Parents and families can find out about what Michigan eLibrary (MeL) resources are available for students, and how to best use them. Plus, access some important links for Michigan K-12 students and their families.
Just what is a “subscription database”? Well, it is usually a searchable online resource that requires payment for access. The content of these databases are published by many different companies and contain information that usually is not available doing a basic free internet search. The information contained in these databases is quality, vetted, and reliable. The Michigan eLibrary (mostly funded by the Institute of Library and Museum Services - IMLS), purchases over $3 million worth of subscription databases, and provides free access to all Michigan residents. You can access the databases either by visiting mel.org or through your local public library.
Types of content in the databases MeL offers include:
Keep in mind, the Michigan eLibrary is for ALL Michigan residents, not just students. MeL offers a wide variety of databases, so be sure to check out our complete list to see what might be of interest to you!
Check out the MeL Parent Page for some great links to help your child succeed in school.
MeL's College Bound center can help families select and prepare for college. You can locate the best pre-planning college guides, practice exams, and scholarships.
Specifically for our youngest users, MeL Kids focuses on resources appropriate from basically birth to 5th grade. On the landing page, users are immediately greeted by our Kids Mascot, Brookie, and his frog pal, Read-It. Be sure to click on Read-It to get access to a MeL coloring page!
There are four centers within MeL Kids:
For students in Middle and High School, MeL Teens focuses on resources appropriate for grade 6 through junior college. In addition to the pre-paid subscription databases found in the Homework Help section, students have access to information for college and even social issues.
There are four centers within MeL Teens:
Parents and other caregivers of a school-aged child now can easily find answers to these questions and many more through one user-friendly online tool. Michigan’s new Parent Dashboard for School Transparency (or “Parent Dashboard”) makes it easier for parents to see many types of information about any public school in Michigan, including public school academies (charter schools).
The new dashboard is designed especially for parents and other caregivers. It will report on more than 20 different factors—or measures—that parents and other stakeholders have said are important to them when evaluating the quality of a school. Families and others can use the dashboard to get a more complete picture of how their child’s school is serving students. They also can use the dashboard to compare a school’s performance with the average performance of other similar Michigan schools.
See the dashboard in action at MISchoolData.org/ParentDashboard.
MoneySKILL: www.moneyskill.org
This is a free online personal finance course that covers income, expenses, saving and investing, credit and insurance. It is geared toward Middle School, High School, and College.
The databases are not hard to learn how to use. You can watch some videos or look at some how-to slide decks that are linked in the MeL Teachers' Training Toolkit Center or on the MeL YouTube Channel. You can even get help from your local public library.