To begin working with the SIRS Discoverer you must either enter your driver's license number or State Id Number. It is a free service, but you first must validate that you are a michigan resident.
When you get into the site you see a wide variety of searchable categories (Animals, Sports, Cultures, History and Government, Science, Social Issues, etc.) By clicking on any of the topics you will see a list of resources which can then be sorted by type (newspapers, magazines, reference, pictures, and web sites). Topics can also be located throught the use of a keyword search.
In addition to the article searching capabilities, the SIRS Discoverer Deluxe has many other web tools and resources. The site contains a built in dictionary, thesaurus tool, almanac, and encyclopedia. Also, the site contains a database of teacher resources. Teachers can find resources about countries of the world, science projects, graphic organizers, photo essays, and bibliographies.
SIRS Renaissance by ProQuest K-12 is a database for researching the arts and humanities (music, art, religion, philosophy, culture, architecture, etc.) This site seems to have similar searching capabilities as the SIRS Discoverer program; however,this site does require a paid license in order to use it. To find pricing you must contact a local representative. It looks like it is determined based on the number of subscription areas that are chosen for your building.
Both of the SIRS databases seem like great resources for education. The sites have full-text articles from a wide range of resources. Additionally, they contain good educationally appropriate and accurate images. Even more importantly, these sites are monitored, updated, and checked for accuracy. Unlike many web sources found through basic searches or sites like Wikipedia, these databases contain only accurate and reliable information. They great tools for classroom research.
2. The Educator's Reference Complete is a database of periodicals and reports from the U.S. department of education. Below is a screenshot:
I found that the Educator's Reference Complete is a resource that is probably best used for teachers and administrators that would like to research a given topic. I can see this resource as being very useful for educators that are continuing their education and may need to do some real research on a topic. Similarly, I think the articles could be used to find statistical support for potential educational directions for a building
The articles in this collection are directed toward a fairly professional audience. I do not see this site as a great resource for secondary students unless it was specifically used in a research class or possibly an advanced placement class.
3. Below is an example of a citiation which was made through the Mel database website. The citation tool makes it very easy to quickly site any article or source that you are reviewing. The source below is about UDL (Univeral Design for Learning).
4. Below is a citation which was made online in EasyBib. It is citing an article about Green Technology.
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