Bibliographic Information:

Canadian Student Research Centre by EBSCOhost

Plot Summary:

Canadian Student Research Centre provides access to the full-text content of Canadian serials and reference books. It also includes biographies and an Image Collection of over 500,000 photos, maps and flags.

Critical Evaluation: With the Canadian Student Research Centre students can create complex searches with Boolean operators and a variety of limiters including reading level. They have the ability to search specific fields such as author, title, and subject. They can also limit their search to a specific document type and to materials published in Canada. Finally, in the advance search, they can limit their search to French or English materials.

On the other hand, they will also have success with a simple keyword search where they simply check the document types they are interested in.

If they prefer, they can also use a directory approach by choosing the “Search by Topic” option. Finally, they can use a visual search or even view the contents of a particular title.

Accessing content therefore is very easy. Once the student finds an article, he can review the abstract prior to accessing the full-text of the source.

For high school students that are not proficient with database searching some work will be required to teach choosing appropriate search terms. The number of results can be overwhelming. Students will also have to be taught to check “full text” so they will be successful in finding materials they can use in their assignments. This is unfortunate as many students will prefer the one-click method they are used to with search engines. At this level, a less sophisticated interface may encourage students to use this resource more.

Unlike other EBSCO databases, the students are not provided the citation. The information for the citation is provided but students will need to choose what they need based on their citation style.

For more information please see  “Canadian Student Research Centre”

Reader’s Annotation:

Canadian Student Research Centre provides students access to Canadian material and material about Canada from thousands of reputable sources. Search online and get the results your teachers will accept.

Information About the Author:

EBSCO Publishing provides a variety of databases for different types of libraries and other institutions. When one discusses EBSCO, it is important to be aware that one is not discussing a single database, which can confuse students. In fact, when a school purchases a subscription from EBSCO, the school is purchasing a suite of databases that can be searched separately or together.

Indeed, a subscriber has the ability, to a limited degree, to determine what level of content is appropriate for their population. EBSCO also provides good support to the end user through tutorials and online helps.

It used to be that EBSCO was considered a periodical database provider. That is no longer the case. EBSCO has also developed ebook and image databases. EBSCO also has a variety of publications that is branded differently including Salem Press and Novelist .

Genre:

• Entertainment
• Nonfiction
• Canadian topics

Curriculum Ties:

• Media classes to discuss the concept of writing for ones’ audience and tone.
• Expository writing and persuasive writing.
• Canadian history
• Social Studies
• Religion
• Environmental issues
• Science

Booktalking Ideas:

• Use as source for school assignments
• Can be included in most pathfinders

Reading Level/Interest Age:

• Ages 14 and up

Challenge Issues:

• N/A

Why did you include this resource in the titles you selected?:

Not all readers read novels. Nonfiction, current events, and entertainment resources can encourage the teenager who considers himself a nonreader to read. This sources allows students to access a variety of magazines and newspapers. It is also a great source for reputable materials for school projects.