Library challenge -- Lesson 4 Gale Virtual Reference Library

Lesson 4 -- GVRL

1. The title I chose was "Scholarships, Fellowships and Loans." The reason I chose this title is because I have been thinking I would like to get my masters in Spanish Language through Concordia College's masters program and I wanted to see what was available in the way of grants and scholarships. I do not want to get a loan if I can avoid it. Through this volume I found several scholarships related to foreign language studies which is very encouraging. I can also see a potential for my students to use this volume when they are ready to apply for scholarships in their chosen field.

2. For the second part of this lesson I went back to the manatee. I found six articles related to that topic. The one I chose to look at was "Habitat Loss and Species Extinction" by Brian Hoyle. This article was very interesting and informative. The read aloud feature allows the student to listen to the article while doing more research and I can see it would help students who are slow readers but also who are ELL learners because it helps in their pronunciation and the student can read aloud at the same time as the computer is reading to them to practice and listen for cognates to help them decipher the text.

Library challenge -- Lesson 3 Proquest

Lesson 3 -- Proquest

1. Basic search -- I chose to do a search on World of Warcraft (WoW) for my basic search (being an avid fan of the game and one who has played WoW for five years now), I was skeptical that I would find any information related to WoW in Proquest. Once the search ended I had 232 articles related to WoW, from anthropological studies (these interest me the most) to internet addiction and on line MMO's (massive multiplayer online games), to another about how cost effective a hobby WoW happens to be and how much enjoyment you can gain out of this hobby.
From the article "WoW Factor" by Jennifer Demski in the T.H.E. Journal i found the following quote interesting: "Demski features the online role-playing game World of Warcraft. Set in the northwestern part of Terokkar Forest, the capital city of Shattrath contains portals to every other major city in Outland: Darnassus, Exodar, even Ironforge. It is a gaming environment that provides a social activity and what students could learn from gaming and the gaming industry may apply to learning engagement in schools."
Frankly after the search gleaned 232 articles I expected all of them to be more of in the WoW bashing lines, instead I was surprised and found some of the articles interesting and if I found information on this subject I can see how useful Proquest can be for students doing research papers or just essay writing. (I know I will be mentioning this site to them when I hear them complain that they can not find any information on the topic given to them.) ~.o


2. Publications tab -- I did several searches related to the subject I teach. I was only able to find publications under tourism (3) and Spain (1). However I did not have the name of a publication to search for and perhaps I need to refine my searches. I admit using search engines has always boggled my mind, English is not my native language and some things I still am not able to "work" out one of them is search engines. I will say I was disappointed I did not find any information when I typed maya, aztec, Mexico or Mexico City and only one article related to Spain.

Library challenge -- Lesson 2 SIRS

SIRS Discoverer

1. Sirs Discoverer -- I decided to continue with my manatee research. The reading levels on the 103 articles I found were from young kids (Ranger Rick) to high school and adult level (National Geographic World). I like that you can look at all the articles at once or at the tabs which divided the search into newspaper articles, magazines, reference, web-finds and a tab for pictures. This is particularly helpful when you have to have several different sources in an essay you might be writing for school where you are not allowed to only use one book or one website. I am assuming that pictures have permission to be printed or used for educational purposes which would make illustrating a PowerPoint or word document easier than trying to find copyright or public domain pictures.

2. SIRS Discoverer Database Features.

• Country Facts -- The database offers information on population, geography and weather, history and resources for you to be able to find additional information. It also has a summary you can click on the top if all you need are simple facts. I do like that it offers teacher resources such as 3 levels of graphic organizers and you are able to have the article emailed to you.
  
• Maps of the World -- The advantage of being able to print these maps allow you to have a scavenger hunt for facts with your class, weather you want to use it for finding cities locations, historical facts or a collection of several different "hunts." I particularly love the outline maps and I know will be using them with my class at the beginning of term. No more looking for a suitable map now that I know this resource exists =)
• Photo Essays -- I chose this topic in thinking about an ELL learner pictures always help with trying to figure out a text. This section had several different topics including one about endangered species which the manatee is on that list. This section has short articles with a picture. The length of the articles i looked at seems appropriate for use with ELL learners or for a student who does not need much information just a sampling of facts or an idea to incorporate into a longer text the student has been working .

SIRS Issues Researcher

1. I chose racial profiling in the leading issues. The topic overview can be expanded and it gives the student a sampling of the information related to the topic chosen. Your search has information from several sources from newspaper articles to web references as well as political cartoons. I thought the pro/con issues where both sides are given is a good idea and can be used for further discussion in the classroom as well as used for debating the chosen topic allowing students to see issue from all sides and being better informed of their choices.

2. Curriculum Pathfinders -- I really like this feature of SIRS, it has a wide range of coverage on the subjects covered in school. I chose Spanish under language arts. I was impressed with the variety of help found in this area, it even had one of the sites i used frequently in my classes the BBC Spanish website. It also had a link for a website which I plan on using in the coming term, I have been looking for a phonetic alphabet site with sound bites for students to practice the alphabet. It also had a variety of other sources to choose from and it included a suggestion for Spanglish.

Timelin and citation builder in worlbooks

Hi and thank you for suggesting i check out those two features. Citation builder seems to be a good source for students in helping them develop the know-how when writing for college or beyond. The timeline I can use in class when we are looking at different events in the cultural history of the Spanish-speaking countries we study. Two very helpful features.

Library challenge -- At last!

Lesson 1a and 1b

1. Worldbooks for kids -- I chose the manatee, after not finding information about the possum. The information provided was short and to the point, no clutter to get lost in and it even offered a video of a manatee, one thing i found disappointing in the video was it had no sound, which in my opinion was a bit of a loss for kids, it is always interesting to hear how animals sound to create a more vivid picture in our minds. (The picture at right is from the US geological survey and it is in the public domain for that reason.)

2. Worldbooks for students -- This section had more information about the mammal, it provided a pronunciation sound of its name, a very nice picture and the same video. While it provided more information I feel that it is still geared to lower primary grades. I find both posts very similar with the only difference being the article is slightly longer for the student version. I did like the option to translate the text. The translation however was fairly poor at least in the Spanish translation I read, however it would help a ELL.

3.Worldbooks Advanced -- The country I chose was Brazil, since this is a place where manatees live. The information given on this country was very varied and it offered different aspects of the life in Brazil. It also had several pictures of interesting sites related to the country. In my opinion the information available on the country will be good for a variety of subjects, from art to social sciences.

4. Worldbooks Discover -- The article i read had several options from being read aloud to you to also having it translated in a number of languages to assist you in understanding it. I like that the site has a dictionary and the read aloud feature. The features mention before would help a poor reader of English or an ELL learner.

One feature I found particularly found useful was that you are able to save your research in a folder, this would help if you are unable to finish your research but also in proving your work.

Lesson 1c

1.Worldbooks enciclopedia estudiantil -- I chose the Spanish version since I am a Spanish High School teacher. The visual dictionary is very easy to use and it offers the additional bonus of the pictures for students just learning the language they would be able to find information but it could also be used by ELL students to help them with reports or gaining information on the subjects they are learning in school.

2. The read aloud feature would help students of the Spanish language in listening to the language, while the article is not read by a native speaker this feature still has merit in listening and pronouncing the words they are learning, for an ELL student who has difficulty reading or is a slow reader the read aloud option is excellent in being able to gain information for school.