Proclaimed to be a 29 minute read, this interview romp with amazing librarian Jessamyn West, is just a treat! Frank, pragmatic, irreverent, and funny….I have always been a wee bit star struck by her! In this interview, Jessamyn talks about her role in the public library as a “technology lady” along with aspects of being a modern day librarian. Love her take on the computer user frenetically clicking constantly without ever waiting for the machine to catch up! Enjoy the interview here!
Photo retrieved from the Jessamyn West Wikipedia entry
The season of lists is beginning! I will not apologize for sharing them…. I find many in the library field love lists, so lets get started with this annual list that provides opportunity for some bigger picture thinking!
Stephen Abram blogs about library industry trends, innovation, and information. Recently, he shared this popular list of disruptive technologies, and indeed, reviewing this list is enlightening, and in some cases worrisome. I think number 2 is interesting to consider as we think about places where our library users can weigh in on services and materials.
A recent study in Pediatrics highlighted the seemingly universal acceptance of mobile device use by children. USA Today’s coverage of the study spoke about some of the statistics from the study. One shocking stat: “Nearly 97% of parents said their children used mobile devices of some sort. Most started before their first birthday.” What are parents and educators to do?
“Parents don’t need a guilt trip — parents need guidance and support and better-quality stuff that is more intentionally educational, more culturally resonant and relevant, and which they can discover easily with their children.” – Michael Levine, co-author of the recent book Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) even modified its recommendations for parents, saying that face-to-face interactions with adults are preferred, “devices such as smartphones and tablets could be educational, even for toddlers, if a caregiver reads or plays along to guide the learning.”
Among other findings, according to their parents:
• 20% of 1-year-olds own a tablet computer.
• 28% of 2-year-olds can navigate a mobile device with no help.
• 21% of 4-year-olds own a gaming console.
• 28% of parents said they use a mobile device to put their children to sleep.
More often than not, we think of technology as the antagonist to our hero – books. But it doesn’t have to be that way! There are online resources that can encourage users to get offline & in front of a book. In fact, Sarah Muthler of Edudemic has found 10. Some of these sites are better-known than others. Check out her Ten Websites to Help Students Connect with Books, which covers sites from the ALA’s banned and challenged books to Goodreads. See which websites work best for your students, or for yourself!
Some are new and some are old but Ebook Friendly recently wrote about 7 technologies they would love to see in libraries. From print on demand machines (which some libraries already use), to concepts for an advanced library augmented reality tool, the list has it all!
Plus, who wouldn’t want to get their library books via a book delivery drone!
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
Proclaimed to be a 29 minute read, this interview romp with amazing librarian Jessamyn West, is just a treat! Frank, pragmatic, irreverent, and funny….I have always been a wee bit star struck by her! In this interview, Jessamyn talks about her role in the public library as a “technology lady” along with aspects of being a modern day librarian. Love her take on the computer user frenetically clicking constantly without ever waiting for the machine to catch up! Enjoy the interview here!
A recent study in Pediatrics highlighted the seemingly universal acceptance of mobile device use by children. 