All posts by Kate

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Normalia available through MN Reflections website

All 93 issues of “The Normalia,” St. Cloud State’s first newspaper, are now publicly available and keyword searchable online, through the Minnesota Reflections website. They provide readers a glimpse into life on campus and in St. Cloud from April 1892 to May 1904 through historical articles, photos and local business advertisements.

This project was funded in part by a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society, through its Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund award, which came from the state’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment fund. It was made possible by Learning Resources & Technology Services and the Minnesota Digital Library Coalition.

 For more information, contact:

Tom Steman

University Archivist

(320) 308-4753 or tdsteman@stcloudstate.edu

Marian Rengel

Minnesota Digital Library Coalition outreach coordinator

(320) 308-5625 or mrrengel@stcloudstate.edu

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shironekoeuro/4040697914/ by ShironekoEuro[away]

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Love the smell of books?

How’s this for quirky? A Senior Library Assistant at the Museum of Modern Art Library in New York City began her performance of “Smelling the Books” in early 2010. She started with the first LC call number in their collection, and has now been recording the call number, title, and smell of each book she picks up. So far she’s smelled around 150 books out of MoMA’s collection of 300,000. Her intention “…is to foster a discussion of the future of print media, the ways we read, methods of classification, and the way in which smell is entwined with memory”.  Check it out here http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/03/07/smelling-the-books/

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theogeo/2513621945/ by theogeo

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

TED-Ed Brain Trust Online Forum

TED leaders recently announced the upcoming launch of a new initiative called the TED-Ed Brain Trust. The TED-Ed online forum will build upon the strengths of the traditional TED site and related content, but will have a focus on education. Anyone can join this forum, and short videos that are “catalytic to learning” will be accessible for free through the site. In addition, the previous 900+ TED talks will be available through the forum and organized with educators and their specific disciplines and uses in mind. According to the site, visionary educators, students, organizations, filmmakers and other creative professionals are also welcome to join the forum and possibly add their own educational videos, which will be “enhanced” by TED officials. The forum will be live soon, sans videos. The videos will be made available in the months following its launch. Read more here.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/3251451369/ by Jurvetson

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Minnesota Library Futures Initiative Update

Minnesota Library Futures Initiative Update:  3/1/11

The Minnesota Library Futurists are continuing with their exciting work. Their last meeting was held at the Plymouth branch library on February 11th. A portion of the day was used to discuss marketing and advocacy for libraries, while the majority of the meeting focused on planning, logistics, and outcomes. The Futurists plan to revisit the topic of marketing and advocacy in the near future.

The January meeting was held on January 21st at the St. Paul Academy and Summit School. The discussion focused on the topic of technology in libraries. Additionally, the group benefited from a panel of four forward-thinking professionals from a variety of backgrounds. The conversation between the panelists and the Futurists explored real world conflicts that information professionals face when using technology in libraries — and the world beyond. For more detailed information about this and past meetings, please visit the MNLFI website. A Twitter feed (@MNLFI2025) has been added to the site and the blog continues to abound with innovative posts and ideas.

The next MNLFI meeting will be held on Saturday, March 19th at Saint Mary’s University’s graduate campus in Minneapolis. The focus for the day is Education and Information Literacy. Guest speakers include Doug Johnson, Director of Media and Technology at Mankato Schools, and Tom Eland, Librarian from Minneapolis Community and Technical College. This free event, from 9:30-11:30AM, is open to the library community, but space is limited. If you plan to attend, please RSVP. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Kate Peterson (katep@umn.edu, 612-626-3746).

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

The National Broadband Map is live!

The National Broadband Map is now live, and available at http://www.Broadbandmap.gov.

 The National Broadband Map is a tool to search, analyze and map broadband availability across the United States. This is an important link for those interested in the Broadband issues, especially in rural America. It is created and maintained by the US Department of Commerce NTIA, in collaboration with the FCC, and in partnership with 50 states, five territories and the District of Columbia.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/5009919328/ by Smemon87