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1Pathfinder Examples, Repositories, and Resources

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2John Newbery Elementary School Library Pathfinders

Let’s begin by looking at a pathfinder from the John Newbery Elementary School located in Wenatchee, Washington State. The colorful and well-organized start page is arranged by grade level and then by topic.

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3Butterflies: A pathfinder for 2nd grade

Let’s look at the second grade butterflies pathfinder. It clearly shows the necessary features of an effective pathfinder: A list of books with their call numbers. It includes both nonfiction as well as fiction and includes Spanish titles. There is one magazine included. Next are selected Websites, and multimedia. The pathfinder includes suggested Dewey numbers, Keyword phrases, and even a community resource. This is excellent for making those linkages to the wider school community. Finally there are the appropriate State standards, a feature which is not often included in pathfinders, but one that is important

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4U.S.S. McKillop Elementary Library page

The site, which was built using Glogster, contains media book reviews and student projects. This format permits the inclusion of audio and video tools which are helpful for students who are just learning to read.

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5USS McKillop Texas Trunk Show Links

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6Blackfriars Priory School Libraries Endangered Animals Pathfinder

This 2nd grade pathfinder from Blackfriars Priory School in Adelaide Australia is introduced by an essential question. It features a limited number of resources suitable for students of that age and reading level. Another interesting feature is the embedded Shelfari containing selected books on the topic.

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7The Odyssey Characters Exploration

This pathfinder was constructed using Livebinders. Like a typical hard notebook binder, Livebinders is arranged topically using tabs. It can easily be added to and each tab can also be divided into subcategories. In addition to the inclusion of selected websites, Livebinders permits you to add your own graphics and text which is quite helpful when providing personalized instructions.

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8Creekview High School's Unquiet Library Iran pathfinder

Netvibes is a free tool that is similar in many ways to the popular fee-based LibGuides. It is customizable through the addition of a variety of widgets and RSS feeds that help keep it current. It is best suited to current events, health news, technology, and other topics that change rapidly.

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9Bishop Stang High School Student Projects

LibGuides is a commercial product that has become the pathfinder platform of choice for colleges and universities. However it is also used by public schools. LibGuides has many attractive features that enhance its popularity including the ability to embed multimedia such as videos, RSS feeds, and podcasts, as well as insert Delicious bookmarks and link to websites, the school library catalog, and subscription databases. Another useful feature is the built-in link checker. LibGuides also allows subscribers to share templates. The Bishop Stang High School Student Projects page is an example of a pathfinder start page organized by teacher names.

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10Michigan State University Amino Acids Pathfinder

LibGuides can also be easily accessed through mobile devices through the use of QR codes.

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11The Pathfinder Project: Teaching, Helping, Educating with Pathfinders

This is an excellent resource developed by the Iowa Library Services that includes a Tool Kit with a pathfinder template.