Tag Archives: Libraries

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

ELM Webinars & Brochure

As you know, the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) is a collection of free databases available to all Minnesota schools, libraries, and residents. In addition, each month, ELM hosts a series of free training sessions.  Consider attending one (or all) of the following webinars;ELM

  • Intro to ELM for Teachers: English Language Arts, Oct 21st Link
  • Points of View Reference Center (Oct. 24) Link
  • An Electronic Library for Adult Education ( Nov. 6th, 18th & Dec. 12) Link

Special Note: New ELM brochures are available for your library. Order Now!

Help us spread the word about ELM by requesting bundles of our new brochures! These are perfect if you’re looking for something to hand to people as you describe how ELM can help them.

The new brochures have only minor content changes, so if you have the five-paneled fold-out brochures with the cut-out circle on the front, please do feel free to continue to circulate those. In addition to the minor content tweaks (like highlighting the ELM Learning Center), the new brochures include the updated ELM logo.

Order in bundles of 100 and don’t be shy about ordering in quantity (there’s no charge for these, of course). Thanks for promoting ELM to your users!

Reprinted from Minitex Reference Notes, October 2013

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

Lessons Learned with iPad Deployment

Image by LJR.MIKE. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's license.
Image by LJR.MIKE. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ license.

Are your school administrators all geeked up about rolling out a 1:1 initiative in your school in a hurry? As an information professional, it may prove helpful for you to be familiar with  what works and when to take pause…..

Joyce Valenza was the keynote speaker at the October 5th  Saturday morning portion of the  MEMO Conference. Within her presentation, she alluded to the problems encountered in Los Angeles’ failed iPad roll-out. A murmur of an undefined sort rippled  through the room, which made me wonder if I was the only person who had not read or heard about this news item. Armed with my trusty iPad, I immediately Googled it, and sure enough, the news had only hit the social media circuit on October 2nd, which made me feel slightly better, as I had joined the MEMO Conference on October 3rd.

According to Mind/Shift, “There’s an incredible litany of problems here that reads like a primer on what NOT to do with a major deployment of technology in a school district, “ and I couldn’t agree more. Although the story is about the nation’s second largest public school district, the lessons apply well in most settings.

Read from an insider’s viewpoint what went wrong with a $1 billion plan to give one iPad to every single student ($500 million for devices, plus an additional $500 million for internet infrastructure upgrades, raised through construction bonds).  Some of the comments to this blog post are as valuable as the story itself, which is so often the case! Feel free to exercise your right to comment here too….

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

Teen Read Week

Image by goXunuReviews. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by goXunuReviews. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

How is your library engaging teen readers?

For the past 15 years, Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has sponsored Teen Read Week (TRW). It is a national adolescent literary initiative to sponsor continued readership. This year TRW will be held on October 13th-19th. The theme strives to encourage teens to discover the unknown and continue to explores mysteries, “Seek the Unknown @ Your Library.”

Click here for additional information about Teen Read Week from ALA. 
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Virtual Town Hall on Ebooks

Are you interested in the possibility of eBook lending?

Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

On October 23rd, American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling will be hosting an interactive, online session from 11:00-12:00 pm (CT) to enter an eBook library lending discussion.

Panelists include:

  • Barbara Stripling, ALA president;
  • Maureen Sullivan, ALA immediate past president;
  • Keith Michael Fiels, ALA executive director;
  • Sari Feldman, executive director of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and DCWG co-chair;
  • Robert Wolven, associate university librarian of Columbia University and DCWG co-chair;
  • Alan S. Inouye, director of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy.

To learn more about this discussion and for registration materials click here.

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

STEM Programming Specific to Libraries

Image by Chase_Elliott. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Chase_Elliott. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

Looking for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) content?

SimplySTEM has created a wiki for librarians interested in additional STEM related content. This resource provides a collection of completed program plans including activities, print materials, and suggested links. Click here to view this online resource.

To learn more about STEM, go to Why STEM Education Matters for a four page summary developed by the National Math + Science Initiative.

Tip: You can also highlight your library’s completed STEM programming by becoming a ciki contributor on this site.