Most school library media centers have a number of resources available to assist in the career planning process. Typical career-planning books cover writing resumes and cover letters, the interview process, job banks, occupational descriptions, and salaries. Keeping current on careers can be a costly endeavor for school library media center…

When budgets are tightened, the school library media specialists and/or the arts programs are often considered expendable. No Child Left Behind legislation means increasing academic time for core subjects, which translates into cutting time for arts education. As money becomes tight, frills are cut (i.e., the arts). Schools don't seem able to fill…

Science teachers nationwide share many of the same aspirations and challenges, such as the increasing pressure to improve students' test scores. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires each state to create academic standards and proficiency levels in math, reading, and science that all students must meet by 2014. A testing program to assess…

The AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive is an electronic library containing the AP's current photos and a selection of pictures from their enormous print and negative library, as well as text and graphic material. It is composed of two photo databases as well as graphics, text, and audio databases. The features of this database are briefly described in…

Today's elementary school students have been exposed to computers since birth, so it is not surprising that they are so proficient at using them. As a result, they are ready to search databases that include topics and information appropriate for their age level. Subscription databases are digital copies of magazines, newspapers, journals,…

Authors, scientists, mathematicians, newsmakers, pop culture icons, these are the people who are frequently the subject of the infamous "biography reports." Students tend to search for biographical information about individuals who have achieved some degree of distinction (or perhaps notoriety) during their lifetime However. it is important to…

Subject specific databases, or vortals (vertical portals), are databases that provide highly detailed research information on a particular topic. They are the smallest, most focused search tools on the Internet and, in recent years, they've been on the rise. Currently, more of the so-called "mainstream" search engines, subject directories, and…