September 4, 1999 from Erols.com Weekend Announcements:

http://www.VirginiaSOL.com  Please take a look at the VirginiaSOL.com web
site.  VirginiaSOL offers elementary students free on-line tests in English,
Science, Math, Virginia History and Technology.  The tests help prepare
students for the Virginia Standard of Learning tests.  The site also provides
great Links to most of the subject material.  Recently, educational books and
games were added.

http://www.ipl.org/ Just thought you should have included this very nice site
in your last weekend announcements for back to school kids.  The Internet
Public Library.

http://www.mla.org/  I have another to add to the list for Back to School
sites -- For MLA Documentation (Including Internet resources).

http://www.nwf.org  The National Wildlife Federation website is chock-a-block
with information for teachers and children.  We have free downloadable
classroom activities for teachers, interactive games for children,
information on how to create a backyard or schoolyard habitat for our wild
friends, easy to understand background information on all kinds of endangered
species, stories from "Ranger Rick," our award winning children's magazine,
and in April we have an on-line festival to celebrate National Wildlife Week
(and Earth Day).

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH THE INTERNET

It's that time of the year again.  Your kids and my kids are headed back
to school shortly.  And more than ever, schools are emphasizing using
computers and doing research on the Internet.

Here are a few suggestions for the younger students in your house.

The Internet is merely a tool.  At the risk of saying the obvious, the
"Web" is not necessarily a source of "facts" or the "truth."  Your teacher
is not always going to accept something you put into a paper because you
"got it on the Internet."   In some respects, it is just a big electronic
library.

When researching, remember to look carefully on the Web site for its own
sources of information.  Good writers will tell you where they learned
something.  Look for specific names, dates, and places.

Add links.  You can gain credibility with teachers if you put into your
document the address of the Web page where you learned something. It's
easy to do: just right-click on the address bar, then on "copy."  In your
document, then click on "paste," and it will put in something like this:

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html

That way, if your teacher wants to see how you used the information, he or
she can go there and check.

Add pictures and graphics.  It is easy to "lift" photos and graphics from
Web sites to liven up your document.  However, be careful you are not
violating copyright rules.  Read the fine print at the bottom of a site.
Use the right mouse button to click on the photo or image you want.  Use
the "save image as" command to put it on your desktop, where you can find
it easily.  Use the "insert" command in your word processor to add it to
your document.

Search engines. As with anything else, there are good search engines and
the there are better search engines.  There are even search engines that
search other search engines. A recent survey indicated that some of the
best-known search engines come up with only 16 percent of the data
available on the Internet on any given subject.  Therefore, try to find a
search engine that specializes in the kind of information you are looking
for.  We have some suggestions in our "Sites of the Week" below.

Use a reference web site that breaks down information by categories.  One
of the best we've found is one used by the professional reporters at the
New York Times to THEIR research.  It is oriented specifically toward
research and not just entertainment.  It is called the "Cyber Times
Navigator," and you can find it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html [Access to most
features at the New York Times is free, but the site will require you to
register and provide a password the first time you visit.]

Narrow your search.  If you have been assigned to write a history paper on
George Washington crossing the Delaware River at Christmastime in 1776
during the Revolutionary War, don't type just "George Washington". You will
get a zillion responses.  Instead, type in individual words separated by
commas, like this: "George, Washington, 1776, Delaware."  That way the
search engine will look for only what you need.  Some search engines have
"syntax" instructions to help refine your search.

http://www.webteacher.org/winexp/indextc.html If you have never done any
research on the Internet, this is an outstanding place to learn all about
the Web and how to use it.  The site offers clear, well-written tutorials.

http://www.dictionary.com/ A good place to begin if you are just looking
up a word or want to find the author of an obscure quote.

http://www.grammarlady.com/ Does your English teacher cross out everything
you write?  You need help from the grammar lady, who has a great sense of
humor and offers practical advice on how to write well. Tell your English
teacher you hang out here after school.  He or she will be very impressed.

http://www.biography.com/ This site has brief profiles of more than 20,000
famous people from ancient history right up to Hollywood.  It has links to
the Arts & Education channel on cable, and is specifically oriented toward
students.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ A great site to help you with your papers on
many subjects, but especially science projects.  Clear explanations, lots
of diagrams and pictures.  Read the copyright warning.

http://www.learn2.com/ A site that offers hundreds of tutorials that teach
you how to do everything from washing a car to writing a speech.

http://www.dogpile.com/ One of the search engines that searches other
search engines.  Click on the "Help with Syntax" bar to find out how to
narrow and refine your search.

http://www.google.com A new type of search engine developed at Stanford
University that rates sites by the number of times they have been visited.
It generally offers a wider and more effective selection than others.

http://www.getgoodgrades.com/ No tricks on how to get an "A" after slacking
all semester.  Just a "Study Tip of the Month," and a sales pitch for an
inexpensive little booklet that proposes to tell you how to get good grades
from an author who says he got a 3.58 GPA in college and perfect 4.0 in
graduate school.  Probably a smart businessman, too.

http://www.embark.com/ Are you already thinking about college?  This site
was recommended by "Megan," who told us:

I am currently a junior in high school and this site has helped me a great
deal in my college search.  I especially like the "College Matchmaker."
Here you are asked a bunch of questions about your ideal college and then
embark.com searches through their [its] database of colleges and finds the
one most closely related to your ideals.