Our product development team is constantly reviewing customer feedback and making changes to our learning resources to meet your needs. Several updates or content additions were recently completed, and we wanted to bring them to your attention.

Cleaner, Revised eLibrary Canada Interfaces

When you head to school next Monday, you'll login to your subscriptions and find a pleasant surprise! All of our eLibrary and eLibrary Curriculum Editions will get a graphical makeover, which will round some corners, brighten up colors, tighten up spacing, and in general bring the award-winning graphical interface solidly into 2006.

Plus, some of our advanced search options will move slightly, and provide a more streamlined search experience for users at all levels of proficiency.

Tune into our Flash video to take a tour of the changes, or sign up for our Announcements or eLibrary podcasts to view the video inside Apple's popular (free!) iTunes software.

Educator Story: "Google? No. eLibrary and BookCarts? Yes!"

A few days ago we received the following testimonial from a long-time eLibrary Canada user. Food for thought as the new school year gets underway!

From: Diane Gallagher-Hayashi
Teacher-Librarian
Stelly's School
Saanichton, BC, Canada

"A few years ago, I purchased eLibrary Curriculum Edition for my library in Canada. The feature that sold me then was the BookCart tool. Today, I still find the BookCart feature the most useful parts of eLibrary."

"One of my struggles, as a teacher-librarian, is the 'Google syndrome.' While Google is a perfectly good search engine, I find students head to Google immediately and don't try any other avenues, even if Google is not the best first choice for their particular need. In addition, students will often spend the entire class searching Google without finding time to make any notes, or actually get started on the assignment. With the help of their classroom teachers, I have been able to encourage students to use eLibrary instead, cutting their search time in half."

"When a classroom teacher books into the library, I request the topic of research and then put together a BookCart. I include both articles found on eLibrary and related websites and I have all the BookCarts organized by subject area."

"When the students come into the library I ask them to login, open the library webpage, and then wait. Once they are all logged in, I walk them through the process of finding the appropriate BookCart. We have a link to eLibrary on the school library webpage, making it easy for students to access this from
home."

"I keep the BookCarts that get used from year to year, updating them as necessary, and delete the ones that are a 'one off'. Teachers have told me they love knowing that their students will have a ready list of articles and websites, and that they can comfortably confine the research to one or two classes. Students frequently thank me for making their job easier. To find the BookCarts I created, conduct an advanced search, and enter the word Hayashi in the Author field."

Thanks for your thoughts, Diane! This year, why not take advantage of our BookCart/QuizCart tools to guide student research, rather than allowing students to spend time and energy finding unvetted resources via Google.

Do you have a comment or story you'd like to tell about your subscription? Send email to tim.mclain@il.proquest.com and we'll feature it in an upcoming newsletter from ProQuest.

Feature Reminder: QuizCarts

eLibrary Canada BookCarts can now include QuizCarts. QuizCart assessments are not intended as research activities because they are mostly focused on factual information and not on using resources to reach conclusions and reasoned opinion on issues and problems. QuizCarts are most useful when BookCarts are used for reading assignments that update topics that are either not included in textbooks, or are out of date. Most textbooks generally average 4-6 years old, so it is not uncommon in this age of information that many new discoveries or significant events have occurred after a textbook is published and that are essential for learning.

Teachers can search any textbook topic in eLibrary Canada/CE and collect the most current articles in a BookCart to supplement the textbook. The QuizCart can be integrated into the BookCart as both a pre-test and a post-test to assess the reading assignment. These BookCarts should include multiple articles and websites so that students will have to "dig" for the information. Teachers can also require students to print and build a notebook of the most significant articles on each topic. QuizCarts provide up to 10 multiple choice questions that are scored automatically and then emailed to the teacher for review.

1. Access the eLibrary Canada or eLibrary Canada CE Teacher Edition.
2. Click the BookCart Admin link.
3. Click the Local tab and then Create a New BookCart.
4. Click Quizzes in the Product option pull down menu.
5. Enter your email address in the Email box.
6. Scroll down and click Quizzes.
7. Scroll down again to the quiz multiple choice question builder.

Let's face it--no matter how many times we visit our favorite online learning resources, we're bound to miss a feature or two. This month, we present one of the least-known but most useful feature sets of your eLibrary Canada subscription: Transferring multimedia files from eLibrary into presentation software.

One of the most compelling uses of our ProQuest multimedia resources is to enrich student presentations. Our full line of K-12 solutions offer access to audio, video, and Macromedia Flash content--all of which can be inserted in to presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint.

Our new video podcast focuses on one of our popular quick start guides that can help you locate and make use of the multimedia files you access through your ProQuest subscriptions.

To sign up for our new monthly podcasts and see this feature in action, click here!

1. Get Ready: Web Browser Cleanup

Before obtaining a multimedia file to insert in to a presentation program, it's best to perform some basic browser clean-up. As you may know, every browser uses something called a cache folder to store previous viewed files and online content. This is where the multimedia files from your ProQuest subscription are stored before viewing inside your browser, along with hundreds or even thousands of old webpages and other files that users of your PC or Mac have accessed in recent days or weeks.

To help speed up the process of locating and inserting multimedia files into your presentation, we'll first clean out this cache. To clean out your cache in Internet Explorer:

• Click the Tools menu, and select Internet Options.
  
  
• Under Temporary Internet files, click Delete Files.
  
  
• Click the box next to Delete all offline content, and click OK.
  
  
• Your Web browser cache is now empty. Click OK to close the window.

eLibrary Canada's Editor's Choice websites (160,000+) include many tutorials, puzzles, and games in English Language Arts and Mathematics. This is important because these are the two essential skills areas that currently lagging in student performance across the U.S. and Canada.

Activity: Teachers can create BookCarts that collect the best of these websites using the Topic Search tool.

1. Logon to eLibrary Canada Curriculum Edition.
2. Access the Teacher Edition.
3. Click the Topics tab.
4. Under Mathematics, click Tutorials, Practice, and Games.
5. Note the links to activities and tutorial resources for Mathematics.
6. Click the Back button on your browser to return to Topics categories.
7. Click English Language Arts.
8. Note the variety of practice exercises on language arts fundamentals.
9. Open and browse the resources in both categories.

1. Access the eLibrary Canada Teacher Edition.
2. Click the BookCart Admin link.
3. View the complete list of model BookCarts by clicking the ProQuest Carts tab.
4. Click the Professional Development folder.
5. Look for Math Info, Games, and Puzzles.
6. Look for Science Teacher Resources.
7. Look for Graphic Novels, Comic Books, and Reading Skills.
8. Click the Copy icon to move them to your Local collection.
9. Explore the resources in each for ideas on building your own custom BookCarts.

Our trainer, Tasha Maddison, is standing by to help you get the most out of your subscription--and learn more about our other digital learning resources! She offers a wide variety of online training sessions (check our calendar of events) each month.

The training sessions cover after-school hours within several time zones. Best of all, there's no cost to participate. All you need is a computer with Internet access, a phone and one hour. Click the button to sign up:

Reading A-Z: Get instant access to thousands of developmentally appropriate books, lesson plans, worksheets, and activities. Print as many copies as you need at any time, all for one low annual price! The website also offers Spanish, French, and U.K. versions of various books.

Vocabulary A-Z: Build hundreds of customized vocabulary lessons to match the subjects you're teaching. The categorized word bank has approximately 4,000 words to choose from, with more added regularly. Topics include science, social studies, math, health, language arts, music, physical education, and everyday words.

Raz-Kids: Combine kids' love of cartoons with effective reading instruction. Raz-Kids offers interactive books at 17 levels to motivate students and help them learn to read. The website also provides online quizzes, printable worksheets, and an online management system for teachers.

Reading-Tutors: Print hundreds of lessons and materials for use by tutors, parents, or teachers to provide students with extra support in key reading areas, helping them to improve their reading skills.

CultureGrams can help you broaden your students' understanding of the world and its peoples. Our World Edition includes 190+ country profiles, written for junior high students and older. CultureGrams also has a Kids Edition and a States Edition, geared for upper elementary students. These editions include kid-friendly profiles of 70+ countries and all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.

CultureGrams goes beyond mere facts and figures to deliver an insider's perspective on daily life and culture, including the history, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people.

Country:
Liberia (New!)

• Capital: Monrovia
• Population: 3,482,211 (rank=130)
• Area, sq. mi.: 43,000 (rank=100)
• Area, sq. km.: 111,370
• Real GDP per capita: $900
• Adult literacy rate: 73% (male); 42% (female)
• Infant mortality rate: 129 per 1,000 births
• Life expectancy: 47 (male); 49 (female)

• Freed U.S. slaves established coastal settlements in Liberia in the early 19th century.
• Traditional folk instruments include the tugbar (a percussion instrument), pli (a flute), and nonkpan (a horn).
• English is Liberia's official language but only a small minority speaks it as a first language.

The use of source documents offers students a direct glimpse into the past. But without context, these sources can confuse as often as illuminate. Our newest offering places these resources into a relevant framework that enriches both the content and student understanding of the material.

SIRS Decades features more than 5,000 hand-selected primary and secondary source articles highlighting key events, movements, people, and places in 20th-century America.

Each decade features an overview essay, which offers concise, relevant overviews. By reviewing the essay, students can understand the scope of the decade, the major groups or people concerned, key themes and influences, and important laws involved. Inline hyperlinks in the essay help students explore additional resources relevant to the essay's themes.

These documents may include primary sources from the time period; present-day articles; entries from encyclopedias and almanacs; or government documents such as laws, pamphlets, or forms. In addition, the featured thumbnail image spotlights a high-impact graphic related to the major theme of the decade. Each decade also provides a list of related topics. By selecting a topic, students can access specific primary and secondary sources associated with the topic and further background essays that place the sources in context.

Here are direct links to several examples within SIRS Decades. To access the resources, first sign up for a free 30-day trial, then login, and click these links:

1920's

1940's

1960's

1990's

Each month, our SIRS® WebSelect and SIRS® Discoverer WebFind editorial teams scour the Internet for top-quality sites that help teachers teach and students learn. Although no Internet site can supplant a quality research database, these vetted resources offer unique resources that are sure to be of interest.

Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs
Organization: Newseum

"View the first U.S. exhibition to bring together Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs from 1941--the first year a photograph was eligible for the award--to the present day." (NEWSEUM) Short biographies of the photographers are included.

Losing Louisiana
Organization: Zach Wise

This site offers compelling photographs and audio on the effects of hurricanes Rita and Katrina on Louisiana. In addition, visitors can listen to interviews with coastal restoration experts; learn about the history of the levees; and gain an understanding of subsidence, the sinking of the land along Louisiana's coast.

Paris, A Roman City
Organization: French Ministry of Culture and Communication

This spectacular site offers 3D reconstructions of ancient Paris--the Roman city of Lutetia--and its Gallo-Roman monuments. Visitors can learn about aspects of daily life of Roman Paris and take a tour of this marvelous city. There is also a section on archaeology in Paris.

[ TOP ]