SIRS Discoverer and Issue Researcher

SIRS Discoverer

1.      I searched for aramadillos and got a total of 78 results. Of those, the first 13 were the most relevant. Most of the results had a reading level on moderate, a few were easy, and very few were challenging. There were also quite a number that were considered a general reading level. I did not see a good description as to what this meant.

There were also pictures and activities included with some of the articles. It is nice, especially for the K-9 group, that all articles are in full text.

2.      The databases feature, which the challenge blog states is one of the most useful features, is not very prominent on the homepage. It is a section that unless directed there, I would have probably overlooked.

·        The country information contains some teacher resources on country facts. The worksheets come in 3 levels: easy, moderate, and challenging. The page also contains information on the population, economy, government, geography and history as well as a picture of the flag and a map of the country.

·        In Maps of the World, first I tried to open to open the Bull Run 3-D map, but all I got was the little red X and no indication of how to open it. I thought that it would have been really cool to look at, especially since I used to live 5 minutes from there and have been to the battlefield many times. It’s a great way to learn history. Since that didn’t work, I decided to try an outline map of the US. This one had only outlined of the states and stars where the capitals were located. This would be good for determining ones knowledge of where the states are located and what their capitals are.

·        I selected the Biographies area for my third search and found an entry for Jesse James, the stagecoach robber, but not Jesse James, the modern day motorcycle builder. However, there are entries for other “modern” stars.  There is an entry for George Harrison, but none of the other Beatles. There was entry for Alexander Hamilton, but not for Aaron Burr. It really made me wonder how it was decided who to include.

SIRS Issue Researcher

I browsed through a few Leading Issues. The Research Tools include a topic overview, a timeline, global impact and statistics. Centered on the page is a pro/con Issues section with 3 articles listed on both sides of the topic. There are also articles from newspapers and magazines, reference articles, viewpoint articles and various web and video resources.

For the Curriculum Pathfinder, I chose Health. It included an interactive portion distortion quiz. There were sections on Adolescent, Family, and Personal Health, Community and Environmental Health, Healthy Eating, Wellness Resources, and information on certain Diseases and Conditions.

Learning Express

Step 1. Setting up an account was very simple and easy.

Step 2. It was kind of inconvenient to have to add the test I wanted to try to “My Center” when I only wanted to try it. I then had to delete it from “My Center” when I was finished. However, if there is a test that I really want to take and possibly come back to later, having it in “My Center” is great. I also would have liked for the “View Answers” button to have been closer to the top of the page because that is what I would consider to be the most important part of a practice test.

Step 3. I thought the Creating Great Cover Letters course in the Job Search and Workplace Skills center would be very valuable for those looking for work. There were many good tips and the information was nicely laid out, easy to read, and also quite quick to read for those without a lot of time to spend. I liked the menu on the left that enabled you to go easily view a section that related to what you were looking for.

Step 4. I decided to browse through the ebooks to see what was available. I ended up looking at “501 Sentence Completion Questions.” The book was very well laid out and easy to use and seem as though it would be very valuable in both increasing a person’s vocabulary and as practice for standardized tests.

World Book Public Library Edition

World Book Online Kids – Mammal Search

I searched for Aardvark 2 ways. First, I typed “aardvark” into the search box on the home page. This search brought up 3 articles and 2 pictures. Next, I clicked on the “Plants and Animals” oval on the left side of the screen, then clicked on “Animals”, then “Mammals.” Aardvark was the first mammal on the list.

About the aardvarks habitat: The aardvark is an African animal that lives in the ground.

 

World Book Online Info Finder – Mammal Search

I searched for aardvark in this database also. I typed “aardvark” into the search box on the home page and got 4 encyclopedia articles, a dictionary definition, a table, a picture, and 5 back in time articles.

 About the aardvark’s habitat: The aardvark is an African mammal that sleeps in a burrow during the day.

World Book Online Reference Center – Country Search

I searched for Turkey.

On the left side of the screen, the search results were listed by type of publication, eg.) encyclopedia articles, primary sources, maps, tables, etc.

 
On the right hand side of the screen the primary sources of information were listed.

In the center column were encyclopedic articles. The first was on the Turkey, the country, the second was on Turkey, the animal.

When I clicked on the encyclopedic article for Turkey, there was a menu on the left with the different sections of the article listed so you could go straight the information you would like. On the right there was a list of related information.

 
I think the encyclopedic overview would be a good start for my patrons in getting a “feel” for the country. The primary sources and related information would be useful if a patron was looking for information on a specific aspect of the country.