Alabama Learning Exchange
ALEX: www.alex.state.al.us
Setting Up an Account:
Features:
1) Courses of Study
2) Web Links
3) Lesson Plans
4) Search
5) Professional Learning
6) Distance Learning
7) Help
VERIZON THinkfinity (ALEX content Partner)
Thinkfinity (Formerly MarcoPolo): www.thinkfinity.org
Thinkfinity Teacher Resource Descriptions: www.thinkfinity.org/teacher/teacher_about.aspx
Features:
Thinkfinity Content Partners:
1) Illuminations (Math): illuminations.nctm.org
2) ReadWriteThink (Language Arts): www.readwritethink.org
3) EdSiteMent (Humanities): edsitement.neh.gov
4) ArtsEdge: artsedge.kennedy-center.org
5) ScienceNetLinks: www.sciencenetlinks.com
6) NationalGeographic Xpeditions:www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions
7) EconEdLink: www.econedlink.org
Alabama Virtual Library
FEATURED DATABASES
1) LitFinder
AVL (www.avl.lib.al.us) è Campus & Library è High School/Middle School è LitFinder
Ø The LitFinder database includes thousands of full-text poems, short stories, essays, speeches and plays. Also includes biographies, work summaries, photos, and a glossary.
8 Basic Search
8 Advanced Search
2) Annals of American History Online
AVL (www.avl.lib.al.us) è Campus & Library è High/Middle School è Annals of American History Online
Ø History, society, and everyday life come into focus through a variety of articles and media. You now have access to search the 5.2 million words, graphics, and multimedia from the Annals of American History Online, including: 2,100 entries from 1493 to the present, and original source documents such as speeches, essays, biographies, and editorials.
8 Timeline search
8 Author
8 Topics
o Documents
o Multimedia
o Citations
8 Search
3) Bose -- Britannica Online School Edition
AVL (www.avl.lib.al.us) è Campus & Library è High/Middle School è Britannica Online School Edition
Ø Britannica Online School Edition gives teachers and students instant access to four complete encyclopedias that ensure consistency with classroom topics and age-appropriate language. This unique database also offers student-friendly website recommendations, current magazine and journal articles, the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate and Student Dictionaries and Thesauri (with audio pronunciations), a world atlas, plus high-quality online learning materials that are developed by teachers and curriculum experts. Designed for all levels of learning, Britannica Online School Edition offers students a gateway to the vast resources of Encyclopedia Britannica, with encyclopedia articles and Learning Materials correlated to the Alabama State Standards!
8 Search
o Additional Content
o Journals & Magazines
o The Web’s Best Sites
o Multimedia & Videos
8 Learning Materials
o Interactive Lessons
o Exercises
o Web Site Activities
o Encyclopedia Activities
8 Teachers’ Resources: Curriculum Standards (Return to BOSE Main Page)
Integration Ideas for BOSE:
8 E-Sheets
8 Activities provided by BOSE
4) SIRS Knowledge Source
AVL (www.avl.lib.al.us) è Campus & Library è High/Middle School è SIRS Knowledge Source
Ø Articles professionally selected from magazines, journals, and newspapers to provide general research information on topics exploring social, scientific, health, historic, business, and political issues. In addition to the general reference database, Researcher, the site includes SIRS Government Reporter for information by and about the U.S. government, and SIRS Renaissance for information in the arts and humanities.
8 Search by subject heading or keyword
8 Tagged research list
o Allows saving a group of articles for email, bibliography
o Email delivery feature
8 Your Top 10 Leading Issues: Pro/Con
8 Features
o Today’s News
8 Educator’s Resources
o PDF Guides
o Standards
8 Toolbox
o Citation Guidelines
5) world data analyst
AVL (www.avl.lib.al.us) è Campus & Library è High/Middle School è World Data Analyst
Ø This powerful yet easy-to-use online tool lets students analyze countries at a glance. World Data Analyst offers detailed statistical comparisons of countries around the world, using both the most recent statistics and historical figures. Plus, students can create tables, charts, and even export the information to a spreadsheet for printing and data crunching. Students can also link to country articles from the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. It all leads to better understanding of our ever-changing world.
8 Country Snapshots: Easy access to printable country statistics including map, area, population, demography, vital statistics, Gross National Product, and more.
8 Current Comparisons: Create a table or chart that compares countries using over 250 recent statistics.
8 Chronological Comparisons: Create a table or chart that compares countries over time.
8 Ranked Statistics: Find information on country rankings in categories such as population, economy, and significant geographic features.
6) InfoTrac Student Edition
AVL (www.avl.lib.al.us) è Campus & Library è High/Middle School è InfoTrac Student Edition
Ø Designed to help students complete school assignments and find general information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more. The database offers full text articles from 325 magazines, newspapers, and reference books most often selected by libraries for this age group.
8 Subject search
8 Keyword search
o Encyclopedias
o Magazines
o Maps
o Newspapers
o Reference
o All sources
8 Advanced search
8 Dictionary
8 Tool Box
8 Email Delivery
7) Other useful databases
8 African American History and Culture
Biographies, encyclopedia, historical documents, photo gallery, maps and charts.
8 Literature Resource Center
Integrates searching for literary information including critical analyses, biographies, and bibliographies for more than 120,000 authors from every age and literary discipline. The Center covers 90,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers with additional coverage for 2,500 of the most-studied authors.
8 Student Research Center
Provides students with the most appropriate research tools for easily obtaining the information that they need from their EBSCO databases. Users can easily pre-determine which content sources (e.g., Magazines, Newspapers, Biographies, Country Reports, Film & Video) will be included with their search. They can also search their databases by topic heading, make use of an online dictionary and encyclopedia, explore the top searches of the day, and even limit their search according to appropriate Lexile reading levels.
8 Literary Reference Center
Literary Reference Center includes more than 10,000 plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, 75,000 articles of literary criticism, 130,000 author biographies, full text of over 300 literary journals, 500,000 book reviews, 25,000 classic and contemporary poems, 11,000 classic and contemporary short stories, full text of over 7,500 classic novels (anticipated by Fall 2006), 3,000 author interviews, and over 1,000 images of key literary figures.
8) WHERE DO I START?
If you are new to AVL and need some help getting started with your searches,
here are some starting points:
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If you are looking for …
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Try this database …
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General information in magazines/journals |
InfoTrac Student Edition/SIRS Knowledge |
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Quizzes, puzzles, activities |
SIRS Discoverer |
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Medical information |
Health Source: Consumer Edition |
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Online learning games & tutorials |
Britannica Online School Edition |
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Literary criticisms |
Literature Resource Center/ |
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Articles for Research Papers |
EBSCO Search/Gale Power Search |
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Full Text Poems, Stories, Speeches, |
LitFinder |