Databases vs. Google (2)

Utilizing three of Wayne State’s general biographical resources and one online encyclopedia, enabled me to learn more about John Hanson. There is some debate over when Hanson was born as I learned from my search. One of the biographical resources I checked along with an article from Google indicated that Hanson was born in 1715. Due to two biographical resources indicating the birth year of 1721, along with an online encyclopedia, I went with 1721. All of the resources I used to learn more about Hanson did indicate that he died in 1783. The resources I used for this research were Who2?: Find Famous People Fast, Notable Citizens of Planet Earth, Biography Resource Center + Marquis Who’s Who, and the Encyclopedia Americana. As Stanis recommended, I did Google “first presidents” to find an article about Mr. John Hanson. What I learned from Wayne State’s general resources and Google will be further discussed.

First, the article found on Google does state that John Hanson was the first President of the United States of America (“John” “Hanson,” 1997). This article was the only material I found throughout my search to firmly make that argument. It also alleges that Washington was the first President of the U.S. under the constitution we follow today, but that seven others preceded him to that title. Of course, John Hanson was one of the seven people who allegedly preceded Washington to the highest seat in the land.

Next, the other 4 resources I used gave titles to John Hanson which continued to raise speculation in my mind. In fact, Who2?: Find Famous People Fast stated that Hanson was best known as “the guy who was sort-of the first American president” (Who2, 2010). Biography Resource Center, however, never mentioned that he was the first president of the United States. Instead, they mentioned that in November 1781, Hanson was elected president of the Congress of the Confederacy (Biography Resource, 2010).

Even more interesting, Notable Citizens of Planet Earth states that in 1781 Hanson was elected by the Continental Congress “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” an office he held for one year (Biographical Dictionary, 2007). This resource did mention that he is sometimes referred to as “the first president of the United States,” but he was a congressional presiding officer and had none of the powers of the president under the constitution (Biographical Dictionary, 2007). So does this mean that he only had the title of President of the U.S.?

Also, the Encyclopedia Americana states that Hanson was the first president of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. As such, he is sometimes regarded as the first president of the United States (Americana, 2010). There is some support to his claim of presidency, on Nov. 30, 1781, Gen. George Washington congratulated Hanson on his elevation to “the most important seat in the United States” (Americana, 2010).

Surprisingly, Hanson’s race wasn’t mentioned much in the resources used for this research. Biography Resource Center did mention that he was of Swedish descent, but it never mentioned an African background. While researching Hanson, I quickly gave up the idea of looking for actual details of his race. Conducting searches on his race even with databases or other credible resources just seemed to be impossible.

Although, I won’t say rather or not John Hanson was the first president of the U.S., I will admit the information I found was convincing enough to believe that he could’ve been. As for rather or not he was of African American descent, who knows? Since I found no material claiming he was or was not, that is left up to the reader to decide.

Overall, my preference would have to be the resources I used through Wayne State. Google wasn’t bad, but it never hurts to double check your information through the use of credible library resources.

References

Filler, L. (2010). Hanson, John (1721–1783). Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved February 19, 2010, from Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0193210-00

"John Hanson."Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies, 1928-1936. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

John Hanson, First President. (1997). John Hanson, American Patriot and First President of the United States. Retrieved from http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html.

Notable Citizens of Planet Earth. (2007). S9 Biographical Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.s9.com/Biography/Hanson-John.

Databases vs. Google (1)

Earlier this week I was reading an interview featuring Bern Nadette Stanis, on AOL’s Black Voices. During the 1970’s Stanis’ popularity was kicked into full gear on the black family sitcom, Good Times, where she played Thelma Evans. While I cannot say that I have followed her career over the years, I can say that I am a fan. When I saw that she had done an interview on Black Voices, I just had to read it and I’m glad that I did. In the article, Mrs. Stanis makes mention of John Hanson being not only a black man but the first president of the United States. Interesting, huh? John Hanson was an American Revolutionary leader who was the first president of Congress under the Articles of Confederation (Encyclopedia Americana, 2010).

Apparently, a historian brought this information to the attention of the actress and motivational speaker. Expressing her amazement, Stanis was excited to learn this and recommended that the readers Google “first presidents” to learn more about the subject manner. Now, some may wonder what this has to do with Library & Information Science. Working in an academic library, and advocating the use of databases weekly, makes me pro-library resources. Students approach the reference desk daily wanting to learn how to work WSU’s databases for class or research purposes. Google is not the first option I consider when students need articles for either purposes. The suggestion to use Google to learn more about John Hanson vexed me for a few reasons. First, we live in a day and time where most know nothing but Google, and they make it their first and last stop. Most teens or adults for that matter don’t think to question the search engine’s credibility. Next, to learn something from a historian and then suggest that others learn about the same subject or idea from Google is terrible. Perhaps I don’t know as much as I should, but when it comes to knowledge, aren’t historians walking books of it? Still, one would believe that a historian’s account of something is more credible than whatever Google’s search engine would produce.

Curiosity got the best of me and I did some research of my own to learn the “truth” about Mr. John Hanson. Finally, what will follow next week is what I discovered or didn’t discover in my quest for the “truth” about this figure.

Filler, L. (2010). Hanson, John (1721–1783). Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved February 19, 2010, from Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0193210-00

Compare & Contrast: Library Programs (2)

The idea to take a deeper look into the University of Michigan’s School of Information occurred recently. Originally, I was interested in knowing about the Research classes that they offered to their students. Also, a student at U of M who shared that she had to take a Statistics class further piqued my curiosity about Michigan’s requirements. Next, what will follow is what I learned about the University of Michigan’s School of Information along with Wayne State’s School of Library and Information Science. *It should be noted that everything provided about each school may be found directly on their websites. *The websites for both universities will be provided at the end of this blog.

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is considered to be the top university in the state of Michigan. This university offers its students a Master in the School of Information, where WSU offers its student a Master in the School of Library and Information Science. Forty eight credit hours are required to obtain a MSI Degree from U of M, Ann Arbor. Here’s Michigan’s MSI Degree Requirements:

· 2 core courses (Information in Social Systems: Collections, Flows, and Processing & Contextual Inquiry & Project Management)

· 3^rd core technology course (Networked computing: Storage, Communication, and Processing) may be waived based

· 3 management course credits (Special Topics: Information & Control, Principles in Management, Choice Architecture) some of the choices

· 3 research method credits (Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis, Qualitative Methods, Research Methods) some of the choices

· 3 Cognate courses taken elsewhere at U-M

· 8 Practical Engagement credits (6 for students who enrolled before Fall 2008) earned through for-credit internships or class-based experimental learning

· Any specialization requirements

· Additional credits to total 48

A major difference in these two universities is that one offers a specialization of Library and Information Science. Of course, the university that offers this specialization is U of M, and they offer these specializations as well:

· Archives and Records Management

· Community Informatics

· Human-Computer Interaction

· Incentive-Centered Design

· Info Analysis and Retrieval

· Information Policy

· School Library Media

· Preservation of Information

· Social Computing

Overall, Michigan’s MSI Degree appears to offer its students an array of opportunities that will increase their skill sets in this competitive field.

Furthermore, Wayne State University is known for being the third top school in the state of Michigan. Standout fields for this university include sociology, medical research, and a host of others. I began my MLIS Degree at WSU in the fall of 2008, and I must admit that things have changed. First, when I enrolled in the program here, it was just that a Master’s program. In 2009, WSU’s Library and Information Science Program became the School of Library and Information Science. In order to obtain a MLIS Degree, students must complete thirty six credit hours. The MLIS Degree requirements at Wayne are as follows:

Core Classes

· LIS 6010 Introduction to the Information Profession

· LIS 6080 Information Technology

· LIS 6120 Access to Information

· LIS 6210 Organization of Knowledge

· LIS 7040 Library Administration and Management

· OR

· LIS 7310** School Library Media Programs (Students in the School Library Media Specialization are required to complete LIS 7310 instead of LIS 7040)

· LIS 7996 Research in Library and Information Science

Although, Wayne’s MLIS Degree offers concentrations vs. specializations some of them are similar to Michigan’s MSI specializations.

Concentrations and Suggested Classes:

· Academic Libraries

· Archival Administration

· General

· Health Sciences Librarianship

· Information Management

· Law Librarianship

· Organization of Information

· Public Libraries

· Public Library Services to Children and Young Adults

· Reference Services

· School of Library Media Endorsement

· Special Libraries

· Urban Libraries

The SLIS offers seven specialized programs to its students, but I’ve focused on the Master of Library and Information Science. This was done to provide an overview of one of the more popular SLIS programs.

Rankings for some of the top Library and Information Studies were conducted by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings place the School of Information at U of M, Ann Arbor, in the number five spot. While the rankings place Wayne State’s School of Library Information Science in the number twenty spot. Even more impressive, was that there were not too many other states having two or more universities to appear on this ranking. Whether it’s Michigan or Wayne State at least students should have the comfort of knowing their attending credible library and information institutions.

www.si.umich.edu
www.slis.wayne.edu

Compare & Contrast: Library Programs (1)

I am currently enrolled in my last two prerequisites from WSU’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. The course that I find most stimulating this semester is LIS 7996, Research in Library and Information Science. LIS 7996 marks my first experience with any type of research course. When I began reading the text book for the course, I was very overwhelmed and intimidated. Research terminology can be confusing and extremely hard to understand. Part of the reason for this is due to the word choices made by the author(s) of the book. Even my professor, Dian Walster, admitted the book can be a bit difficult to understand. What I appreciate about Dr. Walster is how patient and hands-on she is in her teaching. Dr. Walster is always open to receive and answer any questions the class has in a clear and concise manner. In the last few weeks, through various readings, I’ve learned how important research is within the Library and Information Science field.

Last year, I had to observe the reference desk at a suburban public library. While observing, I met a student from U of M (Ann Arbor) who was pursuing her Master’s degree from their School of Information. Although I didn’t learn of her specialization, I did learn that she had to take a statistics course. She was irritated in having to take the course and had no intention on applying what she learned to her future career as a librarian. Afterwards, I became interested in learning more about the University of Michigan’s School of Information. Until recently, I had no clue that statistics was related to the research field. Hence, I’ve decided to compare and contrast Wayne State’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science with the University of Michigan’s School of Information. The comparison/contrast isn’t intended to determine which university has the better curriculum. How both schools apply research methods to their courses is one of the purposes for this compare/contrast. Next, another purpose is to take a closer look at what both universities have to offer their students in a growing and competitive profession. Also, it should be noted that the actual comparison/contrast will be featured in my next blog.