Alabama Supercomputer Authority
The Alabama Supercomputer Authority is the technical partner for the Alabama Virtual Library. Through our technical support, school libraries and public libraries can issue AVL cards to patrons so that they can use the AVL databases from any computer connected to the Internet. For additional information on how you can become a patron of the AVL, visit your public library or your child's public school library media center. If you need additional information on the AVL or training, send an email to avlhelpdesk@asc.edu
The following information was provided by Teresa Trawick of the Alabama Public Library Service. It highlights one of the databases, Novelist, available through the AVL. Please share by forwarding to any other colleagues who would benefit from this content. NoveList Notes is an eclectic collection of tips, tricks, or information about how to use NoveList more effectively. They are designed to be short, quick, and practical. Some topics will be more applicable to libraries, some more applicable to schools, and some will be effective for either environment.
NOVELIST NOTES -- HISTORICAL FICTION
HISTORICAL FICTION IN NOVELIST Do any of these scenarios sound familiar? "I have to read a novel for history class-it has to be about the Revolution, the one where we became the United States. Do you know of any books?" (ANSWER: Describe a Plot: "united states history revolution" "Richard the Third is such an interesting character-I mean did he kill his nephews or not? I would love to read a book that actually takes you there. Do you know of any titles that do this?"(ANSWER: Describe a Plot: "Richard III King of England" "I love Jean Auel's writing and I have read all of her books. Do you know of any other authors that I might like to read?" (ANSWER: Match a Favorite Author: jean auel; select a title such as" mammoth hunters,"use Find Similar Books and choose subject headings to search on such as cave dwellers, prehistoric women or Ice age (Geology)).
FINDING HISTORICAL FICTION You may be getting more questions like these because historical fiction is enjoying a renaissance and novels that portray historical periods are being used to supplement the social studies curriculum in many schools. Whether you are seeing these questions in a public library or school media center, NoveList should be one of the first places you turn.
USING NOVELIST NoveList contains information on over 11,000 titles that deal with history. NoveList has novels that cover all periods and most countries (whether or not they are on the current map of the world). Depending on your audience, you will want to select a reading level in association with some of the subject headings listed below. For instance, if you have an adult patron looking for historical fiction, you may want to check "Adult" in the reading level when you do the search. If you are working with students, consider "bridging" two reading levels by selecting Children's and Young Adult for middle school students or selecting Young Adult and Adult for high school students. NoveList has subject headings that describe:
* Historical periods: prehistoric, ancient, anglo-saxon period, medieval civilization, etc.
* Centuries: such as thirteenth century OR 13th century (NoveList uses both methods for indicating the century)
* Decades (for the 20th century): such as thirties (as a word, not as numbers) or fifties
* Events: World War II, civil rights movement, gold rush, pioneer life, etc
* Historical figures: Abraham Lincoln, Richard III King of England, etc.
TIPS AND TRICKS 11,000 historical fiction titles can be overwhelming. To help you and your users find the historical fiction titles they are looking for, use the following strategies:
1. Use Describe a Plot as your search (if you are using NoveList K-8, it is a "Describe a Plot, Topic, or Unit" search.):
a) Use the name of a country and the term history to retrieve titles that take place in that country's past (e.g., "France History").
b) To help further narrow your results, use or suggest a particular century or event (e.g., "France History 18th Century" or "France History Revolution" to retrieve books set during the French Revolution).
c) Identify a historical figure (e.g., "Joan of Arc" or "Louis XIV King of France"
d) Add a genre to locate historical titles that are of interest to genre oriented readers (for example, "love stories scotland history" will retrieve love stories that take place in Scotland in the past).
e) For your mystery lovers, historical periods may have their own sub-genre set of headings (for example, "victorian mystery stories" OR "medieval mystery stories"). The sub-genre headings are very focused and while useful for patrons interested in mysteries in a very narrow period-may be too narrow for some readers.
2. If you are looking for a particular period or topic and the above strategies are not getting you the results you need, do a title search on a book that is set in the time period you are interested in to see what headings are used for that title. You can use Find Similar Books to search on the subject headings that interest you. This is the strategy we used in the Jean Auel example above.
3. Explore Fiction has lists of "Historical Fiction" at the Young Adult level and a "Periods in History" theme at the Children's level. Best Fiction provides historical fiction award lists at both the Young Adult and Children's levels.
4. There are also Feature Articles that provide historical fiction lists. If you select "Feature Articles" under "Read About Popular Titles and Topics" on the New Search page, you will see a link for Historical Fiction under the Adult level, with articles such as "Historical Mysteries" and "Discovering America.". For Young Adult and Children's levels, look under "Themes." You will see articles like, "Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth," and "Looking Back at the Twentieth Century: YA Historical Fiction for Students."
5. There are a few series for younger readers that address historical events and periods from a young person's point of view. Use the "Find a Series Name" search and enter " Dear America" or "My Name is America" and NoveList will retrieve these historical fiction series for boys and girls.
Research and Technology
The Knowledge Loom http://knowledgeloom.org/index.jsp
This site provides educators with a place to do the following:
-Review research that identifies best practices related to various themes.
- View stories about the practices in real schools/districts.
- Learn to replicate the success of these practices.
- Add stories, knowledge, and questions to the collections.
- Participate in online events and discussions.
- Discover supporting organizations and resources.
Education and
the Internet
This year, Hanukkah begins November 29 -- Christmas is December 25 -- Kwanzaa begins on December 26. Some sites to help in this effort:
Trumbull County Christmas Resources http://www.trumbull.k12.oh.us/teachers/resources/Themes/christmas.htm
Cost of the 12 Days of Christmas http://www.pncbank.com/12days/
NORAD Tracks Santa http://www.noradsanta.org/
Happy Holidays from Ben & Jerry http://www.benjerry.com/yule/
Virtual Chanukah 2002 http://chanukah99.com/
Chanukah http://www.web-holidays.com/chanukah/
The Official Kwanzaa Site http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/
Kwanzaa: An African-American Celebration http://www.globalindex.com/kwanzaa/
News You Can Use
OpenOffice.org
Software upgrades can often consume the entire school technology budget. Here is a viable alternative for desktop productivity. This free product is a multi-platform office productivity suite and includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites'. Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office. This product can be downloaded free from http://www.openoffice.org
Gale's Online Quiz is a Win-Win for Kids and Schools!!
Teaching students research skills with online resources from Gale (an AVL resource) can not only enhance classroom assignments, it can also enhance media centers. A new monthly, online quiz on gale.com's School page (www.gale.com/schools) allows kids and schools to earn chances to win free books with every quiz submitted. The quizzes have monthly themes. Answers to the questions can be found by searching such classic resources as Student Resource Center, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, Discovering Collection and Junior Reference Collection. When students submit a correct quiz their school is entered into a monthly raffle for Gale print titles that will fortify its media center. The entire process is electronic-- from searching to quiz submission. "We designed the program to give kids more immediate rewards to learning good research skills," said Lisa Spicko, vice-president of K-12 marketing at Gale. "The quizzes are fun and relevant -- especially because of the monthly theme. And, giving kids the opportunity to build the school's media center makes them feel powerful." Quizzes come in two versions. A five-question quiz is created each month for elementary school ages, while middle and high school students have a more challenging 10-question quiz. A hint accompanies each question, directing students to databases that contain the answer. November's quizzes are currently available at http://www.gale.com/schools.
Toshiba's Grade 7-12 Grant Program
The Toshiba America Foundation encourages programs with the potential to improve classroom teaching and learning of science, mathematics, and the science and mathematics of technology. Projects and proposals from individual or groups of classroom teachers in grade schools (7-12) will be considered for funding. The Foundation is most interested in teacher-planned and -led projects that take place in the classroom. Grant proposals (under $5,000) are accepted throughout the year. Decisions about small grants are made monthly, except March and September. http://www.toshiba.com/about/taf/grant.html
Doors To Diplomacy Website Competition
The U.S. Department of State, in concert with Global SchoolNet, is sponsoring a Doors to Diplomacy Award. This educational award will recognize the student-created Global SchoolNet Website that best teaches others about the importance of international affairs and diplomacy. The website entries will be available on the web as learning tools to millions of people around the globe. Registration is now open. Projects must be completed by March 21, 2003. Winners will be announced in May 2003. http://globalschoolhouse.org/doors/ Contact Info: Janice Kiser, U.S. Department of State kiserje@state.gov (202) 647-8207 Yvonne Marie Andrés, Global SchoolNet Foundation yvonne@globalschoolnet.org (760) 635-0001 (phone) (760) 635-0003 (fax)
Hero's Journey
This website is designed to create an environment where anyone can create their own story using the mythical hero structure described by Joseph Campbell in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The Hero's Journey website was designed as a project to support the Storytelling Institute at South Mountain Community College and has been used by several mythology and folklore classes. This site is open to anyone who wishes to learn more about writing stories along the hero's path. http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/
Teachingbooks.Net: A Children's Literature Resource
TeachingBooks.net is a multimedia children's literature database that utilizes cutting-edge technologies to connect educators and families with authors, books, and authoritative teaching materials. Through the site, students and teachers can "meet" and "chat" with authors online, watch movies about authors and illustrators, access discussion guides for thousands of books, listen to interviews, ask authors questions and more. http://www.teachingbooks.net/