For my compare and contrast of a data base I compared Gale Virtual Reference (used by our students regularly) and Gale General OneFile database. To begin with appropriateness, I feel that the Gale Virtual; Reference is better for our high school students, especially those in 9th and 10th grade. It uses images of the book covers and multiple colors to organize the the title, author and other content. It has a "prettier" interface which makes it a bit more accessible and easier to navigate to the younger students. However, Virtual Reference only gave me a total of 15 sources and they were not organized based on publication when they first appeared on the screen. If I looked over to the left hand search bar it was broken down into publication type, but I really had to LOOK for it to find it. General OneFile is a little less aesthetically pleasing, but it rendered more search results. The results were also broken down based on the type of media. General OneFile also offered audio files, which would be great for auditory learners or students who struggle reading lengthy content. The left hand search bar to refine your search is a bit more accessible and organized on General OneFile versus Gale Virtual Reference. I like that General OneFile also offers a number of related searches with the number of related articles. I think that General OneFile would be best suited for high achieving 11th or 12th grader or first or second year college students. Both are great resources and both are credible, as many of the articles are being pulled from the same sources (both are also Gale resources). Both of the databases give the MLA citation below the link to view the file, which is very helpful in looking at bias and credibility within the source. (Side bar- thank you for the common core language in the questions). In my opinion, the students should come to the database with their hypothesis set, and a number of questions that they want answered. They should then use those resources within the database to test their conjectures. These resources help facilitate these best practices of generating and testing their hypothesis.
My students might use:
MeL Computer Database
Gale Virtual Reference
General OneFile
Genreral Reference Center Gold
InfoTrac
Opposing Viewpoints
WorkForce Skills
I added the MeL Database link to both of my new face of the classrooms for this term (using Schoology, rather than Weebly this term).
The first bogus site I evaluated was the Dog Island Free Forever Website. Generally speaking, this website looks cheap and is filled with adds. For that reason alone, I wouldn't stay on it long. To me, it looks like a homemade website. The writing is ambiguous and lacks details. There is no author, No currency. No real facts. No way to even verify what is written. Also, the idea itself is a little preposterous- Let's go send our pet away to an ISLAND. Doggy utopia? Sounds like the doggy version Lord of the Flies (sorry, nerdy English teacher moment). Seriously, in the products sections it offers you to buy a "doggy empathy leash" in which you attach your pets collar to "your collar" when you take them for a walk. Just looking at this website is irritating me! Web Fail.
The second bogus site I evaluated was the Goggle Pigeon Rank website. First of, at a GLANCE people may be confused as they see the Google logo and the links to credible individuals such as B.F. Skinner, psychologist. It also included graphs, which at a first glance look credible. However, if you read a SINGLE WORD you can tell it is totally made up. Finally, if you look at the website in big red letters it says "Created on April Fools Day 2002." Enough said.
For my easy citation makes, I used EasyBib, as this is the resource most of our students use and are familiar with. Here is my problem with EasyBib. It does A LOT. But students don't fill in the blanks when prompted. They just skip over to create citation. This is what they would have created:
"A Death in the Delta." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
When truly, using the appropriate ISBN (which was given in the link) this is the citation they should have created.
Whitfield, Stephen J. A Death in the Delta: The Story of Emmett Till. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1991. Print.
Even accessing it digitally, they should give the full information from the print version (author and publisher), if they can get it (which they could, if they looked).
Ok. MLA citation rant finished.
My students might use:
MeL Computer Database
Gale Virtual Reference
General OneFile
Genreral Reference Center Gold
InfoTrac
Opposing Viewpoints
WorkForce Skills
I added the MeL Database link to both of my new face of the classrooms for this term (using Schoology, rather than Weebly this term).
The first bogus site I evaluated was the Dog Island Free Forever Website. Generally speaking, this website looks cheap and is filled with adds. For that reason alone, I wouldn't stay on it long. To me, it looks like a homemade website. The writing is ambiguous and lacks details. There is no author, No currency. No real facts. No way to even verify what is written. Also, the idea itself is a little preposterous- Let's go send our pet away to an ISLAND. Doggy utopia? Sounds like the doggy version Lord of the Flies (sorry, nerdy English teacher moment). Seriously, in the products sections it offers you to buy a "doggy empathy leash" in which you attach your pets collar to "your collar" when you take them for a walk. Just looking at this website is irritating me! Web Fail.
The second bogus site I evaluated was the Goggle Pigeon Rank website. First of, at a GLANCE people may be confused as they see the Google logo and the links to credible individuals such as B.F. Skinner, psychologist. It also included graphs, which at a first glance look credible. However, if you read a SINGLE WORD you can tell it is totally made up. Finally, if you look at the website in big red letters it says "Created on April Fools Day 2002." Enough said.
For my easy citation makes, I used EasyBib, as this is the resource most of our students use and are familiar with. Here is my problem with EasyBib. It does A LOT. But students don't fill in the blanks when prompted. They just skip over to create citation. This is what they would have created:
"A Death in the Delta." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
When truly, using the appropriate ISBN (which was given in the link) this is the citation they should have created.
Whitfield, Stephen J. A Death in the Delta: The Story of Emmett Till. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1991. Print.
Even accessing it digitally, they should give the full information from the print version (author and publisher), if they can get it (which they could, if they looked).
Ok. MLA citation rant finished.