YOUR KEY TO GREAT RESEARCH AT ISLANDER MIDDLE SCHOOL Academic Databases

What’s an Academic Database? Lives in “Pay” Internet – access only by subscription! Searchable collection of published material  Professionally edited, fact-checked  Reviewed for academic value

Isn’t GOOGLE a Database? NO! It’s a SEARCH ENGINE. It’s a search tool, not the information itself Fetches web pages based on your search words Finds web pages of all types, not only academic

What About Wikipedia? Wiki = Anyone can Edit. Contents change. Academic Sources must remain constant. So what’s Wikipedia good for? Basic info on your topic to start your academic research. Get keywords, dates, etc. Then search Databases!

Databases - Great for Research Published Material (keyword: Published)  editorial review, fact-checking Academically Accepted (keyword: Academic) Teachers expect you to use published material to support research

BREAK: STAND AND SUMMARIZE Stand in pairs. Remain standing for this break. Person A speaks first, then Person B. 20 seconds per person. Chime = switch. Person B speaks. Chime = both sit silently.

BREAK: STAND AND SUMMARIZE Person A: Tell Person B two important facts about Academic Databases. [chime, switch speakers but remain standing] Person B: Tell Person A three reasons why databases are great for research. [chime, both sit]

Compare: Databases & Web Pages DATABASESWEB PAGES Published information, professionally reviewed and edited May not be professionally edited/published Includes links to related articlesSome have links to related websites Already fact-checked, high quality academic information You must evaluate quality Include citations for Works CitedCitations are rare

IMS Subscription Databases Access from IMS Library Page Automatically logged in at school Use login codes at home – capture image on iPad!

Navigate to IMS Database Page Learning Services Menu Library – BOOKMARK! Online Resources Link

Tour of IMS Online Resources Resources arranged by content area Read descriptions first – Assess. General Resources – Often Very Useful!

CLOSING ACTIVITY: Make a List Open research document on iPad Read descriptions of Databases List potentially helpful Databases for this project Show the list to me or your teacher!