Search results matching tags 'Online resources', 'geography', and 'databases'

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.

Two New Databases Emphasize U.S. & World History

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:47:00 GMT

History buffs now have two new resources at their disposal 24 hours a day through the databases page at the EVPL web site. The History Resource Center: World and History Resource Center: U.S. are easy to navigate, rich resources.

History Resource Center: U.S. was named a "Best Reference" by the New York Public Library, and provides a easily searchable interface to a unique combination of primary and secondary sources. The most extensive online collection of historical information available today, History Research Center U.S. delivers:

- comprehensive coverage of the most-studied topics in U.S. history, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the post-Cold War era
- a "roll-over" chronology that features a graphical, annotated timeline of significant events spanning pre-Columbian prehistory to today's headlines
- more than 5,000 primary source documents, including more than 9,000 commentaries
- over 350,000 periodical articles
- over 130 reference books
- thousands of downloadable images, maps, charts, and flags

Whether you're a student in high school, college, or a life-long learner, History Resource Center: U.S. delivers unmatched pinpoint results and reliable sources, allowing you to establish the context within the content.

History Resource Center: World was named a "Best Reference" by Library Journal, and offers students and researchers access to more than 5,000 years of world history, including 15,000 pages of primary source material, more than 50 encyclopedias and compendiums, more than 150 academic journals, more than 1,600 maps, atlases and other images, hours of video content, and daily podcasts from NPR, CBC, and other reputable sources, and annotated Web links to history-specific academic and news information sites.

Featuring extensive coverage of the 20th century, this resources also features coverage of teh Ancient Mediterranean, Ancient Near East and Asia as well as the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the modern Middle East and Latin America. Other highlights:

- Asian history recounts the events from Bronze Age China to modern India
- African, Indian, and Latin American history includes the end of colonization in Africa and India as well as the social and political movements in Latin America
- the same kind of "roll-over" timeline as the one featured in History Resource Center: U.S.

Both of these resources feature a very simple search tool, which allows you to search either one - or both - resource centers with one search by clicking the appropriate radio button. An example of the search box can be seen below. You can also search by a person or by a subject, and there is an advanced search option that allows you to limit by document type, historical date ranges, date of publication of the resource, and to use Boolean operators.

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.