Research Blog : education

College Admissions, round 2

kiya@evpl — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:14:00 GMT

My second child is now a high school junior, and we are once again getting overwhelmed by mail from colleges, the alphabet soup of tests - PSAT/ACT/ SAT/CLEP, and sometimes even the kindly questions about where she will go to school from every adult she meets.

If you, too, need help finding your way through this process, I highly recommend the College Prep series of programs scheduled at Red Bank Branch this month. This Thursday, the 13^th, will be a presentation on Choosing the Right College, followed on Thursday the 20^th by a talk on Applications and Admissions. The series wraps up on Thursday the 27^th by a program on Paying for College and Financial Aid. All programs begin at 6pm, and are presented by those who work in the field.

Once you have those under your belt, check out some of these materials:

8 first choices : an expert's strategies for getting into college / Joyce Slayton Mitchell

College admission : from application to acceptance, step by step / Robin Mamlet, Christine VanDeVelde

The financial aid handbook : getting the education you want for the price you can afford / Carol Stack and Ruth Vedvik

Then take a look at the following databases, available to you free through our website:

Career Transitions: Career Transitions walks users through the job-search process from beginning to end. Users can return to their profile in their library - or remotely - to track and update their progress. Career Transitions employs a step-by-step approach to help people: 1) explore new career possibilities; 2) assess their interests and experience; 3) identify ways to improve their prospects, including networking and education; 4) prepare for a job search; and 5) search and apply for jobs.
Testing & Education Reference Center: A start-to-finish resource with all the information and support materials needed to make informed, confident decisions to shape the rest of your life. Includes High School Tools, College Prep Tools, and Career Tools.

Explore Issues of Global Importance with New Database

Bufkinite@evpl — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Need up-to-the-minute information on child labor? Want to have an idea about current world opinion regarding the US military's use of torture? Are you concerned about nuclear weapons in failed states falling into the hands of international terrorist organizations? Are you confused by the proliferation of different and conflicting information about global climate change and sea-level rise?

Information on all of these issues and much more is available through a new database called Global Issues in Context. Available through the EVPL database page, this resource offers global news and perspectives on issues and events of international importance, like the ones outlined above, and provides background information on them, placing them in the proper sociopolitical, religious, and cultural context.

Searching Global Issues in Context can take place in a variety of ways, starting with simple keyword searching in a single search box. There is also a clickable world map, where choosing a particular country then links to issue portals where that country is mentioned.

Global Issues in Context has a great deal of multimedia components, including extensive audio and video clips from such places as NPR, PBS, CBC, and NBC news; interactive maps, and links to world newspapers.

TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS: Global Issues in Context's conten is aligned to state and national social studies and science standards and is up to date. Thus it can be used across the curriculum. It also encourages and develops critical-thinking skills by providing students a variety of pertinent global perspectives on the issues.

Check out this resource; it will broaden and deepen your understanding of current events and issues affecting countries and people around the world.

Southwest Indiana College Access Network (SICAN)

wag.mado@evpl — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:57:00 GMT

Today's Evansville Courier announced new and needed assistance for all middle school through high school students and their parents. The Southwest Indiana College Access Network (SICAN) has launched a wonderful website that has all kinds of useful information for college bound students. This website is currently under construction, however it already has an overabundance of help available. There are links to Pell Grants and Federal Student Aid (FASFA), explanation of basic types of student loans, registration deadlines and dates for the ACT, the SAT and the PSAT, a scholarship search page, helpful tips of all kinds and much more. If you are beginning to think about college, take a few minutes to look at this site. It will surely help you navigate the college test and financial world.

New Database Brings the World to your Desktop

Bufkinite@evpl — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:26:00 GMT

A new database called Global Road Warrior brings you comprehensive information on 175 countries around the world. And when I say "comprehensive" that is exactly what I mean. There is information in over 100 specific areas for each country listed.

There is basic information like geography (including flags and maps for each country), govenment, and climate; information about the society and culture, like standard greetings and courtesies, food peculiar to the area (including recipes), holidays, religions, and sports; information about how business is conducted, with special attention given to women in business; information about the currency used there, including a currency converter; and infrastructure information including electricity, telephones, Internet connectivity and ISPs, telegram, fax, and postal services.

In addition, there is a "security briefing" for every country taken directly from the CIA's World Factbook, health and medical information, and contact information - addresses, email, and telephone numbers - for all foreign embassies and consulates within each country.

Below left is a screen shot of the home page for Mongolia. The menu on the left is standard for each country, and includes the information outlined above and much more. Below right is a close-up of the standard menu, with an example of the sub-menu choices for "Society and Culture," to give you an idea of the richness of this resource.

Teachers will especially enjoy global road warrior! The maps listed for each country include a simple outline map as well as an outline map that includes outlines of states & provinces. There is also a list of "essential terms" for each country: how to say "hello," "goodbye," "yes," "no," and the other essential words and phrases you'll need to get around.

The search interface is very easy to use, and allows you to search within a particular country, or search for a particular term across all countries. Try it today and see what you think about EVPL's newest database offering.

Tips for college students at HackCollege

googler@evpl — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:33:00 GMT

First off, I should explain that "hacking" no longer necessarily carries a negative connotation. In fact, its original negative connotation was a kind of misunderstanding. "To hack" means to come up with a creative or clever solution. Thus, one of the more popular blogs today is Lifehacker ("features tips, shortcuts, and downloads that help you get things done smarter and more efficiently"). (Check out their entry on StudyRails, a webapp that works a bit like Outlook to track time for students and notify them of upcoming assignment deadlines.)

Another blog, especially for college students, is called HackCollege. Recent posts include settling debts between roommates, five great faux-homecooked-meals to make in the dorm microwave, and an essay pondering the future of textbooks on the Kindle.

Great stuff for the college student -- and high school seniors as they start preparing for the big transition.

What happened to the Rosetta Stone language learning materials?

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:35:00 GMT

Rosetta Stone has changed its licensing restrictions with version 3 and no longer allows purchase of their CD-ROM products that could be checked out by library patrons. Unfortunately, because of these new restrictions, we've had to withdraw them from our collection.

To continue to provide our users with language learning tools, we have acquired Mango Languages, an electronic database available to our cardholders. Mango is an excellent language learning tool similar to Rosetta Stone and offers instruction in 12 languages. It can be accessed via the direct link above or from our databases section.

Additionally, we currently have several other varieties of language learning materials available to check out, as well as website recommendations. Please check out the following:

Useful Websites: Check out the "Language Learning" categories
Dewey call numbers: 430-499 are language learning books, from Arabic to Zulu
DVDs on language learning: Find by doing a Subject Search in the EVPL catalog along these lines (using Spanish as an example): Spanish language -- Self-instruction -- DVD-Video
CDs on language learning: Find by doing a Subject Search in the EVPL catalog along these lines (using Spanish as an example): Spanish language -- Self-instruction -- Sound recordings

If you need additional assistance, please contact us via Ask EVPL, or call Central Library's Reference Services at (812) 428-8218.

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)

Meditatinglibrarian@evpl — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:24:00 GMT

There have been a couple of recent posts in blogs I read about the ERIC database. Here is the post from LISNews blog:

ERIC Web Site Undergoes Redesign, Expands Coverage

By Blake on Internet

The Resource Shelf reports ERIC is online with an updated design to their website along with more journal coverage.

And here is a link to the Library Garden post, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) Provides More "What Works" Than You Probably Knew