Website Review: Measuring Worth

MEASURING WORTH explores both nominal (current-price) measures and real (constant-price) measures from the US, UK, and Australia.

Through the collaboration of over a dozen university advisors, this high-quality website provides a free service for calculating relative worth over time.

The Comparators section provides calculators to answer questions about relative value, purchase power, growth rates, and other fascinating questions.

The Graphs section explores historical economics. Users can create graphs by selecting from data sets.

The Data Sets section provides over a dozen useful data sets related to GDP, Consumer Price Index, annual wages, and other topics related to economics topics.

User guides, a glossary, FAQs, and essay are helpful in making effective use of the website’s resources.

Librarians will find this website useful for mathematics, economics, and history classes. Also, use this online tool for teaching data literacy skills.

To visit the website, go to https://www.measuringworth.com/.

Website Review: Khan Academy

KHAN ACADEMY contains over 3000 free videos and interactives on subjects including math, science, economics, arts, humanities, computing, test prep, and other topics. These short, self-instructional videos and interactive lessons help children and young adults with specific, foundational skills. The test prep section is particularly helpful for teens seeking assistance in preparing for the SAT.

This not-for-profit website is an excellent way to help K-12 youth succeed. Students can work at their own pace. There’s even a way for teachers to track student progress.

To learn more, go to KHANACADEMY at https://www.khanacademy.org/.

Book Review: In Real Life

IN REAL LIFE by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang is aimed directly at young online game players who may be unwittingly drawn into the hidden world of virtual economics and illegal gold farming. In this compelling graphic novel for youth, Anda is faced with the real-life consequences of what at first seems to be a fun new online game. The book’s cover does an exceptional job illustrating the dual worlds of online gaming and the real-world.

Doctorow’s powerful introduction to IN REAL LIFE provides an overview of the timely issues discussed in the book. From Minecraft for younger children to World of Warcraft for teens and beyond, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) are popular with youth. Recently, some of these online games have morphed into examples of living economics with millions of dollars of virtual merchandise being traded. Although many game developers have banned gold farming, it continues to be a real problem impacting both game play and the illegal activities often associated with taxation and labor issues. Cory Doctorow has tried to raise awareness of these issues in previous works like the short story ANDA’S GAME and novel FOR THE WIN.

Jen Wang’s beautiful, bold illustrations will appeal to the target audience. Her portrayal of authentic body-types in the real-world sequences and visually-rich fantasy elements in the gaming segments make the illustrations perfect for young people.

The focus on girls-only gaming along with a thought-provoking message will make this graphic novel an outstanding addition to the growing number of works for youth that explore the fascinating world of online gaming.

Learn more about Cory Doctorow at http://craphound.com/

Follow illustrator Jen Wang on Twitter at https://twitter.com/alooghobi

NetGalley ARC used for review

Book Review: Economics Through Infographics

ECONOMICS THROUGH INFOGRAPHICS by Karen Latchana Kenney is the newest book in the SUPER SOCIAL STUDIES INFOGRAPHICS series aimed at upper elementary school youth. Economics is an aspect of the social studies curriculum that can be difficult for youth to understanding. Visual representations are an effective way to convey key concepts related to trade, currency, spending, markets, and business. In this work of nonfiction for youth, the author uses “the money trail” to help readers understand how the cycle of money works. Questioning is woven into the text to stimulate student thinking. Blocks of text introduce key concepts and useful examples. While many of the examples explore topics connected to the every-day world such as iPhones, others are connected to social studies topics like the fur trade. From Australia to Israel, examples are provided from around the world.

The author points out that professional economists use graphic elements to convey their ideas. Illustrator Steven Stankiewicz uses infographics to present the key concepts visually. Bright, attractive colors will immediately attract readers. A wide variety of visuals are incorporated including pictograms, charts, concept maps, flowcharts, timelines, and maps.

Like any book focusing on economics, the book is likely to become dated in a few years. For instance, a section discussing the minimum wage ends with data from 2010, a dated flip phone is used as an example, and the cost of services like movies are likely to change. However, the book should remain current for the life of the book.

The book concludes with an index, further information, and a glossary. Other books in the series focus on culture, geography, government, and history.

To learn more about integrating infographics into the school library, check out two new articles in Teacher Librarian.

Lamb, Annette & Johnson, Larry (April 2014). Infographics Part 1: Invitations to Inquiry. Teacher Librarian, 41(4), 54-58.

Lamb, Annette & Johnson, Larry (June 2014). Infographics Part 2: Practical Ideas for Your Library. Teacher Librarian, 41(5), 64-67. 

NetGalley ARC used for review