Research and Reference Tools
Educational Databases, Evaluation, and Citation Tools
Putting that theory into practice and teaching good Internet search strategies is often a challenge. As you learned in the "Thing" called "Digital Citizenship", knowing how to evaluate the information we find on the Internet is critical. Most searchers use a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo to find "hits". But is there a better way to find "hits" that are valid and reliable? The following section provides links to educational databases that provide reliable and valid information while saving search time. This section also talks about the dangers of Wikis, and the importance of citing sources.
Pre-Assess your skills for this "Thing"
Aligned to NETS-T: 1.a, 1.b, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 3.a, 3.d, 4.b, 5.c
Connections to Marzano Strategies: Summarizing and Note-taking; Similarities and Differences; Homework and Practice; Generating and Testing Hypothesis
Michigan eLibrary (MEL.org)
Click the MEL logo to watch the video.
Michigan eLibrary is an educational portal available to any Michigan school, library or Michigan resident. All schools have access to this through their school library. (eFull text magazines and newspapers, practice testing for GED, ACT, Careers, SAT, etc.) MEL has almost 40 databases where you can read full text articles from magazines and newspapers; find current reference sources; use advanced search functions; cite sources. The advantage of this site is that the information is valid and reliable, and limited in comparison to a search performed within a search engine like Google or Yahoo.
To view the start up video describing MeL and the educational databases, click on the logo.
This service is funded by the Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) via the institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library of Michigan. MeL databases are accessible to all Michigan residents with a valid driver's license or State ID number when accesssing off your school's campus.
To view the start up video describing MeL and the educational databases, click on the logo.
This service is funded by the Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) via the institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library of Michigan. MeL databases are accessible to all Michigan residents with a valid driver's license or State ID number when accesssing off your school's campus.
MEL's M.O.R.E.More Online Resources for Educators: Locate lesson plans and curriculum aids searchable by subject or state standard for free at http://more.mel.org.
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RefDesk
Probably one of the oldest, but most comprehensive sites for information access on the Internet, RefDesk remains a favorite. News, information, calendars, translations, newspapers, resources, search engines, and facts are all one click away with this site. This site is one-stop shopping for facts and information.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. In contrast to the main Google site, which searches the entire Internet, Google Scholar limits the search sites to academic journals and scholarly research publications. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, pre-print repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research. Diverse sources from one convenient place. Find papers, abstracts and citations. Locate the complete paper through your library or on the web. Learn about key papers in any area of research.
Online Citation Makers
David Warlick's Citation Machine allows students to select from a variety of media formats (books, journals, online, encyclopedias, etc.) to create citations in multiple formats (APA, MLA, Turabian, or Chicago).
View a Screencast-o-matic video on Landmark's Citation Machine.
Visit the TechTools4Writing site hereto explore the bib tools and citation makers listed in the picture.
View a Screencast-o-matic video on Landmark's Citation Machine.
Visit the TechTools4Writing site hereto explore the bib tools and citation makers listed in the picture.
21things Hands-On Activity and Assignment
1. Before beginning this "Thing", complete the Pre-Assessment of your technology proficiency.
2. Evaluate the basic student MeL Educational Databases. Select one of the following pairs of databases recommended for student research and select a topic to search. Capture a screen shot. Compare/contrast the a) appropriateness, b) usability, c) content, and d) credibility of the pair of databases for use within the classroom. Post your reflections to your portfolio.
*e-Library Elementary and Kids InfoBits (Elementary level)
*InfoTrac Junior Edition and InfoTrac Student Edition (Middle/High School level)
*SIRS Discoverer Deluxe and SIRS Renaissance (Middle/High School level)
3. Evaluate the advanced student MeL Educational Databases. Select one from the list below. Capture a screen shot. Compare/contrast the a) appropriateness, b) usability, c) content, and d) credibility for use within the classroom. Post your reflections to your portfolio.
*Academic One File, General One File, or General Reference Center Gold
4. Using the MEL databases, create citations.
Work Cited - 1: Complete a search for an educational topic. Create a citation for the web address using the citation tools within MEL, in either MLA or APA format. Copy and paste a screen shot and the citation into the reflection of your Portfolio.
5. Using other FREE Citation Makers, create citations.
Work Cited - 2: Complete a search for an educational topic. Select one of the FREE citation makers (Ex: BibMe, LandMark Citation Machine, etc.) and create a citation for a book or journal/magazine article. Capture a screen shot of the citation tool you selected, and copy/paste the citation into the reflection of your Portfolio.
6. After completing all of the activities for this "Thing", take the Post-Assessment of your technology proficiency for this "Thing".
2. Evaluate the basic student MeL Educational Databases. Select one of the following pairs of databases recommended for student research and select a topic to search. Capture a screen shot. Compare/contrast the a) appropriateness, b) usability, c) content, and d) credibility of the pair of databases for use within the classroom. Post your reflections to your portfolio.
*e-Library Elementary and Kids InfoBits (Elementary level)
*InfoTrac Junior Edition and InfoTrac Student Edition (Middle/High School level)
*SIRS Discoverer Deluxe and SIRS Renaissance (Middle/High School level)
3. Evaluate the advanced student MeL Educational Databases. Select one from the list below. Capture a screen shot. Compare/contrast the a) appropriateness, b) usability, c) content, and d) credibility for use within the classroom. Post your reflections to your portfolio.
*Academic One File, General One File, or General Reference Center Gold
4. Using the MEL databases, create citations.
Work Cited - 1: Complete a search for an educational topic. Create a citation for the web address using the citation tools within MEL, in either MLA or APA format. Copy and paste a screen shot and the citation into the reflection of your Portfolio.
5. Using other FREE Citation Makers, create citations.
Work Cited - 2: Complete a search for an educational topic. Select one of the FREE citation makers (Ex: BibMe, LandMark Citation Machine, etc.) and create a citation for a book or journal/magazine article. Capture a screen shot of the citation tool you selected, and copy/paste the citation into the reflection of your Portfolio.
6. After completing all of the activities for this "Thing", take the Post-Assessment of your technology proficiency for this "Thing".
Post-Assess your skills for this "Thing"
After completing all of the activities for this "Thing", take the Post-Self Assessment of your technology proficiency for this "Thing". (This is part of your hands-on activity/assignment).
Additional Resources
1. Who You Gonna Reference? State Superintendent Mike Flanagan highlights some extraordinary tools for Michigan educators.
2. MEL Tutorial on MiStreamnet.
2. MEL Tutorial on MiStreamnet.
21 Things for 21st Century Educators by CCRESA, IISD, MISD, SRESD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at 21things.weebly.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://21things4teachers.net/. Page updated September 7, 2011.
