SIRS Discoverer & SIRS Researcher

SIRS Discoverer:

I searched for Cats in SIRS Discoverer.  I could change the results from newspapers, to magazines, to graphics and websites, or all the results at once.  The articles were color coded to show me the reading level, and had icons that let me know if there were pictures in the articles, if it was fiction, what file format it was, etc..  When I opened a newspaper article up an scrolled to the bottom, it had the citiation at the bottom.

I selected Germany in the "Country Facts" section.  This page displayed a map of the country and the national flag.  There were Teacher Resource links, General facts about the country, such as the pronunciation of it's name, when it declared independence, and it's capital.  The country's economy, weather, geography, and a timeline of its general history is listed as well.

I viewed a map of Hawaii.  I tried to view the historical maps but for some reason they wouldn't open.  I could definitely see any of these maps being used to teach students geography, or to help someone who is giong on a trip and needs a general idea of where places are located.  Also, we have had patrons who just want to know where someplace is just out of curiousity.  This would work great instead of sending them into the stacks to search for a book.

I looked at the Pictures section of the Database Features.  This is a nice database.  Students can use these pictures in their school reports, and teachers can use them as well.  You can search for images or click on the alphabetical index.

SIRS Researcher:

I selected Adoption in the Leading Issues section.  The page gave a topic overview that informed me about adoption.  Below that were research tools: a timeline, global impact, statistics, my analysis, and a note organizer.  The center of the page had a pro/con organizer that listed several questions that could be made into topics for a paper.  There was an interactive global map on the right hand side of the page.  When I clicked on a country, I was taken to a page that had news articles related to adoption in that country.  Very cool.  Back on the main page I scrolled down further and there were already some newspaper articles up.  On the left hand of the screen was a toolbar that allowed me to sort or narrow my search by date, or format: magazine, newspaper, reference, etc...

For Curriculum Pathfinders I selected Language Arts, English Literature.  There were so many subjects it was hard to choose.  These are all excellent articles that students can use, and anyone can read to learn just for fun. I think we should be promoting these resources as much as we can!