Mission: Organziation...Simply

As I sit here pondering why my clock has been geared up to hyper-speed, my plans for the last week of the break are to set myself up to finally be organized (after the jaunt to Vegas, of course). My solution to chaos, in the past, has been to take on "one more thing" -- somehow thinking that the added pressure will force me into increased productivity. It has generally worked in the past, but I'm finding that my energy and creativity reserves are dangerously compromised anymore. My goal is to simplify; do less and, hopefully, do it better. ...at home and in the library.

This year I am going to set up a new planner system. I have stumbled upon a great, new resource to help jumpstart my organization mission -- I hope that you will find it useful, too.

In this marvelous world of evolution to open-source productivity tools, this is exactly what I need for the New Year. There's tools for everything from health, work, and creativity, all the way to special projects, scrapbooking, time management, and technology.

The D*I*Y Planner is a system of do-it-yourself, printable forms in several different sizes and layouts for professional and personal use. This system was created and is maintained by Douglas Johnston, and it is released under the terms of a Creative Commons Non-Commercial No-Derivatives License.

Here's to a new year of productivity (and simplification)!

Photo attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/akearns72/2143598133/

Happy, Happy, Happy Break!

I hope you all have a happy and restful break with family and friends. I'm so looking forward to reading, watching basketball, and playing with new tech toys -- and, spending Christmas with my kids. Bliss.

Hm-m-m...on the reading table for the break:

• The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink
• The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
• The Book of Lost Things: A Novel by John Connolly
• The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

I'm so looking forward to spending Wednesdays with all of you doing our PST when we return in 2008. It will be a good time. Merry Christmas to all!

Flip Video Camera

We just ordered a Flip Video Camera for the library. Luckily, I'll be able to try it over the break and practice using it. According to the description on Amazon, it sounds great. Ideas for use? ...video for blogs, presentations, student creations for projects, direct play to TV, website video, library marketing video. It could be a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-use alternative to the video cameras for student use. It is self-contained, with it's own software, USB arm, and boasts easy uploading, editing, sharing, and archiving. I'll keep you posted as to what we think...

There's also a query on Flickr for reviews from people using the Flip as well as several reviews on Amazon.

The Golden Compass

I'm sure that you have just about heard enough on The Golden Compass controversy. The exchanges continue and several libraries still are removing the series from their shelves. Sad, sad, sad... and, you know that most have not even read the book. If they did, they would know that the Authority was not God, only posing as God. I did want to share this article from the Christian Science Monitor regarding the decision by adults, authority figures (no pun intended), or religious organizations making the blanket decision that the series is inappropriate:

What these topics and messages don't do is spark the kind of rigorous, open-minded questioning that defines truly mature thought. They're group-think in disguise. That is to say, they're still what adults – those arbiters of publishing for children – have, collectively, deemed "appropriate." And sadly, what's appropriate" often sidesteps that which can't just be conveyed as information – the deep intellectual, ethical, and spiritual issues that require children to be thoughtful participants in a dialogue, not just empty vessels waiting to be filled.
Meanwhile, Pullman compels his young readers to do the edgiest thing of all, which is to think for themselves.

Please read the entire article, it's excellent.

Another incredible resourse on the topic is Scott Westerfeld's blog, Westerblog. If you want to read some thoughtful and serious comments by kids, spend some time on his posts about The Golden Compass. Great stuff. Probably the most important point is this: that the trilogy is NOT about killing God.

But how do I know this rumor isn’t true? Well, unlike rumors about what happened at someone’s party or who kissed whom, everything in His Dark Material is written down, and you can read it to find out exactly what happens. So if you go to page 188 of the US mass market paperback of Amber Spyglass, you’ll discover that Pullman’s Authority is not the creator. He’s not god. Ogunwe says so in the following words, “It shocked some of us, too, to learn that the Authority was not the creator.”
Case closed. The Authority is a fraud. He’s a liar, just like the people who started the rumor that in His Dark Materials the characters “kill god.” In a funny way, those people are trying to pull off the same kind of trick as the Authority. Okay, they’re not exactly playing god, but they are lying to control what you read, which affects what you think, and what you believe. They are frauds. (Or VERY sloppy readers.)

Strong words? Perhaps. But, notice the exchange of comments from kids. Westerfeld is treating the kids as if their opinions are valid and as if they are intelligent enough to form their own opinions. What a concept!

Library Learning 2.0 for Media Clerks -- It's a Go!

Alright ladies, get ready. The PST is approved. You can register at any time at the Office of Professional Development site.

We are going to have a great time exploring, experimenting, and producing great content starting in January. There is an extensive lineup of fun things to discover, but there are so many more; we will just be looking at the tip of the iceberg.

As a teaser, I'll be posting some things that Helene Blowers, the creator of the "23 Things' program suggested to prepare for our journey.

Don't feel obligated to spend much, if any, time on these. You just may find them interesting and a helpful introduction to our PST. One of the first assignments suggested in the "23 Things" project is to listen to the online tutorial Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners. Enjoy!

The ONE thing that we always can control is our own learning journey. As someone (a-hem)comfortably over the big 5-0, the new things 'out there' continue to amaze me. If you have never read Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, grab it off your library shelf and spend an afternoon reading it. Don't let the simplicity of the story get in the way of the monumental parable. Whether or not we like where we are right now, we can always put everything we have into it and learn all there is to learn while are on our journey for our own treasure.

To review any of our past posts on the PST and '23 Things', just go to the Professional Study Team topic category on the side bar.

Oh, so completely off topic...

...but so incredible. I'm a very (very) frustrated guitar player -- I haven't quite decided if I'm inspired or if I should donate my guitar to some worthy recipient. I found this video on YouTube sometime ago and saved it...just found it again and thought I'd share it with you. It's more than 7 minutes long, but even watching just a few moments will amaze you. I think we can still view YouTube videos on Citrix -- I believe they are only blocked on the student computers.

Blogs -- In Plain English

Here's a great 3-min. video from Common Craft on blogging. I thought it may be one more tool in your tech-belt for explaining and/or using blogs.

"I Am Legend"

I had to read this one -- the movie, I Am Legend, will be out this holiday season. Yes...I admit to all -- I love classic horror. This is one of the best and has been since 1954. Movies and stories have tried to mimic this novella by Richard Matheson, but few have succeeded. Past movie adaptations were mediocre, at best, so I'm hopeful that this movie will stay somewhat true to the story and that Will Smith will portray Robert Neville as in the book.

Although the science is dated, this is one of the first takes on vampirism as scientifically plausible. Robert Neville is possibly the last man on earth, surviving a plague that took every man, woman, child, and animal. His days are spent gathering food, eliminating the threat, and preparing for the onslaught and terror that comes with the night. For that terror is the undead, who want him as part of their own -- and then they want him as the threat to their very existence.

Although this is a great horror story in the classic sense, it is an interesting view of a man who is the last -- the loneliness, the apathy, the courage and ingenuity, and the fear of stepping over the grey line of insanity. All in all, a good read, a must-read for horror buffs, but definitely not for everyone.

So much to explore, so little time...

It was great seeing everyone at the meeting! Thanks to Maddie, Pat, and Mary for giving some great presentations. I wanted to give you a quick update, and get some feedback, on our PST (Professional Study Team). If you weren't at the meeting, or missed some of the facts, here's a quick rundown of where we are right now concerning the PST:

• It should clock in at around 25 professional development hours


• We will meet at Skyline High School on Wednesdays from 4-5:30 pm beginning on January 16


• We have oodles to cover, but yet I wanted to get your feedback on things you really, really, really want to cover under the Web 2.0 umbrella...or, just sit back and hang on for the ride. We will have fun exploring, learning, and expanding.


• So far...blogging, RSS, wikis, nings, social networking, photo/video applications, online productivity tools, social bookmarking, ...and brainstorm how to use these in the library.

If you know you want to participate in the PST, let me know. If you know that you cannot participate, let me know that, too. I'd like to have an idea of numbers when I turn in the application next week. I'll keep you posted as to when you can register for the PST and further details.

"The Other Boleyn Girl" Movie Trailer

The trailer is now available for the movie The Other Boleyn Girl and I thought I'd post here for you. If you'd like to see the trailer full screen, you can go to this site and click the full screen option. I hope the movie does justice to the book.

More on "The Other Boleyn Girl"

I was just going to add a comment to Linda's post about The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, but I wanted to offer up some more information and links on the series.

First, I loved this book (thank you, Linda, for the recommendation) and I'm ready to read the next. I wasn't sure if the books were intended to be read in any particular order...so I went to the source, Philippa Gregory's website. The chonological order for Henry VIIIs Court history is: The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen’s Fool, and The Virgin’s Lover. She has great information on her new book coming out next year, discussions on her current books, and even further research on characters!

Check out her new research on Mary Boleyn and her children. I, too, anxiously await the movie.

Book Groups and Reading Clubs

When we find some spare time (ahem), we would like to sponsor a reading group. We have so many readers and it would be wonderful to really share and nurture this passion. I've noticed some schools have set up book circles and blogs for students to share and come together as a community. How are those going? ...any recommendations for schools considering forming book circles?

We will be launching our reading blog, Skyline Reads, next week and we are excited about it. We'll send the URL, as soon as it is up, in hopes that you will take a look at it for us and offer any suggestions or ideas. We will just be offering book reviews and recommendations in hopes of not only turning kids on to new reads, but establishing a two-way communication with the kids.

I found a couple of sites to share with you for resources on book clubs and reading groups...ideas, questions to ask, and tips for starting books groups: The YA Librarians' Homepage and Reading Group Guides. Many of you know Karol Sacca, the booktalk queen, quite well. She created the "Circle of 10" reading group project and it has evolved into many forms used at schools throughout Colorado and the country. Take a look at her recent project: Book has created ‘one town’ among schools.

What a great idea! Perhaps we should consider a "One Book, One District" for kids and staff to voluntarily read a book as a district project. We could facilitate online book discussions and communication across school boundary lines. If online safety is an issue, we could use Moodle as the online delivery medium allowing for moderation, control, and district-only access. Maybe a mini-grant from DMS or the district to buy multiple copies of a book? Too ambitious? ...perhaps that is something we could discuss at a future meeting.

The Thirteenth Tale

A captivating read, Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale is a wonderful yarn about books, mysteries, ghosts, and family secrets. This is Diane Setterfield's first novel...and what a master wordsmith she is! I was swept into the story, not only by the unfolding mysteries, but by the flowing lyricism and master craftsmanship of her writing.

Margaret Lea, sheltered within her father's bookstore and own haunted past, is invited by reclusive Vida Winter, a world-renowned writer, to pen her biography. Ms. Winter has yet to tell the truth regarding her mysterious past; so why now does she want to tell her true story? ...and why to Margaret? Margaret is soon drawn into the story of Vida Winter and The Thirteenth Tale -- a story of haunting mysteries, ghosts, twins, and family skeletons. Is Vida Winter telling the truth now? How frustrating, and tantalizing, are Ms. Winter's rules for Margaret (and the reader) to not ask questions and not jump ahead in the story.

This is a wonderful Gothic mystery in every sense. What a joy to read a book about books, libraries, writers, and the love of reading. This is one of the best books I have read in quite some time and I highly recommend it. This is another one we need to discuss! Please visit the website, too! This is one of the best websites I've visited -- don't explore too much, however, until you've read the book.

Teens Reading More than Ever!

I found a couple articles that I wanted to share with all of you. They are a bit dated, but still validate what seems to be a surge in teen reading as of late. We have so many new readers at Skyline this year -- it's exciting. We have been scrambling to find new books for them to read (looking for lots of vampire books...thanks to Stephanie Meyer)! We were hoping that it was a result of our superb marketing displays, but we just do think that kids are reading more. If you have a chance, check out these articles. In Teens Buying Books at the Fastest Rate in Decades, the author attributes the surge to better writing and more great young adult authors (and J.K. Rowling):

Not only are teen book sales booming -- up by a quarter between 1999 and 2005, by one industry analysis -- but the quality is soaring as well. Older teens in particular are enjoying a surge of sophisticated fare as young adult literature becomes a global phenomenon.

Do kids have more time on their hands? ...more disposable income? It's not just that there's more great Young Adult literature, though. They are just reading more. That's an interesting statistic in light of increased computer use, social networking, and increased use of tech gadgets. Research Reveals Teens Read More Magazines, Not Less also indicates that teens are reading more magazines than ever before.

Hm-m-m, an interesting thought -- teens are reading MORE even as many thought MySpace, social networking entities, and computer use would steer kids away from reading. So...thank you to the J.K. Rowlings' and Stephanie Meyers' of the world, great marketing by publishing companies, and to us -- for providing the services we provide!

Question: What other authors are really grabbing the kids' interests? ...Westerfeld, Tiernan? What are the books that you just can't keep on the shelf?

Blogging Rules

We have a few kids learning to blog -- they are already quite proficient using MySpace, other social-networking sites, and places like LiveJournal (a blogging-, journaling-space w/ some MySpace-type personalization features). Thusfar, we have set some verbal parameters on the "okays" and "not okays". If they are blogging FOR the library or for a school-sanctioned activity, I let them know that I do reserve the right to "filter" the posts and moderate the comments (as the sponsor). I haven't had to do that very much, but we are fairly new at this. But, when a topic was posted by a student on J.K. Rowling's announcement regarding Dumbledore's sexual orientation, you can imagine some of the comments!

Long story short, we are now writing our "blogging rules". We want the kids to be free-thinkers, discriminating, and learn to [responsibly] navigate, participate, and evaluate the world of information. We also want them to be safe while under our tutalage (and when they leave the 'nest'). I'll post more as we get our rules on paper. I’ve been searching for other sets of rules and have found some great models: one posted in a wiki by Bud Hunt (thanks, Bud) and another from Arapahoe High School, where Karl Fisch is the Director of Technology. Any thoughts? Do you have guidelines, in your school, for student blogging?

Moodle

I just started the Moodle Quicktech Class taught by Bud Hunt. Linda Pedraza is also taking the class (Linda, I'm anxious to hear how you think you might use Moodle).
The description for the class reads:

Moodle is a free online course management software package that allows anyone to build course materials to make available to students. Discussions, web pages, assignments, handouts, wikis and quizzes are just some of the many tools available.

I think that we may have lots of applications, in the library, for this tool. A few possibilities that come to mind are:

• help teachers to set up class pages
• pathfinders for specific class topic research
• a research skills course
• a library "website" that is fairly simple to create and maintain
• Pages for each group (Teacher Librarians, Media Clerks, Media Techs) for collaboration purposes, calendars and events, common projects, etc.)

Anyway, I think that this is another 'cool tool' for us to use. When you have some time, take a look at the site. We may use Moodle for our PST class page. It is easy to sign up, you can access it from home, and there are lots of examples and ways to use it if you go to the Moodle site. I'm sure that there will another Quicktech Moodle class for you to take. I'll keep you posted!

Librarian's Manifesto 2.0

What a great video! ...and what a segue for our PST!

"The Other Boleyn Girl"

"The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory. Truly a fascinating look into the court of Henry VIII. A vivid description of the Boleyn family. Being a woman of the 70's, the the father and uncle using the Boleyn sisters to further their rise in the court was a disturbing fact that I had never before considered. Philippa Gregory's research into this era of history and the insertion of the fictional aspect make this a great read. The dress of the period came alive through Gregory's descriptive voice. One could almost feel the mood of every gathering, taste the food and hear the music. Ultimately knowing how the story ends did not keep me from reading every word and wondering just how this family was going to survive. There is something for everyone in this historical novel, intrigue, scandal, family feuds, sex, love, sacrifice and forgiveness. I await the movie with great anticipation.

Teen Read Week

It is very close to being 'too busy' to really celebrate Teen Read Week. I just wanted to throw a question out to all of you to see how you are marketing Teen Read Week in your library. Are you doing any special events, reading contests, marketing displays, or other celebrations? Are you all using the LOL theme? ...to promote humor?

At Skyline we have set up a display of popular young adult books -- we purchased the LOL poster and bookmarks to hand out. We have been running a 'pages read' contest for the past month; students keep track of the number of pages they have read to win prizes. We are amazed how many kids are really into keeping track of their pages read. We made a poster and bookmarks and have been promoting the 31 Flavorite Authors (31 YA authors are chatting on MySpace during the month of October) campaign from YALSA.

What ideas and promotions are you using during Teen Read Week?

"A Brief History of the Dead"

In this futuristic, apocalyptic tale, Kevin Brockmeier tells the story of The City, a place where all recently dead now reside. A great pandemic has wiped out most of Earth's inhabitants. It is quite possible that Laura Byrd, while on an expedition in Antarctica, could be the only survivor on Earth. As Laura strives to survive and find other survivors, she keeps herself going by free-associating and remembering all those people who have touched her life.

In The City, the inhabitants begin to suspect that their very existence is Laura remembering them. Once the last person remembering a City inhabitant dies, then the City inhabitant, too, ceases to exist.

The premise of this story is intriguing and has so much potential. I felt that the character development could have been so much more -- I wanted to know the inhabitants. I also felt that he had to wrap up the story too quickly. All in all, I enjoyed the book and it sparked some linguring thought and contemplation. I will recommend this book to our readers -- I think our students will like it and find the story quite unique.

How many people have touched your life? One hundred? Five thousand? More? Do they still live in your memory?

Professional Study Team (PST) Feasibility and Interest Discussion

I've reviewed the requirements and guidelines for PSTs -- now we need to refine our needs and goals in forming a PST. Here's a brief summary of what we need to consider in doing a PST:

1. Consensus on our Topic. I suggest that our PST be titled "School Library Learning 2.0" or even my original suggestion of "Media Clerks 2.0". Depending on the class time we want to devote to this PST, we will have 23 Web 2.0 "Things" to learn. How much we want to learn, use, and apply these skills will determine the amount of time we need to commit.


2. A minimum of four participants are required to set up a PST -- I would suggest that we need at least 6 to make the final project manageable and meaningful.


3. All contact hours must be off-contract time. An example: We could meet once a week for 1.5 hours for the class time. .5 hour/wk could be spent individually, also off contract time. One suggestion has been that we meet for 1.5 hours, once a week, at different schools starting in January. Our class would be finished by Spring Break.


4. Our PST can be restricted to library media clerks as our goal will be learning Web 2.0 technologies and applying them to our specific job function in the secondary school library.


5. Professional Development guidelines specify that our total hours must be 2/3 class time and 1/3 can be individual work time (must be documented). The program on which we will model our PST is the Learning 2.0 program developed by Helene Blowers. A deviation would be that we would examine each 'thing' with an emphasis on how it can be used/implemented in our respective schools/libraries. If we concentrate on 2 'things' each week, we would need 12 sessions. Twelve sessions @ 1.5 hr = 18 hrs. 18 hours of contact class time + 9 hours of individual work time = 27 total hours. District approval would have to be obtained for this number of professional development hours. That may be too much of a commitment for you to make -- it depends if you want to gain more than 50% of your professional development credit with one class. Personally, I would want to make a commitment to this topic and aim for the higher number of PD hours.


6. This blog would be our communication medium, and documentation, of the collaborative efforts of designing and implementing this PST.

The structure of the PST would be:

• Weekly contact class time to be held at participant's respective school library computer labs. During this time we will learn about one (or two) new Web 2.0 topic(s) followed by Discovery Exercises to practice the new technology.
  
• Homework will include practice of the Web 2.0 skill, a networking application of the new skill (blogging will give us the forum for communicating ideas, questions, discoveries, research results, feelings, and new found skills), and contributing one practical way to use the Web 2.0 skill in the library. This will also serve as a participation log and reflection for receipt of credit.
  
• The final project will be a collaborative WIKI to publish the Web 2.0 tools learned, supporting resources, and application of the skills.

The application process, approval procedures, and documentation requirements can be quite an arduous process in setting up this PST. Before we start this process, we need to determine feasibility. Please provide feedback on the following items:

1. Given the above description, would you be willing to commit to this PST? If not, what changes would make you want to participate in this PST?
2. Given the description of the content, how many hours would you be willing to commit? What time of the year do you want to begin this class? What Day of the Week, and what Time of the Day would you be willing to meet?
3. Do you have a preference as to where the classes should be held? We could meet at one school for every session, or we could meet at a different school for each class. Schools should have the Media Station provided by DMS, access to the necessary number of computers and district network, and permission of the building principal and teacher librarian.
4. Considering that not many of the clerks frequent this blog (at least they don't post or comment), do you think a survey would be a better means of determining participation levels, topics suggestions, and details such as time and place? We need to log the collaborative nature of our design of this PST and the blog is a perfect medium.
5. What SPECIFIC requests, recommendations, or suggestions do you have concerning this PST?

Read Any Good Books?

All members of this blog have the ability to post subject topics. Why don't each of you post a review of a book you have read. We'd love to hear what you think and if you recommend the book for the rest of us to read.

If you are unsure how to post, just click on the NEW POST link in the upper right-hand corner of the page. After that, it is fairly self explanatory. This is a good way to practice this medium.

Anyone?

Lets Plan a PST! Media Clerks 2.0?

In the responses from media clerks, a great many of you expressed an interest to learn more about Web 2.0. I think that would be a great place for us to start, but I'd like to tweak it a bit and make it a Library 2.0 PST -- specifically a MediaClerks 2.0 PST. In other words, how do we apply the vast amount of technology out there, which is growing exponentially, and really use it in the library.

Of course, to really get a grasp of available learning technologies we can use in the library would take a long time. But, we can touch on those technologies, practice them in context to what we do, and take one more step in establishing ourselves as a necessary, and valuable, part of the information literacy team in the library and the district ETIL plan on the whole.

I'm estimating that the PST, if approved, would be between 15 and 25 hours of contact time. The PST we did on Genreflecting, two summers ago, was 15 hours of credit and, speaking for myself, was a great deal of fun. It was useful, meaningful, and a great networking (social) time with the clerks. Lynn, I'll need your help here as I don't know where to begin to seek approval for a PST... Some initial thoughts (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE comment with your thoughts on doing this PST):

• Are enough of us interested in the topic area to do a PST?
• When do we want to start? To be honest, I think this information is too valuable NOW to wait until next summer.
• How many contact hours would all of you be willing to commit?
• I would suggest having our 'class time' at Skyline... or, we could have it a different schools' library computer labs. We really do need to have access to computers and I would prefer a school using SynchronEyes so that we can use our time most efficiently. Where should we have the contact class time?
• What should our content be? I'll throw out some topics: Blogging, Wikis, RSS feeds, using photos and imaging, tagging and social bookmarking, online productivity tools, podcasting, videos, and audio, using our multi-media stations in the library, file management (transporting files, saving, working with)... other ideas?
• There would be homework! There is no way to really learn these things without some individual time practicing -- my guesstimate would be at least one hour of 'homework' time for every hour of contact time. But... HONEST, it is fun stuff to work with and I'll bet that you will want to spend more time than that learning about all the things you can do!

If this isn't what you had in mind, or if there is a topic that the majority would like to pursue, let us know. We can all work, collaboratively, to come up with a valuable, meaningful, and (library specific) useful PST. Let's start...comments? ...ideas?

Discipline in the Library

What is everyone doing about discipline in the library? For instance: do you have computer use rules? ...rules for signing in, library use over lunch (before and after school), food or drinks in the library, etc.? How do you enforce those rules? How do you handle someone breaking those rules? ...how do you handle "ditchers" or unruly kids?

Sometimes, at Skyline, we feel that we have turned into a police state. We don't want to discourage use of the library, for anyone, but yet we have to make it a place for academic exploration and study, quiet reading time, and constructive use of the facilities. Therefore, we have set up some rules of use.

ALL students must sign in unless they are with a scheduled class (we check the sign in sheet for those who have 'forgotten' where their class is). They MUST have a pass if they do not have a free period. Here are a few of our rules:

• Food & drinks are allowed, but NEVER at the computers.


• Cell phones aren’t allowed in the LMC (almost impossible to enforce). We don’t allow cell phones at the computers.


• Computers are for ACADEMIC USE ONLY. We now have SynchronEyes to help us enforce that rule. Our computer rules are published HERE. (use your back key to return to this page)


• Noise and talking must be kept at a reasonable level.

Those are just a few to spur some discussion. We'd be interested to know how other schools handle discipline issues; what kind of rules do you have, what are expectations of student in the LMC, and how do you handle discipline issues?

Comments?

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Wow, where to begin... powerful? ...heartbreaking? ...joyous? This is my new favorite book (to add to all my other favorite books). A magnificently well-written story of two women and their lives in recent Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of love, pain, suffering, sacrifice, and strength. This story clarified the historical horrors in Afghanistan -- I read the news and saw the media coverage, but not until reading this book did I really understand the political conflicts and the suffering women and children in Afghanistan had to endure (and still do).

I highly recommend this book to everyone -- but, especially, my daughter, any woman, and any mother. I read it a month ago and still think about it everyday ...very powerful. It ignited a need to find out as much as possible on historic, and current, Afghanistan and the plight of women. It moved me so much I assembled several weblinks to learn more -- click here to go to my Afghanistan page. I've also included the Khaled Hosseini official website link and the trailer for The Kite Runner -- it will be released in theaters on November 2.

I hope we can 'booktalk' this one and I hope to hear your comments. Maybe wait to read any comments, if you haven't read it yet, so that we don't spoil the ending for you. But when you do read it, I want to hear from you!

Just What Does a Media Clerk Do?

I believe that I sent each of you a copy of our most recent Media Clerk I Job Description . After you review it, it appears that what we actually do has little resemblance to the job description.

One (1) through seven (7) seem to be typical office support activities and, at least at Skyline, account for a very small part of the day. Eight (8) through sixteen (16) are much more ambiguous and open for interpretation (by the clerk, the teacher librarian, and the principals). Does 'assist staff and students in finding appropriate materials' mean pointing to the the non-fiction section? ...or does it mean building pathfinders, websites, wikis, and really helping them to find the best resources available (print resources, subscription databases, or on the Internet)? ...does it mean actually instructing (yes, I said instructing) them on computer use, software use, multimedia use, and research/information literacy skills. The first takes 5 seconds and the latter can take half a day, hours, or weeks.

Our job is, then, defined by the expectations of, and creative freedom granted by, your teacher librarian and your building principal. How we create and perform our job, within those boundaries, is what our job description will be. We all serve as library support personnel with one goal in mind -- to contribute to the information literacy and success of our students. How we accomplish that goal is providing, and supporting, library services through tasks such as processing books, marketing our collection, providing reader advisory services, collection development and maintenance, circulation activities, statistical reporting, serving lattes, cleaning, organizing, and acting as A/V and tech gurus, instructors, tutors, and disciplinarians, etc. Whatever else it takes to meet our goal -- we all do that in different ways and with different routines.

Your teacher librarian, and their role in the library, also defines your job. In a perfect scenario, our teacher librarians would be collaborating with teachers on lessons (incorporating information literacy standards), team-teaching, teaching information literacy, reading, and research skills to the students, etc. ...which, in reality, would leave little time for library support activities. That's where we come in -- the operation managers of the library. How much, or little, you actually act as a manager of the library depends on the TEACHER part of the teacher librarian title. Some of the teacher librarians don't even work in the library; some have classroom duties; some want to be the teacher librarian AND the operations manager; some are forced to do clerk duties because the clerks are pulled for other school duties i.e. tech reps, homework coaches, hall or lunch duties, etc. Some schools have eliminated the clerk position altogether (yikes!).

So, clerks, what is your role in your library? What do you do on a daily basis? What are some of your pet projects? What are your responsibilities? What do you do? Be as detailed as you want -- other clerks want to know! After compiling the results of suggestions for clerk meetings by all the clerks, new and veteran, the majority want to know what other clerks do. Let's run with it... who's first?

Mentor/Mentee Program & Requirements

On the right side of the screen, under the Handy Library Links, you will find navigation links to take you to the documents we will need to complete, as well as the Program Brochure and informational webpage. We all need to have the Mentor/Mentee Agreement filled out and signed by all, including the inductees' teacher librarian or principal.

Then, we need to start filling in our Mentoring Log. I have duplicated the form on MS Word, so you can fill in the information on your computer, add ongoing info to the form (just tab over to create more lines), and store it as a file. That will make life easier when we have to pull it all together to submit next May. If you would like a copy, leave a comment under this post and I will email it to you right away.

Take a few minutes to review all the forms and info on the Mentor/Mentee Program, if you haven't done so already. If you have any questions, then add a comment under this post.

Live from Silver Creek

Silver Creek
High School

Horizon Circulation Tips

Our first topic will be Circulation. We'll start with this one since we all use it every day. To start off, you all know that you can access the HELP files on Horizon at any time by hitting the F1 key. This will bring up the Horizon Screen -- click on Horizon Basics and you will get 158 pages of everything you ever wanted to know about the Horizon automation system! Don't worry, you dont' have to read all 158 pages, you can also do a search for what you need.

I know that you are all busy and referring to this resource may be too time consuming -- that's what we're here for! Leave a comment if you have any specific questions and we'll get an answer to you as soon as possible. Also, leave tips for others or let us know of a great new discovery you have made using the circulation features of Horizon.

Introductions

I have invited each of you, by email, to participate on this blog. I think we can save time, ultimately, by collaborating on training ideas, questions/answers, and topics. But, we need to get to know each other first. Add a comment and tell us about you...

Welcome to our new blog!

Let's jump right in and start a topic list for things you, new media clerks, would like to learn about. Any of the mentors, when time permits, can comment on your questions affording us a great forum to exchange ideas, information, and tools. We can access, read, post, and comment at any time. You can access this web-based blog from school computers or any browser at home. All of the posts and comments will be organized by topic in the archive and you can refer to them all year. I'll start a preliminary list of topics I, and the other mentors, will be posting about. We will need to post and comment on a timely basis in order to cover everything we want, so check it often! I will start a new topic post every week. For starters (just some ideas...we'll start wherever you want to start):

• The mentor/mentee process, skill blocks, records...
• Our basic job description -- what you will be doing and need to know.
• Circulation -- Horizon and the basic features
• Circulation Advanced features
• Processing of books
• Computer issues -- Citrix, thin clients, student computers & accounts, logins, resources, etc.
• How to Blog! We will start simple and learn new features as we go (for now, just hit the comments link below the post and start typing)!
• WebReporter -- what it is, what it does, and how to make it do what you want
• Books! Reader advisory ideas, great book reviews, and what kids like...
• DMS services and WebMax
• Library organization and administation
• Email and Microsoft Outlook issues
• Copyright issues and Fair Use Guidelines
• Budgets, supplies, ordering
• Discipline, rules, and library guidelines
• A/V equipment
• Marketing your library services and collection
• Calendar of library tasks (what you should be doing and when)
• Vendors and vendor websites
• Will any of you be using SMS (Student Management System)? Questions?
• Professional Development
• Technology in the Library -- Web 2.0 and beyond
• Whew! ...that's a lot. Your turn to add topics, or start with a question...