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News from South Carolina's Virtual Library

Fall 2010
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Gale's In Context Portals Now Available
In Context logoSeveral of the Resource Centers provided by Gale Cengage Learning have recently been replaced by new learning portals from Gale's In Context family of products. The In Context  products contain all the reliable, authoritative content from the Resource Centers plus a media-rich, Web-like experience for today's learners, educators and librarians. The DISCUS products affected are: Biography Resource Center, History Resource Center (both U.S. and World), Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center and Science Resource Center.

Want to learn more about the new portal products?  It's easy to join a free webinar conducted live by a Gale representative.  Check out the Gale Product Training Calendar today.  For FAQs, a video overview and more, visit the In Context information page.

New Career Interest Assessment Tool
Need to match personal interests withPhoto of carpenter possible careers?  Ferguson's Career Guidance Center now provides an exciting new tool to do just that.

Perfect for both students and adults who are exploring potential occupations and career paths, the Career Interest Assessment is found on the Ferguson's homepage.  Users simply respond to
each of the 180 statements in the assessment.  An example of a statement is "Build kitchen cabinets."  The response choices for all the statements are: Like, Unsure, Dislike.  Once the assessment statements are completed, a ranking of six key interest categories is displayed: Artistic, Conventional, Enterprising, Investigative, Realistic and Social.  The interest categories are linked to database entries on relevant industries and occupations.

Users may create a free account in Ferguson's Career Guidance Center that allows them to save the results of the Career Interest Assessment as well as other useful resources found in the product.  Click on "Folder Log In" in the upper right corner to quickly create an account and save selected Ferguson's content for your personal use.
Enhanced School Search in Ferguson's
The School Search found on the Ferguson's Career Guidance Center homepage searches more than 4,000 undergraduate schools to aid in the college selection process, with 62 institutions of higher education listed for South Carolina.  Each school entry now links directly to the institution's own website, making it easier than ever to navigate the process.  Try it out soon!

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New Features in SIRS Discoverer
SIRS Discoverer has added two great new elements to the Database Features SIRS Discoverer logosection of its homepage.
 
Science Fair Explorer is a visual interactive tool that helps students find science fair topics in a fun way.  All projects can be completed at home or at school with everyday materials.

Skills Discoverer connects students to a variety of carefully selected educational websites grouped under the subject headings of art, health, language arts, math, science and social studies.  These activities challenge and engage users as they practice and refine their mastery of curriculum-based subject areas.

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Read Aloud Features in DISCUS
The ability to hear DISCUS resources read aloud benefits many library and media center users: those with visual impairment; students who are emerging readers, read below grade-level or have learning disabilities; and those for whom English is a second language.  Read aloud technology is available in numerous resources in the DISCUS collection.

Gale
Many of the Gale products feature ReadSpeaker functionality identified by the "Listen" link found when viewing an individual result.  Users may listen to the entire document or only a selected portion.  The new In Context products have an enhanced ReadSpeaker that allows users to choose preferred text highlighting options and the speed of the read aloud.

Britannica
Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia includes a "play" symbol beside each paragraph in the encyclopedia content.  If the symbol does not display at your institution, these technical requirements may need to be addressed.

SIRS
SIRS Knowledge Source enables users to have any of the more than 25,000 "Pro vs. Con Leading Issues" articles read aloud.  Users may even choose between listening to a male or female voice!  The read aloud functionality is found to the right of the screen at the level of an individual result.

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Career Related eBooks Available in LearningExpress Library
LearningExpress logoOver the past year, many of you have become familiar with the skills improvement courses and practice tests available in LearningExpress Library, but did you know that there is also an excellent collection of career-related eBooks  available as well?   There are 130+ titles that include career guides, study aides and test-preparation books. 

Just click on the eBooks link on the lower right side of the LearningExpress Library home page.  From there, you can browse a complete library of eBooks.  The books are organized by a variety of categories, such as civil service, health occupations, math skills, military and more.  When you see a book that you are interested in, just click the title and a separate PDF file will load.  These eBooks are also searchable by topic.  To find an eBook on a particular subject, just enter a topic (e.g., SAT) in the search box and click the "Search" button.

NetLibrary Career eBook Collection...and More!
In early 2010, DISCUS purchased a customized collection of more than 250 electronic books for vocational needs from NetLibrary, but did you know that a separate collection of 3,461 publicly accessible works has also been included? 

Many of these are "classic works" that have moved into the public domain.  They include monographs, essays, speeches, short stories and poems.  Many of the titles are from Project Gutenburg, the University of Virginia and BiblioBytes.  You can search this collection just as you can search the Career E-Book Collection: by author, title, full-text, keyword and subject.  Be sure to take a look at this additional content the next time you are in the NetLibrary interface.

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 Improved Britannica Online Academic Edition
Colleges and universities recently began using a new interface for searching and discovery in the Britannica Online Academic Edition.  The improvements include an enhanced Workspace for saving content, a "Suggest Edit" feature that allows users to contribute content, and a feature that tracks changes made to Britannica articles.  You may be interested in viewing a short video of less than four minutes that introduces these changes.            
Upcoming Training at Charleston County Public Library
Computer training sessionThere are still openings in the November 17th free training taking place at the main library of the Charleston County Public Library in downtown Charleston.  The training is titled "DISCUS Update: In Context Products and Career Resources."  Full details and a registration form are found in the description on the State Library's event calendar.  You may also visit the DISCUS Training page to see this event as well as several free webinars focused on the DISCUS resources. 

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Alternate Access Page to Bookmark
URL imageDuring the infrequent times when the DISCUS Web site may be unavailable, users still have uninterrupted access to the resources through an alternate access page.  Check your bookmark to make sure it points correctly to this URL:  http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/school.html

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In This Issue
Gale's In Context Portals Now Available
New Career Interest Assessment Tool
Enhanced School Search in Ferguson's
New Features in SIRS Discoverer
Read Aloud Features in DISCUS
Career Related eBooks Available in LearningExpress Library
NetLibrary Career eBook Collection...and More!
Improved Britannica Online Academic Edition
Upcoming Training at Charleston County Public Library
Alternate Access Page to Bookmark


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DISCUS will be represented at these upcoming events!

DISCUS logo

SC Library Association Annual Conference, October 20-22

EdTech Conference, October 27-29

SC School Counselor Association,
November 4-6



DISCUS is a service of the South Carolina State Library.