1. Basic search of multiple databases for topic "gulf oil spill" in quotes yielded 539 documents
Refining search to full-text = 339
same topic limited to last 7 days = 27
same topic, full-text, scholarly journals = 3
same topic, full-text, newspaper abstracts - 196
I liked the big square box right in front of the researcher, "List of Other Related Topics," really nice for students still trying to narrow their topic.
Advanced search, same topic in quotes and Texas, not Mississippi, not Florida, full-text, last 30 days = 2
A search of People magazine for the last 3 months, same topic, full-text, yielded 0 results because the most recent issue indexed is 3/10/10, weeks before the recent Gulf spill. Same search in Newsweek for the last 30 days showed 7 articles. Conclusion: Newsweek is better about getting indexed quickly than People. Duh, huh?
On the right, "Find More Documents Like This" is another handy tool for students who like to keep exploring and clicking away.
From a teacher's perspective, the citation capability looks really easy to use--quick and accurate.
2. One of the periodicals of which I was an avid fan in my former school librarian life was School Library Journal. A publication search for that title showed the magazines indexed back to 1988. Those oldest issues contained articles in abstract format only, not full-text as they are now. Archiving happens pretty quickly with SLJ: the June 2010 issue was indexed and showed 16 full-text articles that could be printed, linked to, cited, etc. So, if I wanted to explore articles in issues of SLJ I could do that and take a pass on the $100+ subscription cost. However, I really relied on the book reviews in SLJ (among other reviewing periodicals) and I don't see those included. Am I just not seeing them? Not digging deeply enough?
I don't think one can look for articles on a particular subject, say, "electronic databases," in a particular journal, right? One would have to do a general search of all publications using chosen limiters such as date ranges and/or type of database to search to find such info.
Again, "Find More Documents Like This" on the right is a handy tool for exploring.
I translated a SLJ document into Spanish--cool for foreign language teachers and their students. I don't understand a word of it, of course, but this would be a good cross-curricular activity and an opportunity for collaboration between librarians and foreign language teachers. I need to mention it to the appropriate personnel at the school here and will do that.
For someone who wanted to know when the next issue was available, the "Set Up Alert" feature with options for alert of abstract or of full-text release would be great. Or the RSS feed as well.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
ER Challenge: Week 2
SIRS Discoverer
1. Tasmanian Devil - a face only a mother could love, right?
Search yielded 30+ total articles, 21 from magazines, 4 from newspapers
Most articles contained pictures; picture tab from search results bar indicated 8 pictures, some repetition among those, but all are in color and are good up-close photos.
Magazine article editorially-assigned reading levels ranged from easy to challenging with most falling somewhere between the 2 extremes. A re-sort of those articles according to lexile levels from easiest to most difficult revealed lexiles ranging from 660 to 1160.
2a. Went back to Germany again--stuck in a travel rut, I am.
The leveled graphic organizers could be a very useful tool for geography techers at whatever grade level is being taught.
Nice to see phonetic pronunciation guide, printable country map and flag
Handy quick facts organized to be easy to use, especially liked the facts under "Economy"--such current info is usually available but can be hard to uncover
2b. The map of Afghanistan found under the Nations tab could be useful to a teacher of current events, considering the importance of the topic of the war in Afghanistan in the news for the past several weeks/months. Many of the towns whose names appear in newscasts and articles are on that map as are the provinces frequently referred to, i.e., Helmand.
2c. My students frequently looked for pictures so that searchable picture file is a nice feature. During library visits, I've frequently taken school librarians to the Educator's Resources for the explanation of lexile levels, the workbooks for student lessons, and for the SIRS vs. Google chart.
SIRS Issues
1. "Human Trafficking" - Liked the definition of terms on the left side of the overview, i.e. dissidents, ethnic cleansing
Useful timeline for topic accompanied by a world map indicating hot spots in the world for human trafficking
Global Impact and Statistics could be helpful
Students would be fascinated by the Interactive feature on the right, this one about sex slaves. Both interesting and frightening
Pro-Con Issues & Essential Questions good to explore during research, especially early in process
150+ articles, mostly magazine & newspaper, with lexile levels, subject heading links, many available in pdf format, some accompanied by pictures, diagrams, maps, etc. Most, if not all, available in full-text
2. I chose the "Health" tab; a click there brought up several areas of interest under that topic: adolescent health, family health, diet and weight, eating disorders (always a subject of interest for students).
Clicking on eating disorders took me to the discussion of the topic as one of the 10 leading issues at this time. Clicking on sexually transmitted diseases in the word cloud under Research Topics yielded articles related to that topic.
The 2 interactive quizzes on the right side are a nice feature with potential for a health teacher working with students. Yikes! Don't know as much about health as I thought I did.
1. Tasmanian Devil - a face only a mother could love, right?
Search yielded 30+ total articles, 21 from magazines, 4 from newspapers
Most articles contained pictures; picture tab from search results bar indicated 8 pictures, some repetition among those, but all are in color and are good up-close photos.
Magazine article editorially-assigned reading levels ranged from easy to challenging with most falling somewhere between the 2 extremes. A re-sort of those articles according to lexile levels from easiest to most difficult revealed lexiles ranging from 660 to 1160.
2a. Went back to Germany again--stuck in a travel rut, I am.
The leveled graphic organizers could be a very useful tool for geography techers at whatever grade level is being taught.
Nice to see phonetic pronunciation guide, printable country map and flag
Handy quick facts organized to be easy to use, especially liked the facts under "Economy"--such current info is usually available but can be hard to uncover
2b. The map of Afghanistan found under the Nations tab could be useful to a teacher of current events, considering the importance of the topic of the war in Afghanistan in the news for the past several weeks/months. Many of the towns whose names appear in newscasts and articles are on that map as are the provinces frequently referred to, i.e., Helmand.
2c. My students frequently looked for pictures so that searchable picture file is a nice feature. During library visits, I've frequently taken school librarians to the Educator's Resources for the explanation of lexile levels, the workbooks for student lessons, and for the SIRS vs. Google chart.
SIRS Issues
1. "Human Trafficking" - Liked the definition of terms on the left side of the overview, i.e. dissidents, ethnic cleansing
Useful timeline for topic accompanied by a world map indicating hot spots in the world for human trafficking
Global Impact and Statistics could be helpful
Students would be fascinated by the Interactive feature on the right, this one about sex slaves. Both interesting and frightening
Pro-Con Issues & Essential Questions good to explore during research, especially early in process
150+ articles, mostly magazine & newspaper, with lexile levels, subject heading links, many available in pdf format, some accompanied by pictures, diagrams, maps, etc. Most, if not all, available in full-text
2. I chose the "Health" tab; a click there brought up several areas of interest under that topic: adolescent health, family health, diet and weight, eating disorders (always a subject of interest for students).
Clicking on eating disorders took me to the discussion of the topic as one of the 10 leading issues at this time. Clicking on sexually transmitted diseases in the word cloud under Research Topics yielded articles related to that topic.
The 2 interactive quizzes on the right side are a nice feature with potential for a health teacher working with students. Yikes! Don't know as much about health as I thought I did.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Lesson the First - WB Wonders
#1 & 2 - Gosh, where to start. I compared discussions of the mountain lion in WBK and WBS, and, of course, WBS has the longer, more detailed discussion necessary for MS students, but WBK has nice features as well including the lexile level of the article on the upper left (850). The WBK article also included links to 2 websites, one of which included a nice discussion of the current habitat of the mountain lion along with some drawings of front and back paws. The longer, more detailed article in WBS also included links to curriculum content standards on the upper right and, in the bar on the left, clicking on "sounds" yielded an audio clip of the mountain lion cry. New info to me is that, although the animal doesn't roar, it does purr. The WBS discussion says the cry is somewhat like a human scream, as verified by that audio clip.
Both WBK & WBS articles contained one picture of the mountain lion (same pic in both resources. The WBK website previously mentioned shows at least one more picture, but it probably wouldn't be as easy to download and print, etc., as the one in the actual WB article.
Love the ease of moving between the 2 resources--so handy for student users (and their adult helpers)! And, the read-aloud capability in both resources could be such a benefit.
#3 - My students would've appreciated very much the detailed breakdown on the left side of the contents in the discussion of Germany, being able to zip around at will within the lengthy article, and not have to read line by line from start to finish.
As the teacher and keeper of the printer paper and toner cartridges, I'd have appreciated the links within the article permitting printing of just one section at a time, eliminating the need to print the whole thing to get facts from only, perhaps, 1 subsection, for example, the subsection on German music.
Primary Sources - What a treat to show this to the teacher(s) in charge of History Day projects! Gold mine-type stuff ready & waiting.
Types of info more valuable to the user, comparing the 2 screens, depend upon the user's purpose. The first screen that opened on Germany gathers together maps, historical maps, sounds, videos/animations, pictures, etc., thus possibly sparing the user from having to explore the in-depth article if such exploration isn't necessary--a really nice feature. Many times, that first screen would be deep enough.
#4 - I chose "First Ladies of the United States" and clicked on the Enable Read-aloud Toolbar to hear the article read aloud and altered the speed of the reading for both more slowly and faster. I also played around with changing the language in which the article was printed--tried Arabic, French, German, Spanish. Both read-aloud and translation (assuming unfamiliarity with the English language is the issue) capabilities should be useful to users struggling to read English well.
Ta-ta for now. Time to stop playing and get serious about something else, no doubt, less fun.
Both WBK & WBS articles contained one picture of the mountain lion (same pic in both resources. The WBK website previously mentioned shows at least one more picture, but it probably wouldn't be as easy to download and print, etc., as the one in the actual WB article.
Love the ease of moving between the 2 resources--so handy for student users (and their adult helpers)! And, the read-aloud capability in both resources could be such a benefit.
#3 - My students would've appreciated very much the detailed breakdown on the left side of the contents in the discussion of Germany, being able to zip around at will within the lengthy article, and not have to read line by line from start to finish.
As the teacher and keeper of the printer paper and toner cartridges, I'd have appreciated the links within the article permitting printing of just one section at a time, eliminating the need to print the whole thing to get facts from only, perhaps, 1 subsection, for example, the subsection on German music.
Primary Sources - What a treat to show this to the teacher(s) in charge of History Day projects! Gold mine-type stuff ready & waiting.
Types of info more valuable to the user, comparing the 2 screens, depend upon the user's purpose. The first screen that opened on Germany gathers together maps, historical maps, sounds, videos/animations, pictures, etc., thus possibly sparing the user from having to explore the in-depth article if such exploration isn't necessary--a really nice feature. Many times, that first screen would be deep enough.
#4 - I chose "First Ladies of the United States" and clicked on the Enable Read-aloud Toolbar to hear the article read aloud and altered the speed of the reading for both more slowly and faster. I also played around with changing the language in which the article was printed--tried Arabic, French, German, Spanish. Both read-aloud and translation (assuming unfamiliarity with the English language is the issue) capabilities should be useful to users struggling to read English well.
Ta-ta for now. Time to stop playing and get serious about something else, no doubt, less fun.
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