beccablog, teacher-librarian

I just read Joyce Valenza’s post about the ISTE Topic, Brick and Mortar Libraries.  Although it makes me angry to hear comments, I have to listen to the opposing side in order to understand what we are up against.

Next year, I will open a new library in a new high school.  Thankfully my administrators view libraries as I do – it isn’t about the books, the furniture, and so on.  It is about the things we do with those resources.  I am paraphrasing what I hear from a variety of sources – but a library is not a warehouse for books and computers. It is a place where students can be creators, editors, and producers of their learning.

So as Joyce suggested, we are not asking the right question.  Questions I am asking as I begin to design and think of this new library…

1.  What does it look like to have a “creative space”?

2.  What is my role as a teacher and information specialist in this environment?

3.  Where do books fit?  How does the collection look different from the building we opened 9 years ago?

4.  What things remain important?

5.  How can I be ‘virtual’ in my role as well as physically present?  How do the two work?

The list of questions continue and I will post more as I think and work through these questions.

Right now, I am ordering books – how does my nonfiction collection look now with Gale Virtual Reference Library and Follett ebooks/ereader?

Presentation Notes from Friday, October 16, 2009

I presented using CoolIris and then uploaded to Slideshare.  No audio this time.  My colleague, Amanda Davis, led the Widgets presentation – I will post the link below as well.  Look for “how-to’s” with widgets from Amanda soon!



Widgets http://prezi.com/ctt8owlrfx_f/

Links:

Library 2.0 Session

Widgets Session

Last week, I was instructing a class for the book trailer project. Students read a book of their choice and then create a book trailer noting the characters, tone, mood, theme, and other literary elements that would fit the assignment.

For multimedia/digital assignments, we discuss the ethical use of information and how to correctly create a project using public domain images and music. Not only do we discuss the “how”, but also “why”. The “why can’t we use a song from my iPod” or “why can’t I grab any image off of a Google image search” seem to stump many students. Even after I show the students the many sites and Creative Commons searching, they seem to still think these laws are crazy.

So, I was flipping through Entertainment Weekly at lunch that day and saw that the Ellen DeGeneres Show is being sued for playing songs in their show’s intro without permission (September 25, 2009 issue). I began telling the students about this and light bulb! They began to understand that these rules have implications and it is not just “them” that has to follow such rules.

Image from Will Lion, Creative Commons

I am always looking for different ways I can help students interact with the content on a web page.

What I am looking for…

*Available at home and school

*Online – not  paper and pencil type thing

*Works with databases and free web

*Easy to use

*Easy to download (if you have to download) and use with a variety of browsers

From Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day, I found iCyte.  I am going to try it with students and see how it goes.  If you do the same, let me know or if you have a different/better site, please send that my way too.

iCyte Overview from stephen foley on Vimeo.

We recently launched Ebsco’s Integrated Search which is a type of federated searching that is affordable for us.

What do I like about it?

*Searches our sources from one spot – books and online

*Appears all on one page and since students are familiar with Ebsco, they are comfortable with the interace.

*Keywords – I will put this as a con too – but it really does make you work for a good search term.  This can be frustrating for students, but putting in a broad term will make the search “messy”.

*Subject terms – Ebsco provides additional subject terms in the sidebar.

*Once you do your search, you can then take out databases and search again.

What could be better?

*The title takes you to another page with an abstract inside Ebsco – but doesn’t take you directly to the article.  Students are confused by this extra step.

*Interace is very busy – but that is the Ebsco look.

*Book section

Will it compete with Google? No, but what actually can?  But I am always searching for a place that can provide great information that might capture student’s interest and impact how they do research.

Just a quick post as I get ready to complete the registration for our state conference in October.  With economic constraints, going to conferences isn’t as easy as it used to be.  I realize many people have felt the pull before this and I have been very lucky for many years to attend conferences that truly impacted my teaching.  I think it is time for more conferences to go virtual or at least have a virtual component.  I love the K12 Online Conference, beginning in December.  In many ways, this is the best way to learn and interact.  I was able  see their examples, comment, rewind to see something again, take notes on my own computer, show other colleagues… the list could continue.    Maybe something to bring up….

August – time to get back into work and ready for the new school year!  At the beginning of the year, we meet with new teachers to our building.  This year, we decided to make it somewhat interactive by creating a pathfinder of information and a fun video, Tale of Two Teachers.

Annual Report for 2009-10

Our Annual Report highlights the various ways the LMC impacts students at Blue Valley West.  We noted many positives, expressed areas of concern, and discussed progress on our SMART Goals. 

We welcome any comments and suggestions to improve the report.

We won first place in the AASL I “Heart” 21st Century Skills contest.  Thank you to those that voted for us! 

Click here to see the website.

Amanda and I created a short video for the I Heart 21st Century Skills Contest sponsored by AASL.  The top three videos are posted on the following site along with a link to vote. If Youtube is blocked at your school (like mine), see our video below.   Don’t forget to vote!!

A Library Provides an Opportunity