Andre S. Dvila MEDT 7474 Fall 2013 Almanac Reference Logs Almanac Search Page | Infoplease.com. (2013).

In Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. | Infoplease.com. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/almanacs.html "In addition to the original Information Please Almanac, Information Please now publishes an annual almanac geared for kids. With the 1998 launch of Infoplease.com, free on-line accessibility to these reference works, as well as a leading dictionary and encyclopedia, became available, providing up-to-date information on a broad range of topics." I typed a simple search for Usain Bolt (which searched all of the Infoplease Almanacs, plus the Columbia Encyclopedia and Infoplease Dictionary in one click). I learned that he has Olympic records for 2008 & 2012 for track, even though he suffers from scoliosis (in fact, I know his chiropractor in Jamaica). A focused search of "All Almanacs" would show me ONLY almanac results. Users can browse the entire content of almanacs or click on the navigation bar at the left to browse the following nine specific almanac categories: World & News, United States, History & Government, Biography, Sports, Arts & Entertainment, Business, Society & Culture, and Health & Science. The Home tab shows a quick table of contents of the site, including the Daily Almanac with famous birthdays, a word quiz, This Day in History, and Link of the Day. Students will appreciate the Homework Help Center for resources to help with school assignments. Grades: 3rd and up. Subject(s): All. Overall rating: 9.

Fact Monster - Almanac Search Page | FactMonster.com. (2013). In Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help | FactMonster.com. Retrieved from http://www.factmonster.com/almanacs.html "Fact Monster is an ideal reference site for kids ages 8-14 that provides entertainment and educational resources. It combines the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records. A single search engine allows you to search all these sources at once. In addition to an electronic database that is continuously updated and expanded, the Fact Monster site includes information from the following reference works:"

The TIME for Kids Almanac, edited by Beth Rowen of Fact Monster and published by Time Inc. Selected content from The TIME Almanac, with Information Please, edited by Borgna Brunner of Information Please and published by Time Inc. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, published by Columbia University Press. Infoplease Dictionary, based on the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary The Infoplease Atlas, which includes several hundred maps from Magellan Geographix.

As an online source, the information is updated regularly. "Some is updated daily (e.g., the home page and daily features), some biweekly (e.g., countries of the world), and some annually (e.g., census and other statistical data published once a year)." The Home page has seven areas that are updated daily: Today's Birthdays, This Day in History, Today's Word Quiz, Spelling Bee, Today's Analogy, In the News, and Featured Articles. An eighth area, Monster's Poll, changes regularly. Contents of the almanacs plus links to other Fact Monster features for that subject can be found instantly by clicking on the buttons at the left side of the Fact Monster web page. The search box is used to find information from the encyclopedia and dictionary. "To search, simply type the words you want to search for in the box near the top of the page and click the "go!" button. This will search all of the almanacs, plus the Columbia Encyclopedia and Infoplease Dictionary, in one click. The Search Results page will list everything that relates to that term. Click on any of the search results to find out more about your topic." Articles on famous people would be found using the Biography search. "Biosearch is a search engine just for biographies that gives you easy access to multiple entries on a particular person (e.g., the site offers three separate bios on Lincolnfrom the dictionary, almanac, and encyclopedia)." Citing articles (in MLA format) is a function available on each screen. As well, the print icon allows for printing of their information. They have a contact form if any errors are found. Grades: 3rd-8th. Subject(s): All Overall rating: 9.

Georgia State Almanac - General information about Georgia from NETSTATE.COM. (2013). In State Symbols, 50 State Capitals, Flags, Maps, Geography, Facts, Songs, History, Famous People from NETSTATE.COM. Retrieved September 23, 2013, from http://www.netstate.com/states/alma/ga_alma.htm The Georgia Almanac is part of the NETSTATE.COM website that includes all 50 states. So, this website has almanac information (facts and figures) as well as links to State Intro, Symbols, Economy, Geography, State Maps, People, Forum, News, Cool Schools (any school who registers on their site), State Quiz, Bookstore, Marketplace, State Links, NETSTATE Store, and NETSTATE Mall. Any word or phrase highlighted in blue will take you to further information within the almanac. I clicked on "Green Treefrog" and I found interesting information that students and teachers could use in projects: An idea that originated in a 4th grade classroom at Armuchee Elementary School, in Rome, has finally been rewarded. It was 2002 and the Armuchee School 4th graders, studying science and government with teachers Ruth Pinson and Marilyn McLean, discovered that the State of Georgia was not represented by an official amphibian. In 2003, House Bill No. 256, designating an official state amphibian, was sponsored by Representative Barbara Reece, of Menlo. Rep. Reese, a retired schoolteacher, could not get the bill passed by the House of Representatives. In 2004, House Bill No. 365, again sponsored by Rep. Reese, was introduced. This time, the legislation made in through the House of Representatives but failed in the Senate. On January 24, 2005, Senate Bill No. 41 was introduced and read in the Georgia State Senate for the first time. In his bill, Senator Preston Smith of Rome proposed, for the third time in as many years, that the green treefrog be made the official amphibian of the State of Georgia. The third time is the charm! This year, the tiny, 2" green treefrog was a shoe-in. In about two months the green treefrog garnered the approval of both houses of the Georgia General Assembly. It was forwarded to the governor on April 13. It took the governor little bit of time to get around to signing Preston Smith's legislation into law. But sign it he did. On May 9, 2005, Governor Sonny Purdue signed Senate Bill No. 41 into law making the green tree frog the "official Georgia state amphibian.

Georgia Law
The following information was excerpted from the Georgia Code, Title 2, Chapter 10. TITLE 50. STATE GOVERNMENT CHAPTER 3. STATE FLAG, SEAL, AND OTHER SYMBOLS ARTICLE 3. OTHER STATE SYMBOLS O.C.G.A. 50-3-81 (2007)

 50-3-81. Official amphibian The green tree frog is designated as the official Georgia state amphibian. HISTORY: Code 1981, 50-3-81, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 316, 2/SB 41.

Grades: 3rd and up. Subject(s): ALL Overall rating: 9.

CultureGrams Online Database: Subscriber Area Only. (2013). In CultureGrams Online Database: Subscriber Area Only. Retrieved from http://online.culturegrams.com/secure/states/index.php I believe that this online database (part of the Cobb County Digital Library) link is an almanac-like resource. Both for United States and World information, a user can find out facts and figures on an array of topics. However, this might be an encyclopedia-type reference too. I have cut and pasted a variety of statements from the site: "We are thrilled to announce that text-to-speech functionality is now available in CultureGrams! Its something that customers have asked for, and we have listened. Through a partnership with ReadSpeaker, CultureGrams content is now more accessible then ever. Hearing text read aloud can help users improve reading comprehension and assist those with visual impairments or reading difficulties. And some customers may simply prefer to listen to the audio rather than reading the text."

"The text-to-speech functionality is very easy to use. Simply click on the Listen link on whatever page you are on and the audio will start. Or you can highlight a portion of text, click on the button that pops up, and that highlighted portion will be read aloud. Whether you listen to the entire text or just a selection, you have the option to play, pause, adjust the volume, control the speed at which the text is read, regulate the highlighting, etc. You can even download MP3 audio files of the text."

"Text-to-speech functionality is available across all CultureGrams editions. You can see it on country, state, and province landing pages as well as individual category pages. Its also available with our accessible reports and features such as Interviews, Famous People, and Recipes." In CultureGrams World Edition there is a currency converter, distance calculator, and world clock included Find the right hand column on each countrys landing page and look for the menu labeled tools. There you will find a set of learning tools that enhance each countrys report.

"The first link is to CultureGrams graphs and tables, which have been recently expanded . The definitions link takes a CultureGrams user to two separate lists of terms; one is a list of concepts that a user may encounter in CultureGrams, and the other is a list of key cultural terms, searchable by letter or by country." "The world time link takes the user to a page that lists the current time in country capitals around the world. The currency converter can find the current exchange rate between various currencies. The distance calculator finds the distance between two countries capitals and highlights the distance on a map."

The distance between Helsinki, Finland, and Yerevan, Armenia, is highlighted on a map. Students could use this database to research places around the globe. Here is a link to Common Core Curriculum Standards K-12 and how they apply to the information gained from CultureGrams: http://online.culturegrams.com/main/openpdf.php?filename=curriculum_standards_cg_all Grades: 6th and up. Subject(s): All Overall rating: 9.

Likoff, L., & Janssen, S. (2011). The world almanac for kids, 2011. New York: World Almanac Books. As a Sope Creek Elementary School highly-circulated item, this edition (as well as the 2012- which was ironically checked out) is a favorite among the K-5 audience, especially 2nd-5th. The full-color illustrations including 38 subjects to browse are very inviting to the reader. The list of subjects is as follows: Faces & Places (In the News), Animals, Art, Birthdays, Calendar, Crime, Disasters, Energy, Environment, Fashion, Games, Geography, Health, Homework Help, Inventions, Language, Military, Money, Movies & TV, Music & Dance, Mythology, Nations, Native Americans, Numbers, Population, Prizes & Contests, Religion, Science, Space, Sports, Technology & Computers, Transportation, Travel, United States, Volunteering, Weather, Weights & Measures, and World History. Then, the Answers, Index, and Photo Credits sections are at the end of this source. In the Language section, I found it interesting to learn that "orange & silver" are two common words in the English language that have no true rhymes. Also, the longest word in the English language that contains only one vowel is "strengths". Finally, the only two common words in the English language that end in "gry" are "angry" and "hungry". As it was emphasized in class readings, the 2011 edition includes information from 2010 (Jan.- late Oct.). Grades: K-5. Subject(s): All Overall rating: 9.