

This website produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides access to information that focuses on topics of sustainable and alternative means of agriculture. This website provides links to publications on bibliographies, resources guides, databases and directories for searchers of information on sustainable agriculture. Topics may include organic farming and food production, renewable energy option, ecological pest management, and crop and livestock diversification. In searching for information on organic diet and food production, this website greatly facilitates access to government findings.

Library 3 Reflection 4

What is information competency and why is it important? After taking this class in conjunction with my computer competency class, information competency has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I used to feel that in this age of information, access was just immediately at my fingertips with the Internet and the World Wide Web (which I learned in my computer class was NOT the same thing). And in many ways, information is at my fingertips but then again, misinformation is also at my fingertips. After taking the information competency course thusfar, I'm learning that information competency means more than just finding "something" about a subject. It means finding information that is current and accurate from reliable resources. It means being able to look at resources and to have to skills to evaluate how this information came to being. Having been a college student in the early 1990s and being a college student now is vastly different. Finding information has never been easier but there are still skills that need to be developed in order to narrow down searches and make one's findings relevant and meaningful. And as the amount of accessible information continues to increase, it seems to be more important than ever to be able to distinguish the good information from the bad.

Library 3 Reflection 3

After reading and learning about different research processes and resources, my opinion of the research process has definitely changed. Now that I am a little better informed, the research process has gotten easier. I now know more about different resource databases and websites and I can better narrow my topics to the resources that I need such as references, academic journals, government resources, etc. I don't have any hints I feel I could pass on to others but I do like using "related topics" or "related articles" if they are given because I usually find more relevant information.

Library3_Reflection 2

I have learned quite a bit in this class in the last couple of weeks. While I have used search engines and online catalogs to find resources for research papers or for personal use, I have definitely learned how to search more efficiently and how to evaluate credibililty of the information or resources that I find.

My opinion of libraries has not really changed, I just believe I know a bit more about them, especially after the library visit assignment. I still believe that libraries and librarians are necessary. When I told a friend recently that I was taking this class, he asked me this very question, "Are libraries still necessary in a world with Internet and search engines?". My reply was that there is definitely still a need for libraries and librarians because we need libraries for the public resources and services they provide for people who don't have personal access to these resources. Also, we need professionals who can help us to access and organize the information that we need.

The Internet plays a big part in my life, I can't imagine that it doesn't play a big part in many people's lives but I know that there must be people out there without a use for the Internet. I remember life without the Internet or personal computers for that matter and many things were not so convenient. I do sometimes miss writing personal letters to people rather than emailing but I can't imagine being able to keep in touch with as many people as I do without the Internet and email.

Library 3: Reflection 1

The first thing I've learned so far for this class, as one of the first online classes that I've taken, is to always make a checklist of what needs to be done at what time and to log-in frequently. That was a hard lesson learned but was also much needed.

I took this course because I wanted to learn more about the library sciences field. Since I enjoy libraries so much, I had often considered the field as a career. I spent many years working with young children and had entertained the idea of becoming a children's librarian or to work as a school librarian. One of my favorite activities when I worked with young children was small group reading. It was always so enjoyable to read to young children and experience watching them as they sat, listened, asked questions, interacted and learned.

I had been hesitant to pursue library sciences as a career because of all the advances occurring in the information technology field. There was always the question of whether libraries would become obsolete and librarians unnecessary with the advancements of technology. I am hoping that this library course will not only introduce me to the field, but help to answer this question as well. I am definitely learning that there is more to this field than I had imagined.

Project 1: Library Visit

For Project 1, I decided to visit the Long Beach Main Public Library at:
101 Pacific Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90822
(562) 570- 7500
Website: http://www.lbpl.org/location/main_library/default.asp

I chose the Main Library because while I have visited and patronized this library many, many times in the 10 years I have lived in Long Beach, I have not taken the time to walk around the library and really study its layout nor investigated all of its services. The Main Library is a public library and utilizes the Dewey Decimal classification system.

Upon entering the libray, there are free community publications available on the right side of the lobby, a U.S. Government Information kiosk, and the Friends of the Library bookstore located on the left. There was a collection of painted works entitled "Under the Sea" by Mona Zillah on the wall before entering the top floor of the library. The library consists of two floors divided accordingly:

The top floor of the Main Library consists of the References, Information, Children's Department, Teen/Young Adult, Electronic Information Center, Career Center, Business Resources, International Languages, Periodicals, Geneaology and Non-fiction stacks. The top floor also housed collections of photofiles, maps, Long Beach history files, private rooms for people with disabilities, an ESL section with books on tape and videos that can be checked out for free. Around the teen section there were graphic novels, bound peridodicals, microfilm catalogs, and the newspaper indexes. Throughout the library, there are tables and work stations for patrons including equipment used to view the library's contents in different formats.

Downstairs at the Main Library, there was the Miller Special Collections room, Media, works of Fiction, Government Documents, Technology Learning Center, Auditorium and meeting rooms, Information Center for people with Disabilities, and a Large Print section for fiction and nonfiction.

I first examined the Reference section of the library to see what materials were available to patrons to use in the library. I was particularly amazed by the vast amounts of resources and subject areas covered in this section. While this was something I knew as a general matter but after reading through some titles, I was a little boggled by the diversity of information out there. Besides the usual encyclopedia sets, dictionaries, atlases, and almanacs, there were genealogical histories, periodical directories, encyclopedias of privacy, sex, civil rights and liberties, occultism, and the Mafia, to name a few. There were language dictionaries, dictionaries of sciences, handbooks of sciences, medical source books, chemical technologies, the Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, song indexes, instrument indexes, and a very large section on Contemporary Library Criticism.

The library has several electric/online resources. According to one librarian, the two of the most used are the library's catalog and the Ferguson's Career Guidance Center. The library's online catalog is the most used online resource and is available at computer terminals throughout the library. Patrons may use these most readily to find the resources that they need both immediately at the library or which they may hold or have delivered to the library of their choice as needed. The library catalog also provides links to other online resources. The Ferguson's Career Guidance Center provides a variety of resources for patrons including links to job sites, websites for job-finding tips, calendars of career events, and information on different careers patrons may be interested in researching.

The library provides many services to patrons. The most used service is the Electronic Information system in which patrons may use the library's computers to surf the internet, create and printe documents, search online catalogs, etc. Another service of the library is the Technology Learning Center in which patrons may use to learn and practice work on computer programs with the aid of a librarian. Another service the library provides is the Information Center for People with Disabilities. Here there is special equipment which are adjustable to the needs of the patron. There are also special programs for Homebound Readers in which the library provides resources to these patrons through the mail or with Books on Wheels in conjuction with the Meals on Wheels program. There are also on-call librarians and some one-on-one assistance.

There are several resources at library that are only availabe for use in library such as those in the reference section, current periodicals and those labeled "For in library use only". Otherwise, patrons may check out fiction and nonfiction book, magazines, books on tape, ESL books and media, and for a small fee, DVDs and music CDs for varying lengths of time.

There were many things that I liked about the Main Library, some of which I knew of and others that I learned of during this trip. I really enjoyed looking at the artwork collections when entering the top floor of the library but did not know that there were collections of work throughout the library. There was a "Sea Microbe Series" and a "Suduko Series" by an artist named Michelle McNeill. There were also small scale models of things such as a steamboat called the Jubilee and the Cyclone rollercoster which used to be a part of Long Beach's history. There were also many displays of archives, sheet music and other photographs of historical Long Beach. I also really enjoyed the Children's Department of the library and how the its environment is completely created with children in mind with comfortable places to read, computers and tables at their level, and bright colors and illustrations. I have also used the library's services, particularly, the Electronic Information Center. I was completely unaware of the extent of the services for persons with disabilities and could not help but admire the thought and work put in to help meet the needs of these patrons. There are not many things that I do not like about the library. I wish that there were enough funding to keep the Main Library and other branch libraries open on Sunday or with longer hours.