Information Need | Strategy |
| I need a general understanding of a broad topic. | In the reference section: 2001 World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places, and others.
Online: Encyclopedia Britannica |
| I need to focus my broad academic subject. | Notice the headings and subheadings of the encyclopedia article. Can you pose a question that will focus on an interesting research topic?
Northern Light is a search engine that categorizes results into folders by concept, document and site type. |
| I need to take home some reliable information from verified sources for a school research project. | Westtown's online catalog is geared to the school's curriculum. |
| I need a few good hits. | Check our recommended online portals and search engines. |
| I bet this search has been done before. | Ask Jeeves! has a database of answers to questions posed with natural language. |
| I need information on a commercial, or business-related topic. | Yahoo has a commercial focus. |
| I need a map. | Check an atlas in the reference section. If you need a map of a country as it existed in the past, check the appropriate volume of the World Atlas of the Past.
National Geographic Map Machine offers printable country, physical, political maps and star charts.
MapQuest offers maps useful for drivers. |
| I need quick facts about a nation. | 2001 World Almanac is in the Lower School Library reference section. Use the index in the back of the book to find the type of information needed.
CIA World Factbook is online. |
| I need pictures, details and descriptions of a nation. | Check the World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places. |
| I need primary sources. | Check these recommended links for ancient Egypt.
For U.S. resources, try American Memory or California Heritage. |
| I need images. | Amazing Picture Machine (NCREL) offers images suitable for K-12.
Pics4Learning offers a searchable database of images, including those of Egypt. |
| I need some interesting magazine articles about my academic topic. | Check the Children's Magazine Index, in the Lower School Library's reference section. Of particular interest to 4th- and 5th-graders will be articles in these magazines:
Cobblestone
Cricket
Faces
Kids Discover Available online at school:
EBSCO
SIRS
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| I need a quotation. | Scholastic Treasury of Quotations for Children is in the reference section.
The 1919 edition of Bartlett is online. |
| I need a virtual librarian. | Online: KidsConnect or Internet Public Library. |
I need biographical information. | Westtown's online catalog. To locate a biography, go to the biography section; the biographies are in alphabetical order by the last name of the person about whom the book is written (not by the author's last name, unless the book is an autobiography). Example: a call number for a book about Ben Franklin is: JB FRA. Also available at school: Wilson Biographical Online resources:
Biographical.Dictionary offers quick identification of a name.
Biography.com offers paragraph-length biographical entries
Lives offers links to biographies, memoirs, diaries, letters, and oral histories.
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