LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER

The Madison Media Center has approximately 12,000 holdings, including books, periodicals, videos, compact discs, and computer software.  Materials are circulated using Follett's Circulation Plus on a pc platform.  We use an Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) for our "card catalog" which can be accessed in the Media Center, in the classrooms, and in your home: (http://www.davenport.k12.ia.us/schools/librarycatalogs.asp)

Media Center materials are circulated for a two week borrowing period.  With the Kindergarten and first grade students, we do like the materials returned after one week.  If students would like a longer time, renewals are encouraged by returning the item and re-checking it out.  If materials are damaged or lost, students are expected to pay replacement costs.  The Media Center is open for use during the school hours.

Students in grades three through five are encouraged to participate in the Iowa Children's Choice Award book program.  Each year there is a master list of books (18-25) from which students must read or hear at least two of the books.  This takes place from September to early February.  In early February students vote for their favorite book.  State-wide the votes are tallied, and the winning author receives an award.  This becomes a student-selected, award winning book.

We have three student-station computers for use in the Media Center.  Students can access the OPAC, Internet for research purposes, create PowerPoint presentations, and word-process their reports.  

The Media Center has two televisions mounted on the ceiling.  We can connect a vcr player, and cable television so we can do some whole group, large screen learning.  

Below are some resources that may assist you in researching.

Subscription Online Services:  These are paid for by the State and our AEA.  Please see Mrs. Berger for the login and passwords (they change often).

EBSCO: http://search.epnet.com.  A database to obtain articles that have appeared in popular and professional periodicals.

AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archives: http://ap.accuweather.com.  An online database that includes over 750,000 Associated Press photos.

World Book Encyclopedia: http://www.worldbookonline.com.  Containing every article from the 22-volume print set plus more.

ClipArt.com: http://schools.clipart.com.  Unlimited access to more than 2,6000,000 clip art images, animations, photos, fonts, and sounds.

Atomic Learning: http://www.atomiclearning.com.  On-line tutorials to help you learn various computer programs and systems.

Below are some free, on-line resources.

Yahooligans: http://www.yahooligans.com.  A web guide/search engine geared for primary and intermediate grade students.

Ask Jeeves For Kids: http://www.ajkids.com.  "A fast, easy and kid-friendly way for kids to find answers to their questions.  This also contains such tools as a dictionary, thesaurus, almanac, world atlas, and more.

Fact Monster: http://www.factmonster.com.  "Reference materials (atlas, almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia), fun facts and features, and homework help."

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: http://www.m-w.com.  Besides the "regular" dictionary, this site also includes an unabridged dictionary and a thesaurus.

Your Dictionary: http://www.yourdictionary.com.  "More than 1,800 dictionaries with more than 250 languages."

Thesaurus.com: http://www.thesaurus.com.  Using Roget's Interactive Thesaurus, simply type a word and click the button to receive a list of synonyms and antonyms.

Encarta Encyclopedia: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/artcenter.aspx.  "Search more than 4,500 articles."

Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com.  A free, online encyclopedia with more than 57,00 frequently updated articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.