Julie Miller, from the King County Library System, visited with the Navigators and Explorers just before spring break to tell them about the terrific databases available online at kcls.org to those who have a King County library card.
She also brought library cards on wrist bracelets and applications for the kids. We've been encouraging both classes to go to their nearest branch and complete the process of activating the cards. I believe it was a homework assignment for the Explorers and I think most of the kids have gotten their cards by now. I've offered small prizes to the Navigators who bring their activated cards to show me. But the real prize is the information that is opened up to the students through these databases. If we can get all the Navigators signed up before the end of the year, they'll be set for the beginning of fourth grade.
Our area is lucky because the libraries all have reciprocal agreements. If you live in Tacoma, you can get a King County card, and vice versa. Same goes for Pierce County, Tacoma and King County and Seattle/King County. (I'm not sure about Puyallup's reciprocal agreements.)
Julie explained that the databases are much different than Web sites. They are reference works, researched and written by top scholars in their fields. They can be cited with confidence, as much or more so than any physical book found in the library.
They are available only to card holders because database subscriptions are expensive. King County spends more than $1 million a year on them. Because King County has the biggest budget of any library system locally, its database collection is the best, but Tacoma, Pierce County, Puyallup and Seattle also good database collections.
Julie showed the kids the Britannica Encyclopedia Online, which also has a kids version. It's an authoritative, complete encyclopedia. But even better than the one we have on our shelves, the newest published in 2000, the online version is constantly updated.
Other databases include biographies, states and countries, science, animals, music, literature, image collections and newspaper and magazine archives. There are many that would be of interest and value to adults, as well. I had an online subscription to Consumer Reports for awhile, until I discovered I could read it for free with my library card number!
To check out the list, just click on databases at kcls.org.
Julie also showed the kids the library's homework help feature, which is available as a link on the library's home page – kcls.org. You don't need a library card to use this one. It's a great collection of subject-related links that the librarians have vetted.
We'd love it if we could get all of our kids on board with King County Library card. Beacons and Sharks, too. Might as well get a head start. And if you have a Tacoma or Pierce County card, too, all the better. I have cards from Tacoma, King County and Pierce County. I think that's all I'm eligible for.
By the way, the library links are in my permanent list of links at the right.
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