I'm into my third week of starting back to school at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and this experience has opened many different avenues of thinking, thinking that otherwise would have been buried in some dark cranial trench waiting to be discovered.
My most recent assignment is to explore the ERAU Hunt Library which is available to us at our University (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) website and how I might use it to use as a resource for my studies. Additionally, I was asked how the information found in the library would compare to the information retrieved from Google when searching about a leadership concept.
When you visit the http://library.erau.edu/home.html, (only available to faculty and students), you immediately be impressed with the amount of information available on the splash page (home page) and how well this information is organized with a wide array of Help topics that cover most needs very adequately.
After I registered to use the library, I explored a bit, clicking here and there when lightening struck. I found a tutorial on the Library found at http://library.erau.edu/help/library-basic-training/. The tutorial was very helpful in describing what resources are available and how to use them. After watching the tutorials, I really don't foresee having to go anywhere else to find the information I will need for future class projects. Furthermore it is highly probable the ERAU Hunt library will be the first place I look for resource material.
The types of resources are quite comprehensive. Everything from peer reviewed articles, to books and periodicals. All of the material is vetted by ERAU Hunt librarians before they are added to the Hunt library, and it is in this act that separates the ERAU Hunt library from a Google search. A Google search will typically result in a mix bag of credible and not so credible sources whereas if the material is found in the ERAU Hunt library it is material that has been critically reviewed and can be trusted to meet the basic requirements of an accepted publication.
