ProQuest

To begin tracking down the "clues" in ProQuest, I searched for "school library standards." This brought up over 700 documents, so I clicked on Standards AND School Libraries in the Results box and narrowed it down to just 22 documents. The second title "Sticky Standards" caught my eye. At this point I had a plethora of options. I could translate the article to another language, print it, e-mail it, copy the link, cite it, or mark it. I could read just the abstract or go to the full text. Once in full text I could choose to follow the subject links, the author link, or even go to the complete issue of the publication. I selected mark it and then went to the folder entitled My Research which gave me another list of choices. The one I found most useful was Create Your Bibliography. Selecting MLA from the seven styles offered I next went to download which gave further directions and a list of instructions about MLA style in general. Both older students and adults will find this feature valuable and time-saving when working on research projects. You can e-mail up to 50 documents with a bibliography. Under My Research it even tracked all of my recent searches and offered the option to Set Up Alert and/or Create RSS Feed. But once you close out of ProQuest, My Research is cleared. I should be using this when I'm creating resource lists for trainings and conferences – it's elementary, my dear librarians!

On to searching by the title of a publication… using the keyword "school library" I found School Library Journal and School Library Monthly. Searching just the word "library" brought up 24 results. Selecting Library Media Connection I then searched the publication for "reading." Although this is a broad term it came up with just 253 documents. Full text is not offered for this publication, but an abstract is available and clicking on Find Text for the article "Free Reading is UTOPIA" took me to EBSCO sources that had full text and Holding Information for ILL use. I am definitely tracking down "Weed 'Em and Reap: the Art of Weeding to Avoid Criticism." I set up an alert for this topic in this magazine which will last for two months and then I'll be notified via e-mail if I'd like to continue the alert. It's interesting that the alert notes that this service is for individuals age 13 and older. Overall, ProQuest is a very serious looking resource – I think most kids under 13 wouldn't be interested in it – there's a wealth of information, but even SIRS is more fun to use.

SIRS continued…

Cyberbullying is one of the Top 10 Pro vs. Con Leading Issues in SIRS Issues Researcher found easily on the homepage. There are also many other features and search options. I especially like the Visual Browse which gives brief info about the topic and a link to the leading issue materials. Plus, RSS feeds are available. Once in the Cyberbullying section there are five major areas: a Topic Overview gives background information; Essential Questions offers pros and cons; Interactive links to the WiredKids site Stop Cyberbullying; Narrow Your Results reports sources found by type with the actual sources listed with Lexile score, summary, and subject links; Research Tools provides six options. The Note Organizer would be a great tool to use for beginning organization with students who are writing a persuasive speech or paper. The newly released Common Core Standards stress this type of writing. Standards Correlations are linked to both national (AASL is included) and state standards and I would predict that the Common Core info will appear soon. In addition to the summary when you click on "more" in Topic Overview or select it from the Research Tools, there are Terms to Know and Further Research suggestions which links to Primary Sources among other things. There is so much information the key would be to guide students to skim and use all of the options and not click through at the speed of light!

In Curriculum Pathfinders I explored Language Arts and ended up at Mythology with 365 matching subjects and 59 all source types in the Narrow Your Results box. I sorted the results by Lexile level low to high and the first thing that appeared was "The Lore of Harry Potter" from USA Today. Although the article is from 2001 with a Lexile score of 1060, I would use this as an intro to a project about the mythological allusions in the entire series in print and movie formats. In my former school we always offered a one semester English elective on mythology. This would give it a new twist and make a great connection between the "old school" stuff and popular culture – I'm sure even Twilight would lend itself to the same concept.

Again, much of the content in both SIRS resources is valuable to teachers as well as students. As a school librarian I would make sure I passed on a few links to these resources to staff when they ask "What does the library have on ________?"

SIRS Discoverer and SIRS Issues Researcher

Continuing my inquiry about prairie dogs from last week, I typed the term into the search box of SIRS Discoverer. My results came up with 175 items - newspapers, magazines, reference, and pictures, but no websites. In browsing the first 25 items, I noted various Lexiles levels, several activities, many photos and that a few items were fiction. The article "Dog Eat Dog" from Current Science caught my eye. It has a 1070 Lexile level and was marked as challenging, so I knew it was most likely for older students. I found three photos of prairie dogs, Internet links, a Critical Thinking activity, and a Multiple Choice quiz on the content. Priaire dogs are cannibals! Moms eat other mom's babies to give them protein to nurse their own babies - oh my. Speaking of baby prairie dogs, "Roadrunner Rescue" from Highlights for Children was one of the fiction items listed. It has a much lower Lexile at 560 and turned out to be a short story with illustrations about a roadrunner who saves a baby prairie dog from being eaten by a rattlesnake.

On to Database Features: Country Facts... no England, no Great Britain.. it's under United Kingdom! In addition to a map, there are three levels of graphic organizers for notetaking, major facts listed by categories, a timeline of events, contact info, a list of sources and links to related articles. When clicking on the map there is also a link to "show all articles related to this picture" which took me to an 2001 article about a new species of T-Rex.

Maps of the World allows searching by clicking on a category, typing in a search term or browsing by letter. Using the search term "United Kingdom" I found six different maps. The first was an outline map of the country and the surrounding area which could be printed for students to label or projected for a class activity. The second map listed was the answer key. Other maps are full color and all are printable in PDF.

Pathfinders contains four major sections: Born This Month, Holidays & Celebrations, Suggested Research Topics, and Challenge Quest. Born this Month lists famous people with links to a list of items about them. For example, selecting Beatrix Potter I discovered 15 websites which led me to an electronic copy of The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies with text and illustrations. Holidays & Celebrations lists links (Canada Day, Independence Day, and Bastille Day for July) under Subject Headings, Subject Tree Paths and Keywords. Suggested Research Topics is arranged in the same manner for major subjects of interest to kids and schools - Explorers, Dinosaurs, Global Warming, etc. Challenge Quest has a question of the month with the question, the answer and a pathfinder from the previous month.

Overall, I think SIRS Discoverer is an excellent resource for both students and teachers. It contains a wealth of sources and would be a valuable tool to use to teach beginning and intermediate research skills, to find articles on the same topic at different reading levels, to locate age appropriate websites, etc.

On to SIRS Issues Researcher tomorrow....

World Book Online

World Book School Edition
Although I have used this edition the most, it continues to surprise me! When I opened World Book Kids for this lesson I was immediately drawn to the World Of Animals video clip. Clicking enter and then filter I checked out the mammals and decided to pursue the black-tailed prairie dog. I found a few facts with the photo and then choices to go to the exhibit or article. The exhibit contained quick facts, related photos, and web links. But the best part was the Compare Animals feature. I selected guinea pig, clicked on Compare Now, and had an instant side-by-side chart. (Guinea pigs are actually raised to eat in parts of South America! Well, I've been told that prairie dog stew is very tasty too.) The article page included three paragraphs of text, related web links (same as the exhibit), a Lexile level, a Play It question, citation information, an illustration, a link to see the article in Spanish, a link to the article in World Book Student, and a toolbox of options (print, email, save, translate this text, hear text read aloud, double click to define a word).

So, on to the trail of the prairie dog in World Book Student... I knew I could arrive through the link in the Kids article, but headed to the home page and entered the term "black-tailed prairie dog" in the search box. My results came up with 1 article, 1 sound, 1 picture and 2 back in time items. In the article itself the amount of information is doubled and is written in more complex terms. The habitat info is about the same, however, Student gives details about the conflict with people and livestock. The related web link is different, a content standards link is included, and tools also include options to highlight the search term and save to My Research. I did the same search selecting the option to search Students and Kids at the same time and came up with the 2 articles, but no link to the cool exhibit stuff in the Kids' World of Animals. Searching just Media didn't find it so I tried Advanced Search and saw that Student is only searching the articles in Kids - too bad - the comparison feature would interest older kids as well.

Leaving the prairie dog behind, World Book Advanced took me to England. Wow - 3074 items, 180 primary sources, 27 e-books, 11 Supreme Court cases and the list goes on! In the article itself the outline on the left links to major topics covered, maps, flag, photos, a fact box, etc. On the right the Related Information links to other information in the encyclopedia as well as out on the web. Here I found an extensive list of biographies which would be great to help students select a topic they may never think of for those 8th grade biography assignments. Also, The World Remembers D-Day is found in Special Reports. I might use this as background reading for a U.S. History class and have them compare/contrast and/or interview relatives and/or neighbors about the Honor Flight program going on in SD right now. Depending on the project, all of this content-rich article would be helpful to students and teachers, plus the content standards link is an added perk for lesson planning.

Lastly, browsing World Book Discover allowed me to start at History and Government, Government, American Government, People, and end up at Coolidge, Calvin. I could then translate, save to My Research, read aloud, email, print, look at the photo, double-click to define a word, etc. All of these features would enable an ELL or IEP student to work independently and locate information needed. If more detail were needed the feature at the end of the article to go to Student would link them to further information there.

Library Challenge: e-Resources Edition

Reviving the old blog to switch trails to Library Challenge: Electronic Resources Edition...

The Game Never Ends: Wrap-up

The "game" has been interesting, fun and very educational. Of course, it never ends! I already have several of the recommended sites in this lesson on my Bloglines. I have made it a daily habit to check Bloglines and will continue that to remain current on library-related info. I know I will continue to apply the info I find there to my work with school libraries in SD. I have also started making time for personal news on Bloglines. I would like to start a school library blog or wiki and will try to work on that soon with Lee and other Library Development staff. Sherlock never really quit his work, he just retired to Sussex to raise bees.So, on with the Web 2.0 game... it's elementary my dear Watson.

Wikis

Wikis had become an everyday part of my life at SDSL even before this lesson! I've been involved in several conversations relating to Wikipedia, participated in the PBWiki about the library's website, checked out and edited conference info on the SDLA conference wiki, joined Quynn's wiki about the Halloween party, and joined the CE Forum wiki. On Friday I visted Carmen Wilcox at Elk Point-Jefferson School/Public Library and she suggested that SD school librarians needed a way to share information and projects in addition to announcements on the listserv - why not a wiki? Why not a wiki for our WUE (weekly electronic updates)? The Library Success Wiki led me to Blogging Libraries Wiki which links to good examples of blogs from all types of libraries, associations, etc. Take a look at this one http://newtrierlibrary.blogspot.com/ which is from a high school in the northern suburbs of Chicago or this one http://casl.wordpress.com/ from the Colorado Association of School Librarians. But back on the trail of wikis, not blogs... The Stevens County Wiki Project would be a great idea for one my local communtities to try out as they are trying to gather info for their 100th year celebration. I e-mailed that suggestion to them. The ideas are endless...