Desperate Librarians

There is a list serve for School Librarians, LM_NET, that has over 10,000 subscribers!

School is about to start in many parts of the country. School Librarians are checking out different ways to start the new school year with a flourish.

This suggestion by author Judy Freeman can be used by GALILEO users (you get the current password for home use from your Georgia librarian):

"I can't believe how fast the summer is zooming by. For those of you back to work already and those getting ready, here's directions to an article I did for NoveList in June, with lots of picture book ideas to do with all ages, K-6, and lots of back-to-school ideas."

On NoveList's homepage, click on the School Resources tab, top right.
Under "Teaching with Fiction" click on Preschool and Elementary articles
Click on Archives (link in middle of first paragraph)
Scroll down, past my article "Book Performance Art" which also has good ideas, to "Desperate Librarians . . .or, When You Need a Few Good Ideas.

Whew. You made it! I hope you'll find some good, practical ideas there.
I'm working on another Desperate Librarians article that will be up in late September or so.

Good luck with the new year.

Judy Freeman
Children's Literature Consultant
"Wild About Books" columnist
School Library Media Activities Monthly
Author of Books Kids Will Sit Still For 3
(Libraries Unlimited, 2006)
and Once Upon a Time!:
Using Storytelling, Creative Drama, and
Reader's Theater with Children in Grades K-6 (2007)
65 North Sixth Avenue
Highland Park, NJ 08904
/ BKWSSF@aol.com
http://www.JudyReadsBooks.com

Home Schools and parents wanting a bit extra for their child might find these suggestions helpful for extending the appreciation of a good book.

Keep Learning

One never stops learning. Some of us attend formal events where new information (to us) is presented. Today is one of those days for librarians in Georgia. Many of us will be attending GOLD/GALILEO in Athens. Read the descriptions of the presentations- lots of discussion about Web 2.0 and reaching the distant patron with resources.

Where are we?

Maps are such useful tools.

• They help us figure out where we are in relation to another place.
• They note distances.
• Comparing an old map with a new map provides assorted "ah HA" moments as you see where growth has occured.
• The naming of places (roads, towns, subdivisions) becomes a memorial to people and families that were important to the area.

Maps tell a story.

The University of Georgia has a map collection at their Map Library. Some of the maps are on-line

GALILEO has a link to the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps of Georgia.

What has happened to your part of Georgia in the past 100 years? Who is remembered by the names of the roads, bridges, and places?

I wish there was a book in dictionary form that gave a brief biography of the people that a bridge or road was named for- now there's a doctoral project!

Lies, damn lies and statistics

Being the first of the month, the librarian compiles statistics to show use of various resources both print, electronic, and physical (the rooms and computers). What do numbers tell us? Is more really better?

A Quick Search in GALILEO using the word statistics pulled up an interesting array of articles.

MasterFile Premier's (Ebsco) list of 125744 articles started with two articles from the Journal of Economic & Social Measurement but followed up with two articles from World Almanac For Kids!

Research Library (ProQuest) pulled up 155598 and put two articles from Computers & Operations Research first!

What do the numbers tell us? There's a lot of writing going on about statistics. Numbers sometimes tell a very clear story but then again sometimes the numbers are just numbers.

Ask your Georgia Librarian for the password to use GALILEO at home.

A picture is worth what?

Topic Search, an Ebsco product, pulls together articles about current events. They don't list the publications used. They offer a link to - images. You can search for an image, copy and paste, get the citation, snazz up your report or presentation with current photos of persons or places of interest. Citing your source is very important- stealing a picture (using a picture without permission or acknowledgment) is a violation of copyright law.

There is a link to images in other Ebsco products! See if the picture tells you more than the text of an article.

To use GALILEO at home get the current password from your Georgia librarian.

New Look!

North Metro Technical College has a new look on-line. Wander around and make sure to look at the Library portion.

Is it a real savings?

The annual Georgia Sales Tax Holiday for Back-to-School shopping is this weekend! Are you thinking of buying a computer? Do you want expert opinions on what is the best buy? Do you wish you had Consumer Reports at your fingertips?

You do have Consumer Reports at your fingertips!

Go to GALILEO and do an advanced search in Academic Search Premier , an Ebsco database.

Academic Search Premier
....Advanced Search
.......type in your subject
.......fill in the Publication Search box with Consumer Reports
Voila- articles from Consumer Reports! You won't see the issues from the last three months but the 2007 Buying Guide is available.
To use GALILEO at home, ask for the current password from your Georgia librarian.