Reading Anything in America?

Please excuse the divergence from technology and information sources to something as mundane and fundamental as reading, but reading is what got me into the education game. Not that this is rocket science to most of us, but the article linked below is a reminder and contains some alarming observations and statistics. Check out the column by Randy Salzman originally published in the Washington Post. For more statistics, consider this report from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Finding Information by Design or Not

Finding information in the 21st century is not always accomplished by design. Information leads to information which leads to more information. While working on an assignment for a class I am taking, I happened upon a link to this thought provoking video, Information R/evolution. I discovered it approximately three clicks away from the original page. It is a useful video that I might not have found in formal search. Is this not what Tim Berners-Lee envisioned in a hypertext environment? And of course once the video ended, I found an even more valuable video, Academia 2.0. It is must a must-view for anyone interested in how 21st century college students learn and how colleges and professors are adapting to these digital natives.

I find that the benefit of a blog is as follows. One can have a blog with a professional appearance in a manner of minutes for free. If you don't like the quasi "canned" look, that can be tweaked by someone with even moderate web design skills. Your blog can serve as a combination newsletter/website/feedback form that can be easily updated from anywhere that you have an internet connection. While it doesn't take the place of your full featured website, it is a great tool for disseminating information in a timely manner. As a librarian, dispensing information in a timely fashion is essential. This tool allows the user to rise above the entanglements of domains, web design software, isps, access issues, and security issues and communicate with their clients, patrons, students, etc. While all of those "entanglements" have their usefulness in context, in the information age, currency of information is crucial.

I discovered a great blog titled iLibrarian. It has an attractive design and is up to date. The latest entry is February 11, 2008 with three entries for that date(today's date) and each entry is useful. I only scrolled through the first page of entries, and didn't see anything that I didn't want to read. That could be dangerous. On the first page there is a list of "Most popular posts", another attractive time saving feature. The entries are immediately identifiable by their titles, are short and to the point, and include valuable links. Finally, it is colorful and includes photographs, charts, screenshots, and tables. It includes links to other blogs and based on the credibility of this site I would be likely to check out the other blogs listed there.

I also discovered a great wiki titled, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. It is organized by type of library, and it allows the user to view the most recent changes. It appeared to be accessible for editing, and provides hundreds of links to other library blogs, wikis, and websites.

Podcasting and Movie Making Accessories

In the process of planning podcasts, I have discovered a number of tips and accessories that experienced podcasters and digital film makers use in the production of their videos. If you type the words "home made teleprompter" in your favorite search engine, you will find a number of similar designs. They all involve teleprompter software, an lcd monitor or laptop, and a piece of glass or "50% mirror" placed on a stand at a 45 degree angle. The text is reflected on the glass and the camera shoots through the glass. One of the better websites is Chris Bailey's website, Creativity to Spare. It includes how to videos and links to items referenced in the videos. What about public domain film clips and music? Check out the Davis Joint Unified School District web site for a number of public domain links.

21st Century Journalism

I just read this article in the USC alumni newsletter. Check out Convergence in the Classroom.

"Employers increasingly are looking for graduates with cross media skills, journalists who can write and produce stories for multiple delivery platforms. They need look no further than the nine students who in the fall semester of 2007 completed the School of Journalism and Mass Communications convergence class."

"J305, Mass Media Telecommunications, was conducted in the Ifra Newsplex. Students were exposed to the same curriculum as the professional journalists who come to Newsplex from all over the world. They blogged, recorded Podcasts, built online communities and created slide shows and videos."

Podcasting and Libraries

For those interested in podcasting and RSS in the RDHS community (and other residents of Maine , particularly educators), I am posting links to a few select articles. These articles are for those just getting their feet wet or thinking about jumping in rather than the veteran podcaster.

( If you are accessing these articles from a Maine school or library you will connect to the articles without a login, or if you are accessing these links from home and you are a resident of Maine you can set up a remote login account that will allow you to access them remotely.)

Making Waves, a great article by Will Richardson.

Great idea for the use of podcasts in the ELA classroom.

Good tips on RSS in libraries and the classroom.

The benefits of RSS for reference librarians and other information junkies.

Suggestions for podcasting hardware and software from Multimedia & Internet Schools.

Creating a Broadcasting Empire From the Corner of your Classroom!

Welcome to the RDHS Library SearchNews

This web page or blog is intended to be a source of news and advice for our students and staff about online searching and other 21st century information skills. The art/science of Internet searching changes daily which in turn demands an easily updated vehicle for sharing news and techniques that will make our searches more productive and more efficient. While the updates will not be daily, they will be frequent. Some posts will simply consist of posting a noteworthy new web site. Other posts will be more substantive and provide commentary or advice on searching.

We hope you enjoy this blog and return often!

W.F. Leonard