Digital Resources: Daily Life Goes to the Head of the Class

The world suddenly became just a little smaller and yet, so much more interesting, with the release of two new Greenwood databases that reflect upon American life and Latino culture. For those searching for unique content that provides new views on these two subject areas, look no further.

Grades 6–12+

Cost Pricing for Daily Life America is based upon enrollment. Enrollments of 1–500 cost $450; 500–1,000 cost $650; and 1001- 2,000 cost $875 per year. This includes single sites and multiple simultaneous users. Subscription prices are available for individuals, colleges and universities, and public libraries.

The Big Picture Daily Life America is the fourth module to be added to the Daily Life Online family of products. Each module is available as a stand-alone or as an integrated product within the Daily Life Through History database. The preceding modules are: Daily Life Through History, Daily Life Premium, and World Folklore and Folklife. Daily Life America contains over 100 of Greenwood's current single and multivolume reference works that focus on the lives of ordinary folk in America from pre-Columbian times to the present, including: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures, The Uniting States: The Story of Statehood for the Fifty United States, Encyclopedia of American Holidays and National Days, and Famous American Crimes and Trials.

Daily Life America also includes state-by-state resource guides for easy access to information such as the state's song, motto, and other unique pieces of state history. Additionally, the database provides primary documents, maps, photos, and selected Web sites.

Look & Feel Greenwood's Daily Life America spans the centuries, providing thousands of possible avenues for research, while still providing a welcoming feel that can completely absorb a reader. By drilling down into specific areas, users can sometimes find both local and regional information that extends the curriculum, making most any topic both educational and entertaining.

Users can perform a Quick Search, Browse by Subjects (such as Arts, Clothing, Education, Food and Drink, and other subjects), Browse by Time Periods, Browse by Regions of the United States, review the Index, or perform an Advanced Search. Users may also immediately access the contents through In the Collection which brings them to specific content such as: State-by-State Resource Guides, Primary Documents, Multimedia, and the complete Title List.

A Browse by Subject search for “Education” provides a results page that includes a list that can be narrowed by subcategories (such as general education, literacy, schools, and more), by Time (from as early as 1620 through the present), and by Region. Additionally, a list of entries (in this case 91 entries over five pages) with links to specific content again offers a variety of resources, links, and categories. Topics include: Civil War America: Elevating and Expanding Young Minds; Mexican Americans: Educational Attainment; Native Americans in the 20th Century: The Boarding School Experience; and other intriguing perspectives.

An Advanced Search provides users with three options: keyword, subject, or title. Limiters include subject entries, book chapters, primary documents, multimedia content, and other resources.

How It Works Daily Life America expands the history curriculum by exposing students to more than a superficial view of our unique and increasingly complex nation. By offering over 100 different reference sources with a wealth of historical resources, primary documents, and multimedia content, students are able to better understand specific ideas, customs, laws, or traditions from every part of the country and by various groups of people. Unlike many history databases, Daily Life America specifically addresses the history of American food, cooking, celebrations, clothes, romance, work, religion, housing, and social customs. Research assignments that once meant lengthy Internet searches or attempting to locate print materials, which may not be locally available, can be easily completed through Daily Life America.

For example, a research project to celebrate the centennial celebration of Oklahoma's statehood could include a simple search for “Oklahoma” that would result in over 500 entries ranging from the Removal of the Cherokees through the Trail of Tears to the birth of “eating out” (which describes the birth of some famous fast-food franchises, including a personal favorite from my childhood: Slick's Bar-b-que in Muskogee). Additional searches provide a unique perspective on Oklahoma history not evident in a state history textbook, such as this passage from The Uniting States: The State of Oklahoma:

In 1906, when the enabling legislation for the state of Oklahoma passed, Democrats dominated the constitutional convention. These men constructed a constitution that reflected Progressive ideas of reform of government. The Oklahoma constitution is extremely lengthy and comprehensive. It was intended to guarantee that many of the abuses of capitalism would be impossible in the new state. The prominence of Democrats, however, resulted in part from their platform of white supremacy, and some of the constitutional process foreshadowed racial discrimination to come.

In addition to the more serious historical perspectives within Daily Life America are religious events, celebrations, folktales, superstitions, and urban legends, and even favorite recipes (including one by Rosa Parks). These components easily move this database into the classroom curriculum, making it a vital element to expand learning beyond prescribed texts.

For Students & Teachers Daily Life America proves that history is made up of much more than those traditional elements covered in the classroom. Teachers will appreciate the Teacher Resources area, which includes state correlations to instructional standards and lesson plans created by strands (such as American history, American government, and more), and which can be searched by keyword, strand, and activity type. Additional resources include graphic organizers, such as cause and effect charts, concept charts, time lines, Venn diagrams, and Assessment Rubrics for projects such as essays, debates, or speeches.

Report Card As a stand-alone database or as part of the Daily Life Online series, Daily Life America provides students and teachers with a wide-range of resources that will never be available in the middle or high school library. Daily Life America earns an A+ for covering topics that truly interest students while explaining how events in history impacted daily lives and personal futures.

Grades 8–12+

Cost The pricing is based upon enrollment: 1–500 students is $450; 500–1,000 students is $650; and 1001–2,000 students is $900. Prices are for single sites and include multiple simultaneous user access and remote access. Subscriptions are also available for public libraries, colleges and universities, and individuals.

The Big Picture Greenwood's Latino American Experience is the second of the American Mosaic suite of databases. Purchased as a stand-alone database or integrated with the African American Experience, the Latino American Experience contains over 200 volumes of content from encyclopedias to biographies valued at $15,000 if purchased title by title. This database spans the history from pre-Columbian indigenous societies through the present-day United States. Through examination of this heterogeneous civilization and its history, students will discover hundreds of primary documents including speeches, treaties, laws, and letters.

Developed by a team of Latino librarians, the Latino American Experience spans the interests and research needs of students and scholars searching for topics such as: Arts and Entertainment; Folklore and Customs; Immigration; Politics, Law & Civil Rights; Sports; Business & Labor; History; Literature; Women; Education; and more. Students of history, literature, or government will easily find that the Latino American Experience provides a viewpoint not often found within the regular curriculum.

Look & Feel Greenwood's Latino American Experience paints a mural that is as intricate and as colorful as the lives, history, and events that fill its pages. This database provides the sort of unique content that might only be found within the special collections of a large public or university library.

Users can perform a Quick Search or an Advanced Search that incorporates keyword and Boolean queries using words and phrases. Limiters by type are also available within the Advanced Search, including: Articles, Images, Primary Documents, and External Resources. A Subject Browse option covers topics such as Business & Labor, Folklore & Customs, Immigration, and more.

The database also includes a Timeline dating from 50,000 B.C. to the present with additional information such as Migration, Inventions, Religion & Spirituality, Population, Trade, Literature, and other components of daily life. Over 1500 images are arranged alphabetically and by subject.

With the Primary Source Index, students can search for materials either alphabetically or by subject categories. Among the hundreds of primary-source documents are treaties, speeches, quotations, laws, and historical documents.

Landmark Documents in U.S. Latino History are divided into categories such as Quotations, Speeches, Letters, Articles and Excerpts, Laws, Legal Cases and Treaties, and Maps. Speeches include the address made by César Chávez in March of 1989; the press conference by Attorney General Janet Reno on the Elian Gonzalez standoff in March of 2000; and the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 when President Monroe presented the nation with the justification for U.S. involvement in the internal matters of Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

Additional components include Origins, with access to maps and countries represented by Latino Americans and Spanish-Language content, leading to recipes, folktales, lesson plans, articles, and vetted Web sites. (Spanish content within this area is also preceded or followed by an English language translation.)

How It Works The Latino American Experience provides indexing that allows for in-depth results from newly published reference books and scholarly titles, with additions scheduled biannually. A Subject Browse is divided into three sections: a Categories list of topics or subjects, Sub-Categories that are created once a subject is selected from the first section, and a third segment with a list of the results from the searches.

For example, a search under Categories for the subject “Literature” provides a lengthy list including Fiction. Choose Fiction, then a second section provides a list of Sub-Categories including bibliographies, history and criticism, and much more, including fiction categories for the different Latino American cultures. A selection of Bibliographies then provides the resource list within the third section of the screen. Students can clearly see how their research process has created a direct link to the sources they will use.

For Students & Teachers The Latino American Experience provides students and teachers with resources previously unavailable. Teachers will appreciate the Lesson Plans, which include National Standards, Strands, Objectives, Historical Perspectives of the subject, materials needed (including downloadable organizers and rubrics), key questions, points of view, directions, assessment tools, and even extensions to the research assignment.

Students will enjoy the ability to easily locate often hard-to-find pieces of information, as well as the 2.0 elements including a blog (hosted by Advisory Editor Ilan Stavans).

Report Card Greenwood's Latino American Experience deserves an A+ for bringing together an important piece of the puzzle which truly does create an “American Mosaic.”