AccessScience (McGraw Hill)

AccessScience is the online platform for the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, a gateway to an unparallelled library of scientific information with content covering all major areas of science and technology, including health and social science.

With reading levels aimed at high school and adult audiences, publications found within include, but are not limited to:

• McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology
• McGraw-Hill Yearbooks of Science & Technology
• McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
• Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography
• and Science News and ScienCentral videos and multimedia

AccessSicence is a good example of an e-Resource we purchase independently, choosing to subscribe to the online platform in place of purchasing the latest print edition of the popular encyclopedia set. This presents yet another benefit to a well stocked e-Resource collection: whereas in the past, we might have purchased one print copy of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology for the Central library passing older editions to a branch, subscribing to the online platform provides equal access to the latest edition for all Burlington residents, regardless of the branch they use. This practice has been applied to the World Book--we now subscribe to the e-Resource rather than purchasing the print encyclopedia.

Content within the AccessScience e-Resource is predominantly American. But it could be argued that scientific fact is scientific fact regardless of its country of origin. So while you might find a handful of preeminent Canadian scientists missing from the biographies tab (James Hillier, the Brantfordian inventor of the electron microscope, for example) generally speaking the scope of AccessScience is a mute point.

The AccessScience interface is relatively straightforward to navigate and contains many of the common features we look for in an e-Resource (click image to enlarge):

1. Advanced search
2. Subject search
3. Image search
4. Folder/log-in option
5. Help

Worthy of note: the Helpful Tools on the homepage is just that--a handy collection of frequently sought after measurements of scale, units of conversion, and various scientific tables. A single click of the mouse will give you examples of:

• the Periodic Table of Elements
• a Perpetual Calendar
• conversion factors for the U.S. Customary System, metric system, and International System 
• and much more!

Hidden Gem? The AccessScience Study Centre is an amazing source of information for high school students readying for university or working towards a course summative or independent study unit. Covering upwards of 19 subject fields, the Study Centre features:

• Answers to frequently asked scientific and technological high school questions
• Topical study guides for exam preparation
• University study guides for physics, biology, chemistry, and environmental science, including quizzes and links to relevant AccessScience content
• Essay/science fair topics

What type of information question might you use AccessScience to answer?

• "I need a short biography of Marie Curie..."
• "How do solar panels work?"
• "Is it possible to predict when a volcano will erupt?"
• "How do heartworms affect dogs?"

Homework Question: Use AccessScience to answer the question below, emailing your response to training@bpl.on.ca. Answers to these questions can be in point form, but should include all steps taken to complete the query. Please list specific titles of articles (and their publication titles), images, media, etc. pertinent to the question posed. Please also list other e-Resources you could use to support this question.

Question:

Megan has just arrived at the Aldershot branch, 10 minutes before closing time. She rather hurriedly explains she needs information for her grade 11 biology science project on honey bees. Specifically, she's interested in the extinction of honey bees and the impact this would have on the environment. She'll need information on bees, in general, as well as specific material relating to their possible extinction and its cause.

While we have a few books and other items in our print collection, most are at Central library and her assignment (of course) is due tomorrow...

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