Some places to go for help finding books, e-books and videos for benchmark projects that require them:
Note to students: Some of the streaming video links may not be accessible at school due to the district web filter. If that is the case, save the link to watch later at home.
**DISCLAIMER! IMPORTANT! IGNORE AT YOUR OWN RISK...In past years, many students have, sadly, gotten poor grades on their Source Checks because they forgot to check the credibility of their video sources. Please remember: No matter what source you use, no matter what media it is (book, website, magazine, video, etc) you MUST verify that it is made by EXPERTS on your benchmark topic! Check the publisher, speaker, date, etc.**
Irvington High School Library Web Catalog (to find print books)
Irvington HS Library E-Books: Follett Shelf
Use the first part of your school Google account as your username (stop at the @), and your entire student ID as the password.
Alameda County Public Library Catalog
Find a great book at the public library but can't get to Fremont Main? Don't forget there is a branch of the public library across the street from Irvington, open on Wednesdays!
Alameda County Public Library e-books (Overdrive)
Gale Virtual Reference Library
A database of reference e-books (encyclopedias, etc.) for research from Alameda County Library. Make sure that your source is long and in-depth enough, as there are a lot of short encyclopedia articles in this database that will NOT work for a source check. You need a public library card number to access this resource.
Project Gutenberg (free e-books)
Access Video: A free streaming video site with access to educational videos from PBS, BBC, A&E, National Geographic, Ken Burns, Jim Lehrer, and more. You need an Alameda Co. public library card for access. No card? Get an e-card here
TED Talks (speeches, lectures, presentations)
*Note: Be aware of the difference between TED Talks and Tedx. Your teacher may not accept either one of these, or they may accept TED Talks but not TEDx talks. No matter what source you use, you must verify that your speaker is an EXPERT on your issue!
Points of View documentaries (PBS)
WBGH Open Vault (a public broadcasting producer that supplies videos to sources like PBS):
The Documentary Network on YouTube
...and its world map feature to choose films based on location, so cool!
School Tube
Educational multimedia, by a nonprofit org.
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has been around for 70+ years and publishes more than 1,700 films, including many documentaries, for free on this site. Not just films about Canada!
Note: This Indiewire site has more than 10,000 free documentaries, but please note that this is not just an educational/documentary site, it's a streaming site for all kinds of movies, so it may include videos that are rated R, etc. Please do not watch videos that are inappropriate!
Vimeo's Documentary Film channel
Note: Some of these may be too short to be a good source. Think about whether it gives you enough material to write a good Source Check and whether it seems like it'll help with the essay you will eventually write.
Internet Archive's Video Section
Note: Check the publisher of the individual video you choose and make sure they are reliable! This site collects videos from around the web, unlike the BBC or PBS, which shares videos that they publish themselves.
Open Culture (free e-books, etc.)
This site is a little hard to search, but there's some good stuff here.