Using Destiny Quest and Online Resources Lehighton Area Middle School Library

Why do you use the Internet? It’s easy It’s fast It’s has fresh new information It’s fun

So, What’s Wrong with That? Anybody can put anything on the internet so your information might be incorrect. Crazies are out there! You have to be safe. There are things you shouldn’t be seeing on the web.

What’s this all about? This presentation will show you  How to use Destiny Quest to locate excellent materials.  How to find online resources using Destiny Quest.  How to find out if a website is a good source of information.

Destiny Quest Log into your computer with your username and password. Double click on the Destiny Icon and this will be the first screen that you see. Click on the link for Lehighton Area Middle School Library.

This is what you’ll see. “Destiny Quest” will open up. That is the name of our OPAC—Online Public Access Catalog—our library catalog. Will take your right back to the main screen. Top 10 checkouts of the month. Easy Resource Lists already prepared for you. New Arrivals that come in weekly. Find search box to type your interest. My List for things you want to keep and look up later.

Log in using your student number for the username and your last name for the password. This will allow you to see if you have any books out or owe any fines. You can also create your own lists of books, websites or databases for future reference. Click on “My Info” to see if you have any materials checked out or owe any fines. Logging in to Destiny Quest

Find Search Box When you are looking for a book, use the “find” box at the top of the page. There are many ways to search for a book.

Title Searches The name of the book is called the “title.” If you know a title of a book, you can type it in the box next to the word “find” and you will find out where the book is in the library. This is what comes up when you type in the title Artemis Fowl. These numbers tell you where the book is in the library. You can also see that our library has them listed as “checked in”.

Finding Books by an Author If you want to know if we have any books by a certain author, type in the writer’s name in the “find” box. You don’t have to put in capitols, but you do have to spell the name correctly! How many books by Meg Cabot are in the LAMS Library?

Finding Books by Subject/Keyword If you are looking for a book about something special, type it in the “find” box. I did a search on ghosts and came up with a lot of different materials. Reference, fiction, nonfiction, movies, etc… You can tell which is which by the call number.

Narrowing Your Search Go to the box on the left side of the page and you cut down the number of books so that you have the one that’s best for you. Here are 4 ways: find authors, subjects, format or year the books were written.

If you click on the corner of the book, you get these “quick details.” If you click twice on the book, you will get a screen like the one below.

When you go into a book’s summary there is a little button under the picture of the book that says “shelf browse”. Shelf Browse

When you go into a book’s summary there is a little button under the picture of the book that says “shelf browse”. Shelf Browse

The “shelf browse” button will actually show you what is near that book on the same shelf so you could see what other books are available on your topic. Shelf Browse

Using the Online Resources If you are logged in, and after you type in a keyword to search, you will have these options: The open book will “Search Library”. The globe with the magnifying glass will “Search Online Resources”. The globe by itself will search “Search the Web”. These websites have been evaluated and tested by educators and are deemed safe for middle school students!

Exiting Destiny Quest If you would prefer to exit Destiny Quest and search for materials with the regular screen just click on the link that says “Exit Destiny Quest”. You will get the same information but in a basic format without the extra graphics.