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Tutorial
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Databases
DISCUS is South Carolina's Virtual Library, providing all South Carolinians with equitable access to an electronic library of essential information sources. DISCUS is administered by the South Carolina State Library in cooperation with school, college and public libraries. DISCUS is funded by the South Carolina General Assembly with supplemental funding by the federal Library Services and Technology Act. DISCUS includes Gale Group, Grolier and SIRS database produucts on a variety of subject areas and age levels.
NewsBank is a service of the Beaufort County Public Library System (and not a part of the DISCUS databases), with full-text articles on a wide range of topics from over 500 U.S. regional and national newspapers and media sources.The maps feature allows users to print out maps (political and physical) of the nations of the world and the 50 United States
Instructions for free access to both DISCUS and NewsBank are available to registered borrowers of the Beaufort County Public Library System at all five library locations. Public school media centers and college libraries also provide DISCUS remote access to the clients.
Click on the logo below for the complete selection of online databses available free of charge to our registered library borrowers:
Select a tutorial:
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DISCUS
Databases
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NOTE:
The South Carolina State Library provides additional
DISCUS training and instructional tools
at http://www.scdiscus.org/
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Gale
Group
Online Databases |
SIRS
Online Databases |
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• Searching "Name contains" gives
the biggest number of hits (over 40 for "Hemingway"),
but the results often overwhelm students if full name ("Ernest
Hemingway") is not entered.
•Searching "Start of last name" -
Useful when students or unsure of spellings or name variants.
•"Biographical
Facts Search" - Perfect for assignments with no
specific name, but which identify people by nationality,
ethnicity, gender, or occupation (use the "View Occupation
List" link for full list of terms). For example, entering
Occupation = inventor and Ethnicity = "African American"
finds 34 hits.
Please note: Not all
biographical entries include a portrait (Look for camera
icon to the right of links with portraits).
Other Useful Features of Biography Resource Center:
•Articles
with InfoMarks  may
be bookmarked like ordinary Web pages for quick retrieval
(Browser must accept cookies). |
•Mark List creates a tailored list of results, chosen by the user as a time saver. You can bookmark your Mark List (because they have InfoMarks) for easy retrieval. | |
| •Help and Search Tips: Refer to these assistance files during searches to improve searching effectiveness. | •"Print" provides a "clean" page format that saves paper. | |
·• E-mail: Send full text, but no graphics. |
·•Advanced Search finds a person mentioned in another subject's biographical entry, and allows keyword searches of the entire database. | |
| • Research Guide guides students step by step through the process of biographical research. | •Dictionary provides quick definitions to unfamiliar words in articles. | |
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·•
Spotlight On… changes periodically. Archives
date back to 1999.
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•
Includes signed essays (15-20 pages in length) on
more than 1,600 authors and literary genres drawn from 13
Scribner print series. Sources are fully cited.
• Search alphabetically by author on the opening page
(the "Authors A-Z" link) to view a biography
of an author's life and works.
• The "In-Depth Search" option allows
advanced searches by name of writer, genre, language, time
period, nationality, and full-text search (to find keywords
in the entire database).
•Click on the "Research Ideas" link
for listings of literary prize winners, groups of authors
by major literary period, "The Bible as Literature,"
and a "Recommended Reading" resource page.
• The "Help" page gives proper citation
format for school reports, plus assistance in viewing formats
and navigating the documents and results lists.
•Author Search by "Name contains/Start of last
name" - Search here as with Biography Resource
Center.Please note:
A hyperlink in each author entry connects to a short biography
from Contemporary Authors.
•Title Search -- Search by "Exact Title"
for specific, known titles. Otherwise, search by "Titles
containing this word or phrase." Please
note:The "Recommended Similar Titles"
linked from each entry provide advise students of additional
reading selections.
•Custom Search combines several elements to
tailor your search: Author, Title, Genre/Story Type,
Subject, Location, Time Period, Character Descriptor, Character
Name and Full Text.
Other
Useful Features of What
Do I Read Next?:
| •"Add
to Keeper List" creates a list of results,
chosen by the user. |
•Award Winners has SC Children's, Junior, and YA Book Award winners. |
Health and Wellness Resource Center
•Simple
Search allows limiting by date range and full
text/refereed articles.
•Advanced Search treats terms as keyword,
article title/headline, subject, journal name, full text,
author, or abstract. Other options limit date
and type of article (full text, refereed, or consumer health).
•"Quick Start" selections include
a medical encyclopedia and dictionary, a drug finder, "Health
Assessment Tools," a health organization directory,
"Health News," and links to other health sites.
Materials Tabs
At the top of each page of search results, you will see five tabs that allow you to choose the most appropriate type of material:
•Reference:
Entries from encyclopedias and other health/medical
reference texts.
·•Magazines and Journals: Selected periodical
article on your topic.
•Pharmacy: Information on relevant medications,
from pharmacy sources.
• Pamphlets: Concise information, for quick
reference and basic facts.
•Resources tab identifies relevant sources,
describes content, and gives bibliographic information.
Other Useful Features of Heath and Wellness Resource Center:
| •Direct links to "Related Resources" in left margin of search results pages. | •Camera icon at the end of a result citation indicates illustrations. |
The
InfoTrac databases are a set of Gale Group products that
provide periodical and reference-source information. They
have several search and interface features in common (see
Search
options). Here are brief
descriptions of each InfoTrac database:
•General Reference Center integrates a variety
of sources on topics of general interest, from magazines,
reference books, and newspapers, many with full-text and
images. Find the latest current events, popular culture,
the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more.
• Custom Newspapers, a wide selection of U.
S. and international newspapers allows searches by date,
journal title, or by feature sections (arts and entertainment,
business, general or regional news, lifestyle, opinion/editorial,
and sports).
• Kids
InfoBits meets
the research needs of students in Kindergarten through Grade
5. It features a developmentally-appropriate, visually graphic
interface, as well as a subject-based topic tree search.
Resources include full-text, age-appropriate, curriculum-related
magazine, newspaper and reference content for information
on current events, the arts, science, health, people, government,
history, sports and much more!
• Junior
Edition provides middle school students with magazines,
newspapers and reference books (most are full-text) for
information on current events, the arts, science, popular
culture, health, people, government, history, sports and
other popular topics.
• Student Edition meets high school students' needs
for magazines, newspapers and reference book sources on
topics like current events, the arts, science, popular culture,
health, people, government, history, and sports.
• Expanded Academic ASAP - For research in the
arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and
technology. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and
newspapers across all academic disciplines (including education).
Please note: This database
is useful in locating full-text professional literature
(ideal for continuing education and recertification courses
for educators!)
•
General Business File ASAP -- Analyze company performance
and activity, industry events and trends as well as the
latest in management, economics and politics. Access to
a combination of broker research reports, trade publications,
newspapers, journals and company directory listings with
full text and images available.
• Health Reference Center Academic is a source
for article on fitness, pregnancy, medicine, nutrition,
diseases, public health, Occupational Health and Safety,
Alcohol and drug abuse, HMOs, prescription drugs, and -
unlike the consumer-health emphasis of the Health
and Wellness Resource Center - topics of a more
academic nature.
• Worth a Glance: The InfoTrac OneFile and LegalTrac databases may also come in handy for certain types of assignment.
•
Relevance Search finds articles in which your search
terms or similar terms appear most substantially, in title,
citation, abstract or in entire article content.
• Limit each search to articles with text (complete
articles), by date, by journal and/or to entries containing
certain words. Please note:
Click the "Browse" button to the right of the
"by journal" limit for a list of journal titles
included in the database.
Grolier Encyclopedia Main Menu
•"Search Grolier Online" (lower right of screen) - "Titles only" option retrieves articles by the specific title specified. "Full text" locates your search terms in articles with other titles. Please note: The Global Search Results are a list by encyclopedia name source (Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, New Book of Knowledge, or Encyclopedia Americana) , to allow browsing of the various matches according to your students' research needs or age/reading level.
Other
Useful Features of
Grolier Encyclopedia Main Menu:
| •Direct link to online dictionary (and thesaurus). | •Direct link to online atlas (Geopolitical, Thematic, or Explorer's) From the Geopolitical map, you can click on a specific area and increase focus of your search by connecting to links for related articles. | |
| Please note: These dictionary and atlas features are found at the bottom of all three Grolier online encyclopedia products, for ready reference. | ||
Grolier
Multimedia Encyclopedia
(GME)
Basic
knowledge with multimedia enhancements.
•Simple
Search - Just enter your search terms in the box provided
on the opening page. Please note:
Explore the Multimedia elements (graphics and sound) and
options for maps (and various topics), periodicals, Web
links and print/e-mail in the right margin of GME article
pages. You must have Quick Time 4.0 plug-in to enjoy the
Multimedia elements.
• Advanced Search (Click on "Advanced"
button under simple search window) -- Join up to 3 search
terms (with Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT) for highly specific
searches by full text or article title.
New
Book of Knowledge
(NBK)
News and encyclopedia
resources for grades 3-6 (ages 7-14).
Find information in two separate areas:
NBK News:
•Newscoops
provide current-event topics for young children.
•NBK Archive retains items from the past two
years .
Other Useful Features of NBK News:
| •The "apple" image denotes a story with a lesson plan! | •"FastFact" links from article pages to brief information on the topic. |
NBK Encyclopedia:
•Students
may use either the "Quick Search" option or
the "Advanced Search" with Boolean (AND,
OR, NOT) operators.
•Menu - Subject and Alphabetical browsing, "Wonder
Questions" (prompts for discussion); "Literary
Selections" (for children's classics); Projects and
Experiments, World History Timelines, "Homework Help"
(separate tutorials on researching, studying, and writing);
Bibliographies, and "Teachers' Guide" to the databases.
•"Maps" option has the same features
as the Grolier Main Menu Geopolitical Map.
Other
Useful Features of
NBK Encyclopedia:
•"Facts at a Glance" selections at top of article pages, as well as links to "Magazine" and "Web Links" resources on the topic.
Encyclopedia Americana
General
information for older students and adults.
•Searching
-- Basic searches may be limited to "Article
Titles," "Full Text," and "Journal Titles,"
or expanded to an Advanced Search.
· Students may browse four featured topic
areas: "Browse" subjects alphabetically;
"Journal" (a news database with feature
stories, online news links and teachers' guide); "Editor's
Picks" (weekly selections of current-event topics);
and "Profiles" (current biographies).
Other Useful Features of Encyclopedia Americana:
•On
each article page, note links to tables, further readings,
periodical resources, Web links, and related encyclopedia
articles.
| SIRS Online Databases |
SIRS
Discoverer
A
periodical database for younger users, with supplementary
resources.
•Keyword
Search -- To search for a text string (like "space
junk"), surround it in double quotes. Users
may expand search with Boolean operators: "space and
(junk or garbage)." Please
note: From the individual article entries,
click yellow "apple" icon for Library of
Congress Subject headings (space debris) to use in Subject
Searches (for more focused results than keyword searching).
•"Subject Tree" Search - The 15 pre-selected
categories are further divided into subtopics.
· Subject Search by Library of Congress Subject headings.
Other Useful Features of SIRS Discoverer:
| •Under "Database Features," select the "Activities" link on the resulting page (for a variety of student projects and activities). | ·• Librarian's Corner great support materials, including source lists. | |
| •Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Almanac and Thesaurus. | •Country Facts on more than 85 countries. | |
| •Photo Essays of social issues and global concepts and an alphabetical "Pictures" file. | •General Interest Biographies on 3 reading levels and U. S. Presidents' Biographies. | |
| •Over 300 "Maps of the World." | •Full-text "Fiction" selections for students. | |
| •"How to Cite" - Descriptions and examples of MLA and APA styles. | •Online workbooks on primary and middle schools levels. | |
| •Current Events and "Spotlight of the Month." | •"New Content and Hot Topics" of updated content. | |
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•Overall
tutorial of the database.
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SIRS
Knowledge Source
For
general use: A periodical and Web resource, on general,
government and humanities topics.
The SIRS Knowledge Source is actually
a collection of four distinct databases, which may be used
together or separately (click on a database link or icon
to select a particular product):
•SIRS
Researcher ® (General Reference)
•SIRS Government Reporter ® (Information
By & About the U.S. Government)
•SIRS Renaissance ® (Arts & Humanities)
Please note: Items from
these databases appear as "Article List" on the
result pages.
•SKS
WebSelect ™ (Selected Internet Sites) Please
note:These items appear
as "Internet Sites" on the result pages.
These products share these same search
options:
•"Quick Search": Enclose a phrase
in quotation marks to find multiple words appearing next
to one another in a specified order. Please
note: Users may limit "Quick Searches"
by relevance/date and by keyword/natural language or subject
headings.
· Advanced
Search allows the joining of up to 3 terms with Boolean
operators (AND, OR, NOT) and by full text, author name,
or title. Please note:Further
advanced search options are a proximity search (finding
one word in a user-determined proximity to another within
a text) and a graphics search (by graphic title).
• "Topic Browse" tab (at the top of
pages) allows browsing of broad topic areas. Choose article
or Web site options. .Please note:This
feature is a quick way for students to become familiar with
many facets of a broad topic.
Other Useful Features of SIRS Knowledge Source:
| • "What Citizens Need to Know About Government" (click on the "Interactive Citizienship" menu tab on the SIRS Knowledge Source opening page), a continuously updated electronic "textbook" with links to relevant SIRS magazine and newspaper articles, Supreme Court decisions, presidential addresses, treatises, other primary sources, and selected government and eductional Web sites. Targeted to secondary school users and up, this content is useful in classroom settings, as well as for independent study and learning. | ||
| •"Tagged List" and "Search History" options | • Online Dictionary and Thesaurus. | |
| • Citation guide for MLA and APA styles ("Cite" link at upper right of screen). | • Toolbox and Tips for users. | |
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DISCUS:
Feature Summary
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Gale
Group Resource Centers:
• Biography
Resource Center (BRC); Health & Wellness Resource Center
(HWRC), email data as an HTML page or as plain text,
but no graphics.
• What Do I Read Next? (WDIRN), email data as
an HTML page or as plain text, but graphics and author biographical
data are not included.
Grolier
Online:
• Encyclopedia Americana (EA); Grolier Multimedia
Encyclopedia (GME); New Book of Knowledge (NBK): text
only, select portions of an article up to the full text,
but no graphics.
• InfoTrac: text only, from citation up to full text (if provided), but no graphics.
SIRS:
• Knowledge Source (SKS) and Discoverer can email text alone or with graphics.
Some DISCUS resources have special printing options. Special PDF files, in many cases, look almost exactly like a photocopy of the original materials. In order to view and print PDF (portable document format) files, Adobe Acrobat® Reader must be installed on your computer. The Reader can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe's Web site at http://www.adobe.com|
Gale
Group Resource Centers:
•
BRC and WDIRN provide a "Format for Printing"
option which removes the side menu to conserve paper.
• HWRC provides a "Print" feature
which removes the side menu to conserve paper.
PDF files are not available in any of these databases.
InfoTrac: Articles are available in PDF which can save paper by printing several columns on a page in a smaller font than the "Browser Print" which merely removes the menu bar. Articles with graphics or charts should be printed in PDF for best quality, as graphics do not always appear clearly in the "Browser Print."
Grolier Online:
• EA, GME, and NBK each offer a Print/Email button so you can select portions of an article to print, up to the entire article, but if graphics are present, you must click on each image if you wish to enlarge it or have the option to print the graphic alone. PDF files are not available in any of these databases.
SIRS:
• SIRS:
Workbooks are available in PDF or HTML. All maps have
the option of "printable PDF" for a cleaner print
out of the image, sized to fit on standard size printer
paper.
• Knowledge Source (SKS) offers "Clean
Copy for Printing" to remove menu and save paper.
• Discoverer has no special printing options
for articles.
Gale
Group Resource Centers:
• BRC: In the "Table of Contents" of each article, click on "Source Citation" link for that particular item.
•
HWRC: Go to "Help" then "Citing Works
from HWRC" to see samples of standard formats.
• WDIRN: None instructions given.
• InfoTrac: While in Junior Edition, click on "Tool Box" and choose link to "…Cite a Source." Click on "Teacher Toolbox" in the Kid's InfoBits database to access the citation guide. For all other InfoTrac databases, choose "Help" then "Help Index" and under "What do you need?" find the link for "How do I cite an article?" which gives examples in standard formats: APA, and MLA.
Grolier Online:
• EA:
At the bottom of the article text, choose link "Format
for Bibliographic Citation." Samples are given.
• GME: While viewing an article, scroll to end
and click "How to Cite This Article." The citation
for the specific article is given, as well as a link to
the research starter, "How to Cite References."
• NBK: No instructions given.
SIRS:
(MLA and APA examples are given
in both products).
• SIRS Knowledge Source: Click on "Cite" in the right of the upper menu bar for general format.
• SIRS Discoverer: Click on "How to Cite" at bottom of the screen.
Lesson
Plans & Classroom Activities
Grolier
Online:
•
NBK: In the "NBK News" feature, the red apple
icon indicates that a include lesson plan accompanies the
article. Search
for past entries by topic in the "NBK News Archives."
ALSO: Click on "Projects
and Experiments" in the Encyclopedia index (left screen
area).
SIRS:
• SIRS Discoverer: A red a indicates that an article includes a related activity. ALSO: In the "Database Features" section of the home page, click on "Activities" for a list by topic and type.
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NewsBank
Databases
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(Provided
by the Beaufort County Public Library System, and not
a part of DISCUS)
NOTE:
Instructions for free home and office access to NewsBank
are available at all locations of the Beaufort County Public
Library System.
NewsBank America's Newspapers database provides full-text articles on a wide range of topics from over 200 U.S. exclusive newspaper titles and media sources, including The State (Columbia, SC). Find the electronic editions of record for valuable local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers--all in one easy-to-search database. Each paper provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community. Paid ads are excluded.
Click on the Amrica's Newspapers link in the center of the home page to begin your search.
The basic search
interface allows you perform Keyword (simple) searches
(you may also select the Advanced Search link for
advanced searches). On the Keyword search page, you
may also choose result lists arranged by "Best matches
first" (relevance) or "Most recent matches
first." You may also limit your search by Date.
Search results appear as links to full-text articles.
"Other
Resources" in NewsBank America's Newspapers
"Hot
Topics" and special reports keep readers
up to date on current events.
How to Search instructions.
Help and Tutorial features
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