Week 8 #19.1

I really like the new interface for EBSCOHost! It looks much more modern, it includes modern 2.0 tools and it seems much easier to use. I think it still requires some training to get the most out of it, many of its new features are not easy to find and some of the old features require a new click to get to but the flash movie and the help screens are great.

The shared folders could be useful. Students could share their research and searches within their groups, and/or classes. Teachers could share articles with students and other teachers. Only problem is the need for an email address to get an account at EBSCOHost. I will find this useful for alerting teachers to articles that I find on their subject areas, specific units, or teaching practices. It will take a little coordination, getting teachers to sign up for accounts and all but it could be really neat.

I also like the ability to send a URL to deli.ic.ous.com. I tried clicking on the link in delicious.com to see if it would ask for a password or anything but it seemed to go right back to the article/image. I will have to try it again from a school computer or have someone else try it from their computer.

I can't remember if I knew about this before or not but the EBSCO Image database is pretty cool. There are lots of political and current event pictures available.

The last new thing that I am pretty impressed with is the ability to export a citation to outside bibliographic software. Just the citation feature alone is pretty cool, giving the citation in so many different formats but being able to collect all of your citations together in an online tool should be really helpful. I think teachers and students will be a little excited by this!

I'm still working on the RSS features but being able to add the search alerts to my already created Reader would just enhance the one stop shopping handiness!

I am pretty excited about the new EBSCOHost and can't wait to show it to staff at school, parents and students. I see an article in the newsletter, on the website, ect. in my future!