Reference logs: handbooks & directories

Some databases that apply to educators:

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, AccessScience , ERIC, Films on Demand.

Remember that GALILEO has different communities, with different levels of

database access. Look at the bottom of the GALILEO screen. Notice particularlly the
high school, middle school, and elementary sections. You will see different
interfaces, and within these suggested databases for these grade levels. There aren't
that many reference sources for elementary and middle school students, compared to
high school and adults. If you do elementary or middle school now, you may want to
review one of these:
Searchasaurus
Kids Search
Middle Search Plus
Note that these are drawing from a subset of the same EBSCO databases as things like
Academic Search Complete, but with a different interface.

A few good options in this category from the Internet are these:
American Memory (Library of Congress), Google News, Google Scholar

U.S. federal government information sources abound. A good starting point is the
U.S. government's information portal:
http://www.usa.gov
Look under "Explore topics."

Or you can go directly to an agency's website if you know what you want to
investigate (e.g., http://www.census.gov)
OPC

Handbooks
 Occupational Outlook Handbook http://www.bls.gov/ooh/
 One of the Oxford Companion titles
Directories
 K-12 public school directory from your state's Department of Education
 GAcollege411 http://www.gafutures.org

1. The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a free, online resource that delivers

information of many different categories of jobs and careers. The user has the
choice to search directly through the handbook, search for job by certain
parameters (pay, entry level, number of new jobs, growth rate, on the job
training,) or the user can search through groups such as arts and design, legal,
military, healthcare, or education, training and library. All three are these are easy
to use and access. Once a job or career is selected or searched, information will be
displayed on a summary page. This includes the role of the job, entry level
education level, on the job training, number of jobs and job outlook, employment
change, and median salary level. Next to each of these are question marks that
further explain what this means. There are other tabs that go more in depth on
how to obtain this job and what someone would do with this job, work
environment, pay, job outlook, state and area data related to this job, similar
occupations, and more information that includes links for other helpful, related
websites. An example of this could include an elementary school teacher. The
user would select education, training, and library, then choose Kindergarten and
elementary school teachers. This would show the user that a bachelor degree is
required for entry level, the median pay is $54,550, the job outlook is as fast as
average, and important qualities a future teacher would need. Another example
would be an accountant. The user would select business and finance, then select
accountants and auditors. This would show that a bachelor’s degree is required for
entry level, the median pay is $6, 190, the growth rate is faster than average, and
what type of licenses they would need. This would be a very useful reference tool
for many different grade levels. Many fifth grade students study a future career
that would enjoy. They research what they would do at their job and how they
need to get there. This is a preview into college and career readiness. This
resource would be easy for teachers to model for their students, and then have the
students use this on their own. Middle schoolers and high schools preparing for
college and future careers would find this a very valuable resource as well. High
schoolers preparing for college would probably find this most useful. In their
search for their future careers, this tool could show them what majors they should
look for when they are applying to school, and what they should expect for their
schooling- will they need bachelors only, a masters, a doctoral, etc. This also
allows students to compare future careers if they have more than one idea of what
they would like to do. Preparing for the future can be a very daunting task,
especially at a young age. This resource is easy to use, contains a great amount of
information, and is relevant to student and teacher learning needs.
 Recommended grade level: 5-12. Recommended subject area(s): College and
Career Readiness (ALL). Overall rating: 9/10

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook

Handbook, 2016-17 Edition. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/
2. Amazing Feats of Civil Engineering (handbook)

This handbook is accessible through Galileo Kids and Galileo Discover. It is

classified as Juvenile Non-fiction. This book describes what it means to be a civil
engineer, civil engineering works throughout time, famous civil engineers, and
how to become a civil engineer today. This handbook would be a great resource
for upper elementary and middle school students wanting to know more about
civil engineering. The book is engaging and interesting, contains beautiful and
relevant engineering pictures, and contains a great amount of information
describing civil engineering. The text is written in a friendly and easy to
understand way. There is an index and glossary at the end that makes this
handbook easy to navigate if the user is searching for something specific. Being a
Galileo reference ebook makes this easy to navigate through a clickable table on
contents on the left-hand side, ability to search within the text, the ability to take
notes, and the ability to cite. This would be most applicable for students reading
for enjoyment, searching for future career ideas, and for students studying science
and engineering. This book is designed specifically for civil engineering which
limits itself against other areas of engineering, but is beneficial in its ability to
specialize and capitalize on this one area. A great benefit to this book is it
describes sample engineering activities that could be used by the teacher to plan a
lesson for a class, or by a student wanting to practice engineering on their own.
This is a great handbook reference resource for students interested in science and
engineering.

Recommended grade level: 3-8. Recommended subject area(s): Science. Overall

rating: 8/10

Carmichael, L. E. (2015). Amazing feats of civil engineering. Minneapolis,

Minnesota. ABDO Publishing.
 3. GAcollege411 http://www.gafutures.org

GAcollege 411 is an online directory meant to help high school student prepare for
college. This website contains many free websites, as well as the ability to personalize
searches, assessment results, and college searches through a free sign up option. This
directory has many resources that are easy to search, read, and understand. This is
meant for high school students, so it is meant to be easy to navigate and use so they
can better research and prepare for college. The home page shows users a slideshow
with links on how to find and fill out FASFA, how to search for colleges, how to
apply for Hope, and more. It also lists real financial aid success stories towards the
bottom of the page, as well as links to twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites.
Users have the choice of searching through a search bar at the top right of the page, or
users can search through the tabs at the top of the page. These tabs include: Hope and
State aid programs, Federal Aid and Scholarship, College Planning, Career
Exploration, Resources, About Us, and MyGAfutures. This is very helpful for high
school students trying to figure out how to apply for financial aid for the first time and
looking for their future schools. The Hope and State aid programs explains how to
apply for Hope, Zell Miller, grants, loans, scholarships, and award recipients’ success
stories. The Financial Aid and Scholarship tab explains what FASFA is in writing and
with a video, how to apply, how often to apply, and why it’s needed. This is a great
resource for students because this necessary step can often be overlooked when
students first start college. This resource presents this information in a friendly way
while still stressing the importance of this step. One of the last tabs in this section is
financial literacy. This explains how to manage and budget money, understanding
credit scores, and how to minimize or prevent student debt. Thin again is a difficult
concept for students that have never had to manage money. This resource does a great
job of explaining this in an informative and friendly way. Under college planning,
students can search for colleges they would like to attend, and begin applications.
Under the Career Exploration tab, students can take a quiz that maps out their talents
and identifies which careers would be best for them. They can then use this to search
these careers. This section also explains the benefits of trade schools and military
careers as well. This is beneficial for students who think traditional 4-year college
may not be the best option for them. This directory is great about giving students
many choice, options, and resources in planning their futures.

Recommended grade level: 9-12. Recommended subject area(s): College and

Career Readiness, All. Overall rating: 9/10

GAfutures. (2016). Gafutures.org. Retrieved from: https://www.gafutures.org/

 4. GADOE.org- K-12 public school directory from your Georgia’s Department of
Education
The Georgia Department of Education website is a very large, free directory all about Georgia
school systems. Users can search directly through a search bar at the top right of the page, or can
look through the tabs to find relevant information. These tabs include: offices and divisions,
programs and initiatives, data and reporting, learning and curriculum, state board and policy,
finance and operations, and contact information. Most of these tabs contain information designed
for parents, teachers, and all other school system staff. Some information is specifically for
middle and high school students use. The learning and curriculum tab is most relevant for middle
and high school students. Under sub tabs in this category are free digital resources. These
resources allow students to see what some of their classes will look like in middle and high
school. An example is into to calculus. When this class is selected under math, students and
parents can see what the expectations from this class will be, what they will be learning, what
tools and materials they will need, essential questions to think about, and how to apply this class
to the real world. This is helpful for students trying to decide what subjects to take or students
curious about their expectations for upcoming classes. This is relatively easy to find once the
learning and curriculum tab is selected and free digital resources is selected. Many students
would need modeling on how to search for their future classes. The information is in an
organized and easy to read format with clear headers. Once they have selected a class, they can
easily read through the information and see the expectations. This directory would be best used
by middle and high school students and their parents in reviewing and planning for future
classes.
Recommended grade level: 6-12. Recommended subject area(s): All. Overall rating: 7/10
GaDoe. (2016). Georgia virtual learning. Georgia Department of Education. Retrieved from:
http://gavirtuallearning.org/Resources/SharedLandingPage.aspx

5. The Oxford Companion to the Earth (handbook)

The Oxford Companion to the Earth is accessible through Galileo and Oxford Reference Online.
Oxford Reference Online contains many useful resources that cover a wide variety of subjects
and topics. The Oxford Companion to the Earth is one example. This is a free, unlocked resource
The abstract explains that this book covers Earth Science, geology, minerology, oceanography,
climatology, and much more. From this, a reader can determine if this information would best fit
their educational needs. Under the abstract, a tab called entries labels different topics of the book
in alphabetical order. This index is very helpful in guiding the reader to what they are searching
for. If the reader already has a topic in mind, such as active faults, they can click on the ‘a’ and
search for this term. If the reader is unsure, he or she can click through the letters to better
understand the topics that will be in this resource. If a topic such as active fault is selected, it will
take the reader to information and a description. This resource would be helpful for students in
middle and high school studying Earth Science. The index makes this source very easy to
navigate, search, and find relevant information.

Recommended grade level: 6-12. Recommended subject area(s): Earth Science. Overall rating:
8/10
Hancock, P, Skinner, B.(2000). The oxford companion to the earth. Oxford University Press.
Retrieved from:
http://articles.westga.edu:2501/view/10.1093/acref/9780198540397.001.0001/acref-
9780198540397

Reference logs: indexes & abstracts

Indexes and abstracts

 Academic Search Complete (GALILEO)

 MAS Ultra (GALILEO) OR SIRS Discover (GALILEO)
 One of the EXPLORA titles (GALILEO)
 One of the ProQuest Newspaper titles (GALILEO)

1. Academic Search Complete

Academic Search Complete is an index accessible through Galileo. Once here,
EBSCO is used to search through the Academic Search Complete database. Users can
search for up to three terms at a time as well as specifying the term as author, title,
people, IBSN, and more. The user can search for full text and scholarly review to
ensure to most reliable sources. This resource contains an endless amount of
information to be search and viewed. One example could be a high school student
searching “calculus in the real world.” This student may be writing a paper on the use
of math in real world settings, may be interested in pursuing calculus in college, or
may be searching out of interest and enjoyment. Five academic journals appear within
this index. One article that appears is titled “Modeling Basketball Free Throws.” This
article explains information on how Calculus is used in basketball. Another example
could be searching for information about Tomochichi. Once this is searched five
academic journals appear with information pertaining to Tomochichi and his life. This
information could be used to present a project or paper on one of Georgia’s historical
heroes. This resource would be most useful for high school students. Students would
most likely need to see a model of use before they could use it on their own. Once
shown, this would be an easily navigable resource for students to use across all
subject areas. This is a great tool in teaching students how to search for reliable
sources and how to cite information, rather than google-ing all of their information.

Recommended grade level: 9-12. Recommended subject area(s): All. Overall rating: 7/10
Gablonsky, J. M., & Lang, A. D. (2006). Modeling basketball free throws. SIAM
Review, 48(1), 775-798. doi:10.1137/S0036144598339555

2.SIRS Discover

SIRS Discover is an index reference tool accessible through Galileo kids. The
homepage is very welcoming, organized, and inviting. Users have the choice to search
from the giant search bar across the top of the page, or browse by subject. These
subjects include: art, people, health, science, math, history, social studies, language
arts, sports, and technology. Once one of these are selected, users can search by
relevance, Lexile high to low, Lexile low to high, and date. This is a great feature
because it makes this source very usable for younger users, as well as older ones.
Users can also search by reference type such as: newspaper, reference, magazine,
image, and website. On many articles, the grade level recommendation and Lexile
level is listed. This is helpful because it shows teachers and students if this resource is
at a level they will be able to comprehend, or if they need to find a resource at a
higher or lower level to better fit their needs. In comparison of student use, it seems
easier to search on SIRS rather than on Academic Search Complete. The resources
that appear from searching seem more directly applicable and understandable for
students in grades 1-12 as well. This is a great resource to introduce to students at a
young age, so they will be ready to use other resources such as Academic Search
Complete correctly. An example of a search could be state facts. This is accessible
through the homepage. Users will click their section of the United States and then
their state. This then takes them to page that shows facts about Georgia, a timeline,
name history, famous people, historical sites, symbols, climate, motto, and more. This
is a great resource because most grades reflect on Georgia history in some way. This
is a great introduction or review of Georgia. A student in third grade may use this
resource to create a report on another state. This is not an extensive and exhausted
source for all of Georgia history and facts, but it is a very good general overview.
Another great find is animal facts. Second grade students conduct reports on the life
cycles of animals. SIRS would be a great tool for students to use in searching for a
specific animal and its life cycle. A student in middle school may use this resource to
create a biography about Marie Curie. This resource would be a great use for any
subject area, a great tool for a student or teacher, and a great tool to read and learn for
enjoyment. Most of these resources are up to date and contain information of what is
going on in the news today. Because of this, teachers may want to preview some
information before having younger (1-5) students begin searching. Overall this is an
excellent research tool that covers a vast amount of information.

Recommended grade level: 1-12. Recommended subject area(s): All. Overall rating: 9/10
American bullfrog (2015). SIRS discoverer: animal facts. Retrieved
from http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com

Georgia (2016). SIRS discoverer: state fact. Retrieved from:

http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com

3. Explora- Abstracts

Explora is a reference tool accessible through Galileo kids. This version of Expora is
specifically designed for elementary school learners. One the home page, users have
the choice to search through the large search bar at the top, or to search through
categories. These categories are animals, art and music, biographies, geography,
language arts, math, science and health, and social studies. A slideshow of interesting
topics is show at the top under the main search bar. One of these shows the
Spinosaurus dinosaurs. If this is clicked, the user is taken to a page that displays many
articles and books about Spinosaurus. Once a resource is selected, the reader can
access the abstract of a book through detailed record. The benefit of an abstract is that
it gives a quick overview of the resource so the reader can see if it is interesting to
them and if it fits their learning needs. The abstract for the Spinosaurus books
explains that this is one chapter from a larger book and only describes the
Spinosaurus. The abstract goes on to explain a little more about the dinosaur. If I was
looking for quick information about the appearance of the Spinosaurus, this resource
would be helpful for me. If I was looking for more details such as what the dinosaur
ate, where it lived, what time period did it live in, or was it a carnivore or herbivore, I
would need to find a more detailed resources. This abstract saves time in research
because it helps a user determine if this resource would contribute to his or her
learning efforts, or if they need to continue their search. Another example would be if
I was searching for information about alternative energy. I could search this into the
search bar or access it through science and health. Once here, I can click through
many articles and abstracts to find a resource that fits my needs. One resource’s
abstract explains that it is a speech given about sustainable energy, social
responsibility, and U.S law on energy policy. It also shows that the Lexile level is
1230. This shows that this is much higher than most elementary school students
Lexile levels. A higher reader would be able to comprehend this, but an average or
lower would now. This resource would fit better for students in middle school. These
abstracts are easy to find on each resource and contain enough information to help the
reader make a decision on whether or not they will use this source. Even though this
source is designed for elementary learners, some of this sources would better fit for
middle school learners. These would be great tools for teachers, however, to show to
read primary documents and articles with higher Lexile’s. This would be a great tool
for teachers to show students how to locate and use abstracts to enhance their
learning.

Recommended grade level: 1-8. Recommended subject area(s): All. Overall rating: 8/10

Spinosaurus. (2009). Giant-o-saurs (p. 20). Bearport Publishing.

TIPPEE, B. (2011). Energy: What's Sustainable?. Vital Speeches Of The Day, 77(5),
171-174.

4. ProQuest:Robinson's Legacy to Be Celebrated Tonight

ProQuest is accessible through Galileo. This newspaper in review was accessed

through Galileo Teen. Users can search for up to three terms, select full text, and peer
reviewed, and select what type of source type, document type, and language. In this
case I selected newspaper and searched Jackie Robinson. When this was searched,
over two thousand results appeared. One was titled Robinson's Legacy to Be
Celebrated Tonight. Once an article is selected, I could choose to view the full text or
abstract with details. On both of these, the abstract was at the top. The abstract
showed experts of quotes and text from the full text newspaper article. This article
reflects on Jackie Robinson’s wife and her view of society’s racial progression and its
tie with her husband’s legacy. This abstract gives enough information to show that
this article will not really cover Jackie Robinsons’ history as a baseball player, but
rather his contribution to equal rights and racial progression. If a student was looking
to research this time period in history and the civil rights movement, this would be an
applicable document. If a student was looking for the history of baseball, this would
not be the best or strongest article. This abstract very clearly shows what this article
will be able so the reader can make an informed decision on if they will be able to use
this or not. ProQuest has a very easy to use layout and makes it very clear to access
abstracts or articles. The information fits better for middle and high school students,
but could be used by a teacher in upper elementary as a resource.

Recommended grade level: 6-12. Recommended subject area(s): All. Overall rating: 8/10

Bade, R. (2010, Jun 29). Robinson's legacy to be celebrated tonight. Roll Call
Retrieved from
http://articles.westga.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/523045824?a
ccountid=15017
Baseball great's history on display. (2001, Nov 19). Roll Call Retrieved from
http://articles.westga.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/326694359?a
ccountid=15017

5. USA.gov (Index)

USA.gov shares information related to the government and government services. This
is a free website accessible for everyone. Users can search for information through a
search bar at the top, clicking through tabs at the top, or searching through the index at
the bottom of the page. The tabs at the top include tabs such as: government agencies
and elected officials, jobs and unemployment, and voting and elections. The index is
listed in alphabetical order and contains the same information as what can be found
through the tabs. This makes this index easy to navigate if the user knows what they
are looking for. This resource would be most useful for middle school and high school
students studying government and U.S. history. If a user was searching on how to
vote, they could select ‘V’ from the index. This gives the user many options
including: voter ID requirements, voter registration age requirements, voter
registration deadlines, voting election and history, voting and elections, and more.
This helps the user narrow down their search. If the user selects voting and election
laws, they can read about the history of voting, federal voting laws, voter accessibility
laws, voter fraud, and more. This information would be beneficial for students
researching voting rights or students getting ready to register to vote.

Recommended grade level: 6-12. Recommended subject area(s): Social Studies. Overall rating:
7/10

USA.gov. (n.d.) How to register to vote. Retrieved from: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote