A Look Back

Well, well, it's the end of a run and it has been more than swell!

Looking back at this last section, Theme 3 was where I learned some of the neatest things in this course.

The Deep Web
I will not tell you how many hours I spent delving into readings and videos about the Deep Web. It was SO fascinating! I know that many of my peers have clipped and used this graphic but I think it is so apt I had to include it here:

From Dark Web News

I feel very lucky to be at a middle school this year and able to put much of what I am learning to use in discussions or activities with my students. While I am in agreement with many of the comments in discussion about the Deep Web not being as relevant when teaching elementary students, at middle school, my kids were fascinated too. I did not go into huge details of the Dark Web but overall, students really found discussion of the size of the web, how much is accessible to whom, how to protect themselves while investigating... super engaging. I was also surprised by how much some of them already knew, even beyond the basics of what I shared with them.

Databases
My students know that I am a big fan of Databases. My district has a bundle that is provided to all the schools in our district and I work hard every year to direct students to them. I feel they are so invaluable in what they can offer but I am also realistic that no matter how many times I showcase them, many students will still go back to the ease of a browser's search bar. Nonetheless, I know that each time I put it out there, a new student will log it into the back of their minds for retrieval at a later date. This video was created for Explora but I really like the clear and concise way it highlights many of the good reasons to use databases.

Research Made Easy with Explora from EBSCO on Vimeo.

Encyclopaedia, Dictionaries, Atlases +
I like big tomes, I cannot lie. I have lovely memories of being in my elementary school library and working the index of the World Book Encyclopedia, matching the volume and page number and finding the gratifying knowledge those entries issued out. I loved it. I did not have a set of my own but my Father loved reference books too and we had a myriad of specialized titles focusing on art, math, quotations, and more - I have retained quite a few of them to this very day. Nowadays, I know that the online version of many of these publications are much easier to search and they offer as much, if not more of an ability to link to further resources. I recognize that the cost of multi-volume hardcopy sets on my library shelf, though lovely, would not be as practical. The ease that many sites such as Google Earth provides and the access of multiple users at one time allows for much more use.
But I have kept an old set of encyclopedias and a handful of atlases. From time to time, I have seen a student sitting and flipping through them, it always brings a smile to my face.

Wrapping It Up
I will end as I began, with a reverence for the reference. There is SO much out there in terms of resources for our students and staff. In just a few months, my eyes have been opened to a variety of materials that I feel, I often neglect. These are not high circulation books but they should be high on my list to advocate for and highlight because they contain so much valuable data. Whether information is digital or in print, I have found over the years that there is often such an abundance out there that much of it can get lost in the shuffle. As a TL, I strongly feel that it is a large part of my job to ensure that the resources in my LLC be remembered, be brought forth, and be used. I truly appreciated having the time throughout this class to reacquaint myself with these gems and to discover new treasures to shine up and put on display.


Reference

EBSCO. Research Made Easy with Explora. Vimeo, 2017, vimeo.com/191195612.

Shannon, Cuthrell. “Deep Web What Is It & How to Access It (Ultimate Guide 2019).” Dark Web News, 2017, darkwebnews.com/deep-web/.