Ready Reference: Wham, Bam, Thank You Librarian Ben Conrad, Melissa Kalland, Renee Kozeal ETT 508 Spring 2009

Ready Reference Ready reference materials are resources in print or online that a researcher can use to find basic information, quickly. DictionaryThesaurus AtlasHandbook EncyclopediaWeb site AlmanacOther*

Questions for Ready Reference – Did anyone die in the Hindenburg crash? – What is the population of China? – How much did a loaf of bread cost during the Great Depression?

Ready Reference: Elementary School Almanacs State Handbook & Guide, SHG, LLC, 2009 Free A guide to state information Links to official sites May be problematic for young researchers manac/ manac/ The Old Farmers Almanac for Kids Yankee Publishing Inc., 2007, $9.95 All kinds of fun facts for kids Geared toward young grades

Ready Reference: Elementary School Almanacs World Almanac for Kids 2009, 2008, $9.95 Great information for kids Child friendly content Fact Monster, Pearson Education, 2009, Free Great searchable source for kids Child oriented content and images

Ready Reference: Elementary School Atlas World Book, World Book, Inc., 2009, Subscription Links to more sites Content is children oriented ia?id=mp000258http:// ia?id=mp DK First Atlas, DK Publishing, 2004,$15.99 Easy reading Attention getting content and display ay/0,, ,00.htmlhttp://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDispl ay/0,, ,00.html

Ready Reference: Elementary School Atlas National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers, 3rd Edition, National Geographic Society, 2007, $19.95 Easy find information Designed for children’s interests

Ready Reference: Elementary School Dictionaries Scholastic Children's Dictionary, Scholastic, two years,$7 for the old 2002, $14.95 for new 2008? Simple definitions Worlds students would use Both can still be purchased The DK Children’s Illustrated Dictionary, DK Publishing, 1994, $19.95 Great visual representation Dependable information Student liked

Ready Reference: Elementary School Dictionaries Merriam-Webster Children’s Dictionary, DK Publishing, 2008, $21.99 Words children would use Illustrations to assist in understanding Understandable definitions Webster’s New World Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s New World, 2006, $17.95 Definitions that are understandable Illustrated for understanding Entomology included

Ready Reference: Elementary School Dictionaries Scholastic Children’s Thesaurus, Scholastic, 1998, $15.95 Illustrated examples Kid friendly language Simon & Schuster Thesaurus for Children: The Ultimate Student Thesaurus, Simon & Schuster,2001, $17.99 Visuals to help students Large volume of words Language students will understand

Ready Reference: Elementary School Encyclopedias World Book Encyclopedia, 2009 ed. 22 vols. $ Readable and authoritative Suitable for 3 rd and up Available online and on CD- ROM Available online

Ready Reference: Elementary School Encyclopedias The Scholastic Children's Encyclopedia: An Exciting Reference Tool, Scholastic, 2004, $19.95 Multiple entries and maps Child friendly language Easy listings Encyclopedia dot com, HighBeam Research, Inc., 2009, Free An Encyclopedia for all ages Language that students can understand Search field for access

Ready Reference: Middle School Almanacs The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2009 Published by World Almanac Paperback $10.18 (Amazon.com) Election 2008 coverage and Beijing Olympics recap Downloadable trivia quiz kit Time: Almanac 2009 Published by Time Hardcover $23.07 (Amazon.com) Includes a Year in Review

Ready Reference: Middle School Atlases National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World Published by National Geographic in 2008 Hardcover $63.00 (Amazon.com) Emphasizes UNESCO World Heritage Sites Great section on space Oxford Atlas of the World Published by Oxford University Press Hardcover $50.40 (Amazon.com) Comes with a free wall map 15 th edition, published in 2008

Ready Reference: Middle School Dictionaries The American Heritage Student Dictionary Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Hardcover $12.97 (Amazon.com) For grades 6-9 More than 2000 full-color photographs and illustrations Merriam-Webster’s Intermediate Dictionary Published by Merriam-Webster, revised 2004 Hardcover $14.07 (Amazon.com) Abundant word history paragraphs Designed especially for middle level students

Ready Reference: Middle School Thesauruses Merriam-Webster’s Intermediate Thesaurus Published by Merriam-Webster, 1 st edition, 2004 Hardcover $12.50 (Amazon.com) Created for middle level students Contains synonyms, antonyms, related and contrasted words, and idiomatic phrases The American Heritage Student Thesaurus Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, updated 2006 Hardcover $11.67 (Amazon.com) Parts of Speech table For middle and high school students

Ready Reference: Middle School Encyclopedias One Million Things: A Visual Encyclopedia Published by DK Children, 2008 Hardcover $16.49 (Amazon.com) Divided into eight sections Stunning photographs Britannica Encyclopedia Published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, revised 2008 Hardcover $ (Amazon.com) 65,000 articles Unique 4-part organization, 32 volumes

Ready Reference: Middle School Electronic Resources The

Ready Reference: High School Almanacs The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2009 ed. Pocket Books. $12.99 pa. Most comprehensive and well-known almanac Wilson’s Senior High Core Collection *selection Old Farmers Almanac Online

Ready Reference: High School Dictionaries American Heritage College Dictionary, 4 th ed. Houghton Mifflin, $26.95 Includes CD-Rom (complete text of dictionary and thesaurus) Wilson’s Senior High Core Collection *selection. Random House Webster’s College Thesaurus, 2 nd ed. Random House, $22.95 Alphabetical listing of over 400,000 synonyms and antonyms Examples—used in a sentence Wilson’s Senior High Core Collection *selection

Ready Reference: High School Encyclopedias World Book Encyclopedia, 2009 ed. 22 vols. $ Readable and authoritative Suitable for 9 th -12 th grades Available online and on CD- ROM World Book Online Entire contents of 22 vol. print set, and more More than 20,000 pictures, maps, videos and sounds Contact sales rep for pricing For 650 student building, $595.00/year

Ready Reference: High School Handbooks MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6 th ed. Modern Language Association, $22.00 pa. Guidelines and examples for handling research, outlining, formatting and documentation in MLA style. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,5 th ed. APA, $27.95 pa. Guidelines and examples for handling research, formatting, and documentation in APA style.

Ready Reference: High School Handbooks Writers Inc, 2006 ed. By Dave Kemper, Patrick Sebranek, & Verne Meyer. Great Source Education Group, $23.50 pa. A writer’s handbook Includes: various forms of writing, usage help, punctuation, citation guides Has online components: s/handbooks/writers_inc/ s/handbooks/writers_inc/

Ready Reference: High School Other Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 17 th ed. Little Brown & Co., 2002, $50.00 Classic ready reference Famous quotes listed chronologically by author. Excellent author and keyword indexes Wilson’s Senior High Core Collection *selection. Bartleby.com Full-text reference books Also full-text fiction, nonfiction, verse All free!

Ready Reference: High School Other The Value of a Dollar: , 4 th ed. Grey House Publ., $ Excellent for historical research Includes: income, prices, tables of price trends Some prices included are: golf clubs, washing machine, baked beans, a suit Some job incomes included are: actor, bookkeeper, manager, teacher, truck driver

Ready Reference: High School Web Sources The Internet Public Library -- Incredible collection of ready reference web sites Easy to access by general subject Compiled by students in information science field

Ready Reference: High School Web Sources Occupational Outlook Handbook, Edition, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Labor Online version of standard OOH publication Quick access to occupation information—education/training, salary, skills, nature of work

Ready Reference: High School Web Sources American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau Census statistics Population Household/family size Education Demographics—race, gender

Ready Reference: High School Web Sources-Biography Biography.com, A&E, Free Brief biographies of celebrities, politicians, historic figures, etc. Born on this day Photo gallery

Strengths and Weaknesses Print Resources + Quick and easy to access + Electronics not required - Become outdated quickly – Biography, Statistics, Geography - Intimidating

Strengths and Weakness Electronic Resources + Provides remote access + Frequently updated/ current + Appealing to students ? Searchable through search engines - Issues with technology requirements - Limited access due to electronics

sources Baker & Taylor. (2008). School selection. Retrieved from Barber, R. W., & Bartell, P. (Eds.).(2007). Senior high core collection: A selection guide (17 th ed.). New York: H. W. Wilson.

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