The Web is The Thing!

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Great Web-things:

Whoo-hoo! The long-awaited FALL Issue of The Bookmark (49:2) is available FREE and online:

• This the link for future access to this and other BCTLA publications.
• For direct download in pdf format, click here.

In this edition of The Bookmark, linked to more in The Virtual Bookmark (it's an interactive supplement / blog format), you can read about the IASL Conference in Berkeley, Smartboards (yes, that's our Sylvia!), Canadian Science Fiction, the BCTLA Conference in Victoria, book reviews, the experiences of new and "seasoned" TLs (well, it's Sylvia who is not so "seasoned" as some), and many many great web-things from John Goldsmith and Greg Smith. A huge thanks to Editor/TLs Al Smith and Angie MacRitchie from the Central Okanagan for all the hours that went into this latest great edition.

Simply Books: a wiki that promotes reading and literacy for boys

Library Thing and Library Thing (French Version) -- from a earlier post to this blog, LibraryThing Releases One Million Free Covers [Library Journal] -- This is very good news for teacher-librarians, who may have been contravening copyright in order to beautify their OPACs and webpages. Hooray for LibraryThing!"

Bookwise Quotes on youtube: The Importance of Literacy

Joyce Valenza's "Neverending Search" blog in School Library Journal: recent article on Web 2.0 and intellectual freedom

Kathy Schrock's "Kaffeeklatsch" blog on Digital Pioneers, a position she takes on the Prensky terms Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

The NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) statement on 21st Century Literacies

The AASL (American Association of School Librarians) Standards for the 21st Century Learner and the second draft of the Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action, for response.

Have you checked out the Google News Canada feature? How about the French version of Google News Canada? And here's an interesting article from BBC News ("Old newspapers get online launch," by Maggie Shiels, Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco) about Google's latest new initiative to bring to the web old newspapers that pre-date the digital age. Google has partnered with around 100 newspapers to digitize them and make scanned copies available online.

"Ressources" (French Primary) are available for parents and students online from the Delta School District.

I have added my first-ever RSS Feed (or Really Simple Syndication): Check out the daily comic strip from Unshelved by clicking the link at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar (under the bookshelves) of this blog. Just moving along the tech-learning continuum here!

"The Database Bundle" -- at $1 per student per year, districts are buying into databases, the licensing rights to which have recently been negotiated in a multi-sector deal (public and academic libraries are included). As you know, for us in Vancouver schools, this represents little change as we were already subscribed to EBSCO and World Book. Do your administrator and teacher-colleagues know about these resources (and other databases available through our Webcat) and their value to learning? As you, the teacher-librarian, are the ones defined in our local contract as the educator whose job it is to "promote the effective use of resources," now might be a good time to make an appointment with your principal to show him/her what is there, and then ask for time on the staff meeting agenda or an upcoming Pro D day to give a demo.

Proquest Workshop for eLibrary (elementary and secondary versions) and Culturegrams databases went really well. More than 30 TLs were in attendance. Thanks, Maryann, for bringing in the very engaging Tasha from Toronto. We saw all kinds of fantastic features. If you search a French terms in the newspaper section, the results are French news sources! Try "autotochtone" for example.

Here's a free online set of databases from IBM Canada K–12 Division’s The Edmark House Series. These interactive software programs are for students pre-K to Grade 2 to build basic learning skills, and you will also find lesson plans, print activities (both in-class and take-home), and teacher guides, downloadable in pdf format. I am willing to bet that these go well with the new Smartboard technology in primary classrooms. This set includes Early Reading with Bailey’s Book House, Exploring Numbers with Millie’s Math House, Life Sciences with Sammy’s Science House, and Social Sciences with Trudy’s Time & Place House. Or just search "Edmark" in the webcat for the direct link! That's our Maryann at work ...

Every link to the FREE Sun and Province subscriptions has been checked. There seems to be a growing interest. Don't forget to show this link and the ways to read it, along with its various features -- remote access, translations, audio, custom print, 30 days of back issues, and access to all the other Canwest papers -- to your principal and teacher-colleagues as well. While the goal is to get them to design assignments that have our students familiar with the online newspaper, it is important for teachers to see the value first.

GET READY FOR THE COUNTDOWN TO DEAR

In addition to many posted local ideas and resources, here is a repeat of an earlier post about more resources from Rick Mulholland, local TL/teacher, co-ordinator of International School Library Month for the IASL:

ISLM resources webpage: letter or 11x17 sizes.
ISLM 2008 Bookmarks -- Literacy and Learning at Your School Library [PDF 111 k]
ISLM 2008 Flyer [PDF 181 k]
ISLM 2008 Flyer [PDF 126 k]
ISLM 2008 Tabloid format [PDF 221 k]
ISLM 2008 Tabloid format [PDF 323 k]

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PS: Have you checked here for teaching ideas? TLSpecial ("the wiki") ... be sure to click onto Sidebar on the right hand sidebar to see the pages you can choose from. Many at the Accounting workshop found the Managing Your SLP (notice the Excel template for school library accounting) to be quite helpful.

Have a good weekend.