LibGuides: General Research: Home

Database Sources

Newsela
Kid-friendly news articles about a variety of topics.
(Sign in with Google)
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids includes articles on a variety of topics--science, history, places, animals, and more! Also eBooks.
(Open Athens log in with Collegiate username and password)
Gale in Context: Middle School
Search Gale In Context: Middle School for age-appropriate videos, newspapers, magazines, and primary sources.
(Open Athens log in with Collegiate username and password)
Library Catalog
Search for library resources here.
Collegiate Databases
Descriptions of and links to all of the databases to which Collegiate subscribes.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature.
Open Athens log in video
A short video on how to log in to our shared sign on service, Open Athens.

Encyclopedias

Use Encyclopedias to get an overview of your topic:

Encyclopedia Britannica (Britannica School)
School Access ID: collegiateva
School Passcode: cougar1
World Book Encyclopedia
User Name: collegiate1
Password: cougar

Reference Books in RGL

Print Reference Books in RGL
Click this link to see a list of print reference books available in RGL. You may check these books out.

Libguides

Middle School Libguides
Find other LibGuides by clicking this link. Some LibGuides are topical and others are related to specific assignments, but you my find something useful for your research.

eBooks

epic! eBooks
epic! is a great resource for non-fiction eBooks. Ask your teacher for their class code so you can log in and begin using epic! books. If you don't have a class code, you can use this general Library Class Code: lcj1113
SORA eBooks
SORA provides access to a large collection of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and comics. You can link to Collegiate's account, as well as, public libraries, if you have a library card.

When citing eBooks from these databases, be sure to include a URL and the date you accessed the eBook.

NoodleTools

NoodleTools
You can use NoodleTools to create a bibliography/works cited page, notecards, and an outline.
Log in with Google, using your Collegiate account.
NoodleTools Quick Guide for Students
This quick guide covers the following topics:
*How to start a new project and a source list
*How to create notecards
*How to share a project with your teacher
*How to set up a project collaboration with
your classmates

Reference eBooks

Decades in America
The Decades series features long overviews and short entries discussing people and companies; books, films, and plays; products and technological advances; elections and political movements; and other important topics representative of each decade.
Access with password: cscougars (Needs to be all lowercase)

Food in Context
Examines food in relationship to nutrition, world health issues, agriculture, environmental concerns, current events and political decision-making.
Sign-in with Google (Collegiate account)
Gale Encyclopedia of Science
Covers all major areas of science, engineering, technology, as well as mathematics and the medical and health sciences, while providing a comprehensive overview of current scientific knowledge and technology. Entries typically describe scientific concepts, provide overviews of scientific areas and, in some cases, define terms.
Sign-in with Google (Collegiate account)

Great Events From History
provides detailed essays on significant events throughout world history, covering everything from ancient times to the present day, with each essay offering a comprehensive overview of the event, its historical significance, key figures involved, and further reading suggestions.
Access with password: cscougars (Needs to be all lowercase)

Inventors and Inventions
Covers inventors of the past and present, including the creators of Kevlar, Coca Cola, eBay, and the Global Positioning System. Explores the early life of each inventor, their education and professional life, and their contributions to society. Surveys the history of technological advancements in fields such as agriculture, transportation, communication, entertainment, textiles, medicine, and others.
Sign-in with Google (Collegiate account)
Religions of the World
ISBN: 9781598842036

Provides comprehensive, global coverage of religion, emphasizing larger religious communities without neglecting the world's smaller religious outposts.
Sign-in with Google (Collegiate account)

Useful Websites

Biography.com
Biography.com is home to more than 3,000 profiles of well-known, notable, and lasting figures. Includes current and historical figures, as well as athletes, actors, musicians, scientists, and innovators from every discipline.
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.
Smithsonian Magazine
Smithsonian Magazine covers science, history, art, popular culture, and innovation. It is the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.,
WorldAtlas
WorldAtlas is one of the largest publishing resources in geography and other topics it covers, including sociology, demography, environment, economics, politics, and travel.
Instructables
Tutorials on how to make most anythhing.
How Products Are Made
How Products Are Made explains and details the manufacturing process of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery. The site provides step by step descriptions of the assembly and the manufacturing process (complemented with illustrations and diagrams) Each product also has related information such as the background, how the item works, who invented the product, raw materials that were used, product applications, by-products that are generated, possible future developments, quality control procedures, etc.
How Stuff Works
"Unbiased, reliable, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works."
Wikiquote
Wikiquote is a free online compendium of sourced quotations from notable people and creative works in every language, translations of non-English quotes, and links to Wikipedia for further information.
Ducksters Education Site
"An educational site covering subjects such as history, science, geography, math, and biographies. Pages are written to be easy to read and understand."

Subject Guide

Catherine Clements

Email Me

How to Find Non-Fiction Books in the Catalog

You can use the Power Search in Destiny Back Office to refine your catalog searches with Boolean operators AND / OR / NOT. This short video will show you how to search for non-fiction books in the catalog.

Click HERE for video.

Dewey Decimal Classes

You will find the books in the Non-Fiction section of the Library organized into these 10 broad Classes:

000 Computer science, information & general works

100 Philosophy & psychology

200 Religion

300 Social sciences

400 Language

500 Science

600 Technology

700 Arts & recreation

800 Literature

900 History & geography

Biographies

Biographies are also shelved in the non-fiction section. They are shelved alphabetically by SUBJECT (the person the biography is about).

Call numbers for Biographies begin with the letter B.

General Research: Home

Remember to use the SIFT method when conducting research.