Summary of Program

WHEW! I’ve made it! Here at the finish line I feel proud and exhausted at the time. To be honest it was alot of work, but I feel that I can use many of the items we’ve learned in my library program. My favorite lessons covered were the image generators and the Animoto video. I feel I can use those to enhance web pages and promote books and other literary events within the library. I definitely know much more about the services offered on the web and are much more technological savvy.

Thing #23- Creative Commons

Creative Commons is an opportunity for your work to be shared with others, motivating them to enhance the creativity of it. It springs from the idea of by sharing more, you accomplish more. For those of us who want our work to be explored and shared with others, Creative Commons can help provide free copyright licenses so others can understand what portions of work we want them to use, modify, and/or refine. It enables us to collaborate with one another to create a high quality product. As librarians we must set a good example and follow the rules of copyright appropriately, and help to educate others in doing so as well.

Thing #22-Animoto

I like the idea behind Animoto. I think it is a great way to generate student interest in school projects and one that they would have fun doing. I did find it a bit frustrating in trying to post my video on my blog. I followed the instructions given, but blogger keeps telling me there is an error in the html code. SIGH! However, I can see how creating video shorts to promote “movies” of books would be an entertaining method of getting kids interested in reading.

Check it out at http://animoto.com/play/81de3f7de5d1702131f959e1f750e118

Thing #21- Podcasts

Wow! There is so much information out there available from podcasts that it can feel a little over whelming. Where to begin? I was surprised to find all the “do it yourself” type podcasts such as learning how to speak French and how to play jazz piano. I did a search on children’s literature and found several podcasts that played author interviews and discussed children’s books. As a librarian this can be helpful to use as another resource to learn about new and upcoming authors/books. One particular podcast I found amusing was a Harry Potter podcast that discussed the in depth dynamics of the series, and the literary patterns found within the books.

Thing #20-YouTube

YouTube can be used as promotional tool to encourage people to visit the library more often and take advantage of the many opportunities that libraries offer. However, I would recommend that any school librarian be selective with the type of material from YouTube they choose to use due to the questionable material that can be found. I found a video with George Lopez advocating libraries. It was positive, safe, and clean and one that I would feel comfortable using to promote libraries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhrcCWjtNQw

Thing #19- Flow Maps and Mind Charts

Gliffy and Bubbl.us would both be great ways to incorporate graphic organizers into research units. I liked Gliffy because of the many templates I could choose from, as well as all the editing options. I created visual representations with both Gliffy and Bubble.us. One was of genres that my 3rd graders research, and the other was of sea animals that I plan to use with my younger students in the spring when they study their ocean unit. Check them out.

Thing #18-Web 2.0 Awards

Under the “Book” category in the Web 2.0 Awards you will find a link to LibraryThing. After discovering LibraryThing earlier in our lessons I was hooked! I love how LibraryThing allows you to share your favorite books and see what others are reading and recommending. I did not think the site was intimidating at all due to its simple organization and easy use. Locating out of print materials is simple because LibraryThing has a variety of search data to help you find what it is you need. LibraryThing is a great way to have an online book club and find other topics of literary interest. Other useful tools include the Book Information page and the Book Suggester and UnSuggester.

Thing #17-Zoho Writer

One of the features I liked most about Zoho Writer is that it can be accessed anywhere, which is very convenient. Other options such as e-mailing documents in word files or HTML would come in very handy when communication online. I created a “Top 5” or “Most Read” books of the month list that students and staff could view and hopefully add to. Creating documents in Zoho Writer is just another way to help promote literature and other programs occurring in the library.

http://writer.zoho.com/index.do#