Journal #5

This week I decided to explore the Common Craft In Plain English online videos.  I have seen several in different classes, and shown some to students as one model for making their own short films.  However, I'd never gone to the actual Common Craft site before.  I learned plenty.

For those of you who haven't heard of In Plain English videos, they are short films that explain a variety of topics in simple terms.  They use cut-outs that visually represent the ideas, and sometimes they add a spark of humor. 

When I began to investigate the site, I realize that the videos run the gambit of topics, but most are centered around tech: Technology, Social Media, Net Safety, Money, and Society.  So a person can learn the basics of blogs, computer viruses, or even zombies.  Yes--zombies.  Like I said, these people have a sense of humor.

The first thing I learned was that it's not free. Bummer.  There are 3 levels of yearly membership, ranging from $49- $159.  That's a lot for most teachers and schools.  You can still view the films straight from the site without joining, as long as you don't mind ignoring the "For Evaluation Only" plastered across the screen.

These videos would be great for educating faculty and students on so many technology-related topics.  I could see using them at faculty meetings, sending them out via email in response to teacher questions, or adding some to the library website so that students could view some at home.

Because so many of the films are technology-related, I can see using many of them to help the kids develop literacies—especially tool and digital literacies.  For example, I would use some of the films to start discussions on internet safety, privacy, and secure passwords.  There are others that might be helpful in their class assignments, such as how to use wikis and blogs, and how to make websites.

So then I asked myself, how did I view these films before?  Did my teachers really pay for accounts?  Maybe they did.  I'm not accusing anyone of anything here.  But here's what I tried:  I did a Yahoo search for "In Plain English"  and chose the page of video results that appeared.  I'm sure that not all of the videos are here, and they're not organized as neatly as they are on the original site, but HYPOTHETICALLY, if one were to find a film on the Common Craft site, then one could look for it on Yahoo, or similar search engine.  I assume these videos in the search results are posted by people who did pay for the yearly membership and were kind enough to "share."  Again, not that I'm saying I would do anything like that.

Journal #4

This week I read an article titled "The Obsolescence Battle" By Brian Kennedy for the August 2011 issue of School Library Journal. 

Citation:  Kenney, Brian. "The Obsolescence Battle." School Library Journal 57.8 (2011): 7. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. Web. 18 Feb. 2013.

Summary

Kennedy ponders the many facets of library "obsolescence" from Google to Kindles. He admits that the internet is very useful, but asserts that most Americans understand that libraries can offer more than the net can.  Many library conferences, including ISTE focused on this topic in 2011, and the suggestion was that libraries should be leaders in technology. Kennedy offers three suggestions as to how libraries can accomplish this. 1) Use social media to make sure that your patrons know exactly what the library offers. He cites several popular library blogs as examples.  2) Increase the technology in your library, even in small steps.  Free web tools can help. 3) Purchase e-readers.  Even if you can't buy enough for every patron, at least get a pilot program started.

 

Resource

I found this article using the Milner library database, which was very easy to use. Since I had no particular topic in mind, I did a broad search for "school library" and chose the SLJ from the list of sources that came up because I know it to be a rich source of library-related information, and it is usually pretty easy and entertaining to read.  (I believe it's also on our recommended reading list!)  By viewing the article via Milner's subscription to Ebsco, I can also choose to listen to the article, and I can easily follow the hyperlinks to the sources that Kennedy discusses:

                www.libraryjournal.com/csp/cms/sites/LJ/CoiTimunity/ALA/index.csp; (ALA Conference Page)

            http://readilicious.wikispaces.com (ISTE presentation by Mary Carole Strother about technology and booktalks)

 

I do wish that there were a few more hyperlinks to tools, such as the Unquiet Library Blog, but maybe that's just my own laziness.  I could always google it. :P
 

This particular article jumped out at me because library obsolescence is a topic I discussed with my librarian during my recent Faces of the School Librarian interview.  She doesn't believe that libraries will ever be obsolete, but for different reasons than those that Kennedy cites. 

 

Content
I was inspired by Kennedy's positive view of the topic, one that can sometimes bring a cloud of gloom and doom.  Overall, his suggestion to embrace technology seems right in line with everything that we've been learning in the school librarianship program.  I would have liked a little bit more detail on the three suggestions he offered, but they are enough to get some ideas rolling.  I guess he's aiming to inspire innovation, not just imitation of other libraries.
 

Also, I wondered where he got his information to support his claim that "most Americans now realize that libraries offer a whole lot more than what you can get through a search engine."  Is there a survey, or research, or is this his own anecdotal observation? If I were to use my anecdotal evidence, I would say that most people look at me like a lost cause when I say I want to be a librarian. My own friends laugh and say, "Can't a computer do that?"  A link or two of evidence would come in handy to help dispell my own pessimism.  Overall, though the article was insightful and a recommended read!

Readings: Smorgasboard of information

This week I continued reading my Google reader blog posts, though not all of them… and one of those posts that I did read made me feel a little better about not reading every single entry.  I chose to read through the 8 unread posts from the Blue Skunk Blog because I know that Doug Johnson always has timely and humorous posts about technology and school librarianship.

Summary: This week, teacher-librarian extraordinaire Doug Johnson wrote in his Blue Skunk Blog, asking readers “Is a digital smorgasbord good for you?” In short, the answer was “no.” Johnson cites an NPR interview with Sherry Turkle who discussed some of the pros and cons of omnipresent information and technology, and suggests that it is too soon to know whether or not this digital revolution has improved or hurt our teens. However, Johnson continues his own analysis of the topic and compares today’s information-laden society to the nostalgic all-you-can-eat buffets of his childhood. In both cases, the food/information is cheap and plentiful, sure, but not all of it is truly high quality fare that we should stuff our faces with as often as we sometimes do.

Resource: I’ve read many of Johnson’s posts in the past, some are more helpful than others. For example, it seems like the technology policy at his school is much more lenient and teachers are much more aware of technologies than is the case at my school. I know that if I shared with some of my colleagues his list of 7 things that students can always do with technology in his classroom, it would not be met with a warm reception because it implies that the teacher is not teaching the whole hour. Other posts of his are hyper-intellectual and advocate for radical changes in pedagogy—again they are interesting, but seem to lack some practical applications. I felt like this blog post was a happy medium—it gave my brain a little stretch, something new to think about, but it wasn’t so new and “out there” that I couldn’t relate to it.

Content: The topic for the smorgasbord post truly resonated with me as a teacher, future librarian, and information consumer. I appreciated that he was focusing on quality over quantity. One thing that stood out was that he asked, if every text cost a nickel or every email cost a dime, wouldn’t we be much more discerning about what we sent. Absolutely! That made me realize that I’m not just a victim of information overload, I’m also a perpetrator! He also noted that while in Nairobi he had to pay $13 an hour to use internet, so he was much more selective in what he read online. In his classic self-deprecating style, Johnson ended with a question—if we had to pay to read this post, would we? This one, yes. I’d pay a little bit for his expert opinion. I would not pay for a lot of what I sift through on the net, though. So isn’t my time worth something? Even if I don’t outright pay for the content (directly), shouldn’t I still consider what information is worth the hours in my day? Probably.

I will use this blog, and particularly this post as I try to find the BEST information for my students, teachers, and myself.  I might also use the two analogies (the smorgasbord and paying for each minute of internet)  with other teachers and students in my appeals to them to do more than just "google" it.  Clearly there's a lot of information on google, but let's look at a few high quality resources that can more precisely meet our information needs.

I did listen to the link to the NPR interview with Sherry Turkle, and I found that there are many other broadcasts that relate to relevant librarianship/education issues-- so I would like to explore that rabbit trail in the future. 

My Google Reader

For journal #3, I updated my Google Reader account, which, admittedly, I haven't looked at much since I made it for another course.  I only had 2 blogs on the account then, and I see that one of those is totally defunct-- the author has moved on to another blog, so I guess it's time for me to move on to another blogger!

I did enjoy how easy it was to find new blogs using the Search function.  I first searched for "school library"  and selected Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/atom.xml (I've admired him for a few years now--professionally of course!), as well as the School Library Journal's feed:http://www.slj.com/feed/.  Finding nothing else on the list that jumped out at me, I searched "YA lit" to find my third blog, the aptly named Biblio File http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/fcac.

Even though I've used this tool a little bit before, I found that I still needed to explore some of its features because I've never felt like I truly understood it.  One thing that I found to be helpful is that on the left hand side it lists "subscriptions" and you can click on the down arrow next to each blog and choose from a variety of options that give you more information on the blog like it's feed address and--my favorite-- "more like this," which suggests blogs on similar topics.  That's really quite the rabbit trail, that I wish I had some more time to follow-- but I guess those will be the topics for my blog posts to come!

One thing I don't care for is that the blog posts as seen on the reader feed don't show the graphics that are on the orginial blogs.  This is a little disappointing because people go to a lot of effort to make their blog spaces match their content, and if people only view the blogs from their reader feeds, that seems like such a waste.

Students could use a Google reader to help them decide which books to read, kind of like a do-it-yourself reader advisory.  I could provide a list of student-friendly blogs that review books by category/genre.  That said, I think only students who are already avid readers would probaby take the time to read their accounts.  But those that do would be engaging in critical thinking skills as they decide which bloggers to follow and rely upon.

I could also use the Google reader to help find lesson plans and soloutions to the information needs of my students as they arise because the reader puts experts like Doug Johnson, a world-class teacher librarian, right at my fingertips.

It will be fun to look forward to the new entries each week!

Journal #2

 Unfortunately my professional reading for this week has been quite limited, and that is an understatement.  Truly there is no good reason for it, other than I thought that our first professional reading assignment was due next week, so I apologize.

What I have read, consisted of the emails that I get regularly via the ISLAMANET list serve.  These emails are requests and answers from librarians and librarian supporters across the state regarding policies, problems, and solutions related to school libraries. 

Even though I'm not in a school library currently, I keep an eye on the listserve because there are many helpful tips and links that I can use now and later in my career.  As a librarian, I would use this as a source for reader advisory and networking with fellow librarians.

Again, I apologize for the hastiness and poor quality of my response this week.  This is not a pattern for me, I promise.

Thanks!