Web Site of the Month: East Woods School Library
By Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2004
www.eastwoods.org/ewslibrary/Interactive/libraryhome.htm
East Woods School Library's Web site has two goals: to guide students doing research, and to celebrate reading. East Woods, in Oyster Bay, NY, is a private school serving grades K through nine, and library media specialist Ruth Lorbert (rlorbert@eastwoods.org) launched its library site two years ago after taking crash courses in Web design and FrontPage software.
Research guide: The site, which is the default home page for all of the library's computers, features quick access to the school's databases and Web reference tools recommended by Lorbert. She wrote a guide to doing research—with information on evaluating Web sites and formatting bibliographies—and provides a paper copy of it to all middle school students. She's also posted the guide on the Web site. "Our students kept misplacing their copies at home, and [now] they don't have to worry about finding their paper copies at crunch time," says Lorbert.
Reading celebration: To support reading, there's a "Get Caught Reading" page with photos of students, faculty, and staff reading and talking about books. Next, Lorbert wants to post students' PowerPoint presentations, accompanied by sound and video files.
