Waffle Bytes

From the Michigan eLibrary: MeL’s EBSCO host e-books are downloadable in ePub or PDF format. The PDF version is a fixed layout of the print version of the book, and ePub allows the text to be adjusted easily for any device or screen size. With Adobe Digital Editions (freely downloadable from Adobe.com), e-books are mobile friendly. The ePub format also makes e-books compatible with adaptive technologies, including screen reading software. The table of contents in the e-books links directly to a specific chapter.  You can also read the e-book right in your web browser. The e-books can be organized and downloaded to Google Drive – or any other file storage. Passages can be highlighted, shared, notes added, emailed, and printed. For researchers and students, there is an automatic citation generator that can be used in conjunction with popular products like RefWorks, EndNote, or Zotero. For librarians and teachers, integrating these e-book features should be an essentia...

Michigan Electronic Library has a plethora of resources available to Michigan teachers to support your teaching and student learning.  I would suggest exploring the following: the variety of curriculum resources , categorized by subject area and other topics such as career & college ready skills, Makerspace,  and technology.   flyers to help you educate students on evaluating electronic resources professional development eResources

A new school year brings new opportunities to dig into the content and tools in MeL's eResources. We know it can be a lot of work to roll out a new library resource to students, parents, teachers and school administrators. To help, a range of support resources are available from each of MeL's eResource providers. This month, we're reviewing EBSCO’s knowledge base, EBSCO Connect. With a collection of lesson plans, tutorials, student guides and more, you are sure to find what you need. The best part? They’re free! Here are the Top 5 student and teacher support resources available in EBSCO Connect:   Lesson Plans Are you supporting teachers in your community with library material connections to curriculum? Look for dozens of lesson plans for a variety of subjects. To support students and teachers in high school check out the information literacy lesson plan  Spotting Fake News and Images on the Web . Scavenger Hunts Explore features, discover research top...

If you’re in the job-seeking market, brush up your resume or write a new one with LearningExpress Job & Career Accelerator® available free at the Michigan electronic Library (Mel.org). Under  LearningExpress , click the Job & Career Accelerator Center. Select Tools to Get Hired, then launch the  Build Your Resume  career tool. The Resume Builder will help you create effective resumes in a step-by-step manner with expert advice, easy-to-follow instructions, and helpful resume samples. The Resume Builder helps you create new resumes from scratch or upload and edit an existing resume. The easy-to-follow format allows you to set up your resume profile once with your name and contact information, resume name, job category, description, job experience and current work situation, all saved for any additional resumes. When you create a new resume, you may select a first design or skip this step. Navigation takes you through the sections for a headline, job highlig...

From the MeL blog -  World Book Webquests, available through the World Book Kids digital database, teach responsible digital citizenship, strong research skills, and critical and analytical thought—all while making learning an adventure! Webquests are print-and-do activities that take learners on expeditions through World Book Kids. By following the step-by-step routes through the database, students learn by reading text, studying images, and hearing sound (including text read aloud to them). Along the way, students of all learning types practice basic database research skills. In the classroom or as part of library programming, a teacher or librarian simply needs to print out and distribute a WebQuest, and students can begin their self-directed exploration. New Webquests on topics ranging from sports to space are added often to ensure that the activity appeals to every student. Webquests approach every topic in ways that make the information approachable, digestible, an...

From Ann Rau, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Lansing Community College and the MeL Team: Academic Search Complete  is the fourth most popular MeL eResource with over a half million retrievals in the last three months. Have you checked it out since it went live on Oct 1?  Anne Rau of Lansing Community College writes: “My instructor says I have to get peer-reviewed and scholarly articles. Help!!!” This has to be one of the most frequently asked questions academic librarians hear from students. Here at the LCC Library, one of our go to databases for this is Academic Search Complete from EBSCO. It was added to the Michigan eLibrary this past fall. It covers a wide variety of subjects, so it can be used for almost any program of study. For Beginning and Experienced Searchers   What I especially like about Academic Search Complete is the one stop shopping to find scholarly/peer-reviewed/trade journal articles on so many di...

Brought to you from the team at MeL -  Anyone ordering new materials for their library knows firsthand the annual number of books being published has exploded. Some estimates cite the number at over 1 million! How are we ever supposed to keep up with all of these new titles?   NoveList Plus  and  NoveList K-8 Plus  are two great  eResources  available in  MeL  that can become your secret weapons for finding your, or your patrons', next great reads. A source for expert read-alike recommendations,  NoveList  adds about 30,000 new titles every year. Approximately two-thirds of those are for adults and one-third are for kids. There are over 78,000  audiobook  titles and over 34,000 series titles.   With books for every reader both   NoveList   eResources   offer a wide range of features to help you narrow down your search for a great book.   Recommendations by title, author,...

Supporting Michigan Libraries - November 15, 2018 From Liz Breed of MeL -  We're excited to offer AtoZdatabases, a new eResource in MeL. This powerful tool offers content useful for demographic profiles, business site location studies, traffic studies, proposal/grant writing, mapping a geographic area, conducting city or regional comparisons, research and development, and studying industry segments. Whether you currently offer support to your local business community or you're considering doing so in the future, AtoZdatabases can help enhance and build your efforts. Some of the most common questions small business owners ask can be fielded using AtoZdatabases. How do I find new customers to grow my business? Should I expand my business in this new geographic area? Where can I get a mailing list to promote my new service or products? How can I learn more about my community? I need to secure additional funding. Where can I find information abou...

From Liz Breed of the MeL Team -  Supporting Michigan Libraries - November 1, 2018 Where Did the Teen Portal Go? With 23 eResources just for Teens, there is a wealth of content available for research, homework help and more! Accessing these eResources is made simpler by using the Subject search on the eResources page. Visit MeL.org and click on eResources in the navigation menu at the top of the page. Once you are there, click on the "All Subjects" drop down menu and scroll down until you see "Teens (23)". Scroll down to see the full list. Using the "All Subjects" search tool is the best way to find groups of related eResources and is similar to the portals that used to be part of MeL. This is part of our efforts to respond to the way that people were actually using the Teen portal according to Google Analytics statistics. Over half of visitors to the Teen portal homepage left almost immediately for the eResources page. Of t...