DISCUS Databases: Explora

Designed with students and educators in mind, Explora provides a safe, trustworthy environment for students to look up articles and facts for research papers, class projects or homework. A far better alternative to websites and search engines, Explora provides students with easy-to-use features and age-appropriate content from the world’s leading magazines and reference books. Available on school computers and from mobile devices

• High-quality articles licensed from reputable publishers, recognized by library professionals, and selected for use in a school environment
• Simple search that quickly delivers relevant results, including primary source documents, news articles, and Associated Press videos
• Easy-to-browse categories organized by popular topic
• Topic Overviews that provide students with a starting point for research
• Text-to-speech for HTML articles to assist struggling readers or those learning English
• Numeric reading-level indicators to help students and teachers find grade-appropriate articles
• No ads or pop-up windows
• COPPA compliancy, meaning EBSCO does not ask for or require personal information to use its databases
• Password-protected personal folders that allow students to save search results in a secure and organized holding area
• Citation help, including the ability to export citation information to online bibliography generators such as EasyBib and NoodleTools

The three Explora databases replace Searchasaurus, Student Research Center: Middle School, and Student Research Center: High School.

Educators can discover grade-appropriate content in Explora by limiting results according to reading levels and make use of highly relevant educator support materials such as ready-to-use lesson plans, classroom activities and rubrics. A Curriculum Standards Module allows educators to browse Common Core, state- and province-specific curriculum standards, many of which have recommended search strings for successful content retrieval.