3.7+Project+Databases


 * DATABASE PROJECT - 40 POINTS**

Conventional wisdom, anecdotal evidence, and numerous reports and studies have all indicated electronic retrieval of information is the preferred method of student research. Despite an overwhelming preference for Googling, the librarian must provide sources to high-quality accurate information through databases with information that has gone through standard rigors of information production.

How do you decide whether a database will be right for your students? Read a review, of course, as well as talk to members of your personal learning network. Here is a recent review from //School Library Journal// @http://www.slj.com/2016/05/reviews/reference/gale-kids-infobits-a-reference-wonderland-reference-online/

Just take a look at this recent discussion on LM_NET about how to get the teachers to pay attention to library resources (i. e. subscription databases -- click on the image

Ninety-five percent of the schools in Missouri participate in MOREnet’s K-12 Technology Network Program which gives each of those schools, among other things, access to online electronic databases as part of their membership. This is an important benefit for Missouri students. In many states, the databases available to students are only those from the school budget (or the local public library). This gives Missouri students an important advantage in accessing information that has gone through a validation process.

One of the things that astonishes me is how much librarians complain about students using poor quality information for their research on one hand and **how poor of a job librarians do in providing student access to the information.**
 * Do they provide off-site access to the databases?
 * Can your students access the databases with their iPhone? http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch/2010/10/10/thanks-gale-and-i-want-more-of-these/
 * Do they provide a method for students to access the various passwords in order to use the databases at home? How easy is the process? In providing the passwords, do they violate the usage agreements with the vendors by making the passwords public so that anyone can use the database?
 * Do librarians differentiate between freely available material on the Web (which may be more suspect) and subscribed material through databases (which is supposed to be more accurate and authoritative)?
 * Are the databases just listed on the library Web site (what would you guess that Learning Express Library would give you information about?) or are the categorized and/or annotated?
 * Do librarians give students access to all of the databases that are provided FREE to most of the students of Missouri or do they cherry-pick the ones that they think student ought to have access to?
 * What kind of message are we sending with a limitation of information that is available in some other form on the free Web?
 * Do the librarians provide database information solely for student research purposes or can you determine that faculty and staff information needs are specifically addressed as well?
 * Do the databases address specific areas of the curriculum or is there a general information focus? We know social studies and language arts are heavy users but are the sciences, fine arts, foreign language, etc. addressed as well?
 * Are there any hints about how to search databases beyond plunking in a couple of keywords and hoping for the best?


 * I want you to become familiar with the databases that are available to you in your school (if you are in a school). You are using these databases, right? You at least know about them? If these databases are not available to your students then (a) your tax dollars and not being invested wisely and (b) your library is not providing high-quality information for the students and staff, and (c) quite candidly, you are not holding up your professional responsibility.**

Here is the list of the databases that you should be able to find on Missouri school library sites: @http://search.more.net/available-databases. Note the information in RED on the MOREnet site for the changes that are happening as we speak/read.

ASSIGNMENT (TWO PARTS)

> > >> >
 * PART I. (20 POINTS)**
 * 1) Create a chart on your wiki/Web site (or create a spreadsheet -- Google Spreadsheet is an easy way to go and link it in your wiki/Web page). **Be sure to share your spreadsheet -- otherwise, I will not be able to see it.**
 * 1) Label columns: Database; Summary, and then the name of 10 schools that you are going to investigate.
 * 1) Go to the MOREnet site and copy the list of databases that are available to anyone with MOREnet access (URL above). (There should be HeritageQuest, LearningExpress Library, 18 EBSCO subscription databases plus three free databases (GreenFILE, LISTA, Teacher Reference Center))
 * 2) Be aware that the titles listed under "Specialty Interfaces from EBSCO" are not additional databases
 * 3) The interfaces are a particular entrance to a grouping of databases that are listed above.
 * 1) In the Summary column, for each database give a sentence description of what kind of information one would find in the database. I encourage you to go the JCKL databases and check out any of the databases you aren't already familiar with.
 * 1) Visit at least 10 public school library Web sites **in Missouri** to get an idea of how the school library presents database information provided by Missouri tax dollars. That means you are looking for the EBSCO and the free databases listed above. Look at elementary and secondary schools, rural and suburban schools. You will see quite a different picture evolve of which schools do the best job of presenting the database information. If I were a student am I presented with the databases immediately or do I have to dig through layers to find them (which, by the way, I, as a typical student, wouldn't bother doing!)

On your wiki/Web platform create a new page called Database Reflection and on your experience of looking at how librarians provide access to students. Use the following questions below as a guide for your reflection.
 * PART II. (20 POINTS)**


 * 1) What is the format of the presentation? Is it a list? Is it a list with descriptions of the content? (Would you know which database to look in for a specific topic?) Are the databases presented attractively or enticingly?
 * 2) Is there a discussion about how to access the database information off campus? (Most students will be doing their research at 10:30 pm!)
 * 3) Link to each school you are discussing
 * 4) Is there one school that really did this right? What makes it stand out? If you didn't find one that did it right, what came the closest and what should they have done to hit the home run?
 * 5) Post links to your projects on Bb DISCUSSION BOARD and discuss.

SIDEBAR TO THIS ASSIGNMENT 1. I realize that not everyone in this class will be in a school that will have access to the MOREnet databases -- those students in the class who are out of the state of Missouri and also private and charter schools will not have direct access, although they may have access to the databases through a public library. For those people out of state, the assignment still has value because it gives you an idea of what databases are commonly used in a school environment should you be in a position to subscribe to databases at your school. More importantly, the assignment will expose you to different ways schools do (or worse, do not) promote the use of databases to their students on the library Web site. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas of what to do (or what to avoid) when you have your own library.

2. A number of Missouri schools have chosen to simply link to the MOREnet Web site rather than to list or describe the individual databases on the school library Web site. I have very strong opinions about this lack of highlighting the individual characteristics of a database which informs the student what kind of information will be found in a particular resource, however, that is out of our control. And so -- for STEP 5 in the assignment, if you are running into the problem of finding 10 Missouri school library Web sites that do nothing more than link to the MOREnet site, you can expand your search to any school library site in the US (or the world actually). I really wanted to keep this in Missouri because I believe we are not doing a very good job of highlighting the databases that we, as Missourians, are PAYING for.

But, but, but -- there is no point in reinforcing bad practice and so you already know what databases are standard because you have listed them in STEP 3, if you go outside of the state of Missouri to find school library Web sites that do something MORE than just a link to MOREnet, simply add the databases below the ones from Missouri and place a mark indicating what databases this school does provide. ** You will be able to tell if the resource is a subscription resource because when you click on the link you will get to a login screen -- you will not get to the resource itself. Free resources will go directly to the Web site. **

Here is an example of what I mean  You can use any source you want to find school library Web sites. Here is one suggestion, although I find that there are a number of links that no longer work.

===//One question that comes up during this project when surveying other schools is the surprising issue of librarians who publicly post the passwords to subscription databases. This is absolutely not permitted. What would be the point of having a password if it is publicly posted? Ultimately it is a question of ethics, although I think most librarians are just trying to make it easy for students to use the information.//===

[[file:5250.Public posting passwords.pdf]]
Some of the issues of what happens when the library puts most of their periodical eggs in a digital subscription basket: