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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 7, age appropriate for kids over 10; suggested age 10.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    E-library is a solid resource for all ages.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 10 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Includes many Web-based educational resources for kids, teachers, and parents.

  • Messages:

    Encourages kids to dig further into subjects by using the Internet as a research tool.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Some of the links in The World section may include information on war and other topics that include references to violence in history.

  • Sex:

    Some of the links in the Health and Nutrition section include information on puberty, sexuality, and other sensitive topics that parents may want to read before or with their kids.

  • Language:

    While there's no inappropriate language used on this site, it links to many outside sites.

  • Consumerism:

    No ads, but links to some sites that have ads.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Some sites in the Health and Nutrition section discuss the use of illegal drugs, but in clearly negative ways.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About IPL Kidspace

Parents need to know that this site is the kids' section of the huge Internet Public Library resource, which is created and maintained by professors and students at library and information science programs. The site is organized by subject and does link to other sites. It may be a bit too cluttered for younger students to find what they're looking for on their own, but for older students, parents and teachers, it's a well-stocked resource. Kids can submit a question (barring medical, legal, tax and personal opinion) to a volunteer librarian and receive a well-researched answer back within about a week.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about using reference tools responsibly. Discuss the ethical way to use the information from a site like this without plagiarizing. Also, explore the differences between going to a "real" library and visiting this online library. Does it feel different to read a book online versus in hand? What's the difference? Is one better than the other?
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