Explore the Web for valuable research information.

I love to score the web for valuable information. During this search I came across many online resources which are difficult to find our with normal search. This post offers useful and valuable links for educators, students, librarian's, families, businesses and every person who love to browse the net. 

* 'LibrarySpot.com'  is a resource for online research by offering library and reference sites. 

More about the site (In their own words)

'Sites featured on LibrarySpot.com are hand-selected and reviewed by our editorial team for their exceptional quality, content and utility. Published by StartSpot Mediaworks, Inc. in the Northwestern University/Evanston Research Park in Evanston, Ill., LibrarySpot.com is the first in a family of vertical information portals designed to make finding the best topical information on the Internet a quick, easy and enjoyable experience. 

To date, LibrarySpot.com has received more than 30 awards and honors. 

Most recently, Forbes.com selected LibrarySpot.com as a "Forbes Favorite" site, the best in the reference category, and PC Magazine named it one of the Top 100 Web Sites. LibrarySpot.com has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, CNBC and in many other media outlets.'

-  'HomeworkSpot.com' is a sister site of 'LibrarySpot' and is a valuable source for students, parents and educator.

It offers free homework information portal that features the very best K-12 homework-related sites together with engaging editorial in one high-utility, educational spot. With the help of students, parents and teachers, their team of educators, librarians and journalists has scoured the Web to bring you the best resources for English, math, science, history, art, music, technology, foreign language, college prep, health, life skills, extracurricular activities and much more. For your convenience, we have made every effort to organize these resources into grade-appropriate categories for elementary, middle and high school.

* 'Digital Librarian'  is an online resource from Margaret Vail Anderson, a librarian in Cortland, New York, offering best of the web sites around the net. Home page shows topics which takes you to another page with lots of more useful links and resources. 

* 'The British Library'  offers 14 million books, 920,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million patents, 3 million sound recordings, and so much more.

* 'Awesome Library' organizes the Web with 37,000 carefully reviewed resources, including the top 5 percent in education.

* 'Virtual Learning Resource Center'

thousands of the best academic information websites, selected by teachers and library professionals worldwide, in order to provide to students and teachers current, valid information for school and university academic projects!

The Virtual LRC is both a dedicated index of over 10,000 web pages maintained by a real human being, as well as a meta-search engine that includes in its results information gleaned from many of the best research portals and university and public library Internet subject guides recommended by teachers and librarians.

The VLRC includes selected sites in a growing list of subject/information areas including: full-text magazines, newspapers, electronic text archives, art history, biography, biology, career information, psychology, history, government information, literature, medical information, social sciences, legal information, American Civil War, Art, Careers, Crime, Directories, Economics, Education, English Language, Electronic Texts, Foreign Languages, Geography, Genealogy, Government Information,Health/Medical, History, Legal Information, Lesson Plans, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Reference, Science, Technology, Tutorials on the Web, and Writing Style Guides. 

* 'Access my library'  offers free access to premium content you can trust. Browse and read over 30 million articles for business, education, and general research needs – absolutely free! 

Their goal (In their own words)

Our goal is to help you access information from credible sources while making the offerings of local libraries more accessible. We do this by using our technology to help people find this content, which search engines usually cannot access. 

AccessMyLibrary also includes articles from HighBeam Research, which is a part of the Gale family. HighBeam offers even more research content, including access to archives from more than 6,500 publications.

* 'Resource yourself' 

is a blog with resources of interest to information professionals, educators and journalists. It is a blog so unlike other sites you need to start search from 'categories' links.

Encourage your kids to read books

At this tech age, our kids spend more time with computers than other outdoor or indoor activities. Reading books is a healthy habit which can be encouraged by providing online reading links to our kids. Parents can guide kids and teens providing site links or useful resources for online ebooks. Good news is that most of the online resources provide free access to the stuff either it is an ebook, video, audio, or a power point presentation. 'Tar

'Tar Heel Reader' is an online free site  for beginning readers of all ages. Books are easy to read with big words which teachers can use in classroom for development of language and reading skills.

More about the site:
Link: 'Tar Heel Reader' 

Many of us many think that the site name is strange, so the explainaiton is that 'Tar Heel is a nickname for the state and people of North Carolina. And the name comes from the fact that tar, pitch and turpentine created from the vast pine forests were one of North Carolina's most important exports early in the state's history

More about the site:

It offers a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. It fulfills the needs of older students as well who do not have access to easy-to-read, motivating, and age-appropriate text.

The books may be downloaded as slide shows in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces. Site also offers books in other languages such as Arabic, German, French, Latin etc.

Facts: Books have been read in 133 countries and all 50 US states. They have books in 12 languages. Over 25,000 books are currently being read each week. Over 100 new books are added each week.

How to search at the site for appropriate reading?

These are suggested audience ratings. Rated E/Everyone means the book is appropriate for everyone. Books marked Rated C/Caution may have content that is not appropriate for some readers. The Favorites page is a good way to give your readers a selection of books that you have approved.

You can download a slide show of a book easily. Just follow these simple steps:
Go to the first page of the book. On the left side you’ll see a column of buttons. The second is labeled Setup. It will take you to the reading controls page. There you’ll see links to download the book as PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash.


Experienced educators who are knowledgeable about beginning readers of all ages review books published on Tar Heel Reader.

Write a book!

You can also write a book and submit at the site. You need to get registration for writing a book;

- Sign up for free at the registration page. They recommend you to read about the Beginning Literacy Framework before beginning to write. It will help you appreciate the kind of books they seek.

How to use search tools to find out specific information at internet?

How do you start your search at internet?
The simple answer is 'Google', but do you get the specific or reliable results after few searches? Yes, you many be lucky to get the specific information after some time, but often you are simly lost to find only reliable resource or links. How to search effectively for educational stuff at the internet? Using online search tools can help you a lot and save hours of your hard work.


Search tools are intended to help you find the information you need. Each search tool takes a slightly different approach. Search engines, directories, indexes, and portals can all be helpful. While each of these has a specific definition, many search engines have more than one option. For example, Google is a search engine, but it also has a directory available. While most search tools ask users to enter key words, some like 'Ask Jeeves' are designed for questions.


How do the search tools find all the websites?


Many of the search engines use robots, wanderers, worms, spiders, harvesters, and other automated systems to find websites. In addition, people sometimes add their own website to the list.


Search engines - resources are automatically databased by a computer. The results vary depending on the rules the sites uses to select materials.


Indexes and Directories - information is organized into categories or lists that are sometimes created by people and sometimes computers. Many search engines also have directories.


Subject guides - resources are selected and organized by people. They are good for large and focused topics, but provide fewer resources than search engines.


Meta engines - these sites explore a number of search tools to come up with diverse results. For example, Dogpile searches LookSmart, FindWhat, Overture, and several others


Portals - create a virtual desktop that provides, in one central place, web-based information and resources needed by a user. The difference between a portal and a regular website is that information is customized by the user.


 For Teachers and Teens:


Search Engines

• Alta Vista
• All the Web
• Excite
• Google*
• Hotbot
• Lycos
• Teoma

Guides and Directories

• About.com
• Galaxy
• Go.com
• Librarian's Index
• Open Directory Project
• Yahoo*

Meta Engine Search Tools

• Ask Jeeves
• Dogpile
• EZ2find
• Mamma
• MetaCrawler
• SurfWax
• Vivisimo
• WebCrawler
• Wisenut
• Zapmeta
• Visual Engine 'Kartoo'
• Science Search Engine 'scirus'
• Law Search Engine 'FindLaw'
• Audio & Video 'Singing Fish'
• Movies 'IMDb'
• Archives Engine 'Wayback Machine'

You can find search tools for children, as well as particular information formats (i.e., graphics, videos) and content areas. Ditto and FreePhoto are popular image sites. Use FindSounds for audio files. The advantage of a specialized tool is their narrow focus. Rather than getting "everything", they have selected those resources that fit a particular need. For example, KidsClick provides information about the reading level and number of illustrations contained on a website. Use CNET Search to search for software and hardware information.


Go to Starting Points for Kids or Kid's Search Tools for other pages with student search engines links.

Search Engines for Kids and Teens

• KidsClick- Web search for kids by librarians 
• Kids.net.au  is a search engine / portal for kids, children, parents, and teachers.
• EduHound
• Ithaki Kids 'Intelligent search engine that finds sites just for kids searching simultaneously in various guides.'
• LycosZone

Directories

• Alfy
• Ask Jeeves for Kids
• Awesome Library
• CyberSleuth Kids
• EduPuppy
• Family Friendly Search
• Internet Public Library
• KidsKonnect
• ThinkQuest
• Yahooligans*

More: 
* 'Google for educators' 


* Internet Resources for Teaching and Learning  at 'Teacher tap'
'

How to find educational stuff at the world wide web

I often browse the internet for educational stuff and prefer to use education related search sites for specific information. Usual search engines like google, Yahoo or alta vista provide thousands or results but it may take hours to find relevant sites or informative links.

For specific topic search I use few sites which I suggest other educators and parents to use for their search as it can save your time.

* 'The Educator's Reference Desk' is created for education community. It offers 2,000 and more lesson plans, more than 3,000 links to online education information, and 200 plus question archive responses.

* Another site is 'eduhound' which is a highly specialized educational directory with FREE categorized resources, lesson plans, clipart, and site sets for educators, teachers, students, and families.

* More than 1600 federal teaching and learning resources organized by subject: art, history, language arts, math, science, and others -- from FREE, the website that makes federal teaching and learning resources easy to find.
- Link: http://free.ed.gov/

* 'EdHelper.com' offer stuff covering topics liks 'Math, Reading Comprehension, Themes, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets.'

* 'Shambles'

' You can use 'Similar Site' to find more relevant results.

A family guide to video games for parents 'What They Play'

As craze of video games amongst all age people is wide spreading, parents need to keep an eye on what their kids are playing. The best way to guide your kids regarding video games is to learn yourself about video games. Internet offers handful of useful links and sites with news, reviews, and expert views about video games, and you need to just bookmark those links. 'What they play' is one of those useful links which is helpful in this connection. More about the site:


What They Play 


It is a video game-centric website aimed at helping parents learn about content in video games, helping them decide what games their children should play.


The site contains a database of over 16,000 games divided by console, genre and ESRB rating.
The site employs a small editorial staff of seven to play and review games based on their content, but the site also allows parents to leave comments and reviews under each game describing their thoughts on the game's content and/or their child's reaction to the game. Parents can also submit an age-appropriateness rating, assigned on a scale from 1-17.
To know more about the site, read the 'USA today''s post:
'What They Play' gives parents helping hand'


Other useful resources:


* 'Joystic'  source for news and reviews on the video game industry.

Prolonged computer use and health risks for kids

Using computer and internet for different school tasks is a good idea which can save your time. Playing video games or chatting with friends online is also not bad , but sitting in front of computers for hours have some bad effects on health.

Sitting for a long time in positions that aren't natural for your body can strain your hands, wrists, back, and eyes. Over time, this can result in pain and a kind of injury called a repetitive stress injury.

Here are some tips which can help you safe from bad effects of prolonged computer use. Teachers and parents can make a copy of these tips and print it out to fix it near computer so that kids or teens remember to check these tips while working on computers.

Sitting Square in Your Chair

The way you sit is important. To sit square in your chair, put your behind in the center of the seat. Your legs should bend at the knees and rest on the floor. Most kids are too short to do this, so use a footrest or find a box or a stack of books to place under your feet.

Sit so your back touches the seat back the whole time. Try not to slouch or lean over the keyboard while you type. A chair that has lower-back support can help you do this.

Typing Time

When you type, sit so your elbows are bent at 90-degree angles (like an "L"). Your wrists should be straight, not angled up or down so your fingers rest gently on the keys of the keyboard. And if it feels like you have to stretch your fingers to reach the keyboard, move it closer to you.

Try to keep your fingers and wrists level with your forearms (the lower part of your arms). A wrist wrest can help you stay in the right position. If your wrists are starting to hurt, or you are waking up at night with wrist pain, you may be getting an overuse injury (this is also called carpal tunnel syndrome). If you're having this kind of pain, let your parents know. You might need to see your doctor.

A Mouse!

A small wrist rest also can help support your right hand as you move the mouse. Using a trackball instead of a mouse is also a good solution. A trackball allows you to use a few fingers, instead of just one, as you move around the computer screen.

All Eyes on This

Any time you're using the computer, your eyes are hard at work. Be kind to them by positioning the monitor 18 to 20 inches (46 to 51 centimeters) away from your face. At this distance, you shouldn't have to lean in to read what's on the screen.

Position the screen at your eye level, with the top of the monitor itself level with your forehead. This will keep you from having to lean your neck back (or bend forward) to see the monitor. Your mom or dad can help you get adjusted. They can help you raise the monitor a little higher by stacking a few books under it. You also can raise the height of the chair or sit on a pillow or two.

Take a Break

Here's a good piece of advice: Don't get so involved in the computer that you forget to go to the bathroom! And even if you don't have to go to the bathroom, be sure to take breaks. Kids shouldn't sit at a computer for more than 30 minutes without a break.

When it's time for a break, start with your eyes. Focus on something far away by looking out a window. This gives your eyes a rest from all that focusing on the computer monitor.

Then you'll want to give your body a break, too. Try to move your muscles. Go for a walk, shoot some hoops, or dance in front of the mirror.

Doctors recommend only 1 to 2 hours of screen time per day — which includes TV, the computer, and computer games. Make computer time just one of the activities you do instead of the only thing you do. 

Your body wiL thk U l8r!

Source: 'Familydoctor.org

Useful links:

'Prolonged computer use may lead you to eye and vision problems'

Download millions of free ebooks at 'World eBook Fair'

Get ready to download millions of free ebooks from internet and there is no hidden cost, no membership or registration cost. You just need to bookmark the 'World eBook Fair' site to start downloading your favorite ebooks in July. Teachers, parents, students, scholars, researchers have a good chance of having access to online ebooks for free during one month.

'World eBook Fair Organization has announced that " 5th 'World eBook Fair' is going to be held from July 4th to August 4th 2010 ".

The 'eBook Fair Organization says :

'Our goal is to provide Free public access for a month to 3 Million eBooks.'

Details are:

The 5th Annual World eBook Fair will offer about Three (3) Million titles.

..100,000+ ..750,000+ .2,00,000+ ..250,000+ ....17,000+	from Project Gutenberg from The World Public Library from The Internet Archive from eBooks About Everything from IMSLP
3,117,00+	Grand Total

Brief History of The World eBook Fair

Just two years ago The First World eBook Fairs came on the scene with about 1/3 million books and doubled to 2/3 million in 2008, and over a a million and a quarter presented last year. This year 2010 it is '3 Million eBooks'

Michael S. Hart who is the founder of Project Gutenberg and co-Founder of World eBook Fair says:

"There aren't even a million Kindles or Sony's, but there are now ~4 1/2 billion cell phones-- which means the possibility of reading readers via cellphones is larger than any other media.

The cell phone is the wave of the future, not, I repeat, NOT the Kindle or Sony approach, for they are only targeting millions, and I should like very much to reach billions of people.

More eBooks In More Languages

Obviously to reach billions of readers we have to present the eBooks in more languages than a simple Top Six list such as:

English
Chinese
German
French
Spanish
Urdu

Did you know there are 250 languages with over a million speakers?

In this collection of 2.5 million eBooks we're trying to reach readers in over half of these. Well, that's the goal. . .I hope we make it!!!"

During the rest of the year you can continue to download your selection of about 750,000 PDF eBooks by joining the "World Public Library".
Annual membership is only $8.95 per year.

Link: worldebookfair.org/

How to search for reliable information at search engines?

Usually you enter a keyword or phrase at 'Google' or other search engines box and within seconds there are million of results. If you are looking for information for educational, scholar, research or relevant purpose then this is very easy tip which you can use and get results from only Government or Educational sites/blogs which are usually non profit and offer reliable information.

Process is very simple.

For example you need some information on 'home schooling'. You just enter .EDU or .GOV before your keyword and just add site or blog after it. It should look like:

.EDU+home schooling+blogs or 'sites'
.Gov+home schooling+site or 'blogs'

You would be surprised to see filtered results from reputable and reliable sites. Your results should not bring sites with affiliate links or fake sale pages.