Sailor Database Review: Kids Infobits

Kids Infobits is a Thompson Gale database aggregating links to information in a variety of knowledge domains. Sources include online encyclopedia entries, entries in almanacs and other ready reference resources, articles in periodicals such as Highlights for Children or Science News for Kids, and entries created specifically for Kids Infobits. The database is intended as a tool to teach elementary school students the rudiments of online research and to provide vetted sources of factual information.

Kids Infobits would be useful for students who are required to do research on topics for which paper resources are limited and who are not permitted to use internet resources. Topics can be browsed from hierarchically arranged pages of topics (e.g. People → Scientists and Inventors → Niels Bohr) or searched by both keyword and a controlled vocabulary subject guide. The advanced search page provides an opportunity to gain Boolean search skills, but no explanation of Boolean operators for the uninitiated.