MyGateway – Teen Blog

Tag: MyGateway

School’s back, oh well

On Monday, 28 January, 2013

The library is here to help! We’ve got information, and trained professionals who know how to use it: libraries are useful places when you’re studying. Here are some helpful things:

The teen blog study stop pages – full of useful links and tips.
Mygateway.info – if you’ve never visited then you really should, it’s like a virtual reference collection with a huge amount of online databases (many that you can only access with your library card – google won’t help you find these treasures). They’re sorted by subject, a helpful jumping-off point.
Anyquestions.co.nz – librarians online to help discover the answers to tricky reference questions, Monday to Friday, 1 to 6pm during school time. If you’re looking out of hours, there’s the manyanswers database which is a good starting point.
The teen blog book lists page – for if you’re looking for some fiction to read.

All the best for the school year.

Lawspot

By Grimm

On Tuesday, 20 November, 2012

In internet culture, library news

Got a puzzling law question? Lawspot is a Wellington-based website that aims to provide answers to people’s legal queries. So you can find out about the legalities of downloading MP3s from YouTube for example.

While Lawspot isn’t a substitute for personalised, one-to-one legal advice, it’s a great way of finding out general information. If you’re interested in the law in general you can also browse through answers to see what legal concerns people have.

We – Wellington City Libraries – also have a range of useful online law databases, courtesy of mygateway.info.

If you’re interested in studying law (and staying in Wellington while doing so), the Victoria University Law Faculty has all the info, obvs. – including a video that features impressive Wellington buildings and scenery (and two tiny clips of people in lectures).

Exams: the final hurdle

By Grimm

On Monday, 31 October, 2011

In stuff to learn

Tis the season. If you’ve got exams coming up, don’t worry! Come to the library to study. Also, here’s some useful stuff:

Past Exam Papers. You can download these off the NZQA website here (you can print exam papers out at the library – printing costs 20c for an A4 black and white page).

NCEA Study Guides. You can borrow these from the library (for one week). If someone’s got the one you want, there are reference copies at the central library. Just bring your library card to the children’s enquiries desk.

Forum for students. Ask advice and talk to teachers and other students at studyit.

Online Databases. The library’s got a wealth of information available through MyGateway. The Study and Homework page has got a collection of all-round useful websites and databases, but also have a look at Science, History, or Books & Reading, for example.

Exam Info Alerts. Find out the latest information from NZQA via Twitter.

Studystop Pages. Useful links and hints are here.

WCL Teens at Facebook. While you’re on a study break, like us on Facebook (we have a timewasting tab).

Spiderrzz. Because it’s almost exam time, and Halloween in fact, it’s time once again to point you towards a horribly realistic virtual spider.

The Oh Yay It’s Almost Exam Time Blog Post

By Grimm

On Thursday, 14 October, 2010

In library news, stuff to learn

KitKat Nearly time to study for exams? Never fear, here are some links and stuff that will help you:

WCL’s Own Study Stop Page – with study tips, links to useful websites and databases, and things like that.
StudyIt for NCEA students – includes subject forums with help from teachers on what and what not to do.
NZQA Subject Resources page – includes past exam papers that you can download.
NZQA on Twitter (it’s @NCEAexams) – how hip are NZQA?
MyGateway.info – more online databases than you can poke a stick at. Great for last-minute research. All you need is your library card number (and a last name).

Rather than shutting yourself in your room to study, you could also consider the library as a venue: we’ve got copies of NCEA study guides, and some past exam papers (or you could download from the NZQA site at the library), tables, chairs, and ambience.

If you’re needing to procrastinate take a small micropause, here are some non-study related links that may interest you:

Pew pew pew! Flash games!
Teen blog posts featuring cute animals (awww)
Random YouTube clips, featuring some movie trailers
Wikipedia’s pleasingly long definition of procrastination
TVtropes.org – I have been told you can reliably waste a lot of time here, especially if you like TV. Search for your favourite show and be amazed by the random trivia. What’s a trope? TVtropes says they are “are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.”
Finally, once again, play with your virtual pet spider

About an Author: Sarah Dessen

By Grimm

On Wednesday, 22 September, 2010

In library news

We recently-ish did a post about a Top 100 YA fiction list, in which Sarah Dessen featured strongly. So what about Sarah Dessen then? Who is she and why is she so popular? Here’s a very brief summary.

Sarah Dessen is the writer of (currently) nine novels for young adults, all of them stand-alone (which is unusual, since it seems everyone thinks you have to write series to be popular). We have them all! She studied creative writing in college (lucky her) and her first book, That Summer, was completed while she was waitressing (good job for writers: write during the day, wait at night).

Sarah Dessen fans (wittily called dessenites) love her for her realism, her focus on interpersonal relationships (the catch-all subject for fiction), and, yes, her books are a little bit romantic. Of Just Listen, possibly her most critically well received novel, one reviewer wrote, “Annabel and Owen’s finely limned connection alone gives this novel staying power”.

If you’re wanting to make a serious study of Sarah Dessen’s works then the place to go is the Literature Resource Centre. This is one of the online databases you can get at through MyGateway.info. The Literature Resource Centre is a fantastic resource: there are reviews (separated into reviews and more highbrow literary criticism), biographical articles and interviews, plus much more. Great for your NCEA reading log.

Sarah Dessen on t’internet:
Website | Twitter | Blog | Facebook

Wellington City Libraries

Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui

Teen Blog

Reading, Wellington, and whatever else – teenblog@wcl.govt.nz

Tag: MyGateway

School’s back, oh well

Lawspot

Exams: the final hurdle

The Oh Yay It’s Almost Exam Time Blog Post

About an Author: Sarah Dessen

Useful Things

Tags