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?

Ethiopia

Born in a small village to an illiterate cattle merchant who insisted upon his son's education, Yohannes Gebregeorgis had seen few books in school. At age 19, he borrowed a soft-covered romance novel titled Love Kitten that changed his life forever. Today, after getting an MLS and working as a children's librarian in the U.S., he is establishing libraries and literary programs to connect Ethiopian children with books. He established Ethiopia Reads in 1988 to open reading centers and donkey-pulled mobile libraries. "With literate children there is no limit as to how much we can do," says Gebregeorgis - CNN, May 1

Kudos to Yohannes Gebregeorgis

Filling the Support Gap

FixYa (fixya.com) is an online community devoted to providing technical support for consumer products when the manufactures fail to do so. Users can post questions about their specific problems with equipment ranging from computers and digital cameras to air conditioners, search for similar problems that have already been solved, or research products they are considering buying to see what kind of problems they are likely to experience. The site also offers live chats with "Premium Experts" the site's most active and highly rated problem solvers, as well as a search function for repair services when equipment can't be repaired by the end user.

Pass it on!

Greener Computing

Adam Pash has published tips for environmentally friendlier computing at Lafehacker (lifehacker.com).

His suggestions: Optimizing the computer's built-in-power-saving settings and automating hibernation or shutdown with applications like WinOFF, adjusting print-viewpage layouts with Aardvark (karmatics.com/aardvark) or GreenPrint (printgreener.com) to save paper when printing, automating peripheral shutdowns with specialized power strips, and monitoring computer power usage using LocalCooling (www.localcooling.com).

Blogs Still Growing

Research from media communications company Universal McCann indicates that blogging is still in growth mode. The firm's Wave 3 research report, published April 3rd, found that 73% of respondents read blogs, up from 66% in June 2007, and 38% write blogs, up from 31%.

Consumption is stronger in Asia; 92% of South Korean respondents read blogs and 71% write their own blogs, compared to 60% in the U.S. who read and 26% who write them. Personal and family matters are the most popular topics, followed by music, news and current affairs, opinions on products and brands, and film and television. The report (www.universalmccann.com) is based on surveys of 17,000 internet users in 29 countries.

Have you blogged today?

HTML/Web Design Assignment

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers





"Such near aspects had we
Of our life's scenery"
Thoreau

http://www.pitt.edu/~kag106/thoreau_fragment_1.html
http://kathygremo.googlepages.com


I used Google Creator to format my fragment of Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. I find the more I use Google the more I like it and enjoy using it. FileZilla was a little more complicated, but hurray I finished the assignment on time.

Comprehensive Courier Man individual modules or may choose to do a full impleagement System Developed for the Library Market

The partners of Quipu Group announced the general release of Library2Library , a highly scalable courier management and materials transportation system designed specifically for libraries. Library2Library is a knowledge base, allowing staff to keep, update, and access all courier information in one place.
There are a number of benefits for courier managers in Library2Library. An operator can access all the functions of the application through a single interface, and mangers can quickly get the information they need from the full report suite. Inquiries on routes, delivery schedules, and billing can be viewed online or downloaded to Excel, and reports are highly customizable to each courier systems' needs.
Library2Library includes a trouble-ticket system, routing-slip creation, lost and damaged item management. Courier systems may purchase individual modules or may choose to do a full implementation of Library2Library.

www.quipugroup.com

Graphic Novels Core Collection: A Selection Guide

H. W. Wilson's new Graphic Novels Core Collection: A Selection Guide is designed to help librarians choose age-appropriate works in this increasingly popular literary form. This Wilson Web selection guide highlights approximately two thousand recommended titles with descriptive and evaluative annotations (plus cover art), searchable by author, title, subject, genre, and grade level.
The latest release in Wilson's Core Collections series of selection guides, Graphic Novels Core Collection, provides assistance with collection development, readers' advisory, and curriculum support. Strict standards are applied for rating materials by age appropriateness. Descriptive and evaluative annotations offer insight into both quality and content, and automatic links to cover-art give librarians a first-person "feel" for the work.
Like the other Wilson Core Collections, Graphic Novels Core Collections allows users to narrow any search to Short List (most recommended) titles. Limiters for fiction, nonfiction, or biography reflect the growing diversity of subjects treated in graphic novel format.

www.hwwilson.com

U2 and Green Day The Saints are Coming

I want to thank everyone from Holy Family University who on their own time went to New Orleans, after Katrina with Habitat for Humanity, especially Dusty, Sara and most especially Will who is still there helping out.
God Bless!

Seal Shield Launches Antibacterial, Dishwasher Safe Keyboard and Mouse

Seal Shield Corporation announced the Silver Seal family of antibacterial products for infection control. Notably, Seal Shield introduced the Silver Seal Antibacterial washable keyboard and mouse. According to the company, the Silver Seal keyboard and mouse are the first ever antibacterial keyboard and mouse to be fully submersible and dishwasher safe.

Recent studies have shown the computer keyboard and mouse to be a major source of cross contamination infections. A study reported at the American Society for Microbiology found that the "superbug" Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can survive on computer keyboards for up to six weeks.

Unlike traditional antibacterial products, the Silver Seal antibacterial plastic utilizes all natural, pure silver ions that are embedded in the plastic to create a safe and effective anti-bacterial solution. Silver is a natural antibiotic product and its properties have been incorporated into the Silver Seal product line using the latest nanotechnologies. Silver ions are infused in the plastic used to create the Silver Seal product line. When these ions are exposed to moisture in the air, they create an antimicrobial shield on the product that resists bacteria.

www.sealshield.com/products.htm

Readex Partners with Center for Research Libraries to Create Web-based World Newspaper Archive

Digitization effort will feature thousands of historical newspaper titles published outside the United States
JUNE 26, 2008 (NAPLES, FL) — Readex, a division of NewsBank, and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) announced today that they will create the world's largest, fully searchable digital archive of international newspapers. The World Newspaper Archive will provide students, teachers and scholars unprecedented access to historical newspapers published outside the United States, advancing research and offering new insights across wide-ranging academic disciplines.
"NewsBank offers the greatest combination of expertise and capabilities to provide our members sustainable access to historical news content," says Bernard F. Reilly, president of the Center for Research Libraries. "By partnering with its Readex division in this cooperative effort, we plan to systematically digitize and deliver over the Web the foreign newspapers held by CRL and other major newspaper repositories."
This uniquely comprehensive electronic resource will first offer Latin American newspapers published between 1805 and 1922 in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and other countries. Further series will focus on historical newspapers published in Africa, South Asia and other areas. Users will be able to seamlessly cross-search the World Newspaper Archive with America's Historical Newspapers, including Early American Newspapers and Hispanic American Newspapers.
"Readex and the Center for Research Libraries share a commitment to provide sustainable online access to primary source research collections," says David Braden, Readex president. "We are delighted to be working in cooperation with CRL—one of the world's largest and most important newspaper repositories—to launch this landmark digital project and expand opportunities to discover these primary resources."
The initial Latin American series will offer approximately 35 titles, encompassing nearly one million pages. Among the newspapers expected to be included are La Prensa (Buenos Aires), O Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo), Mercurio (Santiago), La Prensa (Havana), Diario de Centro America (Guatemala City), Daily Chronicle (Georgetown, Guyana), Mexican Herald (Mexico City), El Peruano (Lima), Port of Spain Gazette (Port of Spain), and the Venezuelan Herald (Caracas).
"International newspapers have long been highly valued by students and researchers in the humanities and social sciences," says Glenda Pearson, Human Rights Librarian and Head of Newspaper Collections at the University of Washington. "This exciting joint project between CRL and Readex will advance scholarly inquiry, while ensuring worldwide access to these invaluable publications for generations to come."
Participating members of CRL will enjoy permanent access to the World Newspaper Archive, while all others around the world will be offered access by Readex. Charter CRL participants now include Harvard University; McMaster University; New York Public Library; Princeton University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; University of Texas; University of Washington; and Yale University.
About the Center for Research Libraries The Center for Research Libraries is an international partnership of over 240 universities, colleges and independent research libraries. CRL supports advanced research and learning in the humanities, sciences and social sciences by ensuring the survival and accessibility of source materials vital to those disciplines.
About Readex, a division of NewsBank For more than 50 years, the Readex name has been synonymous with research in historical materials and government documents. Recognized by librarians, students and scholars for its efforts to transform academic scholarship, Readex offers a wealth of Web-based collections in the humanities and social sciences, including the Archive of Americana and the Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports.

New Digital Resources Sharing Service lets Librarians Add Free Download Media

A new Web 2.0 program that allows public libraries to publish and share digital video, audio books, eBooks, and music with other libraries was recently unveiled. The First of its kind, OverDrive Community Reserve is a shared collection of locally produced digital content available to thousands of libraries worldwide that are part of the OverDrive network.

Libraries with permissions to digital book, audio, or video content can upload titles for download lending to their local patrons, and also now can share the materials with library users worldwide. For example, the Rochester (Minn.) Public Library received a grant to produce a video to orient and educate Somali immigrants to the features and services of a public library. Now the video has been added to Community Reserve and is available for download as part of their local OverDrive catalog, and also is available for free for lending by more than five thousand libraries around the world.

It's a Good Thing

Helping Deaf Patrons Connect. Hearing impair patrons of Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Library can now use any of the library's locations to make telephone calls free of charge.

The library has installed video relay service (VRS) equipment from Sorenson Communication, which allows any user to conduct video relay calls with family, friends, or business associates through a certified American Sign Language interpreter. The service operates over a high-speed internet connection. The hearing impaired user sees an interpreter on a computer screen and signs to that person, who contacts the hearing user via a standard phone line. Hearing patrons can also place video calls to a deaf or hard-of-hearing person by calling a toll-free number.

The Talking Books Library has many services for blind library customers, such as recorded books and descriptive videos.

Sorenson provided the equipment and the service free of charge to the library. Jerry Reynolds, JPJ's Talking Books Library Manager made initial contact with the company at the ALA Annual Conference last year, and contacted Sorenson directly to pitch the idea of installing the system at all library locations. Many libraries offer the relay systems in their libraries, but Jacksonville is the first to offer the service system wide.

The library finished installing the video relay systems in January. It estimates that more than 400 patrons use the service per week.

Koha Assignment

Here are my 27 entries for books on Information Retrieval

from the Koha/LibLime system

Contents of Kathy Gremo

Title
Author
Item Type
©

Vocabulary control for information retrieval
Lancaster, F. Wilfrid
BK
Reserves

Accessing information in a technological age /
Whitson, Donna L.
BK
Reserves

An information retrieval system for a personal collection of literature references /
Cartwright, B.
BK
Reserves

How to build skills for research /
North, Max M.
BK
Reserves

On-line information retrieval systems :
Houghton, B.
BK
Reserves

The new St. Martin's pocket guide to research and documentation /
Lunsford, Andrea A.,
BK
Reserves

Text information retrieval systems.
Meadow, Charles T.
BK
Reserves

English and reading in a changing world,
Evertts, Eldonna L.,
BK
Reserves

Computer based information retrieval systems;
BK
Reserves

Intelligent interfaces and retrieval methods for subject searching in bibliographic retrieval systems /
Hildreth, Charles R.,
BK
Reserves

Filling empty space :
Suominen, Vesa.
BK
Reserves

Online retrieval :
Walker, Geraldene.
BK
Reserves

OCLC guide to preservation data.
BK
Reserves

Bibliographic control and information sources /
Behrens, S. J.
BK
Reserves

The AltaVista Search revolution /
Seltzer, Richard.
BK
Reserves

Changing patterns in information retrieval :
BK
Reserves

File management and information retrieval systems :
Gill, Suzanne L.
BK
Reserves

Information retrieval systems :
Lancaster, F. Wilfrid
BK
Reserves

Enhancing access to information :
BK
Reserves

Information management /
Mackall, Joe.
BK
Reserves

Concepts and subject headings: their relation in information retrieval and library science,
Christ, John M.
BK
Reserves

Authority control :
Clack, Doris H.
BK
Reserves

Find it fast :
Berkman, Robert I.
BK
Reserves

Interaction in information systems :
Belkin, Nicholas J.
BK
Reserves

Online retrieval :
Vigil, Peter J.
BK
Reserves

Optical character recognition :
Groenewegen, H. W.
BK
Reserves

Information analysis and retrieval.
Kent, Allen.
BK
Reserves

Del.ic.ious a Firefox Extension

You ain't got a thing if you ain't got that jing!

I've been trying forever to get this assignment in. I've been having all sorts of trouble. My laptop has the sound for the video, but the files between Jing and Screencast won't transfer. Everything I've captured and recorded would go to Jing History. One time it came up as a document. Which I had posted earlier, but unless you could access my jing history, you wouldn't be able to view it. So here goes - this link is from my PC, which unfortunately doesn't relate the sound.

I hope this works, because I've gotta move on.

2008-07-07_1726

Happy Fourth of July!

LOST IN PHILLY

I have been trying for the few days to download my Jing video assignment. I still haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong. I have to go to work now. I'll work on this again later.

Lost and late in Philly

BOOKS

Books are quiet

They do not dissolve into wavy lines or snowstorm effects.
They do not pause to deliver commercials.

They are three - dimensional having length, breath and depth.

They are convenient to handle and completely portable.

Anonymous

Bedtime stories going digital

I recently read an interesting article someone had left in my mailbox, titled Cuddling up with a good MP3, Bedtime stories are going digital by Melissa Rayworth, Associated Press.

Nearly a third of children ages 6 to 10 are regular users of digital audio players, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm. and thanks to entrepreneurs such as Don Katz, they can now use them to listen to bedtime stories.

In March, the Audible.com founder launched AudibleKids.com, where children can download books directly onto their digital audio players.

It seems according to Michele Cobb, Audio Publishers Association president when people put their kids to bed, they put them down with an audiobook.

Children and teen books account for 13 percent of all national audiobook sales in 2007, according to the Audio Publishers Association. That's a relatively small number, but it's nearly double the 7 percent that was estimated by the group in 2004.

AudibleKids, offers books for preschoolers on up and aims to further their interest by offering a social networking community where they can talk about books with one another and with parents, teachers, and even authors such as R. L. Stine of Goosebumps.

Random House's Listening Library has been producing audiobooks for youths for more than 50 years. What's new is the digital technology - companies such as Fisher-Price and Disney now sell kid-friendly digital audio players for children as young as 2.

Katz believes reaching kids through digital media may inspire them to have a life-long love of books - even the old fashioned printed kind.

"The world of reluctant readers is huge," says Katz. For many children, " reading outcomes tend to fall apart around third grade," which is often the same time parents stop reading to them.

Digital audiobooks, especially those narrated by talented artists, can "extend the pleasure of being read to by your parents into fifth, sixth, seventh grades," he says.Macmillian Audio launched a children's list this spring with narrations by actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Tony Shalhoub.

For some parents, the idea of children chatting online about Holden Caulfield instead of Hannah Montana is pretty compelling. But for those who spent their own childhood summers reveling in the crisp pages of paperbacks, there are real concerns about what may be lost if their offspring tackle a summer reading list via MP3.

The American Library Association recommends reading every day to children who are not yet in school. The group says it's not just hearing the story that's important - it's connecting the words to the letters on the page, and eventually learning to read them.

The association's president, University of Texas professor Loriene Roy, believes that audiobooks can play a valuable role in encouraging literacy, but they're not meant to be used exclusively.

"Audiobooks can help the good reader and the struggling reader," she says, because they help young readers to listen beyond their reading level.

She also makes a point to say that, "Parents are their first teachers and the best role models. If you want the child to be an independent reader, someone who will pick up the text, they're going to watch what adults do."

The temptation to skip the nightly routine might be strong, even though nothing beats a live performance, says Susan Linn, author of The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in Our Commercialized World.

"In a way," Linn says, "this is another gadget for outsourcing parenting."

Even among today's multitasking teens, listening instead of reading might cause them to lose focus as they half-listen while attempting to reach the next the next level of Halo 3 and text-messaging a friend.

Katz says he isn't aiming to discourage parents from reading to their children. But with youths so fully embracing the digital age, he believes it's the best way to reach them.

"It's not just that very kid has an MP3 in his or her pocket," he says. "It's that there's a cultural and almost educational change going on that has to do with kids being extremely adept at multimedia and multisensory intake."

As a Books Aloud specialists for the library I'm always preaching the importance of reading aloud to young children. Reading aloud to children helps them with the skills they need to know before they can learn how to read. Skills such as print motivation, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and letter recognition. Audiobooks have their place, after all I've put them in my listening centers, but they can never replace the closeness a child feels when that child is being read to by someone they love and who loves them.

Just a thought!

Libraries for the Future, New York

Libraries for the Future is a national nonprofit that supports innovation and investment in America's libraries. For fifteen years, Libraries for the Future (LEF) has helped public libraries respond to the changing needs and opportunities of their communities. For the past four years, the organization has operated under the name Americans for Libraries Council (ALC), with Libraries for the Future as its "program arm". The organization has recently returned to Libraries for the Future as its official, overarching name. Through innovative program models, professional development activities, forums, and research projects, LEF transforms libraries into 21st century community centers for information, education and civic engagement. Emphasizing collaboration between libraries and community groups, LEF links professionals across disciplines - early childhood development and space planning, for instance - to allow participants to think beyond their own specialities and devise new solutions to shared challenges.

Family Place Libraries

Did you know, a Family Place Library is a center for early childhood information, parent education, emergent literacy, socialization, and family support. Expanding the traditional role of children's services, Family Place builds on the knowledge that good health, early learning, parent involvement, and supportive communities play a critical role in young children's growth and development. The Family Place Libraries initiative provides a development framework and comprehensive model for family centered library service.
Family Place is a project of Libraries for the Future and Middle Country Public Library. Since 1996, this partnership has brought Family Place to more than 225 sites in 24 states.

C&RL Go Open Access

College & Research Libraries (C&RL), the bimonthly scholarly journal of ALA's Association of College and Research Libraries, has announced the launch of an open access, prepublication service for accepted articles.
The preprint service, which debuted in March, moved to an open access model in an effort to make timely new research articles available to a wider audience. C&RL preprint articles are available at www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/.

TECHNOLOGY

Check It Out!

A new 24/7 service from ChaCha allows cell phone users to ask a wide range of reference questions in conversational English and get answers free of charge. Each question is routed to a live person who searches the web for the information and within minutes returns the answer in a text message with a web reference link.
The online and mobile search company announced the new voice service in April at CTIA: The Wireless Association's 2008 convention in LasVegas. At 800-2-ChaCha (800-224-2242), the service works on any mobile phone that supports normal SMS text and voice capability.

Asked if ChaCha represents competition for reference librarians, David Tyckoson, president of ALA's reference and User Services Association, told American Libraries that people already rely on librarians less for help with finding short, factual results that they can obtain on their own. "What they need a librarian's help with are the more complex searches," he said.

"People can pick up that same cell phone," Tykoson added, :and use it to call their local local library, where they can talk to a professional librarian who can help with any type of question, from the simple to the complex. Both services are free, but the library will not limit you to 160 characters."
What do you think?

Googlepoll: Ask the Crowd

I gave a Books Aloud Workshop tonight for 40 participants, mostly teachers. It took some time putting it together, the first one of the month is always the hardest (new topic). You're never sure how it will go over, but it went well. I have three more workshops this month, then I'm done until October. So, I'm a little behind on my schoolwork.

Did you know you can use Google to search for people's opinions on everything imaginable. For example, you can enter "I wish I had ..." into Google and see what people complete this sentence with. This method is called Googlepoll, and it gives you instant answers to how people are feeling, what they are wishing to achieve, what obstacles they face. All you need is a search engine.
This is some of what I found.

I wish I had ...

• freckles
• duck feet
• been there
• known that
• more time to read
• wheels
• waited
• written Regina
• a pencil thin mustache
  
• one of those
• written this
• known when I was 18
• played practical jokes
  
• learned in library school

Try it, it's fun!
55 Ways to Have Fun With Google by Philipp Lenssen

The Librarian

A book is a fragile creature, it suffers the wear of time, it fears rodents, the elements and clumsy hands ... so the librarian protects the books not only against mankind but, also against nature and devotes his life to this war with the forces of oblivion.
Umberto Eco

Tell Me A Story

Time just gets by you so fast. Here it is Thursday and I suddenly realized I haven't blogged all week.
Well here it goes! Today was the last day for our library's storytelling workshop. It was a very good workshop, everyone did a fabulous job telling their stories. Today was my turn to tell a story and I'd personally like to say how I did, but I don't know, it's all a blank. It's a very scary experience getting up in front of people and talking. People often say they're surprised that I feel this way, especially because getting in front of people and talking is a big part of my job with the library. All I can say it's over for now, until the next time.

Innovation 101

The Computer History Museum looks like a great place to visit. It gives a great look into the past, present and future of computers. Of course, what else would you expect, it is a museum and still a work in progress but from everything I read and saw it does really look interesting. You'll want to talk roadtrip after you visit the museum 's website and the You Tube video.

http://computerhistory.org

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you - Nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell they'd advertise - you know!

How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell one's name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Blog!

Emily Dickenson

DRM-FREE AUDIOBOOKS

Beginning this month of May, OverDrive is offering downloadable audiobooks without digital rights management that will be compatible with most MP3 players and mobile phones.
Thousands of titles will be sold at borders.com, and a limited selection of audiobooks will be added to OverDrive's library network.

Getting Started

Well I don't have much to share now, except I'm looking forward to this course's challenges (LIS 2600: Introduction to Information Technologies). Right now there seem to be many, but first it's time to finish downloading and installing.
To everyone, here's to a great semester!