Another Job Hunting Technique

Now we can post your resume on the web, specifically at http://iheresumes.blogspot.com/.  When you send your resume to the Career Services Department (CSD), include a note to them that you would like your resume posted online.  CSD will forward it to me, and I'll post it and tell you the URL (web address) of your online resume, which you can include in your cover letters when you apply for jobs.

A word of caution:  Remember that when you post something on the internet, everyone can see it.  This includes your phone number, email address, postal address, and anything else you include.  Remember that there are criminals on the internet.

This poses a problem.  You want potential employers who see your resume to be able to invite you for an interview, but you do not want just anyone to know where you live.

Here are two possible options:

1.  We can ask potential employers to contact us directly.
2.  If you have a profile on LinkedIn or other website, you can include the URL for your profile.  This way, people can send you emails indirectly even if they do not have your email address.

Remember that IHE is closed Good Friday, April 6.

News Briefs, March 28, 2012

Have you ever used Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/)?  This website has countless practice problems and videos.  If you’re stuck on a math concept, want to learn about finance, or need health-related information, this website can be a good place to start.  Topics are listed by category.  Find a category in algebra and try a sample problem.  If you miss it, you can learn how to solve it.

The newest book in IHE’s collection is Emergency Guide for Dental Auxiliaries by Debra Jennings and Janet Bridger Chernega (ISBN 9781111138608, call number RK305 .C44 2012).  As you can see from the call number, this book was published just this year, but we also have an earlier edition from 2002. 

The entry on the 2012 edition in our online catalog (http://ihelib.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-do-i-use-our-online-catalog-to-find.html) includes a link to the publisher’s web page about the book.  If you click on it, you will be led to http://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?Ntt=9781111138608||210332382776941388013224666361957048113&N=16&Ns=P_CopyRight_Year|1&Ntk=all||P_EPI.  The page has information about the book, including an overview, the table of contents, and “New to this edition” features which show what the 2012 edition has that the 2002 one does not.  You can learn a lot about what is in this book (and how useful it is to you) before you even find it in the bookshelves.

 Friday marks our registrar Komal Patel's last day at IHE.  Good luck, Komal!  We hope you visit soon.

New Books: March 21, 2012

Title	Author(s)	Call Number	ISBN
Black Boy (American Hunger):  A Record of Childhood and Youth	Richard Wright	PS3545 .R815 Z5 1993	0060812508
Dental Terminology	Charline M. Dofka	RK28 .D64 2012	9781133019718
A Documentary History of the United States	Richard D. Heffner	E173 .H5 1965	None, LCCN 65004162
Don Quixote, of La Mancha	Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, translated and edited with an introduction by Walter Starkie	PQ6329 .A2 1957	0451626842
The Hunt for Bin Laden:  Task Force Dagger	Robin Moore	HV6432 .M65 2003	0375508619
Unto the Sons	Gay Talese	E184.I8 T35 1992	0679410341

A Documentary History of the United States features the texts from many of the most important documents and speeches in the country’s history, from The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution to John F. Kennedy’s speeches.  Do you think this book will have the text Barack Obama’s inaugural address?   Hint:  Look at the call number.  This book has had several editions over the years and been continuously updated, but its call number shows that this particular edition was published and/or copywritten in 1965.  Similarly, if you have been following the news over the past few years, you can see that The Hunt for Bin Laden:  Task Force Dagger could not possibly end with the death of Osama Bin Laden because it had not yet happened in 2003.

In certain cases, the date does not matter as much.  Black Boy (American Hunger):  A Record of Childhood and Youth and Don Quixote, of La Mancha are classic works of literature, so it would not matter if these books were published in 2012 or 1912—as long as they were still in good condition.

Which of these books was published the most recently?  Answer: Dental Terminology.   We have an earlier edition of this book from 2000, but the facts in it have been updated since it was first published.  If you compare the 2000 and 2012 editions, you would find some differences.  To find out more about these differences, you can visit the publisher’s website at http://www.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?N=16&Ntk=P_Isbn13&Ntt=9781133019718#mainTab_2.

Three Little Words--And, Or, and Not

When you search for information, three of the most important words in the English language are also three of the most common:  and, or, and not.  These words are called Boolean modifiers.

George Boole (1815-1864) was an English mathematician and logician whose work makes him one of the most important influences on the history of the computer, even though electronic computers were not invented until the twentieth century.  Computers complete millions of functions based on the way Boole’s work classifies information, called Boolean logic.  

You can use Boolean logic to make internet and database searching much simpler.  An article at http://www.knowledgecenter.unr.edu/help/using/booltips.aspx explains how using the words and, or¸ and not can help you get better results with your search terms.  For example:

	If you type in the search box…	Your hits will include…	But not…
1	healthcare and marketing	Every article that includes both the words healthcare and marketing	Articles that have only one of those words.
2	healthcare or marketing	Every article that includes the words healthcare, marketing¸ or both	Articles that do not include either of those words.
3	healthcare not marketing	Every article that includes the word healthcare but not the word marketing	Articles that include the word marketing and/or do not include the word healthcare.

Which of those three search methods could give you the most results?  Answer:  #2 because it will include all the results of #1 and #3 and probably more.

 

If you are researching healthcare marketing, do you think you should use #1, 2, or 3 in the chart above?  #1 is probably the best because you know that every article will include both healthcare and marketing.  #3 is the worst choice because you would not find any articles that include the term marketing, which you want, and #2 is not as good as #1 because it will include some articles that you want and some that you don’t, such as those that are about only healthcare or only marketing.

Hmm…If we’re researching ways that people market healthcare, we should remember that health care sometimes is written as two separate words.  How can we be sure that we can get articles about “healthcare marketing” and “health care marketing”? 

Some databases and search engines have an “advanced search” feature, allowing you to make more than one requirement.  Even if they don’t, you can still try searching for a search term along the lines of marketing and (“health care” or healthcare).  This will give you articles feature the word marketing and either the term health care or the word healthcare.   (Note that the quotation marks show that we are looking for the exact term health care, with the two words next to each other.)

Note:  Our online catalog at http://opac.libraryworld.com does not use Boolean modifies.  As far our catalog is concerned, and, or, and not are just words to search for.

A Nurse's Visit

Today, Jessica Matfield, R. N., spoke to IHE students about her experiences working in a nursing home and the lessons she has learned.   Among the topics:  how to become a nurse, how to dress and act on the job, and how to interact with people with handicaps.  As a woman who is blind in one eye, she has experienced discrimination — and that has only inspired her to work harder to perform her job with professionalism.  Jessica also implied that IHE students should take advantage of their classes and externships by arriving on time, learning all they can, and not leaving until the end of the session.

Afterward, Jessica told me that she enjoyed the talk, especially answering students’ questions.  She also left her contact information with the Career Services Department and with me in case anyone has any further questions.

I also would like to hear from you.  What other types of sessions and speakers would you like to see at IHE?  Would you like to hear from doctors, dentists, office managers, nurses, or people in your field?  What about IHE alumni?  What topics would you like to learn about?  If you were at Jessica’s talk, did you find it helpful?

Two Web Resources

The website Job & Career Accelerator (http://www.learnatest.com/LEL/index.cfm/general) can help you not only when you are looking for a job, but also when you are deciding on a career and even a place to live.   How much does the average dental assistant make in New Jersey?  How about in New York?  The United States?  What tools and skills do you need to master?  (Actually, you classes at IHE should help you answer the last question on your own.)  Additionally, there are tutorials that help you write a resume and cover letter, complete a job application, and have a successful job interview.  There is even an “Occupation Matcher” feature that can suggest a good career path for you based on how you answer a questionnaire.

Job & Career Accelerator is one of many websites that you can use to find a job.  Today I used a website called Animoto that helped me create a music video using photos of IHE students and faculty.  You can watch this video at http://animoto.com/play/AritMqDAUtd3kiPi110cZg or make your own at http://animoto.com/.

Creating an Animoto video can be a fun way to organize pictures or create a free gift for someone.  Do you think it can it help you with your career search as well?   

New books: March 12, 2012

Title	Author	Call number	ISBN
At the Mountains of Madness: And Other Tales of Terror	H. P. Lovecraft	PS3523 .O833A9x 1982	034530232X
Essays, Speeches, & Public Letters	William Faulkner	PS3511.A86 A6 1966	None; Library of Congress Control Number 64020036
HIV Positive	Bernard Wolf	RC607.A26 W646 1997	0525454594
Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman	PS3201 .A1 19uu	None
A Massage Therapist’s Guide to Pathology	Ruth Werner	RM721 .M366 2011	9781608319107
Microorganisms:  The Unseen World	Edward R. Ricciuti	QR57 .R53 1994	1567110401

This new batch of books for the library includes literature by three classic authors, a book for massage therapists (which can be useful for physical therapy students as well as masseuses), and two books that might seem strange inclusions.  HIV Positive and Microorganisms: the Unseen World are about topics that some of our students need to understand, but they are written for young readers.  Actually, when adults conduct research, especially about a topic that they do not know well, children's books can be a good place to start.  They might not be scholarly sources, but they can give the readers clear understandings of the topics, which helps the researcher understand more sophisticated books and articles.


Can you guess why Leaves of Grass, a book by the nineteenth century poet Walt Whitman, has a call number ending with 19uu?  There is no date of publication on this book, but it appears to have been printed sometime between 1900 and 1950; we just do not know the exact date.