WELCOME TO WILLIAMSBURG MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL’S LIBRARY/MEDIA CENTER!
CONTENTS
GENERAL LIBRARY/MEDIA CENTER INFORMATION
RESEARCH HELP
INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS
GENERAL LIBRARY/MEDIA CENTER INFORMATION
STAFF
The Library/Media Specialist for both Williamsburg Elementary School and Williamsburg Middle/High School is Ms. Lynnett Lonaker.
MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL MEDIA CENTER HOURS
The media center is open each school day from 7:30 AM to 2:45 PM. One period per day is designated as the library/media specialist’s (Ms. Lonaker's) planning period, and changes each day so as not to negatively impact the same students all year. During this planning period the media center has restricted availability for "emergency" use with Ms.Lonaker's permission. The media center’s availability has the same restrictions when a class has been scheduled in the media center.
PROCEDURES, RULES, ETC.CIRCULATION PROCEDURES
BOOKS: All circulating books may be checked out for a two-week loan period. The date stamped on the date due slip is the date by which the book should be returned. Students returning books late will be fined 5 cents per book per day late, excluding weekends and school holidays. Books may be renewed provided there is not a demand for that particular title or subject matter. Students with overdue books or outstanding fines (over $1.00) must clear their record before borrowing additional materials.
REFERENCE BOOKS are for in-library use primarily, but can be checked out for a period or overnight. A copy machine is available for student use at a cost of 10 cents per page. Some older encyclopedias may be borrowed for the regular two-week loan period.
PERIODICALS: Current issues of magazines are on display in the magazine rack and may be borrowed for one period only. Older issues of magazines may be borrowed for a one-week period and are subject to the same overdue fines as books.
PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO RETURN LIBRARY MATERIALS ON TIME! OTHER STUDENTS MAY BE LOOKING FOR THEM, TOO! IF YOU NEED TO RENEW MATERIALS, BE SURE TO DO SO TO AVOID A FINE NOTICE.
LOST OR DAMAGED MATERIALS
Lost materials or those damaged beyond reasonable wear must be paid for at the replacement price. In the place of replacement costs, students may replace a lost paperback with another paperback title of the same quality. This "trade" must be approved by Ms. Lonaker. Lost or damaged magazines are $2.50.
MEDIA CENTER ACCESS
Students should be familiar with the rules regarding media center use as stated in the student handbook. All students must have a pass to come to the media center. Students wishing to come to the media center during their lunch period must obtain a pass from Ms. Lonaker on the morning of their anticipated visit. Lunchroom supervisors do not issue media center passes.
PARENTS AS WELL AS STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CHECK OUT BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY.
MEDIA CENTER COMPUTERS
The media center has fifteen computers for student use. One computer is the library catalog only. Students who have had Internet access forms signed by parents/guardians are permitted to use computers, providing they abide by the rules of appropriate use. The media center has the following web-based research databases:
Discovering Authors
Discovering Science
Discovering U.S. History
Exploring Poetry
Grolier Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia Americana
SIRS Discoverer
Student Resource Center Gold (an all-purpose research database, including periodicals and other resources)
The media center has the following server-based databases:
Discovering World History
Discovering Nations, States and Cultures
Exploring Shakespeare
Exploring Short Stories
Career Information System (career and college database)
Computer games are not permitted in the media center. Students may not access chat rooms. Printing is permitted for class assignments. Personal printing not related to class assignments is not allowed without the permission of Ms. Lonaker. There is a charge of 5 cents for black and white and 10 cents for color print-outs if they are not related to class assignments.
GENERAL LOCATION OF MATERIALS
Our library is arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System of Classification for non-fiction books. If you are unfamiliar with the system, ask for assistance. As one faces the windows in the media center, fiction, story collection and biographies are to the left, non-fiction to the right. Encyclopedias and reference books are along the right wall. Career/college books and research aids are behind the circulation desk.
LIBRARY BEHAVIOR
Students using the library are expected to be engaged in individual study, homework, research, or recreational reading. It is not a place for socializing. Groups of four may ask for permission to use the library conference room if it is available. Students who fail to follow school rules and media center procedures will lose library privileges, or visit the principal’s office. FOOD AND DRINK OF ANY KIND ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE LIBRARY WITHOUT SPECIAL PERMISSION.
RESEARCH HELPThe following websites are great reference tools:
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
http://www.eb.com:180/ -- and for more, http://www.britannica.com
Morton Grove Webrary
http://www.webrary.org/mgplhome.html
Ask-an-Expert
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/links/ask-an-expert.html
Spider’s Apprentice: Tips on how to search the Internet
http://www.monash.com/spidap.html
Library of Congress
Writing Process: A step-by-step approach to writing research papers
http://www.ipl.org/teen/aplus/stepfirst.htm
BE SURE TO USE THE H/CCA HOMEPAGE FOR DATABASES FREE TO OHIO SCHOOLS.
What is the real issue(s)?
What general topic areas can you search?
What is your best organizational style? Making a list of useful websites by pasting the URLs into a word processing document? Using note cards? How much time do you have to search?
I want an overview of my topic.
I have an idea for a broad topic.
I need to narrow my topic.
Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com organizes information as "subject trees" from general to specific topics.
I want a small number of relevant hits and an idea of what's in each document before I go to each page.
Excite http://www.excite.com hits have excellent summaries. When you find a relevant hit, you can submit a "more documents like this one" to locate similar pages.
What's available on the Internet for my topic?
MetaCrawler http://www.go2net.com/search.html searches and combines major engines
Inference Find http://www.infind.com parallels searches, merges the results, removes repetition, and clusters the results.
Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com and Profusion http://www.profusion.com also combine search engines.
Google http://www.google.com sorts hits based on their popularity.
I want quality, evaluated sites that have reviews and ratings because I have limited time.
Lycos' homepage has a TOP 5% Websites which reviews and rates the "Top 5%"
Webcrawler http://www.webcrawler.com is smaller database with relevancy ranking.
I need to do a pinpoint search because my terms are narrow.
Alta Vista http://www.altavista.com is a massive and fast indexer of full text, good for specific searches
Is there an encyclopedia of information on the Internet?
Information Please http://www.infoplease.com searches Information Please Almanac, the Columbia Encyclopedia, and the Random House College Dictionary.
I have common keywords that probably appear in many documents and should make my search specific.
HotBot http://www.hotbot.com fast, powerful, with ranked results and many options for defining a search.
I know the date of an event and am looking for more information.
HotBot Super Search (HotBot homepage -- More search options) limits by date.
I need programming language (e.g. JavaScript, ShockWave) web pages or information.
HotBot Super Search limits by programming language.
I need scientific information to back up the research for my science fair project.
Alta Vista is rated best for finding scientific information on the Internet in research study.
I need mathematics or statistics information.
Math Search http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au:8000/MathSearch.html locates material concerned with research-level and university mathematics.
I can describe my topic in a sentence (natural language).
Infoseek andAsk Jeeves! http://www.askjeeves.com allow natural language searches.
I need information on a proper name (a place, person, or object).
Alta Vista and Infoseek use capital letters to force an exact case math on the entire work.
HotBot person search will retrieve the name in both reversed and normal order (e.g. Picasso, Pablo and Pablo Picasso).
I want web pages from a geographic region.
MetaCrawler can search by continent.
I want web pages from an Internet domain (e.g. schools).
HotBot SuperSearch can search by Internet domain (e.g. .edu, .com)
I want to search for images and sounds (photos, art, designs, logos, videos, music, noises), media types (Java, VRML), or file extensions (.gif).
Yahoo! Computer and Internet:Multimedia: Pictures
AltaVista Images
I need the best weather information.
Intellicast http://www.intellicast.com
I need technology information.
WhatIs is a free, online encyclopedia for technology terms http://www.whatis.com
CNET and ZDNET offer reviews of computer hardware, a free search engine for best prices, downloadable programs, etc. http://www.cnet.com and http://www.zdnet.com
I need current events articles.
Today's Papers http://www.slate.com/code/todayspapers/todayspapers.asp
Yahoo Full Coverage http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com
I need a quotation.
The Quotations Page http://starlingtech.com/quotes
Land of Quotes http://quoteland.com
I want to browse.
Yahoo has subject tree directories with short descriptions of sites.
I want to see sites just for kids...
Yahooligans! http://www.yahooligans.com and Ask Jeeves for Kids http://ajkids.com
...and families.
Ditto http://www.ditto.com will not link to offensive imagery.
Microsoft Safe Kids http://www.microsoft.com/safekids offers free PowerPoint presentations that teach your children how to protect themselves online.
Get Net Wise http://www.getnetwise.org is the center for online child safety.
Is the website informational, personal, advocacy (published to influence public opinion), news, business and marketing, or educational?
Is information on the website factual or opinionated or commercial? Domain names can help decide:
.com = commerce .edu = education
.gov = government .org = organization
.mil = military .net = network
.us = United States (.uk = United Kingdom, .jp = Japan, etc.)
Is the website GOOD or does it just LOOK good?
Are the real issues treated?
What sources are more or less important?
What sources are credible (believable; authorities on the subject)?
Which sources say the same thing? How many are saying it?
Are you aware of ethical issues? PLAGIARISM IS UNETHICAL. Do not use someone else's words without permission or without crediting the source. It is easy to copy and paste into a word processing document, but use quotation marks and give credit to the source.
INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS
Gateway to Educational Materials http://www.thegateway.org is a search engine for high-quality lesson plans, curriculum units, and other education resources on the Internet -- the Dogpile of lesson plans.