Thursday, February 28, 2013

Learning Express Library

Setting up an account was so smooth. The directions are very easy to follow. The diagnostic tool after completing a test is so valuable. It gives direction to the student and saves alot of valuable study time. It is especially important that the feedback is immediate and the student can make decisions right away - no waiting!

I took some time to explore "Goof Proof" a business writing skills area. I choose it because I liked the name! It was very helpful. Once again, very easy to follow and there was evan a downloadable ebook format available.

The ebooks selection is excellent. Not only are there a wide variety of information books available but they are all free. Who can pass up free information for skills improvement??

With the advanced challenge, I would start the fourth grader with a guided tour and setting up an account. I would follow this by directing him/her to the elementary button and 4th grade. The reading diagnostic and reading practice would both be very helpful. Another resource to direct them to would be the ebook selection. Great resources!!

With the high school graduate, the job search and workplace skills would be excellent. The business writing, resume, work keys practice, and ebooks would all help the student to improve in necessary areas. Additional skill building could be found in the skill building section with the writing and grammar.

The high school student completing a report on careers might find the jobs and careers tab very helpful. The career guidance would contain a lot of valuable information. The Job and Work Place Skills tab would be another great section. The sections on career guidance and the ebooks would be great resources.

The is such a valuable resource that often gets overlooked. Most of the patrons we have want to use the books. I suggest the Learning Express Library; however, I do not always succeed in getting them to try it out. I just need to find a way to give that little nudge that gets them started. Once they have logged in, I know they would love the resource!!

Monday, February 25, 2013

World Book Online - WOW!

I spent a few hours looking over the information available through the World Book School Edition.

The kids will absolutely be thrilled with all of the options found in World Book Kids. The information is easy to find and read. The pictures are always important to students of the is age and the photos are excellent. The availability of additional external sites enhances the resource tremendously. For those who need several sources for reports, this is like one stop shopping!! What a time saver. I also spent time looking at some of the special features for the advanced challenge. These resources are invaluable to parents, educators, and students. The extension activities are great and the ability to search by both words and pictures is great. The fun learning section would appeal to those who would like the children to do a little more - they learn as they play. The wonderful plus is the fact that there are no filtering worries!!

The World Book Student extended my research on the elephant. The information that is the most valuable for our patrons would be the the ability to expand the sources. The ease in which one can find addition sources was great. The pictures and basic information is similar to the kids version; however, the content is much more in depth.  This data base would have information for everyone. When following a special feature, I found that the icons/choices are very easy to follow. Writing current event reports is very common. What an awesome place to get a current event. The searching online is timely and much easier than tracking down a newspaper or magazine and them making a copy or cutting it out. This should be a daily search in classrooms!

I spent time using World Book Advanced and found that The information that is the most valuable really depends on the needs of the patron. There are so many options for expanding the search results. The e-book center was great. Many students would be able to find required readings online at no cost and for those needing to cite works in a report, the correct format is given. It is very easy to navigate through the book with the table of contents. This resource should be demonstrated by educators within the first couple of days of class to allow students to make better use of the resources available to them. Many parents would love this source. I have not used it in the past; however, I have had parents come in looking for an ebook format for a student. This site is one the library staff need to become more familiar with and recommend it to parents and students.

World Book Discover - great features for those who struggle with the English language. Not only can the material be translated into over 30 different languages, one can choose to have it read aloud. The content is excellent. I also took the time to review the special features as part of the advanced challenge. I was very impressed with the feature of being able to ask a question. The students visiting the library would especially like the videos. Many times students are researching a need a picture for a report. This is another source for finding great visual supplements.

There is so much to discover with this resource. I could spend an hour every day over the next month and probably have only scratched the surface on the World Book Data Base.