ELECTRONIC RESOURCES WORKSHOP March 29, 2013

Databases and eBooks A subscription database is a collection of regularly updated scholarly and professional articles, reports, statistics, newspaper, and magazine articles. It may also contain reviews, reports, and primary sources. An e-book (also electronic book or digital book) is a text- and image-based publication in digital form produced on, published by, and readable on computers or other digital devices.

Reliability of subject matter; Currency of information; Depth of content Undergo a editorial process Databases and eBooks provide: Are written by experts

Online resources are usually quicker and easier for students to use because they provide:  Additional reliable resources at one’s fingertips  Highlighted subjects throughout  Suggestions for related subjects.

Databases and eBooks also:  Assist with critical thinking  Provide ease of citing works MLA Citation Eysturlid, Lee. "What if Japan had not attacked Pearl Harbor?: Need To Know." American History. ABC-CLIO, Web. 27 Mar  Prepare students for college research requirements

Activity #1

eBooks and Their Platforms

Research Guides are the amazingly popular, easy to use, versatile tools for presenting attractive multimedia research options and promoting library resources to the students and community. Thousands of academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide (including Harvard, Tufts, Duke and Cornell) are using this valuable instructional tool to guide students to relevant and reliable resources.

 Kids love them!  One stop shopping for research!  Available 24/7  Straight forward and easy to use;  Eliminates angst and frustration with research process;  Contains MLA Help Page For students: For librarians: Boxes have multiple purposes; Easy to add pictures, social media and video; Can be updated in minutes; Stats are huge! Promotes greater collaboration with classroom teachers. For teachers: Directs students to one place for reliable research; Tailored to differentiated instruction; List of preferred websites can easily be included; Multimedia approach to assignments; Easy to check validity of sources on Works Cited Page; Eliminates angst and frustration with research process; Promotes greater collaboration with librarians. The Many Benefits of Research Guides…

Research Guides

Activity #2

Website Evaluation Websites require careful scrutiny before you elect to use them in your projects. The following website evaluation video will help you determine which online resources will best serve your reference needs.

The Internet The Pew Internet & American Life survey conducted in February 2012 produced the following statistical information:  91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web  73% of search engine users say that most or all the information they find as they use search engines is accurate and trustworthy  66% of search engine users say search engines are a fair and unbiased source of information  Searchers of all ages use Google more often than any other search engine.

The Pew Internet Survey

Tips for Searching Google PDFs Excel spreadsheets PowerPoint Presentations Narrowed-Down Information Verbatim Phrase.edu.org.gov

Internet Cautions Media savvy researchers recognize the enormous value of information available on the Internet but are also aware of the dangers in believing that every web site contains reliable information.  Web sites that contain misinformation, disinformation, outright lies, and hoaxes;  Bias of sponsors, advertisers and special interest organizations;  Counterfeit web sites dispensing spurious information that unsophisticated researchers may believe is from a very reliable source;  Newsgroups sites focused on such topics as politics, health and economies;  Personal web sites, Weblogs or Blogs where the authors are free to express themselves anonymously on every conceivable issue. Beware of

Some of the websites are harmless and entertaining; All could give misinformation to the unaware reader. Hoax sites, fake sites, spoof sites or parodies of 'real' sites present a major challenge for evaluating information found on the Web… Others are harmful, even hateful.

esearch/AIDSFACTS.htm

We hope the information we have shared has been relevant. Thanks for joining us today… Individual Investigation Time