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The primary market for Discovering Collection is high school libraries, classrooms, and the K-12 consortia market, with public libraries and junior colleges as a secondary market.

Question 3
What are the types of content contained in the Discovering Collection?

Reference — including biographies, criticisms, overview essays and timeline entries — Images/multimedia, and Primary Source Documents. The content is organized under three similar tabs in the results list: Reference, Primary Documents, and Multimedia, unlike typical Web-generated hit lists.

Question 4
Where do the primary source documents come from?

The Discovering databases covering Multicultural America, U.S. History, and World History contain curriculum related primary source documents such as speeches, letters, diary entries, etc.

Question 5
Which titles and databases make up the Discovering Collection?

The Discovering Collection contains over 30 reference sources (including sets, small subject databases, etc.) from Thomson Gale, totaling about 400 print volumes. If the print equivalents were to be purchased individually, the total cost would be more than $60,000.

All of the Discovering databases (Authors, Biography, Multicultural America, Science, U.S. History, World History)
All of the Exploring databases (Novels, Poetry, Shakespeare, Short Stories)
All of the UXL titles from the Junior Reference Collection (Biographies, Jr. Authors, Multicultural, Science)
American Eras
Selections from the Encyclopedia of World Biography
Experiment Central
Gale Encyclopedia of Science
History Behind the Headlines (selected volumes)
Math and Mathematicians
Newsmakers
Presidential Administration Profiles for Students
Sick!: Diseases and Disorders, Injuries and Illnesses
U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science
Many of the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia titles (Nations, States, Canadian Provinces, Cultures)

Many of the Worldmark Encyclopedia titles (Nations, Nations: World Leaders, States, Canadian Provinces, Cultures and Daily Life)

Question 6
Does the Discovering Collection contain dictionaries?

Yes. The Merriam Webster's Collegiate, Biographical, and Geographical dictionaries.

Question 7
If I needed to find a specific novel, poem, Shakespearean play, or short story, how would I find it?

The answer can be found in the Literature Search. Either go to the Title Search and key in the title, or use the Liteature Topic Search. In the Topic Search, select one (novels, poems, Shakespeare or short stories) and type in the title of the specific novel, poem, play, or short story in the text box. For criticism on the title, select criticism from the list of document types. For the text of a poem or Shakespearean play, select text of play or text of poem.

Question 8
What do the content level icons assigned to reference and periodical articles in Student Resource Center mean?

There are three content level recommendations in Student Resource Center: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Icons associated with each of these levels help describe the degree of detail and difficulty each information source provides. The levels coincide with stages of research: from basic research for facts about a topic to deeper research for more background and context to a sophisticated information need for scholarly details and recent developments.

Further, the content level icons indicate the sources' intended audiences. Gale creates research materials for targeted audiences (e.g., U*X*L is for grades 5 and up), and these publisher recommendations, along with the amount of detail, are the basis of the designated content levels.

Basic () content provides a good overview for any student beginning a research project. It not only provides a foundation of key facts about a topic, but introduces keywords to help students who continue their research in other materials or on related topics. Basic content level sources are generally those published for readers up to the eighth grade level. For instance, the U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science is recommended for this audience as are magazines such as Cobblestone.
Intermediate () content builds on the research or information at a basic level. For a more experienced researcher, these articles cover a topic in more detail, offering more background information as well as contextual information to expand on the facts. An Intermediate content level indicates a source published for students from a seventh grade comprehension level up through undergraduates, as well as the general public. Reference sources such as Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations and magazines such as Time and Consumers Digest are recommended for this audience.
Advanced () content allows a student to complete the most sophisticated assignments requiring the latest news and details at a scholarly or professional level. An Advanced content level icon would appear for such magazines as The Scientist.

The content levels are assigned to each periodical and reference set based on the publisher's age recommendations. They are not assigned to each individual article.

We have chosen this general approach to allow students to choose the articles that best suit their particular needs, acknowledging that many students read below or above their particular grade level.Yes.

Question 9
How can I find a specific audio or video file in Discovering Collection? Can I email images, audio or video files?

Through the Multimedia Gallery by clicking both audio and video and entering a keyword in the text box. No, due to copyright infringement rules, images, video and audio files may not be emailed.

Question 10
How many documents are contained in Discovering Collection?

Over 30 reference databases/titles
18,000 essays and overviews
Nearly 16,000 biographies
Over 13,000 criticisms
Over 16,500 Timeline Events
Over 15,000 images, maps, flags and seals
Hours of audio and video files

Question 11
When searching for a particular biography, which search is better? Subject, Keyword, or Person?

People Search is the best for narrowing the results to a specific person (e.g., George Washington but not George Washington Cable or George Washington Carver) or type of person (e.g., Female explorer), and for retrieving biography document types. A Subject Search provides broader results with more of a cross curricular range. A Keyword Search will provide the most results.

Question 12
Does Discovering Collection have a subject search and a subject guide and where can I find them?

Yes. The Subject Search can be found and accessed from the Home Page or from the search bar on most other screens. After you’ve entered a search, the subject guide can be found on the left-hand side of the screen.

Question 13
Where can I find the Toolbox and what does it contain?

The Toolbox can be found on the Home Page at the top of screen or at the bottom of the other search screens. The Toolbox contains:

Tools for Getting Started:

How to Judge Information
How to Make a Concept Web
How to Choose a Topic
How to Write a Topic Sentence
How to Make an Outline

Tools for Wrapping Up:

How to Cite a Source
How to Organize a Report
How to Build an Argument
How to Write a Conclusion
How to Write a Thesis Statement
How to Create Visual Presentations of Data
How to Footnote