Computer History Museum Overview

Brigham Young University to Make Thousands of Genealogical Documents Available Online

www.ebrary.com

www.lib.byu.edu

Ebrary announced that Brigham Young University (BYU) has licensed its technology to locally host portions of the university library's digital collections including genealogical records and art materials. BYU is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources. BYU's Harold B. Lee Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries.

The library has an extensive selection of manuscripts, diaries, photographs, family histories, scholarly publications, books, and art images that have been digitized and are available to anyone in the world with Internet connection.

TutorVista.com Brings Live Homework Help and Electric Reference Materials to Public Libraries

www.tutorvista.com/libraries

TutorVista.com announced the launch of its live one-on-one homework help program for public libraries in the U.S. and Canada.

TutorVista's Library Advantage Program is unique in that it provides both voice-based live tutoring and text/chat-based tutoring. Students can use TutorVista's voice-over-IP (VoIP) capabilities to talk naturally with a tutor where permitted in the library or at the students' homes. Voice-based tutoring is five times faster and engages more senses than typing-based tutoring. Tutor and student share virtual whiteboard on their screen where each can see what the other writes or draws.

In addition to affordable, live tutoring, the Library Advantage Program makes the company's library of math and science simulations, animations, videos and study aids available to students around the clock.

With TutorVista's new program for libraries, students log in using a library card, specify the grade and subject in which they need help, and gain immediate access to a tutor.

Check It Out!

StoneHedge, England

cuil.com Former engineers from google ... new gen search engine. Pretty cool, (it's pronounced cool).

Cuil challenges Google with Privacy

Founded by husband-and-wife team Tom Costello and Anna Patterson, Cuil aims to rank the relevancy search results by content analysis rather than by popularity.

Read Thomas Claburn's article, InformationWeek

July 28, 2008

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/show/Articlejhtml?articleID=209602251

An Enduring Legacy

Randy Pausch Inspired Millions

Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon University who inspired countless students in the classroom and others worldwide through his highly acclaimed Last Lecture, has died of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47.

Learn more about this amazing man and his many contributions and achievements by going to the following links
http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/beyond/2008/summer/an-enduring-legacy.shtml
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

Also look for:

The Last Lecture on ABC

New Special on the life of Randy Pausch. Tuesday night, 7/29 at 10/9c

abc.com for more information.

Fire Destroys Books in University of Geneva Arts Library

Some 20,000 books damaged in a June 29 fire that spread through a wing of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, have been freeze-dried in an effort to save them. About 30,000 other books, which were not as thoroughly soaked, were dried out by ventilators (left). Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire, which took place during a widely watched European Football Championship....La Tribune de Genève, July 1–4; Romandie News, July 3

Should Parents Let Children Read the GIVER?

Check it out!

Local/Regional
Published: Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Board lets parents decide if children should read 'The Giver'
Mother requested controversial novel be removed from elementary libraries
By MICHAEL BRINDLEY, Staff Writer http://mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com

NASHUA –

Elementary school teachers in Nashua must now notify parents if they are going to use an award-winning science-fiction book called "The Giver" in their classrooms.The school board made the decision Monday night, by a 7-1 vote, after a two-hour hearing. A review of the book's use in city schools was initiated after a parent, Jodi Gould, said her fourth-grade daughter was "very bothered and upset" by some of the book's themes of suicide and euthanasia. Gould said the book was read aloud in her daughter's class at Main Dunstable Elementary School.The only dissenter was board member Sandra Ziehm, who argued that the book should be completely removed from the city's elementary school libraries.Kathy Drolet, a curriculum supervisor with the district, said this was the first time she could recall a book being singled out with a specific requirement for notification of parents.Teachers will sometimes send letters home if a book being used may have sensitive material, she said. But that decision has always been left up to the teachers and building principals, she said."The notion that there would be some kind of written guidelines or protocol (for a specific book) is new," she said.The district does not have a list of banned books, Drolet said.Gould filed a request with the district, asking that the book be removed from the elementary school libraries."I don't have an issue with the book itself," Gould said Monday night, during a hearing to decide the issue. "I just think from an age-appropriate view point, if I had been given the choice . . . I definitely would have opted out of her reading it."The book, published in 1993, is a science fiction thriller about a futuristic society that, in striving to create a utopia, rids the world of conflict, poverty, pain and fear. Children are assigned careers when they turn 12.The book has won several awards, including the Newbery Medal, but it has also been banned by some school districts.Gould said the part of the book that disturbed her daughter the most was when some children are "released," which is actually a form of death or euthanasia. Gould said there were also several references to suicide. Gould told board members she contacted the author, Lois Lowry. Gould said Lowry recommended the book for children in the sixth grade and higher. Gould also pointed out that the book is in the teen section at Barnes & Noble. Gould, who said she read the book after the complaints from her daughter, didn't see a problem with the book being available in the middle schools and high schools. After Gould's request, a committee of administrators, teachers and school board members was convened to reconsider the use of the book in schools. The committee ultimately decided that though some of the content may be inappropriate for certain age groups, the book should remain available in elementary school libraries."Classroom teachers and librarians should be aware of the sensitive nature of certain elements in this book when considering its instructional use," the committee wrote in its decision."As in other cases involving sensitive material, parents may request that their child not participate."Althea Sheaff, executive director of curriculum and instruction, said the committee found that removing the book from the schools "was too restrictive." Sheaff, chairman of the review committee, noted that one of the central themes of the book in question is the ability to make choices."The committee felt they did not want to deny access," she said. "Because ultimately it is about choice."The school board considered several options Monday night, including removing the book completely from the elementary school libraries, before settling on requiring notification to parents if used in elementary classrooms.Board members Ziehm, William Mosher and Jack Kelley were in the minority, voting in favor of removing the book from the libraries of elementary schools. They argued that allowing it to remain for any elementary-aged child to take out takes the choice away from parents.Removing it from the libraries wouldn't mean that teachers couldn't use it in their classrooms. Ziehm said the book isn't appropriate for the majority of students in the elementary schools, aside from some of the more accelerated readers. Elementary schools have students in kindergarten through fifth grade."I would err on the side of the majority of the students," she said. Kelley said that after reading the book he felt it was not something that should remain available to students at the elementary schools."The mere fact that it's in the library is putting it in a place where the age of the children is not appropriate for this book," he said.Mosher said there were "disturbing themes" in the book."They do not need this kind of controversy in their reading material," he said.Board President Tom Vaughan said that while there are certainly issues that could be harmful or disturbing to some young readers, "I don't think that argues for us removing it from the libraries or disallowing it from the curriculum."Vaughan said elementary schools in some surrounding towns also carried the title. He also questioned what sources should be used to determine what age is appropriate for the book."It's rated differently by different people," he said. Board member Robert Hallowell pointed out that even though the school board wasn't siding with the parent, the fact that the book has now been brought into question would have an impact."The mere fact that you brought it forward has lessened the chance that it will be used in the future," he said.Hallowell eventually made the motion that earned the support of the majority of the board.Principal Chris Gosselin said that in hindsight, the book was not appropriate for the fourth-grade level, but said that it is also important to trust teachers to make the right decisions for their classrooms."This was clearly a mistake," said Gosselin, adding that the school will take greater care looking at what's going out in the classrooms. "We don't want to take away that trust" from teachers, he said.The school board also considered whether permission slips should be sent home when elementary school children want to check the book out of the library but voted against it.All of the board members said they had read the book before coming to the hearing.Board member Rick Dowd said that while he didn't want to censor books or tell teachers what to do, parents have a right to know what their children are reading."Parents deserve the right to have the opportunity to not have their child exposed to books which may have a controversial nature," he said.Board member Dennis Hogan called the book "brilliant," describing it as a "junior '1984.' " Hogan said it is more of a political novel than science fiction, showing how bad things can get when you try to make sure nobody gets upset or experiences emotion."I wish I had something this substantial to read when I was in fifth grade," he said.
Michael Brindley can be reached at 594-6426 or http://mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com.

I found this article in American Libraries Direct, an online journal I get through e-mail. As future librarians we'll be faced with situations like this. Personally, I've read the book several times and so have all my children. They read it in elementary school. It's a great book that led to many interesting discussions.

What do you think?