Lesson 4--Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale Virtual Reference Library--75 titles of publications divided into 11 categories of Business, Education, Environment, History, Law, Literature, Medicine, Nation and World, Religion, Science, Social Science, make up the Gale Virtual Reference Library.
1. I chose the science publication, Chemical Elements: From Carbon to Krypton, 3 volumes, c2006. Browsing through the Table of Contents, I looked at The Periodical Table Revised. I then chose the 7 page article, "Radon (Revised)," original copyright 1999 U-X-L, c2005 Gale, Cengage Learning, and updated in 2006 for the ebook edition, Volume 3.
"Radon (Revised)" is divided into 11 sections: Overview, Discovery and Naming, Physical Properties [my note=colorless, odorless, 7 times as dense as air], Chemical Properties, Radon the Secret Visitor [my note=can be hiding in the basement of one's home. A gas, it floats upward from uranium found in the Earth's crust. Radon gives off radiation that kills cells. Radon kits can be used to check a home for radon.],Occurrence in Nature, Isotopes, Extraction, Uses, Compounds, Health Effects.
For 3 years, the science teacher and I had been building the science core collection in the High School Library. In May 2009, I had ordered one set of 6 books in the series Understanding the Elements of the Periodical Table (Reading Level 6, Interest Level 5-8) by the Rosen Publishing Group. Students, in their browsing, had gotten quite excited about easily learning more about the elements. She wanted to use these colorful reference books to inspire the chemistry students for their report projects she was planning to do.
Comparing the 47 page book Radon by Janey Levy, published by Rosen to the 7 page article with 11 sections published by Gale, the book has colorful pictures and illustrations and 12 features: Introduction, 5 chapters, the Periodical Tale of Elements, Glossary, Sources for more information, Further Reading, Web sites, Bibliography, Index. The book details information on radon in buildings, how to use the radon kit, how to reduce radon in one's house. In May 2010, I'd ordered all the rest of the 8 sets , only to have the Supt. cancel the entire order, because the science teacher is no longer on staff. So, I will be showing the new science teacher the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Not so sure Gale replaces Rosen, but until another science teacher requests Rosen, Gale will be #1 in science core collection for now. I also pulled up Gale's "Neon (Revised)" and "Argon (Revised)." Each element's information is presented in the same 11 section titles as Radon.
2. "Basic Search" has several tools: Print Preview, e-mail , Download, Download MP3, Citation Tools, and a translation feature to translate text into Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish!
Using "Basic Search," to answer the question, "What foods have zinc in them?", I typed zinc and 164 books was the result. I narrowed the search by typing foods with zinc and the following 5 books were the result:
(1) Dupler, Douglas. "Nutritional Supplements" The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Vol. 4. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2006. p2648-2652. No food sources listed.
(2) Rowland, Belinda. "Taste Alteration." The Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. Vol. 2. end ed. Detroit: Gale, 2006. p1170-1171. Yes. Foods that are rich in zinc include oysters, crab, beef, pork, eggs, nuts, yogurt, and whole grains.
(3) Brody, Tom and Samuel Uretsky. "Minerals." The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy Through Adolsecence. Ed. Kristine Krapp and Jeffrey Wilson. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2006. p1186-1188. Yes. Best foods for zinc are lamb, beef, leafy grains, root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, shell fish, organ meats such as liver or kidneys. Then, going all the way to the index at the end of this "Minerals" article to "Zinc, sources of" 3: 1182; 4:1912, I clicked on each one to be connected directly to 2 other references: one in Vol 3. Brewers yeast, eggs, fish, meats, beans, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, whole grains. Vol.3 p. 1176-1182; and the other one in Vol 4. "Vegeterianism" zinc is abundant in nuts, pumpkin seeds, beans, whole grains, and tofu. Vol. 4 p1912.
(4) Tran, Mai and Teresa G. Odle. "Nutrition." The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Vol.4 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2006. p2643-2647. No food sources listed, but emphasizes that good nutrition promotes health and helps prevent disease and lists and explains the 6 categories of nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fats, fibers, vitamins and minerals and water. Near the end of the article, it lists side effects of too much Vit. A, B1, B6, Vit. C, Vit. D, phosphorus and zinc. Too much zinc, a trace mineral, can affect absorption of copper and iron and suppresses the immune system. Trace minerals "participate in most chemical reactions in the body"...and "are needed to manufacture important horomones."
(5) Dupler, Douglas. "Detoxification." The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Vol. 2. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2006. p1148-1151. No food sources listed. Spoke of zinc deficiency.
I could not get the read speaker to work for me. I looked like it was working, but no volume. Were these articles all MLA?
Then, I went back to the "Basic Search" of 164 books, chose "Minerals" The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. and changed the zinc search to "within this volume" and pulled up 11 areas where zinc is mentioned: Minerals, Mineral Deficiency, Mineral Toxicity, Heavy Metal Poisoning, Gastritis, Macular Degeneration. [Vol 3. p2303-2306. my note=most common cause of legal blindness in people over 60. 28% of population over age 74 are affected by this disease. Alternative treatment: beta carotene, mixed carotenoids, Vit. A,C,E, selenium, zinc. Food sources for zinc: citrus fruits, cauliflower, broccoli, nuts, seeds, orange and yellow vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash) cherries, black berries, blueberries]. Gonorrhea, Menstrual Disorders, Genital Herpes, Juvenile Arthritis.
Could not get the "read to me" feature to work. Will have to work on this later :) Enough already! :)







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