Primary Resource Database Trials

Hi Everyone!

We have two new trials from Gale currently running.

Smithsonian Collections Online Evolution of Flight 1784-1991

 
"Drawing from the treasure trove of images, diaries, correspondence, scrapbooks, government documents, and other primary source materials available within the National Air and Space Museum Archives, the National Air and Space Museum Library, the Smithsonian Archives, and Smithsonian Libraries, this newest collection in the Smithsonian Collections Online series offers unparalleled insight into the era of aviation and its lasting impact on today’s society with content that spans more than two centuries, 1784-1991." 

Link: http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/char69915?id=atkins&db=SMIT

Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity, Part 1: LGBTQ History and Culture

 

"With Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity, students, educators, and researchers can now engage with a vast resource that connects them to the rich history of sexuality and identity, enabling them to delve deeper and make new connections in subjects such as queer history and activism, cultural studies, psychology, sociology, health, political science, policy studies, human rights, gender studies and more. Selection of materials for this milestone digital program is guided by an advisory board consisting of leading scholars and librarians in sexuality and gender studies."

Link: http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/char69915?id=atkins&db=AHSI

These trials will run until 4/29/2016.  Per library policy, they will not be available to access off campus.

Infographics

I’m presenting at a conference on Saturday - to school librarians around the region - and instead of using a simple Google Slide or PowerPoint presentation, I decided to explore other presentation tools. As you all know, there are some excellent free presentation tools on the web: Prezi, Emaze, Animoto, and PowToon are really cool examples that I’ve used for instruction, presentations, and in my own classes. But these tools just weren’t what I was looking for.

I’ve been curious for a while about infographics. I love the way an infographic often (and should) require visual literacy skills to interpret the information included in the final product. Since visual literacy is a 21st Century Skill that all students and teachers should possess, I decided to incorporate an infographic into my presentation. There are many free infographic tools on the web; I’d heard of both Piktochart and Canva, but there are many more. After short tutorials on both Piktochart and Canva, I decided to use Canva.

I’m not going to lie. Starting out was the hardest part, but I got the hang of it. Using Canva to create an infographic was very intuitive. Instead of creating my own right from the get-go, I used a template. There are all sorts of graphics and templates provided once you create a Canva account, even logos, which I needed to use.

I’m really happy with my final product. Soon I’ll try to create my own infographic, but it might take a few tries before I’m comfortable sharing them with the public. For now, I’ll continue to create infographics using Canva’s templates. And I intend to master Piktochart so I have options because options are important, don’t you think?

I’d love to hear about all of your experiences using infographics. Share some examples that you’re proud of! Here is mine: 

Resources for Teaching Civic Engagement

I know you are probably as sick of this topic as I am, but as I was catching up on my professional reading today I came across a review for the site GovTrack.us. Although not specifically designed for teachers it could certainly infuse some energy and excitement into a social studies classroom. The site tracks U. S. federal legislation, voting records, congressional district maps, and more. It also provides access to historical information on the workings of Congress. It was created in 2004 by Joshua Tauberer originally as a hobby but has grown into a full fledge 'open government' project. It is not affiliated with the government and is supported through crowdfunding and some advertising. The site is a gold mine for teachers in the social sciences. For those teachers who are tech savvy, there are data sets and GIS maps that can be downloaded and manipulated.

Although not specifically about the current election cycle, looking at the site got me wondering what other sites are available for integration into the curriculum by teachers.  So I did a little poking around as librarians like to do, and found the sites listed below could support lessons related to government and specifically the current election cycle. Most would be useful in middle and/or high school classrooms but there are a couple for the elementary level as well.

Congress.gov - https://www.congress.gov/
This is the official government site. It's pretty dry, but there are a number of good videos hidden in the site discussing various aspects of how the government works, including the election process.

Kids.gov - https://kids.usa.gov/
Geared for student K-8 this covers all aspects of the government not just congress. It has specific resources for teachers.

Kids Voting (USA) - https://www.kidsvotingusa.org/
This group was created in 1988 and basically helps teachers and schools conduct voting simulations in the classroom. It is geared more towards elementary and middle school students and includes resources for teachers. The North Carolina affiliate is Kids Voting NC - http://www.kidsvotingnc.org/

The following links are more appropriate for high school students:

ProCon 2016 Presidential Election - http://2016election.procon.org/
Their mission reads as follows - "Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, and primarily pro-con format.” They present both sides of an issue plus addition research. They have a great Teacher's Corner.

FactCheck.org - http://www.factcheck.org/
Smart Vote - http://votesmart.org/
Both of these sites are similar to ProCon in they discuss issues being debated by those running for office.

PBS Election Central: Education Guide
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/election-central-2016/
This site includes background information about elections as well as lesson plans for teachers.

PBS NewsHour Extra: News for Students & Teacher Resources 7-12
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/tag/election-2016/
A news site created for students and teachers includes videos, articles, lesson plans, and more.

Citizens, Not Spectators - http://www.civiced.org/resources/curriculum/voting
A Center for Civic Education program provides engaging voter education for students in grades 4-12.

Election assistance commission - http://www.eac.gov/default.aspx
This site provides a different prespective on the election process. It discusses issues faced by election officials. It's a behind the scenes look at the process.

Gilder Lehman Institute of American History
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/topics/government-and-civics/teaching-resources
Teaching resources for Government and Civics classes.

Although I focused on integrating these resources into the curriculum, many of the sites are also tools for us to become more a more informed electorate. So take a look a the sites for your own edification and pass the information to your students and teaching colleagues.

Free Resources for Teachers, Librarians, and Students

Free Resources for Teachers, Librarians, and Students

Last week the White House launched its newest program to ramp up literacy: the Open eBooks App. The app will provide access to thousands of popular and award-winning books to teachers, librarians, and students in Title I schools, special education teachers and students, and military base schools. To sign up for Open eBooks or to acquire the app visit Openebooks.net. For more information about the program, take a look at the official announcement from the White House.

I subscribe to a lot of Education Blogs and I especially like the Edutopia blog. Last week the blog post was all about filmmaking resources in the classroom. I know many of our College of Education students have to create videos and I thought you all might want to pass on these resources to your students. Read the entire blog post, 5 Minute Film Festival: Resources for Filmmaking in the Classroom and sign up for their newsletter at the same time. What education blogs and newsletters do you subscribe to?

Research Tools You Can Use

Recently I discovered several new (at least to me) research tools that can make searching and organizing your articles a lot easier. The first is the Google Scholar extension for Chrome and Firefox. Some of you may already be using it, but for those who aren't, here's a quick (unprofessional) demo of how it works. Pretty slick. It shouldn't take the place of in-depth searching in a database but for basic searching it's great.

Many of you know I have been an advocate for the citation management tool Zotero for years. I hate to say it but I think I have found an even better tool in ReadCube. It has most of the Zotero features I love except the drag and drop reference list creation. But then it has a whole bunch of new features that will make life easier for any researcher. Here's a quick overview of the product.

You can easily import .pdfs including entire libraries from Zotero or Endnote. In fact if you set up a folder, ReadCube will monitor that folder and anything you add to the folder will be automatically added to ReadCube. It will automatically search Google Scholar and PubMed for additional articles by an author or for references. If you read the document within ReadCube you can annotate the article and the annotations can be searched. There is a Word plug in for citation or you can export to Zotero or Endnote, although I'm not sure why that would be easier. Finally, the Pro version ($5/month, $45/yr.) you get unlimited cloud storage, syncing across all platforms/devices, plus advanced citation metrics for an article. Free apps are available for both iOS and Android.

There is one caveat, the program is designed to work with enhanced .pdfs so some of the features may not work on older .pdfs and other formats. But it is a relatively new product, I suspect there will be further enhancements. 

Try it, I think you will like it. And don't forget to tell your doc students about it.

Video's the way YOU want them

Have you ever watched a video from say TED or YouTube and thought - "Wow I could use that in the classroom"? But it's too long or there's really only one small section that you want to use. Plus you would like to add your comments and ask the students questions during the clip. How would you do that?

Well there's WeVideo which lets you create video mash-ups using a variety of media content from the web. It's great for doing professional looking videos but there is a bit of a learning curve. And then there are the commercial products like Camtasia and Capitvate. But they too, take some time to learn and a lot of time to develop.

EDpuzzle on the other hand is a quick and easy to use free web-based application that produces professional looking videos tailored specifically to your curriculum. You can even track your students understanding of the content. Here's a quick overview of how it works.

Pretty simple? Plus there are apps for iOS and Chrome. Imagine taking a clip of a someone teaching and being able to stop, talk, ask a question and get feedback from you students and then go on critiquing. Definitely more engaging.

Gentle Reminders

Since we're a month into the new semester, I want to take the opportunity to remind you about some fantastic resources we have in the library. Don't forget to check out our Alexander Street Press 60 Minutes collection. The collection spans 2 decades and can be streamed directly into your classroom or uploaded to your Moodle class. And if you do use the collection, let me know what you think! We aim to please here at the Atkins Library and user feedback is super important.

I wonder if any of you have heard of Alexander Street Press's Education in Video series? Click on the link for more information about the collection and if you think this resource would be a valuable addition to our collection, please let me know!

Finally, I'd like to beg and plead with you to send me (and Judy) monograph titles you would like added to the collection. I've received book requests from several of you, thank you! I would be thrilled to get book requests from ALL of you. So don't hesitate to send me a wish list of titles you want me to buy. Don't forget to include instructional materials on your wishlist. Our CIMC needs the newest publications to best serve our pre-service and in-service teachers!