Money Hungry: These Web resources help you through the grant seeking process By Gail Junion-Metz - 11/01/2009
ALA Grants & Fellowships bit.ly/1lNIAb The American Library Association (ALA) has created numerous grants and awards to help support programs and provide funds to individuals wanting to attend professional meetings. This handy page provides links to not only ALA grants, but also awards sponsored by the various divisions, including PLA (Public Library Association), YALSA (Young Adult Library...
More
How Are You Doing?: A librarian fights to retain positions in her district 11/01/2009
I fought for the retention of our elementary librarians this past year. I did everything I knew how to do and still 100 percent of the positions were cut (10 librarians covering 18 schools). We now have volunteers that are “running” the show. When I found out cuts were in the air, I contacted [author] Ann Martin, she wrote letters to our superintendent, commissioner of education, an...
More
Conferences Are All a Twitter: Live blogging, tweets help spread the joy of events By Christopher Harris - 11/01/2009
Conference season is upon us. But school and library budgets being what they are, funding for travel is scarce these days. But a growing trend toward bringing these events online makes it easier than ever to attend sessions virtually and even join in the rich conversations that make conferences so valuable.
More
Kid-Friendly Catalog: TLC releases LS2 Kids By Josh Hadro - 11/01/2009
LS2 Kids features “cover flow” animation After a soft launch this summer at the American Library Association annual conference, The Library Corporation (TLC) released its LS2 Kids catalog interface in October. LS2 Kids emphasizes book covers and “cover flow” animation over hard-to-interpret bibliographic result lists, based on children’s responses to usability tests.
More
SLJ Reviews the Netbook Toshiba Mini NB205-N230 By Jeffrey Hastings - 11/01/2009
Windows 7, Microsoft’s answer to the ill-received Vista operating system, was released on October 22, just days before this review was due. I started using Windows 7 in beta last winter and was impressed by how well it performed on my old Thinkpad T40. Since then, I’ve been eager to see if Windows 7 would perform equally well on a more Spartan device: the typical netbook.
More
Yes, They Can: Google Lit Trips and games give kids a new perspective on social justice By Lauren Barack - 11/01/2009
Children, especially girls, are finding supporters across the globe—some their own age—who are engaging with virtual education programs, an online game, and books that promote social justice and a better world. “Education seems like a simple thing,” says Greg Mortenson, coauthor of Three Cups of Tea (Viking, 2006) and founder of the nonprofit Pennies for Peace.
More
This Blog's for You: Ten of the best blogs for folks who take kids' lit seriously (but not too seriously) By Elizabeth Bird - 11/01/2009
A magazine article changed my life. Admittedly, that sounds like a bit of hyperbole, but it's true. There I was in New York City, with my shiny new MLIS degree, working at my very first children's librarian post. I was still experiencing that first flush of excitement people have when they start a new job in an occupation they love, and I was reading every article in every children's literature...
More
The Buzz: Tools, Trends, and Gizmos 11/01/2009
Props for the iPod Another day, another stylish gizmo for the Apple line. Portable stand iBend props up an iPhone or iPod Touch for viewing a movie or video. There’s a basic model ($4.99 for two) and three colorful artists’ versions. Increasingly, schools are adopting iPods for the classroom and on a larger scale.
More
School Librarians Weigh in on Net Neutrality Lauren Barack - 10/26/2009
With the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) decision last week to consider how to protect—and regulate—the free nature of the Internet, the battle over Net neutrality went into high gear, and librarians, of course, were in the mix.
More
Turning 100 Words Into a Technology Win For Your School By Lauren Barack - 10/26/2009
With just 100 words, several lucky schools can win laptops, Microsoft software, PC monitors and a slew of other technological tools by entering this year’s Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope contest.
More
Three Halloween Treats Gail Junion-Metz - 10/21/2009
Next week kids will be carving pumpkins and figuring out what they'll be for halloween. They’ll also start anticipating the sweet and gooey treats they’ll receive. Why not provide the kids in your library with three sweet Halloween games as well?
More
K12 Online Conference Goes Global Lauren Barack - 10/19/2009
Teachers, media specialists, and students around the world are gearing up for the 4th Annual K12 Online Conference—a chance for tech-savvy educators to virtually mingle and share, while those less familiar with Web 2.0 tools can learn about their use from the experts themselves.
More
Breast Cancer Awareness for Teens Gail Junion-Metz - 10/14/2009
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This well-written, age-appropriate Web article explains to teen girls why they need to start examining their breasts, teaches them how to properly perform a self-exam, and explains, in a very reassuring way, the warning signs to be aware of.
More
Hispanic Heritage Resources for Teens Gail Junion-Metz - 10/07/2009
The folks at Gale and Cengage Learning have created this excellent Hispanic Heritage Web site specifically for teens. More
SLJ Summit: Librarians as Leaders of 21st Century Learning By SLJ Staff - 10/06/2009
With so much focus on 21st century skills, shouldn’t school librarians be recognized as leaders in this new era of learning? More than 200 media specialists and influential education and government officials descended on Washington, DC, this weekend to help answer that question as part of School Library Journal’s fifth annual Leadership Summit.
More
SLJ's Leadership Summit: Tweet and Shout By SLJ Staff - 10/02/2009
More than 200 media specialists and leaders in the profession descended on Washington, DC, this weekend to talk about librarians as leaders of the 21st Century.
More
Web Site in a Rush: H1N1 threatening, EdReady goes up fast By Steve Hargadon - 10/01/2009
If a pandemic or other significant event made it difficult or impossible for your students, staff, or teachers to physically attend school, how would you make sure that communication and education still take place? This is the question looming for educational institutions nationwide, given the potential of the H1N1 virus to disrupt or even close schools this year.
More
