SD Library Challenge 3--SIRS

On SIRS Discoverer, I looked chose the Panda bear to search.  I found many articles that had pictures and I also found many different reading levels on that information.  I listed many articles and I like the fact that you can click on a picture and enlarge it. 

The country I chose was Egypt.  It gives wonderful pictures of maps and the flag.  There are also many teacher resources (easy, moderate or challenging) which would be helpful to teachers.  It gives facts, population, geography, weather, economy, government, history (timeline), "For more information" (Phone numbers on embassies that you can contact), websites, related articles and citing help. 

Potential uses of Maps of the World could be:  outline maps for students to label with answers.  I clicked on nations and chose Afghanistan.  I could use this map and show all 'articles' that go with this map which would be very helpful.  I really like the US Historical maps.  This would be very useful for a history class.  You click on your articles and a map opens up with arrows, icons, etc. to describe the articles.  It's very impressive!  The history teacher would love to see this!  I really like the US map.  I clicked on SD and again I can click on articles related to it and it will give me state facts, etc.  It also lists additional resources on the bottom left.  Many links to more SD facts, etc. are listed also.

"Educator Resources" is my other item I chose to look at (Information Literacy Training Materials). Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!  I will be using this for my library skills lessons.  I love how well the workbook is laid out.  I can use the workbook, the information on how to cite a source, and the fair use checklist on copyright.  I plan on using the SIRS vs Google information.  I've printed it out and have already been sharing it with the staff.  It gives great information on why SIRS would be a better choice than google on doing research.  It also has educator guides and curriculum support; an in-depth guide to mini research (web finds, etc); student inquiry and discovery activities (map skills, problem-solving, etc.)  The mini research guide for gr.3-8 would also be very helpful.

SIRS Issues Researcher---I've already shared this with some of the high school staff today.  I chose Illegal immigration for my topic.  I like the fact that not only does this give the pros and cons but it also gives essential questions (I wish there were some for art since I teach that).  On the topic overview link, it gives the article and a video.  It also lists a nice timeline.  When you click on global impact, you get many results for newspapers and magazine articles, viewpoints, graphics/media which would be very beneficial as a visual.  It also gives statisitics.  I really like the "My analysis" for the students to use for a report.  It shows the steps they should go through (e.g.), separating facts and opinion, supporting evidence, etc.  The Note Organizer would be very beneficial too since it lays out the order of how the notes should go.  The Educator Resources would be very beneficial to teachers and librarians.  I plan on using some of the information given.

Curriculum Pathfinder--I chose Fine Art, since that's what I teach.  I did a search on Guernica (Picasso's painting) since my art students will be learning about it this semester.  The results show many newspapers, magazines, government articles, reference graphics and media.  I clicked on Reference and scrolled down to "Allegory" and chose that article.  It also gives a list of related articles as well as quite a few pictures of the painting.  I plan on using this Pathfinder to have my students do research on Guernica.  I also like the 'go to' link which gives a list of more subjects such as "Art and War".  They didn't have as big of a selection for the arts as some of the other subjects but it was nice to have it included and the selection wasn't too bad. Overall, I give SIRS an A+.

SD Library Challenge 2--Learning Express Library

I checked out several of these and took part of the GED test since I know of someone who is taking it.  I was quite impressed with the setup and how you get immediate feedback on what you missed.  I like the format and the variety of questioning techniques.   I like how you can store these in "My Center".  I also like how you can take part of the test and then go back to it later where you left off at.   I'm wondering if this is the same exact study site that schools use for students who are studying for the GED?  I know the Winner School district has a GED program and it's free for the students to use so I'm wondering if this is what they use.  I find this to be very informative.  I can't believe the large variety of practice tests on here.  I even checked out the PRAXIS tests to see what it would be like.   I've mentioned this site to our teachers and I plan on having the secretary put a note about this in the school's announcements because parents and students should be aware of these. 
For the job searching and resume writing one, I looked at resumes that get you hired.  I'm impressed again with the wealth of information for people to choose from.  It lists such things as 35 resume mistakes to avoid, websites on job listings, resume databases where you can post your resume and help on writing your resume or have it done for you, how to use action verbs to describe your skills and weapons,etc.  It also lists what not to do such as discussing what you're hoping to earn.  I plan on showing this to our counselor so she can talk to the seniors about it.
I've plan on talking to the teachers about all the skills improvement sections that are listed.  I got into a few of them and was very impressed.  I really liked the Critical Thinking skills one.  I saw a graphic organizer that I plan on using for one of my classes.  I also saw a very useful site on Evaluating facts that I plan on using for library skills with my students.  From help on writing essays to algebra to chemistry, there's a ton of information.  If I taught one of those classes, I'm sure I'd be using this site very often.  I certainly plan on sharing the information I've found with the staff.

SD Library Challenge 1

I chose the World Book School Edition since I'm a librarian at our school. 

I chose the manatee for the Kid's and the Student's editions.  In the kid's edition, the material is much simpler and shorter than with the student's edition but that's good for K-5 students.  It's laid out very well with bright colors for that age level.  The student's edition has much more material which is great for students at the gr. 5-9 level.  They even have nice videos to go along with the item that you're researching.  The students can save their material to "My Research" if they wish to as they proceed throughout their research. 

In the World Book Advanced, I chose Afghanistan since my son is over there (and coming home at the end of this month!)  I like the "In the News" feature on this site.  It's up-to-date which is very nice.  Items that will be most useful for my students, are the primary sources, encyclopedia articles (there's a lot of nice articles), E books possibly, Related Information and the Hear Text Read Aloud feature.  These would be very useful features. 

For the World Book Discover,  if a student is not good at reading English, they can translate to other languages.  So this would be extremely useful as it translates into 30 different languages.  It also has a text to speech feature so the students can hear text read aloud. 

Library Challenged!

I'm excited to start this library challenge!  My goal is to help the students to become more successful in finding information and using electronic resources.  I think it's a great idea that we're blogging too.  I just might use it in one of my classes.