How good is Oyster, the new ebook subscription service? Linda W. Braun puts the application through its paces in a screencast series showing how to get started with Oyster, how to search titles, and what it all means for libraries.
Topsy: a game changer for search, e-reputation, & data analysis
By on September 14, 2013
I love searching Twitter. And I love sharing how a Twitter search can dramatically impact student research, by connecting them with experts, encouraging them to develop current awareness, allowing them to listen in on the dialog of a particular field or niche, and, in some cases, enabling them to contribute to the conversation. Learning to [...]
Power Tumbl’ng: Why Tumblr Is a Great Way to Reach Teen Patrons
By on September 12, 2013
Tumblr can be a successful way to connect to new and diverse audiences, provided you understand who you’ll be attracting to your site and how to use Tumblr to your advantage. Should libraries and librarians use Tumblr? Teen librarian Robin Brenner says yes, and explains why.
Pictures of the Week: A Future Librarian Enjoys SLJ’s ‘Early Birds’ Cover Story
By on September 11, 2013 Leave a Comment
An SLJ reader’s daughter peruses our Early Learning-focused July issue, which featured the iconic Sesame Street character, Big Bird, on the cover.
IMLS Awards Grant to Preserve Video Games
By on September 6, 2013 Leave a Comment
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) a grant in order to help preserve and curate a significant portion of its collection of approximately 50,000 video games and related artifacts, one of the world’s most extensive public collections.
Sharing Public Domain Ebooks with the Book Elf
By on September 6, 2013
The Book Elf is a new tool for getting PD digital content into the hands of readers. Discovery of titles could be improved, but it does have some potential.
Where in the world? GeoGuessr as a literacy tool
By on September 5, 2013
Thanks to my good buddy, Shannon, I getting a little hooked on GeoGuessr and I can’t wait to share it with our Social Studies Department. Released last May, the web-based geographic discovery game places players on five randomly-determine Google Street View locations, asking them to guess where they are. Once a player is ready to guess the location, [...]
Liven Up Your Obligatory (and Necessary) Library Orientation | Tech Tidbits
By on September 4, 2013 1 Comment
A good library orientation can make the rest of the year easier for students and teachers, as well as for you and your staff. Make it fun and the facts will be more memorable. This year, the Guybrarian is using the scavenger hunt method, with a few tech twists.
SLJ’s School Ebook Market Directory
By on September 3, 2013
Which ebook provider will best meet your school’s needs and budget? SLJ’s snapshot of 19 ebook vendors outlines the suppliers’ range of offerings, terms of use, and pricing options.
E. It’s Complicated. How Two Schools are Riding the Transition to Ebooks
By on September 3, 2013
For this close-up report on going digital, SLJ talked to academic experts, librarians, teachers, and students at two Illinois high schools. Big questions: What are the best ebook providers? How many student iPads get damaged? Do students read more in ebook or print? And more.
A Minecraft Library Scores Big: Mattituck, NY, Branch Is a Hit with Kids
By on September 3, 2013
Inspired by the experiences of Connecticut librarian Sarah Ludwig’s Minecraft library club, Elizabeth Grohoski and Karen Letteriello of the Mattituck-Laurel Library (NY) are now using a virtual Minecraft library to attract young patrons. The game allows users to build in a 3-D virtual world with cubes similar to Legos—but without any proscriptive kits and manuals.
Powerful Partnerships, Pi, and Python Behind the Success of Teen Tech Camp
By on August 30, 2013 Leave a Comment
Imagine a day in your library devoted to the basics of coding in Python and sending a roomful of teens home with computers they can keep. Now imagine doing this for about $30! It’s completely possible, because it happened at Southwest Regional Library, a regional branch of the Durham County Library system in Durham, North Carolina.
Page to Screen: From YA Bestsellers to Big-Screen Blockbusters
By on August 29, 2013 Leave a Comment
While the jury is still out on the big screen adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, reviewers are raving about the surprise indie hit The Spectacular Now, based on Tim Tharp’s young adult novel. Children’s books continue to be Hollywood’s go-to source for inspiration, and librarians couldn’t be happier. As readers and movie fans await the book-to-film entries coming this fall, such as Suzanne Collins’s Catching Fire and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, SLJ looks ahead to future releases in this latest installment of Page to Screen.
ConnectED Will Bring Faster Connections to Schools and Libraries | Next Big Thing
By on August 28, 2013
What could your library do with gigabit broadband? If you don’t have a list of innovative ways to use an Internet connection 10 or 100 times faster than the current norm, start making it now.
Organize the Web with EduClipper | Test Drive
By on August 26, 2013
Sure, the Web is a key resource for educators, but what’s the best way to share the good stuff you’ve collected with students and teachers and keep it all organized? EduClipper may be an answer.
Bedeviled, Besotted, and Bewildered | SLJ Reviews ‘City of Bones’ Film
By on August 21, 2013 Leave a Comment
The first movie adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s popular series, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, is out in theaters on August 21. Lily Collins as Clarissa “Clary” Fray and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace star in the action-fantasy, which provides the thrill of the chase and a sprinkling of the romance for its core audience.
Life with Raspberry Pi: Sparking a School Coding Revolution
By on August 19, 2013
A $25 computer that fits in the palm of your hand, the Raspberry Pi has the potential to challenge the digital divide and make coding in schools as commonplace as textbooks. Computing could truly become about what kids can make rather than what schools can buy. Teacher Chad Sansing explains it all, with resources for digging in and getting started.
Maker Summer: A Global Project Offers DIY Opportunities
By on August 19, 2013
Tinkerers of all ages are flexing their creative muscles during the Summer of Making and Connecting, a global project geared to empower digital crafters and match people with maker activities, online or on the street.
Flocabulary Launches “We Heart Librarians” Contest
By on August 19, 2013 Leave a Comment
Calling all performance-inclined library media specialists. Think you can pull off a song about what librarians do—as a rap? Flocabulary, creator of multimedia K–12 lessons to a hip-hop beat, wants you.
Hachette, Mackin Partner to Distribute Ebooks
By on August 12, 2013
Mackin Educational Resources, national distributor of PreK–12 books, ebooks and digital resources, has announced a new partnership with Hachette Book Group (HBG), beginning this month. As part of the deal, HBG’s entire catalog of more than 6,000 eBooks will be available to Mackin customers, on and offline, through their school’s exclusive MackinVIA platform.
