DID YOU KNOW?
A WEEKLY LIBRARY NEWSLETTER FOR TEACHERS
DYK... students can research controversial issues using ProQuest?
SIRS is 100% full text, curriculum standards-aligned, and provides tools that help students become effective and efficient at analyzing information and conducting research. SIRS focuses students to the top content taken from nearly 2000 key national and international sources.
Getting Started
ProQuest SIRS Issues Researcher
https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher
When off-campus, use the following credentials:
Username: JV747ZECUA
Password: >8UPm8~n
When on campus, no login is required.
All screens in SIRS Issues Researcher are headed at the very top
with a subject and keyword search field.
The SIRS Issues Researcher home page offers up topics that are trending,
as well as editors' picks.
At the bottom of the home page, students can get help choosing a topic.
Each green box links out to all of the related topics.
Students can then narrow down their search to a particular topic or issue.
EXAMPLE of a LEADING ISSUE: Vaccines
Each topic home page includes a summary, a breakdown of viewpoints,
a list of relevant critical thinking questions, and a timeline.
Every document in SIRS can be saved to Google Drive, cited, printed, and emailed!
Each viewpoint (minimum 2) are reduced to their core arguments
and will have at least 3 articles from those arguments.
Click on the magnifying glass to find additional sources for the issue.
Download the "Research Guide for the Critical Thinker".
This is an editable PDF that helps students guide themselves through
the research process, from choosing a topic to constructing their argument.
Each topic will also list a series of critical questions to help students
begin thinking about the issue. Also included are relevant cartoons.
Last, but not least, a timeline will be available if relevant and will highlight
crucial moments in history relevant to the topic.
Educator Resources in SIRS Issues Researcher
Research Curriculum Guide, page 1 (EXAMPLE)
Guided Research Note Organizer (EXAMPLE)
Primary Sources Curriculum Guide, page 1 (EXAMPLE)
Leading Issues, A to Z - a printable, alphabetical list of all leading issues included in SIRS Issues Researcher in PDF format
Curriculum Guides - teacher and student-ready PDFs with editable fields that are aligned to curriculum and help teach information literacy skills; topics include editorial cartoons, infographics, primary sources, research guide, statistics, and argument writing; documents are offered as PDFs, Word documents, and Google Docs.
Curriculum Standards Correlations - find articles, images, and other content that match curriculum standards
Title List - a list of titles available in SIRS Issues Researcher
Note Organizers - a set of five "guided note organizers" that give students tools to organize and synthesize research; each PDF may be filled in and saved
LibGuide - a site offering training and promotional materials for SIRS Issues Researcher that may be easily copied into an existing LibGuide
Share This Blog - blog posts featuring product updates, training opportunities, and curriculum ideas for SIRS Issues Researcher
Training Webinars - this portal provides an opportunity for educators to explore a variety of training webinars about ProQuest products and services; both live and recorded sessions are available
Need assistance?
Schedule a day for your classes to come by the library and learn about our online educational resources (ProQuest, Encyclopedia Britannica, EBSCO, DestinyDiscover, and Sora, the eBook platform). Email us at mhhs.library@smusd.org for availability.
Contact the MHHS Library
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Email: mhhs.library@smusd.org
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Phone: (760) 290-2730