All posts by John

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Amazon launches Kindle Textbook Creator

a.com_logo_RGBMoving beyond just selling textbooks, Amazon recently announced that it will help creating them. Educators can use the Kindle Textbook Creator “to take any PDF and create a richly featured and widely available eTextbook,” said Chuck Kronbach, Director, Kindle Direct Publishing. The announcement states that students can use the textbooks “on a broad range of devices, including Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Mac, and PC.”

Books created with Kindle Textbook Creator offer features for students and other readers that enhance the learning experience, including:

  • Multi-Color Highlighting—Highlight and categorize key concepts for easy reference.
  • Notebook—Capture key passages, images and bookmarks and automatically add them to the notebook. Students can add their own notes and easily access them from one location.
  • Flashcards—Create flashcards and study important terms, concepts, and definitions in each chapter with a simple, easy-to-use interface.
  • Dictionary—Find definitions and Wikipedia information for difficult terms to improve retention.
  • Buy Once, Read Everywhere—Read eTextbooks on the most popular devices students use, including Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, Android tablets and smartphones, Mac, and PC.

Check out their KDP-EDU website to get started today!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Book Lovers Event at CSB

bookloverslogoAttention all book lovers! The College of Saint Benedict is hosting a Book Lovers Night on Thursday, February 19th, 2015. The event is free and open to the public. So come to hear author Greg Randle speak and sign books.

lastferrymanSchedule:

Author at 7:00 p.m.
Community Reader at 6:45 p.m.
Gorecki Center, Room 204
College of Saint Benedict
Saint Joseph, MN

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

ALA Midwinter meeting resources for non-attendees

MW15_logo_vendor.inddCan’t make it to Chicago for the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting January 30-February 3? No need to worry, you can experience the events, speakers, forums, and more from your home computer, tablet, or smartphone. Check out these resources for following the conversation at ALA:

General, School Media Specialist

ALA President speaks out for school librarians

We here at CMLE think school librarians are important, and it’s nice to see the ALA President, Courtney Young, think they are too. Below is a recent communication from her about the importance of school librarians.

From ALA President Courtney Young
School Librarians Transform Learning
How do school librarians transform learning? As library professionals, we all know that school librarians are indispensable to education. We know that schools with a strong school library program and a certified school librarian give their students the best chance to succeed. We also know that the education today’s children receive at the school library level will affect their ability to use and benefit from public and academic libraries throughout their lives.We truly are an “ecosystem,” and we all need to support strong school libraries. That is why theAmerican Association of School Librarians is launching an awareness-campaign during the ALA Midwinter Meeting this month: to educate the whole of our profession — and through them, the public — about the importance of school librarians in the lives of children.How do school librarians transform learning? Here are just a few ways:

  • Schools with a strong school library program and a certified school librarian give their students the best chance to succeed.
  • Certified school librarians make the whole school more effective. They teach students how to learn, and they help teachers drive student success.
  • Students and teachers love, value, and use school libraries every day.

I am personally asking you to speak out about the value of school librarians in your communities. Everyone can be an advocate for school libraries!

Visit the School Libraries Make a Difference web resource on www.ilovelibraries.org for specific ways to get involved, including drafting a letter to the editor or writing an op-ed for a local publication. Letters to the editor and op-eds are an easy way to reach large numbers of community members.  If you have never written one of these letters, or need tips along the way, I Love Libraries provides a comprehensive guide to writing and placing an op-ed piece at www.ilovelibraries.org/how-write-and-place-op-ed-piece.

We know that our children’s education and readiness for the workforce is in peril when school library budgets and school librarians are cut. You have a role in ensuring excellence for every student by demanding a school library with a certified school librarian in every school. Join us in speaking up for school libraries!

Sincerely,

Courtney L. Young

ALA President
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CMLE has been covering this issue too and a few of our recent blog posts about school librarians might be of interest:

General, School Media Specialist

Explore eBooks MN Summit: A CMLE Scholarship

ebook-mn5The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Maria Burnham, Sauk Rapids Rice High School Library Media Specialist.

Explore eBooks MN Summit

In August, I attended the Explore eBooks MN Summit at the College of St. Catherine.  I attended as a hopeful high school media specialist, hoping to learn more about a possible statewide plan for eBook purchasing.

The day started with a talk from Deb Hoadley, the woman who coordinated the statewide eBook project for Massachusetts.  She spoke about the process of the project, the current pitfalls, and the future of the project.  I was impressed with the thoughtfulness of each step along the way as well as the implementation process.

After hearing from Deb, we moved in to small mixed groups and discussed eBooks in Minnesota.  I was in a group that included: academic librarians, public librarians, the director of Minitex, as well as library technical services professionals.  We each had a chance to talk about library needs and the possible hurdles in a statewide eBook project.  At this point in the day, I was still hopeful.

However, after lunch, we shared our small group discussions in a large group setting, and the doubt from the group started to seep in.  Originally I had thought that one person (the MN version of Deb Hoadley) would be named or nominated as our statewide eBook project manager, and the crowd would wildly applaud this person’s upcoming task.

The day did NOT end that way.

There is no movement on a statewide eBook project in Minnesota, and I, for one, am disappointed.  However, not all was lost that day.  Good conversation was had across library types.  But I still have many questions regarding eBooks.

I am in a 1:1 laptop school.  Why would I buy eBooks for my students when they can access materials via the public library?  Why not, in a sense, pool our resources?  If I do decide to purchase, which platform do I choose? How do I manage these materials?  And then how do I show my students how to access these materials?

My list of questions goes on and on.  I still have not jumped on to the eBook wagon.  It just seems so disorganized and confusing—platforms, vendors, management rights, contracts, etc.  Ugh.

At some point I’ll have to make the leap. But I was hoping to leap with guidance from the state.  I’m still hoping but not holding my breath.

 

Did you miss the Explore ebooks MN series of webinars? Not able to make it to the Explore ebooks MN Summit? Not to worry, all content from the webinars and summit are available at the Explore ebooks MN website.