All students no matter what age need help navigating and evaluating the ever-growing store of information available on the web. This University of Idaho site is an information literacy primer that will quickly turn any half-hearted or random searcher into a savvy Internet detective. It guides students through a series of modules that teach them how to distinguish different kinds of information on the Internet, search for and select research topics, search databases and other collections, locate and cite sources, and evaluate the sources they find.
A merger of the Internet Public Library and the Librarians' Internet Index, this site is a comprehensive source of "information you can trust." Thousands of volunteer library and information science professionals created and maintain the sites reference collection sets of links to websites on U. S. presidents, author biographies, museums, research and writing, literary criticism, and many more topics. The Ask an ipl2 Librarian reference service, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, provides individualized help finding authoritative, free online sources for specific topics.
For younger students, Fact Monster from Information Please is the tool to use. The Reference Desk on this site features a layout that is designed for easy fact-finding and includes timelines and an almanac, atlas, dictionary, and encyclopedia, as well as a Homework Center. Students can also search by visually identified topics or by typing in keywords. Check out fun features such as Biographies of the Presidents, the Geography Hall of Fame, and the Tallest Buildings Slideshow.
Microsoft Download Center your ultimate file repository. It links to thousands of downloadable free or shareware programs. These include updates, utilities, applications, and extras for Windows, Macintosh, and other platforms; Internet tools; security essentials; developer resources; mobile devices; computer games etc. You can search for what you need alphabetically, by product family, by download category, or by typing in a keyword. The Microsoft Worldwide Downloads site enables you to download files in more than 80 different languages.
This site is the cool place for the technology leaders of the future. It offers student resources, helps students stay connected through its newsletters and technology clubs, and provides a career portal and Students-to-Business program. The links to scholarship competitions and to TechStudent a site for website builders, designers, and software developers in training encourage creativity and skill development. The Student Experience site also links to DreamSpark, which enables students not only to download professional software such as Microsoft Visual Studio, SQL Server, Visual C++ Express Edition, and Robotics Developer Studio for free but provides free training for using these tools as well.
