Wednesday Wake Up Call: Britannica School

Good Morning everyone! Yesterday was my turn to create a short video tutorial about Britannica School which is one of our richest online databases. Along the way, I learned a few lessons myself. First of all, do not procrastinate when completing work. Typically, I give myself a false deadline usually a day or two earlier than the date a project or paper is due in order to make sure I have time to review and revise the work before submitting it. Well in the case of Britannica School, I put off completing my video tutorial until the day before it was due. Now, here is the lesson. If you recall, this Monday was very rainy and windy. We had all sorts of warnings about losing power and/or the internet. I, of course, did not heed them and was working on projects that I found intriguing but also took me down the research "rabbit-hole" as it were so I didn't get to the short Britannica Tutorial until Monday afternoon at which time, yes you've guessed it, my internet went out. 

Long-distance transmission: digital telecommunications system. Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 Feb. 2020. school.eb.com/levels/high/assembly/view/3691. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020.

While this underscored the reasoning behind my earlier practice of a faux deadline, I did not panic, certain that my internet would be restored overnight and I could muster a short if not perfect Screencastify in the morning in time to make the ever timely Ms. Covintree's Tuesday Tutorials. Nothing makes Ms. Covintree happier than sharing more resources! Well, needless to say, when I started my day at 6:00 AM prepared to make my now perilously late tutorial about this versatile research tool, my internet was still out. After several calls to my internet service provider who reassured me that crews were at work to fix the problem, I made the only choice possible on a partly sunny warm spring day, I went for a walk. When I returned, so had the internet. 

I spent most of the evening answering emails with reference questions. Knowing I work better in the morning I created the Britannica School Tutorial this morning. While still not perfect, I cannot seem to get my timing right at the end, it does show many of the highlights of Britannica and the reasons that you may want to start projects or look for images in this valuable resource. This last month and a half has shown us all of the different ways we can learn online. Still, some of the tried and true practices of learning offline are important. I will not procrastinate when making my next tutorial. This I know has become so much harder with all of the distractions of being home. I hope this tale is instructive. It has been for me!

Have a great Wednesday and look for more as we post about our online journeys and all that the Library has to offer.