
WEBOOKS, a cooperative ebook purchasing plan, has been named a Cutting Edge Technology Project by the American Library Association. This model can work for districts and consortia around the country, says Christopher Harris.
February 16, 2013
The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens

WEBOOKS, a cooperative ebook purchasing plan, has been named a Cutting Edge Technology Project by the American Library Association. This model can work for districts and consortia around the country, says Christopher Harris.

Thirty years after its debut, most of us can still remember every word of the theme song and hum its melody. That’s the legacy of, and the power behind, Reading Rainbow, says LeVar Burton. In this one-on-one interview, Burton chats candidly to SLJ about the reiteration of the brand as a subscription-based tablet app and its anticipated expansion to the Web, children’s literacy, his ongoing mission to create lifelong readers, and his efforts to advocate for access for all kids.

Bookshare has announced that it is launching two new additions to its product line as part of its continuing effort to help kids with print disabilities connect with books. Bookshare Web Reader allows readers to directly open books with a browser without requiring them to download the book or utilize separate software, while Bookshelf allows readers (or their teachers) to organize selections by any system they choose.
Join the nation’s many school librarians and educators planning to dive into projects, programs, and day-long activities tomorrow in celebration of the second annual Digital Learning Day.

Grumbling about the relevance of CES notwithstanding, several standout products are set to impact K–12 education. SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings taps the highlights, including one overarching trend that’s bound to affect a wide range of devices for all users.

Sixty percent of publishing executives believe that tablets have become “the ideal reading platform,” and 45 percent believe that dedicated e-readers will soon be irrelevant, according to a recent online, by-invitation survey conducted by global research and advisory firm Forrester.

The number of kids reading ebooks has nearly doubled since 2010, according to Scholastic’s Kids & Family Reading Report, which was released today. The national survey of kids age 6–17 and their parents also found that half of kids age 9–17 say they would read more books for fun if they had greater access to ebooks—although 80 percent of kids who read ebooks say they still read books for fun primarily in print.

School Library Journal columnist Jeff Hastings test drives the new Web- and subscription-based ebook collection StarWalk Kids.

“School libraries, I believe, will be the coming focal point for ebook licensing,” write Chris Harris. “We have strong relationships with our K–12 publishing partners, but now we must reach out to the trade houses. As the print market weakens, the time is right for schools to present a new business proposal.”

From the Hunger Games, the Common Core, and maker spaces, to Gangnam Style and the ongoing ebook wars, a look at the highlights and key themes of 2012, according to Twitter.

How will schools pay for new CC resources, including digital? One approach is to look for existing funds within your school and district that can be redirected so that your library can purchase CC resources for the classroom. But that requires that libraries market their expertise in resource selection and collection development so that your value is obvious to others, says Christopher Harris.

From MOOCs to open educational resources, Joyce Valenza examines the top trends of the year in technology. There are unique opportunities for librarians here and Valenza outlines specific actionables in this online version of School Library Journal’s feature story.

Christopher Harris shares his thoughts on how rural districts—with an average size of 1,100 students and less than half the budget of the average New York school district—are, in effect, subsidizing the state’s large, wealthy, suburban systems, which are purchasing the same content at the same cost per building.

Two School Library Journal articles took gold and silver prizes at the 2012 annual Eddie Awards, sponsored by FOLIO: magazine and recognizing editorial excellence in magazines and websites.

Web applications that make it easy to create records in appealing formats for sharing, selected by Richard Byrne, School Library Journal’s Cool Tools columnist.
From a linguistic search technique to Wikipedia’s questionable coverage of Hurricane Sandy, the latest online resources selected by Gary Price, industry analyst librarian and editor of LJ’s INFOdocket (@INFOdocket).







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