LibWorm.com provides a librarian RSS filtering service. Over 1500 RSS librarian sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest headlines from journals and sites in the Teaching interest group. http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:50:28 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2008/02/students-parents-teachers.html Share the experience of reading 30 minutes a day for 30 days, and you could be chosen to win one of two top prizes: a starring role in a Maryland reading video or an Amazon Kindle.For more information, click here or stop by the HHS Library Media Center to pick up your reading calendar today. (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Sat, 26 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0100 823658 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/01435121111112916 Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to analyze the opinion of young and senior library and information science (LIS) professionals in Pakistan on LIS curricula and its relevance to market needs to enhance employability. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed research method was used to collect data from professionals through two questionnaires, focus group and personal experiences. Findings – The findings reveal that the LIS curriculum offered at the University of the Punjab (PU) is up to date and well designed but it is not fully meeting the needs of young graduates and employers. Both groups were dissatisfied with employability skills due to lack of implementation of LIS curricula and shortage of specialized faculty members at the time of data collection in May 2008. The employers complained of weak communication, practical and presentation skills. They expect graduates with more multidimensional and market oriented skills. However, the school takes a lead in introducing new curricula among the rest. Research limitations/implications – The paper only focuses on the graduates of Department of LIS, University of the Punjab, among the eight library schools in Pakistan. Practical implications – The study divulges very valuable information for the planning and revision of the LIS curriculum and change in teaching practices in all eight library schools of Pakistan. It will also be helpful for LIS graduates to learn more market oriented and multi dimensional skills to meet the changing demands of the information marketplace and enhance their employability. Originality/value – This is first ever study in any library school of Pakistan about the employability skills of its graduates. (Source: Library Management : Table of Contents) Mon, 21 Feb 2011 02:05:05 +0100 895879 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/celebrate-black-history-month.html February is Black History Month. Test your knowledge of Civil Rights heroes by taking this interactive quiz.To learn more about the contributions of African Americans in history, try these great websites:African VoicesThis Smithsonian online exhibit celebrates Africa's diversity and long history.African American WorldSponsored by PBS, this website features a large collection of classroom resources for teachers and students.Black HistoryHere you can find an interactive timeline, biographies, and a collection of video clips. (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0100 819509 http://hhsmedia.blogspot.com/2010/02/celebrate-black-history-month.html February is Black History Month. Test your knowledge of Civil Rights heroes by taking this interactive quiz.To learn more about the contributions of African Americans in history, try these great websites:African VoicesThis Smithsonian online exhibit celebrates Africa's diversity and long history.African American WorldSponsored by PBS, this website features a large collection of classroom resources for teachers and students.Black HistoryHere you can find an interactive timeline, biographies, and a collection of video clips. (Source: Huntingtown High School Library Media Center) Wed, 02 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0100 815254 http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/2010/12/ohio-will-grade-teacher-education-programs-.html The state of Ohio adopted a new “report card” earlier this month to judge how effective education programs at public and private universities are at training new teachers. The Ohio Board of Regents has developed 14 standards it will use to analyze the performance of education colleges, and the teachers they produce, beginning in 2011.  Criteria that will be evaluated include: How a university’s graduates score on the state’s new Teacher Performance Assessment, how well the university places teachers in “hard-to-staff” Ohio school districts and how much students learn during a one-year period in a particular teacher’s class.  Read more at: http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/4954486 (Source: The Kept-Up Academic Librarian) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895690 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SellersLibraryTeens/~3/kRiAgQgavIM/board-game-day.html Today, 24 people showed up for our winter board game day! Groups played all kinds of games, including Life, Apples to Apples, chess, checkers, and Scattergories.  A group even tried out my new random game Quelf, with rave reviews.  The deal was that if a group played a game by the rules to the end, the winner would get a box of movie candy.  (For games like chess and checkers, you could only get candy once, even if you played multiple times.)  I gave away 26 boxes of candy, plus we ate our way through four bags of potato chips, several pounds of other candy, and a bunch of soda and lemonade!  The best moments of the day included Saranjeet needing two cars to carry her family in Life, Owen naming one of his Life children "Ke$ha," Kathy singing "Rawhide" while waving her scarf in the air like a lasso, and Janae thinking McCain was a U.S. President.  I also had fun teaching a group how to play Scattergories with the rules.  And, thanks to Jasmine for bringing in Tutti Frutti...dinging that bell was a lot of fun! If you like board games, we'll have them out at the Random-A-Thon in February.  Be sure to sign up! (Source: Sellers Library Teens) Thu, 30 Dec 2010 01:55:27 +0100 895582 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freerangelibrarian/~3/W7a2nEc5oIs/ "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" I was teaching a library-science class about a decade ago when a student snaked her hand into the air. “You know how no good deed goes unpunished?” she asked. “No,” I said, and continued lecturing. I knew where she was going with that question, because I knew her from another context, where she was the self-designated killjoy who approached every project confident of its failure–which, for the record, is an excellent way to ensure failure happens. She’s the one who will ask, “Just to play Devil’s advocate”–as if Satan needed any help. And we have all sat in meetings where this person  dwelled ad infinitum on every possible thing that could go wrong with a good idea that hadn’t even been launched, or itemized in exquisite detail the inevitable failings of any good idea in progress. There have been times when I have been this person (and will be again in the future), and for this I humbly repent. I was reminded of this moment recently when I read the (relatively mild) commentary on an article in Library Journal, “Netflix-inspired Pilot Program for Borrowing in California Library Languishes,” and then, reluctantly, prodded from a Tweet, turned my eyes to this post by the Annoying Librarian (yes, I know that’s not her real fake name). It was at that moment I realized why I loathe her: because I’ve suffered her kith and kin at nearly every library job I’ve ever had. Which leads into a response I’ve wanted to post for a while about what directors do for a living. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:48:34 +0100 895537 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/29/cutbacks-leavis-english-impact-literary-criticism The end of subsidies and a focus on 'impact'-led research may force literary criticism to reconnect with the public imaginationThe lamentations of English scholars suffering government cutbacks have echoed around the Comment is free and education pages recently. Having three English degrees myself, two of which were free, I feel an instinctive sympathy for this view. But further reflection into the way the subject has changed over the last few decades makes me wonder whether the removal of subsidies, and the introduction of new "impact"-focused research assessments, may not be in the long-term interests of the subject.For most of the past century, prominent academic literary critics – FR Leavis, CS Lewis, Frank Kermode, David Lodge and Terry Eagleton, to name but a few – have sustained animated and original literary debate in the public arena. Some were also novelists, some were prominent media commentators, but all of them published criticism that broke new ground among both academic critics and a wider interested audience. This breadth was crucial in the establishment of English as both a popular and influential discipline. Think of the impact of Leavis in the "two cultures" debate, to select merely the highest-profile example. Yet critics with this profile are now either dead or retired from academic life. Who will maintain the profile of literary criticism?I enrolled as an undergraduate English student at UCL in 1994. How we laughed at the nerds in acrid science labs populated by uncommunicative men with beards, unable to debate their subject in public. Barely 15 years later, there is a much more exciting public debate among scientists than among literary critics. On what topic does Richard Dawkins not have a trenchant opinion?The campus novel genre shows how English studies used to value its public following. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0100 895571 http://southlakelibrary.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html#9021876522383787082 1400 Main Street, Suite 130Southlake, Texas 76092Phone: (817) 748-8243http://www.southlakelibrary.org/"Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits." ~Author UnknownWe at Southlake Public Library want to wish you a Happy New Year. May it be filled with happiness, friends, and lots of good reading! FEATURED NEW RELEASEUNBROKEN This extraordinary tale from the author of “Seabiscuit” tells the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who became a POW in a series of Japanese prison camps during WWII. Zamperini started out in Torrance, California as a bit of a hoodlum, stealing pies from kitchens and pulling pranks on teachers. He found focus in running, thanks to his brother’s encouragement, and soon became the high school track star to beat. He began training for the 1936 Olympics and was able to gain a spot on the team headed for Berlin. He did extremely well there, considering his age and experience, and vowed to return to the next Olympics and take gold. He also wanted to be the first man to run a four-minute mile (thought to be physiologically impossible by many at the time). Zamperini’s big plans were interrupted by WWII, and he was drafted into the Air Force. He and his crew completed several dangerous missions in the Pacific, narrowly avoiding disaster. However, on one mission, they were not so lucky, and he and two other crew members ended up in a life raft, with little provisions, surrounded by sharks. The rest of the story is filled with nail-biting moments. In fact, I found that I had to put the book down occasionally when I became too tense or upset. This book truly is a story about a man that manages to remain “unbroken,” even after all of the unimaginable horror he endures. I do not want to spoil the ending – suffice it to say it shows what an amazingly kind and good man Zamperini is and how he refused to give in to his inner demons. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895776 http://hurstassociates.blogspot.com/2010/12/wayback-wednesday-digitization-101-2010.html As I do at the end of each year, I want to spent time looking back at the last 12 months with a few lists and more.I see four trends as I scan the horizon:Digitization is no longer an exceptional activity. While digitization is not a normal activity still for many organizations, it is much more mainstream that is was several years ago.  Look around...can you find a workshop on digitization or on scanning?  Yes, they still exist, but they are definitely not as prevalent as they were before.  Those that haven't jumped on the "digitization train" yet are finding themselves left behind.  (I should note that universities are offering courses on digitization, digital libraries, etc., which go into more depth and which are attracting a high number of students. These courses prepare the students for the growing number of digital library positions that are being advertised.) In the same vein, one thing to notice is that digitization is no longer in the news as it has been. It is no longer that shiny object that captures the media's attention.  For a while, Google Book Search kept digitization in the news, but even that story is no longer capturing headlines as the sides work toward an agreement. Digital preservation is where most of the action is in terms of conversations, conference sessions, research, etc.  This is true because we are a digital society and if we cannot ensure long term access to our digital content, we're doomed.  Losing digital content could mean losing the data and information that we need to run our governments, businesses, academic institutions, etc.  It could also mean losing our history.If you are not thinking about how to ensure long-term access to your digital content, please begin thinking about it now. You might even make it a New Year's resolution. (Yes, do jump on the digital preservation bandwagon. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895638 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Digitization101/~3/ZBLCRLdWjMs/wayback-wednesday-digitization-101-2010.html As I do at the end of each year, I want to spent time looking back at the last 12 months with a few lists and more.I see four trends as I scan the horizon:Digitization is no longer an exceptional activity. While digitization is not a normal activity still for many organizations, it is much more mainstream that is was several years ago.  Look around...can you find a workshop on digitization or on scanning?  Yes, they still exist, but they are definitely not as prevalent as they were before.  Those that haven't jumped on the "digitization train" yet are finding themselves left behind.  (I should note that universities are offering courses on digitization, digital libraries, etc., which go into more depth and which are attracting a high number of students. These courses prepare the students for the growing number of digital library positions that are being advertised.) In the same vein, one thing to notice is that digitization is no longer in the news as it has been. It is no longer that shiny object that captures the media's attention.  For a while, Google Book Search kept digitization in the news, but even that story is no longer capturing headlines as the sides work toward an agreement. Digital preservation is where most of the action is in terms of conversations, conference sessions, research, etc.  This is true because we are a digital society and if we cannot ensure long term access to our digital content, we're doomed.  Losing digital content could mean losing the data and information that we need to run our governments, businesses, academic institutions, etc.  It could also mean losing our history.If you are not thinking about how to ensure long-term access to your digital content, please begin thinking about it now. You might even make it a New Year's resolution. (Yes, do jump on the digital preservation bandwagon. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895589 http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/twenty-years-later-has-anything-changed.html In 1990 I attended a pre-conference meeting for a White House Conference on Libraries, and I wrote in my notes (and I was a liberal then):". . .libraries will be killed off too if they don't put the brakes on seeing themselves as the social change agent for the nation, believing: they can correct what the churches did wrong; they can teach what the schools didn't; they can prevent what the social workers missed; and stop what the government couldn't. . . Librarians will do more good in the long run if they leave Mapplethorp to the cultural arts commissions and instead see to it that a child can check out material on photography to become the best photographer she can be."Right now because their man is in the White House, maybe librarians have lowered their expectations and will let politicians handle these things? (Source: Collecting my Thoughts) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895585 http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-bacteria-example-of-case-for.html Since early December there has been a lot of controversy about an article published in Science about bacteria using arsenic in their DNA. A number of people pointed out that this was a useful case to use for an information literacy article. For example, Bonnie Swoger, a Science and Technology Librarian, did a post on 10 December about using the arsenic bacteria story as a teaching moment for undergraduates. As well as the original article there is much online commentary and other pieces of evidence, for example an interview with the first author of the paper, published later in the month, also in Science.Pennisis, E. (2010) "Exclusive Interview: Discoverer of Arsenic Bacteria, in the Eye of the Storm." Sciencenow, 20 December. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/12/arsenic-researcher-asks-for-time.htmlPhoto by Sheila Webber: roses at Christmas. (Source: Information Literacy Weblog) Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895538 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16327 Access Services Librarian - Kemp Library #2010000318 (East Stroudsburg University -- ESU, Pennsylvania) University seeks an experienced Access Services Librarian to supervise and coordinate the areas of Circulation, ILL, Stacks Maintenance, Reserves, and Document Delivery in the Kemp Library. This is a full-time, nine month, continuing tenure track faculty position within Kemp Library and reports directly to the Library Dean. As part of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), we offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. Kemp Library has a staff of 9 Full-time library faculty and 13 staff. The general collection consists of over 564,000 books, serial back-files and government documents in print, and more than 1. ... Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:20:02 +0100 895386 http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/the-conundrum-of-the-user-unfriendly-appliance-interface/ At TechCrunch, Alexia Tsotsis posts an interesting meditation on how tricky most household appliance interfaces have become. Coffee makers, microwave ovens, even pepper grinders have become much more complex than they used to be—sometimes hilariously so: Many people received iPads and iPhones this Christmas, and because of Apple’s legendary intuitive and straightforward design, could pull them right out of the box and commence using. Not the case with a battery powered pepper grinder one of my relatives received at our gift exchange. It took three people to put together and when we did get it to work, we hilariously realized that it had a flashlight at the bottom, for no reason. Novel? yes. Productive? No. But far more often frustratingly so. She uses the examples of a coffee maker that she couldn’t figure out how to put the water in, and how much more complicated microwaves are than they used to be. Microwaves of old had approximately one control: a knob that controlled how long the device nuked the food for. (We still have some of those in the cafeteria/lounge at my work.) And to this I would add some of my own experiences doing tech support for ordinary, average people who call in with questions about their computers. Even the interfaces that designers think are simple and easy to understand are going to give somebody trouble. (The other day, I had to explain to someone how to open a Gmail message. Really.) And sometimes a lot of somebodies. Some of the biggest offenders are printers (how I shudder when the opening words of any call are, “I just got this printer, and…”) and wi-fi routers, but laptops are problematic, too—and one of the biggest problems is figuring out how to turn wifi on, something that should be dead simple but is not because no computer manufacturer ever makes the switch easy to find. (Easy to bump by accident, on the other hand, is another matter. ... Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:15:00 +0100 895350 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=41&BlogPostID=8187 14-year-old baseball die-hard Kevin Boland is stuck at home with mono. To pass the time, his father, a writer, thinks Kevin might also want to write some things down. Readers learn a lot about Kevin in the passing months as he experiments with poetry using a book "smuggled" from his father's den. His mother has recently died, for one thing. Also, that he's a pretty good athlete and he's made out with girls in the bamboo. Details about life in middle school are slipped effortlessly in lines of haiku, free verse, sonnets, and sestinas. Kevin eventually meets a pretty girl named Mira with whom he is not embarrassed to admit that he enjoys writing poetry, although he would still like to keep it from his baseball team. When they do find out, he earns the nickname "Shakespeare". Recommended for grades 6-10 for fans of baseball and/or poetry. The book might even encourage a few readers to try writing poetry for themselves. Koertge is so clever in explaining how each style of poetry works that readers won't even realize they are learning something, and he makes makes it seem so effortless that you feel like you can do it too. That it is also humorous is an added bonus. This is short and easy-to-read, and would be a good choice for reluctant readers. Teachers might also find this useful in teaching poetry. (Source: Teen Scene from Wright Memorial Public Library) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:00:02 +0100 895331 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=41&BlogPostID=8189 This is the sequel to Shakespeare Bats Cleanup and picks up where it left off. Kevin is still in denial about his poetry writing and still considers himself an athlete. He's been dating Mira and not sure that he likes it, even though she's cute and his friends think she's cute. She isn't into his poetry and he isn't into her dance class or her new found love for all things green. He begins to go to poetry readings with his father, who has recently begun dating. This books follows the same format as the first, exploring various styles of poetry as Kevin safely explores his feelings. He meets Amy at an open mike night at the bookstore and they quickly become "poetry buddies", talking about poetry and critiquing each other's work. Things become strained as Mira expresses her jealousy, and Kevin meets Amy's "perfect" boyfriend Trevor. Like the first book, a lot of middle school ground is covered. The poems show that Kevin is not thinking exclusively about baseball, even as his team heads for the playoffs. He's not just a jock and he's okay with that. Recommended for grades 6-10. This is short, fun, easy-to-read and humorous. Good for reluctant readers and teachers of poetry. (Source: Teen Scene from Wright Memorial Public Library) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:00:02 +0100 895329 http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/62074 Where is the Learning? Measuring Schooling Efforts in Developing Countries Source: Brookings Institution Achieving universal education is a twofold challenge: to get children and youth into school and then to teach them something meaningful while they are there. While important progress has been made on the first challenge, there is a crisis [...] (Source: Docuticker) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:41:00 +0100 895347 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Davidrothmannet/~3/0vakyHjVjog/ I was bit surprised at the response to my post about Libraries and Transliteracy. As long as I’m spouting off opinions on topics that have little substance other than opinion, I may as well go whole-hog and respond to some of the reponses. Marcus Banks writes: “…David goes too far in his highly conservative defense of the English language…this idea that we need to keep a tight lid on the language, or even that this is possible, is foolhardy.” I’m not attempting to defend the English language.  A beast as powerful as the English language doesn’t need me to defend it. Besides, I happily torture the language when it suits me. I use silly semi-words like ‘geekery’ and ‘libraryfolk.’1 This comment from Marcus, though, underlines a problem I saw in the post shortly after I published it. It isn’t the word, it’s the way the word is used I didn’t intend to say that the word “transliteracy” has no place in the world2, just that I have yet to see libraryfolk using it in a way that adds something previously missing from discussions in librarianship and LIS3. Thus far, it seems to me that the (admittedly cool-sounding) term is thrown around by libraryfolk who (1)admit that they can’t define it, (2)define it so vaguely and variously that it fails to have any coherent meaning, or (3)define it in a way that makes it redundant to a wide assortment of existing terms. What I find baffling is that librarians would use words they cannot define. I had thought (perhaps mistakenly) that librarians tended to be lovably pedantic and semantic nitpickers. I’d like to see some clear indication that libraryfolk are talking about this word for any reason other than novelty or self-promotion. ... Tue, 28 Dec 2010 06:01:26 +0100 895323 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16311 Professor and Director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media (University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island) The University of Rhode Island (www.uri.edu) is the state’s largest university, with an enrollment of about 13,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate students on four campuses.  With nationally and internationally renowned faculty engaged in a broad range of research, teaching and outreach activities, URI is a land grant, sea grant and urban grant institution.  The University’s 1,200 acre main campus is located in Kingston, about 30 miles south of Providence and six miles from the coast. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:20:01 +0100 895231 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/27/breaking-trust-over-book-fund As a children's author and mother I was dismayed to learn of the Department for Education's decision to cut all funding to the Booktrust bookgifting programmes in England (In praise of… Booktrust, 23 December). Booktrust has introduced thousands of children to the pleasures and benefits of reading. I have friends who'd never have thought to read with their children were it not for Booktrust. I've met families in our local library who, by their own admission, would never have become regular visitors without Booktrust's initial prompt. Now, libraries aren't exactly high on the government's agenda either – so what exactly are they doing to give ensure that every child has access to books?Bookgifting is one of those rare government-funded schemes that actually works. Booktrust doesn't just give children books; it gives them the power to imagine. It also gives families an enjoyable way to interact – a welcome alternative to toys and television.When busy parents forget storytime, it is understandable. When the government forgets it, it is unforgivable. I can only hope that the funding cut-off date of next April Fools' Day is Michael Gove's idea of a bad joke.Michelle RobinsonBristol• The fact that the government has cut off funding to the Booktrust bookgifting schemes is not only outrageous but will directly affect the viability of early years reading and learning in both children's centres and libraries. It is not simply about giving a load of money to a charity to dole out books. It has been since 1999 a way of libraries, primary care trusts and early educators working together at a local level and parents being empowered with high-quality resources, whether books, library joining incentives, regular visit incentives or giving the chance for health visitors to talk about the importance of literacy alongside health advice. Half of the gift is the message that goes with it. ... Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:05:03 +0100 895144 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/451 High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips — I actually had little notion of or interest in Mackenzie Phillips, but I love drug addict memoirs, so I picked this up when it rotated through the library. It comes with the special added bonus of being an incest memoir. It may well not be up your alley. [reread] The Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein — It’s possible that I reread this book too often. But not probable. Nobody’s Girl by Antonya Nelson — I ran across this in our collection and picked it up because I used to love a song of the same name sung by Bonnie Raitt. When I read the blurb and discovered this was about a young woman from the Chicago suburbs who decides to move to a small desert town in New Mexico, I figured I’d better read it. It took me a long time to get through it, but it was pretty good, though not really similar to my own experience except in feeling. Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser — For our Wyoming Humanities Council book discussion series of biographies of American cultural icons. I ended up spending a lot of time talking about the history of the civil rights movement and its various strands and bringing in a whole stack of books, which just goes to show I guess that one’s extracurricular collecting habits do eventually play some role. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen — I love Franzen’s essays most of all, but I liked this quite well — perhaps even better than The Corrections. Despite what you may have read about it plot-summary-wise, it’s really a novel about falling in love and out of love and trying to figure out how to differentiate who you are from who you want to be. [reread] The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley — When in danger or in doubt, reread. [reread] The Rooms of Heaven by Mary Allen — Reread shortly after I accepted my new job. ... Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:18:44 +0100 895631 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/26/booktrust-funding-cut-pullman-motion Philip Pullman and Sir Andrew Motion round on decision to slash £13m government grant to the Booktrust charityLeading writers today rounded on the government for its "repugnant, foolish and pointlessly destructive" decision to axe all funding for a free book scheme that benefits 3.3 million youngsters a year.Children's author Philip Pullman attacked the move as an "unforgivable disgrace", while the former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion described the cut as "an act of gross cultural vandalism".These uncompromising views were echoed by Viv Bird, chief executive of the Booktrust charity, who said she was "astounded and appalled" when told all government support for their work was going to be scrapped. "There was no dialogue. It was completely devastating," she said.The Booktrust charity runs several programmes that together provide free books for children from the age of nine months until their first term of secondary school when they are 11, and is widely admired by teachers, parents and authors.They began as a pilot project in 1992 but were awarded government funding in 2004 to become universal. But 10 days ago – despite having previously offered to take a 20% funding cut – the charity was told it was to lose 100% of its £13m-a-year government grant.The literary world has reacted with horror and has begun a campaign that has echoes of the one launched against the decision of the education secretary, Michael Gove, to axe funding for school sport, a plan revealed in the Observer. In fact, the decision to end Booktrust's funding is thought to have been taken to finance the education secretary's eventual U-turn on sport, which saw much of the threatened £162m cash for school sport partnerships restored.The reaction by authors to Gove's latest move has been furious. "It's like seeing someone smashing aside a butterfly with the back of their hand: wanton destruction," said Pullman. ... Sat, 25 Dec 2010 19:08:02 +0100 895005 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/24/christmas-in-1594/ The law student of 1594 passed Christmas revelling to The Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare. We know this because of the Gesta Grayorum which was printed in 1688 from a much older manuscript. This text has been conveniently reproduced with an introduction on the Mr. Shakespeare blog. We can also look forward to a 3 volume set, part of the Records of Early English Drama series, to be published in January 2011 by Boydell & Brewer: Inns of Court, edited by Alan H. Nelson and John R. Elliott, Jr. According to the publisher’s blurb: The Introduction provides a survey of Christmas entertainment supervised by Inns of Court Masters of the Revels and Christmas Princes, including minstrels, a lion-tamer, musicians, disguisings, plays, masques, and even a puppet-show. The illustrations (ground-plans and plates) offer evidence of the original performance conditions for Inns of Court plays and masques. The appendices will reproduce a number of relevant documents. A brief account of the Grand Christmases celebrated at the Inns of Court can be found in Anton-Hermann Chroust, in "The Beginning, Flourishing and Decline of the Inns of Court: The Consolidation of the English Legal Profession after 1400" (1956) 10 Vand. L. Rev. 79-123 (Hein), at 102-3: The fact that the Inns of Court were also schools of manners should explain the original meaning and functions of those periodic entertainments "which are called revels," and which for a long time played an important role in the lives of the Inns. These pastimes apparently were encouraged by the Benchers who believed that such activities would greatly improve the literary tastes and the social manners of the students.²⁸ Revels and masques were usually held at Christmas time or some other feast day, and the King as well as the Queen attended them regularly. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:39:19 +0100 895179 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/24/government-against-reading The withdrawal of funding from Booktrust's free books programmes recklessly ignores the all-round educational benefits of booksThe government has just cut all funding of the free book projects administered by Booktrust – the independent charity that provided millions of children with free books.People will remember Michael Gove speaking at the most recent Conservative Party conference calling on schools to be places where children read great authors, such as Dryden and Pope. Though some of us were a little mystified as to why he had plucked those two particular authors from the pile, I for one thought for half a moment that perhaps this government was going to set out its stall as a champion of the reading of literature. As the Guardian recorded, I tried on several occasions to interest first Ed Balls and Jim Knight, then Vernon Coaker in the idea of the Education department asking schools to develop their own policies on reading for pleasure.Reading for pleasure can easily sound like some kind of wishy-washy, soft option, while instructional stuff like learning-to-read through "synthetic phonics" and endless worksheets requiring children to answer questions about the facts in short passages, sounds tough and purposeful. In actual fact, as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) research of 2006 showed, children who read for pleasure achieve better school performance than those that don't.How come? Because literature takes children into abstract thought in two key ways. Firstly, it marries ideas with feelings: while the reader is caring about what happens, the scenes and the flow of the book deal with ideas of, say, anger, fear, jealousy, justice, compassion and much, much more. Secondly, it gives rise to what we can call "acts of comparison". Any child who reads widely, often and for pleasure will inevitably make comparisons between what they're reading, why they're reading and how they're reading. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:23:59 +0100 894798 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/24/just-plain-wrong/ Clements (Litigation Guardian of) v. Clements, 2010 BCCA 581 - right result, bad reasons. A sub-text to the case is the manner in which the panel used a hot-off-the press article in a law review to explain and justify its analysis and conclusion, introducing and setting up the manner in which it intended to use the article this way: [54] The question of when it will be appropriate to resort to the material-contribution test discussed in Resurfice Corp. has been the subject of some appellate consideration and considerable academic writing. In my view, the answer to this question is fully and articulately set out in a paper by Professor Erik S. Knutsen entitled “Clarifying Causation in Tort”, found at (2010), 33 Dal. L.J. 153. Professor Knutsen’s view, with which I agree, is that a judge can resort to the material-contribution test in only two situations: what he refers to as ones involving circular causation and dependency causation. In all other cases, causation must be determined on the but-for test. The panel is right that there has been “considerable academic writing”. I’ve written some of it. (Some might accuse me of much of it, certainly more words than most, but that’s true only about the Canadian writing.) It’s my view that not much of it - the academic writing, that is – agrees with the contents of Prof. Knutsen’s article. The substance of the disagreement is an issue for another day. What isn’t is the fact that there is substantive disagreement but there’s no acknowledgement of that in the reasons.  The panel is also right that there has been “some appellate consideration”. Unfortunately, with the exception of a recent contribution from the Alberta Court of Appeal, all of what is useful appellate consideration is in decisions of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:09:49 +0100 895182 http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/2010/12/phd-degrees-are-just-not-worth-it.html Whining PhD students are nothing new, but there seem to be genuine problems with the system that produces research doctorates (the practical “professional doctorates” in fields such as law, business and medicine have a more obvious value). There is an oversupply of PhDs. Although a doctorate is designed as training for a job in academia, the number of PhD positions is unrelated to the number of job openings. Meanwhile, business leaders complain about shortages of high-level skills, suggesting PhDs are not teaching the right things. The fiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes. Read more at: http://www.economist.com/node/17723223?story_id=17723223 (Source: The Kept-Up Academic Librarian) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894809 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Elsua/~3/HfcHbjRvEbo/ As we keep witnessing how the iPad is entering a whole bunch of new markets for tablets that perhaps never thought they would be making it that far, while being taken by storm by the iPad itself like they are at the moment, here I am, once again, ready to go and share with you folks the next blog post from the series of My Top 5 iPad Apps of the Week, this time around with Week #9. First though I would want to share with you folks a couple of rather helpful articles you may want to check out, specially, if you are a librarian or perhaps an English language teacher. They are just basically a couple of articles with plenty of helpful tips and recommendations on Apps to check out, specially for those two groups, which I am sure is going to keep you all busy for a while. To name: “40 iPad Apps That Librarians Love” and “iPad Apps for English Language Teachers“, respectively. ... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 02:17:23 +0100 895533 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/booksquare/~3/3cksAY7pETg/ No matter where you stand on the various issues surrounding the future of publishing, one thing is clear: without readers, what we do doesn’t matter very much. We sometimes take the privilege of our bookish lives for granted, forgetting how many people out there would give anything to be able to pick up a book and read it. Yet, this is the season of giving (and, yes, tax deductions). Every year, we here at Booksquare make a pitch for our favorite causes, hoping some of you, like us, will find a little something extra to give this now and in the future. If you have a favorite cause that relates to literacy, reading, or education, let us know in the comments. ProLiteracy — As always, our list is topped by Proliteracy.org. You can contribute either financially or by volunteering as a literacy tutor. When you are a reader, a to-your-soul reader, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where people can’t read. The reasons vary, and the solution is not simple. Helping others learn to read should be the primary goal of the publishing industry — any way we can. If you can’t donate money, can you donate time? First Book — Just as teaching the world to read is important, getting books to children is essential. First Book gets books to children who need them. You remember your first book, you remember reading as a child. Help share that joy. Bonus! through December 31, your donation will be matched book-for-book by Random House. Girls Write Now: Girls Write Now is a non-profit organization devoted to mentoring the next generation of women writers. Focused on New York’s underserved and at-risk high school girls, this program helps them find their voices through creative writing. Donors Choose — The problem with growing up the child of a public school librarian is that you know how completely screwed up our public school financing priorities are. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:22:00 +0100 894713 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/dec/23/john-jones-obituary Painter, film-maker and teacher who inspired his studentsJohn Jones, who has died aged 84, was a painter, film-maker, teacher, Joyce scholar and magic-lantern expert. Unusually for a senior lecturer who could have talked for Britain, he was never one to trumpet the true scope of his knowledge and interests. The fine art department at Leeds University, where he spent most of his teaching career, was a peculiar hybrid – part art history and part practical art, disdained by some, but loved by many – that John in his own practice and by his own example almost came to embody. He was in overall charge of studio instruction, but was closely involved in most aspects of the department, where he created and ran a course in the history of film and taught film-making.John was born in Bristol. His studies at the city's West of England College of Art were interrupted by call-up in 1945, and he served for three years in the Royal Engineers. He completed his studies in 1952, then spent two years under the tutelage of William Coldstream at the Slade school of art in London, where he won the history of art prize. He also met the Argentinian niece of the art historian Rudolf Witkower, Gabriela, later accompanying her to Buenos Aires in 1956, where they married and where John spent three years painting, teaching and lecturing. Returning to the UK, he was appointed lecturer at James Graham College, Leeds, and in 1962 was appointed lecturer at the Leeds University fine art department by Quentin Bell.Life drawing was central to John's work. He thought deeply, not only about the way we draw, but about why we draw. Talking about art was as vital as art itself, so life classes under him tended to be very conversational as well as observational affairs. He was a highly accomplished draughtsman, always ready to share his skills, and had an unusual willingness to listen to his students. John never imposed his opinions. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:05:04 +0100 894728 http://www.slaw.ca/2010/12/23/ontario-publishes-advisory-panel-report-on-anti-activist-lawsuits/ The Ontario government this week made public the final report of an advisory panel on SLAPP suits (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation). SLAPP suits typically take the form of abusive defamation lawsuits aimed at shutting down criticism by non-governmental organizations or citizen lobby groups. Targets of SLAPPs in various parts of North America have been local residents, neighbourhood associations, municipal governments, and peaceful protesters, who have been sued for acts such as reporting bylaw violations, speaking at municipal meetings or even just picketing and circulating petitions. The panel recommends that Ontario adopt anti-SLAPP legislation to protect the freedom of the public to participate in matters of public interest: “[19] Advocates of legislation who made submissions to the Panel tended to agree on its main characteristics: • It should provide a speedy and cheap method to stop lawsuits if those suits were brought for an improper purpose, namely to harass or intimidate the defendants; • It should put the onus on plaintiffs to prove that their lawsuits were not improper; • It should help rebalance an inequality of financial resources between the parties, possibly by an order that the plaintiff should pay the defendants’ costs at the outset of the litigation; • It should provide stronger legal protection for citizens engaged in public participation, such as through special defences; • It should deter people from bringing such suits in the first place, by exposing plaintiffs, and possibly their directors and officers, and lawyers, to awards of damages or even punitive damages. • Its principles should apply to the actions of administrative tribunals as well as to lawsuits in court. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:55:59 +0100 895183 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/making-difference-repaying-debt-life.html WWII pilot who forever repaid rescuers dies at 94: Islanders healed Fred Hargesheimer who returned to Ea Ea to build schools Fred Hargesheimer got a second chance at life after being rescued by villagers of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. He'd been shot down by a Japanese fighter in World War II and was nursed back to health and hidden by the villagers until his returning to the US. The story could have ended there, a story of adventure to tell the grandkids. But Hargeshiemer did something far better--he returned to the village and spent decades building schools, libraries, helping create jobs, and even teaching the children there. He involved his family throughout that time, and tried to give back to the community as much as he could. On his last visit, in 2006, Hargesheimer was helicoptered into the jungle and carried in a chair by Nakanai men to view the newly found wreckage of his World War II plane. Six years earlier, on another visit, he was proclaimed "Suara Auru," "Chief Warrior" of the Nakanai. "The people were very happy. They'll always remember what Mr. Fred Hargesheimer has done for our people," said Ismael Saua, 69, a former teacher at the Nantabu school. "These people were responsible for saving my life," Hargesheimer told The Associated Press in a 2008 interview. "How could I ever repay it?" (Source: The Rabid Librarian's Ravings in the Wind) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895456 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grumpator/~3/SHuAIhXp15g/taking-stock-2010.html Today's my last day of work for 2010. After completing my major goal for this week, I'm rewarding myself by taking some time to reflect on this past year, and do a little goal-setting for 2011. I enjoyed this exercise last year, so let's try it again. Looking back on 2010. All things considered, 2010 was a good year. I've really settled into my position, and have a much more defined sense of what is expected of me, as well as which directions I'd like to push forward. Our university administration sent me to the Science Commons Symposium in February, which was a much-needed validation of my particular position. I applied for and was accepted to attend the Mountain Plains Library Association Leadership Institute, which was simply amazing. It really revitalized me and helped me see ways I could improve my work, and be a leader even without any official leadership responsibilities. As the fall semester got underway, I administered a survey about the Library Minute and c0-presented a poster session at EDUCAUSE, got off some stagnant committees and got on some new, more exciting ones. I am now integrated into our digital repository management group, as well as co-chair of a new Open Access/Digital Repository policy committee - both of which are much more relevant to my position than most of the other committees I've been on. I successfully managed to co-chair the AzLA Conference Planning Committee for 2010, and will continue in that capacity for 2011. I just finished writing the first full draft of an article about the Library Minute I hope to submit to College & Research Libraries News in early January. So all in all, it's been a stimulating year. That's not to say I didn't have some failures. I initiated a collaboration to write a paper, hit several roadblocks and speedbumps, got lost, wandered in circles, and now I think it'd be best to drop it and move in another direction. I pretty much wasted my summer on that. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895032 http://westwoodchildrensdept.blogspot.com/2010/12/long-walk-to-water-by-linda-sue-park.html This is a story in two voices. First we hear Nya’s voice as she is trudging in the broiling hot African sun to fetch water for her family. The water jug is light going the three hours to the water supply, but very heavy on the way back. Nya does this everyday, twice a day. Water in the Sudan is very hard to find and carry, but without it, no one could live. This isn’t taking place 100 years ago; this is happening in 2008. Next, we hear Salva’s voice. It is 1985 and he’s in school, and like most students, he is waiting for the end of the day so he can go home. Shots ring out, and the teacher tells everyone to run, run into the bush and don’t look back. Soldiers have come to kill the villagers, so Salva runs. He doesn’t know where he is going or if his family is alive, but he runs. Salva’s run takes him far, far from home for many years. In alternating chapters we hear Nya and Salva tell their stories, neither of them knowing that one day they will actually speak to each other, brought together by something we take for granted every day: water. Review by Loretta Eysie (Source: book bits) Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894793 http://santafelibrary.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-comics.html Yes, I admit it, I love comic books! Like many kids, I grew up on Archie comics, simple stories with bright colors, and in conjunction with picture books that's how I learned how to read. When I grew out of the Archies, all that was available were superhero comics. Now, while I loved the Wonder Woman TV show and the Super Friends cartoons, the comic books weren't quite to my taste. So, alas, I put the comic books aside in favor of "real books" such as novels, non-fiction, poetry, and of course, schoolwork.Thankfully, a college friend introduced me to Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. With stories that dovetailed nicely with the mythology and literature classes I was taking, and breathtaking art that made the Archie comics look like doodles, I was immediately hooked. I was soon seeking out interesting, intelligent, and beautifully-styled comic books on a weekly basis. When I'd travel to another city, I'd load up on "graphic novels", an emerging literary form that was giving those flimsy funny books a more substantial binding and cover.Many years later, comics and graphic novels that were once hard to find have now hit the mainstream. Hollywood regularly adapts some of my favorite tomes for the big screen with mixed results. K-12 teachers are using graphic novels in the classroom, both to assist struggling readers and to teach these beautifully crafted stories as literature. Advances in printing and publishing technology have surely helped, but I think we've also gone full circle: back to a golden age of books, when illuminated manuscripts demonstrated that information and tales can be presented beautifully.While we may not be as knowledgeable as some of the folks at True Believers and other comics shops, we do have quite a collection of graphic novels for all ages and tastes. Many of our books, including manga and superhero series, are in an easy-to-browse section of the Young Adult collection. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894680 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16302 Head, Knowledge Access Design and Development (New York University, New York) New York University Libraries The head of this newly conceived department will lead a service-focused team in designing, implementing, and assessing an array of metadata-reliant processes and other strategies for enabling intellectual access to the research resources in all formats of the NYU Division of Libraries. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 02:10:01 +0100 894476 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16297 Director of Library Services (Lenoir-Rhyne University, North Carolina) The Carl A. Rudisill  Library of Lenoir-Rhyne  University seeks applications for its Director of Library Services. The successful candidate must be able to begin appointment on or around June 1, 2011. The appointment is continuing, subject to annual review. The position reports directly to the University Provost and carries faculty status, including privileges associated with Faculty Assembly.  Additional information on the library may be viewed at:  http://library.lr. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 02:10:01 +0100 894475 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16298 Digital Archivist (University of Virginia, Virginia) The University of Virginia Library seeks a talented and dynamic individual to serve as Digital Archivist. This is a permanent full time position that will work with born digital archives and materials as well as participate in an exciting initiative entitled: Born Digital Collections: An Inter-Institutional Model for Stewardship (AIMS). Reporting to the Director of Digital Curation Services, this position will carry out the goals and objectives of AIMS as well as the application and integration of archival practices to an ever-growing corpus of materials used by scholars, authors, and other notables: namely, born digital content. ... Thu, 23 Dec 2010 02:10:01 +0100 894474 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seealso/~3/OWg_dcoH1IA/is_failure_to_fail_failure_itself_.html Steven Bell has a long post on Incorporating Failure Into Library Instructionover at ACRLog, and it’s worth a read for instruction librarians who are thinking about how to teach problem-solving ways of thinking about research, rather than just training students to use databases. I was intrigued when Steven notes that his literature search didn’t turn up “articles providing good examples of instruction designed with some intentional failure component that is there to ultimately aid students in learning how to think for themselves when they are dealing with information overload.” I was trying to think what an “intentional failure component” might look like, and I don’t really see it. At worst it would be a “gotcha” kind of situation, where the librarian gives purposefully incomplete instructions to the class, the class fails to get the desired result, and only then does the librarian reveal why they have failed. I’m pretty sure there is a word for that kind of person, and the word is “asshole.” Or one could set up situations where students are likely to fail. But what if they don’t? What if they do just fine without failing? Now we have a new meta-failure on our hands, and I don’t think I can handle that. I think if librarian teachers really want to get some failure up in their sessions, the best thing to do is to ask questions to which you do not know the answers. Do live searches in front of the students where you have no idea what is going to turn up. Wing it. Then when stuff gets ugly, remind them that research is like that, and show them how the only failed search is one that you don’t learn from. (Source: See Also... a library weblog by Steve Lawson) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:58:18 +0100 894644 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/library/n_n.html SABER Astronomy (searchable annotated bibliography of education research) is a database of astronomy education research.SABER is an online, searchable database of astronomy education research. The database contains full bibliographic references to published research articles in the areas of science education, science teaching, teacher education, curriculum and instruction, cognitive science, and informal education. For each reference we provide an annotation, consisting of a short description of the article's content, study focus, and key findings. (Source: New) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:45:52 +0100 894843 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/22/jamie-oliver-30-minute-meals Why is it that Jamie Oliver seems to be encouraging us lovers of good food to compartmentalise cooking into a slot?I love Jamie Oliver. I am able to ignore his irritating affectations and pretence at being bish-bosh working class. I tend to adore his style of cooking and the end results. What Jamie does for charity is commendable, and he handles food like he appreciates every single morsel.Why, then, has Jamie reduced his recipes to a race rather than the loving attention they deserve? The phenomenally successful cook book Jamie's 30 Minute Meals has sold a million copies and may well end up in your Christmas stocking if you haven't already bought it for yourself. How could you Jamie? Cooking is, to me, about leisure and pleasure not haste and waste (in cooking quickly the best bits of the ingredients, such as the tops off leaks and scrag ends of meat, so good when used in stock, get binned).In the TV series to accompany the book we see our boy wonder racing around the chopping block, slinging ingredients together while watching the clock. What a departure from his previous programmes where we get to see Jamie caress his coriander-infused salad leaves, massage rosemary into his meat, and gently stir the stock bubbling away on the stove.I have written previously about the middle-class assumption that we all have the time to shop in markets and cook from scratch. I know how hard it is for single, hard-up mothers of small children to spend the precious time available to them chopping organic vegetables and slow-cooking every evening.But why is it that Jamie seems to be encouraging us lovers of good food (those of us who watch his programmes and read his books are, I would wager) to compartmentalise cooking into a slot in the same way we seem to be controlling all aspects of our busy lives these days. Exercises? Twenty minutes should do it. Weekly phone call to mother? Fit it in between the soaps and walking the dog. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:30:00 +0100 894469 http://futura.edublogs.org/2010/12/22/why-teachers-should-be-person-of-the-year/ Time Magazine recently announced that Mark Zuckerberg was selected as their “Person of the Year.”    It seems a rather peculiar choice, since not only is Facebook “old hat”  but also because Facebook has not been the best player in regards to user privacy. So I have my own end of the year suggestion for Time Magazine–how about making teachers the “Person of the Year”? Yes, teachers.   After 29 years in education, both as a teacher and librarian, I”ve known a great number of educators.  And what I’ve seen demonstrated again and again by so many of my colleagues is how much, despite all the recent hype to the contrary, they care about children. So instead of this being the year of software mega-giant or of the likes of Michelle Rhee or Davis Guggenheim,  or the year of union busting in education–perhaps this should be the year we begin simply to honor and celebrate teachers. Teaching is a complex job.  There’s the subject matter, which is complex in and of itself;  there are the students, who are complex in all the ways every human being is, and there’s the place in between where you figure out how to bring the two together for real understanding and growth.  And again, despite claims to the contrary about experienced teachers, you could spend a lifetime as an educator honing your skills and still not master any one of these areas, no matter how dedicated you are. Being a teacher means reinventing yourself daily and annually to meet the needs of the students in front of you, whether it’s figuring out a way to reach a particular student or learning the latest ways to connect your students to a global learning environment. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:22:18 +0100 895046 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/dec/22/jesus-buddha-japan-manga-novel A new manga novel lightheartedly depicting the two as everyday young men may inadvertently raise interest in religion in JapanWhat would Jesus and Buddha do if they were suddenly thrust into contemporary society, and how would they react to what they found?Japanese author-illustrator Nakamura Hikaru has sketched an answer to this provocative question in a very popular manga, or illustrated serial novel, entitled Saint Young Men (Seinto oniisan).Nakamura (her surname) depicts the adventures of the two religious founders as they room together in Tachikawa (a suburb west of Tokyo) while vacationing in Japan.Humour, rather than veneration, sets the tone for the series, which is replete with visual gags and puns. For example, when the roommates discover that the prizes they have won at a shrine festival are cheap imitations of coveted handheld videogames, Nakamura quips: "The two were enlightened as to the true flavour of Japanese festivals," playing on a double sense of the word daigomi, which can either mean sublime Buddhist teaching or – more colloquially – the "true charm" of something.Similarly, quirky interactions that juxtapose episodes from Jesus' ministry with hilarious social faux pas provide opportunities to chuckle. When Jesus says that he "just wants to wash his [disciples'] feet," a local gangster who overhears him misinterprets this phrase in its figurative sense as an indication of one's desire to start afresh after a life of crime. Jesus, oblivious to this misunderstanding, unwittingly gains notoriety among the mob as a particularly tough villain.Nakamura's protagonists, though saintly, are hardly infallible. Jesus' all-encompassing love makes him excessively enthusiastic (Nakamura portrays him as a compulsive shopaholic), while Buddha's ascetic tendencies make him seem – as the back of one volume states – like "the parsimonious lady next door". ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:00:00 +0100 894378 http://michaelgolrick.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-every-library-school-student.html Back in November, a series of posts caught my eye...it was about what Library School students need to know.Jill Hurst-Wahl's post is from the viewpoint of a faculty member. In addition to being up beat, she has a few key words of advice which I am excerpting here:Your coursework won't teach you everything you need to know.Every information professional you meet during your graduate program is a person who can connect you to a job. Your reputation, CV/resume and portfolio matter.She then followed up (in a different forum) with some comments and links to the other posts on which I will comment below.Bobbi Newman gathered together a number of posts which address the topic under the title "Is She Crazy to Want to Work in Libraries?"Her post was succeeded on Will Manley's blog with two posts:“Any Advice for an Aspiring Librarian?”“Do Grade Point Averages Make a Difference in the Hiring Process?”I suggest that you read both, and the comments...Finally, Roy Tenant added to Jill's post by noting several points that I am highlighting by pasting below:No matter how close to graduation you are, your education has only just begun.Although it might sound like work, constant learning is fun.and in practical advice:Find someone in the profession you admire, and offer to take them to lunch or drinks or dinner at a conference you are both attending. (Source: Thoughts from a Library Administrator) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894979 http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/2010/12/22/disappearing-desmond-shining-look-at-shyness/ Disappearing Desmond by Anna Alter Desmond and his entire family didn’t like to be the center of attention.  He’d much rather disappear and be ignored.  Sometimes even his teacher could not find him!  But things changed when Gloria came to his school.  Gloria liked to be the center of attention.  After a bit, something strange happened and Gloria said hello to Desmond even though he was hiding.  No one had ever seen him when he was hiding before.  And it just kept happening, Gloria kept on talking to him until one day they read together for the entire morning.  The two of them started playing together all the time, until Desmond came to school on a Monday morning ready to be noticed.  Later, Desmond heard a sound in the bushes and found a kid hiding there.  The three of them played all afternoon, but there were many more kids hiding around the playground. This is a very nice book about shyness and wanting to be ignored.  Alter found a great solution to the shyness issue by having a once-shy child make overtures to another shy child.  That is the magic in this picture book.  Readers will also enjoy the ending where the large number of other shy children is revealed.  Alter’s illustrations have a similar feel to Nancy Carlson’s Harriet series.  They have simple lines, bright colors, and animal characters.  A successful book about shyness without the focus on the painful nature of it, this book offers a hand of comfort and friendship to shy children hidden everywhere.  Appropriate for ages 4-6. Reviewed from copy received from Random House. (Source: Kids Lit) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894749 http://kidslit.menashalibrary.org/2010/12/22/shadow-simple-and-sparkling/ Shadow by Suzy Lee This book is all about the power of imagination and creativity.  A little girl heads up to the attic where the light creates shadows.  She starts out with just her own shadow, then creates a bird with her hands. As she plays, a jungle grows in the shadows with a sharp-toothed wolf.  Other animals appear and so does a princess until an entire shadow world is created.  Then the wolf escapes from the shadow world and jumps at the little girl.  But the other animals work together to teach him how to play nicely.  At the end, a voice calls that dinner is ready and everything returns to normal, or does it? Lee’s illustrations tell this almost wordless story.  Her use of fine lines for the objects in the attic, thicker lines for the little girl, and deep blackness for the shadows is particularly effective.  The book is done in just two colors: black and yellow.  The yellow is particularly spectacular, showing the color of imagination at work.  Lee uses the middle gutter of the book to separate the shadows from real life, so the book is read sideways, just as the cover is shown.  This book is simple and very evocative.  It is a stunning, sparkling example of a wordless book that children everywhere with relate to effortlessly.  Appropriate for ages 3-5. Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books. (Source: Kids Lit) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894748 http://hurstassociates.blogspot.com/2010/12/when-students-work-intersects-with.html This blog post reflects my opinion and not the opinion of any organization that I am associated with.  I look forward to comments on this, especially from those who deal with copyright, ethics or academic integrity.Recently, I spoke to someone who had been hired to write papers for a university student. I knew that there were services available that would either resell older student papers or connect a student to someone who will write their papers for them, but I never expected to interact with someone who had participated in this industry.You will wonder if the person felt that the work had been wrong.  I didn't ask that that exact question, but sensed that earning money trumped that concern.  In reality, it is the student who would get into trouble if it was discovered that the work was not his/her own and not the person who has been hired to do the work.This is a topic that is discussed in the news on occasion (e.g., Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 12, 2010 and Nov. 22, 2010 which call these writers "shadow scholars"). In the past few days, I've talked about this with a few colleagues/friends and concerns regarding copyright, integrity and ethics have arose, as well as detection.  That had led me to writing this blog post in order to share some thoughts on this more publicly.Areas of Concerns:Copyright - One person's immediate reaction was that there was a copyright violation; however, I would argue that paper was a work-for-hire.  In this case, the writer has been paid to write the paper for the student, and the copyright becomes owned by the student.  Therefore, there isn't a copyright violation.Integrity - One concern is that the student is not representing his/her abilities honestly.  This means that the grade for the work does not reflect what the student can honestly do, nor does it mean that the professor has a correct impression of the student's abilities. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894527 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Digitization101/~3/9tCVLN5ONV8/when-students-work-intersects-with.html This blog post reflects my opinion and not the opinion of any organization that I am associated with.  I look forward to comments on this, especially from those who deal with copyright, ethics or academic integrity.Recently, I spoke to someone who had been hired to write papers for a university student. I knew that there were services available that would either resell older student papers or connect a student to someone who will write their papers for them, but I never expected to interact with someone who had participated in this industry.You will wonder if the person felt that the work had been wrong.  I didn't ask that that exact question, but sensed that earning money trumped that concern.  In reality, it is the student who would get into trouble if it was discovered that the work was not his/her own and not the person who has been hired to do the work.This is a topic that is discussed in the news on occasion (e.g., Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 12, 2010 and Nov. 22, 2010 which call these writers "shadow scholars"). In the past few days, I've talked about this with a few colleagues/friends and concerns regarding copyright, integrity and ethics have arose, as well as detection.  That had led me to writing this blog post in order to share some thoughts on this more publicly.Areas of Concerns:Copyright - One person's immediate reaction was that there was a copyright violation; however, I would argue that paper was a work-for-hire.  In this case, the writer has been paid to write the paper for the student, and the copyright becomes owned by the student.  Therefore, there isn't a copyright violation.Integrity - One concern is that the student is not representing his/her abilities honestly.  This means that the grade for the work does not reflect what the student can honestly do, nor does it mean that the professor has a correct impression of the student's abilities. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894495 http://acrlog.org/2010/12/22/incorporating-failure-into-library-instruction/ Failure is what’s getting a fair amount of attention right now, especially when the conversation turns to learning. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as a growing consensus, but I’m hearing and reading more about the importance of allowing students to learn through authentic practice, what some call experiential learning, that puts them into situations where they can succeed or fail – and learn by doing so themselves or from the experiences of their fellow students. Educators have known for many years that students have better learning experiences when there is a hands-on component which enables them to learn through their own mistakes and by coming to their own conclusions; what then need is less lecturing and demonstration. Think back to the days when the vast majority of trades were learned through apprenticeships. It was all about having authentic practice, and learning from one’s own mistakes. One good example that promotes the value of failure for learning is a TED Talk by Diana Laufenberg on the topic of “How to Learn? From Mistakes.” In this talk Laufenberg, who is a teacher at a progressive school in Philadelphia, describes how she creates projects that promote constructivism in the classroom. Traditional education, as she describes it, is focused entirely on getting things right – and never being wrong. How do you get an A grade? You always give the right answers on tests. The problem associated with test taking is that it rarely results in real learning (a permanent change in behavior/thinking). I really like the point that the traditional methods are based on a world of information scarcity when you had to sit in a classroom to have an expert pour it into your head. In a world of information abundance, the answers and possibilities are all around contemporary students. They know how to find it. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894419 http://laurenpressley.com/library/2010/12/acrlny-innovation-by-design-re-visioning-the-library/ Earlier this month I had the fortune to attend the 2010 ACRL/NY Annual Symposium at Baruch College, Vertical Campus Conference Center in New York. The theme of the symposium was “Innovation by Design: Re-Visioning the Library.” The symposium was a really well run event. ACRL/NY is an excellent organization, and they know how to put on a one-day conference. I’ve been eyeing them for the past few years and was really thankful to be able to participate in one. These events have been taking place since the 1980s and themes have included: emerging leadership, 21st century libraries, and assessment. This year’s theme, as you can tell, was design. The first speaker of the day was Bill Mayer of American University. As University Librarian, he’s implementing a number of changes that will be familiar to us at ZSR: moving materials off site, bringing in other service providers, rethinking services, putting library people in the community, etc. He was an engaging speaker and it was really good to see the message out there and getting a good reception. If you’re interested in more, here’s an article about his thoughts on next steps at American. Aaron Schmidt, of Walking Paper fame, spoke on designing the user experience. He covered both designing the physical experience as well as the virtual, and clearly came at his topic from a designer’s angle. Aaron is a dynamic speaker, with I’m guessing no less than 100 high-impact slides while walking around and interacting with the audience. He’s really interested in getting libraries to identify a few things they can do really well (and generate enthusiastic supporters) rather than trying to do everything decently (and having lukewarm supporters). Finally, Leah Buley from Adaptive Path, spoke. Leah came from a different angle, as she doesn’t work in a library. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:29:04 +0100 894420 http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/rss.php?job_id=6521 1.Initiates, develops, and implements procedures for efficient operation and use of the media center. 2. Prepares and administers media budget; evaluates, selects, orders, and catalogs all media center resources. 3.Develops, administers, and maintains a balanced collection in accordance with the district's materials selection policy. 4.Provides literature appreciation, reference, and readers' advisory services to a diverse student population; serves as an information resource to staff and as a link to resources outside the media center. 5.Trains and supervises adult and student volunteers. 6.Works cooperatively with teachers to plan and implement lessons and projects that make use of media center resources; collaboratively plans instructional units incorporating content-area and information literacy skill objectives. 7.Develops and deliver lesson plans for teaching information literacy skills, the information search process, and literature appreciation. 8.Participates in curriculum development and implementation through service on building and district committees; demonstrates knowledge of the Massachusetts State Frameworks. (Source: MBLC Job Listings) Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:10:02 +0100 894268 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16288 Library Automation Manager (SEARCH EXTENDED) (University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Wisconsin) The Polk Library at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh seeks an accomplished and innovative information professional for the position of Library Automation Manager (LAM).  The Library Automation Manager (LAM) is responsible for managing the information technology resources of Polk Library to maximize their positive impact on teaching, learning and research for the students, faculty and staff of the University.  This position will be responsible for the overall installation, operation and maintenance of all automated library systems and services. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:05:02 +0100 894263 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16281 Librarian - Reference (North Orange County Community College District, California) Job #FCF711 Tenure-track position, 100% contract. STARTING DATE August 10, 2011   MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Master’s degree in library science or library and information science; OR Valid California teaching credential authorizing service in a community college in the appropriate subject matter area; OR The equivalent.  Equivalent qualifications may include related education, training, employment and professional experience that would be equal to the required degree(s) and experience in the field as determined by the District Equivalency Committee. All degrees and course work used to satisfy the required minimum qualifications must be from accredited postsecondary institutions (see www.nocccd. ... Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:05:02 +0100 894260 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TameTheWeb/~3/-9Wsb8wf7eM/ I contributed my final post as a regular author this week at ALA TechSource. I must say it makes me a bit emotional but it’s time to move on to focus on other things. I thought I take this chance to point back to some of my favorite posts from the last 5 years of writing at TechSource. One of my favorite things to do was a “back and forth” interview/discussion style post. Here are some of the best of the best: John Blyberg: On the L2 Train | Information Experience Michael Casey: Where Do We Begin? | Better Library Services for More People Robert Doyle (Illinois Library Association) Michael Edson (Smithsonian Institution) Michael Golrick | Stacey Greenwell | Christopher Harris | Cliff Landis And some of my FAVORITE solo posts: November 2005: Do Libraries Matter: On Library & Librarian 2.0 The library encourages the heart. As we reach out to users, we must remember all of the folks we serve. To me, Library 2.0 will be a meeting place, online or in the physical world, where my emotional needs will be fulfilled through entertainment, information, and the ability to create my own stuff to contribute to the ocean of content out there – the Long Tail if you will. Librarian 2.0, then, will be available to guide me and teach me to use the systems provided by the library to do just that. As Abram said, librarians will provide clarification: Librarians need to position themselves and the library to help with finding the answers to: how? and why?” February 2006: Are You Dreaming? That’s where dreaming comes in. Have you had the chance to dream at your library job? Have you had the chance to stop for a minute in the buzz buzz of your routine and think about the future? Are you encouraged to innovate? If not, then I urge you to do so. And I urge library administrators to encourage dreaming on the job. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:57:37 +0100 894289 http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/webinar-notes-on-new-tech-training.html Webinar provided by WebJunction. Topic title: New Technology Training Materials (link to archived presentation and materials here).Event date: December 14, 2010.  My notes:What makes an accidental tech trainer? Some features:You teach in a computer lab. You provide webinars. You help patrons with things like e-mail or finding articles online. If you work in a library, odds are good you are already doing technology training. Factoid presented: 5,400 public libraries in the U.S. offer free technology classes. 4,000 businesses offer computer training (for a fee). With close to 15,000 people taking free library classes, that is about $629 million dollars in retail value of the courses.  It is important to have a good attitude as a trainer. This is also helpful to the participants, projecting confidence and being positive.In teaching, keep in mind that people take in the world in different ways. Three basic styles of learning (this is something that is simple and easy to remember): visual, auditory, kinesthetic. As a trainer, try to incorporate styles as much as possible.To motivate, provide examples of what users could use the new technology/material for. You can have sample products made with the new technology. Do give the audience some "time to play" (hands-on).The times when the technology fails, show what happened (if possible, such as if you opened a wrong window. Obviously, you lose power or the Internet, that is a different issue. Personally, I recommend using some humor at that point). Think in terms of creating a learning community with the workshop. Start with simple things, let class members share names and what they wish to learn from the workshop. Again, provide hands-on time. Also, providing some time for reflection is important. (Source: The Gypsy Librarian) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:23:00 +0100 895033 http://www.teleread.com/library/india-ebooks-public-libraries-and-crossing-the-street-by-eric-hellman/ It sounds funny to say, but the thing I’ll remember longest about my two weeks in India is learning to cross the street. When I first arrived, I didn’t dare. Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the street, but they also drive on the right side of the street, the middle of the street, and on various surfaces that would not be considered streets here in New Jersey. The protocol for pedestrians and motorists to coexist was not apparent to me. Pedestrians seemed to cross the street with minimal regard for traffic; the cars unaccountably seemed to miss them at high speed. After a few days of watching this dance, I screwed up my courage and crossed in the wake of some elderly women in saris. By the weekend, I was crossing on my own; the key seemed to be steadiness- a sudden move could fool a three wheeled “auto” or motorcycle carrying a family of six into your path. Motorized vehicles in India always have to be on the lookout for the vegetable cart, cow, goat, dog or camel that might need to share the roadway. I learned a lot about other things, too. Last Wednesday, I gave a lecture for the Bangalore chapter of the Society for Information Science. My talk was titled “Why Libraries Exist: Transitioning from Print to eBooks.” I’ve been working on this talk for a while (based partly on this post); but this was the first time I’ve given it publicly; I’ll be giving versions of the talk twice in February. There were lots of questions and much discussion. There are so many differences between conditions in the US and in India regarding ebooks. Not only are adoption rates very different, but there are potential ebook applications in India that had never occurred to me. For example, while e-reader adoption is negligible in India, it may well be that textbook distribution via e-readers may happen sooner in India than in the west. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:49:04 +0100 894291 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/21/government-withdraws-funding-book-gifting Booktrust's schemes to give free books to children in crisis after public subsidy axedBooktrust, the independent charity set up to encourage reading, is to lose all government funding for its children's gifting programmes Bookstart, Booktime and Booked Up, in England, it was announced today. Former children's laureate Michael Rosen said that he was "absolutely appalled and utterly enraged" by the news.Booktrust was told on Friday that the £13m it received towards its programmes from the Department of Education this year will be cut completely in the next financial year. Chief executive Viv Bird said she was "immensely surprised and disappointed" by the decision, adding that she knew that families, teachers, librarians, health visitors, publishing partners "and many others up and down the country" would share her feelings.The charity's national book-gifting programmes are well-known and wide-reaching. Bookstart gives a free pack of books to every baby in the UK, Booktime donates a book pack to children shortly after they start school, and Booked Up enables each child starting secondary school to choose a book for themselves. The charity's aim is to give everyone the chance to experience what it calls "the delight and power of books and the written word" regardless of income, literacy skills, disability or culture.The government's £13m was used to generate a further £56m-worth of sponsorship for the bookgifting schemes from publishing partners and corporate sponsors.Rosen said the decision to cut funding to the bookgifting programmes was "an indication of where the government's priorities lie", and "a classic case of them talking the talk but not really walking the walk.""All they [the government] can talk about are teaching methods," he said. "They are not interested in actually putting books into children's hands. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:00:56 +0100 894243 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/21/season-s-readings-i-sing-of-a-maiden Set to unforgettable music by Benjamin Britten, this strangely erotic Nativity is even better on the pageAt school, the only subject I was any good at was music, and for the usual reason: an inspiring teacher. Phyllis Robinson, neé Chatfield, had been a famous concert pianist – and so I begged piano lessons. I practised assiduously, and finally got promotion to school pianist, with free tuition from the star herself. I particularly loved being accompanist to the many choirs she organised (I missed swathes of lessons as a result, of course, and "forgot to do" a lot of homework). We entered local choral contests and won prizes and commendations. But my happiest memory is of accompanying the junior choir's rehearsals for a Christmas performance of Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols.The piano-arrangement is tricky: I certainly couldn't play it now. But I can still sing the songs, suitably transposed. It was not only the spiky, sparkly freshness of the melodies and the clear, high voices of the junior choristers I found exciting. It was that English itself seemed reborn as a new language.I'd experienced this before, but only in negative ways. We'd plodded grimly through Scott's Ivanhoe in the first form. We'd read the Iliad, in translation, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm afraid I didn't feel any sense of revelation from either. It's a shameful admission. But then, nothing was explained properly (well, perhaps I wasn't listening) and we certainly didn't see any live performances. We took it in turns to read aloud, droning or stumbling and barely understanding a word of what we were reading. The verbal magic was assassinated. I hated "English".I don't believe anyone told us that the carols in Britten's Ceremony were in Middle English. The odd diction didn't seem bookish: it was rough, at times, and full of vernacular energy. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:11:01 +0100 894241 http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/self-published-pedophilia-guide-author-arrested/ And here’s a follow-up to our story about the self-published pedophilia guide that Amazon first defended, then pulled from publication. As TeleReader Brian/AnemicOak pointed out, Colorado police arrested the author of the book, Philip Greaves, after detectives in Florida ordered and received a copy of the book from him. Greaves will be extradited from Colorado to face obscenity charges in Polk County, Florida. [Polk County Sheriff Grady] Judd said he was frustrated that Greaves’ book was protected under freedom of speech laws, even though it was created "specifically to teach people how to sexually molest and rape children." "There may be nothing that the other 49 states can do, but there is something that the state of Florida can do … to make sure we prosecute Philip Greaves for his manifesto," Judd said. Under other circumstances, I might say it would be troubling that someone could be extradited from one part of the country to face prosecution based on the standards of another part of the country. That immediately summons up images of, say, someone who publishes gay porn on the Internet from the West Coast being prosecuted in the Bible Belt, and this very thing has been a concern in a number of obscenity cases since the Internet began to become widely used. But this is not that kind of case, where something considered all right in one part of the country is an outrage in another. This particular type of behavior should be an outrage everywhere. And it’s not the case of the manga collector whose wide-ranging collection included some obscene hand-drawn images (and consequently got a 6 month jail sentence), either. This is someone who produced an instruction book covering all aspects of how to carry on an illicit pedophilic affair. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:15:00 +0100 894298 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=8979 State: Indiana Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) Helmke Library (http://lib.ipfw.edu) seeks an experienced, innovative, and energetic leader to work closely with librarians, library staff, faculty, students, administrators, and the community to continue to develop the library's initiatives to integrate information literacy programs across the curriculum, provide expert information and research services, expand digital initiatives, build physical and electronic collections, and conceptualize the future of academic library public services within a rapidly changing information landscape. Interviews will be conducted for a 12-month, tenure-track position to begin July 1, 2011. Responsibilities Reporting to the Dean of Helmke Library, the Head of Public Services provides leadership in managing library services and programs to support teaching, learning and research at IPFW. Specific responsibilities include: • Coordinating and supervising the Information and Instruction Services unit within a team environment • Coordinating between other public access service units such as the Service Desk and Document Delivery Services • Promoting collaboration and effective working relationships with IPFW Learning Commons partners in developing, implementing and assessing an integrated approach to student academic success at IPFW • Expanding partnerships with faculty to integrate and assess information literacy competencies across the curriculum • Empowering staff, encouraging innovation, and embracing new technologies that enhance instruction, learning, and research • Engaging the university community with digital scholarship and scholarly communication issues • Developing strategic directions for the library’s Information and Instruction Services unit Qualifications: An A.L.A.-accredited master's degree in library or information science is required. An additional graduate degree is preferred. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:30:02 +0100 894156 http://www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/view_job_specific.php?job_id=8980 State: Indiana Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) Walter E. Helmke Library (http://www.lib.ipfw.edu) seeks an energetic, knowledgeable, and collaborative individual to work independently and in a team environment to provide high-quality, innovative, and effective information and instructional services and programs to a diverse university community. Librarian will provide liaison services to the Richard T. Doermer School of Business, Public and Environmental Affairs, and Labor Studies. Interviews will be conducted for a 12-month, tenure-track position to begin July 1, 2011. Responsibilities: Successful candidate will contribute substantially to the library's initiatives to integrate information literacy programs across the curriculum, provide expert information and research services, expand digital initiatives, build physical and electronic collections, and conceptualize the future of academic library public services within a rapidly changing information landscape. As part of the IPFW Learning Commons team, will promote collaboration and effective working relationships with IPFW Learning Commons’ partners in developing, implementing, and assessing an integrated approach to student academic success at IPFW. Within liaison-area assignments, is responsible for providing research-consulting services; developing innovative information services and programs; teaching and assessing information literacy competencies in partnership with faculty; developing outreach activities for students and faculty; evaluating, selecting, and using printed and electronic resources; and contributing to IPFW's digital initiatives. Other duties may be assigned. Qualifications: An A.L.A.-accredited master's degree in library or information science is required. Preference given to candidates with experience in academic library settings, especially liaison-area assignments. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:30:02 +0100 894155 http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/uk-literacy-program-booktrust-to-lose-government-funding-in-april-2011/ In 2008, we reported on a UK program called Bookstart, through which United Kingdom residents could send text messages to get free storybooks for their children. David Rothman compared the program to the American program Reading Is Fundamental, which was imperiled by budget cutbacks. It has been no secret that funding for libraries and similar programs has been under siege in the UK as well as the US during the last year or so, and just now Neil Gaiman retweeted this unpleasant news from the website of Booktrust, the foundation behind Bookstart: Booktrust had notification on Friday 17 December from the Department for Education that funding for all our English bookgifting programmes (Bookstart, Booktime and Booked Up) will be cut by 100% from 1 April 2011. Please note that this news applies to England only. We are immensely surprised and disappointed by this decision and know that families, teachers, librarians, health visitors, our publishing partners and many others up and down the country will be sharing these feelings. We passionately believe in these programmes and the proven extraordinary transformative power of reading for pleasure.  We will be consulting with our partners and exploring alternative funding opportunities to do our utmost to make sure that every child continues to be given the opportunity to develop a lifelong love of books. It is really disappointing to see the forces of literacy take another hit from the slings and arrows of the poor economy. Hopefully the organization can find other ways of continuing its mission. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:38:43 +0100 894185 http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/webinar-notes-on-new-tech-training.html Webinar provided by WebJunction. Topic title: New Technology Training Materials (link to archived presentation and materials here).Event date: December 14, 2010.  My notes:What makes an accidental tech trainer? Some features:You teach in a computer lab. You provide webinars. You help patrons with things like e-mail or finding articles online. If you work in a library, odds are good you are already doing technology training. Factoid presented: 5,400 public libraries in the U.S. offer free technology classes. 4,000 businesses offer computer training (for a fee). With close to 15,000 people taking free library classes, that is about $629 million dollars in retail value of the courses.  It is important to have a good attitude as a trainer. This is also helpful to the participants, projecting confidence and being positive.In teaching, keep in mind that people take in the world in different ways. Three basic styles of learning (this is something that is simple and easy to remember): visual, auditory, kinesthetic. As a trainer, try to incorporate styles as much as possible.To motivate, provide examples of what users could use the new technology/material for. You can have sample products made with the new technology. Do give the audience some "time to play" (hands-on).The times when the technology fails, show what happened (if possible, such as if you opened a wrong window. Obviously, you lose power or the Internet, that is a different issue. Personally, I recommend using some humor at that point). Think in terms of creating a learning community with the workshop. Start with simple things, let class members share names and what they wish to learn from the workshop. Again, provide hands-on time. Also, providing some time for reflection is important. (Source: The Gypsy Librarian) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 895034 http://rabid-librarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-loved-carl-sagan.html Obviously missed this in the reader yesterday. But it's hard to believe it's been fourteen years since his death. Dec. 20, 1996: Science Loses Its Most Visible Public Champion Calling Carl Sagan a scientist is a little like calling the Beatles a rock band. Sagan was certainly a scientist (an astronomer, biologist and astrophysicist, to be precise). But he was also science’s most visible public advocate, a secular humanist, a fervent believer in extraterrestrial life, a teacher, an author, a television host and a political activist. While accurately fixing the surface temperature of Venus and positing the presence of seas on Jovian and Saturnian moons are among his practical contributions to the field of astronomy, his lasting contribution to humanity was to popularize the natural sciences for hundreds of millions of people. Sagan was an agnostic and secular humanist. I love this quote from his widow, from the Skeptical Inquirer: When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me—it still sometimes happens—and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl. I don't know if there's an afterlife, if we reincarnate, or if there's just the shadowy existence favoured by the Greeks. As I've gotten older, I've decided I don't so much care...what matters is what we do with our lives, whether that be one or plural. ... Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894558 http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-practices-for-credit-bearing.html A new book is:Hollister, C.V (Ed) (2011) Best Practices for Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Courses. ACRL. ISBN: 978-0-8389-8558-8. $48.00 "the work is a collection of previously unpublished papers in which contributing authors describe and recommend best practices for creating, developing and teaching credit-bearing information literacy (IL) courses at the college and university level." There is a USA focus. More information at http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=3222Photo by Sheila Webber: ice: a way of diagnosing leaks (Source: Information Literacy Weblog) Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894187 http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/12/executive_direc_6.php by Holly Macriss, CLA, Executive Director Thank you to all of the California libraries who participated in the 2010 California Library Snapshot Day! More than 1 million visitors entered the doors of more than 1,000 libraries representing more than 300 library systems and jurisdictions. Read more... Thank you to all who attended Navigating the New! We are still wrapping up and will have more to share from this event in coming months, but we want to congratulate the 2010 Award and Scholarship winners. To read about this year's winners, click here and click on each award and scholarship listed on the left hand side of the website. Congratulations to Rio Hondo College Library on receiving a $15,000 grant from Verizon in support of Reinforcing Literacy@ Rio: A Librarian-Faculty Collaboration. http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/12/verizon_gives_1.php Thank you to Paul Birchall, Michelle Jeffers, Eve Nyren and Kathleen Wade for providing us with great blogs and articles to include in our member communications. Don't miss the information regarding the upcoming Advocacy Institute at the ALA Midwinter Conference. CLA is proud to be a co-sponsor of this extremely important and timely event. Deborah Doyle, CLA Legislative & Advocacy Committee Chair, will be presenting. We will also have information regarding 2011 legislative events. http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/12/advocating_in_a_2.php Speaking of the ALA Midwinter Conference: CLA will have a booth in San Diego, so please come by booth 2151, say hi and pick up information regarding the 2011 Annual Conference in Pasadena. We've made it worth your visit J CLA is also co-sponsoring Money Smart Week April 2-9, 2011. This is an opportunity for your library to create programming and partnerships with your community leaders to promote financial literacy and help consumers better manage their personal finances. http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/2010/12/cla_joins_ala_t. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:51:26 +0100 894335 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16276 First-Year Engagement Librarian/Lecturer (University of North Carolina Wilmington, North Carolina) University of North Carolina Wilmington, Randall Library is accepting applications for a First-Year Engagement Librarian/Lecturer.  This librarian will coordinate the design, development, delivery and assessment of a full complement of  instructional services for this population.  First-year students are primarily freshmen, but also include transfer students, early college students, and other students in transition to the university setting. Special attention is given to preparing students to meet the beginning level information literacy requirements of the UNCW University Studies curriculum to be implemented by fall 2012. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:05:02 +0100 894023 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lansinglibraryyouth/podcast/~3/N6-TOvIwAe0/junie-b-first-grader-jingle-bells.html Junie B., First Grader is at it again. Junie B. and May will not leave each other alone and they are driving Mr. Scary, their teacher, crazy. Dear first-grade journal, winter break is the school word for I gotta get out of this place! May is driving JunieB. crazy with her tattling and to top that all off, Junie B. picks May's name for her Secret Santa gift. Maybe she should give May exactly what she deserves? Please come into the library and check out Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May.) and find out how this ends. (Source: Lansing Library Youth Dept. Podcast) Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:33:36 +0100 894255 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/20/anthony-howard-obituary Former editor of the New Statesman and deputy editor of the Observer, he was one of Britain's foremost political commentatorsAnthony Howard, who has died aged 76 following heart surgery, was among the most acute political commentators of his generation, a familiar face and voice on television and radio, and a distinguished editor of the New Statesman. But, in the view of many contemporaries, and perhaps his own, he never quite achieved the heights of which he was capable.In his writing and broadcasting, as in his editing, he delivered sharp and definite judgments. His assessments of a politician's chances of high office or party leadership were instantaneous and nearly always right. Once Margaret Thatcher resigned, he declared, Michael Heseltine's hopes of becoming Tory leader were finished. Denis Healey, he predicted, would not become Labour leader. The SDP's success would be fleeting, he said. His interest was in politicians, and the political process, not in policy or political philosophy. His books were about people – he wrote biographies of RA Butler, Richard Crossman and, finally, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Basil Hume – and his last full-time job, as obituaries editor of the Times, was one that he requested, and which gave him special pleasure.From university, where he chaired the Labour Club before being elected (at the second attempt) president of the Oxford Union, he was a firm Labour supporter who in the 1950s was briefly a prospective parliamentary candidate. As a young reporter on the Guardian, he was reprimanded by the then editor, Alastair Hetherington, for turning in copy that "reeked of anti-Tory prejudice". Yet he became respected by and friendly with many Tory politicians – he "helped" Heseltine write his memoirs – and a presenter, reporter and political pundit on BBC news and current affairs programmes. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:51:00 +0100 894013 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LibraryGarden/~3/ImljgdIQzbE/ Posted by Robert J. Lackie American Library Association logo The American Library Association (ALA) has announced in October 2010 a partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to make “Money Smart Week @ Your Library” a national initiative from April 2-9, 2011, and things are beginning to heat up now in late December—at least for this national initiative! Money Smart Week logo Celebrating its 10th year in 2011, Money Smart Week’s mission is to promote personal financial literacy (Note: Money Smart Week is a registered service mark of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago). Throughout the 10-year history of Money Smart Week, libraries have been instrumental in facilitating and hosting quality Money Smart Week events. For instance, libraries of all types in Illinois (and Chicago), Indiana, Iowa (and Quad cities), Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin participated in Money Smart Week in 2010, partnering with community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, educational organizations, and other financial experts to help consumers learn to better manage their personal finances. ALA and the Federal Reserve hope that even more librarians and their libraries will be participating in the first ever national Money Smart Week this spring, from April 2-9, 2011. Events will take place at member libraries across the country and will and cover topics from learning how to apply for a mortgage to teaching young people about credit. We all, librarians included, can benefit from that! Watch this site ( http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/education/msw/index.cfm ) for information on joining the initiative, for news, and for important links you can use right now. I will be posting again later this week requesting info from all Library Garden readers on programming ideas, as I am now, as of this month, on the Academic Money Smart Week @ Your Library Committee for ALA. (Source: Library Garden) Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:00:49 +0100 894428 http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2010/12/20/my-guilty-pleasures-a-la-npr/ A recent NPR news special features writers talking about the books they love but are embarrassed to be seen reading.  One of the titles is an erotic historical novel, another, Haunted Wisconsin (yay!) and other ghostly guides, and yet another, The World According to Garp (OK, why is that embarrassing?).  There’s a certain voyeuristic pleasure hearing about what embarrasses folks, but at the same time, I work at a public library, so really, what’s the big deal? Folks are encouraged to read and check-out whatever their hearts desire.  Public libraries are wonderful for that.  What’s even better is that you can test out books, DVDs, magazines, etc. for free and if you really love them, you can then decide whether or not you want to shell out your hard earned dollars at the bookstore and buy them.  It’s wonderful! But in the spirit of sharing, I will disclose some of my own somewhat embarrassing reading interests.  I love US Weekly.  And not just when I am waiting for the dentist.  I love it weekly.  I especially love “Who Wore It Best” and “Fashion Police” (formerly “When Bad Clothes Happen to Good People” - I don’t know why they changed that). As for books, I not so secretly enjoy paranormal teen romances.  I don’t keep it totally hush, but it is still a little embarrassing.  One of my favorite newer series (yes, I am waaayyy over Twilight) is by Lisa McMann.  The first book, Wake, introduces the reader to high school student Janie Hannagan.  Janie finds herself drawn into other people’s dreams.  She discovers that she can use this special dream-catcher skill to help solve crimes. Warning: these books read fast and as soon as you figure out what’s going on in book one, it will be over and you will be on to book two, Fade. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:38:04 +0100 894076 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechsourceBlog/~3/KZbumiEGekc/you-can-do-magic.html “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” --Arthur C. Clarke I want to write about magic today. I’ve written in this space over the years about AV department crystal visions in a crystal ball  and about Xanadu and Libraries -  seriously. I’ve also written many posts about how libraries can utilize space and technology to enhances people lives and how we can hopefully encourage the heart. I also want to tell you a story about ten year old Michael. He really enjoyed afternoon reruns of shows like Gilligan’s Island, I Love Lucy and the like. A particular favorite, however, was I Dream of Jeannie. It was silly fun: a genie, a master and a Bottle. Do you remember the bottle? I do. I always wanted one. I daydreamed that the studio might someday mail one out to the biggest fans of the show or make them available in the stores. Never happened.Fast forward twenty some years to the launch of eBay. I taught “How to eBay” classes at the public library for several years and one of the examples I used was searching for the 1964 Jim Beam decanter that was used for five seasons as Jeannie’s bottle. There was a big market for the bottles back then - and still is. Fast forward another 15 years or so to 2010. I visited some good friends in Michigan a few days before Thanksgiving and discovered they owned one of the decanters! I had never held one in my hand until that day. Later that night, back home, I pulled up eBay and commenced bidding. 7 days later , delivered to my door just as young Michael had often wished, was a pristine 46 year old bottle. It lives on my sideboard now in a place of honor. It’s hard to describe how happy owning this silly piece of history makes me. Call me silly but the first day I had it, I’d stop and just look at it or pick it up. It made me feel good. Why did I wait so long? Arthur C. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:24:17 +0100 894310 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/20/andy-mulligan-trash-blue-peter The children's author Andy Mulligan talks about his thriller, Trash, and how Blue Peter ducked a chance to take their viewers beyond the 'cotton-wool world' when they removed it from their book prize shortlistAndy Mulligan doesn't look like the kind of author you'd expect to find at the heart of a controversy around the "suitability" of his work for children. A mild-mannered, scholarly-looking English teacher in his mid-40s, Mulligan's first novel was a comic tale for 10-year-olds about an absurd school, Ribblestrop. But it's his second, Trash, which has sparked a debate over children's reading. A thriller about streetkids living on a dumpsite in the developing world, it was shortlisted for the Blue Peter award by the prize's judges, only to be dropped when they were overruled by one of the programme's editors. Not that there's any of the heroin abuse or underage sex which usually gets adult readers of children's books hot under the collar. The book was allegedly removed from the shortlist over a scene of violence, and one use of the word "shit".Mulligan describes himself as "disappointed" by a decision that came a week after he had been told he was a contender in the Favourite Stories category of the prize. The award is aimed at the TV programme's audience of, roughly, six to 12-year-olds – does he think his book should have been nominated for that age group?"There are some books that are unsuitable for children. I'd be surprised to see Burroughs' Naked Lunch on the equivalent shortlist," he says. "But a good book will upset someone, because the moment you engage with someone's imagination, you take them into both light and dark. Ask Philip Pullman. Ask Michael Morpurgo. Ask even Beatrix Potter, whose cosy animals were hunted, shot at and traumatised. What's 'suitable' is the journey we ask our readers to make. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0100 894011 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16273 Business Librarian (York University, Ontario) Peter F. Bronfman Business Library Business Librarian – Continuing Appointment   York University Libraries seeks a motivated and service-oriented librarian to serve as a member of the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library and to provide reference and research assistance, instruction, collections and liaison services related to business teaching and research at York University, with special responsibilities in the area of finance. Details are available at: http://webapps.yorku.ca/academichiringviewer/viewposition.jsp?positionnumber=1181 YorkUniversityis an Affirmative Action Employer. The Affirmative Action Program can be found on York's website at www.yorku.ca/acadjobs/ or a copy can be obtained by calling the affirmative action office at 416-736-5713. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:05:01 +0100 893908 http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/dec/20/stephen-sondheim-life-music-profile 'I'm a great audience. I cry very easily. I suspend disbelief in two seconds'When Stephen Sondheim was in his 30s, he would get approached, occasionally, by out-of-town theatre companies, struggling with a production. He was the hot new thing, the lyricist of West Side Story and Gypsy and in demand as a play doctor, so off he went. He laughs at the memory. "Every single one of them was a failure. I didn't help them at all!" In the coming years, he found his voice writing "musicals that startled people", and his appeal changed. "I have not," he says drily, "been asked out of town, or for advice, for 40 years."Sondheim turned 80 this year, an age when "a certain amount of venerability is available", and he has spent much of the year attending galas and tribute evenings. He is glad to return to his Manhattan townhouse of 50 years – Katharine Hepburn used to live next door – where, on a freezing New York night, he sits on the sofa in a warm pool of light, fussed at by two black poodles. When he speaks, he rubs his eyes furiously as if to aid concentration.His new book, Finishing the Hat: The Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, sounds like a nerdy exercise only Sondheim fanatics might go for, an exposition of his work from 1954 (Saturday Night) to '81 (Merrily We Roll Along). A second volume, going from Sunday in the Park with George to the present, is due at the end of 2011. The success of the book has surprised him; it is in its fifth imprint and has been widely praised, not just by the specialists. It works along the same lines as his songwriting, which he boils down in the opening pages to three principles: less is more, content dictates form, and god is in the details. "It's always fun," he says, "to read anybody who is expounding a craft, as long as they do it in detail and they're passionate about it. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:00:00 +0100 893897 http://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-first-library-card.html I got my first library card when I was in grade one. I was only six years old then. I remember how my teacher, Ms. Pagkalinawan, would have us all grade one students line up for a trip to the library. Our library at that time looked like a cave with its walls painted white. There were books on display and we were allowed to choose books we can borrow for a period of time. The librarian, Ms. (Source: School Librarian in Action) Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894983 http://yourlibrarycsu.blogspot.com/2010/12/highlights-of-new-titles.html On not being able to paint by Marion Milner Milner’s great study, first published in 1950, discusses the nature of creativity and those forces which prevent its expression. Check AvailabilityThe miracle of mindfulness : a manual on meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh In this beautifully written book, Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominess Thich Nhat Hanh explains how to acquire the skills of mindfulness. Check AvailabilitySin city : crime and corruption in 20th-century Sydney by Tim Girling-Butcher Few cities have experienced such overt corruption as Sydney during the 20th century. From crooked police, politicians and members of the judiciary, through to the ingenious criminals who had them in their pockets, Sin City examines some of the big names and illicit activities associated with this controversial topic. Check AvailabilityAction plan for high blood pressure by Jon G. Divine Based on proven research, this exercise-based plan will teach readers the best exercises for controlling blood pressure; correct exercise technique; and how diet, medication, and exercise interact to affect blood pressure. Check AvailabilityCutting edge advertising : how to create the world's best print for brands in the 21st century by Jim Aitchison This is the first step-by-step guide to creating cutting-edge print ads, covering everything from how advertising works, how brand-building methodologies are changing, how to get an idea, and how copy and art should be crafted. Check AvailabilityExtra lives : why video games matter by Tom Bissell Extra Lives is an impassioned defense of this assailed and misunderstood art form. Bissell argues that we are in a golden age of gaming—but he also believes games could be even better. He offers a fascinating and often hilarious critique of the ways video games dazzle and, just as often, frustrate. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894770 http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2010/12/dress-for-diana-by-david-elizabeth.html I never planned to blog about this book, since we've probably blogged about too many wedding books already, but given all the interest in Kate & William's wedding in April, it seems appropriate. This is a gorgeous, 9" x 11" book, filled mostly with photos and sketches, and written by the married couple who designed Princess Diana's wedding dress. It all began when Elizabeth Emanuel designed a wedding dress for her and David's joint graduation show at the Royal College of Art, which Brides magazine later featured. After they graduated, they leased cheap space in a building owned by the Queen's milliner and started to design dresses for people like Bianca Jagger. Their shop was conveniently close to Vogue's offices, and Vogue selected one of their blouses to their photo shoot of Diana during the engagement. Then, Diana had them design the infamous black dress she wore with Charles to their first official event. As the Emanuels describe it in the book: "The transformation was incredible. She arrived looking like the nursery school teacher she was, but now she looked like a movie star. . . . We hadn't considered the fact that when Diana bent over - as she would have to do when getting out of the car - she would show quite a lot of cleavage."The book has lots of interesting anecdotes about how the design was kept a secret from the press camped out outside, about the ladies who embroidered it, the toile versions of the dress made before work on the actual dress began, etc. If you are the kind of person who likes hearing about other people's wedding details, you'll like the parts about Diana's handmade wedding shoes, her veil with 10,000 hand-sewn sequins, and bouquet of English-grown flowers. Her "something old" was the lace used on the bodice, which was once owned by Queen Mary. She borrowed her tiara, a Spencer family heirloom, and a little blue bow was sewn into the back of the dress. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894722 http://acrlog.org/2010/12/20/a-day-for-design/ Last week I attended the ACRL/NY Symposium here in New York City. It was the first time I’d been to my local chapter’s annual program and a fun day: great speakers and posters and a nice opportunity to catch up with colleagues from libraries in the NYC metro area. The theme of this year’s program was Innovation by Design: Re-Visioning the Library which, as the day’s first speaker reminded us, could not be more timely. Bill Mayer, University Librarian at American University in DC, started us off with his talk “Redesigning Relevance: Creating New Traditions in Library Design.” He noted that in this economic climate renovation is often the new new construction: many of our institutions won’t have the budget for new buildings, so it’s important to make the most of what we have. Mayer reminded us that the recent Ithaka report reveals that faculty use of our physical spaces is declining. He encouraged us to think about how we can make the library best for students, our primary users. He sees library-as-warehouse as an outdated model, and recommends reducing the collections and materials kept onsite as well as increasing reliance on consortial collections to free up more space for students to use. Mayer shared some of the ways that this kind of redesign has been implemented at American University. After moving many volumes to offsite storage, they discovered that the additional space available for the books that remained made it easier for students to find books. Students wanted more computer workstations and access to wireless, so they added more space for student work too. Mayer cautioned that of course local conditions matter — there’s no one size fits all approach. He suggests making our process inclusive and asking faculty, students, and administrators for input during the process. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 894049 http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/2010/12/faculty-award-for-il-nice-idea.html The University of Alberta Augustana Campus Library has a Teaching Faculty Award for the Support of Information Literacy since 2005. It is given to an Augustana Campusteaching faculty member who has contributed consistently and notably to the promotion of information literacy, and has been nominated by staff or students.Dr. Roger Epp, Dean of Augustana Faculty and Professor of Political Studies at Augustana, is the winner this year. There is a picture and short video here: http://www.library.ualberta.ca/augustana/infolit/awards/#faculty"Roger has really supported the teaching culture in the Augustana Library and enabled librarians to take a lead on Information Literacy initiatives both in and outside the classroom. He encourages and recognizes the innovation on the part of the librarians" noted Nancy Goebel, Augustana Head Librarian and Chair of the Award Committee.This seems a good idea to encourage non-librarians to take information literacy seriously. They also have a Student Award for Library Research.Photo by Sheila Webber: Snow a couple of weeks ago, Sheffield. (Source: Information Literacy Weblog) Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893995 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Davidrothmannet/~3/6YXVIrAb6lc/ It is entirely possible that I’m just dense, but everything I’ve read recently about libraries and “transliteracy” seems like nonsense to me. Here’s how I’ve been thinking about it. Literacy Very briefly, the term literacy1 refers to either: 1. The ability to read and write or 2. Knowledge of, skill in, or competence in an specific area or subject. The former is a very real concern if the university professors and academic librarians I know are to be believed.2 Still, I think we’re mostly concerned with the latter. Sorts of Literacies: My wife and I frequently talk about our aspirations for the cultural literacy of our children. We think that they need to hear stories from Mother Goose, the Brothers Grimm, Aesop’s Fables, and (to the surprise of some who know us) both the Hebrew and Christian bibles. We’re atheists, but we know that stories from the bible(s) are frequently referenced in literature and in life- and that knowledge of these stories will enhance their understanding of the world around them. Plenty of people tell me that they need help with something because they are not computer literate. I don’t know that I much like this term (I think that lack of confidence is a more frequent problem than actual incapability), but the popularity of its use can’t be denied. People know that to be “computer illiterate” is to be unskilled in the use of computers. ... Mon, 20 Dec 2010 02:47:30 +0100 893912 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pandia/vfbc/~3/rQlV2NVCayI/3372-yahoo-stumbles-and-other-search-engine-news.html We have found some interesting news articles regarding Yahoo! this week. Yahoo! (YHOO) is going to close down search engine old timers AltaVista and AlltheWeb. No, this does not really matter that much, as they now serve as experimental interfaces to the regular Yahoo! search results. The Yahoo! search results are, as most of you will know, powered by Bing. AltaVista and AlltheWeb have not had their own search index or algorithms for a long time. May they rest in peace. More serious is the fact that Yahoo! is getting rid of bookmarking service Delicious.com. As far as we can see, it is not going to be closed down. It will probably be sold off to someone else. Yahoo! has wasted a great opportunity with delicious, one of the best and most popular bookmarking services out there. The fact that the company has not been able to integrate it into its business strategy, says a lot about the company’s inability to develop a coherent product portfolio. Yahoo! will apparently also close down Yahoo! Bookmarks, its alternative bookmarking service, as well as Yahoo! Buzz, a digg like social web site. This is not all: Yahoo! is also changing Yahoo! Video. You can no longer upload videos and user-generated content will be removed on March 15 2010. We guess this could be noted as another death by YouTube. On top of it all Yahoo! is announcing lay-offs. All of this must come as a serious blow to Yahoo! employees, and will probably lead to Yahoo! bleeding off even more talent. At the same time both Bing and Google have been announcing several new innovations. This week Bing told the world about closer integration with Facebook, local search enhancements, improvements in Bing Maps, mobile apps and much more. ... Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:53:49 +0100 894256 http://www.lisnews.org/librarians_lifesavers These are from the Rochester, NY area: Libraries have long been about more than books, but in the city they now deliver life support in the shape of information. Kids seek homework assistance from high school tutors. Some libraries offer adults help acquiring the basic literacy skills they need to undertake a GED program — sometimes in libraries with the help of volunteer teachers. Adults from some of the city's poorest neighborhood find that they cannot apply for even fast-food restaurant or retail jobs without an online application, and librarians can help them establish a Yahoo or Gmail account so they can receive e-mail responses to those applications. Libraries have income tax forms, and sometimes have volunteer tax preparers available to answer questions. "We're meeting the needs of the community," says Shelley Matthews, the northwest quadrant librarian who oversees the Lyell Avenue, Maplewood and Charlotte branches. "And those are the needs." (Source: LISNews - Librarian And Information Science News) Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:29:42 +0100 894894 http://lisnews.org/librarians_lifesavers These are from the Rochester, NY area: Libraries have long been about more than books, but in the city they now deliver life support in the shape of information. Kids seek homework assistance from high school tutors. Some libraries offer adults help acquiring the basic literacy skills they need to undertake a GED program — sometimes in libraries with the help of volunteer teachers. Adults from some of the city's poorest neighborhood find that they cannot apply for even fast-food restaurant or retail jobs without an online application, and librarians can help them establish a Yahoo or Gmail account so they can receive e-mail responses to those applications. Libraries have income tax forms, and sometimes have volunteer tax preparers available to answer questions. "We're meeting the needs of the community," says Shelley Matthews, the northwest quadrant librarian who oversees the Lyell Avenue, Maplewood and Charlotte branches. "And those are the needs." (Source: LISNews.org) Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:29:42 +0100 893859 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/19/12-steps-compassionate-life-review Is compassion really at the heart of religion?It feels irreverent, if not actually blasphemous, to question a work by Karen Armstrong. Since her book A History of God was published in 1993, she has established herself as a historian of religion of magisterial authority. A one-woman industry on the subject, she has produced a string of texts that have been marked not only by their depth of research and understanding, but by their wisdom and sanity.This has been particularly important at a time when religious warfare has broken out with all the old bitterness but is being waged with new and more destructive weapons. She has positioned herself as an independent mediator who interprets religion with considerable intelligence to its cultured despisers, while at the same time taking on religion's angry warriors, who often appear to be ignorant of the theological subtleties of the faiths they claim to be championing.If we can talk about an Armstrong project, there seem to be two main planks in its platform, both of them built solidly into her new book. The first is her concept of mythos as opposed to logos as the language of religion. Logos is factual, scientific knowledge, whereas mythos is "an attempt to express some of the more elusive aspects of life that cannot easily be expressed in logical, discursive speech". For instance, she discusses the Greek myth of Demeter, goddess of harvest and grain, and her daughter, Persephone. She says that to ask the Greeks whether there was any historical basis to the myth would be obtuse. The evidence for the truth of the myth was the way the world came to birth in the spring after the death of winter. I agree that the Demeter story is a proper myth, one that uses narrative to express a timeless truth.The same would be true of the myth of the Garden of Eden, a story not about an aboriginal couple who pinched an apple, but about the enduring existence of human discontent. ... Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:04:05 +0100 893714 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/davidleeking/~3/uiQejqMreI8/ OK – first for the apology. Some of you have told me I was dismissive in my last three post, especially when I used phrases like “up in your grill.” I apologize for that. I really didn’t mean to sound dismissive – it was an attempt at humor while talking about a difficult subject. Honestly, it usually works – but it’s also not usually about such a sensitive issue. In this case, I failed miserably, and for that, I definitely apologize. Now on to the next part of the post – While my views on names and pics on websites haven’t really changed, it does bring up an interesting issue I’m seeing. With the name/pic thing, some of you have asked for what you would see as a more reasonable “opt in” approach. Here’s where I fall on that – opt in/volunteering usually doesn’t work to it’s full potential. In Topeka, it’s either someone’s job or it isn’t – we’re not fans of the opt-in approach. That said, of course we get staff buy-in for new projects first, which makes the whole “this is now part of your job” thing much easier. But this opt-in idea … in many libraries, it’s not just for whatever personal info goes on the library’s website. It’s also for other job duties, even for services of the library, like programming, teaching classes, or IM reference. I’ve seen volunteering for posting to a blog or for maintaining the library’s Facebook presence. I think a much better way to do things is for the library to set strategic goals, with staff input into those goals. After that, it’s management’s job to change/adapt the work to be done to meet those organizational priorities. There’s really no room for opt-in there. ... Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:03:37 +0100 893947 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/llnVDPsH_Sw/canadian-journal-for-scholarship-of.html The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning - Volume 1, Issue 2 (2010) is now available online (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Sat, 18 Dec 2010 10:33:16 +0100 893646 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/18/music-books-christmas-roundup1 Huw Richards on the real sporting stories of the last 12 monthsThat the personal is also publishable has long been the unspoken credo of the William Hill prize – sport's answer to the Booker – a tendency underpinned by its having, unlike the Booker, continuity of judges. From a 130-entry list notable for depth, they followed established tastes in choosing former rugby player Brian Moore's Beware of the Dog (Simon & Schuster, £7.99). The England hooker's second book follows one of the game's better ghosted memoirs (1995) and digs much deeper into an abrasively intelligent, ultra-competitive persona. Moore tells unflinchingly of sexual abuse by a teacher, an alter ego named Gollum and insecurities that made him both an outstanding player and a difficult human being. It is rarely comfortable, but always compelling.It is, author Tom English acknowledges, greatly to Moore's credit that he helped with The Grudge (Yellow Jersey, £12.99), a vivid recreation of one of his bitterest days – England's defeat by Scotland in 1990. English emphasises a political context in which an England team led and epitomised by Will Carling, who emerges more sympathetically than usual, were cast as avatars of Thatcherism. Moore, while relishing his casting as a hate-figure for Scots, sympathised with their political grievances.If Moore is a worthy beneficiary of William Hill preferences, Jonathan Wilson, the most interesting current football writer, has been their victim. His tactical history, Inverting the Pyramid, is one of the best sports books of the past decade, never mind of the year in which it was shortlisted. This year's The Anatomy of England (Orion, £14.99) isn't quite that good, but by other standards it's exceptional. As ever, Wilson is tactically, historically and culturally literate, with a sharp eye for telling anecdote. ... Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:06:56 +0100 893565 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/18/adrian-mole-sue-townsend-bookclub Week two: Sue Townsend describes how Adrian Mole and his diary emerged from an old cardboard boxI had one ambition when I was a child, and that was to grow up and become an adult. I couldn't wait to get the hell out of childhood.I was a secretive, reckless girl, who enjoyed sitting on the swaying top branch of a tree, looking down on the everyday world. Acute curiosity led me to explore the Leicestershire countryside. I set off on my Pink Witch bike. I didn't have a companion. Companions were forever whining that they were tired and hungry and wanted the toilet. When I got hungry I would search for a specific grass. It had velvety leaves and a sweet inner stalk. While I nibbled on the stalk I read my book. There was always a book – I knew no child who read with the same passion as me. After visiting the village church and listening to the loudness of the silence and saying hello to Jesus, I would pedal home in the twilight. Nobody asked me where I'd been, and I didn't volunteer the information.I left school at 14. I was an Easter leaver, a no-hoper. But since being taught about infinity I felt that nothing really mattered, that we humans were transient specks in the universe. I had started to arrive late at school, I stopped doing my homework, I played truant. When teachers got angry I would switch off and think about infinity. Like many writers I had an influential English teacher – pale, austere Miss Morris, who expected us to learn a poem by heart each week: Shakespeare, Milton, GK Chesterton, Keats, Shelley, Sitwell, Wilde . . . We also wrote a weekly composition: "A Day in the Life of a Penny" and "I am a Chippendale Chair". I lost a school writing competition because, as Miss Morris told me sadly, "You used a cliché, Susan. Clouds like cotton wool."When I left school I continued to write, and because I knew it was no good, I kept my writing a secret – for 20 years. ... Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:06:50 +0100 893567 http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/12/article-note-on-graphic-novels-for.html Citation for the article: Downey, Elizabeth M. "Graphic Novels in Curriculum and Instruction Collections." Reference & User Services Quarterly 49.2 (Winter 2009): 181-188.Read online. Downey starts by stating that most of the LIS literature related to graphic novels looks at the form as either one for recreational reading, often for college students, or as historical and pop culture artifacts, in other words, stuff for academic courses. Personally, I wonder if the focus on college recreational reading reflects the fact that most of the LIS literature is written by librarians on college tenure lines and/or LIS professors. This is what comes natural in terms of writing topics. While there may be some who are not as familiar with the format, and as a result we often get objections and complaints about the form in terms of violence, sex, etc. (with many of the complaints unfounded and/or just reflective of certain less than enlightened interests), more educators are choosing to use graphic novels in the classroom as part of the curriculum.Downey argues that "part of the academic library's mission is to provide materials and resources for future educators" (182). Academic libraries should carry graphic novels not only for pleasure reading or for art or for pop culture but also to meet the needs of educators who are likely to use graphic novels in their curriculum. In other words, future teachers and school librarians, if they are going to use them in their classrooms, should have access to them during their teacher training period so they can read them and become familiar with them. Yet some academic institutions, according to a study the author cites from Library Resources and Technical Services, are still found to be lacking. The study revealed "that a considerable number of institutions supporting library science or education programs aren't actually collecting graphic novels for teens" (qtd. in 182). ... Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:22:00 +0100 893799 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/17/2011-calendar-what-months-mean For the G2 2011 calendar we asked authors to reflect on what significance the different months of the year have for them. But what do they mean to you?Follow this link to view the reader photographs in the calendar, or click on each month belowJanuaryIt's a rare person who saw last New Year's ­resolutions through to this January. But remember the story of Robert the Bruce, hiding from his enemies in a cave, who saw the spider climbing up its thread, falling back, starting again, until at last he made it to the top. "If at first you don't succeed," the valiant Scot consoled himself, "try, try, try again." A very January sort of story.January is the best month. The excesses of December are behind us. Now it's payback time, but so much the better. The colder and harder the ground is, the better everything will blossom come spring. Look at it this way, as you pull on woollies, wonder why your children hate wearing coats, and worry about heating bills.Fay WeldonFebruaryIt's been dark and cold for ever. Nothing has changed, no time has passed. It seems it will ­always be February. Colours scrunch into a stingy palette of grey-white/grey-brown/grey-grey. Forecasters battle over superlatives: is it the worst winter in 30 years, or a century? On this ceaseless temporal treadmill there's nothing to look forward to. Delicious. Life's most underrated emotion is self-pity.Valentine's Day, yet another excuse to feel sorry for myself: my ­husband forgot. If not, I rue we're never this ­romantic the rest of the year.February is for ­curmudgeons, whinge-bags and misanthropes. You can't begrudge us one month of the year, or blame us for being even crabbier, it's so short. There is nothing good about it, which is why it's so great.Lionel ShriverMarchMarch is a month of magic and mutability. Its presiding deity is change. True magic is not pulling rabbits out of hats; it is the trans­formation of things. In March, seeds are transformed into plants. ... Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:30:00 +0100 893351 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/MKuf/~3/zvqoZWxGmM0/spreading-holiday-cheer-with-charitable.html The past couple of years have been a challenging stretch for charitable organizations as giving tends to decline during economic downturns when the need is highest. Charitable giving was down 3.6% in 2009, only the second year there’s been a drop since Giving USA began their reports in 1956. We continue to be inspired, however, by organizations that have stepped up with creative and effective programs to address today’s challenges. We’re grateful for the millions of Google users who helped continue our success in 2010, and we want to do our part to help charitable organizations that are working tirelessly to meet increased need with decreased funding.In this spirit, our global sales team led by Nikesh Arora is giving a $20 million holiday gift that will provide:Schooling for 15,000 kids in poor communities in India through Bharti Foundation.Access to vital medication and health services, especially for women and girls, in post-conflict areas in Africa through Global Strategies for HIV Prevention.Vaccines to protect 50 million children from polio through UNICEF.Strategic support and online tools for 1.5 million social entrepreneurs through partners including Ashoka, NTEN, APC and LASA. Environmental education in the National Parks for 40,000 students through NatureBridge.We will exceed our 2010 target this year with charitable giving, with more than $145 million going to non-profits and academic institutions, and more than $184 million in total giving when including Google Grants, Google.org technology projects and product support for non-profits. Some of our major initiatives include:Supporting science and math education and education reform through partners including New Schools Venture, Teach for All, Citizens Schools and Posse Foundation. We provide scholarships to help dismantle barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields. ... Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893476 http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/2010/12/articles-on-learning-to-teach-school.html Library and Information Research (Volume 34 Number 107, 2010) has two interesting articles.Eveline Houtman: “Trying to figure it out”: Academic librarians talk about learning to teach"This qualitative research study explores, through the experiences of eight academic librarians in Ontario, Canada, how librarians learn to teach in the classroom. It uses narrative inquiry to study and share these experiences, an approach that is in the mainstream of teacher research, although little used in the library and information literature. Areas explored include the librarians‟ expectations of librarianship; what they learned at library school; teaching as learning; support from colleagues; continuing education; teacher identity; talking about teaching." http://www.lirg.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/246/303James Edward Herring: School students, information retrieval and transfer."This study sought to examine the views of students, teachers and teacher librarians on students’ attitudes to, use of, and reflections on, information retrieval, when completing curricular assignments. A second element of the research was to investigate the views of students, teachers and teacher librarians on the extent to which students might transfer information retrieval skills across time and across subjects. The research was carried out in three rural Australian schools. ... Findings from the study indicated that a minority of students both valued and would transfer information retrieval skills; the majority of students valued information retrieval skills but were unlikely to transfer skills without prompting; and a very small minority of students could not understand the concepts of information retrieval and transfer. The study also found that the schools lacked a culture of transfer."http://www.lirg.org.uk/lir/ojs/index.php/lir/article/view/242/301Photo by Sheila Webber: a snowman from last week (Source: Information Literacy Weblog) Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0100 893372 http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?rssjobid=16267 Science Liaison Librarian (Columbus State University, Georgia) Columbus State University Libraries invites well qualified candidates with energy, initiative, and vision to apply for the position of Science Liaison Librarian. ... Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:05:02 +0100 893231 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=61&BlogPostID=8126 Monty is an amazing first grade boy who loves to read.  In this book Monty has some surprises and changes.  He learns to deal with change like any typical first grader.  Monty reads a sign about two parakeets including the cage available to the first caller.  After waiting to ask his dad, Monty finds out the parakeets have already been spoken for by an earlier caller.  Monty handles the disappointment and then finds out his teacher is the one who spoke for the parakeets to be class pets. Monty struggles with asthma.  In the middle of a car wash with neighborhood friends, Ilene and Arlene and their mom, Monty has an asthma attack.  He is able to get his inhaler out and take care of his problem.   Monty is an only child but finds out he soon will become a big brother.  Monty becomes an amazing big brother, when his baby sister, Amanda Lee is born. First and second grade boys will find Mostly Monty, Mighty Monty and Amazing Monty wonderful books to read as Monty truly is a role model for young boys. (Source: Children's Books from Wright Memorial Public Library) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:40:01 +0100 893184 http://engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=4725&BlogID=61&BlogPostID=8127 I absolutely loved this book! Eleven-year-old Melody was born with Cerebral Palsy. Unable to walk, talk, or do just about anything for herself, she is often misunderstood by doctors, teachers, and other children as also having mental disabilities. But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Melody is actually quite brilliant, not that she is able to let anyone know. But her mother knows that she is not deficient and fights for her daughter to remain out of a mental institution and be included in classes at school. Still, Melody is frustrated listening to the same nursery rhymes and alphabet letters repeatedly. She is tired of not being able to answer questions in class like the other students. She is about to go out of her mind. She has a limited vocabulary she can access on the board she keeps on her wheelchair, but it cannot help her when her goldfish jumps out of his bowl, or when her newest teacher doesn't review the last teacher's notes about Melody enjoying books-on-tape. Only when a fellow classmate shows up at school one day with a new laptop does it suddenly occur to her that she needs a computer too, a special one that she can operate with only her thumbs. Once Catherine, her helper at school, understands her desire, they search and locate the "Medi-Talker" that finally allows Melody to communicate. As she and her next-door neighbor Mrs. V. program the machine to include thousands of words and phrases, Melody is finally able to participate better in her classes, and begin to change the opinions of her teachers and classmates, though not without resistance and disbelief. Melody eventually qualifies for the academic team and is beyond ecstatic when her team is chosen to head to the national competition in Washington D.C. But don't believe for one minute that this will have a fairy tale ending. This is both a hopeful and heart-breaking story highly recommended for readers in grades 4-8. ... Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:40:01 +0100 893182 http://lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu/enb/2010/12/16/national-environmental-education-foundation-announces-green-prize-in-public-education/ Public schools around the country that have successfully implemented innovative and sustainable school greening programs have an opportunity to be recognized for their efforts. The National Environmental Education Foundation, with major support from the National Education Association (NEA) Foundation and in partnership with EarthEcho Inc., will award a $10,000 Green Prize in Public Education to an outstanding public school that demonstrates success in engaging students, faculty and their local community in school greening efforts. Greening efforts can take a variety of forms, including a creative and innovative classroom curriculum that integrates the environment, changes in daily operations that lead to greater efficiency and resource conservation or physical improvements to school grounds and facilities. Through the leadership and involvements of educators, staff, parents, students, community partners and others, green schools provide rich opportunities for collaborative learning and problem solving. They also reduce costs, minimize waste, increase efficiency and contribute to a healthy environment. “Schools green themselves in many different ways, but they all have things in common – they inspire,” said Diane Wood, president of the National Environmental Education Foundation. “They are a teaching tool, not just for the students, but for the entire community. The Green Prize recognizes outstanding schools along with their dedicated teachers and students who advance environmental education and allows them to serve as a model for the entire country.” The Foundation will also award two additional schools $5,000 merit awards to supplement their school greening efforts. This is the second year for the Green Prize, conceived by the NEA Foundation and now managed by NEEF. In 2010, the NEA Foundation awarded the prize to Mike Town, an environmental science teacher at Redmond High School in Redmond, Washington. ... Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:18:04 +0100 893326 http://www.teleread.com/library/great-war-archive-rolled-out-in-germany/ From the JISC release: The German National Library, Oxford University and Europeana have signed an agreement to digitise family papers and memorabilia from the First World War. The collaboration will bring German soldiers’ stories online alongside their British counterparts in a 1914-18 archive. JISC planted the seed in 2008 when it funded the The Great War Archive which is run by Oxford University Computing Services. People across Britain contributed family letters, photographs and keepsakes from the War to be digitised. The success of the idea has encouraged Europeana, Europe’s digital archive, library and museum, to bring the German National Library into an alliance with Oxford University to roll out the scheme in Germany. Alastair Dunning, JISC digitisation programme manager, says: “We are delighted that its initial funding in the Great War Archive has now blossomed to expand on the European dimension of the original project. The inclusion of German narrative in this current will not only provide valuable material for teachers and researchers, but help strengthen the joint understanding of the Great War.” There will be a series of roadshows in libraries around Germany that will encourage people to bring documents and artefacts from family members involved in the First World War to be digitised by mobile scanning units, and to tell the stories that go with them. There will also be a website allowing people to submit material online if they are unable to attend the local events. Everything submitted will also be available through Europeana, where it will add a new perspective to collections of First World War material from institutions across Europe. More info at the site. (Source: TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:13:34 +0100 893165 http://mblc.state.ma.us/jobs/find_jobs/rss.php?job_id=6515 This is the position of Teaching Assistant-Library Aide within the Hopkinton Public School district. Hopkinton takes great pride in its community and its schools, and is dedicated to creating a world-class public education system. Our educators are committed to our mission to equip all students with the skills and knowledge to become productive citizens and lifelong learners by providing appropriate learning opportunities in a physical, social, and emotional environment that fosters fulfillment of each student's potential. DUTIES: Under the supervision of the Library Specialist, the duties of the Teaching Assistant-Library Aide will vary, depending upon assignment. (Source: MBLC Job Listings) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:10:03 +0100 893109 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/iRcS/~3/wQMadh-b2_w/great-war-archive-rolled-out-in-germany.html The German National Library, Oxford University and Europeana have signed an agreement to digitise family papers and memorabilia from the First World War. The collaboration will bring German soldiers' stories online alongside their British counterparts in a 1914-18 archive. JISC planted the seed in 2008 when it funded the The Great War Archive1 which is run by Oxford University Computing Services. People across Britain contributed family letters, photographs and keepsakes from the War to be digitised. The success of the idea has encouraged Europeana, Europe's digital archive, library and museum, to bring the German National Library into an alliance with Oxford University to roll out the scheme in Germany. Alastair Dunning, JISC digitisation programme manager, says: "We are delighted that its initial funding in the Great War Archive has now blossomed to expand on the European dimension of the original project. The inclusion of German narrative in this current will not only provide valuable material for teachers and researchers, but help strengthen the joint understanding of the Great War" (Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog) Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:38:44 +0100 893125