Electric Library


Electric Library is an online database of thousands of magazine and newspaper articles, TV/radio transcripts, maps, pictures, books, encyclopedias, travel guides... EL is available for home subscription. Your school may have subscribed to Electric Library. Check on your library's Internet home page or with your library staff member, for information about the number and type of license available to you.  EL has purchased the copyright to scan certain sources [see a partial list below].  Unlike SIRS, which begins with topics, EL begins with sources.  The nearest competitor to EL is Ebsco Host.

The educational login [requires a login and password] is found at www.elibrary.ca/education. Our whole Board subscribes. 

For this workshop, choose any one of the topics below and so the same search in several ways to compare results:

Topics:
  • clon* and human*
  • alcoh* and cause*
  • "video games" and violen*
  • diabet* and discov*
  • "Sierra Leone" and peace*
 Search methods:
  • Try boolean searches
  • Try limiting some to Canadian sources only
  • Try putting the word Toronto in the Source box to find The Toronto Star
  • Try selecting and un-selecting various media


There is also a tutorial at the Electric Library site
Search screen
  • Choose Natural Language [just ask a question like "who was the first Prime Minister of Canada?" or Boolean searching --
      •  
    • use AND, OR, NOT between words -- Gretzky AND Lemieux, mountain and bikes
    • use quotation marks around phrases or proper names; "Mario Lemieux", "The Rolling Stones" "genetic engineering"
    • use an * for truncation to get various word endings: adopt* will return adopt, adopted, adoption, adoptions...; comput* = computer, computers, computing, computed...
    • combine these techniques to develop a search string: "Wayne Gretzky" and nhl and scor*
  • Select "Search Canadian sources only", if required. 
  • Select the number of possible results from a minimum of 30 to a maximum of 150. 
  • Select type[s] of content by clicking an icon (maps, magazines, TV/radio, book, etc. Choosing Book will also return encyclopedias). 
  • Don't worry about capitalization because the search engine is not case sensitive
  • You can specify the exact source such as The Toronto Star, but use the Publication List to verify the exact name
  • If you enter a word in the Title box, EL will ensure that only items with that word in the title are returned [not generally used]
  • Specify a date or date range if desired.
Results screen
  • Sort results by source type, date, file size, or alphabetically by publication or title. 
  • Determine the complexity of a document by scanning the reading level assigned to the document.
Document screen
  • Email, print, or copy and paste documents. 
  • Prepare the document for printing by clicking the "view printable copy" button prior to printing.
  • Search a word from the document using the Gage Canadian Dictionary or Thesaurus. 
  • Jump to the most relevant portion of a document by clicking the "go to best part" button.
  • Use your browser's ability to Find on this Page [under the Edit command]

Partial list of Content

Please find below a small sample of the sources available on Electric Library Canada from International, U.S. and Canadian publishers.

For a list of Canadian content only, click here.
 
Magazines (540+)
  • Maclean's 
  • Canadian Geographic 
  • Canadian Business 
  • The Economist 
  • Chatelaine
  • Canadian Musician 
  • Marketing Magazine 
  • Scientific American 
  • The Medical Post 
  • The Canadian Global Almanac
Reference Books and Works of Literature
  • The Canadian Encyclopedia 
  • The Gage Canadian Dictionary and Thesaurus 
  • Columbo's All-time Great Canadian Quotations 
  • Monarch Notes
  • The Complete Works of William Shakespeare 
  • Frommer's Canada 
  • Who's Who in Canadian Women 
  • Canada Business 
  • World's Best Poetry
Newspapers (225+)
  • The Toronto Star 
  • London Free Press 
  • Ottawa Sun 
  • Hong Kong Standard 
  • Calgary Sun
  • International Herald Tribune 
  • Los Angeles Times 
  • Washington Post 
  • Jerusalem Post 
  • Newsweek International
Pictures (135,000+)
  • Reuters Toppix News and Sports 
  • Archive Photos 
  • Index Stock Photography, Inc. 
  • Earth Lifeforms
  • Earth Explorer 
  • AIMS Multimedia 
  • Canpix Image Gallery (3,500 Canadian contemporary and historical photos)
Maps (2,700+)
  • Magellan Geographix 
  • MG Maps of the World 
  • Mapquest.com 
  • Maps.com World History Maps
  • Maps.com 
  • World Atlas 
  • Maps.com Digital Earth Maps
Transcripts (202,000+)
  • 60 Minutes (CBS) 
  • The National (CBC) 
  • Venture (CBC) 
  • 48 Hours 
  • 20/20 (ABC)
  • Fox News Sunday 
  • Talk of the Nation (PBS) 
  • The Nature of Things (CBC) 
  • Washington Transcript Service 
  • Capitol Hill Press Releases
Canadian Content
  • Alberta Report / Western Report 
  • Alberta Sweetgrass 
  • Calgary Sun, The 
  • Canada and the World Backgrounder 
  • Canada Business * (Reference Source) 
  • Canadian Business 
  • Canadian Business Review 
  • Canadian Computer Reseller 
  • Canadian Corporate News 
  • Canadian Geographic 
  • Canadian Investment Review 
  • Canadian Musician 
  • Canadian Packaging 
  • Chatelaine 
  • Chatelaine Quickies Cookbook: Ten Quick Ways with Everyday Food 
  • Colombo's All-Time Great Canadian Quotations 
  • Computer Dealer News 
  • Computing Canada 
  • Edmonton Sun, The 
  • Flare 
  • Food in Canada 
  • Frommer's Canada* 
  • Frommer's Nova Scotia, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island* 
  • Frommer's Montreal & Quebec City* 
  • Frommer's Toronto* 
  • Frommer's Vancouver & Victoria* 
  • Gage Canadian Dictionary 
  • Gage Canadian Thesaurus 
  • MapQuest.com* 
  • London Free Press 
  • Maclean's 
  • Marketing Magazine 
  • Medical Post 
  • Meetings & Incentive Travel 
  • More Vitality Cooking 
  • Oilweek 
  • Ottawa Sun, The 
  • Professional Sound 
  • Profit 
  • Raven's Eye 
  • Saskatchewan Sage 
  • Today's Parent 
  • Toronto Star, The 
  • Toronto Sun, The 
  • The Vitality Cookbook 
  • Windspeaker 
  • 1998 Canadian Encyclopedia, The - (McClelland & Stewart) 
  • 1998 Canadian Global Almanac, The - (Gage Publishing)
  • * Non-Canadian source but contains considerable Canadian information

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