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eLibrary Canada & Curriculum Edition Newsletter contents:

 

 
Welcome to the October/November issue of our K-12 newsletter. This newsletter is designed to help teachers, librarians and administrators stay informed about the latest changes to your subscription, while providing classroom resources and giving tips for using your subscription in a variety of settings.

Don't miss our online archive (now available on proquestk12.com) for access to past issues, and to make changes to your newsletter options.

eLibrary® Canada & CE Updates

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.

Here’s a brief rundown of the newest tweaks and system enhancements now online inside eLibrary, eLibrary Science, and our BookCart tool.

eLibrary Canada Family
  • Key Relevance has been renamed to Keyword Score. (Also done in eLibrary Science.)

  • We’ve removed Relevance score from search results. (Also done in eLibrary Science.)

  • In Civil War Battlefield Guide, the maps are now clickable.

  • If you’re a site admin exploring our usage tool and you employ IP authentication, you can now exit and log back in as a different user. In addition, in Local Admin, the 30 minute lag time for changes to be rendered has been removed.
Bookcart Tool
  • Navigating into Bookcarts from the eLibrary Canada or eLibrary Canada CE Teacher Editions limit the content set by the product you came from.

  • Two-word queries are now working for Bookcart searches.

  • Added a confirmation message when restoring a Bookcart.

  • On the Organize Bookcarts page, only the folders that appear on the Local Tab now appear in the dropdown list.
Full Training: Podcast via iTunes

As you know, we offer large, Flash-authored training files for all of our K-12 solutions. The eLibrary Elementary and SIRS Discoverer training courses are now available as a series of video podcasts –- all playable inside a free copy of iTunes.

Download your copy of iTunes today, and subscribe to our free podcasts with a click of your mouse.

Don’t Miss a Single Teachable Moment:
Free Curriculum & Lesson Plans


On the first of each month, our curriculum specialists deliver a powerful tool to thousands of K-12 teachers worldwide. And best of all, you can sign up to get this free, hands-on and classroom-ready content today at ProQuest.


Our monthly Teachable Moments email newsletter (November issue here) offers a treasure trove of innovative student activities that take full advantage of our complete line of K-12 learning solutions. Most can be easily augmented to fit into any classroom curriculum.

Sign up for Teachable Moments today using the box below, then browse our inventory of back issues. Consider it your own personal teachable moment with a professional development theme!
Email Address:
New ProQuest K-12 Catalog Available

Don’t miss the latest information about ProQuest’s full line of popular K-12 learning solutions. From eLibrary to SIRS to CultureGrams and beyond, you’re sure to find a new solution that will help students at all grade levels learn at their own pace--online. Get your copy of the PDF version today.

History Study Center Upgrades Complete

History Study Center, available inside of your eLibrary Canada CE subscription, has been given a complete interface upgrade in accordance with principles of usability and feedback from
our users.

The new design provides simplified, more intuitive navigation while the searching has also been adjusted to return fewer, more relevant results. The nine content libraries from the previous version of History Study Center have been consolidated into five: Study Units, Historical Documents, Maps & Reference, Multimedia, and Journals.

All of the material previously offered by History Study Center remains available. It’s still possible to limit searches to a more specific content type, such as maps or video clips, using the Advanced Search or the individual search screens.
Searching and navigation

The new interface features a top toolbar and right-hand panel which are consistent to every page. In the top toolbar are links to the homepage, the Information Resources area, My Archive, and Help, plus a Quick Search box. In the right-hand panel are links to the specific search/browse screens for each of the five content libraries.

The Quick Search can be used to conduct simple keyword queries either across the entire database or within one of the five content libraries. For more complex searches, for example to search within a particular publication, you can use either the Advanced Search or the individual search screen for any of the five content types.

The search settings have been adjusted throughout History Study Center so that for multiple keyword searches, results will only now be returned where there’s a match for all of the keywords. The search expansion setting has also been reduced so that while it will still find matches for direct or very near synonyms, it will not find matches for indirectly related terms.

Each Study Unit has been allocated a number of subject keywords and all of the subjects included can be browsed using the “Select from a list function. Searching for Study Units using the subject keywords will return a smaller, more focused results set than searching for a general keyword.

Chadwyck-Healey Selections from Historical Newspapers

A new sourcebook, Chadwyck-Healey Selections from Historical Newspapers, has been included in the Historical Documents search and browse, and includes all of the historical newspaper articles selected for Study Units. These documents display as page images and only the title and caption are searchable.

Document Based Questions (DBQs)

DBQs require students to evaluate and interpret primary sources to answer a question. They form part of many history examinations. More than 20 DBQs have been included in History Study Center for some of the most commonly studied topics. These will open in PDF format and each one features a number of carefully selected primary source extracts to be used in answering the question. They are included in relevant Study Units. A list of all of the DBQs with links to the PDFs is available in Information Resources, and more will be included in future releases.

Other new content
  • Nine new animated maps have been included in Chadwyck-Healey Animated Maps, including maps on the Lewis and Clark expedition and the D-Day landings.
  • 39 new maps have been added to the Chadwyck-Healey Atlas of World History.
  • 55 new images have been included in the Multimedia search.
  • Study Units have been updated with new images, journal articles, and maps.
Vocabulary A-Z Wins Coveted Award of Excellence

Technology & Learning's Awards of Excellence (AOE) program has been recognizing outstanding ed-tech curriculum products for 24 years.

We’re proud to announce that ProQuest LearningPage’s new Vocabulary A-Z learning solution has won a 2006 AOE! Take a moment to explore how Vocabulary A-Z can help you and your school generate thousands of custom vocabulary lessons, each with enough materials for weeks worth of instruction.

Try a free sample and subscribe today.

With a solid reputation in the industry as a longstanding, high-quality program, the AOE recognizes both "best of breed" and creative new offerings that help educators in the business of teaching, training, and managing with technology. All entries are given a rigorous test-driving by qualified educators in several rounds of judging, which takes place over several weeks at various computer labs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Join us in congratulating the ProQuest LearningPage team for their hard work in bringing Vocabulary A-Z to life.

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Classroom Activities

ProQuest has created custom BookCarts to help you to help your students find out more about Canada. To browse and copy this BookCart collection to your local school collection:

  • Logon to the eLibrary Canada or eLibrary Canada CE Teacher Edition.
  • Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right.
  • Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
  • Click on the folder entitled "Canadian BookCart."
  • Review the BookCarts by clicking the View icon, then click Close Window.
  • Click the Copy icon to the right of the title under the Actions column for any BookCarts that you would like to include in your personal collection.
  • Click Back to the BookCarts page link to return to My Local Carts.
  • You copied BookCart(s) will contain “Copy of” as a title prefix until you edit it.
The BookCarts include examples of Essential Questions for Critical Thinking in the Description box for teachers to assign to students. These questions ensure that students have direction in using the resources and that they use critical thinking and original thought in analyzing resources and synthesizing their report or presentation. Teachers are encouraged to create others when appropriate.

Bonus BookCart Activity: Many teachers and librarians who create BookCarts overlook the Publications Search tool.

This tool is designed to allow students to search for additional resources from within a BookCart. This is necessary when a topic is prone to change such as a science or current events topic. For example, if your students are doing research on the Solar System using one of your BookCarts, how do they address the recent demotion of Pluto to a non-planet status? Simple! They do a Publications search while inside the BookCart.

This gives students freedom to search for additional resources, but only from within the collection of publications selected by the teacher. This increases relevance and saves time while preserving the value of the other resources in the BookCart.

Because most teachers (and ProQuest with its collection of 500 models) don’t have time to constantly update BookCart collections, Publications Search comes to the rescue for teachers and for their students. The problem is that teachers are not familiar enough with the range of 2000 eLibrary publications, organized alphabetically, to be able to easily select those that would benefit their students. What's more, you are guiding your students through the research process, while easing their frustration.

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Training

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:



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CultureGrams™ In Focus

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:
South Africa
  • Capital: Pretoria
  • Population: 44,344,136 (rank=27)
  • Area, sq. mi.: 471,445 (rank=24)
  • Area, sq. km.: 1,221,043
  • Real GDP per capita: $10,346
  • Adult literacy rate: 84% (male); 81% (female)
  • Infant mortality rate: 53 per 1,000 births
  • Life expectancy: 47 (male); 50 (female)
Did You Know?
  • Soccer, rugby, and cricket are the most important sports in South Africa.
  • South Africa is the richest country in Africa.
  • Among many ethnic groups, the groom must pay a lobola (bride-price) in the form of cattle or money to the bride's parents before a wedding can take place.
Greetings
Of the numerous greetings used in South Africa, the English phrases Hello and Good morning are understood by most people. Afrikaans speakers say Goeie môre (Good morning). Young English speakers say Howzit (slang for “How are you?”) to friends. A more formal Good morning or Good afternoon is common among adults. The Zulu and Swazis greet each other with Sawubona (literally, “I see you,” meaning “Hello”) or Kunjani (How are you?). An acceptable response to either is Yebo (Yes).

The Xhosa greeting, Molo, and the Sotho phrase, Dumela, have similar meanings to Sawubona. On parting, most South Africans use a phrase that assumes a future meeting. In other words, people rarely say good-bye. Rather, one says See you in English, Tot siens (Till we see each other again) in Afrikaans, or something like the Sotho Sala gashi (Go well in peace).

The Arts
South Africa boasts a diversity of musical styles. Choirs are common, and traditional folk songs have been integrated into choral music. The popular mbaqanga dance music originated in apartheid-era townships. Kwaito music, a favorite of young South Africans, mixes African melodies and lyrics with hip-hop and reggae. Kwela incorporates the distinctive penny whistle. South Africans are also devoted to the fine arts, and major cities host performances of the symphony, ballet, and opera. Gumboot dancing, developed by African gold miners, has become a popular performance art.

Economy
More than half of all of South Africa’s export earnings come from minerals and metals. South Africa is one of the world's largest producers of platinum and gold, and it also exports diamonds, chrome, and coal. Low gold prices on world markets have sometimes slowed that sector's growth. Wine and tourism are fast-growing industries. The industrial base is large and diversified, and new investment is allowing for growth. The government has privatized (in whole or in part) some of the largest state enterprises to improve market conditions and raise capital. Strong growth and investment will be necessary to reduce high unemployment and poverty.

Education
As in other areas of South African life, apartheid-era segregation in public education has been dismantled. However, it will take some time before all children receive the same opportunities within a uniform system. Many schools are without adequate texts or supplies. Schooling is compulsory to age 15. Africans receive instruction in their native language until the seventh grade, and then they usually are taught in English after that. Afrikaans is also offered as a language of instruction. In urban areas, an increasing number of primary schools teach in English. There are 19 universities in South Africa.

To find out more about CultureGrams, connect to our website today.

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Explore our World with CultureGrams

As world events increasingly affect all our lives, it’s more important than ever to educate students about the world around them. CultureGrams and World Conflicts Today show students how the world’s peoples live... and what’s behind the major conflicts they face.

CultureGrams concise, reliable, and up-to-date information delivers a true insider’s perspective on daily life and culture of the world’s people. Explore 190 country reports that include 25 cultural categories, maps, images, bios, glossaries, statistics, and five local recipes per country.

World Conflicts Today provides new ways to understand the high-profile conflicts currently engulfing many of the world’s nations. Unbiased overviews of the history, background, obstacles, and implications analyze each conflict, alongside primary and secondary sources, interactive maps, slide shows, and other multimedia.

Conflicts include Afghanistan, Basque Country, Chechnya, Colombia, Darfur, Iraq, Jammu & Kashmir, Korean Peninsula, Northern Ireland, and the Palestinian Territories.

Together you get more than facts and figures; you give students unbiased cultural and social insights they won’t find in any textbook, website, or encyclopedia.

Try both today, free for 30 days.
You can save 20% off World Conflicts with purchase of both* by 12/31/06.
And, with district purchases you may be eligible for up to 40% off CultureGrams!
* Existing CultureGrams Online subscribers are eligible
You’ll see why School Library Journal recommends CultureGrams for, “History, geography, foreign language, ESL, and current events teachers…[for] discussions, debates, presentations, research papers, reports, and reading and writing exercises.”

For more information, contact ProQuest toll-free at 1.800.521.0600, or by email at PQSales@il.proquest.com.

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SIRS Decades: Primary Sources in Your Classroom

The use of source documents offers students a direct glimpse into the past. But without context, these sources can confuse as often as illuminate. SIRS Decades places these resources into a relevant framework for understanding 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.

Below are links to several primary source documents. To access the material, sign up for a free trial, login, and then click on each link.

Primary source types include: Advertisements, Editorial Cartoons, Letters, Memos, Messages, Maps and Charts, Original Documents, Original Works of Art, Photographs, Poems and Literary Works, Posters, Published Articles, Speeches and Addresses. Users will be able to save time by exploring thousands of primary sources in one integrated, user-friendly resource. Students will also be able to use these primary source documents to understand how historical events affected politics, popular culture, and the media. Find out more about SIRS Decades at our K-12 website.

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Top 3 Websites

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.

Becoming Human:
Paleoanthropology, Evolution, and Human Origins

Organization: The Institute of Human Origins (IHO)

Discover what makes us human in this paleoanthropology site, which "includes an interactive documentary, educational exhibits, research tools, and the latest news from scientists across the globe." (IHO)

Green Fluorescent Protein
Organization: Marc Zimmer (Connecticut College)

"Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) has existed for more than one hundred and sixty million years in one species of jellyfish. In 1994 it was cloned. Now GFP is found in laboratories all over the world where it is used in every conceivable plant and animal. Flatworms, algae, E. coli and pigs have all been made to fluoresce with GFP." (MARC ZIMMER, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE) Learn about the history and structure of GFP and view interesting photos, including one of a pig with a fluorescent yellow snout and hooves.

Moyers on America: The Net at Risk
Organization: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

This companion site to "The Net at Risk" contains multimedia, resources, and questions regarding net neutrality and the future of the Internet. Watch the preview to learn "how mega-media corporations could restrict the democratic possibilities of the Web's new future." (PBS)


ProQuest offers a growing family of K-12 classroom-focused, subscription-based online research tools. Many of these education solutions offer reading level-linked (lexile) content, support 21st-century information literacy skills, and help schools differentiate instruction across all curriculum areas.

Learn more about all of our tools here, tap into our training resources and videos, and don't miss our new eLibrary research tool (more). We also have a pair of special resource pages just for teachers (with lesson plans) and librarians.

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