Secular Online Database Subscriptions
As a result of
many years of research and actual use of the following online databases, I am
recommending that guiding both students and faculty in the use of the following
databases will enhance their level of information literacy. I am in the process of negotiating discount
consortia pricing for the 94 schools that are currently participating in the Avi Chai Bookshelf program.
- Facts on File publishes two databases that I subscribe to at
the Akiba Hebrew Academy Library. Curriculum
Resource Center is a rich resource that I highly recommend
for both students and teachers. It
provides a library of printable teacher-handout material for the middle
school, high school, and junior college curriculum. Subject areas covered are rich and span
across the curriculum including history, historical times, geography,
science diagrams, math, science experiments, physical education and
health. There is even a Judaic
component under the area of comparative religions.
World Atlas
combines detailed, printable, full-color maps of countries, provinces, and
states with up-do-date statistical and local information. Additional features
which teachers find to find invaluable include, outline maps, an image gallery
(not blocked by filters), weather and climate, people and culture, government,
society, and a list of further resources (print and online). A very exciting feature of the World Atlas is
the Comparison Tool. One can create
graphs comparing up to four countries and compare a wide range of factors
including HIV/AIDS cases or deaths, inflation, electricity consumption, oil
production, internet users, education level, etc…
- Daily Life Online is a suite of electronic social history products
published by Greenwood Press. It
includes six volumes from The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life 34 volumes from the critically acclaimed
Daily Life through History
series , and over 10,000 book pages and four
million words. This product
includes complete lesson plans and research ideas for teachers. It allows students to research ancient
through modern history, world cultures and religions. Subject areas included here are American
Government, American history, cultural anthropology, economics, geography,
Latin American studies, world geography, and ancient and modern world
history.
- The Proquest company publishes outstanding products. My library subscribes to E-Library and Ethnic Newswatch.
The benefits of E-Library are multi-faceted. Both peer re-viewed articles and scholarly
journals are included in this research tool. Scholarly journals are
highlighted to make the researcher aware of the status of the
article. One can simultaneously search for news, magazines, books, maps,
pictures, audio/video materials, and scripts from radio and television
interviews. Topic tree searches are
extremely rich. They give students
a great background from basic to research level inquiries on a great
number of topics. A complete
outline is provided with numerous types of
information in all of the formats mentioned above. Every subject area is included in E-Library:
the arts, biography, business, communications, current events, English,
language arts, government, language, law, literature, math, philosophy,
physical education and sports, reference, regional studies, science social
sciences, spotlights, technology,
In my library, I have been subscribing to Ethnic Newswatch for several years. It runs according to the
same high quality as E-Library. However, it is a database primarily of the
ethnic press. Our curriculum
has
always included units on immigration and immigrant groups. Ethnic Newswatch subscribes to the newspapers and journals of every
ethnic group in
In addition to the above-mentioned databases, Proquest also publishes a very desirable product. It is called Historical Newspapers. It is very expensive and I have not
officially added it to my collection.
However, it is available through our local public library’s web
resources via library card bar code. I
am not permitted access it through my school library web page. From our public library web page, one can
access a complete archive of the New York Times from 1851 until
2003. This is a very valuable research
and teaching tool. I instruct my
students to access this valuable product.
- Thomson/Gale makes one of the most user-friendly
database products for high school students. Information is clear and very
readable. When available, links are
provided for multi-media information, periodicals, criticism and primary
source documents. I will list below
the titles that are currently available.
My library at present only subscribes to
This database combines award-winning biographies from
respected Gale Group sources. Biography Resource Center also includes
full-text articles from hundreds of periodicals. Search for people based on one
or more personal facts such as birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity,
occupation or gender, or combine criteria to create a highly-targeted
custom search.
Literature
Resource Center - LRC
Find up-to-date biographical information, overviews,
full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 130,000 writers in all
disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world The optional MLA
International Bibliography module adds citations for hundreds of thousands of
books, articles and dissertations from 1926 to the present, linked to full text
where available.
Student Resource Center - Gold
A fully integrated database containing thousands of
curriculum-targeted primary documents, biographies, topical essays, background
information, critical analyses, full-text coverage of over 1,000 magazines,
newspapers, over 20,000 photographs and illustrations, and more than 8 hours of
audio and video clips. Includes Student Resource
Center-Health Module.
Student
Resource Center - Health Module
A database containing over 1,400 essays on medical and
health-related topics that include diseases, treatments, diagnostic equipment,
and major historical figures in the fields of medicine, chemistry, biology, and
related areas. Includes over 60 full-text medical and health
periodicals, almost 200 pamphlets from authoritative sources, a timeline
describing over 500 events from the history of medicine and health sciences,
and 300 photographs and diagrams. Fully integrated
into Student Resource Center Gold.
General Reference
Center Gold
A general interest database that integrates a
variety of sources in one easy-to-use interface. Use General Reference Center Gold to find articles from
newspapers, reference books, and periodicals, many with full-text and images.
Find the latest current events, popular culture, business and industry
coverage, the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more.
Opposing
Scribner
Writers Series
Scribner Writer's Series includes 15-20 page signed essays
on more than 1,600 authors and literary genres drawn from 13 acclaimed Scribner
print series.
Science Resource Center
Researching science topics has never been easier -- with
Science Resource Center, thousands of topic overviews, experiments,
biographies, pictures and illustrations are just a few clicks away and the
latest scientific developments are covered in articles from over 200 magazines
and academic journals and links to quality web sites. The database covers
curriculum-related science topics and offers teachers an easy-to-use tool to
identify content directly correlated to state and national standards.
Gale Virtual
Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of
encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for
multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only
in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely
24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook
collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different
libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).
Expanded Academic
ASAP 1980 - Jan 2007
From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science
and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic
disciplines. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many
with full text and images!
- Another product which I started subscribing to
this year is called Beyond Books. It is an interactive text
book which very good information and the web sites to which it links are
of very high quality. I will hear back
from my representative with competitive discount pricing. The following is a sample menu of
subject areas covered in this text book.
Life Science: Part 1
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- The next suite of products that I recommend is
available in the state of
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- I also subscribe to the Biblical Archaeology Society Online Archive. This
is a collection of Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible Review from 1975 until
the present. This report is a
recommendation of general studies databases. However, this archive may benefit
faculty and students whose research is in the field of Bible, world and
ancient history as well. Material
tends to be of a scholarly nature.
However, several of my students have found it to be a valuable
research tool.