Tool: Database Exploration [REVISED]

Earlier this semester, I put together an activity for an English class to guide them through the two databases that they would be using this fall. You can read about that here. It worked pretty well (enough for me to revise it for future use!) but it definitely had some issues to be worked out.
Good news! I did!

New Database Exploration

Right off the bat, this version is a lot bigger. The ENGL 3350 worksheet was for just two databases; this one wasn't restricted like that. Instead, I was teaching a group of students about "the databases they'd find useful" so I had a lot of leeway. 
Because of that, I decided to flip the numbers. Instead of two databases for groups of 5-7 students, I went with 20 databases for 22-25 students. Each (more or less) student in the class got one database instead of working in small groups. Part of the reason for that is that they weren't invited to my library classroom on Microsoft Teams and I simply couldn't do breakout rooms. And it meant I could cover way more content in the same amount of time.
To address the jargon issue, I did three quick demos before I set the class loose on the spreadsheet. I selected ones that would be useful but were finicky for some reason. Factiva just has really unique syntax; our EconLit license only allows one user at a time; and Public Register Online requires account creation and that process sucks. I also modelled how I wanted the students to fill out the sheet in the first three lines, which entirely addressed the "what the hell is truncation?" issue. If I were going to do the ENGL 3350 demo again, I would model the database exploration in Hathi and then assign the worksheet for the other two databases with the data about Hathi filled in as a model. 
I also definitely would use a spreadsheet again. The checkboxes made what was in what database really clear, and, frankly, my brain just likes the way spreadsheets are organized. When I exported it as a pdf for the class, it got very wonky in the formatting so I had to make some fixes there, but otherwise it worked great.

What I learned from the revision: Spreadsheets! More effective modelling techniques! This did actually work better as an individual activity, but that probably won't work for ENGL 3350 because there are a more limited number of databases at play! 
This continues to be a good activity that works very well in the virtual environment.​