Lifelong Information Literacy (LILi)

Request for SoCal IL Observation Sites

2012-01-25T12:12:00.001-08:00

            ***Cross-Postedto a number of lists. Apologies for duplication.***

Dear Southern California Librarians,

Please help… Once again, UCLA Department of Information Studies graduate students will be enrolling in IS 448, "Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Technique," to be offered in Spring Quarter 2012, beginning April 3d. The goal of this 10-week-long 4-unit course is:

         By the end of this course, students will be able to identify and analyze
         information literacy instructional needs, design, implement, and evaluate
         appropriate instructional responses, and make revisions as necessary.

Joan Kaplowitz and I proposed this course in 1989 and first taught it in 1990. It requires students to complete a number of different assignments that incorporate both practical and theoretical aspects of Information Literacy Instruction (ILI). One of these assignments is an "Instruction Report." Between April 3d (the first day of class) and May 8^th (due date for the assignment), students will need to interview a librarian and then observe and comment on her/his synchronous (live) group ILI session, online or in person. In addition, they will review and comment on an ILI web site.

My students will be using the database of Southern California librarians willing to have their instruction sessions observed by others, maintained by the ACRL California Chapter’s SCIL--Southern California Librarians group. Students need to fill out a form and SCIL will try to match their requests with librarians who have volunteered to be listed in this database. http://www.carl-acrl.org/ig/scil/

However, if you have not listed yourself in this database, please let me know if you would be willing to have students observe one of your synchronous group ILI sessions in April 2012. These could be any of the following:

·         standalone sessions offered independently by the Library
·         course-integrated one-shot sessions developed in conjunction with a teaching faculty member
·         one class meeting of a credit IL course taught by librarians
·         any other synchronous group information-literacy-related session involving at least one librarian.

I will instruct students to keep your names and your institutions completely confidential in their reports, though you may request a copy of the student's paper from the student, if you would like.

Students will contact you directly to make appointments for a brief interview and to observe one of your sessions. During the interview they will ask you about your instructional experience as well as the context and expected learning outcomes for the session they will be observing.

If you would like to volunteer, please email me the following information:
            1. Your institution's name
            2. Your name or the name of the contact person who can make these arrangements
            3. Your email address & phone number, including area code (for appointments and
            other information)
            4. Type of instruction that may be observed
            5. Dates, times and places when your ILI sessions will be offered
            6. Any other pertinent information you would like to offer

Students may call or email you to set up an appointment any time beginning the first day of class, April 3, 2012. Their Instruction Report is due May 8, 2012, so I would be grateful for any and all responses.

Please share widely, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: estherg@ucla.edu

Thank you in advance for your help!
            Best,
                        Esther

Esther Grassian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Department of Information Studies

ILI Problems for Case Studies

2012-01-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

***Cross-posted to a number of lists. Apologies for any duplication.***

I discovered a few years ago that the very act of describing a difficult information literacy instructional (ILI) problem in writing can help make it more manageable, as it causes you to think about its most important and vexing aspects. Once you have gone through this process, you may find it easier to come up with ideas for solving the problem.

UCLA Department of Information Studies graduate students taking "Information Literacy Instruction" (IS 448) in Spring Quarter 2012 (beginning April 2012) will need to do a project focused on an ILI case study, preferably, representing a real-life problem. The project will be in the form of a mock grant proposal to address and help solve this problem. (See example below.) I need your help in developing up to date, real life case studies, so I'm asking readers of this post to send me some of your difficult or challenging ILI problems.

Teams of students will select from among a number of case studies for their projects, and some of their ideas may help you. While there is no guarantee that they will select your case study, if they do, with their permission, I will send you a copy of their grant proposal ideas regarding your instructional problem.

If you would like to submit a case study, I would really appreciate it if you would do so by following the format and categories utilized in the sample case study below. Please include your name, address, phone number and email if you would like a copy of their proposed solutions, and indicate whether or not students may contact you if they have questions about your case study.

Please send case studies directly to me, rather than responding to the list: estherg@ucla.edu

Thanks in advance for your help!

Esther

Esther Grassian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies,
Department of Information Studies
Email: estherg@ucla.edu

------------------------------------------------------------------

SAMPLE ILI CASE STUDY

"Blended" Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) Credit Course for Undergrads

Institutional context:

One of nine campuses in a large public research university system, offering Bachelors, Masters, Doctoral and Post-Doctoral programs.

User Population:

32,000 students total; 24,000 undergraduates (top 12% of high school senior class); 8% of undergraduates are underrepresented minorities; 4% of all students are international students; 8,000 graduate students (graduate Teaching Assistants teach a number of undergraduate courses); 2,800 faculty members; members of the general community, including "advanced placement" high school students, college students from surrounding areas, teachers, visiting scholars and researchers.

Library context:

Third largest academic library in the country; 8 million volumes; 91,000 periodical subscriptions (print and online); 12 libraries on campus, one off-campus library; online catalog with automated circulation; 110 librarians; 300 support staff; Undergraduate Library has 175,000 volumes, subscribes to 250 periodicals, and provides access to all of the electronic resources available to other campus libraries through local and statewide licensing, with the exception of databases restricted to Law School and Management students and faculty.

Instructional Problem & Existing IL Programs:

You are one of five reference/instruction librarians in the undergraduate library. Librarians all participate in an extremely heavy instructional program, including customized one-shot course-integrated sessions for 30-40 classes/10-week Quarter, as well as individual research appointments, paper point-of-use guides, various instructional Web pages, and online information literacy tutorials. Librarians also spend about 10 hours/week at the Reference Desk or on digital reference.

Your library has been a leader in reaching out to faculty and TAs on campus regarding basic ILI for undergraduates, and in developing new and innovative forms of ILI. One librarian in your library has developed an interactive tutorial focused on plagiarism and documentation. You have been the primary developer of another general interactive IL tutorial that includes Camtasia Studio videos output as Flash movies. You have also developed and taught one-unit ILI courses for undergrads, one for upper-division students, and the other for freshmen. With the support of the Head of your library, you have been trying to encourage other librarians to teach these and other one-unit IL courses, and you think that a "blended" course (part in-person/part online) would entice more of them to give it a try. The Head of your library is very supportive of this innovative approach and wants you to work with other librarians, faculty, grad students, and IT staff to develop a grant proposal to support it.

All of the librarians in the Undergraduate Library are available to assist with instruction, though at different levels and with different skills, and other partners may assist as well.

-- 
Esther Grassian
Distinguished Librarian
Adjunct Lecturer
UCLA Information Studies Dept.
 &
Information Literacy Librarian, Retired
(Formerly, UCLA College Library)
estherg@ucla.edu
Twitter: estherg
SL: Alexandria Knight
https://sites.google.com/site/esthergrassian/
https://sites.google.com/site/teachinfolit/

"K12 Digital Citizenship Wiki"

2011-12-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Just added to the LILi website in Grades K-5 Directories & Megasites and in Grades 6-12 Directories & Megasites, Lesley Farmer's K12 Digital Citizenship Wiki. From the Wiki site: "This site provides k12 curriculum on digital citizenship and professional development for adults working with K12 students on digital citizenship."http://k12digitalcitizenship.wikispaces.com/

"Information Literacy - Library Qualities Matrix"

2011-12-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

Newly added category to LILi website, "Grades 6-12" page: "Rubrics": a new category to the Grades
https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/grades-6-12.

That category links to a new page labeled Rubrics, with one pdf attachment in it for now: Lydia Smith-Davis' "Information Literacy - Library Qualities Matrix":
https://sites.google.com/site/lifelonginformationliteracy/grades-6-12/rubrics

The rubric is freely available for viewing or downloading, with a Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.

2011-09-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just posted to the LILi website, Grades K-5 and Grades 6-12: FREE NEA publication, "8 Classroom Disruptors: Getting Them Back on Track."

Publication opportunity...

2011-09-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

From the ILI Listserv...

Dear colleagues,

I am writing to solicit reviewers and website suggestions for the Internet Resources Column of Public Services Quarterly. PSQ is a peer-reviewed journal covering a wide variety of public services issues in academic libraries and the Internet Resources Column features reviews of resources that would be useful to public services librarians.

The theme for the upcoming column is online learning and instruction. We want to focus on free sites that assist librarians with providing online or distance reference and instructional services, as well as sites that feature best practices or tips for librarians.

If you would like to review for the next issue, please respond to me at melissa.mallon@wichita.edu by Wednesday, September 21 with a short note about your interest and any relevant experience. If you don't have time to review for the next issue, but would be interested in being added to the pool of reviewers, please let me know. I also welcome suggestions for websites and/or column themes for future issues.

Sincerely,Melissa
--
Melissa Mallon, MLIS
Assistant ProfessorResearch & Information Services Librarian
Liaison to English, MCLL, Philosophy, Religion,
Elliot School of Communication, and Barton School ofBusiness (Accountancy, Management, Marketing, & FREDS)Wichita State University Libraries1845 FairmountWichita, KS 67260-0068(316) 978-5077melissa.mallon@wichita.edu

"What teachers really want to tell parents" CNN Article

2011-09-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ron Clark's September 6th CNN article provides the teacher's point of view regarding grading, student behavior, and helicopter parents.

11th Annual "Brick & Click" Conference

2011-08-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

***Register by October 14th***

We invite you to attend the 11th Annual "Brick and Click Libraries” Symposium
November 4, 2011, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO
brickandclick.org

Why attend?
1. Stay on top of technology applications
2. Learn about best academic library practices
3. Meet other professionals
4. Get practical information to take home

Questions?
Go to http://bit.ly/contactBC
or call (660) 562-1846.

Hope to see you at Brick & Click!
Kathy Hart and Carolyn Johnson

Coordinators, Brick & Click Libraries
brickandclick.org
Northwest Missouri State University
B.D. Owens Library
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

Digital Divide

2011-08-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

From a tweet...

The digital divide is still with us, according to a Seattle librarian.

Redesign: "Teach IL..." & LILi websites

2011-08-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I had moved all of the content from the LILi (Lifelong Information Literacy group) LibGuide and my “Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking!” LibGuide to Google Sites websites when I retired from the UCLA Library at the end of June. But I’m still learning how to use Google Sites, and have finally figured out how to create navigation tabs at the top of each page, similar to the tabs utilized in LibGuides, rather than having user-unfriendly very long and skinny navigation sidebars. I hope this will make these sites easier to use and more helpful, though you still need to scroll down to the bottom of each page to see links to subpages.

As a reminder, on the "Teach Information Literacy..." site, I’ve mounted many of my materials (slide shows, handouts, etc.) in the “For Librarians” page, all freely available for downloading and adaptation, under a Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.

The LILi Google Site includes downloadable minutes, as well as information and materials from LILi projects and research.

I hope this is helpful and would appreciate any suggestions for improvement (see contact information below). Thank you!

Best,
Esther
--
Esther Grassian
Information Literacy Librarian, Retired
UCLA College Library
estherg@ucla.edu
SL: Alexandria Knight
Twitter: estherg
Skype: egrassian
https://sites.google.com/site/esthergrassian/

RSVP for This Saturday: AAUW workshops in Second Life

2011-08-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

From... S. Collingwood collingwood.7@osu.edu

The American Association of University Women's lecture series in Second Life will be starting up again this week with a series of workshops on conducting group meetings in virtual worlds. If you have been thinking of starting a group, establishing meetings or seminars or teaching in virtual worlds, these free workshops should be useful to you. The workshops will be held at Minerva, the research and study space for the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University.

The workshops are at the beginner level; you may wish to take only one, or you may attend all three. If you feel insecure about your avatar skills you can attend an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop. During the workshops you will be given a set of free and customizable tools; you will be shown how to use these tools (written instructions are also included in your toolkit) and you will have the time to practice with them.

Checklist for joining a workshop:

(1) Check to be sure your system can run Second Life (most can).
http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/

(2) Join Second Life: https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US
A premium (paid) account is unnecessary. We will not be using the Second Life viewer in our workshops.

(3) Download the Phoenix Firestorm viewer: http://www.phoenixviewer.com/
We will be using the Firestorm viewer because it has a simpler interface. There are other viewers; if you prefer to use another viewer, please be sure you are familiar with it.

(4) Unsure of your avatar skills? If you would like to practice before the workshops begin, you are welcome to use Minerva Island, it's a very quiet place to work or study, and it is open to the public:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

(5) E-mail Sharon Collingwood (collingwood.7@osu.edu) to reserve a space in the workshops. Please include your name and avatar name.

Workshop 1: BUILDING COMMUNITY

Saturday, August 13 at 4pm Eastern Time (1pm Pacific)
There will be an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop.

To attend:
1. click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

2. open the link using the Phoenix Firestorm viewer
(see instructions on our events page http://bit.ly/1tnCb1)

In this first workshop we'll cover basic avatar skills (moving around, looking around, communication), then discuss how communities grow in virtual worlds. We'll practice setting up a group and discuss how to use groups in networking, then look at some of the tools for membership management. We'll conclude with a tour of the Garden for Change, which replicates an award-winning garden built by volunteers from homeless shelters for the Chelsea flower show in 2010.

Workshop 2: USING SIMPLE TOOLS

Saturday, August 20 at 4pm Eastern Time (1pm Pacific)
There will be an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop.

To attend:
1. click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

2. open the link using the Phoenix Firestorm viewer
(see instructions on our events page http://bit.ly/1tnCb1)

We'll review what was done in the first workshop, then you will be given some simple tools to facilitate a group discussion. We'll practice with these, then conclude with a tour of the Path of Support on Health Info Island, which features over 100 of the many active health peer support groups in Second Life.

Workshop 3: SIMPLE BUILDING FOR EVENTS

Saturday, August 27 at 4pm Eastern Time (1pm Pacific)
There will be an informal orientation session in the hour preceding the workshop.

To attend:
1. click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minerva/46/225/28

2. open the link using the Phoenix Firestorm viewer
(see instructions on our events page http://bit.ly/1tnCb1)

In this final workshop we'll practice what we have learned, then go over some simple techniques for creating objects to facilitate gatherings. You will be given a collection of open source seating arrangements for large and small gatherings, and instructed on how to manage them. We will conclude with a tour of the Plush Nonprofit Commons, an archipelago of islands in Second Life housing social benefit organizations from around the globe.

Updated LILi Google Sites website

2011-08-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

The new LILi website has been updated with links and comments by Kitty Lucero regarding information literacy assessment instruments.

New LILi Google Sites Website

2011-07-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

The LILi (Lifelong Information Literacy) group has a new website.

Please send questions or comments to: estherg@ucla.edu

New Google Sites Website: "Teach IL & Critical Thinking!"

2011-07-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Esther Grassian has retired from the UCLA Library (as of June 30, 2011), and has moved all content from the "Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking!" LibGuide to a new FREE Google Sites website with the same title.

Check the Sitemap or the left column of that website for links to content, especially under "S. For Librarians."

Please send questions or comments to estherg@ucla.edu

Thank you!

An open letter to LAUSD

2011-05-21T10:52:00.001-07:00

An open letter to LAUSD from Ned Fielden, California Academic and Research Libraries Association (CARL) President, and the CARL Executive Board.

LAUSD Lawyers Grill Teacher-Librarians

2011-05-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

In a lengthy and very moving blog post, Mizz Murphy describes how LAUSD lawyers are grilling laid-off Teacher-Librarians protesting the ruling that does not allow them to return to classroom teaching. This is a must-read! Scroll down to read scenarios.

Footnotes for 2d letter: 85 Teacher Librarians Laid Off

2011-03-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

Following are the footnote references for the Kathleen Sheppard's (Teacher Librarian, Taft High School) sample advocacy letter in support of the 85 LAUSD Teacher Librarians just laid off:

1. Todd, Dr. Ross J. and Dr. Carol A. Gordon. “School Libraries, now more than ever: a Position Paper of The Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries.” CISSL and Rutgers State University of New Jersey. 12 Mar. 2011. 14 March 2011.

2. California School Library Association. Model School Library Standards. Sept. 19, 2010. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/lb 14 Mar. 2011.

3. Achterman, Douglas. Halves, Haves and Have-Nots: School Libraries and Student Achievement in California: Doctoral Research. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9800/ 14 Mar. 2011.

4. See Todd, Dr. Ross J. and Dr. Carol A. Gordon

5. See Todd, Dr. Ross J. and Dr. Carol A. Gordon

2d Letter: Sample Advocacy Letter: 85 LAUSD Teacher-Librarians Laid Off

2011-03-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

2d of 2 letters from Kathleen Sheppard, Teacher Librarian, Taft High School, Woodland Hills, CA (Los Angeles Unified School District or LAUSD).

She urges all to write, email and call to advocate on behalf of the 85 Teacher Librarians laid off by LAUSD...

SAMPLE ADVOCACY LETTER

Dear Mr. Cortines and LAUSD Board Members:

Strong School Libraries Build Strong Students! Our students need strong school libraries.

Students need the library team of a certificated Teacher Librarian and a paraprofessional library aide. Five decades of research substantiates that school libraries help students learn. “School libraries are learning laboratories where information, technology and inquiry come together in a dynamic that resonates with 21st century learners.” Teacher Librarians are dually credentialed teachers---teachers of essential skills including research, cyber safety and digital literacy.

The Teacher Librarian teaches the Model School Library Standards: “School Library Standards for Students’ that incorporate information literacy skills in which students learn to access, evaluate, use and integrate information and ideas found in print, media and digital resources enabling them to function in a knowledge-based economy and technologically-oriented society.” California public schools with strong school library programs tend to outperform those without such programs on the state’s STAR tests. This trend holds regardless of the school community’s parent education and poverty levels, ethnicity, and percentage of English language learners. Strong school libraries help students learn.

Students that have access to more books and a teacher librarian read more and learn more. Collective evidence suggests that the number of books per student in a school library is a significant predictor of reading achievement. Teacher Librarians help students at the convergence of reading, information and thinking. Today’s students are challenged by texts they retrieve from subscription databases, Internet web sites and electronic books in addition to traditional print. Reading is different today and Librarians teach students about digital text.

"Despite the facility that the 'Google generation' uses the Internet, today’s learners are not more information literate than previous generations.” Multiple literacies, including digital, visual and technological literacy are critical and require explicit help to make sense of the store of information, disinformation, and misinformation encountered daily. The instructional role of the Teacher Librarian is critical in this sense-making process.

Our school libraries provide a learning laboratory with resources in multiple formats that can differentiate instruction for diverse learners and providing equitable access for equal educational opportunity.

Our school libraries contain over $280 million of taxpayer funded print and electronic information in addition to the technology, including hardware and software. It’s irresponsible to leave these valuable taxpayer resources unused and vulnerable to destruction. Teacher Librarians maximize through collaboration students' access and use.

I urge you to reconsider the lack of centrally funding both middle and high school Teacher Librarians. Our students and our communities will lose. The challenges of the 21st century call for a more collaborative teaching model with a natural synergism of information, technology and reading. Cutting Teacher Librarians is not the solution to facing the challenges of preparing students for the future.

READ the research. Review the data. How much of a difference do school libraries make?

It’s clear. Promote equity, opportunity, and achievement: restore central funding of Teacher Librarians for both middle and high school students. It’s about the bottom line, student achievement. “School libraries, now more than ever, are integral to quality learning and teaching in 21st century schools.”

Our students---all our students---need strong school libraries.

Sincerely,

2 Letters: District Letter: 85 Teacher-Librarians Laid Off

2011-03-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

First of 2 posts with letter texts:

Following is a letter from Kathleen Sheppard, Teacher-Librarian at Taft High School in Los Angeles, re layoffs of 85 Teacher-Librarians:

Dear Parents, Teachers, Staff and Community members,

Strong School Libraries Build Strong Students! Our students need strong school libraries.

As of the February 15, 2011 LAUSD Board decision, 85 Teacher Librarians have received reduction in force notices issued by March 15, 2011. LAUSD has already closed 13 middle school and 156 elementary school libraries. Your voices make a big difference in rescinding that board action!

School sites may be able to purchase through Title 1 funding a Teacher Librarian position. However, many schools will not have funding creating a lack of equity to educational resources across the district for our students.

Teacher Librarians are teachers of essential skills-research, cyber safety, digital literacy. We teach the Model School Library Standards: “School Library Standards for Students’ incorporate information literacy skills in which students learn to access, evaluate, use and integrate information and ideas found in print, media and digital resources enabling them to function in a knowledge-based economy and technologically-oriented society.”

Our students need strong school libraries in order to become informed citizens, who are ethical users of information and ideas, digitally literate, good readers and lifelong learners prepared for college and careers in the 21st century. Teacher Librarian positions must be centrally funded by the District.

What can you do?

1. Contact through e-mail, FAX and mail both the Superintendent, incoming Superintendent and School Board Members listed below. A sample letter has been emailed to you to use or write your own. [NOTE: Will be posted next.]

2. Speak at an upcoming LAUSD Board meeting. Contact me directly, krsheppard814@gmail.com

3. Join the guestbook at the California Campaign for Strong School Libraries website at http://librarycampaign.csla.net

4. Contact your local elected officials ask request that the tax extensions appear on the June ballot! Call your legislator and tell them to let the people vote.

5. Request that the board RESCIND the decision to layoff personnel that affects the classroom.

Thank you! Your voice and that of LAUSD students make a difference.

Kathleen Sheppard
Teacher Librarian
Taft High School
5461 Winnetka Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
krsheppard814@gmail.com
818.227.3624

Ramon C. Cortines
Board of Education
Superintendent of Schools
333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor
Office of the Superintendent
Los Angeles, CA 90017
333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor
Tel: 213.241.6389
Los Angeles, CA 90017
FAX: 213.241.8953 or 213.481.9023
Tel: 213.241.7000
FAX: 213.241.8442
superintendent@lausd.net and
ramon.cortines@lausd.net

1. Ms. Marguerite LaMotte
213.241.6382
marguerite.lamotte@lausd.net

2. Ms. Monica Garcia
213.241.6180
monica.garcia@lausd.net

3. Ms. Tamar Galatzan
213.241.6386
tamar.galatzan@lausd.net

4. Mr. Steve Zimmer
213.241.6387
steve.zimmer@lausd.net

5. Ms. Yolie Flores
213.241.6383
yolie.flores@lausd.net

6. Ms. Nury Martinez
213.241.6388
nury.martinez@lausd.net

7. Mr. Richard Vladovic
213.241.6385
richard.vladovic@lausd.net

John E. Deasy
Deputy Superintendent of Schools (Incoming Superintendent)
Office of the Superintendent
333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213.241.7000
FAX: 213.241.8442

Post 3: 85 Teacher-Librarians laid off-Los Angeles Unified School District

2011-03-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

Post 3 of 3 on this issue... NOTE: Sample letters will be posted to this blog shortly.

And finally…

“Last night my school site [Taft High School] with reduced funds did not fund the Teacher Librarian for 2011-12 school year. Although the principal is supportive, I have found an extreme lack of knowledge regarding the critical need for our students to have skills taught by Teacher Librarians. I believe that the district intends to close all school libraries. I shared the Ed Code clearly stating the requirement for a Teacher Librarian-a dually credentialed teacher especially at the high school level.

Last year, after some negotiations the District centrally funded Teacher Librarians at the high school level but not the middle school. In reading my letter you can learn what happened given that reality--I believe a civil rights violation.

I'm attaching two letters that I've written and will be sharing with advocacy groups. Please use the information and share.

Thanks for your assistance!

Best,

Kathy

Kathleen Sheppard
Teacher Librarian
Taft High School
5461 Winnetka Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
krsheppard814@gmail.com

Post 2: 85 Teacher-Librarians laid off-Los Angeles Unified School District

2011-03-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

2 of 3 posts...

More from Kathleen Sheppard, Taft High School:

“…As a class code of dually credentialed teachers we believe
that the intent is to close the libraries. And eliminate us. Our
layoffs hit teacher librarians who have worked for the district for 22
years. That's much greater we believe than other district teachers.
Last year both MS [middle school] and HS [high school] were possibly going to get RIF. Though negotiations, the district funded Teacher Librarians at the high
schools but not middle schools. Most middle schools were able to
"purchase" their teacher librarian. 13 middle school libraries are
closed now. I believe this is a civil rights issue. We have a meeting
with an attorney at UTLA tomorrow. The "recency clause" is also a
district attempt to render us as NOT suitable to teach in our first
credential. As of today, 85 will not have a job after June 30. We were
told that we could sub. Ed Code and our contracts specify that Teacher
Librarians are the only teacher qualified to teach in the library
classroom. The district is already violating that Ed Code too.

Strong school libraries = greater student achievement.

Yes, share and circulate the ignorance in this thinking by the
district.
It's about our students,

Best,

Kathleen”

Kathleen Sheppard
Teacher Librarian
Taft High School
5461 Winnetka Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
krsheppard814@gmail.com

85 Los Angeles Teacher Librarians laid off! (1 of 3 posts)

2011-03-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

1 of 3 posts on this issue...

Yesterday, Kathleen Sheppard, Teacher Librarian at Taft High School in a suburb of Los Angeles reported the following very sad news:

“Sadly given the [LA Unified] school district fiscal status, 85/130 [85 out of 130 total middle and high school] Teacher Librarians have been RIFed [Reduction in Force = layoff notices]. We have a meeting with a UTLA attorney tomorrow evening. It seems that for many we are educating our school sites, parents, students, school board and superintendent about libraries, Teacher Librarians and student achievement. I believe that the district intends to eliminate our teaching positions. School Site Council had to decide to fund with reduced categorical money either a diploma project counselor, two counselors, Teacher Librarian, computer support tech, library aide and/or .5 school nurse for Taft high school 2011-12 year. All are essential on a comprehensive high school campus.

The Model School Library Standards, Ed Code, WASC, CTC, union representation and stakeholder advocacy may hopefully cause the board to rescind the decision for personnel that impacts the classroom. It's disheartening to need to justify that the library is a classroom and that we are dually credentialed teachers of information literacy, digital literacy, ethical use of information and cyber safety as well as facilitating access to resources to differentiate instruction.”

Best,

Kathy

Kathleen Sheppard
Teacher Librarian
Taft High School
5461 Winnetka Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
krsheppard814@gmail.com

Responses to Google Books Settlement Rejection

2011-03-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

The University of California's California Digital Library (CDL) and HathiTrust have posted responses regarding the Judge Chin's decision to reject the proposed Google Books settlement.

CDL post: http://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/google/settlement_decision.html

HathiTrust post: http://www.hathitrust.org/hathitrust_asa_response

ACRL Instruction Section's Innovation Award

2011-03-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

From the ILI listserv, re the Award for the LILAC program:
http://www.rrlc.org/Learning/LILAC/tabid/720/Default.aspx

On behalf of the Awards Committee of the ACRL Instruction Section, we are pleased to announce the recipients of this year's Instruction Section Innovation Award, Kimberly Davies Hoffman and Michelle Costello. Hoffman and Costello received the award for developing LILAC (Library Instruction Leadership Academy), a collaborative professional development project designed, organized and delivered for regional K-12, community college and college/university librarians.

Sponsored by ProQuest, the annual award recognizes a project that demonstrates creative, innovative or unique approaches to information literacy instruction or programming.

Congratulations to Kimberly and Michelle! A prize of $3,000 and a certificate will be presented to Hoffman and Costello during the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Please see the full ACRL announcement for further information: http://ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pr.cfm?id=6412

Elizabeth Kocevar-Weidinger and Robin Ewing
Co-Chairs, ACRL Instruction Section Awards Committee

Elizabeth Kocevar-Weidinger
Instruction/Reference Services Librarian/Associate Professor Greenwood Library, Longwood University
201 High Street, Farmville, Virginia 23909
tel: 434.395.2445
fax: 434.395.2453
email: kocevarweidingerea@longwood.edu

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Protected by the People

2011-02-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

From IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions):

"This is just a brief message to let you know that the Library is safe. In case you had not seen it, below is a statement by Dr. Serageldin that has been posted on our webiste. It still represents the current situation, except that the President and the PM have made reasonable statements, but they have come late. Let's hope that it is the beginning of a resolution. In addition to the statement, we posted pictures and a video of the youth of Alexandria defending the Library against vandalism and looting www.bibalex.org. Please see it and please bring it to the attention of other people.

Here is the statement:

To our friends around the world:
The Events in Egypt

The world has witnessed an unprecedented popular action in the streets of Egypt. Led by Egypt’s youth, with their justified demands for more freedom, more democracy, lower prices for necessities and more employment opportunities. These youths demanded immediate and far-reaching changes. This was met by violent conflicts with the police, who were routed. The army was called in and was welcomed by the demonstrators, but initially their presence was more symbolic than active. Events deteriorated as lawless bands of thugs, and maybe agents provocateurs, appeared and looting began. The young people organized themselves into groups that directed traffic, protected neighborhoods and guarded public buildings of value such as the Egyptian Museum and the Library of Alexandria. They are collaborating with the army. This makeshift arrangement is in place until full public order returns.

The library is safe thanks to Egypt’s youth, whether they be the staff of the Library or the representatives of the demonstrators, who are joining us in guarding the building from potential vandals and looters. I am there daily within the bounds of the curfew hours. However, the Library will be closed to the public for the next few days until the curfew is lifted and events unfold towards an end to the lawlessness and a move towards the resolution of the political issues that triggered the demonstrations."

Free Educause Next Gen Learning Challenges grants Webinar

2011-02-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

Free Educause Next Gen Learning Challenges grants webinar today 11am PST + 2/7 noon PST & archived: http://j.mp/b8aAf5 No RSVP required. See details below, from Educause message:

"On behalf of Next Generation Learning Challenges, I wanted to send you a quick reminder that you’re invited to join NGLC staff for a special webcast dedicated to the second wave of NGLC funding. If you are planning your own submission or just interested in learning more, you can join us today, February 3, at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Topics will include:
• The needs and underlying premises driving Wave II
• The proposal process
• A step-by-step overview of the pre-proposal application
• Key dates for the second wave of funding
• Resources for grant seekers
• Questions from participants
A second webcast will be offered on February 7 at 3:00 p.m. ET for colleagues who cannot join us today. Archives, which include audio and slides, will be available on the NGLC Upcoming Events page after each event concludes.

No pre-registration is required...so please plan to connect and listen in.

We will conduct the session in our Adobe Connect meeting room. You can select to “Enter as Guest” and log in. Audio and slides will be provided online via the webconferencing space. Throughout the presentation, initiative staff will answer your questions related to both the program and the proposal process through the interface’s chat space. Anyone having difficulties receiving the online audio will be able to listen to the session via a toll-free telephone number: 1-877-944-2300 (access code: 99290#).

Prior to the session, please run the Acrobat Connect Connection Test on the computer you plan to use for the session to ensure your configuration is compatible with the web conferencing system.

Whether you participate live or view the archive, we look forward to sharing more about this exciting venture with you soon.

Sincerely,

Ira Fuchs
Executive Director
Next Generation Learning Challenges"

Science.gov Debuts Image Search

2011-01-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

Forwarded to various lists...

"Site now faster, easier to navigate

Oak Ridge, TN - Science.gov now quickly finds science images, including animal and plant, weather and space, and earth and sun images and more. The information is free and no registration is required. Go to www.science.gov and select the Image Search link under Special Collections.

Initially, three databases are being searched from one search box. More image databases will be added to Science.gov in the coming months. The current federated search includes:

* The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Library of Images from the Environment (LIFE), a collection of high-quality photographs, illustrations, and graphics covering a wide range of topics, including images of plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, habitats, wildlife management, environmental topics, and biological study/fieldwork.

* The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) Image eXchange (NIX), a search engine of NASA's multimedia collections, including images of space flight wind tunnel, solar system, aircraft, and education initiatives.

* The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library, a collection spanning centuries of time and much of the natural world from the center of the earth to the surface of the sun.

In addition to the image search, Science.gov has:
* undergone a significant software upgrade for quicker performance
* included both the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations in the basic search
* provided an author cluster on the results page
* upgraded the alerts service so you can manage your Science.gov alerts directly from your alerts email and get daily alerts rather than weekly
* added a Science.gov widget for download to your website or customized pages
* and provided more citation download options.

Science.gov is a gateway to more than 42 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information with just one query, and is a gateway to over 2000 scientific websites from 18 organizations within 14 federal science agencies: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, the Interior, and Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the National Science Foundation. These agencies represent 97 percent of the federal R&D budget.

Science.gov is the USA.gov portal to science and the U.S. contribution to WorldWideScience.org. Science.gov is hosted by the Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information, within the Office of Science, and is supported by CENDI (www.cendi.gov), an interagency working group of senior scientific and technical information managers.

Media Contact
Cathey Daniels
865-576-9539
danielsc@osti.gov "

"Why cutting school librarians is a mistake" (Scholastic)

2010-12-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Well written and argued article regarding the value of school librarians.

2010 Edublog Winners Announced

2010-12-16T13:01:00.000-08:00

Includes links to Edublog award-winning blogs, Twitter, audio and visuals for teachers, as well as students.

3Ts Conference 3/25: Teaching, Technology & Transliteracy

2010-12-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

Posted to various lists:

"Registration is now open!

3Ts: Exploring New Frontiers in Teaching, Technology and Transliteracy conference

Fulton-Montgomery Community College, Johnstown, NY
March 25, 2011

As budgets continue to shrink and the number of online or blended classes continues to grow, the need for instructors who are comfortable with the wide array of digital learning tools becomes of paramount importance. From the writings of Donald E. Hanna and associates1, we are reminded that "the challenge is not simply to incorporate learning technologies into current institutional approaches, but rather to change our fundamental views about effective teaching and learning and to use technology to do so." Keeping this in mind, the 3 T's conference aims to explore issues surrounding the intersections between teaching, instructional technologies and the growing number of literacies all students need for learning and succeeding in today's information-rich academic and professional worlds.

1. Hanna, Donald E. Associates, Higher Education in an Era of Digital Competition: Choices and Challenges, Atwood Publishing, 2000, p.61.
As one of the primary goals of the 3Ts planning committee, we are offering a discounted “buddy” registration fee to encourage cross-disciplinary discussion among our participants.

What constitutes a "buddy"? Buddies are created by a pair of attendees (registering at the same time) who are complementary and/or collaborating professionals (i.e., teaching faculty and a librarian, a librarian and an instructional designer, two teaching faculty from different disciplines).

SUNY Registration Fee $20.00 Non-SUNY Registration Fee $30.00

SUNY Buddy Registration Fee $15.00 Non-SUNY Buddy Registration Fee $25.00

What is Transliteracy? For conference information visit:
http://threetees.weebly.com

Co-Sponsored by SUNY Librarians Association Working Group for Information Literacy (SUNYLA WGIL)

SUNY Center for Professional Development

SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching & Technology (FACT2)"

SCIL Professional Development Scholarships

2010-12-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Posted to the SCIL list... (Note: SCIL (Southern California Instruction Librarians) is a subgroup of CARL, the California ACRL Chapter.

"Just a reminder that there is less than 2 weeks left to apply for the SCIL Professional Development Scholarships. Please send all application materials electronically to Allison Carr at acarr@csusm.edu.

For more information about the upcoming SCIL Works program and on how to register, please visit the SCIL website at http://www.carl-acrl.org/ig/scil/scilworks/2011/index.html.

----------------------------------------------------------------
SCIL Professional Development Scholarships

Submission Deadlines
SCIL Works: December 1, 2010, to be announced December 10, 2010

Purpose
The purpose of these scholarships is to subsidize the attendance of two instruction librarians and one library school student to the two annual SCIL events: the SCIL Works Mini-Conference, held annually in late January-early February; and to the SCIL Spring Program, held annually in May. These scholarships will support instruction librarians and students in their professional development and continuing education in the areas of teaching and learning, pedagogy and information literacy instruction.

Awards and Eligibility
There are three awards for each event which any CARL member may apply for:
1. Any student enrolled in a formal library and information science master's program and is interested in working at an academic institution in a teaching librarian position.
2. Any librarian within the first 3 years of her/his career whose primary job is to teach.
3. Any librarian at any stage in their career whose primary job is to teach.
The awards for SCIL Works and the SCIL Spring Program will cover the cost of registration and travel to the event, not to exceed $250 per person.

Application
1. Resume or CV that outlines related work experience, professional activities, and honors
2. Personal Statement that outlines your interest in instruction in an academic library, speaks to the criteria below, and addresses how your attendance at this conference will support your goals related to instruction librarianship (500 words).
3. CARL Membership Number
Criteria

Factors considered in awarding the scholarship(s) include evidence of:
• a commitment to a career in teaching/instruction librarianship in an academic library
• a commitment to academics
• potential financial need
• strong communication skills

Achievement in these areas may best be demonstrated by the personal statement indicating interest or work experience in an academic library, including class work, non-course educational experience, volunteer work, teaching or other relevant employment and publications. Candidates should also indicate how attending SCIL Works or the SCIL Spring Program will help to fulfill professional development or continuing education goals.

Winners of these awards will be required to participate in the following year’s review of scholarship applications.

-------------------------
Talitha Matlin
SCIL Publicist
Posted 11/22/2010
scil@listserv.carl-acrl.org
carlall@listserv.carl-acrl.org"

"Engaging Millennials..."--LILi Workshop & Meeting 12/17/10

2010-11-17T11:48:00.000-08:00

Posted to the LILi Google Group:

"Dear LILi Colleagues

RE: Friday, December 17, 2010, 11 am - 1 pm

Please RSVP for the next LILi workshop; end of the year meeting planned for Friday
Dec 17, 2010, 11 am - 1 pm at UCLA. Esther has once again booked a space for us to
host training and a meeting thereafter. Parking should be less of a hassle, since
this will be the last day of Finals at UCLA.

The driving directions link and the parking link are in the confirmation that pops up once you're submitted
the RSVP form below! Thanks to Esther for that!

OUTLINE

I. WORKSHOP

Time: 11am- Noon

Topic: "Engaging Millennials through Problem-Based Learning: A LILi Workshop"
by, Henri Mondschein, Ed.D., MLS
Information Specialist/Manager of Information Literacy

California Lutheran University
E-mail: mondsche@callutheran.edu

Please come and learn from our colleague Henri who sent a gripping description of his presentation, attached

attached for your information.

II. LILi Meeting
Time: 12pm- 1:00p

III. Optional Lunch 1-2:00pm

PROPOSED AGENDA
1. Welcome
2. Minutes of the last Meeting
3. Announcements
Report on Georgia Conference on Information Literacy Presentation - E. Grassian
ALA in San Diego, update - P. Manaka
2011 LILi Calendar - Suggestions
4. Future trainings and Meeting/Locations
We need volunteer presenters and meeting hosts
5. All Update LILi Grant - where do we go from here?
6. All LILi Facebook
Question: Who uses it?
Can we use it for more things, like some announcements?
7. Additional items?

Please click on the link below to RSVP, to let us know if you can attend! We need to
know by Monday, December 13, 2010.

RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/28j8a3b

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Pauline D. Manaka Anthropology, DASA & Sociology Research Librarian.
Uinversity of California Irvine Libraries, 145 Langson Libraries
P.O. Box 19557,
Irvine, CA 92623-9557

(949)824-4969
pdmanaka@uci.edu"

LIRT Wikieducator Information

2010-11-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

LIRT is the ALA Library Instruction Round Table, an organization of librarians from all types of libraries who are interested in information literacy instruction. They publish a newsletter that’s now going to be online only. They will be posting the link for future issues of this newsletter on the LIRT listserv. LIRT also puts on programs and/or discussions at each ALA conference, and publishes books as well.

See below for a message posted on the LIRT listserv on November 8, 2010:

"6th November, 2010

Fellow librarians/information specialists,

In April 2009, a Wikis in Education for School Librarians workshop was conducted by the Distance Education Unit, Ministry of Education, Trinidad, W.I. (see link: http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Workshops/Face-to-Face_schedule/L4C49/Workshop_3_-_April_14_-_16,_2009_(School_Librarians).

At the bottom of the wiki space, I added resources that focus on information literacy, media literacy, educational technology, and intellectual property resources that may be useful for teaching and assessment. I also uploaded some personal photographs of places/buildings in Trinidad and Tobago, which may assist school librarians and educators with their teaching. I would encourage you to all to visit the wiki space and to contribute to the wiki space if you have some time.

To join the wikieducator community, you can click on "log in/create account" in the top left hand corner of the webpage. Then follow the instructions. If you are encountering any difficulties, please feel free to contact me.

In the event that you are a member of the wikieducator community and you forgot your password, you can enter your username and click on "email new password."

I intend to upload more resources on a weekly basis, so please log on and check the wiki space and contribute when you can. Remember to be careful in terms of copyright. To learn more about wikieduator see: http://wikieducator.org/Main_Page.

I have uploaded a link to a survey on the wikieducator page:
http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Workshops/Face-to-Face_schedule/L4C49/Workshop_3_-_April_14_-_16,_2009_(School_Librarians)
[scroll down to the bottom of the page].

You can also access the survey via this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2K9JP5W

I would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete the survey which will be closed on 12th November, 2010.

Thank you for your support.

Regards,

Maria Cherrie
Acting Librarian III
Library and Information Literacy Curriculum
Educational Library Services Division
National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS)"

Educause Grants for Next Generation Learning Challenges

2010-10-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

From the website...

"Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) re-imagines the future of student success with information technology as an essential enabler, making customized, interactive learning possible. We know that technology makes it possible to extend the reach and multiply the benefits of learning innovations for the thousands of students, and especially for those who need it most. NGLC seeks to demonstrate that the power to scale innovation and stimulate adoption through technology-enabled solutions can have a transformative effect on the student experience. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged nearly $20 million to provide grants to organizations and innovators to expand promising technology tools to more students, teachers, and schools.

To learn more about the initial request for proposals (RFP), EDUCAUSE is offering two free webcasts where initiative staff will review the program, highlight the proposal process, and answer questions. Join us on October 19 at 3:00 p.m. ET or October 27 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Pre-proposals for this first wave of funding will be due on November 19, but may be submitted as early as October 25."

LIRT Newsletter Only as PDF via LIRT-L

2010-10-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

LIRT, the ALA Library Instruction Round Table, is an organization of librarians from all types of libraries, who are interested in instruction.

From the LIRT President...

Dear Library Instruction Round Table Members,

Beginning with the December 2010 issue (vol. 33, no. 2), the Library Instruction Round Table Newsletter will be prepared as a PDF file only. An email will be sent to LIRT-L informing members of the issue’s availability, and a link provided on the LIRT website where the file can be downloaded.

To check if you already subscribe to LIRT-L, go to http://lists.ala.org/sympa and login to the system. Once logged in, your current subscribed lists should show up in a column on the left side of the page. If LIRT-L is not listed in Your Lists, please follow the instructions below.

To subscribe to LIRT-L, do the following:
1. Send an email to sympa@ala.org.
2. Leave the subject empty.
3. In the body, simply put a single line:
Subscribe LIRT-L Firstname Lastname (case sensitive)
4. Send the email.

After subscribing to LIRT-L, send your messages to: lirt-l@ala.org. LIRT News exists primarily to inform members about activities of the roundtable. However, the newsletter committee welcomes contributions that address library instruction in any library setting-public, school, academic or special. See Guidelines for Contributors http://fleetwood.baylor.edu/lirt/guidelines.html.
Subscribing to LIRT-L is not required; LIRT News will continue to be available on the LIRT website (http://fleetwood.baylor.edu/lirt/lirtnews/).
Thank you for your support of and contributions to LIRT!

Thanks!

Kawanna Bright, LIRT President

Second Life AASL Discussion: "The End of an Era: Falling Off a Cliff

2010-10-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Group Notice From: ALA SL-Events

Join the inaugural AASL-SIGMS monthly article discussion group on Sun, 10/17 at 4:30 pm SLT [Second Life Time=Pacific Time] on the ALA Main Stage. This month, we will discuss the School Library Monthly entitled, "The End of an Era¦Falling Off a Cliff". This article is based on the remarks provided by Allison Zmuda during this year's AASL conference. See http://sigms.iste.wikispaces.net/upcoming for more info. SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ALA%20Island/127/101/29

Electronic Green Journal & Open Access Week

2010-10-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Maria Jankowska (UCLA Library) reports the following:

In celebration of Open Access Week, October 18-24, 2010
(http://www.openaccessweek.org/ ), the Electronic Green Journal has
just published a new issue that is available
at: http://repositories.cdlib.org/uclalib/egj/ .

Electronic Green Journal aids international scholarly communication by
providing a freely accessible forum for the exchange of environmental
information. It has been an open access publication since its
founding in 1994 and is published by the UCLA Library twice a year.

California Model School Library Standards Approved Unanimously!

2010-09-17T13:16:00.001-07:00

Finally, after many decades, the California State Board of Education approved the Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools today (17 Sep 2010), unanimously! The Librarians Association of the University of California passed a resolution (pdf) supporting this effort, as did the California Federation of Teachers, and both deserve much thanks for their strong support.

Free In Second Life-IL Keynote Address: Saturday, 10/2

2010-09-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

The following message has been cross-posted to a number of lists.

The 7th annual Georgia Conference on Information Literacy is scheduled for October 1st and 2d in Savannah, Georgia. For details about the RL (real life) conference: http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/infolit.html

Anyone interested is invited to attend (in Second Life) the keynote address I will be giving there, “Dream a Little Dream of US… United for Success!”

Date & Time: Saturday, October 2d, 5:30 am – 6:30 am SLT/PT (8:30 am – 9:30 am ET)
Keynote Abstract:
http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/infolitkeynote.html
Bibliography:
http://bit.ly/dyghof

Please RSVP in order to receive the SLURL (Second Life URL):
http://bit.ly/d3KOw5

Basic SL accounts are free, though you will need to download SL software in order to participate: http://secondlife.com/

Caveat: Please be aware that SL connectivity can be problematic, so it is possible that we will not be able to connect after all, though we will certainly try.

Questions? Esther Grassian estherg@library.ucla.edu
OR
IM Alexandria Knight in SL

9/13/10 "Back to School Special: Making You & Your Library Indispensable"

2010-09-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

From a tweet by gwynthjones...

Making You & Your Library Indispensable

Monday, September 13th, 8 pm (EST)--5 pm (PST)

"A casual discussion to generate ideas on how to build school allies, support new teachers, & become indispensable to admin & staff at the beginning of every school year.

Guests:
Gwyneth Jones, Shannon Miller & Keisa Williams
Host: Gwyneth Jones"

Final Exams at Harvard passe

2010-09-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

This tweet may be of interest...

FluffTheBunny

Harvard Univ - Final exams are passé: http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/07/bye-bye-blue-books

ALA Needs Rep to NCATE Board of Examiners

2010-08-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

From the Chair of ALA's EBSS...

Dear Colleagues,

I'm writing with an exciting opportunity to nominate yourself or a colleague to be the ALA representative to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Board of Examiners from 2011-2014. Members of the NCATE Board of Examiners (BOE) perform the most essential component of the NCATE process—the voluntary peer review of the professional education unit at a college or university. All on-site visits to schools of education are conducted by BOE teams of 3–6 persons. The BOE is comprised of approximately 400 members of the professional education community representing teachers, teacher educators, policy makers, and specialty areas.

The selection process is as follows:
* October 15: Deadline for applications (see below for more information)
* October 15 – November 1: The EBSS Executive Committee reviews applications submitted and prepares recommendation.
* November 12-26: ACRL Board discussion and virtual vote period
* December 3: ACRL Board submits ACRL’s recommendation to the ALA Executive Board for consideration.
* Midwinter 2011: ALA Executive Board votes and the successful candidate will be appointed to a three-year term as the ALA representative to NCATE Board of Examiners.

Nominees must submit:
* A letter of application articulating qualifications (see the list of qualifications as outlined by NCATE)
* A current vita

Please send application materials directly to Stephanie Davis-Kahl, Chair, Education & Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) (sdaviska@iwu.edu) by October 15, 2010.

For more information, please see the post on ALA Connect (http://connect.ala.org/node/110823). If you cannot view the post, please email me and I will send you the document.

I hope you will consider this opportunity!

Thank you,

Stephanie Davis-Kahl
Chair, EBSS

Free IL Elementary & High School Assessments (TRAILS)

2010-08-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Correction to last blog post--annavan's tweet refers to grades 9 and 12, as well as elementary school grades 3 and 6. "TRAILS Announces New (and Free) Information Literacy Assessments for Grades 3, 6, 9, 12 http://trunc.it/ajfvw"

Free IL Elementary School Assessments (TRAILS)

2010-08-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Tweeted by annavan today: "TRAILS Announces New (and Free) Information Literacy Assessments for Grades 3, 6, 9, 12 http://trunc.it/ajfvw"

FREE Workshop Invitation!

2010-07-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

“Make a Connection! Librarians & Teachers Team Up for Student Success”

Help your high school and community college students improve information researching and critical thinking skills

High school and community college librarians and teachers, attend this FREE workshop in person or online to learn about…

Benefits of an information literate population
College/University outreach efforts to K-12
Tips for successful outreach and collaboration
Demos of new technologies for instruction, including:

LibGuides
Library a la Carte
Prezi

What’s new in online researching tools
Authentication requirement for UCLA Library public computers
UCLA Library cards for you and your students

Date & Time: Monday, September 20th, 10:30 am – 1 pm
10:30 am – 11 am Refreshments
11 am – 1 pm Workshop
Location: UCLA (Exact location and parking information in RSVP
confirmation message)

Guest Speaker: Christina Sheldon, Instruction & Reference Librarian,
CSU Los Angeles

RSVP BY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010: http://bit.ly/bDvIMA

Notes: Bring your own laptop in order to participate hands-on.
Parking at UCLA – $10/entry

Questions? Esther Grassian, Information Literacy Librarian
UCLA College Library
estherg@library.ucla.edu
310-206-4410

Educause Seeks Member Input: Next Gen Learning Challenges

2010-06-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Educause announced the following and requests input from its members:

"EDUCAUSE will lead a new effort funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called the Next Gen Learning Challenges, an effort to identify and scale technology-enabled approaches that dramatically improve college readiness and completion, particularly for low-income young adults. The program will provide grants, build evidence, and develop an active community committed to addressing these persistent educational challenges.

In preparation for the formal grant program we ask you to share your knowledge and to comment on key questions before the program is finalized. EDUCAUSE members are experienced in leveraging all facets of IT to help students achieve the academic success that is crucial to their future. We hope you will share your expertise and perspectives.

The first four challenges NGLC will solicit grant proposals for are:
• Deploying open core courseware
• Deepening learner engagement through interactive, online technologies
• Scaling blended learning
• Mobilizing learning analytics"

ESEA Reauthorization

2010-06-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

From Keith Fiels' 6/18/10 Report to ALA Council and Executive Board:

“Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Since Congress failed to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 2009, they have the opportunity for reauthorization in 2010. Both the Senate and House have been holding hearings and meetings on what should be in a reauthorized ESEA bill. During this time, the Washington Office has been meeting with key members and staff on what needs to be in ESEA for libraries.

Jamie Greene, a school librarian at Hugh Cole Elementary School in Warren, RI, and President of the Rhode Island Educational Media Association (RIEMA), testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) in a hearing titled, “ESEA Reauthorization: Meeting the Needs of the Whole Student.”

Greene’s testimony highlighted the critical role of school libraries in our nation’s educational system and the need for Congress to include them in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

ALA is requesting that Congress include school libraries in ESEA by including the following three requests: 1) Having every public school have a school library staffed by a state-certified school librarian, 2) allowing for state and local professional development funds to be used for recruiting and training school librarians, and 3) maintaining dedicated funding for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries. It is unlikely that the Congress will reauthorize ESEA this year. However, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) wanted to mark up a bill in the Senate by early June. No date yet has been set for such a mark-up.”

"Savvy Web 2.0 Teens Forge Critical Thinking Skills"

2010-06-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Fascinating reading (from a Google Alert for "information literacy"): Savvy Web 2.0 Teens Forge Critical Thinking Skills.

Prezi presentation

2010-06-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

LILi'ers,

Our new web librarian, Stewart Baker, would like to do a presentation on Prezi for us. When would be a good time for this? Please suggest a few meeting dates and I'll make sure he's free.

Thanks!

-- Caroline B.
CSU Dominguez Hills

"A Librarian in Every School, Books in Every Home"

2010-06-13T17:37:00.001-07:00

Joyce Valenza tweeted about this excellent and moving editorial by Bob Peterson regarding the loss of the sole librarian at the elementary school in Milwaukee where he works: "A Librarian in Every School, Books in Every Home: A Modest Proposal." This was the 2d of two things that made Peterson angry. The 1st was "...the release of scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that showed African American 4th graders in Wisconsin (most of whom live in Milwaukee) had the lowest reading scores in the nation." He goes on to say, "Research shows school libraries are related to better reading achievement. The reason for this is obvious: Children become better readers by reading more, and for many children, the library is the only place they have access to books."

Sadly, there have been no librarians in public elementary schools in California for a very long time. We may still be 50th out of the 50 states in terms of the number of librarians in public schools. Perhaps Bob Peterson's call-to-arms article will help draw attention to this issue throughout the country.

"E-Book Readers Bomb on College Campuses"

2010-06-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

From a Linked-In post: Bloomberg Businessweek article, "E-Book Readers Bomb on College Campuses," indicates that students at 7 universities around the country who participated in a pilot, using Kindles instead of textbooks, were not satisfied: "...students reported that the Kindle was a poor replacement for a textbook, hard to use in the classroom, and difficult to navigate."

ALA 2011 class of Emerging Leaders.

2010-06-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

The American Library Association (ALA) is now accepting applications for the 2011 class of Emerging Leaders. Applications can be found at http://www.ala.org/cfapps/emergingleaders/index.cfm. The deadline to apply is July 30.

The program is designed to enable a group of library workers to get on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership. Participants are given the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, network with peers and get an inside look into the ALA structure and activities.

An ALA division, round table, ethnic affiliate, state chapter or school library media affiliate will sponsor many of the selected applicants. Each sponsor will contribute $1,000 toward expenses ($500 for each conference). Sponsorship is not required for participation in the program.

Applicants can indicate on the application which groups they want to consider them for sponsorship. A list of sponsoring units is included as part of the online application. You can also check with your state association and/or state chapter to find out if they are participating and how to apply for their sponsorship.

Library support staff are encouraged to apply to the program and will have an opportunity to be considered for sponsorship through the ALA Library Support Staff Interests Round Table.

No more than one person from any institution will be selected for participation in the program. Preference will be given to those who do not have experience working on ALA committees, task forces, etc. In order to be eligible for participation in the program, those selected must meet the following criteria:

1. Be under 35 years of age or be a library worker of any age with fewer than five years experience working in a library, and

2. Be able to attend both ALA conferences and work virtually in between each,

3. Be prepared to commit to serve on either an ALA, division, chapter or round table committee, taskforce or workgroup, or in your state or local professional library organization upon completion of program and

4. Be an ALA member or join upon selection if not already a member.

For questions or more information regarding the program, contact Beatrice Calvin at bcalvin@ala.org.

"Dear Mr. President: Misinformation is the Real Distraction"

2010-06-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

The Unquiet Librarian offers a passionate pro-information-literacy and "transliteracy" blog post (5/9/10), in response to a portion of President Obama's May 9th Hampton University Commencement Address.

"Bloom's Digital Taxonomy & Web 2.0 Tools"

2010-05-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

This popular and free Prezi slideshow allows you to click on each of the tools within each slide, in order to go to it and try it out: Bloom's Digital Taxonomy & Web 2.0 Tools.

Survey for School Librarians

2010-05-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

From the InfoLit listserv:

Dear School Librarians,

The Florida State University PALM Center would like to invite you to participate in a survey. We are interested in gathering information from school librarians on how they are integrating technology in their schools. While there are no direct benefits to individual subjects, we hope the information obtained will help national organizations, policy makers, and researchers further articulate this role. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. There are no foreseeable risks associated with this project. However, if you feel uncomfortable answering any questions, you can stop answering questions on the survey at any point without being penalized.

If you agree to participate in the study, you will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Amazon.com gift card. If you decide NOT to participate in this study, you will NOT be penalized. Research staff will only use your name and address (if provided by you) to send you additional information or for the drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card, if you indicate you are willing.

It is very important for us to learn your opinions so that we can better articulate the role of the school librarian in technology integration. Your survey responses will be strictly confidential to the extent provided by law.

Your name and contact information will not be shared with anyone outside the research project. All information from the study will be presented in the
aggregate: no individual responses will be used.

If you would like to participate in this research project, the survey can be accessed at http://palm.pnmi.com/. Please complete the survey by July 1, 2010.
We are sending this to a number of lists. Please excuse the cross posting.
Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,
Nancy Everhart, Director, PALM Center
Marcia Mardis, Associate Director, PALM Center

Joyce Valenza's School Libraries Video

2010-05-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Truly amazing video by a school librarian: http://vimeo.com/11807471

New ALA Online Learning Site

2010-05-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Keith Fiels, Executive Director of ALA (American Library Association) announced "ALA Online Learning... a new section of the ALA website showcasing all web-based professional development opportunities across the Association."

Under "information literacy" on this page, are a number of interesting upcoming programs, including a self-guided course offered by PLA (Public Library Association), called “Understand How to Find, Evaluate and Use Information: Information Fluency”

"Save California School Libraries!" Button

2010-05-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Christina Cicchetti, librarian at University of California, Riverside, reports that there is a button available for sale that says "Save California School Libraries!" Illustrator, Brian Selznick designed the button, and it won first place in the School Library Advocacy Button contest.

Google's "Wonder Wheel" + Other Brainstorming Tools

2010-04-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

In response to a thread on this topic on the ILI (Information Literacy Instruction) list, Amy Mark at the University of Mississipi created an interesting web page with several tools that learners can use to brainstorm synonyms and other words related to their research topics: Library Instruction: Before You Start

Call for Presenters: "Taking Mobile To the Next Level"

2010-04-29T11:06:00.001-07:00

Posted to the American Library Association's RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) list, a call for presenters at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. This session will be held on Saturday, June 26, from 1:30-3:30 p.m., location TBD:

"Taking Mobile to the Next Level

Is your library offering new and innovative services to patrons via
mobile device? If so, we’d like to hear from you. The MARS Hot
Topics Discussion Group is planning a session at ALA Annual on the
latest and coolest in library services via mobile, and we're looking
for presenters from libraries of all types who are developing
features on their mobile sites and would be interested in giving a
brief, informal presentation. Our session will include several
presentations as well as time for discussion afterwards. Possible
topics include but are not limited to:

Ebooks via mobile
RFID/QR codes
GIS/GPS functions
Mobile interfaces to catalogs, databases, bibliographic managers and
other tools

If you would like to present at our session, email Anne Houston at
ahouston@virginia.edu with a paragraph
describing your library's initiatives and how you would present them.
The session will be held Saturday, June 26, from 1:30-3:30 p.m.,
location TBD.

*Please excuse cross-postings. Thanks."

"A LIBRARY FOR EVERY SCHOOL! A Proclamation"

2010-04-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

Several international organizations, ENSIL, IASL, and IFLA, have published , “A LIBRARY FOR EVERY SCHOOL! A Proclamation,” on April 2, 2010, an important document describing the benefits and values of school libraries (European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy, International Association of School Librarianship, and International Association of Library Federations.)

Free Smithsonian Online Conference

2010-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Invitation from Learning Times:

LearningTimes is very pleased to invite you to another unique online conference sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.

The "Smithsonian Online Conference: Problem Solving with Smithsonian Experts" is a free series of interactive workshops taking place throughout April 2010. Register now at:

http://www.smithsonianconference.org/expert/

The live online events will be of special interest to educators, entire classrooms of engaged students, and to the general public. Throughout the month, Smithsonian historians, scientists, researchers and other experts share their questions, their methods, and their unique way of thinking in an interactive format that welcomes you to contribute your own ideas.

The sessions span the arts, history, science, and culture, and are organized around four key themes. All events take place live online — you participate and interact directly from your computer in real time. Each session will be recorded and posted after it takes place for on-demand access.

Schedule and Themes

Day One: Understanding the American Experience Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Day Two: Valuing World Cultures
Wednesday, 14 April 2010

Day Three: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Day Four: Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet Thursday, 29 April 2010

To review the complete program and to register please visit:

http://www.smithsonianconference.org/expert/program

Write to si@learningtimes.net with any questions.

Warm regards,

John Walber, CSTP
CEO
LearningTimes,LLC

FREE Panel Session in Second Life

2010-03-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Anyone interested is invited to attend a FREE panel session in Second Life on the topic, “Second Life Implementation at Academic Libraries” for the Texas Library Association Conference http://www.txla.org/conference/program.html

Date: Friday, 16 April 2010
Time: 12 noon – 1:50 pm SLT/PT
Location: Second Life [You will receive the SLURL when you rsvp]
Speakers:
• Sara Bordelon, Systems Analyst and Virtual Worlds Trainer, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Lorin Fisher, Information Literacy Coordinator, Texas State University
• Esther Grassian, Information Literacy Librarian, UCLA
• Tara Schmidt, Reference Librarian, University of Texas at San Antonio

Please RSVP by Monday, 12 April 2010:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHRicG5DN1dTS0R1QmVLZ1ppR0FYT3c6MA
OR
http://bit.ly/cxFjyq

Basic Second Life accounts are free, however, you will need to have a computer that can handle the graphics, and you will need to download the Second Life software in order to participate.
Second Life accounts: http://secondlife.com
System requirements: http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/?lang=en-US

Please note: This program will be held in RL (real life) at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. We have requested a wired ethernet connection for the panel session, so that we can offer it simultaneously in SL, but hope you will understand if we are unable to connect to SL after all.

If you have any questions, please contact Esther Grassian: estherg@library.ucla.edu

BRIEF Instruction Survey

2010-03-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

As part of my sabbatical project, I'm asking for your help in collecting information about instruction efforts at your library. I have created a short survey to track what we are doing library instruction today and what plans we have to improve.
I would also like to identify specific libraries for one-on-one interviews, either in person or by phone.
I'm especially interested in contacting instruction librarians at other community colleges in California, but input from all of you is important to me.
I would be happy to summarize my results. If you have suggestions for how I can make this survey more relevant, please feel free to contact me at the email address below.

Please take 5 minutes to complete the survey at this address:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/967KNNV

Also, please feel free to forward this email to other librarians who might not have received it.

Thank you very much.
Carol Womack
Instruction Librarian
Santa Monica College
310-434-4635
womack_carol@smc.edu

"Stir It Up" - San Francisco Public Library Program 4/7/10

2010-03-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Public Library is offering an unusual event, also listed in Yelp, which gives SFPL 4 stars out of 5, based on 213 reviews:

Date: Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Time: 6 - 7:30 p.m.

Place: San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room
San Francisco, CA 94102

Program: Stir It Up -- In the Pot and on the Web: Making Media about Making Food

Description: Join Professors Melinda Stone and David Silver as they spin tales about making food and making media at the University of San Francisco. Experience the dynamic convergence of green living, food in San Francisco, social media and Web 2.0 technologies in this digital storytelling presentation.

Contact Info.: jdear@sfpl.org or (415) 557-4277

Jerry Dear - Magazines & Newspapers Center
San Francisco Public Library
http://sfplmagsandnews.blogspot.com/

"Saving the Google Students"

2010-03-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Sara Scribner, a teacher-librarian in the Pasadena, California School District, wrote an excellent essay regarding the value of school librarians and information literacy instruction, published in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, March 21st.

"Saving the Google students"
--------------------

For the Google generation, closing school libraries could be disastrous. Not teaching kids how to sift through sources is like sending them into the world without knowing how to read.

By Sara Scribner

March 21 2010

The current generation of kindergartners to 12th graders -- those born between 1991 and 2004 -- has no memory of a time before Google. But although these students are far more tech savvy than their parents and are perpetually connected to the Internet, they know a lot less than they think. And worse, they don't know what they don't know.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scribner21-2010mar21,0,764753.story

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

Riverside may cut last 12 teacher-librarians

2010-03-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Lauren Barack's article in School Library Journal describes more possible layoffs that we hope will not come to pass...
"Riverside, CA, Considers Cutting Last 12 Teacher-Librarians"

Update re Possible Layoffs of LAUSD Librarians

2010-03-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

A LILi (Lifelong Information Literacy) Group member who is an LAUSD librarian, posted the following message to the Group:

This article in American Libraries Magazine is an update on the current situation in LAUSD. It is an attempt to acknowledge the rumors and separate truth from fiction.

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/inside-scoop/pink-slips—and-rumors—fly-la

Awful News: LAUSD to Cut All School Librarians

2010-03-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

A Google Alert email for "information literacy" included a link to a School Library Journal article by Rocco Staino, "LA Unified School District to Eliminate All Certified Librarians." While there is faint hope that this action will be rescinded, we cannot count on it. This is a sad day for Los Angeles and for the almost 618,000 students in the District, who will no longer have librarians to help them become information literate, prepared for higher education research and learning, and able to participate as informed citizens in a democratic society, for a lifetime.

NMC Seeks Examples: K-12 Horizon Report by 3/15

2010-03-09T12:33:00.000-08:00

From the NMC Subscribers' List:

NMC Seeks Examples for 2010 Horizon Report: K12 Edition

The New Media Consortium, with support from Hewlett-Packard and in collaboration with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), is preparing the 2010 Horizon Report: K12 Edition. We are interested in learning about any kind of research, pilot programs, innovative projects, or other work happening at your school, or at schools you know about, in any of the six areas listed below. (See the attached 2010 Horizon Report: K12 Edition Preview of the topics for more details.) Our goal is to help readers understand the potential impact of these technologies and their applications on teaching, learning, or creative inquiry.

Here are the six areas identified for this year's report:

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less
* Cloud Computing
* Collaborative Environments

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years
* Educational Gaming
* Mobiles

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years
* Augmented Reality
* Thin Film Displays

The Time-to-Adoption Horizon indicates how long the Advisory Board feels it will be until a significant number of schools are providing or using each of these technologies or approaches broadly. Of course, a number of innovative teachers and schools are already working in some of these areas, and those are the very efforts we want to highlight. Of special interest are any activities that have a significant web presence so that a URL might be included in the report.

How to Participate
If you know of examples we could include, please use the brief web form at http://go.nmc.org/horizon-example-project to tell us about them. We ask for a title, a URL, and a one- or two-sentence description; you also will need to select which of the six topics your example falls under. The process takes about two minutes.

We hope to have your examples by Monday, March 15, but no matter what, we'd love to hear about what you are doing! All we really need is a sentence of description and a URL -- we'll do the rest.

Thanks -- and we look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Rachel

Rachel S. Smith
Vice President, NMC Services
The New Media Consortium

tel 512 445 4200 | fax 512 445 4205 | rachel@nmc.org | www.nmc.org

Joyce Valenza's Embed Code for Google Search Options Poster

2010-03-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Joyce Valenza has very kindly shared a link to her School Library Journal blog post which provides the embed code for her Google Search Options Poster.

Joyce Valenza's Google Search Options + Search Poster

2010-03-09T10:25:00.001-08:00

Joyce Valenza responded to a query on InfoLit-L with the following message, including links to her amazing Google Search Options poster and Search Poster:

We use GoogleSquared for a number of projects that require comparison or identifying the "players" or "items" in an area of knowledge.

You may be interested in the little poster I did to pop out the other hidden Google search features: Google Search Options

[NOTE: Joyce included embed code in her message, but including that code here simply embeds her poster in this blog post, rather than displaying the code. Check the InfoLit-L archive for her message, dated 3/8/2010, or email Joyce Valenza or Esther Grassian for the code. Scroll down past the embedded poster to see the remainder of the message.]

Feel free to embed the code below if it is helpful.

Here are some I did for younger kids:
KidSearch2
KidVideoSearch
Kid Reference

And one I need to clean up: Search Poster

Joyce

Joyce Kasman Valenza, Ph.D.
Springfield Township HS Library
Phone: 215-233-6030 Ext. 2502 Fax: 215-836-5237
Cell: 215-518-1846
skype: joycevalenza
twitter: joycevalenza
Library website: http://springfieldlibrary.wikispaces.com
NeverEndingSearch (School Library Journal)
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch
TeacherLibrarianNetwork http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com

3/18 Workshop: "Coping in Tough Times"

2010-03-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

Librarians who provide instruction are invited to attend the following workshop sponsored by UCLA’s Information Literacy Program.

“Coping in Tough Times: Approaches to Teaching IL with Limited Staff”

Thursday, March 18, 2010, 10 AM-noon, YRL Presentation Room, UCLA
Thursday, March 18, 2010, 10 AM-noon SLT/Pacific Time, Second Life
(Second Life location will be provided in your RSVP confirmation message.)

Given current downward trends in staffing, librarians are designing creative ways to leverage their limited availability to provide library instruction to their users. This highly interactive, learner-centered workshop was created by instruction librarians for instruction librarians. Read about three approaches taken in Fall 2009 at UCLA for designing and conducting Train-the-Trainer information literacy sessions for teaching assistants and instructors in a variety of disciplines. During the workshop, discuss and consider these approaches for your own population groups and instructional needs.

This interactive workshop will be held simultaneously at UCLA and in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. Second Life basic accounts are free: http://secondlife.com

Space is limited to 40 in-person participants at UCLA and 40 Second Life participants.

Please RSVP below for either the RL (real life) workshop at UCLA or the Second Life workshop. We look forward to seeing you there in-person or virtually!

RSVP by March 15, 2010….

…for the in-person workshop online at (http://tiny.cc/ZVE50)
OR
…for the Second Life workshop online at (http://tinyurl.com/yhbecrb)

Questions? Contact Esther Grassian: estherg@library.ucla.edu

White House Asks: What Does a 21st Century Education Mean to You?

2010-03-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

From a retweet on Twitter...

The White House Asks: What Does A 21st Century Education Mean to You?
http://bit.ly/aFGFec

They're asking for Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In responses.

School Library Scopes, Sequences & Curricula

2010-03-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

From a post on InfoLit-L...

"... for anyone that is working on, or contemplating a new library curriculum or scope and sequence, here is a site where we have collected a number of scopes and sequences and curricula for school libraries. http://greatlibs.wikispaces.com/Programs

We found these to be invaluable when we re-wrote our K-12 Scope and Sequence: Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning. We "borrowed with permission" from many of these, and got a great idea what we liked and didn't like - which also helped.

Our scope and sequence is also available for download at the bottom of this page: http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/143110323123832603/site/default.asp?143110323123832603nav=|472|&nodeid=472

If you like it, I'd be happy to send you the MSWord version, so that you can easily utilize the format (or anything else) that we developed."

Sam
Samuel Jackendoff, Ed.M., M.B.A., M.S.I.S.
Curriculum Supervisor for Library and Information Sciences
Pittsburgh Public Schools

Connelley Center - room 127
1501 Bedford Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-338-8054
412-338-8070 (Library Services)
412-338-8075 (FAX)
sjackendoff1@pghboe.net

Teens & Technology Online Conference 4/13/2010

2010-03-03T09:51:00.000-08:00

An announcement from the Alliance Library System...

Subject: Teens and Technology online conference

Alliance Library System and TAP Information Services Announce Trendy Topics 2010: Teens and Technology Alliance Library System and TAP Information Services are pleased to announce the third in a dynamic monthly series of online workshops librarians can enjoy right at their desktops on hot topics.

The latest conference on Teens and Technology is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13. Kelly Czarnecki from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County is the keynote speaker. She will talk about “A Great Fit: Teens, Technology and Libraries!” Kelly’s talk will take a look at how libraries throughout the country are engaging teens with technology and why. Then she will address ways (low budget!) that libraries can integrate more technology programs and services for teens in their library and community and convince their administrators along the way.

• Other speakers for this inspiring day-long conference include:

• Dodie Ownes, Editor of SLJTeen on “Teens and Technology”
Marianne Mancusi, Author of Gamer Girl
Beth Gallaway, Trainer/Consultant on “Jumping on the Gaming Bandwagon: Advocacy, Best Practices and Current Trends”
• Angie Green, Alliance Library System, “Digital Literacy”
• Cynthia Hart, Virginia Beach Public Library, “Geeking Out @ the Library”
• Beth Gallaway, “Web 2.wh0a: Trendy Tech to Use with Teens”

A full informational flyer can be found at http://www.facebook.com/l/e733a;www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/TrendyTopics/workshop3TrendyTopicsTeensApril2010.pdf.

Register at http://www.facebook.com/l/e733a;www.eventbee.com/view/trendytopics/event?eid=65537

Registration for librarians for the one day conference is $40; for students $30; and for groups $100.

For more information on these workshops please contact Lori Bell at ALS, lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com or Tom Peters at TAP Information Services at tpeters@tapinformation.com.

Alliance Library System is one of nine regional library systems in Illinois serving 260 libraries of all types in a 14,000 square mile area.

TAP Information Services (http://www.facebook.com/l/e733a;www.tapinformation.com) helps organizations innovate.
--------------------

USA Today Article + "Future is Now" Online Conference

2010-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

A colleague, Michael Oppenheim, forwarded this very positive USA Today article about librarians, with reference to Marilyn Johnson, author of the newly published *This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All.” Johnson will be one of the keynote speakers at “The Future is Now: Libraries and Museums in Virtual Worlds” online conference, scheduled for Friday 3/5 and Saturday 3/6. The conference is very reasonably priced, at $25 for ALA members, $45 for those who don’t belong to ALA, $10 for students, retirees and those between jobs, and $70 for groups. In addition to the keynotes and other sessions, there will be a panel titled “Joining Hands: Library/Museum Collaboration in Virtual Worlds,” scheduled for Friday, 3/5, 3:30 to 5 pm SLT/Pacific Time. Check the conference schedule for information about all sessions.

Please note that while some of the sessions in this conference will be held in Second Life, a number of them will be held via OPAL web conferencing software, similar to Elluminate.

"How Millenial Are You? Quiz" - Pew Research Center

2010-02-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a Tweet from annavan (Twitter name), you can check to see "How Millennial Are You?," a quiz mounted by the Pew Research Center. The results page also provides an option to see how your score would change if you changed specific answers. (Note: I scored 41/100.)

Help Needed re 3d Grade Info Lit TRAILS Testing

2010-02-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

Message posted to the InfoLit Listserv:

TRAILS (Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills)
Do you work with 3rd graders or have a colleague who does?
The TRAILS project seeks school librarians working with 3rd grade students to assist in testing items for the new TRAILS-3 assessment tool designed to measure information literacy skills at the 3rd grade level.

The TRAILS-3 tool will be similar to TRAILS-6 and TRAILS-9 (http://www.trails-9.org). It too will be a freely available tool offering immediate feedback on student information literacy competencies at the class or individual student level. Privacy is assured; no student identifying information is collected.

TRAILS consultants began last fall to work with 3rd grade information literacy standards to write objectives and then develop items addressing those objectives. We are now ready to have 3rd grade students take an assessment to verify the workability of the items.

Requirements to be a testing site:
1. Testing population: 3rd grade students
2. Technology: computers with Internet access
3. Time needed to administer: estimate of 20-30 minutes/session
4. Testing time period: March through May, 2010

If you are interested, please fill out the TRAILS-3 Testing Volunteer Interest Form at http://CTLSilhouette.wsu.edu/surveys/ZS98172 by Monday, March 8. School librarians selected for participation will be notified the week of March 15 and provided specific directions for administering a TRAILS-3 assessment. Please direct any questions to Barbara Schloman, TRAILS Project Director, bschloma@kent.edu.

TRAILS has been well received. More than 8,300 school librarians have signed up to use the tool. Since going live, more than 13,000 sessions have been delivered to over 248,000 students. Numerous requests from librarians working with grade school students prompted us to undertake the development of a 3rd grade version. With your help, we can offer the library community one more tool to assess student understanding of information literacy competencies.
We hope you will consider being part of this project and ask that you share this invitation with colleagues.

Cheers, Barbara

--------------------------------------
Barbara F. Schloman, Ph.D., AHIP
TRAILS Project Director
Associate Dean and Professor
University Libraries
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
--------------------------------------
http://www.trails-9.org
voice: 330-672-1665
fax: 330-672-4811
e-mail: bschloma@kent.edu
--------------------------------------

"The Future is Now: Libraries & Museums in Virtual Worlds"

2010-02-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

The complete schedule for the March 5th and 6th online conference "The Future is Now: Libraries & Museums in Virtual Worlds" is now available.

January 26, 2010

For Immediate Release

Everyone is invited to participate in* The Future is Now: Libraries and
Museums in Virtual Worlds*, an online conference to be held on Friday and
Saturday, March 5-6, 2010 in OPAL, the webconferencing collaborative
service, in Second Life, and in other three-dimensional virtual worlds.

Throughout this two-day conference there will be dozens of presentations,
panel discussions, poster sessions, demonstrations, tours, and social
events. You need not be proficient in virtual worlds to participate in
this conference. Orientation sessions will be held prior to the conference
dates.

*Keynote Speakers*:

· *Marilyn Johnson*, author of the new book, *This Book is Overdue!
How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All*. She also wrote *The Dead
Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries*.

· *Tom Atkinson* teaches Instructional Technology at the U. of
Central Florida and has over 30 years of experience in designing, producing,
delivering, and evaluating interactive instruction on mobile learning
platforms and in virtual worlds

· *Sharon Tettegah and Cynthia Colongne*, co-authors of the 2009
book, *Identity, Learning and Support in Virtual Environments.** *

*Conference Website*: http://bit.ly/7L8M1j

*Registration Fees:*

- $25 for individuals who are members of the American Library Association
(ALA).
- $45 for individuals who are not members of ALA.
- $10 for individuals who are students, retired, or between jobs.
- $75 for Groups (A group is defined as two or more individuals who are
currently directly affiliated with an organization. Participating members of
the registering organization need not be in the same location in the real
world when they attend conference events.)**

*Register Now*: http://bit.ly/7cB88t

*Twitter Hashtag*: #FIN10

*Poster Session Proposals*: Although the deadline for submitting program
proposals has passed, the deadline for poster session proposals is Monday,
March 1, 2010. See the conference website for details.

*Sponsor: LearningTimes (*http://www.learningtimes.org/), an open community
of education and training professionals.* *

*Conference Co-Organizers*: ALA VCL MIG (Virtual Communities & Libraries,
Member Initiative Group), ACRL Virtual Worlds Interest Group, the Alliance
Library System, and TAP Information Services.

*Conference Archive*: We plan to record and archive as many events as
possible. Only paid registrants, presenters, and members of the conference
planning team will have access to the conference archive for 3 months after
the conclusion of the conference. On June 6, 2010 the conference archive
will be made available to everyone.

*More Information*: Please contact Tom Peters (816.616.6746;
tpeters@tapinformation.com)

--
Lori Bell
Director of Innovation
Alliance Library System
600 High Point Lane
East Peoria, IL 61611
(309)694-9200 ext. 2128
skype: lbell927
lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com
lbell927@gmail.com
"Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries"
http://books.infotoday.com/books/VirtualWorlds.shtml
-

"Search is the Web's Fun and Wicked Problem"

2010-02-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a Google Alert for "information literacy"... An interview with Peter Morville in the February 19, 2010 issue of O'Reilly Radar, "Search is the Web's Fun and Wicked Problem," offers a fascinating look at a topic of great interest to librarians. Morville, author of the new book, Search Patterns, with accompanying web site, cites many concepts and technologies, including Jakob Nielsen's "paradox of the active user," "averted vision," augmented reality, and Bruce Sterling's 2004 "Spime" speech at SIGGRAPH, an amazing read in itself.

Embedded in this interview is Morville's focus on information literacy as an essential skill: "The real responsibility rests with parents and teachers. I'm convinced that information literacy is among the most important subjects we can teach our kids. They must learn where to search and how to evaluate what they find. Wikipedia, for instance, can catalyze great conversations with our children about authority and trust. In a world where we can increasingly select our sources and choose our news, these analytical skills are mission critical. And, better searchers will make search better. Their behavior will offer valuable feedback that will in turn improve the interfaces and algorithms of tomorrow's tools for search and discovery." This section links to the University of Idaho's information literacy tutorial.

President's budget freezes library funding; omits school libraries from education increase

2010-02-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Sad news, another blow to public libraries and school libraries, reported by the ALA Washington Office and posted to BCALA, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, as well as elsewhere:

For Immediate Release
February 1, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama today released his FY2011 Budget Proposal to Congress, calling for a freeze to federal library funding under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), the primary source of federal funding for libraries.

Under the President’s plan, LSTA would be level-funded at $214 million.

As Americans deal with the weakened economy, they are using their libraries more than ever before, visiting them over 119 million times each month. American Library Association (ALA) President Camila Alire said freezing federal funding for libraries at this time of increased demand will hinder libraries from serving job-seekers, who are flocking to the library for help with online job searching and applications, resume writing, computer classes and much more.

“During this time of hoped-for economic recovery, public libraries are one of the greatest tools our nation has, and a lack of federal support jeopardizes this critical institution,” Alire said.

“President Obama often speaks about helping America get back to work, and libraries are critical access points to information and resources that are helping job-seekers every day. Unfortunately, countless libraries in our country are suffering from state budget cuts that have resulted in staff loss, reduced hours, or even closures. Many libraries have managed to efficiently use what little resources they have, but they are hanging on by a thread.

Federal funding may be a small percentage of the funding America’s libraries receive, but it is critical. The ALA calls on Congress to support America’s libraries by not only restoring the funding lost to libraries in the President’s budget proposal but by increasing the funding, which is desperately needed.”

The President’s budget also included a $400 billion investment into education but did not include specific funds for school libraries. Alire said the federal government should invest in school libraries to ensure every student graduates from high school with 21st century skills.

“It is alarming that the President did not recognize the value of school libraries in today’s schools and include them in this effort to improve education,” Alire said.

“Research repeatedly shows that a well-funded and fully staffed school library program with a state-licensed school librarian is an integral component of a student’s education.”

"In Defense of School Librarians"

2010-02-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

A Google Alert for "information literacy" retrieved this excellent and heartfelt guest opinion piece by Cathy Collins, a school librarian, "In Defense of School Librarians," published in the February 11, 2010 issue of pressdemocrat.com. She laments the fact that the general public misunderstands the role of the school librarian, and cites a dissertation on the topic of school libraries and student achievement:

"As recently as December 2008, Douglas Achterman published a dissertation titled “Haves, Halves and Have-Nots: School libraries and student achievement in California.” It is composed of 225 pages of research. Being the nerd I am, I read it cover to cover.Findings confirm prior research on the relationship between school libraries and student achievement and point to the inequitable access of school library services in California."

Her opinion piece is well worth reading and passing along to others, including legislators, as she suggests.

Public Libraries & Information [Technology] Literacy

2010-02-08T15:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a Google Alert for "information literacy," here is a link to an article titled "Public Libraries Take Information Literacy to the Next Stage": http://www.govtech.com/gt/743612

The article, on the Government Technology web site, actually focuses on the use of games in public libraries to engage young people. In addition to discussing online games and traditional board games, the author, Russell Nichols mentions the following: "One particular game re-creates the 1960 U.S. presidential election. Players have cards that look like the front pages of newspapers with historical facts about John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon." Nichols quotes Christopher Harris, coordinator of the New York School Library System for the Genesee Valley Board of Cooperative Educational Services: "They look like Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards except they're all about the election," Harris said. "Someone keeps track of electoral votes, media relations, issues for debates. Now the students are really engaged in the experience of running and being a part of an election."

LILAC Conference in UK Filling Up

2010-02-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

Posted to the ILI Listserv:

The LILAC 2010 conference is booking up fast. To guarantee a place visit:

http://www.lilacconference.com/dw/

What is LILAC?

Do you teach information literacy skills? Do you want to improve the information seeking and evaluation skills of your library users? Perhaps you are interested in emerging technologies to support information literacy? If so then LILAC 2010 is for you.

LILAC is the Librarians' Information Literacy Annual Conference, organised by CILIP's Information Literacy Group. The event is brimming with new ideas, innovative teaching techniques, inspiring speakers and exciting social events. There is a packed programme of parallel sessions including long and short papers, hands-on workshops, symposiums and poster presentations. Librarians from across the UK and around the world attend.

Debbi Boden
Deputy Director Information and Learning Services
Peirson Library
University of Worcester
Henwick Grove
Worcester
WR2 6AJ
Tel: 01905 542160

CARL Conf: People Make Libraries 4/8-4/10/2010

2010-02-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

CARL is the California chapter of the American Library Association's (ALA) Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). This conference will take place April 8th through 10th, 2010.

Posted on various lists:

ARE you joining us in Sacramento for the 2010 CARL Conference, People Make Libraries: Digging into our Past and Polishing our Present to Transform our Future?

Save $100 by registering by February 19, 2010 to attend this event.

Go to http://carl-acrl.org/Archives/ConferencesArchive/Conference10/
for more information on speakers, programs and events.

Note your library can make one payment/reimbursement/purchase order, if you elect to register as a group, email Kelly Janousek, CARL Registrar for detail

See you at the Conference!!

CARL Research Award Announcement

2010-02-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

CARL is the California chapter of the American Library Association's (ALA) Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Posted on various lists:

The CARL Research Award Committee is excited to announce the winners of this year’s CARL Research Award: Shannon Staley, Valeria Molteni, and Christina Peterson.

These CARL members submitted a team proposal entitled “Standardized Information Literacy Assessment: An Institution-Specific Approach.”

All three of the team members work at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at San Jose State University.

The objectives of the proposed research are as follows:

 Implement a consistent and comprehensive means of information literacy assessment
 Apply learning outcomes based on ACRL standards
 Develop assessment instruments customizable to specific disciplines and courses at their university
 Evaluate programmatic strengths and weaknesses through a systematic approach to data analysis
 Provide an opportunity to improve library instruction through a more accurate reading of student learning
 Share findings with other library professionals

The team has been awarded $1,971 to complete their research.

The CARL Research Award Committee received a total of 13 applications. We are thrilled with the number of applications we received, and thought there were a number of strong proposals.

We look forward to hearing back from the winning team in one year for a report on their research. The report will be presented to the CARL membership at either the CARL Conference or in the CARL Newsletter. Congratulations to all the applicants for a great round of research proposals and especially to our award winners!

Respectfully,
The CARL Research Award Committee

Alexandra Chappell, Claremont Colleges
Bonnie Gratch-Lindauer, City College of San Francisco
Aline Soules, California State University, East Bay
Carol Spector, Chair, University of San Francisco

Carol Spector
University of San Francisco
Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
2130 Fulton St., San Francisco, CA 94117-1049
415.422.2040
csspector@usfca.edu
govdocslists@usfca.edu

"Future is Now!" Libraries + Museums Online Conference

2010-01-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

January 26, 2010

For Immediate Release

Everyone is invited to participate in* The Future is Now: Libraries and Museums in Virtual Worlds*, an online conference to be held on Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, 2010 in OPAL, the webconferencing collaborative service, in Second Life, and in other three-dimensional virtual worlds.

Throughout this two-day conference there will be dozens of presentations, panel discussions, poster sessions, demonstrations, tours, and social events. You need not be proficient in virtual worlds to participate in this conference. Orientation sessions will be held prior to the conference dates.

*Keynote Speakers*:

*Marilyn Johnson*, author of the new book, *This Book is Overdue!
How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All*. She also wrote *The Dead
Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries*.

*Tom Atkinson* teaches Instructional Technology at the U. of
Central Florida and has over 30 years of experience in designing, producing, delivering, and evaluating interactive instruction on mobile learning platforms and in virtual worlds

*Sharon Tettegah and Cynthia Colongne*, co-authors of the 2009
book, *Identity, Learning and Support in Virtual Environments.** *

*Conference Website*: http://bit.ly/7L8M1j

*Registration Fees:*

- $25 for individuals who are members of the American Library Association
(ALA).
- $45 for individuals who are not members of ALA.
- $10 for individuals who are students, retired, or between jobs.
- $75 for Groups (A group is defined as two or more individuals who are
currently directly affiliated with an organization. Participating members of
the registering organization need not be in the same location in the real
world when they attend conference events.)**

*Register Now*: http://bit.ly/7cB88t

*Twitter Hashtag*: #FIN10

*Poster Session Proposals*: Although the deadline for submitting program proposals has passed, the deadline for poster session proposals is Monday, March 1, 2010. See the conference website for details.

*Sponsor: LearningTimes (*http://www.learningtimes.org/), an open community of education and training professionals.* *

*Conference Co-Organizers*: ALA VCL MIG (Virtual Communities & Libraries, Member Initiative Group), ACRL Virtual Worlds Interest Group, the Alliance Library System, and TAP Information Services.

*Conference Archive*: We plan to record and archive as many events as possible. Only paid registrants, presenters, and members of the conference planning team will have access to the conference archive for 3 months after the conclusion of the conference. On June 6, 2010 the conference archive will be made available to everyone.

*More Information*: Please contact Tom Peters (816.616.6746;
tpeters@tapinformation.com)

--
Lori Bell
Director of Innovation
Alliance Library System
600 High Point Lane
East Peoria, IL 61611
(309)694-9200 ext. 2128
skype: lbell927
lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com
lbell927@gmail.com
"Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries"
http://books.infotoday.com/books/VirtualWorlds.shtml

UK Govt: School Libraries Not Statutory

2010-01-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is sad... Posted to the InfoLit listserv:

Van: Information literacy and information skills teaching discussion list namens Mark Hepworth
Verzonden: ma 25-1-2010 7:53
Aan: LIS-INFOLITERACY@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Onderwerp: UK government response to petition to make school libraries statutory

Hi,

Copied below is the UK Prime Minister’s office response to the petition to make school libraries statutory.

To me this implies that the school library is just a repository for books and ICT kit. It indicates a complete lack of understanding of the potential role of the library and the library/information profession in terms of developing the information literacy of students and incorporating information literacy into the curriculum. It echoes a vision of the school library that is grounded in the 1960s and is not in step with developments in other parts of the world, such as, Australasia and North America. Also a contrast, I think, to what is happening in Scotland.

I wonder why this 50+ year old conception continues to persist?

Read the Government’s response
School libraries are a key resource for pupils and teachers. They support the National Curriculum by providing books and ICT equipment, and at their best they are a valuable asset to teachers and a source of enjoyment and learning for children and young people.
However, the provision of a school library is not a statutory requirement, and there are no current plans to alter this and change the legislation.
It is the Government’s policy to put as much money as possible directly into schools’ budgets, allowing schools to target resources appropriately and to make their own choices about their school library provision and book resourcing.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page22227
Apologies for a gloomy start to a Monday morning!
Mark

STEMmED Project

2010-01-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

Posted to the Second Life Librarians Google Group, an announcement regarding a science, technology, and engineering information literacy site in the 3D virtual world of Second Life:

"The STEMmEd Project was created by The Department of Natural Sciences at The University of the Sacret Heart (Universidad del Sagrado CorazÃ“n) to encourage natural sciences studies that will enable students to actively engage in the knowledge-economy. Providing learning experiences with this purpose, the initiative concentrates in educational technologies and Web 2.0 tools. You are welcome to visit the island and its library.

STEMmED Librarian = PI Illios"

"Let the Games Begin!"-Call for submissions

2010-01-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

Posted to the ILI list:

"Have you discovered or developed imaginative games that motivate and
engage learners in information literacy sessions? If so, we are
writing to invite you to contribute your ideas to "Let the Games
Begin! Engaging Students with Interactive Information Literacy
Instruction" (Neal-Schuman, August 2010), an edited book of games for
use in information literacy instruction sessions for undergraduate and
graduate college and university students.

For more information on submissions see attached document.

We would love to hear from you,

Theresa McDevitt and Kelly Heider
Indiana of University of Pennsylvania
Libraries"

1/29 Deadline: Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship

2010-01-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

From Zoe Borovsky (UCLA):

The program offers training within different interdisciplinary fields of study under the leadership of pairs of tenured senior faculty, who define the fields and serve as research directors for groups of 12 graduate students. The students participate in two workshops: one in the spring, to prepare students to undertake summer research that will inform the design of their dissertation research; the other in the fall, to help students apply their summer research experiences to writing dissertation and funding proposals. Students may apply for up to $5,000 to cover summer research costs. Working together, research directors and graduate students design research that will help to shape evolving fields in the humanities and social science.

http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/dpdf-fellowship/

One of the topics is "Virtual Worlds"
http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/subcompetitions/dpdf-fellowship/9E56E847-B2D3-DE11-9D32-001CC477EC70/82289716-B5D3-DE11-9D32-001CC477EC70/

Google Search Limits & New Displays

2010-01-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Google offers some new search limits and various means of displaying search results. After doing a Google search, click on "Show options" under the search box. The left column includes optional display features, including "Wonder Wheel" and "Timeline," as well as various means of limiting by date, type of item, etc.

Panelist Opportunity: Museum/Library Collaboration

2010-01-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

The American Library Association's Virtual Communities and Libraries Member Interest Group will hold an online conference on the ALA island in Second Life (SL March 5th through 6th, 2010. Panelists are needed for a session that will focus on museum and library collaboration, or potential collaboration, in virtual worlds, with some panelists from museums and others from libraries. If you are interested in participating in a 60-90-minute panel session on this topic (about 4-5 panelists with about 10-15 minutes per panelist), please email Esther Grassian estherg@library.ucla.edu, and include a few notes about what you would cover. There would be no travel expenses involved, since the conference will take place entirely in SL. Please respond for yourself or to recommend others (including museum staff) by Monday, January 25th.

Postion: Senior Program Officer, Digital Library Federation

2010-01-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

CLIR, the Council on Library and Information Resources, has posted a position opening for Digital Library Federation's (DLF) Senior Program Officer. Among its other important projects and activities, the CLIR/DLF Second Life (SL) island, Entropia, has been the site of a number of important programs, held in real life and in SL, including nine Mellon Seminars in Digital Humanities during 2008/2009, and a Sloan Consortium presentation on teaching a UCLA undergraduate course using SL.

Free book: Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture

2009-12-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

A message to the NMC (New Media Consortium) list re a free book by Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT:

"Just found via twitter that if you have a Kindle or the free iPhone app- you can get a free copy of Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (Kindle Edition) by Henry Jenkins. My sources overseas say there might be a VAT/wireless fee, sorry about that, talk to Amazon...

If you set up your Amazon account, you can have it deliverable to your mobile device quite easily- I just grabbed 5 free titles. Not surprisingly the best place I located the free titles were in the Best Sellers: listing

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Alan Levine
Vice President, NMC Community & CTO
------------------------------------------------------------
NMC: The New Media Consortium
6101 W. Courtyard, Bldg. One Suite 100, Austin, TX 78730
http://www.nmc.org
t: (512) 445-4200 f:(512) 445-4205
aim/skype: cogdogblog

USC Second Life Modeling Contest for Students

2009-12-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

Posted to NMC list, announcement of the University of Southern California's Second Life Modeling Contest for Students, "Save the World."

Deadline: January 8, 2010.

From the announcement:

Theme:
"Save the World"
Create the one object that will save the world. This object can be organic, mechanical, interactive, large, small, realistic, unearthly, have multiple moving parts, be simple and streamlined... and everything outside and in-between. The most important thing is to think about what is the one thing you would create for the real world (if given infinite resources) that would bring the environment back into harmony. We will be looking for overall creativity, logic of concept, and the quality of execution.

Eligibility:
Open to all full-time students with .edu email address

Contact:
slsdg@usc.edu

Sneak Preview--2010 NMC Horizon Report

2009-12-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

Just made available by the New Media Consortium, their annual Horizon Report identifies technology trends, predicts number of years to adoption, and provides usage examples for each. The 2010 Report identifies 6 key technology trends:
1 year or less to adoption: mobile computing and open content
2-3 years to adoption: electronic books and simple augmented reality
4-5 years to adoption: gesture-based computing and visual data analysis

See the full Report for details.

UL Opening: University of San Diego

2009-12-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

Just posted to CALIBACA list by Amy Wallace:
http://www.lisjobs.com/jobs/details.asp?ID=41965

Mapping the Recession

2009-12-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

Click "Play" to see graphic display of monthly unemployment rates across the U.S., April 2007 through October 2009. (Forwarded by a colleague.) May be useful for teaching and learning, as well as for policymakers.