Happy Birthday

Cranberry, the polar bear, is 6 years old today.  MH, Austin, Henry and I went to sing Happy Birthday.

Johnny Mercer

So, I was listening to NPR and heard the story about Johnney Mercer.  I love those old songs.  I had no idea that he was madly in love with Judy Garland, or that some of his best songs were written for and about her. 

Listen to these  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120541054#end
and read the story   http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.phpstoryId=120541054#end

Private v. Public

Well, since nobody is going to see this, I guess it really doesn't matter   if I make it private or not.  I am looking at technology a little differently these days.  I still believe that educationally speaking we are moving too far away from teaching the basics. In a lot of ways, computers are removing independence from the learning process.  Students rely on computers to spell for them, to correct their grammar, to add and stubtract...never mind multiply and divide.  Things that used to be a matter of memorization, like the state capitals for instance, are now a google search.  You may ask yourself, why memorize when your Iphone can give you the answer, but I think there is an element of discipline in thinking that is being lost...maybe I'm archaic, I don't know. 
From my position here in the library, I see a lot of things that happen across the curriculum.  Even teachers take the easy way out.  With the student load and the time constraints...you are being asked to rear some of these children for the parents..it is certainly understandable.  BUT there are some basics that have been lost.  We are producing very few really curious children these days.  It's all about the grade not the pursuit of something new.

Widgets

Somehow or other I managed to add a widget to my blog.  Way to go me!

National Gallery of Art Exhibit: "The Darker Side of Light: Arts Of Privacy, 1850-1900"

National Gallery of Art Exhibit: "The Darker Side of Light: Arts Of Privacy, 1850-1900"

Afterwards

So I finished all the little exercies,but the blogging thing is kind of fun.  I should probably change my setting to "private" and maybe continue.   Let's see what interesting thing did I find out today...In the Tennessean, I read that the Nsville Flying Saucer is sponsoring with Grammar Nation a Shakespearean spelling bee.  How awesome!

Also I discovered on Technorati that the National Gallery has a variety of free podcasts available through itunes.  I was reading about their current exhibition "The Darker side of Light" which is a series of drawings dealing with privacy.."about the world of thought not just sensory experience."

http://technorati.com/entertainment/article/national-gallery-of-art-exhibit-the/

Week 9, # 22 and #23

After all the research I've been doing for the big MASLIC purchase, I feel like this section is redundant.  There  are a lot of sources out ther for e-books if you are interested in the classics.  But for serious research (which is still under copyright) you have to pay.

All in all this has been an interesting exercise.

Week 9, # 21

The Library of Congress has podcasts (and webcasts) that cover the various activities at the Library.  I like this as a source because a lot of filtering has been done and the content covers a variety of topics.  If you look at the American Memory section or the section on Veterans there are all kinds of interesting programs.  Every year the National Book Festival features podcasts of all the authors who speak at the event.  This is one of the most valuable sources we have and it's FREE.

Week 9, # 20

Of course I have seen and used Youtube before.  That's where I found a couple of videos of a speech Sir Ken Robinson gave at TED Talks on critical thinking.  I looked around and found one on progress that is really funny and very ironic.    http://www.youtube.com/frankdruffel
There is a whole series of videos by this guy "I put the 'no' in innovation."
http://www.thepalaceoflight.com/
 
I tried to figure out how to put the video on my blog, but I really don't understand how that works. Iit's like the "handbook" in the previous blog, it would take some time to play with it that I am not able to spend right now.

I looked at Teachertube as well and of course these are more curriculum or teacher training related.  I can see the value of using these sites to produce information/training videos for teachers and students to introduce the library and its components to new users (and old).  If I can ever see how to embed the video onto the library page, and if we had the bandwidth to run the videos, they could also be used for book reviews  or by teachers to explain research projects to their classes. 

Week 8, # 19

I have been a Library Thing member since I attended a technology conference last year.  It is more sophisticated than Shelfari (which I really like better).  But I did create a catalog and I found that a lot of people like the latest Dan Brown a whole lot better than I did.  I found agreement with my other 4 choices though.  There seem to be more conversations about books going on here and I guess if you are doing more than just creating a reading shelf to share with friends this is really the better place to go.  See my catalog at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/edavis1963

Week 8, # 18

I can see the value of a program like ZOHO Writer.  I think it is a little hard to navigate at first.  but once you get into the program and play around with it a little, things clarify. I created a first page for a library handbook (look at the left for the handbook link.)  Ok so now I opened the handbook link and can't close it.

Also, in working with the ZOHO Writer, I wanted to post some more library pictures but I am having a problem with resizing.  I can't decide why the new pictures which are in the same folder as the one on the title page won't fit.  I find this tool in theory to be very helpful, esp. for the person moving from computer to computer or place to place, but in practice, at least for me, too high maintenance.  I'm going to keep working with it because I think it's a neat idea. BUT...

handbook

 

Christian Brothers High School     Pender Library Welcome to the Pender Library at Christian Brothers High School.  The library is named for alumnus,  Gene Pender whose generosity has benefited the faculty and students of CBHS.       Library hours:  7AM-4PM, Monday- Thursday 7 AM-3:30 PM, Friday

Week 7, # 17

I didn't follow the plan exactly.  In order to add a post to the California site  I was supposed to create yet another account...too much  for me.  That's my problem with a lot of this--the fact that there is no standardization.  Every site requires a login and password.  There are different requirements to satisfy and keping it straight is time consuming.  I have created a Ning page for the boys in the writers group.  I'm hoping that this will be a way for them to stay connected and share their work.

Take a look
http://cbhswriters.ning.com/

Week 7, #16

Wikis are an excellent means for students to share book reviews and to develpo profiles on authors, periods of literature, or other curriculum applications.  I looked at various library wikis, and can see how addiding one of these to the library page would be a nice collection development tool and a way for students to share insights.  One thing that would be interesting for alumni is a wiki that is devoted to the history of the school  or of the various classes or organizations ( the band for example or SGA).  I notoce that every wiki I examined requires a login for comments and/or editing.  That would help maintain the integrity  of the site.