There are wonderful sites popping up everyday on the web, a Google search on any topic will confirm that. The problem is helping students choose between all the options. That is where these suggested general and public library sites come in handy. These collections of websites have been chosen by librarians for the quality of their content and the age appropriateness of the presentation.

To help you students become better judges of websites, you might suggest that they consider the source of the information for a start. Here’s a good explanation.

How to Tell if You Are Looking at a Great Web Site

http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsitesforkids/
greatwebsites.htm

The Web is a lot like a flea market: there’s a vast selection of sites to choose from but not a lot of order to it. Some sites are offered by reputable “dealers” and some from individuals who want to show off their personal favorite items. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a hidden treasure, what’s worth taking a look at, and what’s a waste of time. I t’s not hard to find sites if you use a search engine like Google, or a subject directory like Yahoo or Yahooligans for kids. But how can you tell if a site you find is worthwhile?

Sometimes what is in a Web site’s address can indicate the nature of the site. Sites from commercial businesses usually include “.com”; federal government sites end in “.gov,” K-12 school sites often include “k12” in the address, and college and university sites often include “.edu.” Sites from non-profit organizations often include “.org.” A site with a tilde (~) in the address usually indicates that this page is maintained or created by an individual, rather than representing an organization, a business, or a school.

Recommended Criteria for Judging websites:

- Authorship/Sponsorship: Who Put up the Site?
- Purpose: Every Site Has a Reason for Being There
- Design and Stability: A Great Site Has Personality and Strength of Character.
- Content: A Great Site Shares Meaningful and Useful Content that - Educates, Informs, or Entertains.

Every site does not need to meet every one of these criteria to be a great site, but the more of them a site does meet, the more likely it is to be a worthwhile place to spend time.

Further Explanations of these criteria are available at the ALA website above.

GENERAL SITES FOR STUDENTS

Internet Public Library is a public service organization and a learning /teaching environment of the University of Michigan, School of Information.

· TeenSpace links to topics of interest to teens (health, jobs, writing) as well as homework links to age appropriate websites by subject categories.
http://www.ipl.org/div/teen/

· Kidspace links to sites for parents & teachers, homework sites for grade schoolers as well as fun sites with crafts hobbies and games
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/

American Library Association “Great Websites for Kid” allows you to search by a subject and by a age level, including pre-K and by parent/teacher/caregiver.

· Great Web Sites for Kids for children to age 14 http://www.ala.org/gwstemplate.cfm?section=greatwebsites&template
=/cfapps/gws/default.cfm

“Librarians’ Internet Index: Websites You Can Trust” is a California program publicly-funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services Act under the provisions of the LSTA.

· Search by keyword or browse the best sites on the web. Tens of thousands of entries have been organized into 14 main topics and nearly 300 related sub-topics. The site is constantly maintained by librarians.
http://www.lii.org/

Virtual Reference Desk: This site arranges selected links into 17 categories including Reference, which includes an extensive list of sites and FAQ’s. It has a the capability of doing a search by keyword.

· Not the easiest site for students to use, so you may want to help them get started or locate a specific site with them.
http://vrd.askvrd.org/

Busy Teachers’ Website K-12 : Intended for teachers, this collection of websites uses ‘H’, ‘M’ and ‘E’ to designate appropriate grade levels for each site.

· There are16 basic subject categories plus 4 special categories for teacher like Teacher Reference, Interactive Web Projects, Technology Integration and Guidance. A For Families link is great for home schooling families.
http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/busyt/

BJ Pinchbeck’s Homework Helper: Started in 1996 by a student and sponsored by Discovery Communications.

· This site divides into 12 subjects categories including health and physical education, computer science and recess.
http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/index.html

PUBLIC LIBRARY SITES FOR STUDENTS

Boston Public Library
· Homework Help (Under Kids Page) elementary appropriate sites
http://www.bpl.org/kids/HomeworkHelp.htm
· Homework Help (Under Teen Lounge) New England and MA sources
http://www.bpl.org/teens/homeworkhelp.htm
· Using the Internet for School Reports:
www.bpl.org/kids/Evaluate.htm
· Dictionaries, Encyclopedias and Reference Help:
www.bpl.org/kids/Dictionaries.htm

Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn,NY
· InfoZone: Links arranged into ten major categories with subdivisions plus a great “Study Break” link to popular youth pastimes (games, fashion, cooking, jokes, music etc). Try the “Start Your Research Here” link, go to “Search engines” and then check out the subsection on the “Invisible Internet”. This site is not arranged by grade level.
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/infozone/

Multnomah County Library , Portland,OR
· Provides a list of over 50 subject categories with a number of links
under each, but sites are not arranged by grade level.
http://www.multcolib.org/homework/ - English resources http://www.multcolib.org/libros/tareas.html - Spanish resources
http://www.multcolib.org/libros/buscarweb.html-Spanish web search

Worcester Public Library, Worcester, MA
· Sites recommended for children and elementary students
http://www.worcpublib.org/web_resources/childsites.html
· Sites recommended by teens themselves
http://www.worcpublib.org/teens/websitesforteens.html
· Recommended sites for patrons in general but useful to students as well. Divided into 35 alphabetical subject categories.
http://www.worcpublib.org/web_resources/web_resources.html

COMMERCIAL SITES FOR STUDENTS

Yahooligans: Yahoo’s
· The key word search function is often better than the subject category break down which may take more knowledge than a young student has. The Reference category offers some useful traditional resources.
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
Noodletools: By the NoodleBib (Internet bibliography software tool) people.
· Noodlequest helps students to find age appropriate information
using a “Search Strategy Wizard” to located sites to fit their
homework requirements.
http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest/

MULTILEVEL SITES:

Ben’s Guide to US Government, is divided into five levels from K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 and also has a level for parents and teachers.
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/

KidsClick!, is a great site assembled by librarians with reading levels listed for each site. It has some especially good suggestions for science experiments among its other resources.
http://kidsclick.org/

How Stuff Works, describes how processes, inventions, technologies and human bodies operate. Audio descriptions are often included with printed descriptions. Categories are displayed across the top of the page, all articles are signed, and the illustrations are particularly good. Younger students may need assistance using this site.
http://howstuffworks.com

MA Department of Education’s release of the spring 2005 MCAS (Mass. Comprehensive Assessment System) test Items includes instructions, questions and answer keys. Arranged by grade level, this is an opportunity for students to understand these tests better and to practice as well.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2005/release/

Cybersleuth Kids is for K-12: This is an online search engine and guide for the K-12 student created by teachers and volunteers . The goal is to provide a safe educational online database of links to help the student sift through the maze of information. There are 21 categories, some with grade-level breakouts.
http://www.cybersleuth-kids.com/

Figure This! This site from National Council of Teachers of Mathemathics,
focuses on strengthening math skills by using fun math problems for the whole family. Concepts are presented is in a gradual step by step method which makes it particularly good for kids and parents trying to help kids. It has a Spanish language version as well.
http://www.figurethis.org

Fact Monster and Fact Monsters Homework Center breaks information into six basic categories and includes timelines, statistics and biographies under those categories. The reading level is fairly easy but it takes a number of clicks to get to the information. Most of the information is prepared by Fact Monster which also Information Please and not web links. Educational games and quizzes and even flash cards for math practice are added features
http://www.factmonster.com

Encyclopedia Smithsonian links to Smithsonian resources on subjects from art to zoology, but is particularly strong in the sciences and history. Smiithsonian staff also provide booklists for most topics.
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/start.htm#m

National Science Digital Library, funded the National Science Foundation, contains links to outstanding web pages on the sciences for K-12 teachers and students. This source covers math, science and technology.
http://nsdl.org/resources_for/k12_teachers/?pager=roi

SITES FOR OLDER STUDENTS AND PARENTS

Shakespeare Homework Help links students and teachers to information on William Shakespeare, his works and Tudor history.
http://www.vrd.org/locator/sites/shakespeare.shtml

Spark Notes are online study guides in a variety of different subjects.
Literature guides can be found at: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/index_d.html

Math guides can be found at:
http://www.sparknotes.com/math/

Background Notes, written by the U.S. Dept.of State contains information on countries that is updated every other year.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/

Country Profiles, produced by the BBC, provides similar information.:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/country_profiles/default.stm

American Fact Finder, includes statistical and census information on both the national and local government levels.
http://factfinder.census.gov/java_prod/dads.ui.homePage.HomePage

Core Documents of U.S. Democracy, from the Government Printing Office, gives the text of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence etc. as well as Statistical Abstracts, Congressional Directory, the text of current Bills before Congress and Federal Laws, etc.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html