33 Academic Search Engines

When it comes to academic research, Google is not the answer. Too many students feel that as long as they have Google, everything will be fine. When I ask them if Google will evaluate a web site to see if it can be trusted, they pause for a minute and say "no".  Doing research online can be a daunting experience for both teachers and students, which is why you need to use search engines which are specific to academia. Here's a list of 33 to get you and your students started.




Academic Info-subject guide descriptions provide relevant sites.

Archival Research Catalog- U.S. National Archives

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)- over 29 million documents

BiologyBrowser

Bubl- selected Internet resources covering all academic areas.

Chemxseer- "documents in the chemistry domain"


Citeulike- search over 5 million articles

The Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies- computer-science related information 

EBSCOHost- if you are fortunate to have this wonderful resource, (our state library provides it for us) you will find the History Reference Center, Science Reference Center, Literary Reference Center, Student Research Center and much, much more.

ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center)- "online digital library of education research and information"

Food Science Central- "world's largest database of information on food science, food technology and nutrition. " 

Google Scholar

History Engine- research historical topics

Infomine- annotated academic sites and subject databases

Infotopia- educator selected sites

Intute- annotated academic sites

IPL- information you can trust

iSeek Education- search a topic or ask a question

JURN- search 4,303 free e-journals in the arts & humanities

LibGuides Community- over 100,000 pathfinders from thousands of libraries

Library of Congress- search for primary source documents, including photos, maps, manuscripts, historic newspapers and much more

MathWeb Search- search for formulas 

NASA Historical Archive

PsycLine- psychology and social science journals

RefSeek- (currently in public beta) search over 1 billion documents, web pages, encyclopedias, journals, newspapers

Scirus- scientific information

The Smithsonian Institution Research Information System- "Search over 7.4 million records, with 568,100 images, video and sound files from Smithsonian museums, archives, and libraries."

SurfWax- search your topic and find similar, broader or narrower ones

Science.gov- "over 45 databases and over 2000 selected websites from 14 federal agencies"

Sweet Search- selective searches for students

Virtual Learning Resources Center- browse the 12 category directory or use a Google custom search 

WikiArc- archaeological searches 

World-Wide Science- international scientific databases 

24 Resources for New Teachers

My friend Sheila just posted some great news on Facebook: her daughter was offered a job teaching third grade in the fall.  What an incredible feat in today's job market, with schools cutting jobs left and right. (I can't even think about my budget for September) Anyway, that news gave me my next posting: resources for new teachers. I have also given this topic its own page so I can be updating it regularly. Best of luck to you for taking on the hardest job that you'll really love!!


50 Best Blogs for Brand New Teachers

50 Fantastic Resources for New Teachers

101 Things for the First Three Weeks



Beginning Teachers Chatboard- from Teachers.net

The First Days of School -Harry Wong's Site

How to Get Control of Any Classroom

Management Tips for New Teachers -NEA's Site

MiddleWeb Teacher Mentoring Resources

Most Important Skills for a New Teacher- post by K. Jarrett, who is a K-4 technology teacher

New Middle Grade Teachers- from middleweb.com

New Teacher Resource Coaching Center- created by ESL teacher Dorit Sasson, the site has many tips and booklets for download.

New Teacher Resources- small list

New Teacher Survival Central- from blogs to basics to classroom tools; Discovery Education site

Newbies- from TeachersFirst.com

Positive Discipline Strategies Yield Quick Results- 5- minute video from Edutopia:

Preparing for the First Day-includes a survival kit, ideas; from Education World

Preservice & New Teacher Resources- from the National Science Teachers Association

Resources, Tools and Tips for New Teachers- from Scholastic.com; includes tips, printables, helpline and survival guide.

Survival Guide for New Teachers- from the U. S. Department of Education

A "Survival Kit" for New Teachers- from Education World

Teachermentors.com- lots of free information
                  

Teachers' Network- covers Back to School Night, opening activities and parent-teacher conferences.

Teachervision's New Teacher Resources- comprehensive list includes, Slideshows of Advice, Beginning of the School Year, The Classroom, Dealing with Homework, Teacher-Parent Relationships, Classroom Notes, Passes, Forms and much more.

Your Daily Checklist for Effective Classroom Management

Summer: A Great Time to Try Something New

I found this short TEDTalk on Free Technology for Teachers. It features Matt Cutts, who suggests that we all try something that we've always wanted to do for 30 days. Cutts, who works at Google as a search engineer, will inspire you...and you have more than 30 days till you return fresh and relaxed to start another school year. BTW, I'm trying to cut down on sugar and carbs. Wish me luck; I'll need it.

Why Not Join One of These 56 Educational Professional Organizations?

A great way for teachers to connect with one another is through a professional organization. The science teacher can share thoughts and ideas with other science teachers, the music teacher can share with other music teachers. Being a member of a professional organization will also look good on your resume if you are looking for a job. Organizations offer professional development, conferences, luncheons (dinners too) and meetings. What a great way to network with other people who are teaching in the same subject area as you. Here's a comprehensive list of those groups:

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance
American Association of School Librarians
American Association of School Libraries

American Association of Teachers of Italian

American Bandmasters Association

American Chemical Society 

American Choral Directors Association

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

American Educational Research Association

American Federation of Teachers

American Library Association

American School Counselor Assoc.

Association for Childhood Education International

Association for Educational Communications & Technology

Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development

Association of International Educators

Association of Teacher Educators

Broadcast Education Association

Computer-Using Educators

Consortium for School Networking

Council for Exceptional Children

Education International

Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey

Foundation for Teaching Economics

International Reading Association

International Society for Technology in Education

Music Educational Organizations & Societies

National Art Education Association

National Association for Bilingual Education

National Association for Elementary School Principals

National Association for Education of Young Children

National Association for Gifted Children

National Association for Music Education

National Association for Sport & Physical Education

National Association for Year-Round Education

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

National Assoc. of Beginning Teachers

National Association of School Nurses

National Association of Secondary School Principals

National Association of Teachers of Singing

National Business Education Association

National Council for the Social Studies

National Council of Teachers of English

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

National Education Association

National Endowment for the Arts

National Middle School Association

National Science Teachers Association

National School Boards Association

National Substitute Teachers Alliance

The NEA Foundation

New Jersey Association of School Librarians

New Jersey Association of Social Workers

New Jersey Education Association

United Federation of Teachers

Young Adult Library Services Association

44 Professional Development Opportunities

Need professional development credits? Seems that today with all the budget cuts, the only way to get a salary increase is to move across guide as well as up a step. Some will give you graduate credit and some are actually FREE! At any rate, this list should give you more than enough resources to accomplish that task.

21st Century Schools- short list of online courses


360 Education Solutions- online professional development; huge listing links to many universities

Canter -development online; graduate credit

Capella University -online coursework


Colorado State University- online graduate courses

Computer/Technology Professional Development Resources

Education Week Teacher PD Sourcebook- four main areas include Practice & Pedagogy, (i.e. differentiated instruction) Content Area, (i.e. computer/technology) Leadership. (administration) and Specific Populations. (i.e. special education) They have 730 companies listed here.


Education Week Teacher PD Directory- extensive listing of professional development opportunities

Educational Impact

Enztein-free online courses


Fine Arts Teacher Professional Development

Foreign Languages Professional Development

Free Online Graduate Courses!!!- sponsored by the Annenberg Project

The Heritage Institute -continuing education for K-12 teachers


K12 Teacher Staff Development- small course listing


Knowledge Delivery Systems- list of 8 colleges offering online courses

Learner.org

Learning Port- over 700 resources from various organizations, including the Department of Education, NEA and Edutopia. Many are free; all list the format, duration, cost, access, certificate, (if available) video, assessment, 508 compliancy and when the course was created.

Library of Congress Professional Development

Loyola Marymount Enhancement Courses- graduate credit; one of the least expensive per credit


National Council of Teachers of English- on-demand webinars

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

National Science Teachers Association Professional Development

Online Course Providers- over 75 colleges listed here

PBS TeacherLine

Plato Learning

Professional Development Institute

SAS in School

SimpleK12

Social Studies/History Professional Development Resources

Tapped In -collaborative activities, school chat sessions


Teacher-Courses.com

Teacher Education Institute- mainly 3 credit graduate courses

Teacher Online Education- site created by teachers

Teacher's Learning Center- 1, 2, & 3 credit courses; accredited nation-wide

Teachers First -Professional Resources Matrix

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)- online education programs

The Teacher Tap -free professional development resources

Touro University Online -online courses

University of Phoenix Online - online courses; graduate credit

University of Wisconsin-Stout- online courses; graduate credit


Virtual Education- choose from a list of courses

WePapers- online study group, including free lecture notes and presentations


Wide World- developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

25 Places to Store Your Files for Free

So many choices. I have personally been using GoogleDocs because I have a Gmail account and because creating and sharing documents is so easy. Although the storage is quite small compared to many on this list, it has been more than adequate for me. (I have stored many photos as well as files.) If you are just looking for a lot of storage without the "office" elements, you might want to try Amazon Cloud Drive (holds up to 2,000 photos) or ADrive. (advertisements) File Factory stores a whopping 500GB, but here's what they say about how long a file is stored: "If a file has been downloaded at least once before the end of the first 90 day period, it will remain for another 90 days. If a file is not downloaded at all after 90 days, it will then be automatically removed."  Proceed with caution.

100 MEGS Free	100MB
ADrive	50GB
Amazon Cloud Drive	5GB
Box	5GB
FileDen	1GB
File Dropper	5GB
File Factory	500GB
File Savr	10GB
GoogleDocs	1GB
iDrive	5GB
MediaFire	200MB
Megashares	10GB
Megaupload	200GB
Memopal	3.5GB
Mozy	2GB
MyFreeFileHosting	100MB
OpenDrive	5GB
SnapDrive	5GB
Steekr	1GB
Syncplicity	2GB
Tilana	2GB
UploadingIt	10GB
Zerocatch	100MB
Znail	50MB
ZumoDrive	2GB

Free Stuff Page Has Been Posted

I've just added the FREE STUFF page! Currently, there are five categories with around 90 links. Time to stock up on free things for the upcoming school year. This page will constantly be updated with new resources. Enjoy!