Tag Archives: learning

Indiana State Library renews INSPIRE contract; offers new learning resources for Hoosiers

Posted on by

The Indiana State Library has announced the renewal of its INSPIRE contract with EBSCO Information Services and TeachingBooks. INSPIRE, Indiana’s Lifelong Learning Library for Hoosiers, is a collection of more than 70 online academic databases and other information resources that can be accessed by Indiana residents at no cost at inspire.in.gov. The new contract enhances INSPIRE product offerings to provide a robust collection of online resources to all residents of Indiana who have internet access at school, home or work. 

Beginning July 1, residents of Indiana will have access to all EBSCO resources that have previously been available through INSPIRE, as well as a few new databases. Resources span across various research needs offering academic, business and general interest resources, including EBSCO’s distinguished Academic Search Complete™ and Business Source Complete™ resources. EBSCO databases available through INSPIRE also include medical research resources, as well as children’s and teens’ resources, e-book collections, communications and literature resources, newspapers and multilingual materials.  

New to the collection, Job & Career Accelerator™ provides job seekers with tools to explore careers, build resumes and find and apply for open positions. Rosetta Stone Library Solution Plus™, an interactive world language immersion program, will also be accessible and includes more than 50 hours of foundational instruction in each level of each language. LearningExpress Library Complete™ is also now part of the collection and provides academic skill-building, test prep and career-related resources.  

Additionally, the Indiana State Library has renewed its contract with TeachingBooks, a resource collection that includes author and illustrator interviews, video book trailers, audio book readings, book discussion guides and more. TeachingBooks can be accessed via INSPIRE.  

Indiana State Librarian Jacob Speer anticipates continued success with the wealth of resources INSPIRE provides to the residents of Indiana. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with TeachingBooks and EBSCO and to seeing the benefits that our residents gain from the comprehensive collection of resources made available to encourage lifelong learning,” Speer said. 

This blog post was submitted by John Wekluk, communications director. 

Highlighting new INSPIRE databases

Posted on by

In July, the Indiana State Library announced the addition of a new set of databases – and more content – to INSPIRE, Indiana’s virtual library. INSPIRE is a service provided by the Indiana State Library and is free to all Indiana residents. Here’s a brief overview of these exciting new additions:

Legal Information Reference Center
This data base contains more than 310 full-text publications and reference books including the NOLO books. Information is available related to money and financial planning; businesses and corporations; family affairs and divorce; immigration and travel; patents, copyright and trademarks; property and real estate; rights and disputes and wills and estate planning. Legal forms are available and searchable by state.

EBook Collection for K-8, High Schools and Public Libraries
These eBook collections offer unlimited access to over 75,000 eBooks. The books may be downloaded to your reading device or you may print the information you need to take with you. Simultaneous access allows teachers to assign class-wide reading assignments which benefits schools using virtual learning. The eBooks cover a wide variety of topics and are selected by librarians.

Learning Express Library
Learning Express Library offers a variety of resources to help library users meet their personal and professional goals. Includes test prep info as well as practice quizzes. There are resources in the following categories: career preparation, high school equivalency, college admission and test preparation, school center (K-12), college students and adult core skills in English and Spanish. The database also incorporates tutorials and eBook content.

Communications and Mass Media Complete
Communications and Mass Media Complete combines the content of CommSearch and Mass Media Articles Index. The database offers more than 210 full-text, non-open access journals.

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
This database offers full-text coverage from 480 journals, with especially strong coverage of child and adolescent psychology and various counseling areas. Useful for psychologists, counselors, researchers and students.

Religion and Philosophy Collection
The Religion and Philosophy Collection is comprised of full-text journals and magazines providing coverage of the last 100 years of theological and philosophical holdings. Topics covered incorporate world religions, religious history, political philosophy, history of philosophy and the philosophy of language.

Databases that were already included in INSPIRE, but have increased coverage are Academic Search Complete, Consumer Health Information (available in 17 languages), MAS Complete and MasterFile Complete.

For tutorials and promotional materials, visit the EBSCO Connect page.

This blog post was written by Kara Cleveland, Professional Development Office supervisor at the Indiana State Library.

Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government

Posted on by

Ben’s Guide is a scholastic website hosted by the Government Publishing Office (GPO), designed to inform and educate students, parents and teachers about the federal government. The site includes learning activities about Ben Franklin, his life and legacy and information on the government and how it functions. As the first public librarian of the U.S., as well as a printer, Ben Franklin was the natural choice as “guide.” Ben’s Guide utilizes historic documents and resources found within GPO to create this interactive instructional tool.

Enjoy as Ben leads on various learning adventures! Through the completion of games and activities, one will have a better understanding of how our country was founded, how laws are made, the difference between federal and state government and so much more. The learning activities are broken down into age groups: Apprentice (ages 4-8), Journey Person (ages 9-13) and Master (ages 14+). Ben’s Guide features three games: Play the States, Printable Activities (crosswords and word searches) and Branch-O-Mania. The site also includes a glossary to help children understand government terms and teaching activities for educators.

Ben’s Guide was recognized by the American Library Association as a Great Website for Kids. The resource is wonderful for educators wanting to teach children about our country’s founding and how our government functions. The website is another example of how GPO is raising awareness on how the government works for you. Users can make any comments or suggestions relating to Ben’s Guide here. Please take a moment to explore this fun and educational site.

This blog post was written by Indiana State Library Federal Documents Coordinator Brent Abercrombie. For more information, contact the Reference and Government Services at (317) 232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

Summer Storytimes and Learn IN Workshops recap

Posted on by

With the Indiana Young Readers Center (IYRC) grand opening in October, this summer was the first opportunity for IYRC staff to dip their toes into summer programming for kids. We had a lot of fun and we hope to see you next summer, if not sooner!

In June, the IYRC hosted two storytimes for children ages 3-7 and four workshops for children in grades 3-6. Each storytime involved books, crafts and playing in the IYRC. Each workshop paired an art form taught by an Arts for Learning artist, with a topic related to Indiana history or Indiana literature. Children learned about different kinds of poetry written by Indiana poets and Tony Styxx gave a lesson on spoken word poetry. Robin McBride Scott showed children how to make an effigy vessel after they learned about treaties and they saw St. Mary’s Treaty up close! After looking at Baist Atlas maps for signs of segregation along Indiana Avenue in the 1940s, Bonnie Maurer helped children write pieces of jazz poetry. Bob Sander explained the elements of storytelling after children heard about genealogy and made timelines of their lives. All of these programs were free for anyone who wanted to join in the fun.

Please enjoy these photo highlights:

We learned so much about effigy pottery from Robin McBride Scott and had fun making our own pieces, bowls that look like birds.

This young man shows off his effigy pottery creation.

Caitlyn shows visitors how to use Baist maps to search for clues of segregation along Indiana Avenue.

Bonnie Maurer led us in jazz poetry exercises to hone our writing skills.

These children show off the masks they made at the “All About Clifford” storytime.

After the stories were read and the crafts were made, these siblings played in the IYRC.

This blog post was written by Caitlyn Stypa, Indiana Young Readers Center assistant, Indiana State Library.