teens and databases

go together like......oil and water! i had the privilege to barge in on the KO teen advisory board meeting to talk with 8 lively adolescents about databases. ranging in grade from 7th to sophomore and representing both Cherry Creek and Littleton schools, it was a good mix.

findings:

• used school databases (yea! someone's telling them to!)
• relied on teacher recommendations for websites or sources
• didn't know we had databases :( but would possibly remember to use them in the future now that they knew
• liked the history databases over the Student Resource Center for the graphics (what looks good must also be good)
• liked the accessscience database over the Student Resource Center for the same reason but more so. one student recognized the McGraw Hill name and associated it with his school textbook = quality
• most rated the all of the databases highly but for different reasons
  
  suggestions:
  
• give more prominence to the databases ("put it on the home page in flashing lights so i'll remember to use it")
• advertise in the school newspapers
• let teachers know

i always get energized when talking with teens. they definitely have opinions and are a multi-talented group of up and coming voters! consider this post an open invitation for ideas about how to market databases to teens....or to any audience, for that matter!

stay warm/drive safely!