I recently received an email from a librarian from a small conservative area of the state who was concerned about the growing number of young adult novels that contain language and topics that are often graphic and explicit. She wants to offer a well-rounded collection of titles to meet the needs of her students but feels that many of the topics would not pass the scrutiny of the morals of her community. She wondered how others were dealing with this issue.

Your thoughts…..

Professional Reading

This month’s issue of Teacher Librarian is a must read! Our own Gail Dickinson has an article entitled, “The Spirit of Inquiry in Information Literacy”. The focus of the issue is on the Teacher-Librarian as a Learning Leader.

Annual DOE Educational Technology Leadership Conference

Once again, VEMA was included in the sessions offered to the over 1100 conference attendees. John Osterhout, Kathy Lehman, Lori Papa, and Margaret Flanagan presented sessions highlighting the work of school libraries and technology integration.

Internet Safety Update

The DOE recently released a guidance document on guidelines for meeting the state mandated Internet Safety Instruction. The document may be downloaded at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/OET/internet-safety-guidelines.shtml

     There were several sessions at the recent technology conference. If you or your school is doing something to communicate to parents, teachers, students, etc., please share your ideas with us. We would love to hear from you!

     Several sites of interest may be found by going to Trackstar, http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/;jsessionid=3150CA77EB3F03F16DF2E41F07D9A469 A simple search will provide you with lots of information. To access the one created by Charlie Makela, the password is ALMS.

‘Tis the Season of Lights:  Sites to Explore on the Winter Solstice

1. Web Feet

http://www.religioustolerance.org/winter_solstice.htm

2. From Encyclopaedia Britannica

http://school.eb.com/all/search?query=December+Celebrations

http://school.eb.com/all/eb/topic?idxStructId=645665&typeId=13

3. From eLibrary http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/libweb/elib/do/results?firsttime=y&set=search&referer=&edition=&sortResultsBy=TopicRelevance

4. EBSCO Host

http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?vid=5&hid=105&sid=1fc53c33-5d3b-45aa-a5b3-8bba5a6e55e0%40sessionmgr104

5.  SIRS

http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-sub-display?id=SVC00146-0-6865&method=date&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=N&keyno=0000078545&0000078545=Y&auth_checked=Y

6.  Thompson Gale

http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&docType=IAC&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A154690970&userGroupName=va_s_007_0162&version=1.0&searchType=BasicSearchForm&source=gale

Media Literacy Through Hoax Sites— from WebFeet Spotlight

The Internet is an outstanding source for information; however, not all Web sites should be trusted. Some sites may appear legitimate, but in fact are jokes or deliberate hoaxes. These sites fall into that category. They are excellent examples for educators who are teaching students how to identify bogus information–a useful skill, especially when citing sources in a research paper.

Britain for Americans
http://www.brookview.karoo.net/BFA/

BuyDehydratedWater.com
http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/

Cloning of George Washington Reported
http://www.angelfire.com/la/jfled/george2.html

Dog Island
http://www.thedogisland.com/

Case Analysis of a Historic Killer Tornado Event in Kansas on 10 June 1938
http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/Conference_papers/SELS96/WoO.html

Feline Reactions to Bearded Men
http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html

First Genetics
http://www.firstgenetics.com/

Godsend Institute
http://www.godsendinstitute.org/home.html

Mechanical Marvels of the Nineteenth Century
http://bigredhair.com/robots/

University of Santa Anita : The True But Little Known Facts About Women and AIDS
http://ithaca.edu/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
http://www.vhemt.org/

Lacuna, Inc.
http://www.lacunainc.com/home.html

McWhortle Enterprises, Inc.
http://www.mcwhortle.com/

The Dangers of Bread
http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/bread.html

Mike Sandman … Chicago’s Telecom Expert: Telco Powered Products
http://www.sandman.com/telco.html

Miskatonic University
http://www.miskatonic.net/

MoonBeam Enterprises and the Lunar Travel Agency
http://www.dreamweaverstudios.com/moonbeam/moon.htm

Ninja Burger
http://www.ninjaburger.com/

NonprofitableTech
http://www2.nonprofitabletech.com/

The Ova Prima Foundation
http://www.ovaprima.org/

Oxford Open University
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/EmirMohammed/university.html

Republic of Molossia
http://www.molossia.org/countryeng.html

RYT Hospital: Dwayne Medical Center: GenoChoice: Create Your Own Genetically Healthy Child Online!
http://www.genochoice.com/

RYT Hospital: Dwayne Medical Center: POP!: The First Male Pregnancy
http://www.malepregnancy.com/

Sellafield Zoo
http://www.brookview.karoo.net/Sellafield_Zoo/

The Time Travel Fund
http://www.timetravelfund.com/

California’s Velcro Crop Under Challenge (1993)
http://www.umbachconsulting.com/miscellany/velcro.html

DHMO.org: Dihydrogen Monoxide: Research Division
http://www.dhmo.org/

AFDB: Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie
http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus.html

Thumbshots Ranking

This is a cool site, http://ranking.thumbshots.com/ that can be used to help students understand the need to search more than one search engine. Put in the search terms, select two search engines to compare and it will graphically display the overlapping links, unique links, and the total number of links found. It also displays the link ranking for each page and compares where it falls within the selected search engine.

May you celebrate the Holidays with joy and love.

Admiral Charlie

How do you deal with copyright as related to multimedia,specifically using music in multimedia projects.

      My problem is this..I think that we are underestimating the ability of our students to become critical thinkers.  If you have ever watched a child play a video game, it becomes obvious that multiple decisions are required of the player each with its own set of consequences.  Decisions about what tool (read weapon) is needed, the skills of the opposing character, knowledge of the environment of the virtual world are required in order to move to the next level in the game.  These are critical thinking skills.  Students are naturally curious and somehow we need to capture and channel that curiosity into learning.

      As you are reading/working with students your attitude towards learning will determine how comfortable/free the students will be in thinking ‘outside the box’.  Many people joke about how thinking can get you into trouble, that employers don’t want you to think, just to do.. but what is one of the critical qualities they look for in new hires…the ability to think and solve problems.  It is a conumdrum for which I don’t have an answer.

       Frequently we are reluctant to allow students free thinking because it takes time away from the task at hand.  But I wonder, if we gave them opportunities to think, would they learn more?

       Your thoughts???

(a) What do I need to purchase, read, etc. in order to implement this program?

(b) Does Big6 do all that it claims to do?

(c) Should I just start with Big6 first (”on paper”)and add the Turbo Tools later?

Reprinted with persmission of John Bishop, Moorestown HS Library, Moorestown, NJ USA
jbishop@mtps.com posted on the Information Literacy Listserve of AASL

Thanks much to all who have responded to Camilla’s original request.  I agree with most, if not all, of that which has been offered…providing much food for thought.  However, it is Mary’s response which has had me staring at the library walls for much more of a time than is proper…pondering her proposal and its implications…considering a response that is both succinct (blew that already) and helpful (not likely).  I’ll give it a shot anyway….

One of the core questions stirred by the collection of responses (just above “What is information literacy?”) was…”Who is responsible for information literacy?”  My initial, standard answer…perhaps yours as well…was…”We all are, dummy!”…the “we all” refering to the entire staff (content area teachers, librarians, others) of my/your school.  Further contemplation leads me to view that as too convenient…too “unaccountable”…an answer.  For something…a skill set…as important to students’ current and future academic success as information literacy (a thing/set which many would agree “we all” are not teaching/imparting as effectively as we must) requires a much more specific locus and concerted instruction.  Perhaps it is time for me (as librarian) to take on even more of a leadership role…and formally be the locus of primary responsibility (though by no means “sole”) for information literacy in my school.  Perhaps Mary’s suggested Freshmen information literacy course really is the mechanism within which to do this.

I say “really” because I…perhaps you secondary-as as well…waxed librarian about this before…a required freshman/sophomore information literacy course in which librarians take the lead.  But it was quickly dismissed with words like “It’s just yet another thing to do!”…”You’ll never get all your work done!”…”Say goodbye to flexibility!”…”You’re setting a bad precedent!”…”You’ll no longer be a librarian!”  The time may be now for those words to be dismissed…and the bold development of a semester course focusing on information literacy skills, communication skills, and (why not) media literacy be undertaken.  No doubt…amidst the stoke…new words like “You’re muscling in on other teachers’ territory!”…”Student won’t learn…much less retain…these skills in isolation!”…”Students and staff are suffering because you’re dropping the ball as the (reading promoter, technology supporter, AV restorer, fill in your favorite “point person” activity here)!”…will emerge.  In this time of ever-increasing extraneous expectations…and the ever-eroding perception of relevance, need, and benefit on the part of administrators and content area colleagues…these words can and should be confronted with wisdom and wit.  And I have Mary! , Leah, and Camilla (not to mention all of you) to thank!

If I may…circling back to Camilla’s original request/question…”What…do you wish school teachers and/or administrators paid more attention to regarding students’ use of the Internet?”  My general response would be…the importance of information literacy skills for students’ academic success…the unique ability/need for librarians to develop the foundations of information literacy skills in students using formal and informal instructional settings…the mechanisms that allow librarians to do this and empower/motivate (require, even?) content area teachers to reinforce and enhance information literacy skills via their classroom instruction, activities, and assignments.

Good luck, Camilla!

John Bishop
Moorestown HS Library
Moorestown, NJ USA
jbishop@mtps.com