Tag Archives: Resources

School Media Specialist

Free Art Books from DUC

The Distribution to Underserved Communities Library Program (DUC) distributes books on contemporary art and culture free of charge to rural and inner-city public libraries, public schools and alternative reading centers nationwide.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the DUC´s 2012 catalogue of brand new art books (and journals, and DVDs)!

You may now browse the selection of titles from new and returning art publishers on our website, www.ducprogram.org, where you may also place your order.  As always, all materials are shipped completely free of charge!

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

There are no restrictions on the number of titles you may request.

However, we must make certain we serve as many communities as possible with our limited resources.  We kindly ask that you order only what you need.

Each institution may place one order per calendar year.  Please consult with your colleagues and place one order on behalf of your institution; multiple orders from the same school or library will not be filled.

Once you reach the final stage of the ordering process, you will be taken to a screen listing your book requests.  This page also contains a tab that reads `EMAIL ORDER/RESERVE BOOKS´ in the top right and the bottom right corners.  You MUST click on this tab in order to submit your order (only then are the books deducted from our inventory and held for you). After your order has been submitted, you will receive an automatically-generated confirmation email.  If you do not receive this email, or if you experience any other problems, please contact us (and, if possible, do not close this final screen until we are able to confirm that the order was submitted successfully).

Due to the large volume of orders we receive, it may take up to three months to process and ship the books you request-your patience is appreciated.

One final reminder: the mission of the DUC is to distribute free art books to rural, inner city, and other underserved public schools and libraries (including correctional facility libraries).  We are unable to fill orders from private institutions.

If you have questions about the program or the ordering process, feel free to contact us at info@ducprogram.org or (212) 255-2919.

We hope you enjoy the books!

The DUC Library Program

Art Resources Transfer, Inc.

The DUC aims to actively further a more egalitarian access to contemporary art, and is committed to fostering partnerships between publishers, non-profit organizations, librarians and readers to enrich and diversify library collections.  The program offers several hundred titles by a roster of major museum, gallery, and art publishers.  The program reaches readers in all 50 states and has placed over 300,000 free books in public libraries, schools, and alternative pedagogical venues.

The DUC is a program of Art Resources Transfer, Inc., a nonprofit organization founded in 1987, that is committed to documenting and supporting artists’ voices and work, and making these voices accessible to the broadest possible audience.

www.artresourcestransfer.org

School Media Specialist

Teach With Tablets

A partnership between 3M and the education nonprofit Digital Wish offers parents, teachers and administrators the opportunity to win new tablets for their schools. Called 3M Screens for Schools, this new grant program will award one school up to $25,000 in funding to be used toward the purchase of tablets and 3M Screen Protectors. To apply for the grant, visit 3M Screen Protector’s Facebook page. 3M will donate $1 to Digital Wish for every eligible person who “likes” the page and another $1 for every person who shares 3M Screens for School’s message on his or her Facebook page. Interested parties can also submit a 200- to 500-word essay explaining (1) why the school needs the award for new tablets and how the new tablets would change the school for the better; (2) if the school is awarded the new tablets, how learning would be enhanced for students and teaching enhanced for educators; and (3) what other creative fundraising, if any, the school has undertaken in an effort to bring new technologies into the classroom. Only one entry is permitted per person, but multiple entries—including submissions from teachers and school administrators—can be made on behalf of one school.
Deadline: September 12, 2012
Click Here for More Information

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Evaluating Educational Apps

By billsoPHOTO
http://tinyurl.com/c5ar6dd

Have you ever wondered if you should be evaluating apps before you begin using them with your students? The question is certainly valid, and one that others in the field have been pondering as well. Independent Consultant, Tony Vincent, author of the Learning in Hand blog and former teacher, recently wrote a blog post on this very topic http://tinyurl.com/72gnytk. Here, Vincent provides an app evaluation rubric and explains that others before him asked the same question – he provides a bibliography of sorts for app evaluation. Vincent credits Harry Walker, Doctoral student from Johns Hopkins University, for first developing an app evaluation rubric and Media Specialist, Kathy Schrock (a MEMO Conference Keynote Speaker!), for later adapting and editing the rubric.

So, what are some key pieces of information to keep in mind when evaluating apps? First, is the app relevant and does it instill or reinforce what your students need to know? Is the content appropriate for the age group? Are there advertisements – and how easy is it to accidently click on an advertisement? Can the app’s settings by customized to vary according to the individual’s or learning cohort’s needs? Has the app been updated recently? Does it promote collaboration and critical thinking? These are just a few questions to consider asking when evaluating an app.

What are some things you and your teachers consider while evaluating apps? Do you evaluate them, or do you tend to choose what is used based upon recommendations, what you can find through a basic search through the iTunes store, by price, or by teacher requests?

This topic is one CMLE staff is currently stewing on, and hopes to possibly explore further in the future. Media specialists and librarians are masters at evaluation and at creating and utilizing rubrics effectively. As such, this could be an important new role for media specialists working with teachers, as well as for librarians in a number of other settings. It is our role to inform others on how to ask the important questions about the resources we’re using – why should apps be any different? Be on the lookout for more on this topic from CMLE in the near future! Hopefully you’re excited to explore it with us too!

Check this out:

Unglue.it

Have you heard? Just this afternoon, the site Unglue.it launched! Unglue.it is a crowd-sourced funding site for campaigns to license previously published works under Creative Commons to provide free e-book use for all. Together, authors and publishers (right’s holders) set a fee threshold — generally $5,000 to $25,000 — that must be hit within two to six months. Through pledges from book lovers (and book loving organizations), the book will become “unglued” when the fee threshold is reached. Due to the Creative Commons license, the book will no longer have DRM restrictions, and can be copied and shared without copyright fears. To find out more about Unglue.it and to view the five current campaigns, visit the site directly at https://unglue.it/, or go to http://tinyurl.com/6sejmzb for a detailed article about Unglue.it!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

24th Annual Minnesota Book Award Winners Announced

On April 14th, nearly 800 people attended the Minnesota Book Awards Gala. During the event, winners in eight categories were selected and acknowledged, along with the Readers’ Choice Award. The nine winners include: BookSpeak! Poems about Books by Laura Purdie Salas for Children’s Literature, Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Lawsuit on Science in America by Shawn Lawrence Otto for General Nonfiction, Big Wheat by Richard A. Thompson for Genre Fiction, A Song at Twilight: Of Alzheimer’s and Love by Nancy Paddock for Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, Pioneer Modernists: Minnesota’s First Generation of Women Artists by Julie L’Enfant for the Award for Minnesota, The Law of Miracles and Other Stories  by Gregory Blake Smith for Novel & Short Story, Whorled by Ed Bok Lee for Poetry, With or Without You by Brian Farrey for Young People’s Literature, and The Tanglewood Terror by Kurtis Scaletta for the Readers’ Choice Award.

More information about the award winners and finalists can be found at http://www.thefriends.org/programs/mnbookawards/award_winners_and_finalists.html.

Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees!

Happy reading, Minnesota!