This piece was handed out to PPL staff by Susie (director) the week I was working on the website redesign. I've enjoyed her handouts and find them very much on target with what's going on in the library and informative for her staff.
"Reference on the Web: A (Mostly Free) Digital Reference Library for Teens." Booklist 103.18 (2007): 78-80.
Fast paced is an understatement! Maren Ostergard and Shauna Yusko set a breakneck pace of reference topics, senarios, coupled with solutions and locations in this quick reference piece.
Formatted by the hundreds of the Dewey decimal system this piece gives librarians practical and useful resources. As the title suggests most items are free of charge however some pieces require a subscription to access.
An opening paragraph gives readers an understanding of the types of resources mentioned and the specific audience the suggested sites were geared towards. Interesting to note the 100's were omitted because the amount of demand on that section is limited. Each section offers a couple nuggets of high quality web information.
000's
Mid-Continent Public Library - Series and Sequels
This site, while the only one mentioned from 0-200 was a plethora of titles. Particularly helpful was the age appropriateness of the suggestion. Students of all ages are able to navigate the site as the design was simple, straightforward, yet the amount of information is amazing! I'm going to use it next Fall!
200's
Windows to the Universe
This site is a great source of information on Greek and Roman mythology; good for typical high school researchers. Most helpful is the sites viewability in Spanish & English!
World Religions - from the BBC
This site offers links and reference / research materials for all major world religions. Truly a great place for students to start research. The link mentioned in the article was changed by my web browser to a much simpler and short URL.
I found the brevity of details for each religion combined with the "multi-faith calendar of holy days" to be a gold mine!
300's
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Offers research and references on tons of topics and social issues.
http://www.crlsresearchguide.org/
I was unable to open this URL - according to the authors this site offers
http://www.classroom.com/community/connection/howto/citeresources.jhtml
This is a wonderful site for student works cited pages. Most helpful is the descriptors above the citation telling users what each "piece" of the citation is and in the correct order.
State Government Information
Offers information on each state government. Offers local links and maps for each state as well.
THOMAS
Home of the Library of Congress. Useful for anything Governmental at any level. As mentioned by the authors links to Congressional proceedings and bill status are easily obtained.
CQ Researcher
Like the Opposing Viewpoints this database is a paid service. Having a subscription for my school students I believe this is one of the most valuable research pieces for social issues / social science reference.
Testing and Education Reference Center
Like the Opposing Viewpoints this database is a paid service. It provides test prep opportunities for students and older library patrons.
400's
YourDictionary
Like other similar dictionary sites this site is free and offers many extras for users for example 400 languages to pick from.
Rhyme Zone
I'm writing poetry and need a word that rhymes with ____. This site is a great tool for speech students and writers alike.
NASA
One of the most complex and deep websites on the planet! Particularly useful on this site is its ability to offer multi-language information for non-English students. The link provided by the authors is to their Spanish info page.
Oxford English Dictionary
My personal favorite. The OED offers background and explanation of word usage. Deeper than a general definition; usage, intended, historical, contextual meaning.
Rosetta Stone
A great tool for learning foreign languages. Students can use this site to brush up and or prepare for an upcoming exam.
500's
WebElements http://www.webelements.com/
Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Chemistry Division http://periodic.lanl.gov/default.htm
It’s Elemental—Element Flash Cards http://education.jlab.org/elementflashcards/index.html
Science Niche http://scienceniche.com/science/science.cfm
Virtual Frog Dissection Kit http://froggy.lbl.gov/virtual/
Facts On File’s Science Online http://www.factsonfile.com/
Gale’s ScienceResource Center http://www.gale.com/sciRC/
600's
http://www.innerbody.com/index.html
Rosen’s Teen Health & Wellness http://www.teenhealthandwellnes.com/
700's
National Gallery of Art http://www.nga.gov/
Art History Resources on the Web http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
Grove Art On-line http://www.groveart.com/
800's
MIT’s Complete Works of William Shakespeare http://shakespeare.mit.edu/
http://www.monologuearchive.com/
http://www.speech-topics-help.com/
http://www.teenreads.com/clubs/index.asp
Multnomah County Library’s discussion guides http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides.html
Bloom’s Literary Reference Online http://www.factsonfile.com/
Books in Print http://www.booksinprint.com/
The Columbia Granger’s World of Poetry http://www.columbiagrangers.org/grangers/
NoveList http://www.ebscohost.com/
900's
American Memory http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html
http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/home.html
InfoNation http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org/infonation/info.asp
Country Reports http://www.countryreports.org/
Gale’s History ResourceCenter: U.S. and History Resource Center: World http://www.gale.com/
Daily Life through History http://www.greenwood.com/dailylife/
The authors make some compelling points at the end of the article. Teens want something virtual that fits their schedule and on their terms. Showing them something they can navigate late at night from the comfort of their PC will make them value your information knowledge and create return reference questions. I try to instill this in my own students.
Having the benefit of virtual resources also creates flexibility for users. The important emphasis of this resource is the "teaching" factor. Instructing users is essential to empowering them.
"...teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime..."
No comments:
Post a Comment