I'll admit that I was not looking forward to this section. Even though I have used e-books from various places I find it frustrating to figure out the format and how the e-book will open. Putting all of that aside I began to explore Ebsco E-books, not to be confused with Ebsco Host or e-library. This one, Ebsco E-books is sandwiched in between. I began the search with wind energy as our science classes work on projects researching alternative energy. One book was unavailable which means it was being used by another patron. I thought this might be a problem but the other books I looked at were available.
Most of the ones I found were available for download. I worked with the download for a time trying to figure out how to best explain the procedure to a patron. The e-books are downloaded as Adobe Digital Editions and can be read on the computer or sent to an e-reader. The Adobe Digital Edition website gives a list of supported devices http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalpublishing/supported-devices. I have used the Nook with Adobe Digital Editions and I have Bluefire Reader on the I-pad which is also on the list but I have not tried it from this site.
I found several books on the constitution but just looked at the titles and did not check any out. When looking for "western history" books with a particular publisher I chose Oklahoma. I found several books from the University of Oklahoma Press and checked out two of them, one Rapid City Indian School and the other Buffalo Soldiers and Officers of Ninth Calvary. In order to check out a book an account has to be opened which is a quick process. Once this is done the books are checked out and an option is given whether to read from the site or to download. I chose download and now have the books for 7 days. Options are given for citations, printing, emailing and saving. Limitations are set for printing with clear instructions given.
I will certainly recommend this resource to teachers and students.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Gale Virtual Reference
The first thing I noticed about this database was that I had to enter a barcode and password. That was not a problem as I had one for the school but this is the first time it has been required.
After that however I found Gale Reference to be very helpful. I know our 8th graders will soon be working on a World War II unit so I picked the WWII set from Title List on menu bar. There was a timeline and articles which I know will be very helpful as the students begin to research. One thing I liked were the inclusion of pictures. The text to speech feature and the ability to download to Mp3 is very helpful. Articles can be printed as well. This database is more advanced than others we have reviewed however it could be used by middle school students looking for a particular topic.
Our language arts classes are searching for a book to read for literature so just to see what is available for literature I typed in Huckleberry Finn in the search bar. I found several books about Huckleberry Finn as well as themes in American Literature. I read an article Race and Prejudice in American Literature which included mention of several other literary works with similar theme. I could not get the "listen" feature on this particular article but on others I have listened and found the speech to be good and not as robotic sounding as some others.
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a great addition to the library where space and funding is limited.
After that however I found Gale Reference to be very helpful. I know our 8th graders will soon be working on a World War II unit so I picked the WWII set from Title List on menu bar. There was a timeline and articles which I know will be very helpful as the students begin to research. One thing I liked were the inclusion of pictures. The text to speech feature and the ability to download to Mp3 is very helpful. Articles can be printed as well. This database is more advanced than others we have reviewed however it could be used by middle school students looking for a particular topic.
Our language arts classes are searching for a book to read for literature so just to see what is available for literature I typed in Huckleberry Finn in the search bar. I found several books about Huckleberry Finn as well as themes in American Literature. I read an article Race and Prejudice in American Literature which included mention of several other literary works with similar theme. I could not get the "listen" feature on this particular article but on others I have listened and found the speech to be good and not as robotic sounding as some others.
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a great addition to the library where space and funding is limited.
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