Library Lines: Help us help the community by giving blood
Giving blood is a precious gift to those in our community. The Cheboygan Area Public Library is again teaming up with Versiti Blood Centers of Michigan to host a blood drive at the Library. The drive will take place 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29. Walk-ins are welcome, but sign-ups are encouraged. Call or stop by the library to register to give blood.
The Cheboygan Area Public Library will host another round of still-life Drawing Classes in the New Year! Each session of drawing classes includes all the supplies required and four days of instruction. Each session is $20 per student and registration is required. The classes are open to ages 9 to adult.
To register for any or all of the Drawing Class Sessions, call or stop by the Cheboygan Area Public Library and a staff member at the circulation desk can assist you.
The dates for the next three sessions are as follows. The January session classes will take place Jan. 2, 9, 23 and 30. The February session classes will take place Feb. 6, 13, 20 and 27. And the March session classes will take place March 6, 13, 20 and 27. All classes will run 10-11:30 a.m. in the Art Studio on the library’s lower level.
The Cheboygan Area Public Library will host a beginner's Sign Language Class, taught by instructor Judy Ryan. This class is free to participate in and it is open to ages 9 to adult. Please register by stopping by the library or calling 231-627-2381.
Explora is the next Michigan E-Library (MeL) e-resource we can check out! Explora is a research database that brings together reliable information on thousands of topics covering a wide range of subjects such as Arts and Literature; Biography; Business and Government; Current Issues; Geography; Health; History; and Science and Math; among others.
As a reminder, MeL is a service provided by the Library of Michigan that helps libraries around the state share resources. MeL has two parts: there is the MeL Catalog for physical items that can be borrowed from other libraries and the E-Library for digital resources such as databases, e-journals, and other electronic resources.
To view MeL, visit cheboyganlibrary.org, click on the "Looking For" drop-down menu, then select "Your Digital Library" and click on "Michigan E-Library Resources." This will take you to the main Michigan E-Library page.
Now, let’s explore Explora! There are five different versions of Explora that you can find through the MeL eResources website: Explora for Elementary Schools, Explora for Middle Schools, Explora for High Schools, Explora for Educators, and Explora for Public Libraries. All five versions look and function similarly, but each one is curated specifically for their intended audiences.
The quickest way to find Explora is to first click on “eResources” from the menu bar at the top of the MeL webpage. Then scroll to the bottom of the page to the “Go to eResource by Letter” and click on the letter “E.” A list will appear with all the e-resources that start with E. If you scroll down to the end of the list, you will find a separate listing for each version of Explora which includes a link through the heading, a description of some of the contents of the site, as well as a video link that will give a quick tutorial about using that version of Explora.
Once you find the version of Explora that best suits your needs, you can click on that Explora to open the database. For example, let’s choose Explora for Educators. The new database site that opens will have categories with links for Lesson Plans, Student Tools, Curriculum Standards, and Valuable Sites for Teachers.
On the other hand, if we choose Explora for Public Libraries, the new database site that opens will have categories with links for Arts and Literature, Biography, Business and Careers, Current Events, Health, and others.
If we choose one of the youth versions such as Explora for Middle Schools, the new database site will show similar categories as the public library version but also a “Discover Popular Topics” section.
In every one of the Explora pages, there will be a “Search” box at the top of the page in which you can enter keywords or topics to find related information.
Once you choose a topic (in any of the versions), search results will bring forth several listings that are from various documents or resources. These documents and resources may be from biography sources, eBooks, reference material, videos, academic journals, and so on.
As you scroll through these results you can choose to access any listing that seems of interest, whether you choose to view the PDF Full Text version, view just the Table of Contents, or perform a Full Download.
Overall, when you use any of the Explora resources, you will find lots and lots of information on almost any topic you could imagine. Explora is great for gaining general knowledge of a subject, conducting research, or completing homework. And very importantly, it will provide reliable and trustworthy information.
Please note, the Cheboygan Area Public Library will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Dec. 23-24) as well as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (Dec. 31-Jan. 1).
— Emily Clare is program director of the Cheboygan Area Public Library.
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Library Lines: Help us help the community by giving blood
