Tag Archives: Britannica

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Top Digital Tools 2021: Britannica LaunchPacks: Social Studies

AASL released its list of Best Digital Tools for Teaching and Learning 2021! This year’s list took into special consideration how well these tools work for remote/distance students. The resources enhance learning and encourage the following qualities:

  • Innovation/Creativity
  • Active Participation
  • Collaboration
  • User-Friendly
  • Encourages Exploration
  • Information/Reference

We share these resources every year and you can explore our archive of past recommendations here.

Britannica LaunchPack Social Studies provides over a thousand expertly curated collections, which include photos and primary resources. Educators can customize the info for different classes or assignments.

The tool “empowers blended learning, personalized support for every learner, and student-led inquiry. LaunchPacks: Social Studies integrates SEL into curriculum-relevant lessons and allows students to build critical skills while educators effectively teach subject-area content in social studies.”

Grades: K-12

This article from Ed Tech Impact includes case studies, screenshots, and a comparison tool to give more information about the learning pack. And this article from School Library Journal describes the tool in detail, including aspects like ease of use and visual detail.

Watch this quick 2 min video to get an idea of how the learning pack works:

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

New (Re-Direct) Links for Britannica School K-12

The new Britannica School interfaces went live in July!

This new platform has been developed for Britannica School resources.  Therefore, if your school media center uses Britannica you will want to obtain a copy of the following updated links to access K-12 databases;

Image retrieved from Britannica School website. All rights reserved
Image retrieved from Britannica School website. All rights reserved

Other points of interest:

  • Previous links will only be redirected until December 2013.
  • In the months to come, Minitex Reference Outreach & Instruction plans on offering webinars.
  • Users of Britannica’s Public Library Edition and Academic Edition are not affected by this change.
  • There is a new lesson plan builder feature in Britannica School.

A recent article in Reference Notes (September 2013) written by Beth Staats, discusses the new Lesson Plan Builder tool. Staats states the following,

“One of the new features, specifically for teachers, is the Lesson Plan Builder. It is available in My Britannica, which is a tool that allows you to save and share content . You’ll need to create a free account to access it and use the Teacher Code KMVL when setting up your account . Once I logged in with the teacher code, I was shown a page that introduced me to the features available in My Britannica . This tool lets you save and organize favorites and create descriptive tags for those items; lets you search for interactive lessons, study guides, and lesson plans; and lets you create lesson plans.”

Click here to read the full Minitex article in Reference Notes on page 4.

School Media Specialist

New Britannica School Webinar

Britannica is available to your school at no charge through the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM). Please consider attending one of these free one hour seminars if you need to brush up your skills. Or, consider sharing the information with key teachers too.Join Darcy McCanless of Britannica to learn about the NEW Britannica School (part of ELM) in this one-hour webinar.

Authentic, Trusted Content Aligned to the Common Core and State Standards
In this new edition of Britannica School, you’ll find more content and a wider variety of resources – thousands of articles, images, videos, primary sources, e-books, editor-recommended websites, dictionary, thesaurus, and world atlas – to promote rigor while students read, write, research, and develop vocabulary in the content areas. A consolidated search feature now brings all the resources together in one place for time-saving review. It’s an ideal tool for project-based learning too!

Support for Differentiated Instruction
An easy toggle now enables every student to access the same content at their specific reading level at the same time. Text-to-speech and built-in translation features engage students with special needs and ELLs. And, a new elementary interface offers an age-appropriate information destination designed to appeal to students in these grades.

Interactivity with an Instructional Purpose
New lesson plan builders allow teachers to dynamically create, save, and share interactive activities with other teachers or students. Learning games, animated lessons, and study guides offer even more opportunities to connect with the content.

Universal Access
With the new Britannica School, students and teachers can now enjoy the same viewing experience on a tablet, smartphone, laptop, desktop computer, or any Internet-connected device with a Web browser. Retrieve and explore content anytime and anywhere… classroom, library, or at home.

Britannica School is a service to Minnesota schools funded through Minitex. Attendance Certificates provided!
ELM is brought to you by your local library or school library, Minitex, and State Library Services, Minnesota’s state library agency, with state appropriations to Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Education.ELM Home  ELM Portal  Contact ELM  Share Your ELM Stories!

ELM is administered by Minitex, an information and resource sharing program of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the University of Minnesota Libraries.

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Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Upcoming ELM Workshops from Minitex

Minitex is offering the following EBSCO, Britannica, and Gale/Cengage hosted webinars on resources included in ELM.

EBSCO Webinars

Overview of Medical Resources: 

Monday, October 1, 12:30 – 1:30 PM; Register for “Overview of Medical Resources”

This session will explore the following medical resources on EBSCOhost: Health Source – Consumer Edition, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition and Alt HealthWatch. Learn to use personal folders, and subject and journal alerts to explore the features of EBSCOhost that complement the content of these health-related databases.

Research Tools for Middle and High School:

Friday, October 26, 3:30 – 4:30 PM;  Register for “Research Tools for Middle and High School”

In this session, attendees will learn how to navigate and successfully search databases designed for grades 6-12. We will conduct searches in both Student Research Center and EBSCOhost interfaces and discuss Lexile reading levels and a variety of search methods. Your students are sure to become super researchers in no time at all! Attendees will also tour the EBSCO Support site, which provides additional training tools as well as materials to help promote these valuable online resources.

EBSCOhost Mobile 2.0:

Wednesday, October 31, 12:30 – 1:15 PM; Register for “EBSCOhost Mobile 2.0”

This 45-minute session is intended for librarians and others who would like to learn more about the *NEW* mobile searching experience using EBSCOhost or EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) – no separate profile or app required! We will explore all the features available when using a mobile device to access EBSCOhost or EDS to include searching, limiters, folders, delivery options, authentication, branding/customization, reporting, and statistics.

Research Tools for Grades K-5:

Friday, November 2, 3:30 – 4:30 PM; Register for “Research Tools for Grades K-5”

This session is specifically geared to grades K-5 teachers and librarians. Utilizing EBSCO’s Searchasaurus and Kids Search interfaces, participants will learn how to access grade-appropriate resources and help students get the research material they need! We will also discuss the advantages of using databases for searching instead of free Internet search engines. Finally, attendees will tour the EBSCO Support site, which provides additional training tools as well as materials to help promote these valuable online resources.

Consumer Health Complete: 

Tuesday, December 4, 12:30 – 1:30 PM; Register for “Consumer Health Complete”

This session addresses the vast collection of health-related content available in Consumer Health Complete. We’ll explore the custom interface to access encyclopedias, evidence-based care sheets, images, animation, and more! Attendees will also tour the EBSCO Support site, which provides additional training tools as well as materials to help promote these valuable online resources.

Britannica Webinars

Advanced Britannica Webinar: Workspace and Putting Videos into PowerPoint:

Thursday, October 25, 3:00 – 4:00 PM; Register for “Advanced Britannica Webinar: Workspace and Putting Videos into PowerPoint”

Join us to learn ways to help users use some of the advanced features available on Britannica. Learn how to create a Workspace for research and classroom purposes, put Britannica videos into PowerPoint presentations, and learn about any new features during this live, 1-hour webinar. Britannica Online School Edition is a provided to Minnesota schools funded through Minitex.

Minnesota Academic Standards Resources in Britannica:

Wednesday, October 3, 10:00 – 11:00 AM; Register for “Minnesota Academic Standards Resources in Britannica” (October 3)

Friday, November 16, 11:00 – 12:00 PM; Register for “Minnesota Academic Standards Resources in Britannica” (November 16)

Teachers and Library Media Specialists are invited to register for this online webinar about accessing free Minnesota Academic Standards resources from Britannica Online School Edition. We will explore articles, videos, interactive learning materials, and more! Britannica Online School Edition is provided to Minnesota schools funded through Minitex.

Teaching Literacy Skills in the Content Areas with Britannica:

Tuesday, October 9, 2:00 – 3:00 PM; Register for “Teaching Literacy Skills in the Content Areas with Britannica” (October 9)

Wednesday, October 31, 11:00 – 12:00 PM; Register for “Teaching Literacy Skills in the Content Areas with Britannica” (October 31)

Looking for new ways to use promote content literacy in Social Studies and Science? Britannica Online has many resources to help both Science and Social Studies teachers to focus on literacy within those content areas. During this 60-minute webinar, you will learn about some literacy strategies that you can use in the classroom right away! Britannica Online School Edition is provided to Minnesota schools funded through Minitex.

Gale/Cengage Webinars:

Gale’s FREE Access My Library App for Mobile Devices:

Wednesday, October 10, 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Monday, November 12, 4:00 – 5:00 PM; Register for “Gale’s FREE Access My Library App for Mobile Devices”

Gale’s FREE Access My Library App for Mobile Devices provides 24/7, on-the-go access to renowned Gale resources whenever and wherever they’re needed. Attend this session to learn more about how it works, how to add your institution to the app, and how to order free promotional items to market the app and support your library.

Student Resources in Context:

Monday, October 15, 3:30 – 4:30 PM

Friday, October 26, 12:00 – 1:00 PM; Register for “Student Resources in Context”

Student Resources in Context reaches out to today’s learners with a Web-like user experience, which intuitively conveys needed information on all core subjects from Science to Literature to History. From the eye-catching, media-rich homepage to the fast navigation options, Student Resources in Context helps students develop both research and critical-thinking skills while covering the spectrum of student-focused subject matter. Attend this session to learn more about the authoritative content available in Student Resources in Context and get tips on how to best work with the portal pages. Additionally, we’ll review how you can find content appropriate to your student’s reading level.

InfoTrac Student and Junior Editions:

Monday, October 22, 12:00 – 1:00 PM

Monday, November 4, 4:00 – 5:00 PM; Register for “InfoTrac Student and Junior Editions”

InfoTrac Junior and Student Editions provide the in-depth, up-to-date information that students need to conduct research across the full range of academic and general interest topics. These periodical solutions operate on the PowerSearch platform, which enables users to cross-search content found in a single collection and with other collections. During this session we will give you information on how to navigate through PowerSearch and the general content available in these periodical databases.