All posts by Kate

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Victory for HathiTrust

Judge Harold Baer Jr., ruled on 10/10/12 that online library/book repository, HathiTrust, was operating within the the boundaries of fair use while digitizing and making available more than ten million works to online researchers around the world. This is a major boon for HathiTrust, as well as the five universities responsible for building the online repository.

The Author’s Guild along with several other entities and individual authors had filed a lawsuit in September, 2011 seeking to shutdown the HathiTrust due to “…the systematic, concerted, widespread, and unauthorized reproduction” of copyrighted material.

Those from the library world, fair use supporters, and advocates for the visually disabled applaud the Judge’s recent ruling, believing that the HathiTrust is for the greater good — making materials more accessible to researchers, allowing for different and new uses for materials, and for opening access to materials for the visually impaired.

This ruling could have great impact on future library digitization projects. Additionally, the outcome of this case is expected to have implications on fair use.

Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/22/12.

School Media Specialist

Recommended App: Nearpod

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Teachers are loving the iPad app, Nearpod. Nearpod allows teachers to add lesson content (like texts, images, and video) to pre-built slide templates, and then push the slideshow presentation to the entire class. The students then receive a student version of the presentation. This set-up allows teachers to set the tempo and pace of their lessons. One teacher from Miami said “It’s like Powerpoint on steroids.” Beyond just the slide sharing aspect, teachers also appreciate the interactive elements that the app provides — like tests, quizzes, polls, Q & A, and other assessment pieces mid-lesson. Another huge plus — a little red light appears on the teacher’s Nearpod screen when a student has navigated away from the slideshow. They’ll think you’re psychic!

Nearpod is free and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

Learn more about Nearpod at THE Journal, 10/9/12 and at www.nearpod.com/

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Register for the Minitex/MnLINK Conference

Minitex / MnLINK Conference

Thursday, November 15, 2012
9:00 AM – 3:15 PM
(Registration begins at 8:30 AM)

Find registration information, the full conference agenda, and more at the Minitex / MnLINK Conference website.

Continuing Education & Conference Center
University of Minnesota – St. Paul Campus
1890 Buford Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108

This conference is open to all interested library staff in the Minitex region. Register now!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Young Adults and Library Usage – New PEW Study

According to a recent PEW study, a majority (60 percent) of young Americans ages 16 through 29 frequent and utilize libraries. Most use libraries for conducting research, borrowing print, audiobooks, and ebooks, and for reading magazines and newspapers. According to the survey, high schoolers in their late teens (ages 16-17) and college-aged young adults (ages 18-24) are most likely to have read a book or used the library in the past 12 months. This is important news for libraries of all types, as it indicates a youth that is receptive to and familiar with utilizing their library.

Interested in finding out more? Be sure to visit the article for more details!

So, what do you see in your libraries? Are your youth receptive to the resources available at their media center or public library? How are they most commonly gaining access to non-fiction and fiction titles? Is there still a love for print resources?