What is Beauty?

I am forever grateful to Will Richardson... he is a wealth of information today. He is even concerned with the image our girls have of themselves... he introduced this video to us today... take a look. It shows us that beauty isn't skin deep... it's a complete fabrication!



I think everyone could look like a movie star with this technique!
:-)

Conger Picture

Bet you thought you would find a picture of me... but no, I had to introduce you to the real Conger. This picture of the Conger Eel comes to via Flikr thanks to mkrzysztofowicz. I never intended to post a picture of a Conger Eel on my blog but thanks to Will Richarson... I now know how! :-)

Will Richardson visits the IU! IU 23 that is...

So, how great is it that the author of my text book for next semester is doing a workshop at my Intermediate Unit and I got to be here thanks to a wonderful principal?

Will Richardson the author of "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" is here in Montgomery County today and all is well!!

How will I explain to my principal what I learned today? Simple, I will send him the link to my blog!!!

RSS

Wow! Who knew RSS could be explained in English?
Check this out...

Click To Play

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start.

Are You Teaching With Technology?

I love teaching with technology. I look for interesting ways to bring technology into my library. But, I must admit I have not used all of the technologies talked about in this video... let alone taught with them. Watch and think how you will introduce a new technology into your classroom before June... the year is almost over don't wait! Scared? Don't know how to use the technology your school district provides? Maybe one of your students is already using this technology and can help!
:-)

Fear Technology Not...

I am a big technology fan. Some think I should be shaking in my boots behind the stacks in my library because libraries are dead. I don't believe that. Libraries may not look the same in the future but if there is one thing I know about librarians, it is they know that shift happens. Librarians will be ready when the shift comes, will you? I found this great piece on Teacher Tube. Enjoy!

Sports Illustrated Halts Swimsuit Issue in Libraries

I am a librarian. I select books and magazines to put into a school library. Selection is a lot different than censorship. Selection denotes knowledge of one’s audience, what they like, what they want to read. Selection is not censorship. I am against censorship. In fact, it is the librarian’s code of ethics to hate censorship of any kind. Is it any wonder that librarians are upset with the publishers of Sports Illustrated? What made The Time Inc. Magazine Company think librarians would not be upset when they took the liberty to censor what librarians put on the shelf? Sports Illustrated magazine’s swimsuit issue was not sent to any library in the country: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6422838.html. I have to admit that my K-5 library no longer subscribes to Sports Illustrated and it has nothing to do with the swimsuit issue. It has to do with the 5 to 10 year old audience the library serves. We now subscribe to Sports Illustrated for Kids, which caters to this age group. Censorship is wrong, in a school library it is all about audience appropriate selection.

The Internet in 1993... we've come a long way.

Do you remember what the Internet was like in 1993? Were you on line in 1993? Check out this Canadian news broadcast... I don't think they mention Al Gore...

Web2.0 Defined

I love this.

If you are confused about Web2.0 take a look at this from YouTube.





As a teacher/librarian I do not encourage my young students to use Wikipedia simply because there are better sources for their research projects and with their luck they will hit Wikipedia on a day when someone is tampering with information. However, being a grad student sometimes it is necessary to use Wikipedia and sometimes you can find wonderful stuff. I never knew what a mind or concept map was until my last grad class when I had to produce one. The reason I am going on and on about concept maps is that I found a wonderful one describing Web2.0 in Wikipedia.
Check it out at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.

Internet Tags

As a librarian I tend to question a lot of things that most people take for granted. For example, Internet Tags. The Internet is a big place, a big un-cataloged place. The kinds of cataloging and classification I am talking about deals with finding information. In the library we use the Dewey Decimal System. Have been using it for over a century now. Before the Dewey Decimal System came into being books were located behind the librarian’s desk in closed stacks and if you wanted a book you had to ask. The Internet is kind of like that right now. It is a big closed stack of information. Oh, once in a while you can ask Google for a site to help you locate the information you need, but then you have to take the sites they give you, just like you had to take the books that librarian gave you years ago. You have to accept what Google decides is a good source ranked by their standards, very similar to using those old closed stacks. Mostly you get the most popular sites, not the sights with the most accurate information and it is very difficult for students in elementary and middle school to judge what sites are accurate, that is up to us school librarians to teach them, but I digress.

By and large the Internet does not have a system that helps users find relevant information in a quick systematic way. Now enter Tags, the kinds of tags that are used on Web 2.0 websites such as Del.icio.us and FURL, Flickr and Wink. There are other places out there on the web with Tags to help find things from photographs to blogs. But the tags themselves are just words made up by people like you and me, they are not specialists in the field of finding information, let alone finding it quickly. There is no librarian out there cataloging the Internet. And this is not coming from me, according to Wikipedia:

“A tag is a (relevant) keyword or term associated with or assigned to a piece of information
(like picture, article, or video clip), thus describing the item and enabling keyword-based
classification of information it is applied to.
Tags are usually chosen informally and personally by the author/creator of the item —
i.e. not usually as part of some formally defined classification scheme.”

And there is where my problem with tags lies. How the heck do I know what the author/creator used as a keyword for his or her picture, article, video clip, or blog? Keywords are great but what if the author chose automobile and not car as the keyword for his picture of his Chevy Nova that I want to buy? If I search car, I will never get to that Nova of my dreams. Should there be a standardization of tags? I think so. I am not only in favor of a classification system of keyword tags; I think they should be linked to the Library of Congress Subject Authorities and to the Dewey Classification System. The Internet is here to stay, isn’t it about time we make it a little easier to navigate?

I actually was just introduced to a new article on Tagging on LM_Net, however I have not had a chance to read it yet and will blog again once I do.

Skype-o-phobe

As a “power librarian” I never considered myself afraid of technology until today. We have a 2-hour delay and my in-laws are here. They came down to breakfast this morning and found me listening to a podcast. That prompted an explanation of podcasting. Since the podcast (guess I should really be using the term netcast) I was listening to was of a live netcast that used Skype to call into the program, I had to explain Skype which is where my techno-fear comes in… I am Skype-o-phobic. I have a copy downloaded on my desktop but I have never used it. Why haven’t I? It’s because I am afraid. I don’t know exactly how to use it so it is easier not to use it. Now I know how other teachers in my building feel about the SMART Board. I am lucky, the SMART Board is in my library and I can play around on it to find out how it works. But what about Skype? I think that is a different story. I can play around on the SMART Board when no one is looking or listening. Skype is out there for all to use and call… who do I Skype with that will be understanding of a newbie? Hopefully, I can get someone to show me how to use Skype to allay my fears and I will show teachers in my building how to use the SMART Board to allay their fears. That is the way it has to be with technology… we have to help each other so that we can become technology and information literate. Technology is not something I should be afraid of… it is a tool… I shouldn’t be afraid of tools! The students in my building are not afraid of technology and I should not be either. Skype away!... who knows where it will lead… maybe my own netcast! Consider the technological possibilities.

Juvenile Series & Sequels Database

Many thanks to the bookdragon (http://thebookdragon.blogspot.com/) for turning me on to this wonderful website that tells the names of books in a series. I won't have to falter when one of my students asks me which book comes third in the Artemis Fowl series. (Yes, even PowerLibrarians can falter when put on the spot!) Now I don't have to worry, I can bring up this website, check it out for myself and give the student an answer quickly. The site is:

http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv/

Mid-Continent Public Library is responsible for the site and I applaud them for their effort. It makes finding a series much easier. No matter which jobber I choose to use, this database will help with book selection. It also gives definitions for the audiences that the books in the database are geared toward. Since these are audiences I deal with, I will be using this site often and will recommend it to parents, teachers and students. Again... thanks bookdragon.

Last Day of Library Classes

It is hard to believe that I have finished my first year as an elementary school librarian. Today was the last day of library classes. It seems like I just opened the library and now it is the end of the school year. It all seems like a blur. It is now time for assessment. Assessment of myself as a librarian. So far all I see are the things I have not done. After I get all the books put away and back in order I will take some time and do a comprehensive self evaluation.

www.powerlibrarian.blogspot.com

Valentine's Day- Day 1

This is my first attempt at a blog. It is a little strange having my thoughts published for the world to see. So, if you are viewing this, know that what you are seeing are the published thoughts of a fledgling librarian and blogger. Hopefully, I will grow in both and the novice will learn to be as the name of this blog suggests a PowerLibrarian! In the meantime, I will continue to post to this site as I learn and grow in my new profession.
Just Me,
Jan
:-)