The Buzz
RSSBy Staff -- School Library Journal, 04/01/2006
Got a Bone to Pick with Lawrence Lessig? Say It Here.
Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University professor and tireless challenger of copyright restrictions, has launched a wiki about his work. It’s intended for critical responses, specifically about his books, including Free Culture, which was released in 2004 under a Creative Commons license. “The aim is to build a text that would complement my own work,” Lessig wrote on his Web site. wiki.lessig.org/index.php/Anti-Lessig_Reader.
Follett Software Company’s newly released Destiny Asset Manager uses a browser-based interface and scanner technology to keep track of all of a school’s fixed and portable assets. Besides a description of the item, Destiny Asset Manager details where it’s housed, who has it now, and when it’s due back. And any authorized user with access to a browser can retrieve a record instantly. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.fsc.follett.com.
A baby wiki, that is. Valenza, the teacher librarian at Springfield Township High School in Erdenheim, PA, brought the online tool into the world last month as a forum for media specialists. She likens the “teacher librarian wiki” to a professional sandbox in which her peers can play with ideas before taking them to the classroom or their administrator. Although the project makes her “feel like a nervous mother,” Valenza is enthusiastic about the opportunity to share. “I see [the wiki] as a space where practicing teacher librarians, library educators, and preservice librarians could build on each others’ best work,” she says. Valenza is especially interested in fostering a discussion about emerging practice related to Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs and wikis. You can find the wiki—a great way to experiment with the technology, especially if you haven’t tried it before—at teacherlibrarianwiki.pbwiki.com. The password is “dewey.”
Patrons of the Queens (NY) Library can now mine the institution’s catalog and subscription databases simultaneously, thanks to the installation of AquaBrowser Library (AB). The product, by the Library Corporation (TLC), enables users to search multiple sources of information and provides a visual map of related areas of interest known as a “word cloud.” Conventional catalogs require exact search terms; AB finds items using associations. And what does this mean for younger patrons? “With AB, youngsters needn’t have knowledge of complicated search techniques to find what they need,” says TLC spokesperson Janene Witchey. “AB “guides” them on that search discovery. If they’re interested, they can click on terms in the word cloud and follow paths to more information.” www.tlcdelivers.com/aquabrowser.
The impending release of a video game in which players engage in schoolyard beatings has inspired one Florida school district to fight back. The Miami-Dade School Board voted March 15 to approve a resolution urging retailers not to sell the game Bully to minors and ordering schools to issue a warning to parents about the potential harmful effects to children of playing violent games, reports the Miami Herald. “As a troublesome schoolboy, you’ll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school, Bullworth Academy,” reads the promotional blurb on Bully, which is expected to be released this year by Rockstar, creator of the infamous series of Grand Theft Auto games. Those opposing the resolution included the board’s student advisor, Arielle Maffei, and a classmate, who described himself as both a top student and an avid gamer.
This month, Samsung introduces a slick new digital camera housed in a decidedly retro package. Sure to appeal to design geeks and old shutterbugs alike, the new Digimax L85 sports the classic black and silver chassis of a 35mm film camera. But it’s what’s inside that counts, after all, and the L85 features a whopping eight megapixel capacity and includes a Schneider 5x optical zoom lens and a 2.5-inch LCD display. The L85 also sports 32 MB of built-in memory and MPEG-4 video compression, which allows recording times that are three to four times longer than the standard digital camera. The L85 retails for about $500. www.samsungcamerausa.com/pma2006.
Today’s young digital natives can surf the Web and instant message their friends, and yet they may not be developing the tech skills necessary to function in the 21st century. The International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) new book, NETS•S: Resources for Student Assessment, by Jon Haber and M. G. (Peggy) Kelly, is a guide for measuring students’ ability to use technology effectively for learning. Based on the NETS, ISTE’s national education technology standards, the book provides detailed guidelines for creating and choosing reliable tests of technology literacy for various grades, as well as case studies and best practices at the site, district, and state levels. The book costs $35.95 for ISTE members and $39.95 for nonmembers. www.iste.org/bookstore.
New Multimedia Kits for Schools and Libraries
Responding to the growing use of multimedia tools in the classroom and library, Califone has released a set of new DVD products. The San Fernando–CA-based company’s offerings include two DVD Learning Centers designed for group learning. The DVD50 Learning Center contains a portable DVD player with a seven-inch screen, two multimedia stereo headphones, and a carrying case. Besides a top-loading DVD player, Califone’s DVD105 has six headphones and a 10-position jackbox inside a storage case. Unlike most consumer brands, according to the company, Califone offers a warranty on its DVD players that specifically covers school and library use. The DVD50 retails for $375, the DVD105, $315. Califone.com.
