The AVL Council works hard to ensure that there are quality resources included in the virtual library. These include subscriptions to expert databases as well as collections of e-books. Let’s first take a peek at the e-books available on the AVL. Simply click the tab at the top labeled E-Books to open various collections of e-books that are organized by age/grade appropriateness as well as by topic. To read these e-books online, simply select a title and it will open in a new browser tab. Students especially appreciate being able to easily navigate from one chapter to another in these e-books. Though the AVL does see heavy usage of our e-books, we know that most of our users are here for research...which takes us to the databases.

While “Googling” something can produce the largest quantity of search results, the use of an expert database gives information seekers the greatest quality in their searching. This is a great strength of using the AVL for academic research. There are several points of entry to the AVL’s databases. You can click on the “View All Resources” tab, which will produce an alphabetical list of databases with descriptions. For some users this can be overwhelming, so it can be best to start with either the Student or Adult resources tabs. As you see the Student Resources tab is divided into four levels: elementary, middle, high, and college. Each of these levels contains resources that are most appropriate for children and students in those areas. This organization of resources makes the AVL very user-friendly for students of all ages.