All posts by Kate

Just for Fun: Holiday/Winter Music

Got music? Chances are good that sometime soon you’ll be in need of some holiday or winter-themed music. Do you have a holiday bash coming up? How about a holiday party at your library? Or, maybe you just want something quiet, yet festive to listen to at your desk? See our suggestions below for finding just the right song…

Pandora

Pandora has a free and a for-fee option for your computer or device. I utilize the free version of Pandora, and it suits me quite well. You get unlimited music, but note that there are advertisements with the free service (maybe 2 commercials an hour, and colorful advertisements around the player). There are a variety of holiday stations just waiting for your perusal! Examples of holiday stations include: Classical Christmas, Country Christmas, R&B and Pop Holidays, Peaceful Holidays, and Hanukkah. My favorite is Swingin’ Christmas – with artists like Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Michael Buble’, and Ella Fitzgerald, you really can’t go wrong! music

Jango

Jango provides free internet radio – their claim is that they’re like Pandora, only with fewer advertisements and more variety. Examples of holiday stations available on Jango include: Jango Bell Rocks, Feliz Navidad, Independent Christmas, Christmas Mix, and New Year’s Eve Party.

iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is a free service that allows you to stream live radio from around the world to your computer or device. In addition, you also have the option to create your own custom stations. iHeartRadio’s holiday selection is somewhat unique because it connects you to live radio stations from coast-to-coast with holiday music in heavy rotation. So, if you’re a radio fan – with DJs and their hoopla – you may enjoy checking out a iHeartRadio holiday radio station. You can also select iHeartRadio’s custom holiday stations.

These are just a few of many internet music options! What are some of your favorites?

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!

  • Jonathan Carlson is the new Science Librarian at the College of St. Ben’s/St. John’s University. Former Science Librarian, David Wuolu, has moved to Collection Development.

Please be sure to share with us any changes, updates, or exciting things happening in your library!

Paying for “Free” Cloud Services

Like many, I have to admit that I’m often attracted to “free” cloud services, programs, and software. Who wouldn’t want to save money where they can – especially when the service offered seems virtually the same as what others are paying their hard earned money for. Well, like everything in this world, there always seems to be a trade-off, doesn’t there?

The Journal’s 12/4/12 article The Price of Free Cloud Resources, highlights the positives and negatives of free cloud resources. There are so many cloud-based resources that either are entirely free, or are free but offer a less-robust version of a for-fee resource. Either way, free resources are tempting, both to the average user as well as to libraries, media centers, and schools. Who wouldn’t want to save money where they can, especially now, when many budgets are so dramatically reduced? Additionally, many cloud-based resources are cutting-edge, new, exciting, and flexible! It’s hard not to be attracted and drawn to that.

But with free, comes a catch… For cloud-based resources the catch or the “payment” for the service is often privacy and personal data. According to Jim Siegl, Chair of the Consortium of School Networking, “Data is the most common (yet invisible) fee extracted from users by companies that make search engines, e-mail, and other cloud computing resources accessible to schools.” As schools (or individuals) enter into agreements with a cloud-based resource, they may be required to sign and agree to a contract. It is crucial that the person reading and signing that contract understands the language and the agreement they’re entering into — and what it means to their school and their students (or patrons in the case of a library). However, because cloud computing is fairly new, Siegl believes that federal regulations are about twelve years behind in responding to cloud computing and related privacy concerns. privacy2So what are schools and individuals to do? Read! And read carefully! Understand what you’re reading, ask questions if need be. Research it! (This could be a natural fit for librarians….). In schools and at libraries, individuals responsible for technology services need to carefully analyze the agreements they’re entering into. Additionally, technology specialists (or those that sign the agreements) should consider providing opportunities to inform other parties at their school or library about the privacy issues, and about the data that is being collected. For students, it’s important to remind them that what they do on the internet is not private. And that everything they do leaves a digital footprint, and can be tracked back to them.

Additionally, it’s important to know that even some for-fee resources gather data… Again, contracts must be carefully reviewed and privacy should always be of utmost concern. There will always be trade-offs, but we have to be certain the trade-off is truly worth it, and that the cloud-based service meets our basic privacy requirements (whatever they may be depending upon your library, your school, or your personal wishes).

Interested in reading more on this important topic? Checkout the following links to get started…

Cyber Security for the Digital District from the Consortium for School Networking: Tools and Resources

Privacy Technical Assistance Center: Frequently Asked Questions – Cloud Computing

Scholastic Article: Demystifying Cloud

WebJunction MN Webinars

Check out the WebJunction Events Calendar to see the list of new, free webinars that are available to the full Minitex library community. The calendar also provides access to archived versions of recent webinars.

Several upcoming webinars available to the full library community are:wj_logo

Outreach Programs in Rural Communities: Simple Steps for Surprising Results
Thursday, Dec. 6, 1 p.m. Central

What Would Walt Do?: Quality Customer Service for Libraries
Wednesday, Dec. 12, noon Central

The Impact of an Ice Cream Sundae
Tuesday, Jan. 15, 1 p.m. Central

Creating a Culture of Innovation in your Library and Community
Wednesday, Jan. 23, noon Central

My Report on the EduTech Smackdown Open Mic Night with Joyce Valenza

In one of last week’s blog posts we highlighted EduTech’s Smackdown Open Mic Night with Dr. Joyce Valenza, which took place Monday (December 3rd) at 7:00 PM. Though there were maybe other places I would’ve rather been at 7:00 PM on a Monday :), I have to say I turned out to be very glad to have attended this online (Blackboard Collaborate) event. It was a great OpenMic_SimonScott_TLCafe12experience all around! The “open mic” approach was really quite fun, quick, and refreshing. Attendees that wanted to share a resource with the virtual audience had been asked in advance to create a slide and embed it in the larger slideshow so that they’d have a “spot” in the line-up of presenters. As the night progressed, one-by-one each slide appeared on the screen and the mic was turned over to the presenter.

The host of the evening was Dr. Joyce Valenza, along with a few other (big name) moderators. Throughout the hour-long open mic webinar scads of helpful tools, apps, and other resources were shared. I literally have four notebook pages full of tools/resources with helpful ideas and suggestions for how to effectively utilize them. I anticipate that I may be sharing some of these resources/tools/apps in upcoming blog posts, but know that they ranged from holocaust survivor story websites, to apps like Reflection, to storytelling sites/apps, to poster making resources. Really, the whole gamut was covered here! It was an energizing experience, and I definitely plan to attend similar events in the future.

Lucky for you if you missed it… There is an archived version of the webinar now available! If you participated as well, we definitely want to hear from you! Please share (in the comments area) the ideas and resources you found the most useful!