| To Use or Not to Use Wikipedia
that is the Question
How can Wikipedia be
credible and reliable when anyone can edit? Should we point students
to it as
a reference source? In a recent LM_Net discussion, a member suggested
that Wikipedia could be used in the context of information literacy.
He provided an excellent example of how to use it with students to
teach them to critically look at the encyclopedia articles, make
editing recommendations, and present them to the editorial staff.
In other words, let students discover whether or not the articles
are credible and reliable by having them look at other sources and
verify the information. |
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Handy Reference Tools Build an Online reference collection for finding quick facts. Create your resources so they are geared toward teaching or meeting information literacy standards. Some sites offer free access to their databases while others such as encyclopedia publishers charge subscription fees. Many schools are forming consortiums to defray the costs for these pay as you go services. An excellent example is InfOhio. This core collection of electronic resources, including titles such as Britannica Online, EBSCO Host, Newsbank, Sirs Discoverer, and more is free to all of Ohio's K-12 students and teachers. The World Fact Book, published annually by the Central Intelligence Agency, provides information about countries around the world, including population, maps, flags, and other statistical data. The section on Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments is updated on a weekly basis. In addition, you can download The World Fact Book to your personal computer for free. Fact Monster provides loads of features targeted to students. Students will find the on-line dictionary, encyclopedia, maps, and homework center easy to use. The print and citation page tools make it easy to print and cite an article. Daily offerings include, today in history, today’s birthday, word quiz, spelling bee, and in the news. There is also a weekly poll on a relevant topic of interest to kids. Fact Monster will be a popular destination for students.
Preview articles, browse topics, and review timelines from the free areas of the Encyclopedia Britannica. One nice feature listed at the end of the article is the citation in MLA, APA, and Britannica Style formats. On the front page of the online school edition site is a biography of the day, this day in history, and Britannica highlights. See the Website for pricing information. The Columbia Encyclopedia originated in the 1920s and was large one volume reference guide for home use. Over 51,000 concise articles are included from the sixth edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia published in 2001 and updated in November 2004. Searching the encyclopedia can be accomplished by using full text or entry words or you can browse and locate information by perusing different categories, including a special section of biographies. Microsoft Encarta was a digital encyclopedia that was part of a larger software suite called Microsoft Student, which was created in the early 1990s and used CD-ROMs to store information. Encyclopedia.Com has over 17,000 short entries from the Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia with premium services available for a fee. This is an encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, legends, and more. It contains over 5100 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world. World Book is subscription only. There are no freebies on the site. Once you subscribe, you have access to the articles from the 22-volume print set, plus up-to-date information. In addition, there are more than 9,500 pictures and maps, 115 videos and animations, 9,300 sounds, 129 panoramic 360° views, and more than 100 simulated historic Web sites. Visit the Website for pricing information.
This guide attempts to list all of the world's countries, and many of its islands, with a pointer to the local time in the region. Captivated by the final frontier? The Space Calendar from the Jet Propulsion Lab is a treasure trove of information, pictures, and sounds on space-related activities and anniversaries for the upcoming year.
Conversion Programs, Weights and Measures FX
Converter View up to date exchange rates for 164 currencies. The resulting information includes the median, minimum, and maximum rates with a link to the previous day. How much do you
weigh on Mars? How many square feet make up an acre? How many days
are left in the year? This mega tool converts and calculates weights,
measures, and units. The site also has a scientific calculator
that performs practically any common function and many uncommon
functions. Conversions are a snap with an easy to use interactive
dial.
Dictionaries, Thesauri, and Quotations Alpha Dictionary Language Directory Are your students learning a foreign language, getting ready for a trip abroad, or studying the culture of a country? This directory is a one-stop link of lexicon lists and dictionaries. Most of these sources translate words to or from English. Begin with the quote of the day. Then, search over 87,000 quotations from a variety of both classic and contemporary sources. In addition to quotations, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language with audio pronunciations plus the 1922 and 1995 editions of Roget’s Thesaurus. The Internet Picture Dictionary is a completely free, online multilingual picture dictionary designed especially for ESL students and beginning English, French, German, Spanish and Italian language learners of all ages. An Australian primary teacher needed a reference resource for her students. In her quest to meet that need, she learned Flash and created a dictionary that is animated, interactive, and allows students to practice. Click on "billion" and discover that you have 10 billion brain cells working for you right now. Roll your mouse over the world time zone chart and you instantly know the time for that part of the world. Over 500 terms are explained in simple language. Every math teacher should bookmark this Web site. Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus Older students who need to look-up words or find synonyms online can visit the Merriam –Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus site. It offers a choice between searching the dictionary or thesaurus. Younger kids can check out the student dictionary at the Word Center, build their own dictionary, or create a poem. Students using the Firefox browser can add a side bar, lookup button, or search plug-ins. Features include
definitions, pronunciations, translations, word of the day, and
activities for increasing vocabulary. There is a specialty glossary
with over fifty categories of subjects. Translate foreign languages
or visit the multilingual library. Enter the game room and find
crossword puzzles, encryptions, fill-in puzzles, word jingles,
and semantic scramblers. Write you name in fourteen different languages.
The educational services section offers essays from leading linguists
about word histories. This is and excellent reference site to add
to your bookmarks.
Search for 800 and 888 numbers throughout the country. Look-up zip+4 code information.
50 States of the United States Brief information about each state. All of the Washington D.C. Embassies Street address, phone and fax numbers are provided along with any Web links. FirstGov.gov, the official U.S. gateway to all government information, is the catalyst for a growing electronic government. Our work transcends the traditional boundaries of government and our vision is global - connecting the world to all U.S. government information and services. This site has been on the Web for several years and offers images of country flags. Thomas Legislative Information on the Internet Follow the legislative process of current bills in Congress, learn about how a bill becomes a law, or find information about government. This site contains lists of heads of state and heads of government (and, in certain cases, de facto leaders who don't occupy either of those formal positions) of all countries and territories, usually going back to at least 1900. Information about the United Nations and its programs. Tour the U.S. House of Representatives and find information about current members. Tour the U.S. Senate and find information about current members. On the White House web server, you can listen to messages from the President and Vice-President, learn about the First Family, leave a message for the White House, and link to other government servers.
The Library of Congress has prepared an exhibit with representative papers of many historical figures from presidents to women suffragettes. The National Archives provides and online exhibit, The Charters of Freedom, that include the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. University of Oklahoma Law Center A very nice exhibit of state flags can be found at the University of Oklahoma along with a superb chronology of American historical documents.
Color Landform Atlas of the United States The Color Landform Atlas of the United States supplies a topographic and county outline map for each state except Alaska and Hawaii. View a satellite image of your house by typing your address in the search box. This aerial representation in Google Maps gives you with a sense of the topography and population density of the location. This would be a great tool to use in a geography lesson. This service uses data from the US Census and a supplementary list of cities around the world to find the latitude and longitude of two places, and then calculates the distance between them (as the crow flies). It also provides a map showing the two places, using the Xerox PARC Map Server. Create your own travel map or pinpoint locations using MapQuest. The zoom and pan features allow you to follow streets and county roads from one place to another. This is very handy, especially in rural areas. Printing maps is simple, just click on the print button. You will receive directions and several maps for navigation. Perry-Castñeda Library Map Collection Hundreds of maps
are available from the University of Texas at Austin, which houses
the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) collection, a good source
for contemporary and historical material. Since the PCL maps have
no copyright, they can be downloaded and used for any purpose.
Find out the current U.S. or World populations at this Website. FedStats is a gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. federal agencies. Browse more than 400 topics, search by key word or phrase, generate a profile for your State, county or federal district, and link to agencies and program summaries. This is a good starting point for finding data and facts. Find out the current U.S. or World populations. Search for demographic records about your community. Read the latest news about national trends. The U.S. Census Bureau provides a wealth of data about the people and the economy of the United States and supplies information on topics such as poverty, genealogy, and housing. Click on Kids’ Corner for easy to read statistical facts about each state. Quizzes on population, housing employment, income, and American social characteristics help students to think about and analyze statistics. Kids’ Corner is a great resource for incorporating statistics into social studies or math classroom. Rounding out the site is a section for teachers with lessons and a very intriguing item in the reference materials titled Facts for Features that highlights little known tidbits of data collected by the Census Bureau. |
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Ask a Librarian
Through Government
Information Online (GIO) you can ask government information librarians
who are experts at finding information from
government agencies of all levels (local, state, regional, national
international) on almost any subject. Reference Librarians provide assistance with using the digital collections and assistance with searching the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Email or Chat Contact them about any government question you have. Phone and Chat are available weekdays between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM Eastern Time except federal holidays. E-mail anytime.
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Originally
Published Nov/Dec 2005
Updated
January 19, 2023 © 1996 - 2015 Linda C. Joseph
All Rights Reserved
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