MSLD500_Activity3.4_Blog_Explore Hunt Library_Wathen_Sandra

MSLD500_Activity3.4_Blog_Explore the Hunt Library_Wathen_Sandra

This is my blog to share my thoughts on how I may use the ERAU, Hunt Library as a resource for studies and also how the scholarly information I found in the library was different from the typical information I found when I used Google to research a leadership concept.

First I would like to say that the ERAU, Hunt Library-World Wide offers a very unique and informative on-line library.  The Hunt Library is engined by Eaglesearch.  It is so easy to find books, articles, courses, DVDs, videos etc.  The library has online full text resources and will recommend to you other websites if needed.  There are special library services where you can borrow and reserve circulations, as well as, borrow from the Inter-library.  There are other services such as media services, faculty and staff services, an area that recommends new materials for use and also a place where you can go and obtain web documentation delivered.  It also offers on-line help which includes asking questions to the librarian; FAQs, basic library training, plus a library guide and much more…Basically, it is a one-stop-shop wealth of scholarly information at your finger tips.

More specifically, it allowed me to search easily since it is tailored to topics.  I could use the search engine for searching the content type, look for journals and articles, trade publications, etc.  I could search by subject, by language or even refine my searches to go beyond the library collection of material if I needed to.

The user interface makes it so easy to use – you can easily save, email, print, export, tag, etc. from the main screen.  I could view the information as an abstract with full screen view or look at the information in an indexed view which displayed the attributes of the document.

I was enlightened by the capabilities and usefulness of the Hunt Library as a result of this MSLD500 Activity.   It gave me insight on how invaluable this tool will be for me in my current and future studies at ERAU.

To compare the Hunt Library to a basic Google search on the same topic of leadership, there is no comparison.   When I searched in Google, I considered myself in the “open market” and unsure of the integrity and accuracy of the information.  The Hunt Library was designed to focus on the needs of the academia with reputable information, and within the secured environment of an educational institution.  It was also designed with the users in-mind in that it is architecture meets the needs of the students and is easy to use and navigate.  When I searched within the Hunt Library, I felt confident on the integrity of the information, plus enjoyed the ease of use while navigating through the screen layers.

For anyone at ERAU that requires any type of creditable research information, I would highly suggest that they first use the Hunt Library versus Google.    Why allow yourself to vulnerable to just information, when you can go to the Hunt Library and obtain scholarly data with reassurance of its integrity!