All posts by Kate

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Register Today for the Library Technology Conference 2013!

ConferenceREGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! Don’t delay! Fewer than 100 seats are available.

Library Technology Conference 2013
March 20-21, 2013
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN

Registration is limited to no more than 450 total participants. Once this level of participation is reached, registration will be CLOSED! Please register early in order to ensure your spot at the conference.

This year’s Library Technology Conference is again intended to provide an opportunity for library professionals and the technologists who support them to discuss the technologies that are affecting library services; to see examples of what libraries are doing with these technologies; and to provide a venue where participants can learn specific skills or knowledge that they can take back and adapt for use within their own libraries.

The two-day conference will also include more than 70 conference sessions – traditional lecture-style sessions, hands-on / workshop sessions, interactive technology dialogue sessions, and poster sessions. From APIs to GIS, iPads to e-books, and digital collections to digital literacy – a wide range of library technology-related topics are covered during Lib Tech 2013 sessions.

For more information, visit the conference website.

School Media Specialist

Education Terms You Should Know

Not feeling so in touch with the terminology used in education these days? Ed Tech’s recent article 24 Ed-Tech Terms You Should Know Teachingtakes the guesswork out of the tech-focused terminology currently used in schools. They’ve compiled a  Ed-Tech Cheat Sheet highlighting the top 24 Ed-Tech terms to be aware of. Examples include: 1:1 technology, adaptive learning, electronic classroom, MOOCs, and learning platform. Are they missing any? They encourage comments and additional suggestions!

Academic, General, Public, Special

We’ve Learned: Staffing News and Updates from Around the Region

We’ve Learned… is designed to keep our readers informed about news concerning personnel in CMLE libraries/media centers. Please keep us informed of any “happenings” regarding staff members in your area so that we can include them in the next write-up! Happenings can include: changes in staffing, awards, honors… you get the idea!

  • Ron McGriff, Faculty Librarian, has resigned his half-time position at Pine Technical College with an effective end date of January 31, 2013. This will allow him time to assist in this college transition. McGriff began work at the college as a consultant in 2003 to assist in library service planning including the relocation of services into a renovated space in the main, campus building. In 2005, he was appointed to the position of faculty librarian. He will continue in his consulting business, now in its 28th year, of evaluating and planning spaces and services for all types of libraries in Minnesota and elsewhere.
School Media Specialist

Register for Ebooks and K-12 School Media: Video Presentations and Discussion!

Register today for Ebooks and K-12 School Media: Video Presentations and Discussion!
School Media personnel from Central MN
RJ’s American Grill and Bar, St. Cloud
Tuesday, January 8, 3:30 PM-7:00 PM

School Media personnel, please join your colleagues from around the region for this local event with outstanding national content!! Recently, CMLE staff participated in the virtual SEFLIN eBook conference called eBooks: Benefits, Challenges, and the Future, and paid for group access to the recordings of the five national presenters. We selected the messages of national e-book experts, Sue Polanka and Chad Mairn, as being of most interest to you for this first event. Besides listening to their best thinking on e-books, we would like to offer this opportunity to network informally and discuss local e-book developments and ideas too. CMLE is hosting and arranging this event.Kindle

Come ready to listen, engage, discuss, and eat pizza!!

Cost: $5.00/person, please pay at the door!

Agenda
3:30-3:45 Introductions & logistics
3:45 – 4:45 Sue Polanka (Head of Reference and Instruction, Wright State Universities Libraries) – eBook Licensing and Access: Now and in the Future
This session will analyze barriers to ebook lending models currently available for libraries including licensing, packaging, DRM, use models, and pricing. Trends in the publishing industry such as self-publishing, enhanced ebooks and digital textbooks, which may impact libraries, will be highlighted, demonstrating new opportunities for the future.
4:45-5:15 Group Discussion
5:15 – 5:30 Break and pizza!
5:30 – 6:30 Chad Mairn (Information Services Librarian and adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College & Chief Technology Officer, Novare Library Services) – Getting the Most from Your eBook Readers: Tips and Tricks
New examples of electronic reading material — e-books, e-magazines, e-textbooks — are appearing every day as well as devices and software to read them on. Accessing, transferring, and interacting with electronic text via Nooks, Kindles, and other e-reading devices, however, can be complicated. Join Chad Mairn as he offers tips and tricks for library staff to help their patrons use their e-reading devices to their full potential. This session will include information on: dedicated and non-dedicated e-readers, new and innovative e-reading devices and software, current and upcoming e-formats, digital Rights Management, privacy issues, and emerging technologies impacting reading in a digital age.
6:30 – 7:00 Group Discussion

Registration is requested. Deadline is end of day on Friday, January 4. Register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EbooksandSchoolMedia

Please pay at the door.

We hope you’ll join us! Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Recommended Resource: ClassBadges

Have you checked out ClassBadges yet? ClassBadges is a free online resource that allows educators to connect with their students and present them with awards, in the form of digital badges, badgesfor their successful work or completion of a project. The digital badges can be customized to your school, class, or the project your students are working on. For example, on their About Us page, they provide an example of badges utilized to track the progress of a research paper. If the student chooses, they can also share the badges they’ve received with friends or family – truly showing off their accomplishments! I love this idea, because it gives students a visual aid and provides a free extrinsic reward system – which definitely has impact on some students. Visit www.classbadges.com to learn more and get your class account set-up.