Lesson 5

I started my search with one of the new graphic novels.
Item #1: Mercury a graphic novel by Hope Larson (Vancouver Island Regional Library)
Area 1: Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st
Area 3: Material dependant information- Rating Ages 13+, number of copies 3, on hold 0, in circulation 3
Area 4: New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Tara is forced to move in with her cousins after her house burns down. She faces a difficult adjustment while her mother is away trying to earn money. Interwoven with this story is that of Tara's ancestors, who in 1859 were convinced by a mysterious stranger to put all their money into searching their property for gold.
Area 8: Standard Number- 9781416935858 (hc) :
9781416935889 (pbk.)

Item #2: Graphic Novel: Mercury by Hope Larson (Greater Victoria Public Library)
Area 1: Title and Statement of Responsibility- Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st ed
Area 3: Material dependant information- 012 & up, cataloguing in process
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning MG+ 2.6 1
Area 8: Standard Number-9781416935858 (hardcover), 1416935851 (hardcover), 9781416935889 (pbk.), 1416935886 (pbk.)
Item #3: Mercury a graphic novel by Hope Larson (Vancouver Island Regional Library)
Area 1: Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st ed
Area 3: Material dependant information- 012 & up,
Topics:
  Cousins -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
  Genealogy -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
  Adjustment (Psychology) -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
  Nova Scotia -- Comic books, strips, etc.
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Tara is forced to move in with her cousins after her house burns down. She faces a difficult adjustment while her mother is away trying to earn money. Interwoven with this story is that of Tara's ancestors, who in 1859 were convinced by a mysterious stranger to put all their money into searching their property for gold.
Area 8: Standard Number-9781416935858 (hardcover), 1416935851 (hardcover), 9781416935889 (pbk.), 1416935886 (pbk.)

Considering this is the same book, I was really surprised by the lack of detail in the Victoria Public Library catalogue.  It was also interesting to note that the VIRL has the text from the back of the book listed under notes, yet Victoria has the Accelerated Reader level and no notes, which I could not find on my copy of the same book. All had pictures of the cover art. It would have been nice to see inside the books to sample the graphic novel nature of the text.

Just to compare, I decided to search the same book on the Vancouver Public Library site. What a pain in the neck it was to find. Considering typical access points, my search was very frustrating. First I tried Mercury under the title key word search. It came up with 813 titles, in comparison to VIRL which had 160 under a general topic search and as a title search it was hit #1.  Under title browse it was 42nd at the Vancouver Public Library. I ended up actually finding it by searching the author. At the Victoria Public Library the novel was #1 hit on keyword generic search.

I was also surprised that Vancouver was the only library that had the book’s topics listed. Frequently, I use topic searches for novels, especially for students who want to read in certain areas, ie Baseball. I wondered how FIC would show up in a topic search. This also made me wonder if the topic search is predominant in L4U. For example, would this novel have popped up quicker with a comic book search, or a "cousins" search?

I was really shocked that each library’s search engines produced such different hit rates, and it made me wonder how they are set up to produce such different results. Ironically, I noticed that Vancouver Public Library uses iPAC2.0 which is L4U, so I wondered how frustrating my student’s searches are in comparison to other programs.

Also, I was surprised by the need to use author to find a book, as I don’t think many teens really remember author’s names, but do recall titles. I can’t imagine a student coming saying “Geoff just read a great book by Hope Lawson. Can you help me find it?” Instead they are more likely to say, “Geoff said the book Mercury is great!”

With nothing better to do I had a look to see if the public system had the DVD my daughter just watched: Wizards On Deck, with Hannah Montana.  Victoria had five copies, with a four out of five star rating, but neither of the other two libraries have this DVD!! (This may either raise discussion on censorship or the lack of appreciation for quality preteen humor!)

Item #4: Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montanta DVD (Victoria Public Library)
Area 1: Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana [DVD video] / produced by Greg A. Hampson, Richard G. King ; written by Peter Murrieta ... [et al.] ; directed by Victor Gonzalez, Rich Correll.
Area 2: Edition- not stated
Area 3: Rated G (Canadian Home Video Rating). English dialogue, Spanish subtitles; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Title from disc surface. Full screen (1.33:1); Dolby Digital stereo.
Area 4: [United States] : Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment ; Burbank, CA : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2009.
Area 5: 1 videodisc (ca. 68 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
Area 6: series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Justin Russo wins an essay contest and a free cruise on the S.S. Tipton and tries to get a date with London Tipton. Max Russo challenges Zack Martin to some hilarious challenges, and Alex Russo tries to convince her parents to let her stay on board. Bailey Pickett tells Cody Martin that a famous person is coming onboard the ship, and that person is Hannah Montana. In an effort to impress Bailey and finally win her over, he tells her that he is great friends with Hannah Montana because she ate cake off his brother's shirt and promises Bailey that he can get them tickets to her concert in Hawaii. Hannah loses her lucky anklet given to her by her mother. She believes that the anklet has lucky powers, but when they find it, the clumsy London Tipton throws it overboard after Hannah tells her that the diamonds are fake. Everything goes wrong for Hannah after that and is finally uplifted by Robby Ray. Hannah does the Concert and everything turns out okay
Special features: Justin's award winning essay; Backstage Disney: It's a suite life having fun with Hannah & The Wizards, hilarious bloopers and backstage interviews with the stars.
Area 8: Standard Number- not listed

My last item was a CD left on my desk by my mother. I was able to find it at VIRL.
Item #5: CD Carmina Burana
Area 1: Title and Statement of Responsibility- Carmina Burana [cd music] / Carl Orff.
Area 2: Edition- not listed
Area 3: Material dependant information- by Orff, Carl, 1895-1982. Harding, Daniel. Bayerischer Rundfunk. Bayerischer Rundfunk. Orchester Chor. Tölzer Knabenchor
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- Hamburg, Germany : Deutsche Grammophon, p2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 1 sound disc : digital ; 4 3/4 in
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- non listed
Area 8: Standard Number-not listed

Considering this is a famous opera, I would have thought there would have been much more detail. No album cover work accompanied the information. The lack of detail made me wonder if they expect only those looking for this opera will search for it, rather than people searching for new material to listen to. I was also surprised that there was nothing to show the medieval nature of the opera such as a topic search.