The database provides information about federal agencies and elected leaders, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, history of the government and more:

• U.S. Supreme Court Decisions provides selected case documents dating back to the inception of the Court. Cases are selected for their constitutional and/or social value.
• U.S. Justices Directory supplies statistical and anecdotal information on all past and current U.S. Supreme Court justices.
• U.S. Presidents provides a brief biographical description accompanied by a portrait of each U.S. president.
• Congressional Members Directory and Congressional Committees provide data on members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and lists members of all Congressional committees and subcommittees.
• Federal Agency Directory supplies contact and background information for hundreds of federal departments and agencies, including Web addresses.
• Country Profiles deliver in-depth background notes on nearly 200 nations of the world. Covers geography, peoples, history, government, economy, foreign relations and more.
• National Archives Documents provides highly visual primary sources from the National Archives and Records Administration that illustrate social, political and cultural themes in U.S. history.
• Historic Documents contains hundreds of full-text documents and speeches of exceptional historic value.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/sirs_gov_reporter.shtml.

SIRS^® Renaissance focuses on the arts and humanities and delivers dynamic content in eight categories: Architecture & Design, Culture, Multimedia, Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Philosophy & Religion and Visual Arts. The database includes full-text articles and graphics selected from more than 800 domestic and international magazines and newspapers. Many articles are accompanied by full-color graphics, including art reproductions, photographs, illustrations and maps. Hundreds of articles contain biographical information on notable people. All articles are chosen to give researchers the most current and diverse information on each topic.

SIRS Renaissance also contains the following supplemental content:

• Literary Corner supports the study of prominent authors in major literary periods and regions. Includes featured authors, profiles of American, English, and World literature, literary criticism, links to e-books and the Lifetime Reading Plan.
• Award Recipients lists major award winners in all eight SIRS Renaissance categories.
• Glossary of the Arts provides extensive explanations of terminology, symbols, ideas and people associated with the world of the arts and humanities.
• Notable People, organized by profession, provides biographical and reference information on hundreds of notable people past and present in the arts and humanities.
• Recommended References provides suggestions for further readings on the Arts and Humanities.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/sirs_renaissance.shtml.

SIRS^® WebSelect is a unique database of Internet resources designed to support secondary school research. The database provides access to quality Web sites on almost any subject and is the perfect complement to SIRS Researcher. SIRS editors evaluate sites from around the world for credibility and relevance. SIRS WebSelect is continually updated to include new sites and dynamically changing data. Summaries are included, providing a concise overview of site content and authority. SIRS WebSelect can be viewed together with the SIRS article databases for a comprehensive research experience.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/sirs_sks_webselect.shtml.

SIRS^® Decades. State standards and Advanced Placement courses require students to use primary sources, but educators seldom have the time to find and compile them. SIRS Decades is the answer with more than 5,000 hand-selected primary and secondary source articles highlighting key events, movements, people and places in 20th-century America. Coverage includes original documents, letters, editorial cartoons, Web sites, photographs, maps, ads, speeches and published articles—some available from the UMI^® microfilm vault for the first time in digital format. Our SIRS editorial staff carefully selects material based on its relevancy to the topic, range of viewpoints, authoritativeness, readability and extent of coverage to ensure that users receive “best of” content. With SIRS Decades, you’ll find:

Unique content, online and multimedia

• Thousands of primary and secondary sources, organized by decade
• Engaging sources such as images, editorial cartoons, ads, posters and more
• Rare documents not available elsewhere on the Web

Topical enrichment for student success

• Topical overviews and essays place sources in historical context
• “So What?” feature ties historical topics to today’s issues
• Document-based questions help students interpret and synthesize primary sources

Alignment to coursework and standards

• Decade by decade, topical approach aligned to typical textbook contents
• Cross-curricular application to the arts, language arts and sciences
• Tools that build primary-source and critical-thinking skills

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/sirs_decades.shtml.

Accessing SIRS Resources

SIRS learning resources provide students with content that has been carefully selected by educators, for educators, to ensure its relevancy, credibility, curricular applicability and appropriateness to students. Simple search methods make it easy to access this wealth of information. Subject heading, keyword, natural language, topic browse and advanced search are available. Results can be sorted by relevance, date or reading level/Lexile. And, users can print, save, bookmark or e-mail any result, making it simple to use and share information.

Curriculum tools that support student learning needs:

• Standards search. Locate articles and multimedia resources by state or national standard statements. SIRS indexes every set of core curriculum subject standards and matches it to our subject indexes. This saves teachers time in the lesson planning process and ensures that library resources are correlated directly to learning benchmarks.
• Session save. Conduct research incrementally over a period of time by saving search history and tagged lists via the session save feature. By entering a unique user name and password, sessions can be saved and retrieved for up to 30 days.
• Reading level/Lexile. Locate information appropriate to learning needs and skill level using reading level/Lexile search and sort.

Additional search features make research easier:

• Subject search. Locate relevant articles and sites according to Library of Congress Subject Headings. Subject lists help students broaden or narrow a search and locate related subjects (“See Also”). Each article includes a list of the indexed subjects and phrases (Descriptors) allowing students to easily similar articles.
• SIRS^®Knowledge Source. Access SIRS resources through an integrated search portal, which allows users to search across all SIRS resources in a single query.

OTHER PUBLISHED ONLINE RESOURCES

ProQuest^® Historical Newspapers offers a comprehensive resource for historical documents and images that allows users to explore nearly 250 years of history from two of our nation’s leading newspapers.

• The New York Times (1851-2003), long known for providing “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” has set the standard for quality journalism since 1851.
• Hartford Courant (1764-1984), publishing continuously since 1764, proclaims itself “older than the nation” and provides exemplary coverage of colonial America, the Revolution, the early Republic, slavery and more.

Every newspaper issue is reproduced, cover-to-cover, in full-page digital images—from news stories and editorials to graphics and ads. Students can view search results from oldest to newest, newest to oldest, most relevant or by historical eras, which allows users to see how our view of the past changes over time. With Historical Newspapers primary source content, students can put historical events into perspective and gain further insight beyond textbook provided information.

ProQuest now offers two search options designed to fit your students’ needs:

• Traditional Interface. The traditional ProQuest search interface offers the powerful search and index capabilities you’ve come to expect from ProQuest. Users can utilize the same search techniques and tools as are available in other databases delivered through the ProQuest search interface.
• Graphical Interface. The new graphical search interface offers the features and flexibility to accommodate users at any level of expertise. It delivers all the search options of the traditional interface—plus provides editorial content aligned to classroom and homework activities. These features actively help students quickly locate and access relevant historical newspaper documents. So, students spend more time using content and less time finding it. Highlights include:
  • Student Edition Timeline & Topic browse covers the top 25 topics in U.S. history with articles on nearly 1,000 related key events. The articles are hand-selected based on their ability to illuminate and educate students about the events as they happened and add retrospective analysis, where appropriate. Browse by topic or timeline, a visual representation of topics organized by century/decade/year.
  • Famous Dead People highlights the published obituaries and retrospectives of 500 of the most-studied and requested persons of the past 150 years.
  • This Day in History features a high-impact historical front page for each day.
  • What Happened On…lets students explore a date of special importance, such as their birthday.
  • Sort by Eras lets students see how our view of the past changes over time, the prefect introduction to historical revisionism, the ever-changing nature of “received wisdom” and critical thinking.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/pq_historical_newspapers.shtml.

CultureGrams™ offers country reports that go beyond facts and figures to deliver a one-of-a-kind perspective on daily life and culture, including the background, customs and lifestyles of the world’s people. Individual reports covering 190 countries and all 50 United States are written and reviewed by in-country experts and updated annually.

CultureGrams is perfect for schools and library media centers. By selecting a country from a pull-down menu or clicking on an interactive map, students can quickly find information about the countries or regions they’re interested in. They can even search the collection by keyword.

CultureGrams online includes the following collections:

• World Edition contains reports on 190 countries and cultures, focusing on 25 categories including history, personal appearance, gestures, family, economy and more. Statistical tables and an extensive glossary make the World Edition perfect for student projects, research and more.
• Kids Edition is a collection of over 70 country reports that teach upper elementary-aged children more about the world around them. Each report is an indispensable resource of up-to-date, engaging cultural information, complete with images, historical timeline, fun facts and sections on history, population, “life as a kid” and more.
• States Edition features colorful, easy-to-read state reports that help upper elementary-aged students understand the diversity and history of each U.S. state and the District of Columbia. Each report includes maps, flags and symbols, plus sections on history, economy, geography, population and more.
• The Photo Gallery lets users travel the world’s countries in photos—with thousands of images representing 50 countries.
• Famous People offers short biographies on countries’ best-known individuals—from composers to inventors to politicians.
• Recipe Collection makes authentic flavors come to life by featuring five native recipes from every country in CultureGrams.
• Data and Statistics allow users to browse, view or customize downloadable sets of data and statistics on all the countries of the world.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/culturegrams.shtml.

CultureGrams World Conflicts Today™ offers insight into the human, political and physical landscapes that shape our world. World Conflicts Today explores protracted, unresolved world conflicts that have regional and global implications. Regions include Afghanistan, Basque Country (Spain and France), Chechnya, Colombia, Darfur and Sudan, Iraq, Jammu and Kashmir, Korean Peninsula, Northern Ireland and the Palestinian Territories.

Clear, concise and thorough editorially created materials synthesize the volumes of news articles, treatises and editorial commentary generated by each conflict over the years—giving students access to digestible quantities of in-depth information for analysis, debate and research. Careful review by CultureGrams editors and regional content experts helps ensure unbiased, high-quality coverage. Each World Conflicts Today report details the history, background, obstacles and implications, so students can understand the complexity and persistence of the conflict and what it means for the rest of the world. Regular updates keep students informed about the very latest viewpoints, developments and negotiations in each region. Additional features include dynamic interactive maps, images, timelines, contextual information, statistics and primary sources. Teaching tools like lesson plans, review questions and classroom and research activities are also included.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/cg_world_conflicts.shtml.

History Study Center™ offers valuable historical reference material that covers 14 centuries of history—from ancient to modern, old world to new. Explore the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the growth of Islam, the ideas of Enlightenment and Revolution, the effects of colonialism, the explosion of American pop culture and more. Users will find over 40,000 primary sources and 100 periodical and reference titles that showcase historical events. Resources include newspaper and journal articles, rare books, video clips, diaries and letters, dynamic maps, statistics, reference books, Web sites and more. Each document is hand-selected by an editorial team of history scholars.

Plus, a growing collection of more than 500 Study Units currently focus on the most frequently studied topics in schools for U.S. and world history from ancient times to the present. Study Units begin with short, illustrated introductions followed by a page of links to primary and secondary sources. Each unit contains an average of 30 to 80 items—providing historical context and revealing differing contemporary accounts and recent interpretations of history. Study Units cover topics in African history, American history, British and Irish history, Canadian history, European history, historical skills and concepts, Latin American history, the history of Asia and the Middle East, the history of Australia and New Zealand, the history of science and medicine and wars and conflicts.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/history_study_center.shtml.

Black Studies Center™ brings together essays, newspapers, multimedia, periodicals and references—both historical and current and primary and secondary. It’s an unparalleled research tool designed to enhance not only Black Studies, but also a host of subjects (including History and Literature) that require more expanded coverage of the black experience.

Significant resources available in a single search include:

• Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience—cross-disciplinary essays by today’s leading scholars in Black Studies, plus rare primary sources, biographies, timelines and other contextual materials
• The Chicago Defender, 1910-1975—the full image backfiles for this leading African-American newspaper
• International Index to Black Periodicals Full Text—journals from Africa, the U.S. and the Caribbean
• And much more including 30 volumes of contextual material and a multimedia library with over 2,000 images and 200 video clips

Learn more at http://www.il.proquest.com/products_pq/descriptions/bsc.shtml.

ProQuest^® Professional Education offers a comprehensive reference collection for K-12 professional development and continuing education. Educators will find more than 300 full-text magazine and journal titles addressing all aspects of K-12 education. The wealth of resources support teachers and administrators alike, whether they are studying for advanced degrees, using the database for professional in-service, researching material for classroom application or using the database for self-guided study and refreshers.

Learn more at http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/pq_prof_education.shtml.
 

Web accessibility (ADA, Section 508 compliance):

eLibrary Elementary, eLibrary, and Historical Newspapers - ProQuest, eLibrary and SIRS databases include fully ADA compliant interfaces. The proposed eLibrary databases are compliant, with the exception of small and/or partial deviations. Development of these interfaces has been guided by evolving accessibility requirements. The accessible interfaces meet all Section 508 regulations with the following features:

• accessible to users with limited hand use and low or no vision
• compatible with major third-party screen reader and magnification software such as JAWS, Window-Eyes and ZoomText
• frameless

Another set of accessibility requirements guiding our development is the priority checkpoints developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (or W3C; see http://www.w3.org/). These checkpoints are arranged in three levels and determine the accessibility of a Web site or page. Web content developers must satisfy Priority 1 checkpoints for their Web site to be considered accessible by W3C.

Currently, CultureGrams meets three priority 1 checkpoints (1.a, 1.2 and 6.1). Level Double-A compliance is planned for 2006; Level Triple-A compliance is planned for 2007.

For Technical Support
Phone: 800-232-7477
Available 24 hours a day/7 days a week
E-mail: support@sirs.com

For Product Information: Jason Fritz, Ohio Account Executive
Phone: 800-521-0600, ext. 2527
E-mail: jason.fritz@il.proquest.com

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