The is a sample of the promotional sheets that I have distributed about resources and tools. Some of them are available only at my high school.

1. This document is a sample of the “Information Bulletins”
distributed to the Brophy teachers and staff.

2. Information Literacy: What Should High School Graduates Know?
I recently talked with an instructional librarian from Georgetown University about information literacy
skills that high school students need before starting college. Many of their incoming freshmen struggle
with the following concepts and tools:
1. Be able to Develop a Topic into a Research paper
 Understand the topic by reading about it
 Know when and how to broaden, narrow or refine the topic
2. Know How to Recognize a Good Source
 Know your source – who is the author? Where is the information
published – in a book? magazine? scholarly journal? newspaper?
website?
 Recognize bias and hidden agendas
 Understand the difference between facts and opinions
3. Use a Variety of Sources
 Look beyond Google
 Try different search engines
 Use Brophy’s reliable databases with articles from journals,
magazines, and books.
4. Use the Advanced Search Tool
 Efficiently hone in on information specific to a topic
 Experiment with different synonyms and related terms
5. Identify the Different Parts of a Citation
 Recognize a properly formatted citation
Let me know about projects that you have, so that we can collaborate and build these information literacy
skills in our students.
Jennie Oleksak joleksak@brophyprep.org Information Commons x6437

3.  Search through over 50 image collections at one time, 2+ million high quality images
 Confidently use images from Britannica’s Image Quest, because all images have rights-cleared for non-
commercial, educational use
 Image Quest provides source credits, name of the copyright holder, caption and full citations.
 To Access: www.quest.eb.com Username: brophyprep Password: broncos
OR use the link with a username and password to go Blackboard / Information Commons / Tools and every
discipline has a link to Image Quest

4. The Learning Network provides a blog with teaching and learning materials and ideas based on
New York Times content.
Each week a new lesson is added using the following schedule:
* Monday – Multimedia Interdisciplinary Lesson of the Week
* Tuesday – History and Social Studies
* Wednesday – Science and Health
* Thursday – Language and Fine Arts
* Friday – Ideas From Our Audience: Guest Posts, Student Contests, Reader Ideas and occasional
surprises
Here are some examples of lessons:
o Poetry Pairing | ‘Which One’
o On the Stump: Examining the Form and Function of Campaign Speeches
o The United States of Numeracy: The Math of a Presidential Campaign
o No Rest for the Weary? Analyzing Sleep Habits
o Feb. 2 1943 Nazi Forces Surrender at Stalingrad -This lesson highlights an important event from that day in
history and poses questions about its connection to current events.
o What are the human and economic costs of manufacturing decisions made by multinational corporations? - An
article about an explosion in a China factory that killed 4 people and injured 18. The factory built iPads.
o Crossword Puzzles for Every Discipline
Search for Lesson Plans by Category:
American History Geography Mathematics
Civics Global History Media Studies
Current Events Health Science
Economics Journalism Social Studies
Fine Arts Language Arts Technology
The lesson plans can be received through their web site, but also…
 Get lesson plans by e-mail
 Follow us on Twitter
 Fan us on Facebook

5. Using JSTOR in Your Classes
What are the advantages of using JSTOR?
 JSTOR prepares Brophy students for college. It is a common research source at college, so experience
using it during high school will help prepare them.
 JSTOR provides mostly full articles solely from scholarly sources. Most of the articles are at least five
years old and the articles date back over 100 years.
 This source is more appropriate for the upper-level classes and AP classes, because of its college-level
coverage of topics.
 Several disciplines are covered. Language arts, literature and social studies are strongly included.
Philosophy, religion, business, law and political science are also covered.
Here’s how some of our Brophy community is using JSTOR:
 The Speech and Debate team relies on JSTOR for its scholarly articles. The moderator says “I don’t
think that we could do the research without it.”
 JSTOR has been a valuable source for the “Person for Others” project in Western Civilization classes.
The articles have discussed in-depth the qualities of many historical leaders.
 English classes have required JSTOR articles for assignments that deal with literary criticism. Articles
cover many authors’ writing styles and analyses of specific well-known works.
Let me know if I can help to…
 Teach your students how to efficiently search for articles in JSTOR. There are 1000s of book review
articles, and your students can easily eliminate them with a quick tip.
 Search JSTOR for specific topics and see if it is an appropriate resource for one of your assignments.
 Show you how to download an article in .pdf format and create a link in Blackboard to an article you’ve
assigned to your class.
To access JSTOR, log into Blackboard and go to the JSTOR link in
“Information Commons Resources”.

6. The Information Commons now subscribes to the “Classroom Video” resource.
Thanks to the departments that positively evaluated the content of this streaming video resource, the Info Commons
can justify a subscription. Several teachers from different departments found videos that they can use to support their
curriculum.
How can you Access “Classroom Video” Streaming Videos?
 There are links on Blackboard / Information Commons Resources in the Tools, English, Religion, Science, Social
Studies, Psychology, Math, Fine Arts and Foreign Language areas.
OR go to: http://streaming.factsonfile.com/portalplaylists.aspx?aid=16560
Videos and video segments can be embedded simply into your Blackboard course pages. See the attached .pdf
for specific instructions.
What is “Classroom Video” from Facts on File?
It’s an alternative to “Discovery Education” for streaming videos. Almost 8000 full-length videos and 87,000 video clips
are available to search, download, and link to on Blackboard and through other sources.
What are the Main Benefits to this Streaming Resource?
 The content targets high school and junior college students (no elementary level content!)
 Videos are broken down into short segments, which is ideal for the classroom setting.
 Includes powerful browse and search tools
 Videos and segments are grouped into convenient, subject-specific categories, which are easy to browse
Which Producers Contribute Videos?
 Films for the Humanites & Sciences, BBC, A&E, History, bio, PBC, CNBC Specials, Ken Burns, Cambridge
Educational, wideangle, ONFNFB, National Geographic, The Open University and hundreds more
Please direct questions, feedback or problems about this resource to Jennie Oleksak.

7. What are the advantages in using ebrary books?
 ebrary contains 70,000 full ebooks covering all the Brophy disciplines.
 Provides high quality books, published by reputable publishers within the last five years
 ebrary allows simultaneous, multi-user access, so a teacher can assign a reading from a book and the
entire class can have the same book open at the same time.
 ebrary allows students to add highlighting and notes to the books.
 ebrary is a great resource for research materials
 Specific topics or terms can be searched within a book
Here’s how some of our Brophy teachers are using ebrary book:
 Christine Gallagher has her UCC students put The Catholic Way into their ebrary bookshelf and the
students use the book for reading assignments. Students add highlighting to the book.
 Ron Douglas has saved some of the chapters of The Catholic Way to .pdf files and posted them on his
UCC Blackboard course page.
 Deacon Stickney assigned chapters from four different books for homework. All of the students added a
link to each chapter in their ebrary bookshelf.
 Social studies teachers are encouraging their students to use ebrary books in the “Person for Others”
project. There are hundreds of biographical works available through ebrary.
 Students can add highlighting and notes to books, after they’ve set up an account.
Why are our teachers using ebrary books?
 It saves students money because they don’t have to buy books and they have access to a library of
70,000 books where ever they can access the Web.
 Teachers can add reading assignments to their classes using parts of ebrary books
 It’s convenient to add a link to a book chapter on the course Blackboard page.
 ebrary offers current, good quality resources that can be accessed anytime/anywhere.
How to Use ebrary:
 ebrary must be accessed through Blackboard using the link on the Information Commons Resources
course page. You must create an ebrary account to use the bookshelf, highlighting and note-taking
features. We encourage the students to use their Brophy username and password.
Let me know if I can help with…
 How to search for a book in ebrary and use the search, highlight and note features and link books to
your Blackboard page.

8. How to Download YouTube Videos
(So you can insert the video file into a document, web site, PPT and Blackboard)
Download a program called YouTube Downloader
It is free and no registration is required. Set the “default location” where you want the YouTube videos saved on your
hard drive.
First you can download the video by entering the URL:
Then you can convert the video format from .flv TO .wmf, so that you can insert the video into a document, PowerPoint
presentation or Blackboard.

9. Global Issues in Context is a truly non-U.S. centric resource that ties together a variety of sources to present
a rich analysis of issues — providing information seekers with a framework to better understand 21st-century
issues and events while highlighting global connections and the interdependence of all nations.
What are the advantages of using Global Issues in Context?
The resource features hundreds of continuously updated, media-rich issue and country portals that bring
together a variety of specially selected, highly relevant sources for analysis of social, political, military,
economic, environmental, health and cultural issues
What types of projects are appropriate for Global Issues in Context?
Projects that focus on the following issues that affect the world:
 Social  Economic  Environmental
 Political  Health  Cultural
What makes Global Issues in Context unique?
The interactive world map allows you to search by country or region and the map provides a global view of
results.
How do I access Global Issues in Context?
 So that you aren’t required input a username and password, the link is added to Blackboard.
 Log into Blackboard / select “Information Commons Resources”
 The link to Global Issues in Context is included in the following subject areas:
How does Global Issues in Context Support the Updated JSEA Profile of the Grad at Grad ?
Provides information to give a better understanding of:
 The global nature of social problems such as human rights, population displacement, resource
distribution, war/terrorism, and their impact on human communities
 What it means to practice a sustainable lifestyle based on awareness of social, economic and
environmental concerns
Let’s Collaborate!
 If you have a project that involves current, global issues, send it to joleksak@brophyprep.org and I will
see if this resource provides worthwhile information for it.
 If this resource is appropriate for one of your projects, I’m delighted to introduce it to your students so
that they can use it most efficiently.
Questions or suggestions: Please contact Jennie Oleksak in the Information Commons.

10. Recommend Google fast flip to Keep up with Current Events
 Do you or your students want to research a current issue?
 Are you trying to keep up-to-date on a topic or happening?
What are the advantages in using Google Flip Fast?
 Google Flip Fast’s graphically displays stories from major national and international sources!
 The simple user interface speeds up your search for current news.
 You can easily email the stories.
 Check out this one-minute video that explains Google Fast Flip.
Why does Beth Clarke recommend this resource to her Forensics students?
 The site provides good quality sources with reliable information.
 She wants her students to use credible magazines, newspapers and books when they prepare their speeches.
 Her students are required to use credible sources so that their audience will believe them.
 Beth wants her students to do lots of research, so that they will become better researchers and better at
identifying good quality sources.
Let me know if I can help with…
 Introducing your students to “how to evaluate sources” so that they can recognize good, quality sources
 Providing a list of good quality sources for a specific assignment and then introducing them to your
students during class.

11. What does Proquest Religion database provide?
 Full articles from 100s of scholarly and respected religious journals and newspapers.
 Some searchable publications include: National Catholic Reporter, America, Sojourner, Journal of Ethics, and
U.S. Catholic plus hundreds more.
How has Proquest Religion been improved?
 More graphical interface!
 Automatically searches only for full articles
 Articles are automatically searched by relevance
 Provides MLA 7 citations simply
 Now the link goes only to the Religion database without including the 100s of general news publications and
articles from the Proquest Platinum product.
How do I access Proquest Religion?
 Log into BlackBoard
 Click on “Information Commons Resources”
 Click on
 To open the resources click on at the top of the list.
How can I use Proquest Religion with my students?
 Require that students use Proquest Religion to find and use articles for assignments that require research. If you
don’t require the resource, research shows that most students will rely on the first sites they find in Google.
 Let’s prepare our students for college and require that they become used to using high quality sources, such as
the ones that Brophy subscribes to.
 Proquest Religion is a perfect resource for Chapter 2 (the research section) of the Synthesis paper. Require it!
 Jennie Oleksak is delighted to do a brief hands-on introduction of the resource to your class so your students
start-off searching most effectively. Contact joleksak@brophyprep.org to schedule a short visit.
What other religious resources does the Brophy Information Commons provide to support
the religion curriculum?
 provides the official documentation from the Catholic Church.
 Two basic religion reference sources are available in full: New Catholic Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Religion.
Let’s Collaborate! If this resource or any other resource is appropriate for one of your projects, I’m
delighted to introduce it to your students so that they can use it most efficiently.

12. Steps to Use Wordle:
 Go to www.wordle.net
 Click on create
 Key in an appropriate number of words to form the “word clouds”
 Keywords can be enlarged by just repeat typing the word. (The word doesn’t have to be entered consecutively
to be enlarged)
 To keep two words linked (as a phrase) in the wordle, use the tilde key between the words (ex: word~cloud).
 Try different font styles and colors.
 Use the “snipping tool” to save the “word cloud” as an image, so it can be inserted into a file or document.
IDEAS TO USE TO WORDLE…
 Poetry in words
 Capturing keypoints
 Introducing new vocabulary
 Reflections
 Revision terms