1. I looked up articles on several different animals and I like the way the search results are presented. I like the amount of information given on the list screen including: The names of the publications, the reading levels, if the article includes pictures or other media. Another feature that I liked was the ability to send an article to your e-mail. When I opened the articles I found them very similar to reading from the magazine. I think that this would be an excellent site to help teach the use of periodicals.
2. The "country facts" are similar to the type of information one would find in an atlas. General facts like size, area, population, etc... are displayed as well as a very nice historical timeline for that area. I also liked the government and economy information, I think this would be a good site to check before traveling to a new country. I assume that SIRS does regular information updates so that this would be a more current source than the encyclopedia. I like the maps of the world section but personally I think that everyone working with on-line maps is trying to play catch-up with Google Earth. I think that for an application where a simple map is needed these do a good job. As far as interactive maps go though, Google has this won easily.
I liked the training and activity information available in the educator's resources section. It is a nice mix of educational information, educator training, and student lesson plans and activities. I think that it is a nice application of skills needed to use this database.
Thanks for your good, thoughtful comments, Jeff! I think students would enjoy learning about periodicals by using SIRS Discoverer--great idea! As for country info, they do try to keep it current, but you are wise to teach kids to look at the copyright date. World Book keeps its material very current, too, and another Challenge participant noted that Country Facts in the CIA World Factbook were more current than SIRS. Re: maps: I hope you will go in & take a look at the historical & outline maps. The historical maps contain a wealth of information & are searchable for topics such as tornadoes--something google doesn't do.
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