Class work: SEARCHING for MENDELEEV, WHERE ARE YOU?

  • searching for: “Periodic Table of Elements”
  • found a http://www.ptable.com site that shows an interactive table of elements which can be organized by properties, orbitals, and by isotopes.  Properties of each element are displayed in a zoom window which makes it easy to see the difference between the elements, when jut hovering over the table.
  • chose to go back to the search and add “Mendeleev”
  • picked a website to go: http://www.aip.org/history/curie/periodic.htm which basically gives a paragraph of Mendeleev’s biography and further discusses how the table of elements is broken down onto different categories.
  • switched to WSUV’s Griffins Catalog to do the same thing:
  • searched for “Mendeleev’s Periodic Table” within <Vancouver> campus (I assume)
  • search came up with NO RESULTS! wow!
  • modified the search by removing <‘s> from the phrase
  • AGAIN returned with NO RESULTS for the “Mendeleev Periodic Table”
  • modified the search to “periodic table”
  • Griffin found 8 entrees: I picked the first one: The periodic table of videos [electronic resource]. Poliakoff, M. (Martyn) Nottingham, UK : University of Nottingham, 2009.
  • the link provided me with electronic electronic access to the website http://www.periodicvideos.com
  • very interesting take: each element instead of graphical image shows me a video of a professor explaining the particular element in detail.  Although the page is not as interactive, it is very entertaining to watch and learn about elements.
  • went back to searching for word: “Mendeleev”
  • the search came back with “NO ENTRIES FOUND” .  I am not sure if it is appalling or is it jut ignorant.
  • clicked on the “advanced search” button
  • entered mendeleev in one field under <ANY> category, periodic in one field under <ANY> category, table in one field under <ANY> category
  • “NO ENTRIES FOUND”
  • I give up!

The difference of search experience between the two searches mainly was the number of return items.  First one came back with thousands of returns that were pages mostly just displaying the periodic table.  In a griffin, I was amazed at how the word Mendeleev was not in the library at the campus where Biology major is one of the most popular degrees at WSU Vancouver.  However, the griffin library search came back with one of the results as a website with video of professor explaining each element properties.

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