Let’s fill the next group of Emerging Leaders with school librarians June 27, 2008
Posted by Wendy Stephens in : Check this out! , add a commentSchool librarians and media specialists made up less that ten percent of the last Emerging Leaders cohort. If you’re looking for a way to increase your involvement in ALA, consider applying for the 2009 program. It will put you in touch with with ALA leaders and on the fast track to committee participation as you work on exciting projects with an experienced mentor. More information is posted on the ALA website, with requirements outlined below. The application deadline is July 31.
To qualify for the Emerging Leaders program, you must:
- Be under 35 years of age or be a new librarian of any age with fewer than 5 years post-MLS experience
- Have a recent MLS degree from an ALA or NCATE accredited program or be in an MLS program currently
- Be able to attend both ALA conferences and work virtually in between
- Be prepared to commit to serve on an ALA, Division, Chapter or Round Table committee, taskforce or workgroup upon completion of program
- Be an ALA member or join upon selection if not already a member.
About a third of the 100 or so Emerging Leaders in the cohort will receive funding in the amount of $500 from divisions or other ALA or state library and media organizations to defray travel expenses for each of the two annual conferences.
Don’t miss this opportunity to increase the voice of school librarians within the organization.
AASL News June 25, 2008
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : AASL News , add a commentAASL seeks proposals for 2009 National Conference
AASL is currently seeking proposals for preconferences at the AASL 2009 National Conference in Charlotte, NC. The theme of the conference is “Rev Up Learning @ your library.” Submitted proposals should be for half-day workshops that will be presented to school library media specialists November 4-5. Each proposal should address at least one of these themes:
- Technology
- Collaboration
- Gaming
- Reading
The deadline for proposals is 4:30 p.m. CDT on Monday, September 15. Proposals can be submitted electronically to Kelly Bishop, manager of professional development, at kbishop@ala.org, or by fax to (312) 280-5276. They can also be submitted in writing to Kelly Bishop, Manager of Professional Development, AASL, American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60611.
Webquests, Pathfinders and Information Literacy June 24, 2008
Posted by jhurd in : Check this out! , add a commentWe’ve been having quite the animated discussion on LM-Net today, all around this article by Australian webquest guru, Tom March. In it, he wonders whether Web 2.0 has made the traditional webquest, with teacher-supplied links and pen/paper responses, obsolete. There seems to be a 50/50 split between those who agree and disagree.
It started me thinking about pathfinders, however, as I think there’s a similar issue related to them. They are as much a staple of school libraries as card catalogs, and my (middle school/high school) students and faculty love them. This is my first year at the school, and the teachers here had never seen a pathfinder before. They did as much to advocate for my program as anything else I did all year. Teachers would come in and ask, “Hey, can you make me one of those resource thingies the kids mentioned?” I was thrilled.
And yet. As the pathfinders grew more elaborate over the year, with links to the OPAC, databases, suggested books and long hotlists of websites, I started wondering if I were doing the students a disservice. Why spend two or three days teaching them how to search for and evaluate sites, then give them a long list of “approved” links? Wasn’t I defeating my information literacy goal? But teachers loved them.
I began to start each web section of the pathfinder with a group of portals and useful search engines, with a brief explanation of why they were useful and a good place to start their own searching. I also used wikis to create the pathfinders, gave students the password and encouraged them to add their own sites, making it a collaborative effort that also involved critical thinking.
If you’d like to peruse my ‘pathfinder evolution,’ you can find them here.
I’m still not entirely happy with the process; how do we balance findability with information literacy? It would be great to hear what other librarians are doing. Or is this already a settled issue and I just don’t know about it because I’m a newbie?
Virtual Library Legislation Day June 23, 2008
Posted by droth in : Conferences, SKILLS Act , add a commentServe your students. Promote and protect school libraries. Make your voice heard.
Virtual Library Legislation Day is Tuesday, July 1, 2008 — Participate!!!
Prepare now (so you know what you want to say and do when the time comes).
Take action on July 1st.
Here’s how:
PREPARE
Read the ALA Washington Office (WO) webpage about the SKILLs Act: http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=10223941
Write a short piece telling your Senators and Representative the importance of passing the SKILLs Act. Use information from the WO webpage together with with your own thoughts and experiences to demonstrate the vital need to enact SKILLs.
If any of your Senators and Representatives already co-sponsor SKILLs, include your thanks and appreciation.
If they do not already co-sponsor SKILLs, ask them to take this step now.
TAKE ACTION
2 parts to this — for those at ALA Annual in Anaheim on July 1; and for those anywhere else
At ALA ANNUAL in ANAHEIM:
Bring your prepared statement to the Virtual Library Day Pavilion in Exhibit Hall sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 12 noon on July 1.
You will get a t-shirt.
You will participate in the excitement and enthusiasm of people representing the entire library community coming together to empower their political voice.
You will contribute to the voice of school libraries within the entire library community.
You will see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a strong library supporter, who will be adding his voice to the call for political support of libraries.
For more information see the WO Virtual Library Day webpage at http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=498
Not at ALA ANNUAL in ANAHEIM
Sometime on July 1st, deliver your message to your Senators and Representative.
How to do this:
Go to the WO Take Action Webpage at http://www.capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=10223941
Enter your zip code in the field provided and the message page comes up addressed to your Senators and Representative.
Put in your message and with a click of the mouse send it your Congressional delegation.
Mark your calendar. On Tuesday, July 1 take a few minutes to participate in our democratic system. Serve your students. Protect school libraries. Let your representatives in Congress know that school libraries are vital for the education of our students and therefore for the good of our communities and our country.
Doc
DIY Google June 18, 2008
Posted by jhurd in : Check this out! , add a commentIf you haven’t discovered it yet, Google has a useful new custom search engine that you can host on your own website. You create a name for the search engine, then manually enter the website URL’s that you want the engine to use in searching. Time consuming, yes. But what a great school-wide project, and imagine what a powerful tool you would have after a few years. There are also options to search the entire web, emphasizing your selected sites, or just to search the entire web.
Google then allows you to host the site on your Google homepage, your blog, or another website, and generates the embedding code. Nifty, eh?
I will admit that, as a high-school librarian, I have issues with using filtered search engines; students must learn to find and evaluate their own sites. Still, this has real potential, and I can see some wonderful content-specific possibilities here.
Departments can create a subject specific search engine, or teachers create a search engine for a specific topic of study. The History department at my school requires students to use a minimum of seven primary sources in their research papers. I spent an inordinate amount of time this year hunting links down for the pathfinders (have you ever had to find seven primary sources on Zulu warriors?!), and worried I was doing the students a disservice by finding the sites for them.
So I plan to create a primary source search engine with ALL of the links from the various pathfinders. Students still have to dig and root, but with better luck. They’ll even still need to distinguish between secondary and primary sources, as some of the sites are a mixture of both.
Really, you have to love Google, sometimes!
AASL News June 18, 2008
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : AASL News , add a commentAASL receives funding for school library relief program
AASL announced that an additional $520,000 is available for Beyond Words: The Dollar General School Library Relief Program. Funds will be available June 2008 to May 2010. To be eligible for a Beyond Words grant, applicants must be located within 20 miles of a Dollar General store, distribution center, or corporate office and must represent public schools serving students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Grant applicants must also meet one of two eligibility requirements: the library must have lost its building or incurred substantial damage or hardship due to a natural disaster, fire, or an act recognized by the federal government as terrorism. Complete eligibility requirements are in the Beyond Words section of the AASL Web site. Read the press release.
AASL to sponsor two Emerging Leaders
For the third year, AASL will sponsor two members for the 2009 class of Emerging Leaders. Those selected will each receive $1,000 for travel expenses when attending the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference – $500 for each conference. AASL’s Emerging Leaders will have the opportunity to participate in projects crucial to their profession. During conference, they will also benefit from attending specific workshops geared toward networking with fellow peers in the program. For more information about the program, please visit the Emerging Leaders wiki or contact Beatrice Calvin at bcalvin@ala.org. Those requesting consideration for the AASL stipend should indicate that on the application. The deadline to apply is July 31. Read the press release.
AASL 2009 Nominating Committee seeks candidates for AASL offices
The AASL 2009 Nominating Committee is soliciting AASL members who might be interested in the following AASL offices. The Committee will select two candidates to run for:
- AASL President-elect
- AASL Division Councilor
- AASL Board Member-at-Large
- Region I Director-elect/Director
- Region III Director-elect/Director
- Region IV Director-elect/Director
- Region VI Director-elect/Director
- Region VII Director-elect/Director
Nominees must be AASL members. If you have an interest in being considered for nomination to any of the offices, please email one of the 2009 Nominating Committee members listed below:
Dee Gwaltney, Chair: deegwaltney@comcast.net
Linda Gann: linda.gann@mac.com
Laura Pearle: lpearle@gmail.com
Carol Doll: cdoll@odu.edu
Leslie Forsman: lforsman@hotmail.com
Conference tips June 15, 2008
Posted by Debbie Stafford in : Check this out!, Conferences , 1 comment so farWith ALA, NECC and other conferences coming up this might be a good time to pass on conference tips. Three ideas that are often shared;
- Wear Comfortable shoes
- Carry address labels or business cards
- Have a tote bag
What are your other tips for successful conference going? How do you handle the exhibit hall?
When I go to the exhibit hall I take a map noting the vendors that I already deal with frequently. I may not have a question or concern but I like to stop by their booth and make contact. Sometimes they can tell me what new things are coming. Next I try to cover each aisle. I try to be careful with collecting freebies taking only items from vendors I may use. These freebies I take back to my school and in the fall during some inservice days use these as door prizes.
Libraries: essential to basic education June 13, 2008
Posted by jfreeman in : Spokane Moms , add a commentWashington State’s Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance is examining public education funding, an issue not addressed satisfactorily in over 30 years. The essential but difficult question: “What should be included in the state funding of basic education?”
The latest advocacy effort of the Spokane Moms, Fund Our Future Washington, and our teacher-librarians is to inform the Task Force about the need for adequate and sustained funding in the funding formula for school libraries and certified teacher-librarians.
A draft proposal presented this past week at a public meeting of the Task Force by Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, includes these elements:
- Libraries provide critical support for the state’s academic learning goals by improving student access to information to solve problems and use technology applications to improve their learning.
- State funding should include
- a teacher-librarian allocation of 1:500 students
- a library aide allocation of 1:500 elementary students, 1:750 middle school students, 1:1,000 high school students
- $25 per student for library collections and equipment
- Libraries should not always be a way to provide teachers with planning time. This proposal will encourage more frequent interaction between the teacher, librarian, and students, ensuring that libraries are an extension of classroom learning and linked to learning standards.
Support from the Superintendent is very important, but there are other groups hoping to get funding and this process is far from over. They are still collecting information to make a decision by early 2009. We are encouraged that libraries are part of the discussion, thanks to the tireless advocacy of the Spokane Moms.
If you are coming to ALA in Anaheim, consider attending the Advocacy Institute on Friday, June 27th, featuring the Spokane Moms:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issues/advocacyinstitute.cfm
AASL News June 11, 2008
Posted by Melissa Jacobsen in : AASL News , add a commentPlay the California Dreaming big game at Annual Conference
This summer at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, your knowledge will be put to the test in California Dreaming, a conference-wide scavenger hunt.
California has always been steeped in myths, from the lush valleys of Steinbeck to the sun-soaked beaches of the Beach Boys to the rain-drenched noir of Chandler. Each artist has created his/her own unique dream of the Golden State. Can you separate the fiction from the reality and discover the real California? As attendees explore the conference, they will encounter cryptic quotes and brain-teasing puzzles taken from books, movies, and music about California.
A little friendly competition quickens the pulse. With so many information professionals on the case, the competition will be quick and stiff. See how your problem-solving and information-gathering skills match up against your peers.
- Play alone or work in teams to solve the puzzles and sort the dreams from the reality.
- Turn in or text answers to game headquarters and score points for yourself or your team.
- Use your points to help capture famous areas of California from the Salinas Valley to Haight-Ashbury.
- Keep an eye out as you attend sessions and visit the exhibit floor for new puzzles and questions.
- Use badges to identify team members to work with and share information.
- Learn the history of California and have fun doing it.
Are you California Dreaming? For more information, visit the California Dreaming wiki.
At Annual 2008, be ready for Virtual Library Day on the Hill!
The ALA Washington Office is hosting an event at ALA’s 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim that is set to steal the spotlight of election year politics: Virtual Library Day on the Hill!
Virtual Library Day on the Hill will take place on Tuesday, July 1, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. Conference attendees will have the chance to both email and fax their Members of Congress on important library issues and learn how they can register to vote, using computer terminals located on the exhibit floor.
We are looking for librarians and library supporters from across the country to call attention to the value of today’s libraries, as well as the issues the library community is facing. This is especially important in an election year, as many of our nation’s legislators will be looking to hear from their constituents. This is our chance to make the library voice heard!
Former Los Angeles Lakers great and avid library supporter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be right there with you, writing his Senators and Representative about how much he supports libraries!
The Internet Room, which is on the Exhibit Floor, will be used exclusively for this event, as will several terminals in the Internet Café. After writing their Members of Congress, participants will receive a coupon for a free “Vote for Libraries” T-shirt.
Volunteers needed!
In order to make Virtual Library Day on the Hill a success, we will need a few extra helping hands! Volunteers will help participants use the computers to write their Members of Congress, to answer any questions they might have, and to hand out T-shirts.
If you are available on Tuesday, July 1, between 8:00 a.m. and noon and can volunteer for two hours, please send an e-mail to Melanie Anderson <manderson@alawash.org>. Please specify if you volunteered last year and/or if you have used CapWiz before.
Reading Indulgences June 5, 2008
Posted by maharlan in : Check this out! , 1 comment so farThis weekend is the 48 Hour Book Challenge in the kidlit blogosphere sponsored by Mother Reader. I have set aside my weekend, there will be no house work, yard work, or cooking of dinner. I am going to indulge – for those of you who read and blog – come join us. It can be considered a tool for reader’s advisory for those of you who might need a “professional excuse”.
On a separate note I had no suggestions on title for an online book club. However there has been quite a bit of discussion on LM_Net about The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein. So I am inviting anyone who wants to – to join me in reading this over the summer. Discussion will begin August 11th, right here.
