Yearly Archives: 2013

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

From the Director: Holiday Message

CMLE Holiday ECardHappy holidays to all academic, public, special and K-12 school library staff in the twelve-county Central Minnesota region! We hope that everyone gets at least a little bit of downtime during this season to savor moments of peace and rest.

We have intentionally begun tapering off the “weightiness” of posts this week, as we remind ourselves of the importance of honoring traditions and times with family and friends. With that in mind, we will take a short break from the Weekly Review during the holidays, and will be back in January to shepherd members to the registration link for the 23 Mobile Things Program. It is invigorating to hear the buzz in the air about this free, self-paced,  online learning opportunity, and we are looking forward to it!

As the wind begins to howl, and  road conditions deteriorate, the face-to-face library events typically slow down  if only for a little while! Stay warm,  focus on refining your craft, and build big plans and dreams for the new year. We will be doing the same. CMLE staffers remain dedicated to providing quality support services to library staff in 319 libraries in Central Minnesota.

Peace~

Patricia

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

Results of Blue Skunk PLN Survey

TwitterWords. mrsdkrebs
Image by Mrsdlrebs. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons licensing.

In a recent post, you may have noticed that Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog was named in the top 50 list of school library blogs. Doug used that platform to his advantage to encourage followers to take his survey on Professional Learning Network (PLN) Tools. Within a week or so, Doug had 513 responses; a good and fast response! Some interesting facts follow, but please read Doug’s full blog post to read more about other highlights or possible  limitations of the survey.

  • PLN means different things to different people.
  • Professionals are connected and those connections, while maybe changing in some ways, are getting stronger overall.
  • Three most used PLN tools were: social bookmarking sites, webinars, and blogs
  • Three least used PLN tools were: Google+, LinkedIn, and Nings
  • Three tools getting most increased use: blogs, webinars, and social bookmarking

What about you, what is your favorite PLN tool?

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

2013 Best Books: Self Help

Image by Czarina Alegre. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Czarina Alegre. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

I believe, one of the greatest abilities humans possess is the aptitude to continue to learn and grow from experiences. As the year comes to an end, and with a new one just beginning, this can be an opportunity to reflect on events from 2013. If you are in the process of searching for helpful resources, for yourself and/or your library, CMLE’s book list this week features the Best Books 2013: Self Help, by Library Journal (December 2013.) For additional books, click on the post from O (Oprah) Winter Reading by Leigh Newman, Don’t Go It Alone: 9 Books That Will Help You Clean Up Your Life.  O’s book list inspires and encourage positive changes both personally and professionally.

Special note: According to Brandon Gaille (November 2013), a small business blogger for entrepreneurs, “The self improvement industry [which includes a variety of market segments] is estimated to be worth $11 billion in the United States alone.” Gaille surmised that the American self help book industry is estimated to be worth $776 million.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Selecting an iPad Case

Image by TwelveSouth. Retrieved in Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by TwelveSouth. Retrieved in Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

The biggest selling features of an iPad is its portability and thin, light weight design. However, when you are on the go-to and from conferences, meetings, work and home, it can be tricky protecting any device from scratches and wear. Function meets design in a recent article by Lifehacker. Contributor Allan Henry hit the streets to find iPad specific protective covers. Henry explains why a select few made the list, in the article 5 Best iPad Cases (December 2013.)

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

23 Mobile Things Preview Notes

23MobileThings_Banner_Green23 Mobile Things is a new program that allows library personnel to learn about apps and to stay up to-date with the latest devices.  Content will be arranged under 23 basic categories including; Thing 5: Note Taking, Thing 7; Content Saving and Sharing, Thing 11: Library Reference and much more. Each of these categories will be comprised of a list of apps for program participants to select from.

On December 5th, Minitex hosted a webinar by LeAnn Suchy from Metronet; the Twin Cities multitype library system. If you missed the 23 Mobile Things Program Preview, you can still obtain the information. Click on the link to listen to the recorded session and access the program PowerPoint =>http://tinyurl.com/mwtnugs.

Registration for this event will open on January 15th. Check back to our site for additional updates next month.