Download the ISearch Guided Notes from the exercise files at the bottom of this page to help you with this lesson. You will continue to use the ISearch Guided Notes in other lessons throughout this class.
For those schools that use INFOhio's integrated library system (ILS), ISearch is your school library + INFOhio. INFOhio uses SirsiDynix's Enterprise and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) to give you easy access to your school library catalog and INFOhio's database collections from a single search box. (If your school does not use INFOhio's integrated library system, please see the note at the bottom of this page.)
ISearch lets you and your students explore the contents of your school library along with multiple collections of magazines and journals, newspapers, reports, primary sources, encyclopedias, videos, and eBooks—reliable content that isn't available on the open web—from a single search box. This can save both you and your students time because ISearch lets you search multiple kinds of high-quality, trustworthy resources from a single search box to find resources for a research project or content to build or supplement the curriculum.
INFOhio makes it easy for you and your students to find ISearch. The best way to find ISearch is to visit the INFOhio website. INFOhio's licensed digital content is password protected to ensure it is accessible for Ohio teachers, parents, and students only. Make sure you are logged in with your school or district's INFOhio username and password.
Don't know how to log into the INFOhio website? This video shows users how to log in if they are not authenticated. It also shows how to switch log in from the state user name and password to a district or school's specific user name and password. For more information about logging into the INFOhio website, review the information in the Introduction to INFOhio class.
Once you are logged in, scroll to the area just below the All INFOhio Resources button. You will see your school or district's ISearch widget there.
Additionally, talk to your school librarian to find out if there are links to ISearch on your school library website, on your district website, or in your learning management system.
The ISearch landing page or homepage
If you access ISearch by clicking a link to it, you'll land on your ISearch landing page or homepage.
These are the main components of the ISearch landing page:
The ISearch results screen
If you access ISearch by searching from a widget or if you search from the ISearch landing page, you'll land on an ISearch results screen.
These are the main components of the ISearch My Library* tab results screen:
To make it easier for you and your students to find the items you need among the thousands of results in ISearch, INFOhio displays results on different tabs.
The active tab has a light yellow background. The My Library tab is bigger than the other tabs.
This is where the results are coming from under each tab:
My Library*
Encyclopedias
Basic Sources
You will find magazine and newspaper articles, usually at a lower reading level, on the Basic Sources tab. These are the databases that are searched on the Basic Sources tab:
These are some of the publications that may appear in your results on the Basic Sources tab:
Advanced Sources
You can find scholarly research articles that are more advanced on the Advanced Sources tab. These are the databases that are searched on the Advanced Sources tab:
These are some of the publications that may appear in your results on the Advanced Sources tab:
STEAM
You can find resources related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math on the STEAM tab. These are the databases that are searched on the STEAM tab:
These are some of the publications that may appear in your results on the STEAM tab:
Open Access
You can find articles, government documents, and other resources that have good information and are freely available on some specialized websites on the Open Access tab. These are the content collections that are searched on the Open Access tab:
What is not available in ISearch?
Currently ISearch does not search the following INFOhio subscription databases:
INFOhio adds subscription databases licensed for PreK-12 statewide use to ISearch as content providers build and release connectors.
* Note for schools that do not use INFOhio's ILS
If your school does not use INFOhio's integrated library system (ILS) you can still use ISearch! You will not see the materials from your school library and you will not see a My Library tab. Instead of a My Library tab, you will see an eBooks & Videos tab. That tab contains everything that the My Library tab contains, except for the contents of your school library. The contents of all other tabs remain the same. That makes ISearch a great tool for searching nearly all of the INFOhio databases at the same time.
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Fetch is avaiable to INFOhio automated schools. If you are an INFOhio school, please log in with your school username/password using the button at the top-left corner of this page.
For more information about Fetch, please visit the Fetch information page or contact INFOhio support at https://support.infohio.org.