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How to Evaluate a Website

rebecca — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 10:09:36 -0400

It can be hard to tell if a website has good or accurate information. How do you know if you should trust the information you find on the Internet? Here's some tips for how to weed out the bad sites and keep the good websites:

Who made it?

Look for information about who created the site - is there an email or postal address, "About Us" on the navigation bar or a biography about the person/s responsible for the site? Does the individual or group have authority about the subject/do they have education or experience in the subject?

Click "more info" or see below for all the tips.

When was it last updated?

Look for a "last updated" note on the bottom or top of the homepage; sometimes interior pages may have different dates. Signs that a site is regularly updated is especially important if information is time sensitive or if you want the most current or up-to-date information.

Is it clear what it's about?

You should be able to determine a site's purpose readily from the homepage, and the organization's purpose should be clear. "About" or a site map will often provide more information.

Are there a lot of ads?

Ads can be annoying, but they're not necessarily bad; sometimes they're necessary so that a site can support itself. Look at who's advertising and see if they benefit from this website.

Is it easy to find the information you need?

Good organization is important and so is well-written content - beware of typos, and contradictory information. Navigation needs to be simple, and functionality somewhat intuitive (something that's easy and obvious to you).

As well as knowing if a website's information is reliable, it's important to be safe on the Internet. Check out this article for more information on Schlow's Internet policy and some suggested Internet Guidelines.

Thanks to Laurina Cashin, We Love Children's Books, for this information from the PALINET Education Program, March 2007.

Good Websites for Homework: By Subject

rebecca — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:07:24 -0400

Looking for help with your homework? Having trouble with a subject? Not sure where to start?

Below is a list of suggested websites to help with your homework, organized by subject. Click on the subject below for resources on that topic:

All Subjects

The Arts

Civics and Government

Environment and Ecology

Geography

Health and Wellness

History

Language Arts

Languages

Mathematics

Science

Social Studies

ALL SUBJECTS

B.J. Pinchbeck's Homework Helper: This site is created by a kid named B.J. Pinchbeck. It has more than 700 links to help with your homework.

Dewey Browse: Maintained by Librarian Gail Shea Grainger, this site is an up-to-date listing of web sites for K-12 students, arranged in Dewey Decimal order. **ALA Great Websites for Kids award**

Sheppard Software: Hundreds of fun educational games and activities for kids to play online. Covering a wide range of subjects including math, geography, science, language arts, health, history, and art.

THE ARTS

The Artist's Toolkit: Explore elements such as line, colour and balance by watching animated demonstrations, creating your own compositions, and watching video clips of artists in action.

Composers: On this site you can search for a composer alphabetically, by timeline, by country or by time period.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Kids can learn about music and orchestras through games and listening to music by composer or instrument.

Haring Kids: A colouring book plus colour animated images and opportunities to learn about Keith Haring's artwork.

Jackson Pollock.org: An interactive site which allows kids to create their art in Jackson Pollock's style.

Mr. Picasso Head: Create your own drawing in Picasso's style and take a look at other people's artwork.

NGA Kids: Explore the interactive art activities programs and have fun creating your own abstract art.

CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT

Ben's Guide to US Government: The site has information about the US Government for grades K-12.

Kids in the House: Take an animated tour of the House Chamber, of Statuary Hall and the Capitol. Become a time traveler and find out more about historical figures and events that took place in the House of Representatives.

POTUS/Presidents of the United States: This website has quick referenceQuestions that you ask of library staff that require knowledge of the content of the collection or other resources such as those on the web. Sometimes you are referred to the answer, hence Reference. Reference can also refer to our reference materials that are often encyclopedic books that have many volumes and a concentrated number of facts and/or statistics. These materials usually have an overnight loan period so they are available in the library most of the time. facts for upper elementary grades. There are also links to online biographies, and historical documents.

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Earth, Our World in Motion: A fun, educational and interactive site that has great information about the earth.

Environmental Protection Agency: There are age appropriate games, activities, concepts and resources about the environment.

Mission: Biome: A comprehensive site about biomes. You can test your knowledge about the biomes by completing each mission.

Ranger Rick: The website for the magazine has lots of homework help about wildlife, nature, animals and more.

Weather Whiz Kids: A comprehensive and informative site offered by a meteorologist about weather.

GEOGRAPHY

All the Worlds Maps: Links to maps all over the world, including city maps.

National Geographic Maps: Find and print maps of anywhere. The site includes theme maps such as weather and population density.

VolcanoWorld: Everything you've ever wanted to know about volcanoes is on this site. It has up-to-date information about the latest eruptions.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Body and Mind: Health information designed for kids from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kids Health: This site is created by The Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, this has a lot of health and body information.

HISTORY

America's Story from America's Library: There are sound and video clips as well as pictures and text which bring the history of the United States alive. Also, there is information about the present day U.S.A.

Ancient Egypt: Maintained by the British Museum, home to one of the world's best collections of ancient Egyptian artifacts, this site covers all phases of ancient Egyptian life.

Ancient Greece (BBC): This interactive site has information about democracy, city life, the role of women, slaves and the theatre.

The Ancient Olympics: This site has information about the earliest Olympics.

Bio Classroom: This site is a guide to the children's episodes of A & E's Biography, often organized themeatically such as Women in History or U.S. Presidents.

Greek Mythology: All the information you'll need about the Greek gods and goddesses.

Journey Through the Middle Ages: A student written site which takes you through the Middle Ages with James the Juggler.

The Library of Congress: Homework-help resources include world maps and information on countries, fun facts from American history and more encyclopedic references for students.

Odyssey: Three outstanding museum collections are utilized to explore the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and 19th - 20th century sub-Saharan Africa; teacher resources available; suggested books and links for further study.

The Romans (BBC): This interactive site focuses on Roman Britain but also covers what the Romans are famous for, such as roads, engineering, soldiers and government. There is also information about Roman families here too.

The Underground Railroad: An interactive site about the underground railroad from National Geographic.

US History for Kids (PBS): Learning activities for kids based on the PBS series, the American Experience.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Game Goo - Learning That Sticks: This site helps to develop early reading skills.

Merriam Webster Word Central: Look up words fast in this student dictionary and stump your friends with the daily buzzword. There are games to play as well.

MLA Elementary Citation Maker: It's important to note where you got your information, especially if you're quoting someone. This site will help create a citation.

OneLook Dictionary: More than 8 million words from about 1,000 dictionaries means that your kid's got lots of spelling and definition support when writing. Check out the cool Reverse Dictionary, where you describe a concept and it gives you a list of words related to that concept.

Poetry Foundation: Numerous resources about poets and poetry; audio and podcasts.

Poets: Site of the Academy of American Poets.

Starfall: Choose your level then play games as a fun way to practice reading.

LANGUAGES

Foreign Language Learning for Kids: This free site offers simple games, activities, and resources for learning vocabulary in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Transparent Language: This is one of Schlow's online resources; when you click the link you'll just need your library card number and PIN number to access it. This is an online language learning system that can help you to learn over 70 languages.

MATHEMATICS

AAA Math: Find explanations of mathematical topics, practice problems, and challenging games organized by topic and grade level.

Cool Math: A math site for kids, parents and teachers.

Math is Fun: Provides a practical way to approach math using diagrams, worksheets, quizzes, puzzles and clear explanations.

Web Math: This homework help tool is powered by Discovery Channel. Using simple math problems this self-help site is meant to help you solve problems immediately.

The World of Math Online: Practice your math skills from basic addition to calculus.

SCIENCE

Animated Engines: Some not so simple machines. This site explains how mechanical engines work using animation.

Archkidecture: This website has information on structures and how to build them.

Exploratorium: The "museum of science, art and human perception" is in San Francisco, California. The site is packed with information, activities and other science links.

Flights of Inspiration: The Franklin Institute and the Science Museum of London collaborated on this website which explores flight.

How Stuff Works: This site helps kids learn the facts plus the why's and how's behind scientific and real-world concepts.

Inventor's Toolbox: This site explains about how inventions and how they work.

Journey North: A global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change.

Nasa Kids' Club: Activitites, information and resources for kids.

Technology for Kids: Learn about robots, computers, cell phones, engineering and all kinds of interesting technology topics.

Science News for Kids: From electronic skin to how lasers were invented, this site covers the tech scene.

Try Science: Offers online interactivity with science and technology centers around the world - try experiments or field trips; language coversion; sections for parents and teachers.

The Why Files: The science and technology behind the headlines that make the news. For Grades 5-12.

SOCIAL STUDIES

American Fact Finder: The U.S. Census Bureau built this site that has information about population figures, congressional districts, maps and more.

CIA World Fact Book: This is a great place to find basic information on countries of the world. Includes geography, people, communications, transportation and more!

50 States & Capitals: Click on the state that you are interested in and immediately see an overview of basic information in hyperlinked form to more detailed stories such as area codes, biographies, border states, city guides, mottos and nicknames.

Here There Everywhere: News for Kids: connect to your community, nation and world with interesting articles on the people and events that shape them.

The Learning Network: New York Times for Kids: Kid friendly articles based on New York Times content.

Peace Corps Kids: An interactive social studies resources which provides kids with a global perspective on current events.

Time for Kids: The weekly news magazine's online component covering a range of news topics.

Youngzine: News and More for the Young: Learn about current events and world news in a straightforward and appealing way.

This list and descriptions are compiled from resources provided by Laurina Cashin, We Love Children's Books, at PALINET Education Program March 2007, and from the resource links and homework help sections on the Toronto Public Library's and the Chicago Public Library's websites.

Get Homework Help ONLINE @ Schlow!

rebecca — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:05:59 -0400

Have a project? Need to do some research? Need homework help? Check out the many online resources available on Schlow's website!

Below is a listing of the resources that may help with your homework. To access them click HERE. You just need your library card number and PIN number to access these great resources! Click "more info" for information about the resources.

Select Power Library for these resources:

CyberSmarts provides smart Internet use tips.

Readers' Guide Select is a databaseA subscription to a (password protected) website full of information. of the most popular general-interest periodicalsNewspapers and magazines. published in North America.

SIRS Discover has articles from over 1,600 US and international newspapers and magazines. The articles are assigned a reading level based on age-appropriateness, educational content, interest and reading level. This database is an excellent student resource!

You can get help from a librarian 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week! Contact this virtual chat referenceQuestions that you ask of library staff that require knowledge of the content of the collection or other resources such as those on the web. Sometimes you are referred to the answer, hence Reference. Reference can also refer to our reference materials that are often encyclopedic books that have many volumes and a concentrated number of facts and/or statistics. These materials usually have an overnight loan period so they are available in the library most of the time. service for help.

Need help to pass a test? Learning Express Library is an online learning platform of practice tests and tutorial course series designed to help students succeed at tests.

Learn a language! Transparent Language is an online language learning system that can help you to learn over 70 languages.

Looking for a hard to find book? Want to see what other Pennsylvania libraries have? Access Pennsylvania has catalog holdings of almost 3,000 Pennsylvania school, public, academic and special libraries are included in this database. Search by author, title, subject or keyword to locate over 50 million itemsBooks, audiovisual materials, periodicals..

More than 500,000 current and historical photographs and graphics can be searched by date, place and subject. More than 800 photographs are added to the archive daily.