britannica instructional presentation

By

Nancy E. Radler

Middle School Library

This presentation is designed to teach middle school teachers how to educate their students on using the Encyclopedia Britannica Online to research papers and email their research for completion at home. There is also an overview of other learning tools. When the tutorial is complete they will know the following:

How to research a topic

How to create a WorkSpace on Britannica Online

How to save research on Britannica Online

How to email research from Britannica Online

A brief overview of other available resources on Britannica online.

Britannica

Main Page

• Begin by opening

the main page.

• Notice the “search”

bar at the top. This is

where we begin our

exploration .

• For the purposes of

this presentation we

will be doing

research on

Abraham Lincoln.

• Type “Abraham

Lincoln in the

“search” bar and

click “go”.

The first record that comes up is for President Abraham Lincoln. On the left side you will

see a number of different resources that the student can explore for further information on

Abraham Lincoln. We will go through these in a few minutes. For now, click on the first link

or on the “See more” tab on the bottom of the article.

The Table Of Contents gives you a quick overview of the article

Make sure to look at the Related Articles, eBooks & More for information

the student might not find in the article.

Web Links Are Always Fun To Follow

If They Love Widgets They’ll Love This Page!

Other Resources

Browse through some of

the other great resources

such as:

•Videos, Images & Audio

•Article History

•Contributors

•Dictionary & Thesaurus

Create a WorkSpace by clicking on “WorkSpace” in the upper right hand corner.

Enter name, email address and password. Check the box and “Join”.

Student will be returned to the page on Abraham Lincoln where they will then be

asked to describe the project to be added. No need to add a description, just click

done when you are finished.

In the upper right hand corner click on

“View Your Workspace”

As students work, articles are saved here so

they can access them for further use.

From Here Students Can:

• Right click to open the

article.

• Right click to share the

article by copying the URL.

• Right click to delete the

article.

• At the bottom are icons to

upload images, audio, video,

links or documents to the

WorkSpace.

• So “Right Click” on Abraham

Lincoln to go back to that

page.

Just like Wikipedia students can also “Get Involved” by

clicking on the shaking hands and submitting an image,

video or website for review by Britannica editors.

Sharing an article is as easy as clicking on the chain.

Finally, students can email the article to so they can

work on in later.

Return To The Home Page For More Research Tools.

Magazines

• Includes magazines from

the arts, sciences and

popular culture.

• Articles are presented in .pdf

format.

• Some of the titles include

Africa Today, Dairy

International, Dance Spirit,

Mother Jones, Motor Trend,

Stanford Law Review,

Skateboarder, Surfer and

Worldwide Energy.

• Articles are from 2007-2011.

• Content includes titles such

as “History of Nigeria” from

African Studies.

Students can find images and videos for papers and

presentations from the “Media Collections” section.

Quotes are always great in a paper which is

why “Quotations” is such a great resource.

Students stumped for a subject will want to check

out the “Subjects” section.

Research Tools

Compare Countries - Compare statistics, maps, flags, and

multimedia about any two countries in the world.

This Day In History

Browse by day to find people who were born on that day in

history and events that occurred on that day.

Timelines

World Atlas

World Data Analysis

Comprehensive

statistical analysis of

every nation of the

world. Students can

perform statistical

comparisons between

countries or changes

over time in specific

countries. Data can be

placed in charts or

graphs and exported to

Excel. This is updated

yearly.

Additional Research Aids

Merriam-Webster Dictionary NY Times & BBC News

• Britannica Blog

• Britannica Advocacy For Animals

Britannica Blog

Posts on are

made on

current events

worldwide by

various editors

and is updated

three times a

week.

Britannica

Advocacy For Animals

Contains posts

concerning animal

rights and welfare

and is an

amalgam of

articles written by

in-house staff,

other bloggers

and guest writers

who are

specialists in the

field.

THE ENDBritannica Online offers a wealth of research aids for

students and teachers alike.

Don’t be afraid to have fun with the research tools.

Let the students have free rein to search the site.

Check out the section on the home page School

and Library Sites Librarians, Teachers,

Administrators: Learn more about award-winning

titles and content that is curriculum aligned and

recommended by teachers and industry

professionals. You never know what you might learn!