Twittering?
May 5, 2009 – 10:03 amAnother way to get involved! Follow your group @ ghtides:
Shmoop!
January 27, 2009 – 9:20 amNow linked to the library website frontpage, Destiny homepage and GHHS Library Blog is this site covering analysis of literature, poetry and US History with links to primary source documents and timelines. It is well worth checking out!
http://www.shmoop.com/literature/
A lengthier review from Joyce Valenza:
Currently in Beta (with miles to go before we sleep), the site’s goal is to make you:
become a better lover (of literature and history). See many sides to the argument. Find your writing groove. Understand how lit and history are relevant today. We want to show your brain a good time. Our mission: To make learning and writing more fun and relevant for students in the digital age.
Shmoop now covers literature,US history, and poetry with study guides, research content, and links,
written primarily by Ph.D. and Masters students from top universities, like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale. We source our work (see “Citations”) and set rigorous academic standards. Teachers and students should feel confident to cite Shmoop as a source in essays and papers.
The language is totally student-friendly. Content is provided in a way that will engage high school and college students. Display options include: thumbnail lists, coverflow, and surprise me. Search options include a tag cloud. The site can be added to the Firefox toolbar and shared on Facebook.Shmoop will make a handy starting point for developing background knowledge, for topic, question, and thesis development, and for test prep. Some teachers will appreciate its value for preparing lessons.
Registered users can make use of writing tools–an outliner, sticky notes, clippings, folders, a dictionary, brainstorming prompts, advice for citing Shmoop and avoiding for plagiarism in general. And they may ask questions in the discussion areas.
For literary topics, the site includes: nutshell descriptions, why should I care?, summaries, examinations of literary devices, plot and character analyses, big picture study questions and questions by theme’ links to media, and when available, a slide show. Brain Snacks are tasty tidbits of knowledge. Some teachers and librarians might be put off by the Sex Rating for literature–exactly how steamy is this story? On the other hand, some might find it fascinating.For historical topics, Shmoop also includes: analytic lenses, quotes, statistics, acronyms, key people, timelines, glossaries, links to primary sources.
A Coming Soon page lists content in preparation and solicits ideas for new content.
It’s a very cool site that should, of course, be supplemented by other sources for student researchers.
Thanks again, LII!
Posted by Joyce Valenza Ph.D on December 11, 2008 | Comments (5)
Poisonwood Bible
January 8, 2009 – 2:42 pm
Literary Criticism:
Biography:
History:
Internet African History Sourcebook
Help Me Decide?
December 2, 2008 – 11:15 amI participate in an online group that selects a young adult book each year for an award. We start with a list of a dozen great books nominated and voted on by the group for consideration. Each week we vote a book that we consider unworthy of the award “off the island”. When we have 5 left, we vote for the best book. I would love to get your opinions of any of these books that you have read. If you haven’t had a chance to read any of them, choose from the list, read the book and help me decide by leaving your comments here on the blog or talking to me about your favorites.
And the Winner is……….
Still in the Running:
1st Voted Off 2nd Voted Off 3rd Voted Off 4th Voted Off 5th Voted Off
6th Voted Off 7th Voted Off
Survey of Your Library
December 1, 2008 – 7:00 amLet us know what you think of the GHHS library and our services.
See the display of Psychological Thrillers in the library inspired by a survey response!
If you took the survey and are willing to talk about your responses (both positive and negative; I won’t mind criticism), please come see Mrs. Burns to help make our library a better place for students.
Also, I’d like to start a student advisory group for the library, so if you are interested, please see me. You don’t have to have done the survey to ask about advisory.
Where’s Waldo? How to Find Destiny, our Library Book Search (OPAC)
December 1, 2008 – 6:00 am
Where’s Waldo in Google Maps? By Si1very www.flickr.com
To search for a book in our library, you will need to know how to find Waldo. It’s easy:
- Open Explorer
- Type waldo in the address bar (just Waldo; no www or .com, etc.)
- Open Gig Harbor High School
- Check out interesting links on the Home page
- Click Catalog
- Enter a title, author (last name first), keyword or subject.
- Click the matching link
Finding Online Sources
December 1, 2008 – 5:05 amWith the rise of Web 2.0, we have more resources at our fingertips and more access to information than ever before. My Space, Facebook, Blogs, Social Bookmarking on del.icio.us, Aggregate Readers, Google Docs, Wikipedia, and Flickr (photo sharing) are just a few of the Web 2.0 resources many of us use daily. We also have Google at the top of the search engine kingdom along with other popular search engines and subject directories (About.com, etc.). The most important thing to remember in research is to engage your brain in the process; to evaluate, study, analyze, synthesize and ultimately create a new product that is new simply because your individual brain has done the thinking and led you in the process. Wikipedia and Google are wonderful portals to information; you just can’t stop there!
Brain: no stopping! by gremionis
www.flickr.com
So, where else should you go?
We have a number of resources that the district pays for that yield excellent results:
netTrekker: Pre-selected websites in a subject directory format.
Proquest: Magazine and journal article database. To get the best results:
- Go to advanced search.
- Select subject in the first pull down menu.
- Type in a broad, one word term for your subject.
- Proquest will give you a list of narrowed subjects.
- Keep selecting the narrowed subjects until you have a manageable number of articles to skim.
- Check the articles that meet your needs.
- Click on the My Research tab to see the articles you selected and your search history.
- If you need to search again, return to a broader subject in your search history and narrow it differently.
- Remember to use the citation (MLA) that is already provided for you in Proquest.
eBooks: We have two eBooks so far: (password required, see Mrs. Burns)
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: This one covers the arts in Western Civilization.
Pierce County Library eSources: If you have a Pierce County Library Card, you can access many more databases and eBooks.
Searching for Meaning?
November 12, 2008 – 8:15 am
What if these were the top 8 sites listed after a Google search for endangered species? Which sites would you use for your research? Why or why not?
CARRDSS
November 12, 2008 – 8:10 am|
Use CARRDSS to evaluate your sources |
|
CREDIBILITY : www.flickr.com |
Who is the author? What are his or her credentials?
by chix at six |
| A | CCURACY: Can facts, statistics, or other information be verified through other sources? Based on your knowledge, does the information seem accurate? |
| R | ELIABILITY: Does the source present a particular view or bias? |
| R | ELEVANCE: Does this information directly support my hypothesis/thesis or help to answer my question? |
| D | ATE: When was this information created? When was it revised? Are these dates meaningful in terms of the subject matter? |
| S | OURCES BEHIND THE TEXT: Did the author use reliable, credible sources? |
| S | COPE: Does this source address my hypothesis/thesis/question in a comprehensive or peripheral way? Is it a scholarly or popular treatment? |