rev. Oct. 4,
2010
The MPI
Library's Online Subscription Databases for Elementary School
These include three databases within EBSCOhost, two versions of World
Book Encyclopedia, and two versions of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Note: A print version of this
page, with IDs and passwords included, is available from the school.
NOTE: This subscription service is
password-protected. Please ask one of
the MPI librarians for the MPI User ID and password. The subscription is paid for by the MPI
Library and is intended for use by MPI students and faculty and their
families. We ask that you not share the
user ID and password with others.
1) DATABASE FOR
RESEARCH: Kids Search. This database primarily includes magazine articles (from
more than 70 popular magazines), but it also includes some other types
of sources, like reference book chapters. (The actual database name is Primary Search, but they call it Kids Search.)
Search tips: You can
search for articles either by typing keywords in the Search box on the
home page, or by selecting a topic using the Search by Topic
buttons.
If you Search by Topic, you'll come to a screen where you can type your search term and also focus your search by using the checkboxes. If you want to keep your search broad, you can just check off one of the topics and leave the search box completely empty.
There is also an Image Search option at the top, if you are looking for pictures, and a Dictionary option too.
When you see the list of articles found through your search:
-- When the results of your search show up, notice that you can select particular article types through the links at the top (Magazines, Books & Encyclopedias, Photos, etc.).
-- You can also click on one of the subject headings in the Narrow Results by Subject column on the left to narrow your list by focusing in on one of the subjects listed.
-- Note that the results are sorted by Relevance by default, but you can switch to a Date Descending sort if you want to put the most recent articles at the top.
-- Click on the title of
any article to go into it. The full text
of the articles may be in either HTML or PDF format, and sometimes in both
formats. Articles can be formatted for printing,
or emailed to any email address, or saved to disk. You'll find links for these options at the
top of each article.
When you're in an article and want to return to the list to browse more, click
on the Result List link at the
top-right. It will put the last article
you looked at at the top of the page.
Folder: You can use the Folder feature to collect articles that look good as you are browsing. As you find articles you like, add them to your Folder by clicking on the Add to Folder link at the upper-right of each article (or the Add link on the right side of the result list). After you’ve added everything, you can go into the Folder (at the very top) and see the articles you've saved.
2) DATABASE
FOR RESEARCH: Elementary-level nonfiction eBooks. This collection includes a wide
spectrum of non-fiction articles. Each
article found is actually a book chapter.
When you see the list
of articles found through your search, you can use the Limiters in the column on the left to refine your search:
-- Use the Publication Date slider to limit the date range of the articles.
-- Click on Subjects and then on Show More, and check off any appropriate subjects to narrow the list to only articles that have one of those subject headings.
Folder: As in the Kids Search database, you can use the Folder to gather articles as you are browsing (see notes above).
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FICTION GUIDE:
The NoveList (K-8) database in EBSCOhost is a guide to choosing fiction
books.
Either
do a search at the top (using the radio buttons and the "Limit
To" checkboxes by the search box) or else use the browse options in
the left column (using the radio buttons at the top to select the appropriate
age level) to browse by genre/theme.
When you get into a description for a specific book, scroll down a little to find a link (“Check HSPLS Catalog”) to see if that book is available at a public library near you. (Note: There is also a link to the MPI Library Catalog, but only students in grades 5 and up can use the MPI Library, which is primarily a middle/high school library.) Also, at the bottom you'll find book reviews, plus tabs with more information about the book.
World Book Student – for upper elementary or middle school students
NOTE: This subscription service is password-protected. Please ask one of the MPI librarians for the MPI User ID and password. The subscription is paid for by the MPI Library and is intended for use by MPI students and faculty and their families. We ask that you not share the User ID and Password with others.
World Book Student includes all articles from the 22-volume World Book Encyclopedia print set plus thousands of additional articles, reports, pictures, maps, and media. The site is updated frequently.
Just enter your search term in the box at the top. Or, to browse by subject, click on the link to the right of the search box labeled “Other Ways to Find It: By subject.” After you choose a broad subject category, use the links in the green boxes on the left side of each screen to move down to more specific topics.
Article view options: If an article is long, it is broken into sections. You can view just one section at a time, if you prefer, by clicking on the link in the Tools box at the top that says View article by section. The sections will be listed in the yellow column on the left, and from there you can jump to any section.
Document delivery: Articles can be printed, emailed to any email address, or saved to disk. You'll find these options in the Tools box at the top of each article. Before printing articles, be sure to click on the Print link in the Tools box to put the article in simple format for printing. If the article is broken into sections, you can view or print either just one section, or the whole article.
Related Information: Once you're in an article, be sure to look at the Related Information box in the upper-right, which lists excellent extended resources (related World Book articles, magazine articles, Web pages, & Special Reports.)
Dictionary definitions: If you double-click on any word in an article, it will take you to a dictionary definition of that term.
World
Book Kids – simpler version for lower elementary students (K to 4th
grade)
NOTE: This subscription service is password-protected. Please ask one of the MPI librarians for the MPI User ID and password. The subscription is paid for by the MPI Library and is intended for use by MPI students and faculty and their families. We ask that you not share the User ID and Password with others.
You can either enter a search term in the box at the top, or you can browse using the categories under the search box.
If you click on a category to browse, you can keep clicking on the narrower categories on the next screens (on the left side, in the Dig deeper! column) until you get down to an article you want.
Longer version of each article: At the bottom of each article is a link to the longer article on the same topic from World Book Student, which is the version of World Book intended for older students.
Document delivery: Articles can be printed, emailed to any email address, or saved to disk. You'll find these options at the top of each article. Before printing articles, be sure to click on the Print link to put the article in simple format for printing
Britannica
Online School Edition
NOTE: This subscription service is password-protected. Please ask one of the MPI librarians for the MPI User ID and password. The subscription is paid for by the MPI Library and is intended for use by MPI students and faculty and their families. We ask that you not share the User ID and Password with others.
Britannica Elementary – for students up to gr. 5
Within each article, the Table of Contents is in the column on
the left. The More Information box in the upper-right lists extended resources (e.g, related magazine articles & Web pages).
Printing: If you want to print out only some sections of a long article, click on Print Article and from the printer-friendly version, go to Print Preview to figure out which pages you need, and then just select those pages to print when you open the Print dialog box (always print out the first page and last page as well, to get the article title from the start and the citation from the end).
Workspace: If you create a Workspace account, you can gather articles, images, etc., and you can organize all your saved items into different Projects. To create a Workspace account, click on the Workspace tab at the top and fill out the Create New Workspace screen. To log in to your Workspace, click on Workspace at the top, and then select the Open My Workspace tab, and log in.
Britannica Learning Zone – for pre-K to gr. 2 (uses graphics and sound;
for children too young to read)
[Note: To access Britannica Learning Zone, you can either click on the hyperlinked title above to access it directly, or you can access it from the box in the middle of the home page of the Britannica Elementary database.]
No directions needed! Just jump in and play with it!
--notes by M. Kemble, Mid-Pacific
Institute Library
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to MPI Library Resources page