Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

Online Database Review:
Title: CultureGrams
Publisher: Proquest
URL: http://online.culturegrams.com

This kid-friendly database provides a useful starting point for any exploration of the culture and history of the countries of the world, the fifty states of the U.S. and the thirteen provinces of Canada. Each section of the site is color-coded for easy navigation. The “World Edition,” written at a middle school level but also suitable for high school students, includes entries on more than 200 countries. Users can access these “reports” by searching, selecting from a pull-down menu, or clicking on an interactive world map. Each entry includes a very brief overview of the geography and history of a country, followed by a much more extensive description of the culture. The people of the country are described through the population, language, religion, general attitude and appearance. Everyday customs such as greetings, gestures, visiting and eating are each described in individual paragraphs, as are lifestyle features like family, housing, dating, marriage, diet, recreation and holidays. The government, economy, transportation, communication, education and health systems of the country are described in similarly brief paragraphs. Each country also includes detail and outline maps, full-color and outline versions of the national flag, an audio file of the national anthem, one-paragraph biographies of famous people, photo galleries and recipes for common dishes. The “Kids Edition” offers similar content for a younger audience. In this section, the entries are written at an elementary level, more graphics are included and there is less text on each page. The “States Edition” provides overview of each state’s climate, geography, resources, history, people and culture, plus some fun facts and features, including an audio recording of the state bird. The “Provinces Edition” provides similar content for each of Canada’s 13 provinces.

There are several standout features of this database. First, it appears to have been designed start to finish for young people. The layout is intuitive and easy to navigate, with search, pull-down and graphic options. Few pages are longer than a single screen, so scrolling is rarely necessary. Text is limited to one or two paragraphs, often supplemented by illustrative photos, graphs, or drawings. Students can print or e-mail individual pages, or access a .pdf file of the entire content for a country, state or province. While the content is very introductory, it is the kind of information teachers often ask their students to locate for country or state reports. Because all the information is available here, this frees teachers to have students do something more than simply report on a single place or people. The ease of navigation and consistency of entries affords opportunities for making comparisons, drawing contrasts, and noting trends—the kinds of higher-level thinking research in intended to stimulate. One tool available through this site for such analysis is the “Build-Your-Own” comparison table and graph makers. For a graph, users can choose up to 10 nations and compare them by up to four categories. A comparison of India, China and the United States, for example, is sure to raise interest when students view populations in relationship to real GDP, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The table builder allows students to compare data of countries from different regions by categories such as infant mortality, life expectancy, cell phone use, literacy and population. A growing collection of high-interest video clips and slide shows, which might be used at the beginning of a lesson, round out this resource. Highly recommended for elementary, middle school and high school libraries.
—Doug Achterman