Gale

I checked out the medical reference collection and the Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health.  This encyclopedia consists of 4 volumes. Specifically, I looked through the resources on influenza.  This resource was very uer-friendly, well-rounded and easy to understand.    Medical information is a popular search option that needs to be frequently updated.  This allows us to have the most up-to-date information without breaking the bank on expensive reference items.

For part 2, I searched for the Buddhist prophet Nichiren.  There were several references that came up, all very comprehensive.  I tried the Listen function - rather robotic voice - but still a great feature.

The availability of this database would be fantastic for smaller libraries and those with limited budgets.  The cost of reference books is immense, and this allows the maintenance of current information with less cost.

Proquest

I searched the topic crosswords and memory on Proquest and got over 1,400 hits.  If a person were doing research, it would be very helpful to refer to the types of resources the information is coming from: trade journals, magazines, scholarly journals, wire feeds, even NPR.  I also found the graphic on the right-hand side that showed the decades of publication interesting - 1974-2013. Could be great for comparing/contrasting evolving thoughts on the issue.

I read several of my fellow Library Challenge participants blogs and found many of the same comments that I had.  This is a database that encompasses so many topics, you should be able to find whatever it is you're looking for!

I was surprised to find at least 9 library-related journals listed in the publications.  It's surprisingly easy to browse issues using the Preview button to the right of each article - gave a short synopsis. 

SIRS Issues Researcher

I chose the leading issue of Human Trafficking.  The topic overview gave a nice introduction to the issue - there was also an audio MP3 that read the overview to you.  The statistics tab provided you links to articles with stats but there were also graphic representations you could select as well - posters, charts, graphs, etc. It was also nice to see parallel topics to branch out in more specific ways. 

The Curriculum Pathfinders are very extensive - interesting that they also add research topics to go along with them.  I chose Archaeology as my subject.  I like the various formats that are available: government docs, newspapers, magazines, graphics/mecia.  The graphics section had some great pictures that could be embedded in your project.   

SIRS Discoverer

I thought a kookabura was a cute, furry mammal - guess I was wrong. 

I have children at home who would get great use out of this resource.  I like that the information is separated by format, i.e., newspaper, reference, magazine, web.  The various reading levels make the site much more user friendly for various age groups.  I even found an activity that could be used by a teacher in their classroom. 

Wow!  The map feature is awesome.  My 8th grader is studying the Revoluionary War and it's hard to explain to him how differently the country looked at that time.  It also breaks it down by time period as well as battles.  Impressive!

The last Database Feature I looked at was the Science Fair.  Again, very helpful for my daughter's 3rd grade science fair project.  It gives you an equipment and supplies list, instructions, and explanation of why you get the results you do.