Database Guide with practice questions – America the Beautiful (Grolier)
Use this database to find information about American history and culture. Description America the Beautiful online provides access to United States history, geography and biography. The database is primarily designed for use by K- 12 students but is useful for all ages. The information is divided into several separate databases, all of which are updated at least yearly. Photos, maps, and graphics are included in the product. Availability and Use Restrictions In-Library Use: Available at all Library locations Remote Use: Jefferson County Public Library card is required. Searching There are ten search types: Find It Fast, Advanced, U.S. Topics, Timelines, Profiles, Almanac, State, Dictionaries, Atlas and Grolier Online. There are also features such as Games, Teacher Resources, and Further Reading. Find It Fast Search This is the search box on the main page, it does a keyword search of all indexes. 1. Type a word or phrase in the search box. 2. Choose to search All Grolier Online or America the Beautiful Only 3. Click Go. Advanced Search On the main page or within other search types, click Advanced Search to build a complex search. A new window will pop up. 1. Type a word or phrase in the search box. 2. If desired use additional search boxes with the Boolean connectors to broaden or narrow your search. 3. Select Full Text Search or Article Titles Only. 4. Click Go. US Topics Search 1. Choose your topic, Cities, Explorers, Native Americans, Natural Wonders, Places and Events, or Presidents. 2. A new window will pop up with a browsable list of subtopics. 3. You may click on a letter of the alphabet to go to that section of the list, or you can scroll down the list. 4. Click on a subtopic to go to that entry.
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5. The subtopic window will close and the article about your subtopic will be in the original window. Timelines Search 1. Choose your time period (before 1750, 1750–1849, 1850–1949 and 1950 to the present) and/or topic area (U.S. History, Science and Technology, Arts and Entertainment, Written Word and World History) from the gridline. U.S. History is always displayed as a comparison column to the topic chosen. 2. Or at the bottom of the screen compare timelines for two states by using the drop down menus to select the state names. Profiles Search Biographies of famous men and women. 1. You may click on a letter of the alphabet to go to that section of the list, or you can scroll down the list 2. Click on the name of the person you would like to get more information about. Almanac Search A selection of tables and lists that provides access to up-to-date, concise and relevant information on many topics 1. Scroll down the list of topics 2. Click on a topic to select it and go to an article. State Search 1. From the entry page click a state on the map. 2. From other pages click State List and select a state name. 3. Within the article about the state you may select a specific section of the article, web links, or maps. Dictionary Search 1. At the top of the screen click Dictionaries. 2. A new window will pop up. 3. Select the dictionary or thesaurus that you would like to search. 4. Enter a word(s) in the search box. 5. Click Look Up. 6. Scroll down the screen to see the definition. 7. Click Close to return to the database. Atlas Search 1. At the top of the screen click Atlas. 2. A new window will pop up. 3. Click the area/country on the map that you would like to view in more detail. 4. A new map will appear. 5. At the top of each map there are links to different types of atlases for the selected area - Geopolitical, Historical, Thematic or Explorers. Not all
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types are available for all areas. 6. There is also a Global Distances option, where you can choose two cities and find the distance between them in miles or kilometers. 7. In addition you may also enter a search term at the top of the screen in the Map Search box. 8. Close the window to return to the database. Grolier Online Search This search allows you to search all of the Grolier databases that JCPL subscribes to at one time. These include; New Book of Knowledge, New Book of Popular Science, Lands and Peoples, Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre en linea and America the Beautiful. 1. Use the Find It Fast search at the top of the screen. 2. Make sure that All Grolier Online is selected. 3. Type a word(s) in the search box. 4. Click Go. 5. When you select your result it may take a few extra moments to see the article if you are connecting to a different database. 6. Use the back button to return to America the Beautiful when you are finished looking at your results. Games Feature: This is a collection of puzzles and learning games about the United States. Teacher Resource Feature There is a link to Teacher Resources from most pages. There are news articles, activities for classes and teaching tips available. Most items are in PDF format. Further Reading Feature This link is generally towards the bottom of most pages and leads to bibliographies on the US and each state. Using the Boolean Operators Use OR to connect similar terms. OR broadens your search. Example: hispanic or latino Use AND to connect separate concepts. AND narrows your search. Example: doctor and surgeon Use NOT to eliminate separate concepts. NOT narrows your search. Example: kennedy not politician Truncating Terms Use * to replace one or more characters at the end of a search term. Example: drug* (retrieves drug, drugs, druggist)
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Use ? to replace one character within a search term, may use multiple ?. Examples: wom?n (retrieves woman, women) psych????y (retrieves psychology or psychiatry, not psychotherapy) Use ! to indicate one character at the end of a search term, may use multiple !. Example: analo!! (retrieves analog, analogs but not analogous) Displaying Search Results 1. Search results are displayed on the screen 2. Use the scroll bar to move through the article. 3. Click on links within the article to find related information. 4. Use Web Links to find information on the Internet about the topic. 5. If a record has images you may click on the image for a larger version or click the link with the image to get related information. Printing Search Results 1. Display the record to be printed. 2. Click Print full article or Print Sections. 3. A new window will pop up. 4. If you clicked Print Sections select the content you want to have printed. The requested sections will appear. 5. Click Print Preview. 6. The content will appear in a printer friendly format. 7. Click your browser’s File menu and select Print Preview. 8. Make sure the pages are what you want. If you are using this database within a JCPL location there is a charge for computer printing. 9. Click Print in the print preview window. 10. Click Print in the print command window. 11. Close the window to return to the original results. Downloading Search Results America the Beautiful does not have a formal download command. You can use the standard browser Save As command. To use the information in any word processing or notepad application save in txt format. 1. Display record to be downloaded. 2. Insert a formatted disk, or CD-ROM, or memory stick into the appropriate drive. 3. Click File and select Save As. 4. Type the disk drive, the filename and .txt in the FILE NAME box. Example: a:myfile.txt 5. Click Save. Emailing Search Results 1. Display the record to be emailed. 2. Click E-mail article. 3. A new window will pop up. 4. Type your email address in the box. 5. Click OK.
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6. You will receive a message that your email was sent successfully. 7. Click Close to return to the original search Beginning a New Search 1. Click in the search box at the top of the page and enter a new term. 2. Or, click a topic tab.
Practice Questions
Goal: To be able to use the America the Beautiful database to locate information on a specific subject. After completing this worksheet, you should be able to: Find information on specific topics in U.S. history, biography and geography. Limit searches by state. Limit searches by time. Locate current events and activities. Locate pictures and graphics about specific topics. Practice questions/activities: 1. Find a picture of the Alaska state flag. • When was the flag adopted? • What do the flag colors represent? 2. Find an article about Kykuit. • What is Kykuit? • When may people visit it? 3. Find information about the Battle of Shiloh. 4. Find the following information about Colorado. • What is the gross domestic state product? • Who is the current Governor? • What number is Colorado ranked among the states by total area? 5. Find a picture of Sandra Day O’Connor. 6. Find a direct link to Puerto Rico. Is it a territory or a commonwealth? 7. Find a list of U.S. Dependent Areas. Is Johnston Atoll on the list? 8. What happened in the year 800 in World History and in the United States? 9. Find the Further Reading link for North Carolina. Then find the citation for the
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book. North Carolina's Hurricane History. Who wrote the book? 10. What happened in Georgia and Colorado in 1819? Bonus activity: Just for fun, find and play the first 10 questions in the Capital Game. Answers 1. Find a picture of the Alaska state flag. • Use the State section to find a picture of the Alaska state flag. • Click the map of Alaska on the Home Page map, or, on other pages, click State List and choose Alaska. • Then click Government. • Answers to the questions” When was the flag adopted?” and “What do the flag colors represent?” can be found by clicking the Alaska State Flag link under the picture of the flag. 2. Find an article about Kykuit. • Use the U.S. Topics section to find an article about Kykuit. • Click the Places and Events link. • Then under the alphabetical heading, click K, then Kykuit. • Answers to the questions “What is Kykuit?” and “When may people visit it?” are found in the article. The search box at the top right of the home page may also be used to find this information 3. Find information about the Battle of Shiloh. • Use the Search box on the upper right corner of the home page. • Enter “Battle of Shiloh”. • Click Go. 4. Find the following information about Colorado. • Use the America the Beautiful Almanac to find information on Colorado. • Use the Economy section and the Gross Domestic Products by State link to find the gross domestic state product of Colorado. • Use the Government: State Highlights and the Current Governors link to find the current Governor. • Use the Geography: State Highlights and the Largest States by Total Area link to find the Colorado rank among the states. 5. Find a picture of Sandra Day O’Connor • Use the Profiles section to find a picture of Sandra Day O’Connor. • Click the O letter of the alphabet on the main Profiles page. • Scroll down to O’Connor, and click the link. 6. Find a direct link to Puerto Rico. Is it a territory or a commonwealth?
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• On the Home Page U. S. map use the button link in the lower right corner to find a direct link to Puerto Rico. • On other pages, use the State List link, and scroll alphabetically down to the Puerto Rico link. • Information on the status of Puerto Rico as a commonwealth may be found either in the History link or the Government Link. 7. Find a list of U.S. Dependent Areas. Is Johnston Atoll on the list? • Use the Almanac, and scroll down to U.S. Dependent Areas. • Click the Johnston Atoll link. 8. What happened in the year 800 in World History and in the United States? • Use Timelines, and click the World History column in the Before 1750 row. • Both the United States column and the World History column for that time period will display. • Scroll down to find out what happened in the year 800 in World History and in the United States. 9. Find the Further Reading link for North Carolina. Then find the citation for the book. North Carolina's Hurricane History. Who wrote the book? • Use either the State List or the Home Page U.S. map link to reach the North Carolina state information. • The Further Reading link for North Carolina is at the bottom of the North Carolina main page. • Scroll down the list to find the citation for the book. North Carolina's Hurricane History. Jay Barnes wrote the book. 10. What happened in Georgia and Colorado in 1819? • First, compare the Georgia and Colorado timelines. Go to Timelines, and scroll to the bottom of the page to the compare two state timelines option. • Use the pop-up text-boxes to choose Colorado and Georgia. • Click Compare. What happened in each state in 1819? Bonus activity: Click Games then scroll down the list and click Capital Game. After the map loads, a question will automatically appear. After the first 10 questions in the Capital Game, you are given the choice of quitting or loading more questions.
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