My Photo of Our Display

This is the photo I took of our display

The Information Revolution May Not Improve Education

I found this interesting article by Gertrude Himmelfarb that discusses some concerns about education and technology. The article discusses the original impact of books, yes there has been corruption, the reliability of online information, what may be wrong with reading books on a screen and the electronic revolution as it relates to intellectual development. Th article appends a fine list of other book and periodical readings on this subject.

Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "The Information Revolution May Not Improve Education." Opposing Viewpoints: The Information Revolution. Ed. Paul A. Winters. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Palomar College. 6 May. 2010 &contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010147216&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=cclc_palomar&version=1.0>.

The Future of Publishing

I came across a very, very interesting You Tube video that I wanted to share with everyone. It is called: The Future of Publishing. Click on the title to access the link. Please check it out…and oh please, oh please, watch the whole thing. It is an amazingly well made video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weq_sHxghcg

Is technology affecting the way Teens write?

To follow up on my last post: “Is Teen reading on the decline?” I found some interesting information on a similar topic. In the same way that technology is changing how teens read, is technology also affecting the way they write?

According to one article, it was stated that a considerable number of educators and children’s advocates were concerned that the quality of writing by young Americans was being degraded by electronic communication, with its carefree spelling, lax punctuation and grammar, and its acronym shortcuts.

Others wonder if this return to text-driven communication is instead inspiring new appreciation for writing among teens. The American Life Project and National Commission on Writing conducted a national telephone survey and focus group to see what teens have to say about the role and impact technology has on writing. These were some of their findings:

•85% of teens ages 12-17 engage in some form of electronic personal communication, including texting, emailing, instant messaging, or social networking. However, 60% of teens do not think of these electronic texts as “writing.”

•50% of teens say they sometimes use informal writing styles instead of proper capitalization and punctuation in their school assignments, while 38% say they have used text shortcuts in school work such as “LOL” (or “laugh out loud”) and 25% have used emoticons (symbols like smiley faces ☺) in school work.

•50% of teens say their school work requires writing every day; 35% say they write several times a week. The remaining 15% of teens write less often for school. Also, 82% of teens reported that their typical school writing assignment is a paragraph to one page in length.

•47% of teen bloggers write outside of school for personal reasons several times a week or more compared to 33% of teens without blogs. Moreover, 65% of teen bloggers believe that writing is essential to later success in life and 53% of non-bloggers agree. Blogging encourages teens to collaborate and contribute with their opinions and ideas. This, by default, promotes language skills, comprehension, and cohesiveness.

•15% of teens say their internet-based writing of materials such as emails and instant messages has helped improve their overall writing while 6% say it has made their personal writing worse. Some 73% of teens said this kind of writing made no difference to their school writing.

•57 % say that when it comes to using technology for school or non-school writing, teens believe that when they use computers to write they are more inclined to edit and revise their texts.

•93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure. The anonymity allows for a certain freedom of expression; They can write without the fear of being graded.

They survey noted that teens are more motivated to write when they can select topics that are relevant to their lives and interests, and report greater enjoyment of school writing when they have the opportunity to write creatively. Having teachers or other adults who challenge them, present them with interesting curricula and give them detailed feedback, motivates them to write. The report also pointed out that when teens write for an audience, such as blogging or social networking, it also serves as a motivation for them not only to write, but to write well. Ultimately, teens will continue to write for a variety of reasons—as part of a school assignment, to get a good grade, to stay in touch with friends, to share their artistic creations with others or simply to put their thoughts to paper, virtual or otherwise.

Book Worms

My oldest daughter, Bethany, is...(dramatic pause) a BOOK WORM!!!

OK, so for a librarian to have a book worm kid isn't that big of a deal, but it sure makes me proud. Even better is that she likes books independently of me, and while we share some books, she is not above asking to have some extra time in the library to just browse her favorite sections (Manga!).

One library activity that Beth participated in was Kid Vid Book Chats while she was an 8th grader at San Elijo Middle School. The librarian there, Mrs. Denney, encouraged students to come in and review books on film so that others could find out about literature from a teen perspective. As we all know, teens know WAY more than any of us adults, so it's awesome that Mrs. Denney recognized and made use of that particular teen trait. She's harnessed that self-absorbed power for good, and for that, I applaud her.

I've also got to applaud Bethany though, because she stepped WAY outside her comfort zone to do the book chat, and on camera no less, and she was so nervous about doing the videos that she didn't even tell me until it was all over. She wanted to participate in this project so much that she "auditioned" and lobbied hard for the chance to be a part of it.

Obviously, Mrs. Denney has done something right in her library to have teens fighting for a chance to do a book review. What a great example for those of us who want to be in a school library.

Way to go!

Teens Reading Habits Changing

Nearly 16 percent never visit school, public libraries
By Brian Kenney and Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2006

Nearly 16 percent of teens don’t visit their public or school libraries, according to a recent joint study by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and SmartGirl.org, a Web site that surveys teens. And many young adults don’t expect to visit public libraries in the next five years because they’ll likely be using search engines at home or elsewhere, says “Perception of Libraries and Information Resources,” the latest report by OCLC that examines the public’s attitude toward libraries and resources.

What message do these two reports send? The results may show that teens prefer accessing the library remotely from the Internet, rather than in person, says Beth Yoke, YALSA’s executive director. But they may also mean that libraries need to focus more attention on teenagers because they tend to visit libraries that have dedicated teen centers or teen librarians".........

This is a great article; we need to focus on talking teens on their language. Everyday there are more cyber citizens that need our help. It seems that with the invention of the internet, the habits of students are shifting and according to all those surveys, they preferred the Search Engines and Instant Messaging. On the other hand, we also want to make the library inviting so they may want to come to visit, instead of Texting. We as librarians need to dedicate more time to have activities for teens and make an area of the library a place where they feel comfortable and they can come and explore the library in person. The SDCL has a great teen page. The library is making an effort to be on the cyber lines to reach the teens, and broadcast the teen activities. We need to be proactive, and remember that if they like the library when they are young they will keep on coming back.
Oceanside Library is doing a good too. They have different activities for the teens such as Band Hero, Teen Movies “Twilight and new Moon”; Teen crochet, Teen Candle craft, Science Seekers, and Anime and Manga Club. They are doing an awesome work at bringing the teens in so they have different activities and they can choose what they want.
Teen reading habits may change, but if they like the books and the fun they have at the library they will keep on coming back.

(follow the link and you can read the complete article)

Welcoming Teens to the Library

The Morton Grove Public Library is a lucky organization - they've got Director Ben Shapiro, and Teen/Reference Librarian Katy Opderbeck working for them, and they have their fingers on the pulse of the teen population. Shapiro and Opderbeck wrote a great article about getting teens to "get" the relevance of libraries to them, as well as bringing them physically into libraries.

Shapiro tickled my funny bone when he said food would be a good lure. Before you panic, he's not recommending that we start a buffet line in the Manga section! What he meant was that teens like to browse the 'fridge and pick and choose from a large selection, so use that teen mentality of trying something at least once and get them interested. Check out the source article for more great ideas to bring in teens and keep them coming back!