Friday, February 26, 2010
Show me the money...
I changed some of the side bar colors. I had a hard time reading them. I hope it's ok. I also added the first book of the Money Books For Teens. I think we need to add something more fun that will attract and focus on teens. Any ideas on how to add graphics to our blog?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
In the middle of a concrete jungle
Hello everyone,
I found this picture of the Cardiff Library in Kansas City. Locals were commenting on how surreal it felt to walk and drive by it in the middle of concrete buildings.
I think it's beautiful.
I found this picture of the Cardiff Library in Kansas City. Locals were commenting on how surreal it felt to walk and drive by it in the middle of concrete buildings.
I think it's beautiful.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Link To Teen Services
Hello everyone,
I have added the link to the San Diego County Library Teen Lounge. It gives information for all kinds of fun stuff.
I have added the link to the San Diego County Library Teen Lounge. It gives information for all kinds of fun stuff.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
How the Public Library Can Save You Money
This is an article from the current Woman's Day magazine. I especially found the textbook suggestion interesting.
Family Fun / Money Saving Tips / How the Public Library Can Save You Money
How the Public Library Can Save You Money
Read essays by four women who saved a bundle thanks to their local branchesBy Woman's Day Staff Posted February 01, 2010 from Woman's Day; March 1, 2010
The library has always been a place to save money. Where else can you get books, CDs and DVDs without buying them? And these days libraries offer even more—a host of activities and services that cost you nothing. As part of our annual Woman’s Day/ American Library Association essay contest, we introduce you to four winners who found big savings— and even changed their lives—at their local library.
A World of Learning by Karen Schmidt, Camano Island, WA
By the time I began homeschooling our 8-year-old son, Jonathan, our community library was already a place of discoveries and spontaneous conversations with acquaintances. Both Jonathan and I had swarmed to the library (yes, two word lovers can swarm when it comes to books!) when we moved from South America back to the U.S. when he was 4. Our habits didn’t change much when he was reading on his own at age 6—we were already confirmed library-ophiles. But homeschooling turned our local library—first the Marysville Library, then when we moved a half-hour away, the Camano Island Library— into a resource center that has been a focal point for my son’s education.
The library was the place where Jonathan crawled into an inflatable planetarium to “stargaze,” thanks to a Friends of the Library program and the regional science center. He molded sculptures from recyclables, laughed at puppet shows, and not long after we studied insects, he ogled—but refused to engage with—a “Bug Chef,” who fried, sautéed and baked bugs for a gawking group of elementary school–age kids. Never was a science unit so memorable!
When Jonathan got older, I based history study on literature, not a textbook. So each weekend I logged on to the library’s website and requested the books, videos, music and other materials we would need for the coming week. After reading a Shakespeare play, at age 13, for example, and looking at visual renderings of English theaters during the Elizabethan period, Jonathan would watch a video of the play to make history come alive.
If essays required observational writing or a stack of reference books, we would stuff our school materials into backpacks at home and spend a couple of hours at the library. Homeschooling has been completely doable on a single wage-earner’s income largely because we have received so much for free from our library. We would never have been able to peruse the oversize art books of long-gone artists’ works, listen to Gypsy music and ancient Hebrew chants, or read the vast breadth of books that have been the pedestal of Jonathan’s learning.
Today, as a teenager, Jonathan seems to most desperately appreciate the library’s high-speed Internet service, which we can’t acquire on our rural property. And we both still breathe in the refreshing change of scenery. On gloomy days or when school feels grittily tedious, we both perk up like potted plants being watered when one of us suggests, “How about going to the library?”
School’s In by Tammy Thomas, Stuarts Draft, VA
My public library literally helped put me through college! I was 34, and I had chosen to forgo school years before in order to work part-time and raise my children. But now that my sons would be entering high school, I started thinking that I wanted to be an English teacher. I had always enjoyed reading and writing, and loved volunteering at my sons’ school. Still, money was tight and becoming a teacher seemed like an impossibility. Yet I couldn’t let go of the dream. I went to an open house at a nearby community college, just to get more information. I ended up taking a leap of faith and enrolling. I applied for financial aid and student loans for the tuition costs, and then collected the syllabi for my classes. That’s when I realized that I had made a serious miscalculation: I hadn’t counted on the cost of textbooks. They could cost anywhere from $50 to $250 each per semester, and I always needed at least three. For a family on an extremely tight budget, this expense was a real problem.
I looked around for used books, but even those were more than I could comfortably afford. So I decided to go to the Augusta County Library on a mission to keep my college dream alive. I got mixed results. While the library did have many of the books on the recommended reading list, they didn’t have the textbooks.
I decided to talk to the reference librarians to see if they had any suggestions. They explained that they might be able to get some of the books from college libraries in the state by means of an interlibrary loan. The suggestion was a lifesaver! From the time I started college until the time I graduated, I relied on interlibrary loans to help me get almost all of my textbooks. This saved me thousands of dollars.
In August 2000, I began my career as an eighth-grade language arts teacher, and I now also chair our school’s English department. I’ve also just completed my master’s degree in education administration, using interlibrary loans for my books, of course! My relationship with the public library has continued to grow. As a teacher, I view the library as a great community partner. Every year I arrange for the librarians to come to my school and tell my students about the wonderful books and programs available to them. In the summer, I have my summer-school students participate in the library’s summer reading program. The children enjoy hearing about exciting new books, and they love winning prizes for the hours they invest in reading. The library has been a wonderful resource for enriching my students’ learning experience, and a great tool for a teacher with limited means. Last summer I volunteered at the library, which is suffering from funding cuts, to help repay the librarians for all they have done for me, my family and my students. It is my hope that my students, like me, will develop a lifelong love for their library.
Instant Entertainment by Stefanie Schmidt, Las Vegas
Being single and on a pretty tight budget, most of my expenses go toward necessities like rent, groceries and utilities. I don’t have much left over at the end of the month for fun stuff. When I moved three years ago from Long Beach, California, to Las Vegas to work as an educator at a dolphin habitat, I didn’t know anyone in Vegas. The Clark County Library became my sanctuary. As a child, I loved the library—I could get a new book every week and have a quiet place to do my homework with all the references at my fingertips. Every book I read was like a new adventure, and I couldn’t wait to finish one book and check out another. What I didn’t realize until I moved to Las Vegas was how much free stuff there is at the library. I researched my new city, searched for a new place to live and even joined the library’s book club. Through the book club I began to meet people, and it didn’t cost me a dime because I just checked out the monthly book selection. I no longer felt alone—the book club and the library helped me find friends in a town full of strangers.
Now, three years later, I still go to book club meetings, and since going out to the movies is expensive, some Saturday nights I go to the library f or its free movie screening. I can relax with a great show and socialize, too. I’ve also discovered the computer room. When the cable lines at my apartment went down for a few weeks, I thought I was going to be lost without the Internet, but the library came to my rescue. I just flashed my library card and I had instant access to my email. The library helps me so much by offering all these things. Not only has it saved me lots of money, but it enriches my life through my reading, meeting new people and having a lot of fun with the great programs. This has proven priceless.
Fix it for Free by Cassandra Robbers, Almond, NY
Not long after we decided to give up the hustle-bustle of suburban life in Buffalo, New York, and move to the tiny town of Almond, I found myself heading to the local library for an unlikely reason: Becoming a homeowner turned out to be much more expensive than my husband and I had imagined, especially since our “new” home was built in 1880. Luckily, the Almond 20th Century Club Library was stocked with books on how to do just about anything and everything— plumbing projects, tile projects, painting techniques, landscaping. I even installed a new shower in my bathroom including the piping, and built a coffee table from scratch with a tiled mosaic top. You see, when it comes to being frugal, I’m at the head of the class! My husband is a truck driver and the sole breadwinner for our family of six, so I find ways to squeeze an extra few dollars out of everything. I was very excited to take advantage of my new squeezable resource—the library, which is small but has proven to be fantastic. It’s even within walking distance of our home, so I don’t have to spend gas money!
My love of the library doesn’t stop at the fix-it section. I’ve learned so much from books on sewing, cooking and gardening. Last year we had our first family garden, and the tips I read helped me turn my thumb a little greener and get my first garden off to a good start. I have also learned how to make wine, create extracts for baking and build wood trellises! This year, I’ll be checking out a field guide to edible wild plants, since the children and I are going to teach ourselves how to forage. Perhaps what I love best is the library’s director, Tammy Kokot, and her aide, Valerie Ewald, who always go the extra mile. I once asked Val for a book on shoemaking. There wasn’t one, but then on my way home, Val called and said she had found something. It was a chapter in a larger book and she just happened to remember it was about shoemaking—amazing. Tammy has sent me many links on ways to grow my custom-designed handbag business ( CaseyWasHere.com). She has put me in touch with local resources for financial help and business assistance. Because of the people who’ve helped me and the things I’ve learned at the library, I’ve been able to get my business up and running without spending a lot. I’ve also saved nearly $400 in home repairs in the past year. I’ve lived in many towns and cities, but Almond, New York, is where my family and I will stay. The library and the members of this community have made us feel so welcome, and through that, we have finally found home.
Family Fun / Money Saving Tips / How the Public Library Can Save You Money
How the Public Library Can Save You Money
Read essays by four women who saved a bundle thanks to their local branchesBy Woman's Day Staff Posted February 01, 2010 from Woman's Day; March 1, 2010
The library has always been a place to save money. Where else can you get books, CDs and DVDs without buying them? And these days libraries offer even more—a host of activities and services that cost you nothing. As part of our annual Woman’s Day/ American Library Association essay contest, we introduce you to four winners who found big savings— and even changed their lives—at their local library.
A World of Learning by Karen Schmidt, Camano Island, WA
By the time I began homeschooling our 8-year-old son, Jonathan, our community library was already a place of discoveries and spontaneous conversations with acquaintances. Both Jonathan and I had swarmed to the library (yes, two word lovers can swarm when it comes to books!) when we moved from South America back to the U.S. when he was 4. Our habits didn’t change much when he was reading on his own at age 6—we were already confirmed library-ophiles. But homeschooling turned our local library—first the Marysville Library, then when we moved a half-hour away, the Camano Island Library— into a resource center that has been a focal point for my son’s education.
The library was the place where Jonathan crawled into an inflatable planetarium to “stargaze,” thanks to a Friends of the Library program and the regional science center. He molded sculptures from recyclables, laughed at puppet shows, and not long after we studied insects, he ogled—but refused to engage with—a “Bug Chef,” who fried, sautéed and baked bugs for a gawking group of elementary school–age kids. Never was a science unit so memorable!
When Jonathan got older, I based history study on literature, not a textbook. So each weekend I logged on to the library’s website and requested the books, videos, music and other materials we would need for the coming week. After reading a Shakespeare play, at age 13, for example, and looking at visual renderings of English theaters during the Elizabethan period, Jonathan would watch a video of the play to make history come alive.
If essays required observational writing or a stack of reference books, we would stuff our school materials into backpacks at home and spend a couple of hours at the library. Homeschooling has been completely doable on a single wage-earner’s income largely because we have received so much for free from our library. We would never have been able to peruse the oversize art books of long-gone artists’ works, listen to Gypsy music and ancient Hebrew chants, or read the vast breadth of books that have been the pedestal of Jonathan’s learning.
Today, as a teenager, Jonathan seems to most desperately appreciate the library’s high-speed Internet service, which we can’t acquire on our rural property. And we both still breathe in the refreshing change of scenery. On gloomy days or when school feels grittily tedious, we both perk up like potted plants being watered when one of us suggests, “How about going to the library?”
School’s In by Tammy Thomas, Stuarts Draft, VA
My public library literally helped put me through college! I was 34, and I had chosen to forgo school years before in order to work part-time and raise my children. But now that my sons would be entering high school, I started thinking that I wanted to be an English teacher. I had always enjoyed reading and writing, and loved volunteering at my sons’ school. Still, money was tight and becoming a teacher seemed like an impossibility. Yet I couldn’t let go of the dream. I went to an open house at a nearby community college, just to get more information. I ended up taking a leap of faith and enrolling. I applied for financial aid and student loans for the tuition costs, and then collected the syllabi for my classes. That’s when I realized that I had made a serious miscalculation: I hadn’t counted on the cost of textbooks. They could cost anywhere from $50 to $250 each per semester, and I always needed at least three. For a family on an extremely tight budget, this expense was a real problem.
I looked around for used books, but even those were more than I could comfortably afford. So I decided to go to the Augusta County Library on a mission to keep my college dream alive. I got mixed results. While the library did have many of the books on the recommended reading list, they didn’t have the textbooks.
I decided to talk to the reference librarians to see if they had any suggestions. They explained that they might be able to get some of the books from college libraries in the state by means of an interlibrary loan. The suggestion was a lifesaver! From the time I started college until the time I graduated, I relied on interlibrary loans to help me get almost all of my textbooks. This saved me thousands of dollars.
In August 2000, I began my career as an eighth-grade language arts teacher, and I now also chair our school’s English department. I’ve also just completed my master’s degree in education administration, using interlibrary loans for my books, of course! My relationship with the public library has continued to grow. As a teacher, I view the library as a great community partner. Every year I arrange for the librarians to come to my school and tell my students about the wonderful books and programs available to them. In the summer, I have my summer-school students participate in the library’s summer reading program. The children enjoy hearing about exciting new books, and they love winning prizes for the hours they invest in reading. The library has been a wonderful resource for enriching my students’ learning experience, and a great tool for a teacher with limited means. Last summer I volunteered at the library, which is suffering from funding cuts, to help repay the librarians for all they have done for me, my family and my students. It is my hope that my students, like me, will develop a lifelong love for their library.
Instant Entertainment by Stefanie Schmidt, Las Vegas
Being single and on a pretty tight budget, most of my expenses go toward necessities like rent, groceries and utilities. I don’t have much left over at the end of the month for fun stuff. When I moved three years ago from Long Beach, California, to Las Vegas to work as an educator at a dolphin habitat, I didn’t know anyone in Vegas. The Clark County Library became my sanctuary. As a child, I loved the library—I could get a new book every week and have a quiet place to do my homework with all the references at my fingertips. Every book I read was like a new adventure, and I couldn’t wait to finish one book and check out another. What I didn’t realize until I moved to Las Vegas was how much free stuff there is at the library. I researched my new city, searched for a new place to live and even joined the library’s book club. Through the book club I began to meet people, and it didn’t cost me a dime because I just checked out the monthly book selection. I no longer felt alone—the book club and the library helped me find friends in a town full of strangers.
Now, three years later, I still go to book club meetings, and since going out to the movies is expensive, some Saturday nights I go to the library f or its free movie screening. I can relax with a great show and socialize, too. I’ve also discovered the computer room. When the cable lines at my apartment went down for a few weeks, I thought I was going to be lost without the Internet, but the library came to my rescue. I just flashed my library card and I had instant access to my email. The library helps me so much by offering all these things. Not only has it saved me lots of money, but it enriches my life through my reading, meeting new people and having a lot of fun with the great programs. This has proven priceless.
Fix it for Free by Cassandra Robbers, Almond, NY
Not long after we decided to give up the hustle-bustle of suburban life in Buffalo, New York, and move to the tiny town of Almond, I found myself heading to the local library for an unlikely reason: Becoming a homeowner turned out to be much more expensive than my husband and I had imagined, especially since our “new” home was built in 1880. Luckily, the Almond 20th Century Club Library was stocked with books on how to do just about anything and everything— plumbing projects, tile projects, painting techniques, landscaping. I even installed a new shower in my bathroom including the piping, and built a coffee table from scratch with a tiled mosaic top. You see, when it comes to being frugal, I’m at the head of the class! My husband is a truck driver and the sole breadwinner for our family of six, so I find ways to squeeze an extra few dollars out of everything. I was very excited to take advantage of my new squeezable resource—the library, which is small but has proven to be fantastic. It’s even within walking distance of our home, so I don’t have to spend gas money!
My love of the library doesn’t stop at the fix-it section. I’ve learned so much from books on sewing, cooking and gardening. Last year we had our first family garden, and the tips I read helped me turn my thumb a little greener and get my first garden off to a good start. I have also learned how to make wine, create extracts for baking and build wood trellises! This year, I’ll be checking out a field guide to edible wild plants, since the children and I are going to teach ourselves how to forage. Perhaps what I love best is the library’s director, Tammy Kokot, and her aide, Valerie Ewald, who always go the extra mile. I once asked Val for a book on shoemaking. There wasn’t one, but then on my way home, Val called and said she had found something. It was a chapter in a larger book and she just happened to remember it was about shoemaking—amazing. Tammy has sent me many links on ways to grow my custom-designed handbag business ( CaseyWasHere.com). She has put me in touch with local resources for financial help and business assistance. Because of the people who’ve helped me and the things I’ve learned at the library, I’ve been able to get my business up and running without spending a lot. I’ve also saved nearly $400 in home repairs in the past year. I’ve lived in many towns and cities, but Almond, New York, is where my family and I will stay. The library and the members of this community have made us feel so welcome, and through that, we have finally found home.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
changes to template
I changed the template and some fonts and colors. I changed it to red, with some dark yellow. Its still a work in progress, I'd like to add some other colors. If anyone wants to change anything go ahead, but I think the way the blog is read is better.
Also, What exactly is the title of our blog going to be?
Also, What exactly is the title of our blog going to be?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Serving underserved youth.
I found an interesting article about linking gaming to underserved youth. Levine, Jenny, Library Technology Reports; Sep/Oct2006, Vol. 42 Issue 5, p10-17, 8p: the article "discusses reasons why libraries should consider offering gaming resources to patrons despite their perceived lack of educational value and the fact that most people participate in gaming from their homes. The author argues that the traditional notion of libraries as purveyors of books is not accurate today, and that modern libraries offer far more in the way of educational and informational media; games are another extension of this trend. The most fundamental of library services--the promotion of information literacy--can benefit from the incorporation of gaming by facilitating outreach to members of the community who would otherwise not enter the library." I could not copy/paste into the post, as it is pdf. The article is in EBSCOhost.
Monday, February 15, 2010
profile
I added a picture of myself to my profile. How do I make the picture show as a follower of the blog? I used my "spam filter" picture. I call it my spam filter, because anyone who sends me a message wanting to meet me after seeing this picture is either spam or a pervert. :-)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Changed the background
I changed the background to light green, about as light as they have. I also changed the font to Trebuchet and I think made it a little larger.
Hi everyone,
On the directions for our Blog, it says each one of us must change something about the template. I changed the color of the template of the Blog Header to blue. I think it makes it look more futuristic. I hope this is what was meant.
By the way Shawndy, thank you so much for finishing up the slide show up.
On the directions for our Blog, it says each one of us must change something about the template. I changed the color of the template of the Blog Header to blue. I think it makes it look more futuristic. I hope this is what was meant.
By the way Shawndy, thank you so much for finishing up the slide show up.
Accomplishments!
My contribution for today were:
1) Got Carmen's slide show up and running;
2) Added the capability of putting links in posts;
3) Reconfigured the picture on the main page;
I'm not sure if we decided on a topic or not, and I'd like to get that cleared up. I would be OK with either the tech direction or teen services - somebody pick one! :)
I'd also like to propose a separate message board or group page through BlackBoard so we can post questions/answers for each other. There are several independent message boards we can use, so let me know if you're interested and I'll follow up on it. I don't know how the group pages work in BlackBoard, but I'm game for that too. I just think it would be easier to have a "behind-the-scenes" method of communication. I know there's also groups in google, so that might be an option too. Lots of options! :)
Have a great night!
Shawndy
1) Got Carmen's slide show up and running;
2) Added the capability of putting links in posts;
3) Reconfigured the picture on the main page;
I'm not sure if we decided on a topic or not, and I'd like to get that cleared up. I would be OK with either the tech direction or teen services - somebody pick one! :)
I'd also like to propose a separate message board or group page through BlackBoard so we can post questions/answers for each other. There are several independent message boards we can use, so let me know if you're interested and I'll follow up on it. I don't know how the group pages work in BlackBoard, but I'm game for that too. I just think it would be easier to have a "behind-the-scenes" method of communication. I know there's also groups in google, so that might be an option too. Lots of options! :)
Have a great night!
Shawndy
Hi Jerry,
I read you were having some issues with posting your profile. This is all new to me too, but this is what worked for me.
When you first log into Blogger, it usually opens up on Dashboard. Look on the top, left-hand side, it should read VIEW PROFILE, EDIT PROFILE, EDIT PHOTO, and EDIT NOTIFICATION. Click on EDIT PROFILE. There, you will find a series of blocks with choices to check off and several questions relating to PRIVACY, IDENTITY, Interests, About Me, all the way down to Favorite Movies. You can answer each question by entering text in each box. Once you are done, click SAVE PROFILE.
After you are done, I would also recommend you click on VIEW PROFILE so you can see what you just entered looks like. If it's too much, or not enough, you can go back to change it by clicking back on EDIT PROFILE and changing what part you want.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
I read you were having some issues with posting your profile. This is all new to me too, but this is what worked for me.
When you first log into Blogger, it usually opens up on Dashboard. Look on the top, left-hand side, it should read VIEW PROFILE, EDIT PROFILE, EDIT PHOTO, and EDIT NOTIFICATION. Click on EDIT PROFILE. There, you will find a series of blocks with choices to check off and several questions relating to PRIVACY, IDENTITY, Interests, About Me, all the way down to Favorite Movies. You can answer each question by entering text in each box. Once you are done, click SAVE PROFILE.
After you are done, I would also recommend you click on VIEW PROFILE so you can see what you just entered looks like. If it's too much, or not enough, you can go back to change it by clicking back on EDIT PROFILE and changing what part you want.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Group: It appears that the posts are by the week. I am doing a powerpoint for LT130 relating to the ILS or Integrated Library System. Since it appears that "tech" is our theme, I was stunned when I came across alibrary software website that has seven pages of condensed product information for libraries. If anyone is interested,I will try to get the site address for you.,
A Library in the Philippines
I posted a new picture. I found it through google images at Library in the Philippines. I thought it looked really cool. I was first looking for one from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but could not find one.
Jennifer
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hi everyone. I was trying to post the "Shift Happpens" You Tube Video clip as a gadget. When I preview it on dashboard, it comes up. However, when I sing-in to view it, it's some other guitar video. I read on the help page that sometimes it takes a bit to upload the video. I'm gonna check back in a couple of hours and see if it has gone through.
Oh yeah, I aslo think we should focus on Banned Books as our topic.
Oh yeah, I aslo think we should focus on Banned Books as our topic.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Book Trailers
Hi all:
Maria post a link to some book trailers...
http://www.smusd.org/167520512111715490/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=62423
Feel free to explore or change it if you wish
http://www.smusd.org/167520512111715490/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=62423
Feel free to explore or change it if you wish
Ch-ch-ch-changes!
I added a picture to the assignments page and rearranged the layout so that the pages are in a line across the top.
Is everyone ok with the image at the top (book with the wires coming out of it), or should I look elsewhere for an image. The current one is generic to blogging about books, but I'd be happy to replace it with one that is more suitable to our blog topic when we pick one.
Is everyone ok with the image at the top (book with the wires coming out of it), or should I look elsewhere for an image. The current one is generic to blogging about books, but I'd be happy to replace it with one that is more suitable to our blog topic when we pick one.
Blogs/Wikis set up DUE
While in class last Thursday, I noticed that some people in our group had information about what it due with the blog work this week, but I haven't found it online. Is it a paper Linda gave out or did I miss something?
And does anyone have any idea how to make this post appear under the assignments page? I thought I was posting it there, but it showed up on the home page.
And does anyone have any idea how to make this post appear under the assignments page? I thought I was posting it there, but it showed up on the home page.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
New Hyperlink
I added another hyperlink. It will take you directly to a library technical services URL that contains alot of information on cataloging
My post for this week
In addition to suggesting a theme for our blog, I have added a page designated LT130 wherein we can post assignments or progress statements.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
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