Databases

Databases
Since our district subscribes to Ebsco, we have a similar bundle to other districts in the province. Our district pays $1.00 per student. Our bundle also includes Thomson Gale which provides access to Canadian Periodicals, Student Resource Centre- Gold, Gale Virtual Library and Biography Resource Centre.
Our local library also subscribes to Ebsco:
Their package includes some of the same access: Academic Search Premier, Novelist, World Book, Consumer Health, Searchasaurus as well as Encyclopedia of BC.
The only sites that were different from the library were Auto Repair Reference Centre, Electronic Law Library, QP LegalEze-provides current laws in BC and BC Codes- building codes.
GreenFILE is one of the databases through Ebsco. Some people may not be familiar with this one. GreenFILE offers information covering all aspects of human impact on the environment.
As mentioned by others, I find it hard to believe that all school districts do not have the same access to services. I agree wholeheartedly with James that negotiating province wide or across Canada would ensure that all Canadian students have equal access to resources.
When I asked our staff if they used any of these sites, many didn’t know about them so I showed them at a ProD session. Some of the teachers are trying them out especially Searchasaurus and World Book.