17
September
2007
ALASKA LIBRARY NETWORK NEWS / PASSWORD FOR LHH / POSITION POSTING / HOORAY
ALASKA LIBRARY NETWORK NEWS
Kerri Canepa asked me to post this to you all:
The Alaska Library Network has a new web page! Check out http://alaskalibrarynetwork.org/ for loads of promotional materials for SLED and the Digital Pipeline all available for download and printing. You’ll find brochures, bookmarks, posters and other items. Just click on Products & Services in the lefthand column. Keep up with what’s happening with ALN by clicking on News and also Schedule & Events. As ALN grows, so will the web page so make sure to bookmark the site and visit regularly! SLED has a new toolbar that can be added to your browser! It’s customizable and will search SLED from anywhere on the Internet. Go to sled.alaska.edu and click on “Download the SLED toolbar!” text in the lefthand column. Please note, the toolbar does not work with Safari, so if you use Apple products, download the toolbar in Firefox. The Digital Pipeline now features a series of video tutorials! These are designed to provide step-by-step instruction for using the EBSCOhost interface. The tutorials build on each other by explaining the features of the interface and how to use it for searching for information. Each tutorial is approximately 2 1/2 to 3 minutes in length and can be viewed over and over again. Go to sled.alaska.edu/databases/ and click on the “Need Help?” box on the righthand side of the page to get to the list of tutorials. Please send any comments or suggestions about any of the web sites to:
Kerri Canepa, Coordinator, Alaska Library Network Alaska State Library, 334 W. 3rd Avenue, Ste 125, Anchorage, AK
99501907-269-6567 kerri.canepa@alaska.gov
LIVE HOMEWORK HELP PASSWORD (AGAIN!)
Live Homework Help is a valuable afterschool service offered on SLED (http://sled.alaska.edu/) or on a number of public and school library websites each day from 1 to 9 PM for students who need help with their homework. As I wrote last time, it now works with PCs AND Macs, but it requires a password. Although we can not post or mail that password electronically, we can tell you that it is the password that one uses for the databases on the Digital Pipeline. If you do not know the password, look at the Live Homework Help page for the toll-free number to obtain it. Feel free to distribute it freely in paper format, but just DON’T post it on a website or send it to students, teachers, or parents via email. Remember that students will need to know to use the password if they are asked for a library card number. Library card numbers will NOT work despite what the screen asks.
If you would like a couple of cute posters to advertise LIVE HOMEWORK HELP in your school, please contact Priscilla McAdara at priscilla.mcadara@alaska.gov
SCHOOL LIBRARY COORDINATOR DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 10/1/2007
Because there were insufficient applicants for my position, the search has been broadened and the deadline extended. Take a look at the job description to learn how you can apply on Workplace
Alaska at: http://notes4.state.ak.us/wa/PostApps.nsf/0/5A5E395DFF0E09438925735300655EFC?OpenDocument
The position is listed under Librarian III and School Library Coordinator. It’s one job listed two different ways.
HOORAY!
Cheers for all the energetic youth services librarians who gathered in
Anchorage September 11-12 for the first-ever Alaska Youth Services Workshop. Priscilla McAdara of the State Library Anchorage office commented, “I don’t think I’ve ever been around so many people who had so much passion for their jobs.” There were 32 librarians in attendance, but there was enough energy in the room to stoke a few small power plants.
You can post comments on the blog by clicking on the number next to the post title.
Posted: SAYL Mail, School Libraries, Summer Reading, Technology, Training, Uncategorized
8
September
2007
MADELEINE L’ENGLE / BANNED BOOKS WEEK / LIVE HOMEWORK HELP / NEW BOOK FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARIANS / AkLA CONFERENCE 2008 / SCHOOL LIBRARY COORDINATOR POSITION / CORRECTION
MADELEINE L’ENGLE 1918-2007
Beloved author Madeleine L’Engle (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and at least 60 other titles) died on Thursday, September 6. To read more about this extraordinary woman and her career, go to her website at: http://www.madeleinelengle.com/
BANNED BOOKS WEEK September 29 – October 6
If you will be celebrating or promoting Banned Books Week at your school this year and haven’t ordered materials, you’ll need to act quickly to get materials from the American Library Association at: http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.tafsn=catalog&_pn=product_detail&_op=2374
One needn’t buy the posters and bookmarks to draw students’ attention to the importance of the freedom to read. Your library probably contains books that have been targeting for banning. Use the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom website to learn more about Banned Books Week: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm#wtb
LIVE HOMEWORK HELP CHANGES – IMPORTANT
With the start of the new school year, you may find yourself referring students in grades 4 through beginning college level to LIVE HOMEWORK HELP, available on SLED (http://sled.alaska.edu) or through your own library’s web page. The service is available to people within the state of
Alaska from 1 – 9 PM every day.
The GOOD NEWS is that the people who produce this service, Tutor.com, have finally listened and now offer a Mac compatible version! The BAD NEWS is that students with very old browsers on either Mac or PC platform may not be able to access the live chat with a screened and trained tutor. In addition, right now the service is asking people in some circumstances for a Library Card Number. In Alaska the response should NOT be a library card number, but instead should be the password used for all our proprietary databases on the Digital Pipeline on SLED. If you do not know this password already, you cannot receive or send it via email or on a website. Instead, you can call the toll-free number at 1-800-440-2919 to get the password. Remember you are welcome to share the password with clients of your library to use at the library or at home, but you CANNOT share the password with them via web or email. (This is part of our licensing agreement.)
NEW BOOK FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LIBRARIES
New at the Anchorage office of the Alaska State Library is THE SUPER3: INFORMATION SKILLS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS by Mike Eisenberg and Laura Eisenberg Robinson. This 2007 Linworth publication provides a scaled-down version of the Big6 research method that they claim will work for Pre-K through second grade. The Pre-K claim may be a serious stretch since all the examples on the numerous worksheets involve writing, but the 3 skills (planning, doing, reviewing) are a good framework for younger students who are just embarking on research projects or beginning to identify story elements. Contact Priscilla McAdara at 907-269-6580 or priscilla.mcadara@alaska.gov if you would like to borrow the book.
AKLA CONFERENCE 2008 – PROPOSAL DEADLINE September 15
The state library conference will be held in Fairbanks this year. The dates are February 28 – March 2, 2008. The Alaska Association of School Librarians will be offering travel grants again this year, and information about how school librarians who are members of AkASL may apply will be posted later in the fall. In the meantime there are two things that you can do to get ready: 1. You can talk to your principal about the dates and the importance of participating in the type of professional development that the conference offers 2. If you have something to share with other librarians throughout the state, you can submit a program proposal online at: http://www.akla.org/fairbanks2008/forms/more.php
SCHOOL LIBRARY COORDINATOR POSITION
There are still a few days to apply for my position as School Library Coordinator. The job is posted at: http://notes5.state.ak.us/wa/mainentry.nsf/WebData/1hp1HomePage/?OpenThe position is listed under Librarian III and School Library Coordinator. It’s one job listed two different ways.The closing date is currently posted as September 12 (Wednesday).
This is a great job, so I encourage anyone who has a solid background and an interest in serving libraries and librarians throughout the state to apply.
My official duties as Head of Library Development begin September 17, but I will continue to keep you informed via SAYL Mail until a replacement has been chosen. I’ve just had a wonderful almost two-week vacation with one of my sisters, so I feel energized to wear two hats for a little while, but hope that I won’t be straddling two positions for long!
CORRECTION
As reported in the last SAYL Mail, Helen Clark of Fairbanks is indeed leading the instructional technology program at the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, but her duties have expanded, so her official title is: Executive Director of Library Media and Instructional Technology. Katie Sanders will be serving with Helen and have the title of Director of Library Media Services as indicated previously.
You can post a comment to this blog by clicking on the grey number next to the title.
Sue Sherif
School Library/Youth Services Coordinator
Alaska State Library
Posted: Books, SAYL Mail, School Libraries
6
December
2006
ONLINE CLASSES / COMING UP TALLER AWARD / ART-Y SCHOOLS? / NEVER TOO LATE / GREAT NEW BOOK?
ONLINE CLASSES FOR LIBRARIANS WHO SERVE TEENS YALSA, the Young Adult Services Association of the American Library Association, announces that, on December 15, registration will open for several online classes that YALSA is offering in February and March. Most of the classes last 6 weeks. Among the course offerings are:
- FINDING THE RIGHT BOOK FOR THE RIGHT TEEN AT THE RIGHT TIME
- NEW TECHNOLOGY AND NEW LITERACIES FOR TEENS
- OUTREACHING TEENS
- PAIN IN THE BRAIN: ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT AND LIBRARY BEHAVIOR
- POWER PROGRAMMING FOR TEENS
To find out more about these and other online courses, how to register, the tuition, and tech requirements, go to:http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/onlinecourses/info.htm
COMING UP TALLER AWARDS One of the questions the Alaska State Library receives most often from school and public librarians is: Are there any grants available for my library? This fall I have included news of at least one grant possibility in almost every e-newsletter. This week’s award is one from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities called the Coming Up Taller Award that provides a grant of $10,000 to “recognize and reward” outstanding after-school and out-of-school programs in the arts and humanities. The deadline for this grant is January 31, 2007. For more information, see http://www.imls.gov/news/2006/112906.shtm I urge Alaska libraries with something special to share to go for awards or grants like this one. You may feel like your library is small and far from the Center of the Library Universe, but small Alaska school and public libraries have won such national grants and awards as the U.S. Department of Education’s Improving Literacy through School Libraries, the National Endowment for the Humanities Prime Time Family Reading Award, Laura Bush Foundation Grants, NEH Bookshelf Awards, IMLS Leadership and Enhancement grants, and many more. Most recently the Anchorage Municipal Libraries and the branch of UAA in Homer were two of 72 national winners of National Endowment for the Arts BIG READ awards. Anchorage chose the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451 and will be sharing their program with the state; Homer will focus on The Joy Luck Club and is planning to have author Amy Tan there in person.
ART IN SCHOOLS? Does your school principal go all out to create an active and vibrant art program in your school? Is there a principal in your district who is known for making art education happen in a big way despite all the pressures of NCLB? If so, the Alaska State Council on the Arts is looking for names and addresses. They would like our cooperation in finding some outstanding instructional leaders who have integrated arts into a wide range of school activities and curricula. If you know of someone who fits this description, please let me know, and I’ll pass the principal and school names along to Charlotte Fox, the director of the Arts Council.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE I am receiving more school library censuses every day, so don’t be shy or feel like you’ll be the only or last one. If you need one of those pesky forms, please send me an email and I’ll get another one to you. And who knows, you might even get a nice Red Lantern award if you are indeed the last to turn in your school’s form! And if the prospect of a possible award isn’t enough, just think: if you turn your completed in form, you won’t have to hear from me on this subject again! A big thanks to those who have returned forms to me this week and to Lynn McNamara of the Anchorage School District, who spearheaded a local effort!
GREAT NEW BOOKS? This week, rather than listing more of the new professional books that we’ve received here at the State Library in Anchorage, I am going to turn the tables and ask you to let us know what the best new book that’s arrived at your library this fall is. It doesn’t have to be a 2006 title, just something that you have read or library has just added. You can respond in this blog version by clicking on the grey number to the right of the #10 above. Cheers!
Posted: Books, Grants, School Libraries
