All posts by Angie

General, Public, Special

Public library creates memory lab

2010_4559410051_card_catalogWashington DC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Library opened their free, interactive Memory Lab this spring. Their goal is to help people digitize their personal media in a way that can stand up to constantly changing technology. Thanks to publicity from a local TV station, the Memory Lab has been a busy place.

Users are able to bring in VHS tapes, floppy discs, audio cassettes and photo negatives (in addition to other inaccessible media) and view the content, then share it through a thumb drive. The lab also has 3-D printing and an on-demand book printer available free of charge.

Sessions are reserved in three-hour segments, and users find instructions on the library website. If they need help processing their media, there is an archivist available to answer questions. However, users are generally left in private due to the personal nature of what they are viewing.

Another goal of the Memory Lab is to help people realize how quickly technologies change. They hope people will pay attention to the ways they document their memories, and how accessible those memories will be in the coming years.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/q63p7pu, licensed under CC BY 2.0

 

 

 

 

Academic, Public, School Media Specialist

Need help with your stretched budget?

Yellow butterflyAre you an educator looking for additional funding? If so, you definitely should investigate the site GetEdFunding.

Sponsored by CDW-G, their mission is to help educators with the funds needed to supplement budgets that are already stretched very thin. The site features thousands of grants and awards that are updated daily. These opportunities are available to both public and private institutions, pre-K and K-12 educators, schools, districts, institutions of higher learning, and also nonprofit organizations that assist these places.

They do require you to register with the site, but once registered, you can do very specialized searches (including 43 areas of focus) to help find relevant grant and award opportunities. They also feature a handy “Deadline Alert” section that highlights which grants and awards will need to be submitted soon.

Click Here to Search for Funding Opportunities.

Remember, CMLE has a grants page too. More info here.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/zhvcobz licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

12 literary places to visit

alley to the oceanPlanning a trip this summer? If you like books, this article will share with you several unique literary spots not to be missed, including libraries, bookstores, and architecture!

These 12 spots were found on Google Maps so you can get both the address and an idea of the neighborhood they are in, to ensure you can locate them easily should you ever be in the area.

Check out the book benches in Istanbul, which are spread throughout the city and include the works of 18 famous Turkish writers. Or, shop for books in a castle! Hay Castle in the U.K. features an open-air bookshop.

Have you traveled somewhere with a literary influence? We want to hear about it! Let us know in the comments below.

Image credit: http://unsplash.com/(Bertrand Zuchuat) licensed under CC0 1.0

 

 

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Weekly Review: 5/12/2016

This issue of the Weekly Review recaps our blog posts from May 6 – May 11, 2016.

CMLE Updates: State & Regional News
– In case you missed it: New SCTCC library and Jess Lourey event More
– Featured Book: Dare to Disappoint More
– State Library updates 5/3/2016 More
– CMLE seeks new Executive Director! More

Upcoming Events and Registration Information
– Looking for professional development? More
– Register now – free “live only” webcast with Kate DiCamillo More

Tech Bits and Ideas
– Share your screen and offer tech help – 3 tips More
– Libraries Ready to Code launched by ALA & Google More

Resources You Can Use
– Teen Read Week site is up! More
– New: The letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder More
– Help fund your makerspaces, events, and collections! More

Food For Thought
– Results reported from Higher Ed Horizon More
– Which books are weeds? More

Just For Fun
– Bookish acronyms cheat sheet More

General, Public, School Media Specialist

ALA, Google launch “Libraries Ready to Code”

Backlit_keyboard“Ready to Code” will distill and share best practices—empowering more libraries to better prepare young people of all backgrounds with the computational thinking skills necessary for participation in the 21st century economy.”

Libraries have always been a place for community members to come together in pursuit of knowledge. Today, they are playing an increasingly important role in the development of young people’s computer skills.

The American Library Association (ALA) and Google, Inc. are coming together in an attempt to increase access to Computer Science (CS) learning for kids and young people. The project named “Libraries Ready to Code” pays attention to the opportunities offered at libraries for underrepresented groups of young people to expand their CS skills. They will monitor these opportunities through a mixture of interviews, focus groups, and site visits. They are hoping to find out just how much coding and computer learning takes place at libraries. That way they will be able to tailor their programs to be even more helpful to the kids, students, and young people who are in need of these increasingly relevant skills.

To learn more and read the press release, read here.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/zfs426q licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0