With the new The Fault in our Stars movie being released this weekend, a lot of readers are getting excited for YA. Young Adult literature has gone from a loosely defined term to one of the largest selling book markets. From books to movies and even YALSA’s Teen Read Week, YA books are HOT!
Add to your book list with Rolling Stone’s list of the 40 best YA novels.
With smartphones becoming our go-to device for taking pictures, videos, and listening to music many of us aren’t backing-up that data like we should. PC Magazine recently had a post about how to back up your Apple iOS products to iCloud that can help get you started. Don’t let a lost, broken, or stolen phone lose your precious files. By backing them up, you won’t miss a beat if the unfortunate happens to you.
Not only is backing up data important for Apple products but for Android devices as well. Here’s an article to get you started backing up your Android device.
With June right around the corner, CMLE is here to help you get your summer reading lists created for all ages, including yourself!
For Kids:
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has pulled together Three Summer Reading book lists to help keep children engaged in reading throughout the summer. The lists are available for K-2nd, 3rd– 5th and 6th-8th grade students.
The Boston Public Schools have four big lists for students too. Their lists are broken down for Book List Grades K – 2, Book List Grades 3 – 5, Book List Grades 6 – 8, and Book List Grades 9 – 12
For Adults:
Mashable’s list has summer in the title so you know they’ve got to be good! Check out eight books to add to your summer reading list.
The HuffingtonPost has a list of 30 books you NEED to read in 2014. “Need” seems a little strong, but who are we to argue when it comes to reading books!
The BBC chose to focus on the 10 best new books. They have a diverse collection of books and some might not classify as “beach-reads” but all are still worthy of a look.
Finally, not to be forgotten, Flavorwire has a list of 20 new Non-Fiction books you should read this summer. Supposedly, these titles will make us smarter!
What books are you excited about reading this summer? Serious classics or trashy romances, all titles are welcome! Help us add to the lists.
It’s the second to last 23 Mobile Thing spotlight, and we hope you’ve enjoyed looking at them as much as we have. Remember the end date to complete all 23 Mobile Things is June 15th. Next week we will be announcing prizes for finishers of this program, so stay tuned! This week we take a look at Thing 11, Library and Reference.
In her Mobile Learning Upsurge blog, Roxanne Backowski looked at two different library mobile websites. First she looked at ELM. “I thought ELM’s mobile site was laid out well and was happy to see the Ask a Librarian/AskMN option,” she said. “That makes it quick to ask questions from a mobile device!”
After ELM, she moved on to SCSU Library’s mobile website. She found the site easy to use “and even placed an inter-library loan request on the mobile site.” Imagine the possibilities! College students checking out materials from their class after a professor suggests them, or even from their dorm room in their pajamas.
In this case two mobile websites were used instead of a specific library app. Looking at this list of mobile website advantages, it might make more sense for some libraries instead of an app.
For other great library/reference ideas, or for any of the Things, check out the other CMLE participant’s blogs from this page: http://23mobilethingsmn.org/cmle/
For those that are in the program, we encourage you to continue blogging, tweeting, and posting about your experiences. If you’re struggling for motivation, feel free to skip around. Find that mobile thing that motivates you. Remember the end date to complete all 23 Mobile Things is June 15th. If learning more about mobile devices isn’t enough, we remind you that registered Minnesota participants are eligible for prizes! Keep up the great work and make sure to collect your badges.
Tip: See what people are saying on Twitter about 23 Mobile Things by following the hashtag #23ThingsMN and join the conversation!
In a recent post, we found out that young people are losing the art of having a conversation. It turns out they might not be as tech-smart as we thought either. In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Eszter Hargittai explained how most young people don’t realize what kind of message they are putting on Social Media. “The way that most students find jobs or connect with people is not by mailing out resumes,” Mr. King says. “It is by people finding each other on social media.” This gap in student knowledge led Northwestern to create a 10-week course called “Managing Your Online Reputation.” The course “seeks to train students to build robust, productive online identities through which they can engage topics of interest, command audiences, and advance their careers.”
“Assuming that young people know all they need to know about technology means they often don’t have opportunities to learn or ask questions” Hargittai says.
Are your schools teaching their students about their online identities?