Category Archives: School Media Specialist

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

iPad Trends of Interest

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Apple’s new iPad is all the rage. It’s hard to get through a day without hearing about the iPad on the news, radio, or through RSS Feeds. A lot of people have A LOT to say about the iPad, but for this post, we’re bringing it on home to some iPad trends of interest to CMLE members.

News emerged on March 30th that Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania is “giving” all of its full-time students iPads beginning in fall 2010. Seton Hill is providing the iPad to its students as part of its new Technology Advantage Program. The goal of the Technology Advantage Program is to “…provide students with the best in technology and collaborative learning tools, ensuring that Seton Hill students will be uniquely suited to whatever careers they choose.” It sounds like they’re especially interested in the iPad’s ability to download and display textbooks. For more information direct from the source, try this link … http://www.setonhill.edu/ipad/. For additional coverage, visit these news stories: http://tinyurl.com/yb87ttz, http://tinyurl.com/y9uqfxm.

The iPad craze hits closer to home at GFW Schools in southern Minnesota. News broke on April 12th that the high school is in the process of providing an iPad to each of its students.  The Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop School Board’s new $265,000 tech program will also provide Wi-Fi and technical training next year. At this time a group of students and teachers are test driving the iPads and will soon develop a plan for implementing and using the iPads to their full potential. Here’s an interesting recap provided by WCCO http://wcco.com/education/ipads.for.students.2.1628182.html.

Doug Johnson, of the Blue Skunk Blog, also provides some interesting iPad food for thought in two posts dated April 11th and April 15th. Be sure to read the comments too!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

One Book, One Twitter Update!

This is quick update to the One Book, One Twitter post from April 8th. Voting for the final book of choice started on April 13th and will continue for two weeks. You may cast your votes using the following link … http://tinyurl.com/ya89g7s.

Happy voting! We’ll be sure to update you when we know the winner! Follow the latest on Twitter using hashtag #1b1t.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

National Library Week – Communities Thrive @ Your Library!

April 11th through the 17th is National Library Week. CMLE would like to take this chance to thank each of you for all the hard work you do every day! From working with young children during story times, to information literacy sessions, to one-on-one reference interactions (and the list stretches on from there!), it’s really amazing what librarians do on a daily basis. I hope you’ll all take a moment to celebrate your library, the work of your colleagues, and your own dedication!

 In celebration of National Library Week, you may want to take a look at the resources available through ALA. This link http://tinyurl.com/cnm5hq will guide you towards the official National Library Week proclamation, this year’s press release, various national events, and the theme of this year’s National Library Week – Communities Thrive @ Your Library! 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

One Book, One Twitter

Jeff Howe, a contributing editor for Wired Magazine and writer of the popular blog – Crowdsourcing, recently developed the idea of One Book, One Twitter. Inspired by “one book, one city” clubs, Howe posed the idea of an online book club that would hopefully pull in “zillions” of readers. Howe first proposed the idea on March 18th, and began collecting book nominations from online participants. All nominated books had to be available around the world, translated into MANY languages, and of general interest to all. As of April 6th, American Gods by Neil Gaiman was selected as the crowd favorite. Other popular nominations included Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Brave New World, Slaughterhouse Five, and Catch 22.

But, wait, not so fast… Voting isn’t over yet! By the end of this week, “judges” for the One Book, One Twitter club will be posting 4 other possible choices. Then, during the week of April 12th, participants will be able to vote for one of the “judges” suggestions, or can select American Gods or one of the other popular nominations as their favorite. In all, voters will have ten books to choose from. No word yet as to when the winner will be announced, but we’ll be sure to update you as soon as we know!

 This is something libraries should get behind, and just maybe…help promote. Imagine the possibilities, and how cool is it that a huge group of people from around the world are being exposed to great works of literature? What a wonderful way to promote a love for reading, create a community made up of people from vastly different backgrounds—AND introduce people to a popular technology!

To get involved:

1) Get a Twitter account!

2) Search for hashtag #1b1t

3) Read posts, you’ll quickly discover where the group is with the whole process.

You may also learn more about One Book, One Twitter at Howe’s Crowdsourcing Blog: http://www.crowdsourcing.com/cs/.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Minnesota Book Awards: Vote for Your Favorite Finalist!

Last month judges narrowed down over 250 nominated books to just 32 finalists for the MN Book Awards. Finalist’s works are organized into eight categories, including: Children’s Literature, General Nonfiction, Genre Fiction, Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, Minnesota, Novel & Short Story, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. You can visit The Friends’ of St. Paul Public Library website for a complete list of finalists. These books will soon be reviewed by another group of judges, and a winner will be selected from each category.

There will also be a Reader’s Choice Award. The Reader’s Choice winner is selected by Minnesota readers, so this is your chance to get involved! Attend the Reader’s Choice Event at 7:00 PM on Friday, March 12 at the Open Book Literary Arts Center (1011 Washington Ave. S. in Minneapolis) for a chance to meet finalist authors, learn about their books, and enjoy a wine reception. To learn more about the event, visit the Reader’s Choice Event site. You may also vote for your favorite finalist here.

Get further involved by joining the 32 Books in 32 Days blog. Starting March 16th, the blog will devote one day to highlight each of the 32 finalist books. As a subscriber to the blog, you’ll receive regular updates whenever new content is added.

The Reader’s Choice winner will be announced along with the other winners at the Book Awards Gala on Saturday, April 17th.  The 22nd Annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul. The reception begins at 6:30pm and includes celebrity speakers, champagne, books, and live music. Please visit the Friends’ website www.thefriends.org for more information.