Training/Outreach

BadgerLink has quality online resources for everyone in Wisconsin. It's well known that we have a lot of great materials for students. But we also provide tons of great resources for educators!

From the BadgerLink homepage, you can browse our resources by format, subject, or audience. When you select "Educator" under Audience, you get a listing of all the great resources that are relevant to teachers. BadgerLink Resources Filtered by Audience: Educator

• Resources with professional and academic journals about education
• Wisconsin Media Lab resources
• BadgerLink created supplemental tools
  • BadgerLink Research Guide and Super 3 Research Guide
  • BadgerLink Scavenger Hunt
  • BadgerLink Graphic Organizers
  • BadgerLink Lesson Plans
• Vendor created supplemental tools
  • Britannica Standards Search
  • EBSCOhost Curriculum Standards
  • TeachingBooks.net Literacy Connections
  • TeachingBooks.net Professional Development Module
  • TeachingBooks.net Text Complexity Rubric

Find Training: Videos, Websites, and PDFs

We also provide a variety of training materials so you know how to use our resources. There are two ways to find training materials. See the instructions as a PDF.

One way to find training materials is to go to our Training page. You can get to the page from the blue navigation bar at the top of the page. Once on the Training page, use the filters to find the materials you need.

On the BadgerLink training page you’ll find:

• The BadgerLink Set Up Guide, which is a handbook for school and library staff to learn the system requirements and basic guidelines for use of BadgerLink resources
• Fliers detailing how to use Google Classroom with LitFinder, EBSCO, and TeachingBooks.net resources
• A video on how to set up an educator account with Britannica 
• A video and instructions on how to search for lesson plans in EBSCO resources
• And so much more!

The other way to find training materials is to go to the resource's Full Details & Training page (Example: Science Reference Center Full Details & Training page). First, find a resource you want training on. On the resource listing, click on "Read more..." Then click on "Full Details & Training." Once on the Full Details & Training page, scroll down to find the training materials for the resource.

For Educators Materials

Some of our resources have lesson plans or other documents that help you use the resource in the classroom.

If a resource has any supporting documents, Click on Read more... and check out the links in the For Educators section. You can also find the links on the Full Details & Training page!

Introduction for Educators Video

To help educators (and librarians!) become familiar with BadgerLink, we put together this short video.

You can also view the video on the BadgerLink Training page.

BadgerLink Beginnings

Partial screenshot from an early version of BadgerLink in February 2011, via the Internet Archive

BadgerLink first went live in September of 1998 after many months of planning and recommendations from the Library Technology Planning Conference. September 14, 1998 was declared “BadgerLink Day” by then-State Superintendent John Benson, and BadgerLink has been providing statewide access to online resources ever since. At inception, BadgerLink’s collection included 4,000 periodicals and over 40 newspapers from vendors EBSCO and UMI. The collection has grown over the years to include census records, over 8,000 full-text magazines and journals, 1,990 full-text reference books, 1 billion full-text newspaper articles, 18,000 videos and video clips, and much more from 11 different vendors. For more of BadgerLink’s early history, check out the Channel newsletter archives.

 

BadgerLink Funding

BadgerLink resources are paid for with a combination of state and federal funds. The state funds are from the Universal Service Fund (USF), which is comprised of surcharges on telecommunications. You can read more about the USF in Wisconsin on the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin website. The federal funding comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an independent agency of the federal government that serves as the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums

 

The USF provides 2.6 million dollars to the BadgerLink program, covering the cost of the resource subscriptions, and IMLS provides $283,679 to support the BadgerLink program. While a small amount compared to what’s provided by the USF, the IMLS funds go toward staffing and access, providing critical services from authentication and access to outreach and training. Without the IMLS funds, there would be no way to access BadgerLink resources, and no team to troubleshoot, make updates, and spread the word about resources to Wisconsin residents

 

The BadgerLink Team

The BadgerLink team is comprised of 5 DPI staff members who spread the word about BadgerLink to schools, libraries, organizations, and individuals statewide, and who maintain access to BadgerLink resources for all Wisconsin residents.

The BadgerLink Team (Left to Right) Elizabeth Neuman, Kara Ripley, Gail Murray, Martha Berninger, Ben Miller

Martha Berninger is the director of Resources for Libraries & Lifelong Learning, and she oversees the BadgerLink program and team

Ben Miller is the assistant director of RL&LL, and he provides oversight, technical support, and troubleshooting for BadgerLink

Elizabeth Neuman is the Technical Services Coordinator at RL&LL, and she maintains a close connection with vendors, provides technical support, and manages statistics for the BadgerLink program

Kara Ripley is the BadgerLink Training and Reference Librarian, and she answers research questions and coordinates training for Wisconsin organizations

Gail Murray is the Content Management & Outreach Librarian at RL&LL, and she provides technical support, outreach, and training for BadgerLink

Please contact the BadgerLink Team with any questions about the program’s history and funding, access issues, training requests, or for any other BadgerLink questions.

During the April Class, we'll explore Britannica's Spanish Resources. Join this 20-minute Class to learn how to use the interface to reliable information in Spanish as well as how to use citation, dictionary, and translation features. Immediately following Class, we will hold Office Hours, an agenda-less online meeting where you can ask any and all BadgerLink questions.

Need a reminder? When it gets closer to the training, we'll email you. Sign up for email reminders

Mark your calendar

• May 30: Wisconsin Media Lab

Did you miss the last Class? Watch the recording.

• January: Access and Authentication Webinar
• February: TeachingBooks.net Webinar
• March: Science Reference Center Webinar

Contact Us if you have any questions!

During the March Class, we'll explore Science Reference Center.  Join this 20-minute Class to learn how to find science experiments, search for articles written by scientists, and look for articles from a specific publication. Immediately following Class, we will hold Office Hours, an agenda-less online meeting where you can ask any and all BadgerLink questions.

Need a reminder? When it gets closer to the training, we'll email you. Sign up for email reminders

Mark your calendar

• April 25: Britannica's Spanish Resources
• May 30: Wisconsin Media Lab

Did you miss the last Class? Watch the recording.

• January: Access and Authentication Webinar
• February: TeachingBooks.net Webinar

Contact Us if you have any questions!

The February Class will cover using TeachingBooks.net in the classroom. During the 20-minute Class, we'll learn about finding teaching resources and multimedia about diverse books, sharing content you find, and using the text complexity rubric. Immediately following Class, we will hold Office Hours, an agenda-less online meeting where you can ask any and all BadgerLink questions.

Need a reminder? When it gets closer to the training, we'll email you. Sign up for email reminders

• January: Access and Authentication

Contact Us if you have any questions!

Wisconsin State Reading Association Conference
Wednesday, February 8 - Friday, February 10
Milwaukee
Exhibits on Wednesday evening, Thursday, and Friday morning

Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association Conference
Sunday, March 19 - Tuesday, March 21
Wisconsin Dells
Exhibits on Monday and on Tuesday morning
Presentation Monday, March 20 from 3:45 to 4:45 in Crown Palm, “Beyond Access: Developing Deep Knowledge of BadgerLink Resources”

Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers Conference
Thursday, March 16 - Saturday, March 18
Oconomowoc
Exhibits on Thursday evening & Friday
Presentation on Thursday at 3pm, “BadgerLink, Your Online Laboratory!”

Wisconsin Health Literacy Summit
Tuesday, April 4 - Wednesday, April 5
Madison
Exhibits on Tuesday, April 4

Stay tuned for more updates on conferences from April on, and as always, contact us with any questions!

In 2017, the BadgerLink team is making changes to our training schedule!

Previously, we held Classes, a series of webinars over the course of a month, all based around a theme (for example, our Genealogy Class we held in September/October). Independent of Classes, we hosted monthly Office Hours, an agenda-less time to ask any and all BadgerLink questions. Now, Classes and Office Hours are joining forces!

Mark your calendars for the last Tuesday of each month from 3pm to 4pm for a BadgerLink Class followed by Office Hours! Join us for both a Class and Office Hours, or drop in for one or the other.

Our first Class, on January 31st, will cover Access & Authentication, focusing on school & library logins and IP registration. All Classes will be recorded and posted on our Training page ; Office Hours are not recorded.

Need a reminder? When it gets closer to the training, we'll email you. Sign up for email reminders

We hope to see you there -- please Contact Us with any questions!

You can now order LearningExpress Library posters through the BadgerLink website!

LearningExpress Library is a skill building and test preparation resource that includes full-text ebooks, courses, and tutorials. Because LearningExpress is available through BadgerLink, everyone in Wisconsin can improve math and reading skills, prepare for a career exam, study for the GED and ACT, and more! LearningExpress Library is a great resource to share with students and library users of all ages.

To order bookmarks and posters for your Wisconsin organization, go to BadgerLink.dpi.wi.gov/get-word-out/request-bookmarks-and-posters and complete the request form. Materials are mailed or sent through library delivery at no charge to you.

Want to learn more about all LearningExpress has to offer? Explore BadgerLink's training materials on LearningExpress.

Shakespeare’s First Folio is touring all 50 states, and this month it’s in Wisconsin! You can see the folio in person at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art through December 11th. Looking for ways to get in on the Shakespeare mania? Look no further than BadgerLink! Here are some articles and full-text books to get you started.

We hope that you enjoyed Genealogy Class. Please take this short survey and let us know how we did. The survey closes on November 7, 2016.

Take the survey

If you weren't able to make it, don't worry. The recording of our classes are available on each resource page, BadgerLink's Training page, and on the BadgerLink YouTube playlist .

Check out the recordings:

• September 29 Recording: Wisconsin Historical Society Family History Records
• October 6 Recording: Access NewspaperARCHIVE
• October 13 Recording: Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers
• October 20 Recording: HeritageQuest Online