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Many school students are being asked to complete project work at home during their time off. This type of work can be a bit like a treasure hunt: figuring out clues, making connections and finding answers. It can be great fun but also a really valuable way of developing the ability to learn independently and encourage critical thinking skills. Students learn to frame questions, explore sources and analyse complex information.Read on as our colleague Teresa from Pembroke Library leads you through a range of our free online non-fiction and reference works in which reliable information is presented in engaging and accessible ways.EncyclopaediasA good starting point for projects are encyclopaedias. At World Book Online you can access informative entries and other resources on a whole load of subjects, with separate sites aimed at primary and secondary school students. Encyclopaedia Britannica has long been the ‘go to’ source for research, and the online editions available to young people include both written information and a host of other resources such as videos, news items and a really useful research planner.Britannica Library Student for ages 12 – 18 is suitable for those in secondary school, whilst Britannica Library Junior for ages 5 -11 is good for younger children. Young adults looking for more in-depth content can challenge themselves by accessing both Oxford Reference and Oxford Research Encyclopaedias.BorrowboxYou might need to look to more detailed accounts of your subject. BorrowBox offers access to lots of non-fiction material for all age groups. For example, primary school children will find that the What Was? or Great Lives series are excellent sources for project work. To narrow down your choice, try the ‘advanced search’ option, selecting non-fiction, keyword, genre or age group. Watch our how to video on Borrowbox.Access eBooks/eAudiobooks on your phone, tablet or reader. Once you have installed the app, search for Dublin in the ‘Library’ field provided and then sign in using your library membership card number and PIN.Members of other library authorities will need to access BorrowBox using a different link.Tumblebook LibraryOr enjoy books on all sorts of subjects, and short National Geographic videos about everything from baby elephants to Christopher Columbus on TumbleBookLibrary. Have you checked out details of TumbleBook Library and how to access it on our website? TumbleBook Library is a curated database of over 1100 children’s e-books, and includes their unique animated, talking picture books, read-along chapter books, national geographic videos, non-fiction books, playlists, as well as books in Spanish and French.It's full of great stories to listen to with videos showing all of the wonderful illustrations. You can even follow the text as the story is being read to you. To learn more about how to use Tumblebooks please check out our how to video.Very Short IntroductionsYoung adults will surely find useful sources in the acclaimed Oxford University Press. Very Short Introductions series. These are expertly written, readable overviews of almost every subject you could imagine, from Deep Ocean Biology to Northern Ireland. Just use your library membership card number to take a look - who knows what treasures might be found. 

Do you have small children at home? Are you looking for free online resources to help you to educate and amuse them? Then look no further. Your Dublin City Libraries membership gives you access to several great online resources suitable for younger children including Freegal Music, TumbleBookLibrary, BorrowBox, and World Book Early Learning. Read on to explore with Grace from Cabra Library some of what we have to offer the little ones out there amongst you.FreegalFreegal has lots of songs and music videos, and It can be used without looking at a screen if you prefer. The two songs on Freegal that we listen to the most in our house are Baby Shark and Let it Go! No surprises there! Freegal has built-in playlists you can use, or you can create your own as well. To give you some ideas, here is a selection of playlists that I created for the toddler group in Cabra Library:Hallowe’en Playlist:•    Adams Family•    GhostbustersChristmas Playlist:•    Merry Christmas Everyone•    Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!•    Feliz Navidad•    Rocking Around the Christmas TreeValentine’s Playlist:•    You’ve Got a Friend in Me (From “Toy Story”)•    You’ll Be in My Heart (From “Tarzan”)Monthly Playlist - January:•    Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes•    Ring Around the Rosie•    I’m a Little TeapotMonthly playlist - February:•    Ten Little Monkeys•    If You’re Happy and You Know ItLullaby Songs for Baby Rockers is one of the top children’s playlists on Freegal. You (or Baby!) can listen to popular songs such as Seven Nation Army, Parklife, and Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of, all in lullaby format. I also recommend Libraries Rock Kid-Friendly Songs! This playlist includes hits like Can’t Stop the Feeling (from “Trolls”) as well as old favourites like Jack and Jill. Freegal rhymes with legal and the name is a combination of Free and Legal! To find out more about using Freegal with your library card, watch our very helpful video.TumbleBookLibraryHere at Dublin City Libraries, we are encouraging young readers to participate in Spring into Storytime by reading the story of the day from TumbleBookLibrary. Or, if you prefer, you can choose your own story. Check out today’s story on our Facebook or Twitter pages and on our blog.We recently enjoyed a book at home from the TumbleBookLibrary non-fiction collection called Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! It features familiar creatures such as ladybirds, ants and bees in animated form. And as well as listening to the text, you can read it on the screen. I also recommend TumbleTunes for preschoolers and toddlers. It includes songs such as Mary had a Little Lamb, The Wheels on the Bus, and Bingo, all the hits in fact! The TumbleBooks theme tune is catchy in its own right! As with Freegal, TumbleBookLibrary also allows you to make your own playlists. Check out details of TumbleBook Library and how to access it on our website? Watch our how to video. To find TumbleTunes, click on TumbleSearch on the top right-hand side of the screen, choose the ‘Search by Subject’ box and type in ‘tumbletune’.BorrowboxMoving on to BorrowBox, this wonderful resource provides access to eBooks and eAudiobooks for readers age three and over. We recently borrowed two eAudiobooks - The Little Princess Treasury by Tony Ross and Miffy’s Adventures Big and Small by various authors.The Little Princess Treasury contains 21 short stories, all under six minutes long! We particularly enjoyed the following two:•    I Want My Tooth: The Little Princess had 20 teeth. One started to wobble. What happened to the tooth?!•    I Want to Win: The Little Princess was used to winning at home in the Castle. Would it be the same when she went to school?Miffy’s Adventures Big and Small contains 10 episodes. Most of them are just over six minutes long so suitable for little ones with short attention spans! Here are just two that you’re sure to enjoy:•    Miffy and the Postcard: The postman brings Miffy a postcard. Miffy decides to send one in return. But what will she write about?!•    Miffy and the Leaves: Miffy and Snuffy are playing fetch on an Autumn day. Miffy likes the sound of scrunching leaves. Aunt Alice has run out of red paint for her painting of leaves. Miffy has an idea that might help!BorrowBox has plenty of eBooks for preschool children, including such popular favourites as The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson. Just to note, our eBooks are in very high demand at the moment but don’t worry – if the item you want to borrow is currently on loan, just reserve it and you’ll get a notification when it’s available to borrow. You can borrow or reserve up to five eBooks and five eAudiobooks at a time, so there’s plenty of choice.Watch our how to video on Borrowbox.Access eBooks/eAudiobooks on your phone, tablet or reader. Once you have installed the app, search for Dublin in the ‘Library’ field provided and then sign in using your library membership card number and PIN.Members of other library authorities will need to access BorrowBox using a different link.World Book Early LearningWorld Book Early Learning is a learning resource designed especially for pre-schoolers and small children, and it has lots of educational videos, games, stories, and activities. If there is a dinosaur fan in your house, they may enjoy the dinosaur videos where Professor Nick tells us about the likes of Triceratops and Stegosaurus. Many preschool children learn about the lifecycle of the butterfly and know the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In the Creepy-Crawlies section, you can watch as a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. In the Activities section of World Book Early Learning, there are lots of pictures to colour in online. These are great for any pre-school children who miss coming into the library to do some colouring. And we really miss all the boys and girls coming in to the library too! This activity is great fun and I’d recommend that adults also give it a try. You can even choose to draw your own picture and let your creativity truly shine!For those too young to colour online, the Nursery Rhymes and Songs in the Stories section may be just the thing. Join in with such favourites such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Humpty Dumpty.  To access World Book Early Learning - click on the Early Learning icon on the top left of the page. Wishing you and all the little ones lots of fun!

World Book Online is a suite of websites from the publishers of the famous World Book encyclopediae. Early World of Learning is for Pre-school and Junior/Senior Infants. World Book Kids is suited to Primary school students. World Book Student is designed for Secondary school students.World Book Early World of LearningWorld Book Early World of Learning is a resource for preschoolers and children in early primary. Developed with experts on early childhood education, image-based navigation helps young readers explore stories, games, videos, and interactive colouring pages for educational entertainment. There's lots of guidance for parents too with lesson ideas and how-to videos. Visit World Book Early World of Learning, all you have to do is enter your library card number. World Book KidsWorld Book Kids is the premier online resource developed especially for young students, ideal for older primary school children. The site has been optimized for tablets and features image-based navigation, easy-to-read articles, thousands of images and videos as well as a wealth of engaging games, science projects, and activities.Watch how to use tutorials and visit World Book Kids, all you have to do is enter your library card number. World Book StudentWorld Book Student is for secondary school students and includes all the articles from the print versions of the famous World Book encyclopedia, plus thousands of additional articles, learning resources, and research tools. Containing numerous tools to engage users in 21st-century education and blended-learning practices, it features responsive design, daily current events and dedicated resource guides to provide blueprints for advanced learning and college and career readiness.Watch tutorials on how to use the site and Visit World Book Student, all you have to do is enter your library card number. 

This week, we are going to take a look at TumbleBooks, an online resource especially designed for the little ones in your life. TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach children the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks are created by taking existing picture books, and then adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you. This resource also includes National Geographic videos and games.(Example of National Geographic Videos)Available on TumbleBooks:Story Books: This option features animated, talking picture books for the younger reader. The reader has the option to automatically or manually turn the pages.  Chapter Books/Read-Alongs: While this option does not include animation, the ebooks are narrated. They also include Chapter menus so that you can jump chapters, and a bookmarks and notes feature which are cookied onto your computer. Chapter Books also allow readers to change the colors of the background and text, as well as the font style, size, and line spacing. This helps to make the ebooks even more accessible to a wider range of readers. Videos are from the world renowned National Geographic! Simply click on "Watch Online" to watch the 2-5 minute clips on various topics. Most of these videos have been paired with ebooks as a way to introduce a topic! Featured is where teachers, librarians, parents, students, and TumbleBooks staff can recommended a book! It's a quick and easy way to find books on those rainy days! Puzzles & Games accompany each book and reinforce concepts from the books, allowing for a fun and educational learning experience. Language Learning is an easy way to access our French and Spanish titles! Non-Fiction contains a growing collection of non-fiction titles in subjects such as health, science, astronomy, biology, and nature.Playlist allows you to access the pre-loaded playlist. The eBooks play back-to-back just like a music playlist! In addition, you can create your own playlist! Simply click on the "Add to Playlist" button below a TumbleBook to create your own!(Example of Foreign Language eBooks)Access How:Website; Follow link below. To register; select the "My Cloud" tab, click where it says "Register" and enter your library card number and pin as your username and password.App; Select "Library" tab, in country box fill in "Ireland" (Note; state is NOT required), select Dublin City Council Public Library and enter your library card number. In main menu select "View by Detail" to add your favourite books to "My Favourites."URL: http://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/autologin.aspx?UserID=08Hezhy7Lfgp480vNdjp%2bw%3d%3d 

The online resources featured in this week’s blog are ‘Who Else Writes Like…?’ and ‘Who Next…?’Both resources are compiled by two professional librarians of long experience, drawing on contributions from other librarians.To access either one of these resources, all you need is your Dublin City Public Libraries card.Just log in with your library card number at the links below, and then select Dublin City Public Libraries.  ‘Who Else Writes Like…?’“I’ve read everything written by my favourite authors, what shall I read next?”Sound familiar? Well this online resource helps answer that dilemma. ‘Who Else Writes Like…?’ is an established reference web resource and reading promotion tool. It is designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read.With the click of a mouse, youi can browse by genre or go straight to an author of interest, check up on characters and series or the latest prize-winning writers, and follow the links to authors' websites for additional information.So click on 'Browse authors' to get started and discover a whole new world of fiction writers based on your favourite authors.https://www.whoelsewriteslike.com/   ‘Who Next...?’ is specially designed to help parents, teachers and librarians in encouraging children and young people to explore the world of reading. When children ask: “Who can I read next?” or “Who writes like my favourite author?”, the answers are here in ‘Who Next…?’  Writers of children’s fiction are listed with suggestions of other authors who write in a similar way, together with key book and series titles.You can browse:Four age groups: 5-7, 8-11, 12-14 and 14+Genre and themeGraphic novels, read out loud titles, short stories and titles for dyslexic or struggling readersPrize-winning children’s booksCountry of birth of authorsOther useful linksThis is an invaluable tool for parents, teachers and librarians to help children explore the world of reading. As the award winning author, Alan Gibbons, says “A reading child is a successful child”.https://www.whonextguide.com