Great websites to visit to help with homework and research.
Infoblitz www.infoblitz.co.nz
Wicked ww.tki.org.nz/r/wicked/index.php
Ask Kids www.askkids.com/
National Library Quick Links for Students www.natlib.govt.nz/students
Upper Hutt City Council Library www.upperhuttcity.com/page/4/upperhuttcitylibrary.boss
Christchurch City Library www.christchurchcitylibraries.com
Digital Children's Library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
Conservation www.conservation.govt.nz
Discovery Kids ttp://kids.discovery.com
Encyclopedia
History of NZ www.metvuw.com/forecast
Dictonary
Thesaurus www.thesaurus.com
Maths www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/maths/dictionary.html
Online Dictionaries, Maori / English Dictionaries, Picture Dictionaries, Dictionary games, maps and ... Below are the links in Dictionaries and Maps.
- Little Explorers Picture Dictionary
From Enchanted Learning - Dictionary Challenge
The word machine has broken down. Read the clue in the box and then use the online dictionary to see if you can work out what is in the box. - Maori Dictionary
A Maori online dictionary where you can put in either the Maori or English word or phrase. - Maps
Click here for outlines of maps around the world
Evaluating a website
CARS
C Credibility of a website – what are the author's qualifications on the subject?
Look for information about the author's education and experience.
Do you think the information will be correct?
A Accuracy – is the information you find factual, detailed and up to date?
R Reasonableness – does the web site present a balanced and consistent argument?
S Support – where does the information come from? Does the information contain sources?
TIP: Compare three sites / sources = Triangulation
http://schoollibswaikatobop.wikispaces.com/Evaluating+Websites
Using Domain names
Domain names are the identification name given to define a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS). The ending of a domain name can tell you certain information. Here is a rough guide
.edu or.ac Educational site (University and college)
.school A school's site
.co or .com Commercial business site
.gov U.S. non-military government site
.govt New Zealand government site
.mil U.S. military site
.net Networks and internet provider
.org Non-profit organisations
NB
1. You can generally expect the information on .gov and .mil sites to be accurate
2. The information on .edu sites is generally accurate. However, if an .edu site also has a tilde symbol (~) in the address, it is a personal page and needs further evaluation. School sites publish student work which may not be accurate
3. Sites with domains of .net, .com and .org also require more evaluation
Refining your key words and key phrases
Searching on Google or other search engines be aware that
1. Use of capitals can limit search depending on the search engine
2. Use of more than one word to refine results
3. Quotation marks find the exact words and phrases
4. Adding a space before or after your keyword can help narrow the search and eliminate unwanted words
5. Searches can be narrowed to NZ sites by clicking on "pages form New Zealand" i.e. when searching using Google
6. Search using images or maps or PowerPoint's (.ppt)
7. Narrowing Google searches to sites suitable for children by adding the word "kids" at the end or "K – 12" or "K – 6" or "K – 3"
Below are the links in Children's Search Engines.
- Clusty
Clusty got its start in Pittsburgh, PA in 2004 when the search software company Vivísimo decided to take its award-winning search technology to the web. Clusty is a whole new way to search the web. Clusty queries several top search engines, combines the results, and generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This "metasearch" approach helps raise the best results to the top and push search engine spam to the bottom. But what really makes Clusty unique is what happens after you search. Instead of delivering millions of search results in one long list, our search engine groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items. When was the last time you went to the third or fourth page of the search results? Rather than scrolling through page after page, the clusters help you find results you may have missed or that were buried deep in the ranked list. - Kids Click
This search engine has been built by Librarians for kids. Check out the search lessons for tips and tools on searching. - Quintura Kids
This is a visual search engine. While viewing the Quintura Cloud, you can visually navigate and easily refine in order to find relevant information faster and more efficiently! - Yahoo! Kids
Yahoo! Kids is Yahoo!'s entertainment and education site for children aged 6 through to 12. Their mission is to connect children (and Parents - yes there is even a section for parents) with the best—and safest—content on the Web. They want kids to always find just what they're seeking, whether for school or fun. And they have Earl who can answer questions too.
New Zealand Online Resources
Below are the links in New Zealand Online Resources.
- Any Questions
Online chat reference service for all NZ school aged students who can get direct, real time help forma trained librarian form the National Library and public libraries to find the information the need and to build their research and information skills. Operating hours 1pm-6pm Mon-Fri during Feb – Dec. - Big Universe: Read, Create and Share Children's Books Online
Read other picture books from around the world or create your own. - Digital NZ
DigitalNZ is an initiative that aims to make New Zealand digital content easy to find, share and use. This includes content from government departments, publicly funded organisations, the private sector, and community groups. - Discover
Over 2,500 resources to support the NZ Arts in Music and Visual Arts. - EPIC: A collection of 19 databases
Awaiting Log on and password: EPIC – an initiative by New Zealand libraries to give New Zealand schools access to a worldwide range of online resources. You need to use our school user id: hillcrest17 and password: normal39 - International Children's Digital Library
Scanned copies of children’s books from around the world including NZ picture books and non-fiction including bi-lingual and te reo Maori texts. Click on “Read Books”, click on “Books by Country” then click on arrow to turn globe and click on NZ. Note: you can click “F11” to enlarge screen. - Kiwi Conservation Club
The Kiwi Conservation Club offers children the gift of nature, encouraging them to enjoy, understand and love the natural world. - Many Answers
Hundred of previously asked questions from the website "Any Questions" are provided on many answers. - Matapihi (A Portal)
Experience a selection of pictures, sounds and objects from New Zealand’s archives, galleries, libraries and museums. - National Geographic Kids
For videos, activities, stories and games. - Papers Past
Contains one million pages from 19th Century NZ newspapers. - Suzy's World
Click on the Suzy's World icon for Science experiments, jokes and your message board. Click on the Suzy's Place logo for arts and crafts, activities and wonderful recipes. Click on "FAQs about Suzy Cato" to find the answers to all the questions that have been sent in about Suzy. - Te Ara
The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. - Timeframes
Timeframes includes selected New Zealand and Pacific images from the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, the research library within the National Library of New Zealand.