RHONDA BANDY 2011 FALL CHILDREN'S RESOURCES AND SERVI SEC.OL1 (2011FALL.LSIS5505.OL1) SEPTEMBER 2011 ELECTRONIC RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN

These resources were chosen based on the great information that they present for children and teachers to use as resources for study and for entertainment.

CRITERIA ONE: AUTHORSHIP OF THE WEBSITE:  When choosing quality sites, it is important to be able to clearly identify the author of the site. There should be information provided that would allow the site user to contact the author or creator of the site, with questions or for further information.  (2011 © American Library Association)

CRITERIA TWO: A CLEARLY STATED PURPOSE FOR THE SITES EXISTENCE.  There should be no doubt as to the purpose of the site. Any advertising on the site should be limited and not interfere with the content. There should not be obvious displays of bias and should provide a high degree of information or entertainment.  (2011 © American Library Association)

CRITERIA THREE: THE SITE DESIGN SHOULD BE USER FRIENDLY AND RELIABLE  In order to recommend a site, the site should be user friendly, dependable design, and appealing to the target audience. Appropriate content, clearly described instructions and navigation tools are equally important. There should be no fee requirement or a need to enter personal information.  (2011 © American Library Association)

CRITERIA FOUR: CONTENT OF THE SITE SHOULD BE INFORMATIVE, ENTERTAINING OR OTHERWISE USEFUL.  The information in the site should be easy to read, understand, grammatically correct, and useful. Age appropriate materials should be available and maintained. User functions should be easy to spot and navigate by the intended age group. Material presented should be targeted to the purpose of the site, age group targeted, and be of a useful nature.  (2011 © American Library Association)

APPLING THESE CRITERIA TOBARTLEBY.COM   1. The author of this site is Steven H. van Leeuwen, Chairman & CEO of Bartleby.com, Inc.; he can be reached at :  2. The purpose of the sight is to provide access to classic literature. Some users may not have easy access to libraries or the actual offerings of the local libraries may not have the works needed; this site offers an alternative.  3. The site is user friendly, tabbed search pages for reference works, poetry, fiction and nonfiction. This site is targeted toward older students.  4. The content is useful, age appropriate for older children, user friendly, and provides the information that it states that it will. There is perhaps an excessive amount of advertisements.

APPLYING THE CRITERIA TO HOMEWORK SPOT.COM   1. The authorship is clearly stated as a team, able to be contacted by: StartSpot Mediaworks, Inc., Attn: HomeworkSpot.com Team, 820 Davis St., Suite #403, Evanston, IL Current dates are shown.StartSpot Mediaworks, Inc.  2. The purpose of the site is to provide homework help to all ages of students. There are links to games, practice questions, language practice, math problems – an impressive array of educational and entertainment activities.  3. The design of the site is easy to navigate. A selection bar to the left of the screen offers age group divisions, the center of the screen offers an easy link list of activities. The site is both stable and reliable.  4. The content lives up to the expected criteria for a quality site. Advertisements are targeted at education and appear to be appropriate.

APPLYING THE CRITERIA TO MEET ME AT THE CORNER.ORG   1. The.org tells the user that the site has been created by an organization, this is an immediate indicator that the site is for non commercial purposes. The contact is clearly listed: Donna Guthrie, Producer; MEET ME AT THE CORNER, 20 West Del Norte, Colorado Springs, C  2. The purpose of the site is clearly stated as providing virtual fieldtrips to the user. In reduced budget times, this could be a real benefit to teachers as a resource for classroom activity.  3. The design of the site is user friendly. The videos offered are listed, tabs for navigation are to the left. There is a fair amount of advertising, all seem to be education oriented.  4. The content is consistently educational and useful. There is a high degree of quality to the offerings of the sight.

APPLING THE CRITERIA TO THE CHARLOTTE MECKLENGURG LIBRARY SITE   1. Authorship is controlled by © 2011 Charlotte Mecklenburg Library | 310 N. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC | ; clearly stated, easy to contact and plenty of information offered.  2. The purpose of the page chosen for this presentation, called the Bookhive, is to present children’s literature. It is colorful, interactive, offers the user many choices of literature reviews, stories to read, and listen to, as well as other activities.  3. The design of the site is attractive and user friendly. The colorful imaginative animations will attract children and provide useful information and entertainment to the users.  4. The content of the site is consistent with the proposed purpose for the site. The user can access literature, hear stories read to them, and reach other links to the library for further research. This site would appeal to children of all ages, due to the many links provided.

APPLYING THE CRITERIA TO THE SITE BIG 6.COM   1. The authorship of this site is credited to Bob Berkowitz and Mike Eisenberg. The site is easy to trace and access for further information.  2. A widely used concept in schools, the core concepts of the Big6 can be explored at this site. It provides a great amount of curriculum material for many different age groups. The purpose has been met by the site.  3. The design of the site is user friendly and seems stable and reliable. Easy to navigate, many resources available, appropriate content to the purpose of the site, colorful and attractive.  4. The content of the site is very useful and provides a great resource for teachers, information for parents and activities in limited amounts for children.

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