-- The Undercover Shelf --
Three great books for kids
http://undercovershelf.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/three-great-books-for-kid/
Here are three great books that will make wonderful gifts for any kid on your list!
What Should Children Read? by Sara Mosle, via The New York Times
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/what-should-children-read/
“What schools really need isn’t more nonfiction but better nonfiction, especially that which provides good models for student writing. Most students could use greater familiarity with what newspaper, magazine and book editors call “narrative nonfiction”: writing that tells a factual story, sometimes even a personal one, but also makes an argument and conveys information in vivid, effective ways.”
This is a great article. I was fortunate enough to take AP English classes in junior high and high school with some wonderful, truly gifted teachers who challenged me. I am also fortunate to have parents who instilled in me a love for reading, and my second grade teacher encouraged my reading and love for writing. It’s a great idea for teachers to think outside the box and have their students listen to things like This American Life and read pieces from The New Yorker. The classics, while wonderful and important, are sometimes not as relatable for expository writing lessons.
This is kind of important.
Howdy all! If you’re at all interested in participated in the Tumblarians Webinar or even if you just want to share thoughts on programming ideas, then please take my humble survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XLDK7HT
I need to get a better idea of what everyone’s interest level is, who wants to present, etc. I’m looking forward to hearing from everyone! Please reblog and post the survey link far and wide. Let the collaboration begin!
If you are interested in participating in a webinar about tumblr and librarians, please message me with your e-mail! Ideas for topics include:
- How we use tumblr to promote libraries and information science.
- Using tumblr for networking and connecting with fellow librarians.
- Your experience using tumblr in your own library or for a library related project.
- Any other ideas are welcome!
Please reblog and reach out to any libraries that you are connected with here on tumblr that you think might be interested.
Also, if you aren’t interested in speaking or presenting as part of the webinar but still want to be involved, that’s ok, too. A list of Tumblarians similar to what’s on http://thelifeguardlibrarian.tumblr.com/ will be included.
Get in touch and spread the word! Let’s make a Tumblarian webinar happen!
What To Do in 5773: Advice from Dr. Ruth, Shmuley Boteach, Mayim Bialik, Shalom Auslander and 23 more on ensuring a meaningful year
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/111841/rosh-hashanah-resolved-5773?all=1
Shana Tova everyone! I am not Jewish, but I have enjoyed learning more about Judaism in the past years on my own. It has greatly informed and often confused my own personal beliefs. I really enjoyed this article because it shows how different each of our personal goals can be—from simply stretching more in the morning to visiting Israel to forgetting religion altogether—yet equally as meaningful. I hope we will each, Jewish or not, take a moment to reassess our lives and all we have done in this year so far and consider how we can continue to make our lives and the lives of others on this planet better and more meaningful.
not far from 10 years since this was written and it still has a huge amount of relevency
Libraries exist to serve the present and future needs of a community of users. To do this well, they need to use the very best that technology has to offer. With the advent of the web, XML, portable computing, and other technological advances, libraries can become flexible, responsive organizations that serve their users in exciting new ways. Or not. If libraries cling to outdated standards, they will find it increasingly difficult to serve their clients as they expect and deserve.
I wish that article had been better written and cited but, nevertheless, it raises quite a few points that are still being discussed in the library world. And the issues with MARC won’t go away with RDA, either; however, I don’t believe simply moving to XML instead of MARC would solve every problem. The issue as a whole is much more complicated than that.
(via thelifeguardlibrarian)
great post with some useful questions to reflect on
One line of questioning I’ve found helpful is asking “what do I love doing?” “When am I most excited and engaged at work?” Do you love working one on one with users? Collaborating with others? Designing events, or projects, or lessons? This can help give you insight into what your strengths are and what gives life for you.
This is a really great post with some excellent points that many librarians and information professionals or even just new graduates in general can reflect on. I think one of the most important things for new librarians to realize is that being a librarian is a JOB and, as with many jobs, you may not immediately love it. It’s important to be open to the fact that you will have to learn much more than what you were taught in library school. And it will be challenging and a little scary and you will certainly have days and maybe even weeks or longer where you are unsure of yourself (I speak from experience here). But keep your head up, give things a chance, and remind yourself why you went to library school in the first place.
Today at work I had what was probably an inordinate amount of fun making new Prezi presentations. I’m involved in creating curriculum materials that coordinate with the archival digital collections at my library, and my colleague and I are going to present them at a social studies conference for teachers in January. Exciting!! Earlier in the week, I started working on a Prezi that’s an interactive, historical case study of Houston, and this afternoon I started working on some other amazing layouts. I used to play school instead of house as a kid, so to actually be creating materials that teachers and students will hopefully be excited about using is kind of awesome for me. I’m also going to do a presentation about Prezi (how meta is that?) at TLA next year, and I can’t wait to share my creations!
Librarians and teachers: any ideas for curriculum materials that you would like to see?
If anyone ever asks you what the purpose of libraries is these days, just hand them this super awesome infographic from the ALA. Check the click-through link for the larger version.
Yes. Please remember that not everyone has internet access at home or a smart phone. Libraries are about providing access to information and, therefore, the Internet is a huge part of that these days. There is room for the digital AND books.
(via Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation » American public libraries & community internet access infographic)
(via thecardiganlibrarian)
I’m so tired of hearing how cursive simply isn’t relevant to the modern world. Whatever happened to learning how to do something properly simply for the sake of learning how to do it? And because it teaches discipline and that there is value in learning to do something nicely. Thank goodness for The New Yorker! And I always say, so long as Peter Schjeldahl is still writing art reviews for The New Yorker, all is right with the world.
“A knowledge of cursive may not be “relevant” to the modern world, but it is essential to a visceral sense of the past, and an ability to examine the literature, correspondence, and history contained in original documents.”
As many U.S. schools begin to phase out the teaching of cursive, Judith Thurman writes in defense of script: http://nyr.kr/MLREak
(via smatterings)
