• Students are welcome to use the library during their free time as long as they do not disturb other students.
• Students must show a pass from their teacher if they are not in class.
• No eating or gaming permitted.
• No inappropriate or offensive language.
• Students who disrupt the atmosphere will be asked to leave the library.

• Ask the librarian if you need help choosing or finding a book.
• Computer to access the library catalog is located at the circulation desk under the yellow flag.
• Bring your book to the circulation desk at the center of the library for check out.
• You may borrow a book for 3 weeks, but books can be renewed upon request.
• EBooks are available through Sora in the Student Classlink portal.

• Students may use the computers during free periods depending on availability.
• Students may not change the default settings on any school computer.
• Students must comply with the district's Acceptable Use Policy.
• Treat all equipment with respect.

Click on Search for Success to view the library databases.

Search for Success home access: username: mtvernonhs / password: look

NoodleTools Access through ClassLink. NoodleTools is an online research management platform that promotes critical thinking and authentic research. Students stay organized as they evaluate information, build accurate citations, archive source material, take notes, outline topics, and prepare to write. For help and access click here: NoodleTools Help Find "Mount Vernon High School" and you will have access.

Library Database vs. Search Engine(Google) vs Google Scholar

Databases

 What is a database?

• Library databases allow you to efficiently search for published information such as magazines, journals, and newspaper articles. Library databases can be general (all disciplines) or discipline-specific (e.g. a psychology database).

Why use a database?

• Reliable – Many articles found in library databases have undergone a peer review process and are generally more reliable than information found on the Internet. Additionally, databases provide all the information you need to evaluate a source for credibility (such as author name, publication details, and a summary).

• Relevant – library databases allow you to customize your search to get the most relevant results. You can search using keywords, discipline-specific terminology, subject headings, and descriptors. You can also search by author, title, and limit your results using various criteria (date, source type, etc.).
• Accessible – Databases often provide access to the full-text of an article, so you do not need to go to the library to retrieve it in person. Additionally, database access is purchased by libraries for its patrons, which allows you to access otherwise pricey information at no charge.

 Search Engine

• A search engine, such as Google or Yahoo!, uses computer algorithms to search the Internet and identify items that match the characters and keywords entered by a user.

• Search engines are useful for finding information produced by governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. Examples of reliable information you can find through a search engine include freely available statistics published by a government agency or a freely available article published by a reputable news outlet.
• Note: It is more challenging to narrow results effectively, find relevant material, and assess the legitimacy of information in your search results when using a search engine.

• It depends on what type of information you are hoping to find and how you plan to use it. If you want credible, scholarly articles, you will have more success finding relevant sources in a library database free of charge. If you want Census data, it is more efficient to find that through a search engine that guides you to the appropriate government website.

• Purchased by the library
• Search for information in an organized collection
• More relevant results
• Information is stable
• Content is reviewed and recommended by librarians.

• Terminology and depth of articles may be difficult to understand
• Information may be dated. Though, it helps to sort results by date.
• Can be narrow in topic

Search Engine

Examples of search engines include: Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.

• Free to anyone with computer access
• Useful for finding information on groups and organizations
• Useful for finding personal web pages

• No review standards with regard to content
• Information not organized
• Information not stable–locations and content continually change
• Difficult to narrow down results
• Difficult to assess legitimacy of information

• Good for gathering background information
• Helps generate search terms
• Readers can consult the Wikipedia bibliographies to find potential sources.

• Because content is user-created and has no mandatory review process, there is no guarantee the information is reliable
• Authors are not required to provide credentials
• Pages recently edited or pages on controversial issues can be very biased.

• Indexes a wide range of scholarly literature
• Searching is free 
• Easy to use if you're familiar with Google
• Google algorithm ranks relevance for you
• Can set up library access links in settings

• Can't search by subject area of material type 
• No full-text access to most articles
• Very limited filters 
• Content not organized by experts 
• No easy way to identify peer-reviewed sources

TeachingBooks.net is an easy-to-use website that adds a multimedia dimension to the reading experiences of children's and young adult books. Our online database is developed and maintained to include thousands of resources about fiction and nonfiction books used in the K–12 environment, with every resource selected to encourage the integration of multimedia author and book materials into reading and library activities.

Teachers & students - login leave blank and the password is swboceslibrary

EBooks

Sora Ebooks

Overdrive Ebooks

Project Gutenberg

Awards 

World Language/Multicultural Resources

Belpré Medal for Multicultural Literature

What to Read Next

Series and Sequels-Search by title or author to see the next book in a series.

What to Read Next-Enter the title of a book you enjoyed and get recommendations for your next one.

No Plagiarism

• The Learning Network: New York Times blog (Free)
• Newsela: Multiple reading levels; content focuses on science, social studies and current events (free and paid versions)
• Scholastic News: Kid-friendly news sites (available by subscription)
• Tween Tribune: Despite the "tween" in the title, this site has news for kids, tweens and teens and is curated by the Smithsonian (free)
• And of course,,, databases!

Copyright Information