Shelf Mouse

Black History is American History is Our History Part 2

2012-02-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

I used the same subject matter mentioned in the following post at the second library. They're just arranged differently.

Black History is American History is Our History

2012-02-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

Since my library assistant worked so hard creating on the barn, I plan to use it multiple times before taking it down. It's gone from the book barn to a structure honoring the Underground Railroad and the Quilt System, which I've displayed in some form or fashion several years now.

Four generations sewed on the quilt I used. It was made with over a thousand hexagon pieces. My great-grandmother designed and pieced it; my mother and grandmother quilted most of it, and I quilted a corner of it. If you look at the individual materials, you'll see that my Mamo used some of the ugliest cloth-- they didn't throw anything away-- and at first glance, I thought she was a little senile putting all those patterns and colors that seemed to clash. But looking closer, you'll see that she alternated the solids and the patterns, and with most of them she pulled a color out of the pattern to be the solid color next to it. And when you step back, it makes a beautiful design, and I'm so proud that it's mine.

From what I've read about the quilt system, some folks say the stories that quilts and certain patterns sent messages to those embarking and traveling on the Underground Railroad are not documented or confirmed. But I would venture to say that most of the history of the slaves and the efforts to free them are not documented because of the danger involved for all of them. How ingenious to use common household items such as quilts to send messages to those seeking freedom.

And what a sad part of our country's history that so many folks accepted the owning of other human beings as property. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those courageous folks of all races who risked their lives, livelihoods, and reputations to line up the words of our Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,

that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

"Oh, for the day when Americans are categorized by citizenship, character, and contributions to mankind; when colors refer to our flag instead of a label to brandish as a crutch or a bully stick; when our history is one history, undivided, and with liberty and justice for all." dvc

I just noticed in the last photo that the information I posted about Carter Woodson, which should be to the left of his picture, has been removed. Not sure why. More people need to know about this man; I'll just print out another copy.

The Book Barn

2012-01-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

The loft bed turned into a barn this month. My library aide made posters of old barn wood and wrapped them around the frame before Christmas. We switched libraries after the break, so I finished the display for her. I had two old window frames that I tacked onto the back red bulletin board paper (folded vertically like a fan to make it look like slats- see close-up on 3rd picture). I tacked an X of white strips to give the appearance of barn doors.

I added a title using MS Word's letters; drew cartoon cow and horse heads on bulletin board paper and hung them from the loft frame where it looks like they're standing in a stall. I taped some recycled cardstock on their heads to keep them from curling.

I took an iron candle holder and added a rolled-up piece of yellow paper to make it look like a lamp burning and hung it in the center of the loft. I added comments for each animal and attached them to the back wall. The cow says, "Read any mooo-ving books lately?" and the horse answers, "Neigh... I like adventure stories." I know, it's corny, but we had to use barn humor.

The rectangle baskets look a little like hay bales, and we had a red metal tub stored in the back that I put some large bands of fringe in it-- it looks more like spaghetti than livestock feed, but that's okay. I pulled books with barns on the covers and farm animal books and propped some fence wire beside it to complete the display.

After I took the pictures, I placed a small table beside the barn to display more domesticated animal books. And that's our Book Barn.

A Paper & Chicken Wire Snowman

2011-12-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

The handy thing about chicken wire is that it will hold things you stuff into it. I tore up packing paper into approximately 6x6 or 6x8 squares and rectangles-- do not take the time to measure anything, just start tearing. Then crumple each sheet up and stuff it into a chicken wire hole. I gave him two black eyes (crumpled black paper), a carrot nose (a twisted piece of orange paper), tree branch arms (twisted brown paper with fingers made from tearing one end into three parts and twisting them), and three green buttons (crumpled green paper). Excuse the reflection from taking the photo outside the library windows-- I should've taken a picture of the display before I set it in front of the window.

This background color is a truer depiction, but the snowman is fairly ragtag-looking from this angle, but it gives him character. I bought two lacy pillow shams for fifty cents each and covered a couple of boxes to display Christmas and winter books in the corners. The wire shelving is another garage sale find that's become a permanent ficture on the chicken wire frame. Students made big and little snowflakes for the display and to hang around the library. I need to add some more small ones to the background.

I made the wreath the same as the snowman-- tearing green paper and stuffing it in the chicken wire. Add some red wads of paper for the berries, and voila! It's done. I put more holly and berries in the corners and above and below the saying. I think I misquoted a Mary Englebreit saying, which probably needs to say, "A book is a present you can open again and again." But since I'm about to have a book fair, the quote I used will do. Wrapping the back of the chicken wire frame with bulletin board paper makes a beautiful backdrop that pulls it all together.

Here's a closer shot of the snowman and wreath.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Hanukkah!

Be Thankful!

2011-11-16T09:58:00.000-08:00

Where did this year go? I can't believe it is Thanksgiving already. This is the third year I've recycled some beautiful oak leaves cut by my kind library volunteer, Cindy Albers. They have saved me so much time for numerous displays, and they still look great. I rolled the library's big round ottoman from the magazine section over to the corner of the loft bed display background. It reminded me of a round bale of hay. I sat a goofy turkey on top of it and put a realistic turkey on the basket beside it. I wove the brown packing paper in and out of the upper bunk sides and taped the colorful leaves on them.

My library colleague brought some warm plaid material to use, so I draped them over the back and side. Another teacher gave me the top of a seven foot stretch of old fence that I propped on the floor in the background. A garage sale find of a fall banner is displayed along the back.

I re-used a previous display sign for the side, which faces the interior of the library, and then displayed books along the same color scheme as well as things we are thankful for, scattered on the ground like the falling leaves.

And I have so much to be thankful for in my life-- for my wonderful family and friends and co-workers, for my job and a roof over my head, for an old car that still runs, for more food than I should be eating, for living in a great community and a country that enjoys more freedoms than most anywhere on earth, and especially for my Creator who loves me and gives my life purpose.

A Librarian's Idea of a Scary House 3

2011-10-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is the third time I've used this idea in some form or fashion. At our other library, we turned an entire loft bed into a haunted house on the outside, and on the inside was a bedroom with all of these scary things. This time to create the house, I wrapped an AV cart in black bulletin board paper, printed out a door and some windows from MS Word clip art, cut them out and attached them.

The shingles took longer than anything--- cutting pieces of cardboard boxes and peeling back the top layer to expose the corregated rows.

I twisted brown bulletin board paper to make a scraggly-looking tree, and recycled the crumpled paper to make it look like fallen leaves. And some of the scary things about this house is that it's:

Where nobody reads
Where books get chewed up (note ferocious dog)
Where books are used for everything but reading

4. Where there's no time to read

5. Where library books get damaged

6. Where library books disappear

Throw in some scary books, and you're all set!

Medieval Round 2

2011-09-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm in charge of two middle school libraries this year-- two weeks at one and two weeks at the other-- so I get to do multiple displays a month. My daughter and granddaughter cut out two dragons so each library would get one. Because of the direction the school is facing, this dragon shows up good from inside and out.

I made the purple walls at the same time that I made them for the other library, and the purple walls covered the windows originally. But the day before the library officially opened for check-outs, I took them off the windows and wrapped the loft bed like a castle. Add an arched door, and it gives the effect.

These are the cardboard patterns I used to make the stone effect on the purple walls, and they turned out looking cooler than anything else I did. So I placed them on the floor of the display to create a cobblestone look.

Inside the display, I grouped medieval looking items-- a mirror with the book Fairest displayed beside it; a treasure chest, a candlestick, a chess board, and tapestry-looking material.

And baskets are always great to display books.

And the quest starts here!

The Quest Has Begun!

2011-09-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Our school district theme this year is Quest for Excellence so you will see castles and knights and dragons at most every campus. I made the castle walls with purple bulletin board paper and used about ten or twelve pieces of cardboard sheets for the stone patterns that I cut the corners off or cut in different sizes. I always save the cardboard protectors that come in large envelopes or boxes, so most of the cutting was already done. You can even cut up a cardboard box using a serated knife to make your patterns; cut out quick rectangles first, then saw off the corners. Or if you are too tired to mess with the corners, just leave them on and tell everyone you have quality medieval stonecutters on your campus who do precise work. : ) Then lay the cardboard pieces on the purple paper in a well-ventilated area outside. I fought the wind outside for a while, but the garage worked much better. Take spray paint of any color (I used black) to create the look of grout around your stones-- spray around the edges of the cardboard, then pick them up and place them further down the purple paper until you've filled up the sheet with the look of stones.

I drafted my talented daughter and granddaughter to draw and cut out a dragon silhouette and flames for the library's upper windows. They did a great job! If you would like to see more of their work, go to http://www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com and http://imagination-spark.blogspot.com/ . My daughter is an artist/illustrator, and my granddaughter is quickly following in her mother's steps.

For the other side of the door, my father built a free-standing frame out of cedar fence boards and chicken wire. My principal was concerned for a while that I was going to have chickens in the library. : ) I draped earthy-colored materials and tapestry-looking cloth. Rustic baskets and woven placemats are great to display books in or on. I pulled books about castles, knights, dragons, the Middle Ages, etc.

The silhouette of the dragon is easier to see on the inside of the library than looking from the outside, so it's a nice surprise for students if they miss it coming into the library.

April is showers, poetry & spring flowers!

2011-04-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

After two months of brown tones, it was time to add some color to the display. We're having a Poetry Contest this month, so along with April showers and spring flowers, this was a fun idea to quickly throw together. I used MS Word's wonderful letter panels to create the POETRY part of the sign. To make the umbrella-looking shapes, I grabbed some bulletin board paper and made big squares first-- no measuring-- just fold over to make a triangle, cut the leftover off, and keep folding like you would a fan. Cut the corners off, scallop or leave them smooth to make it look like an umbrella. I open them up and draped some of them over the bars, and others I tape opened up. The next part was where I literally threw the display together.

I raided the recycle bin in the paper room and pulled out all of the discarded bulletin board paper, tore them into pieces, wadded them up, and threw them on the floor. When one of my fellow teachers came through and asked me what I was doing with all that paper, I told him I was getting out my frustrations. He believed me, so then I told him they're supposed to look like wildflowers. I'm afraid some folks will only see wadded up paper.

I had fun with it, though. I scattered some baskets around filled with colored grass and added poetry books to the display, and it was done. So wadded up paper or wildflowers, it's April's display.

Remember the Alamo!

2011-04-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

March always seems to slip in and slip out before I realize it, and especially Texas' Independence Day on March 2nd. This time I used the backdrop for February's display and hung a quickly drawn and cut-out cardboard Alamo from under the loftbed. I used the "stagecoach" font for the sign and tore the edges. To give it a burned look, run a black marker aroun the edge, and then a layer of brown color pencil. Pull books on the Alamo or Texas history and you're done! Sorry I didn't get this out before March was over.

Black History is American History is Our History

2011-02-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

Several book boxes came with a ton of brown packing paper, which I used to weave in and out of the loft bed as a background for this month's display. I wasn't sure what I was going for, other than a consistent look, but after I finished wrapping the frame, it reminded me of tobacco leaves hanging to dry. Tobacco was a labor-intensive crop prevalent on many of the east and southeastern plantations during the slave years, so the look fits Black History month in that way. I haven't said that aloud, preferring to leave the interpretation to the viewer's imagination. I used pictures from the Library of Congress and hung them directly on the brown paper. I displayed books dealing with the time around Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation as well as key people in the early struggle for freedom and subsequent civil rights. It's sad to look back and see those parts of history where people erred in their treatment of human beings-- slavery, the holocaust, apartheid. We tell ourselves we wouldn't be a part of that, but seeing injustice and choosing to ignore it is no different than condoning it. I believe too many of us are asleep in the midst of a present day holocaust when it comes to the deaths of innocent unborn children, but that's not what this display is about so I'll share my thoughts in another post. It's encouraging, though, to see those individuals throughout history that recognized injustice and were courageous enough to do something about it. We especially celebrate them this month.

As I worked on the display, I realized I never thought about what I display each year as being a part of my history since it's Black History month. The title itself seems segregative, like it's set apart from the rest of American history. But I realized that black history is a part of our American history, so it's my history, too, and that's how I'm going to think about it from now on.

I assumed it began years ago because many of the history books failed to record events and contributions involving blacks throughout our country's history, but I thought I'd better do some research on the origins of Black History month to confirm that. I learned about Carter G. Woodson, who is considered the Father of Negro History and in 1926 organized the first Negro History Week, which evolved into Black History month, although the Web site I retrieved the following photo calls it African American History month.

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950)

Courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences Online, African American History Program

I found a quote of Woodson's that really resonated with my epiphany that Black History is a part of my history, too. On the founding of Negro History Week he said, "We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice." YES, Dr. Woodson!! Otherwise, we're continuing to set ourselves apart, even with good intentions.

Oh, for the day when Americans are categorized by citizenship, character, & contributions to mankind;

when colors refer to our flag instead of a label to brandish as a crutch or bully stick;

when our history is one history, undivided , & with liberty & justice for all. --Donna Van Cleve

A Good Book Brings Great Joy

2010-12-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

It's December already! How did that happen? I recycled snowflakes made by the art classes three years ago and created a winter wonderland display for this month. I wrapped the loft bed with blue bulletin board paper. The snowman was made from styrofoam equipment packing-- this is his second year to be used.

The snowman is leaning up against an easel, and the knit cap covers the top part of the easel and keeps him upright. I cut out some black tree trunks and used shredded paper from our office to make the icy-looking leaves for the trees.

I even piled some on the mattress grid above the trees as well as hung a few snowflakes from the grid to make it look like it was snowing.

I pulled Christmas books and scattered more snowflakes on the ground, and sat the snowman on top of a star-shaped crocheted tablecloth I found in someone's trash. I have used it in so many displays.

At the end of the loft bed I put the theme "A Good Book Brings Great Joy," and also added a table with a red Christmas tree skirt and more Christmas books after I took the picture. I also outlined the big picture windows with snowflakes in the front of the library. On the snowman, I used things I found in the office drawers: binder clips for the mouth, Percy Jackson pins for the eyes and buttons, and half of a plastic fork for the nose.

Here are some more quick displays:

Cost for these displays? Only a little time,
and with helpers, it didn't take long at all.
Have a wonderful holiday!

Be Thankful!

2010-12-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

November was such a busy month with Book Fair and the Thanksgiving holiday, so I just modified the previous month's display by adding red, yellow, and orange leaves on the twisted vine-looking brown paper and strung "Be Thankful" across the front. This is the third year I've used the same leaves in a number of different ways. We cut the looped tape on the back and flattened it, so the tape doesn't tear the leaves. From then on we put the piece of looped tape on top of the tape from the first year so it's easy to remove. Sure saves time not to have to cut out leaves every year.

A colorful fall banner was hung from the end to create a different look.

Throw in a turkey and scatter a few fall leaves on the floor, and the new display is done.

Carve Out Time to Read!

2010-10-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

The lack of time is our biggest challenge for most anything these days... including reading for enjoyment and knowledge. We're all given the same amount of time each day-- 24 hours, but it's up to each of us to determine how we can best use that time. How often do we flitter away valuable time due to lack of planning (What in the world am I supposed to be doing?), lack of organization (Now where did I put my planner?), lack of a clear vision or mission (Where am I going and what do I want to accomplish?), and the lack of discipline to get the job done (Where do I start?).

We make time for what's important to us, so one of my October displays addresses making time for reading in the midst of our busy schedules. I bought a pumpkin and carved a quick face on it with plans to find a battery operated light for it.

Ways for students to carve out time to read include: standing in line,after you finished your assignment in class, in between band or athletic events, waiting for the bus, while you're on the bus, right when you get up, in the car, waiting for a ride, waiting for an appointment, and right before you go to bed.

Include books with pumpkins or about Halloween, red, yellow, and orange leaves, and a scarecrow watching over the display. I'm sorry to say that the carved pumpkin didn't last but a few days-- after the weekend it was black and fuzzy with mold coming out the openings and already sinking into a puddle on the table. Next time I'll just paint a face on the pumpkin so it will last longer.

I pulled more pumpkin and Halloween books to take its place.
RIP, punkin face.

Caught You Reading

2010-10-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

Nothing original here. Just happy to work in a school district where so many of the students love to read. I've enjoyed walking around catching students reading after their school work is done. I'm making mini-posters and putting them all around school with the title Caught You Reading! and Teen Read Week October 17-23 as captions. The students love to have their photo taken, but if you put them up on a Web site, make sure the parents have given permission for their child to have their picture online.

Fall into Books

2010-10-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

I bought a beautiful throw a while back that had a wonderful saying, One hundred years from now... it won't matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. -Forest E. Witcraft.
And the woman and child are curled up in a big chair reading a book. Be still my heart.

The picture and colors look muted and old fashioned, so I went with that look, pulling in a quilted bear in wicker chair, a star-shaped crocheted table cover (both the bear and the crocheted piece were acquired from someone's trash down the road from my house), a decorative wrought iron mirror and candle holder, and baskets. I took apart a former tree made of twisted brown paper and wove the strands in and out of the loft bed top for no particular reason other than to soften the metal look. I used some leftover scavenged hardwood flooring planks and stood them up along the back like a wooden fence and held them in place with a folded cardboard packing strip. Hope I can find more of those planks-- I love that effect.

I pulled books that looked historical or old fashioned. If you look closely at the mirror, I faced two books backwards so you could see the faces on the covers in the reflection. Also caught a student's leg as they passed by outside.

My goal is to not repeat any displays for three years so students will see a different display every month. But I definitely hang onto everything and recycle and re-use them in different ways.

Happy Fall Reading!

Lights, Camera, Action!

2010-09-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

Our principal came up with a wonderful theme for our campus inservice week before school, and I like to create the first display to coordinate with that, so my daughter helped me make a movie marquee:

Ninety-nine per cent of the time when someone has read a book and then watched the movie made from it, they tell me, "The book was better," so that's where the movie title came from. The grid and white background was very easy to make-- the original one is simply a white sheet of copy paper with two horizontal lines on it that I printed off 18 sheets to go all the way around three sides of the loft bed. I just mounted them side-by-side with about a quarter inch space between them, which creates the vertical line in the grid. The marquee grid is 11 inches-- the height of copy paper. I used the alphabet die cutters for the letters, so it was easy and quick to do.

I lined the loft bed frame with black posterboard paper; my daughter helped me cut out lots of circles for the lights surrounding actual movie posters and marquee. The yellow ones were glued together in groups of threes and spaces between to give the appearance of blinking lights. I hung an actual projector screen inside the loft bed, and I wanted to show silhouettes of students reading books, but I ran out of time. The back of the loft bed has two other movie posters with the white lights surrounding them like the Twilight poster.

I pulled books that had been made into movies and encouraged the students to read them and see which they liked better: the movie or the book. The second shelf was also full, but a lot of them had been checked out by the time I took the picture. I'm sure there are more books in the shelves I can add to the cart. They definitely grabbed students' attention.

Fantasy: Unbridled Fancy

2010-03-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

The library window display for last month was fantasy, which one definition described it as unrestrained fancy. The Texan in me changed it to 'unbridled' fancy. I tried to unbridle my own mind and not think too hard about what I would include in the display other than using what materials I had on hand and trying to make it magical-looking or whatever strikes my fancy. It looks busy and cluttered-- not to be taken in and understood with a quick glance. There are layers and enigmas and oddities about it, much like fantasy stories.

So I used styrofoam packing materials, a lot of large rubber bands I've collected from our newspapers, window frames, vines created from twisted strips of bulletin board paper, a yellow brick road on the rubber mats from AV carts, and a lot of fantasy books to display including Frank L. Baum's Oz books (and there are more than just The Wizard of Oz), Kathryn Lasky's Guardian of Ga'hoole books, Tony Abbott's Secrets of Droon books, Erin Hunter's the Warriors books and other authors' books such as Tolkien, Potter, Barron, Lewis, and a number of others.

A book that is considered a fantasy has magical elements in it-- something that couldn't necessarily happen in real life-- talking animals, flying brooms, mythical creatures like dragons or ogres, inanimate objects coming to life, etc. Fantasy stories can take place in the distant past or future, or even a contemporary or present setting.

Often fantasy and science fiction are grouped together, but there are differences between them. Sci-fi usually takes place in the future and could potentially happen when technology catches up with the story. Often sci-fi writers are in the science or medical fields and can draw on their knowledge and backgrounds to come up with believable plots. With sci-fi and fantasy both, if the story has extraordinary technology and magical elements, it still has to ring true somehow or the reader won't commit to it.

"Scales" by Vanessa Roeder, Used with permission

www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com

Some of the most prolific readers in my middle school are fantasy readers. The library has a large collection of fantasy books, and many of them are in series, which students love because the stories and the characters they've become attached to don't end after one book.

The Quilt System

2010-02-04T15:45:00.000-08:00

The February display tells the story of how people used quilts to send messages to the runaway slaves traversing the Underground Railroad. For the sign, I used MS Word and went to the Insert tab, Clip Art, and searched each letter individually to create a quilt square look for each letter.

I brought two colorful quilts from home to use as the background and draped on a chair, as well as some quilted placemats and a table runner. I brought out all of the cloth from the supply room and filled every basket I had on hand to make it look like a sewing room.

I pulled books about slavery and the Underground Railroad to display.

#12 Reflection and Evaluation

2010-01-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

It's happened again. Technology continually grows and changes and updates, and I'm finding again with Web 2.0 that I have to keep growing and changing and updating with it. I see the contrast very distinctly between two libraries I'm currently working with: my church library and my school library.

The church library has almost 4,000, but only 800 books and videos are less than 20 years old, and most of the materials haven't been touched in years. The collection is circulated manually, and few patrons visit the library or even know what's in it. It has some wonderful resources buried amongst the old. We had a good meeting last night and came up with some short-term and long-term goals, and weeding will be the first major project. I'm excited about working with this small library and coming up with ways to resurrect it, using the librarian's words.

Contrasting that with my school library, I felt like we were really up with the times-- we are automated, our catalog is online where students can use our resources from home, we participate in the K-12 Database program, we have wireless Internet access where guests can bring their laptops and work online. I collaborate with seven other librarians in the district and we work together to improve our collections and services. But now that I've gone through A Dozen Ways to Two-Step Web 2.0 Training, I feel like there is just as big a difference between my library and what it can do with new technologically as there is between my library and the church library. We can be doing so much more, and I hope the twelve steps will continue to remain online so we can refer back to them when needed.

I was most familiar with having a blog because I created one with my own Web site [http://www.donnavancleve.com/ and http://www.blog.donnavancleve.com/] because of the books I've written, but I've only recently posting regularly on library-related purposes. I think I will continue the Shelf Mouse blog and switch the library posts to that blog. As for technologies that I was unfamiliar with--especially using them for library services, just about everything else in the training was new to me, so I definitely benefited from this course. Please keep them coming-- this is such a great idea!

Illustration by Vanessa Roeder, http://www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com/ and http://www.etsy.com/shop/nessadee Used with permission.

#11 The Wide World of Podcasting

2010-01-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I hadn't thought about me actually doing a podcast-- I guess I thought it would be too complicated. I listened to some of Nancy Keane's book talks-- she's very expressive and has a wonderful reading voice, and I listened to some of the high school library podcasts-- the students did a great job, and the results looked simple enough to add a podcast. Nancy's podcast simply had the little progress line on a blank screen. The high school students had pictures posted with theirs, which gave me a face or picture to focus on while I'm listening.

I checked out the Library Live Web site and listened to Patrick Heath's and Kathryn Sturtz's podcasts, both of whom I knew some years back when the library I used to managed was a member of the Alamo Area Library System, so I had a mental picture of who was talking. They had some good information for supporting the library by determining its value to the community and tools provided by AALS to put a dollar figure or return on investment library services provide. Great when meeting with those funding sources.

Podcasts are another inexpensive, simple way to share what you know in the library world, which ultimately benefits everyone.

I listened to a song by Lucinda Williams on the Texas Music Matters. Good sound. For the Discovery Exercise I visited The Educational Podcast Directory and looked at the listings, and from there I hit a link to OPAL and took a look at the listings for Information Literacy, and listened to the blog on the Picturing America selections. It threw me for a moment because at first, it seems like it's live-- it even posted a few entries on a text live chat box. And I could hear everything as well as watch the slides of the pictures in the grant that the speaker is talking about and describing, and I had control over the slides. We did get the Picturing America grant so I am familiar with the art work she's referring to. She also shared some ideas on how to use and promote the art with the Picturing America grant, for example, having a mother-daughter tea party in reference to the silver tea service, sending students out with digital cameras to take pictures of architecture comparing and contrasting the architectural images in the collection, or having children make Native American crafts.

As for ways I gleaned that our library could use podcasts, I enjoyed listening to the students' book reviews and the librarian's book talks. I can see our students doing that, and I can imagine me doing a book talk on a podcast when my voice changes to something sultry and expressive instead of sounding like the country hick that I do. I wouldn't want to torture my listeners. : ) I would love for TLA to provide free podcasts of the speakers at the annual convention that we didn't get to hear. That would be great, especially in these days of limited budgets.

At home I'm able to have iTunes on my computer so I practiced subscribing to three different podcasts there.

Illustration by Vanessa Roeder @ http://www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com/ and http://www.etsy.com/shop/nessadee Used with permission.

Method #10 This Wiki World

2010-01-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

So many good wikis, and so little time. That's the biggest drawback to me for using all these collaborative Web sites. It's nice to see that some are attempting to link the good ones. Once I start clicking, it's easy to get so far in it's like a virtual maze, but I can always add them to my Delicious account and organize them to be able to find them again.

I was taught to consider Wikipedia okay for casual information seeking, but it was a major no-no as a research source because it was a collaborative online encyclopedia. I asked my nephew Kyle in college last year what he thought of Wikipedia and did he use it for school work. He told me that he uses it as a source for sources. When he pulls up an article, he looks at the information and then scrolls down to see the Reference List or Bibliography for that listing and has found some good authoritative sources that way. I thought that was a great idea, so I've passed that tip on to teachers and students.

Never before in the history of mankind have we had to deal with the magnitude of information as we do now. We have to wade through so much, and often keep re-inventing the wheel again and again when we could save so much time collaborating with others and their successful in best library practices. Huge, huge help for us in the information industry. Wikis play a big role in that; just have to make the time to investigate and use them.

#9 Chat and Instant Messaging

2009-12-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

My first thought on chat and instant messaging was negative because personally, I don't want to be THAT connected. I don't want people to know when I'm online because that's usually when I'm writing, and I don't have time for impromptu chats interrupting my chain of thought (multi-tasking went down the drain years ago; I can't walk and chew gum anymore). And that's what bothered me about MySpace with the little neon sign proclaiming to the world that I was ONLINE NOW!! I'd prefer to be a lurker observing from a safe, private distance. Why do folks need the world to know the very moment they're brushing their teeth or when they're depressed or that they're living virtually in some farm or aquarium and trying to get everyone else to move there with them?

But from a librarian's point of view, especially in the role as a reference librarian, this is an awesome idea-- providing real-time help for virtual patrons. One of the major weaknesses I have observed among library users (and experienced personally in graduate school research) is the struggle with discovering and using the best search terms. Some catalogs and programs are user friendly in that they are more forgiving if the searcher doesn't spell the words correctly or get the title exactly right. The results will spit out anything remotely resembling the search terms. Unfortunately, my library catalog is very unforgiving-- if the spelling isn't perfect or the title exactly right, the search results usually register zilch, nada, nothing. And if we librarians don't catch and assist the "no search results" patrons, they walk away empty handed. Online users are even further removed from our help, but tools like Meebome widget can connect us virtually to patrons who need help searching.

The assignment said to initiate a chat from our Yahoo or Hotmail accounts, but I'd have to sign up for that service, and I'd prefer to be hidden on my personal email accounts. Our school does have that capability through its email account, and I have tried it, but the problem was since I'm the only one here in my library, I missed instant messages while I helped students, taught lessons, and shelved books. But I can see how a reference librarian who spent much of her time at her computer would find this tool extremely useful in helping virtual patrons find what they are seeking.

I did use the MeeboMebox while it said TSLACDL was online-- very easy to use; but somebody must've been away from the computer because no one responded during the time I was working on this blog. Love the technology, though. What an improvement over the automated phone messages where you never really get to talk to a human being.

Art from Feathers, written by Donna Van Cleve and illustrated by Vanessa Roeder; available spring 2010. http://www.donnavancleve.com/ and http://www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com/

#8 Social Networking

2009-12-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

I have had a MySpace page (growing cobwebs from lack of use) for several years and more recently a Facebook page (to see what my kids were up to-- with a positive intent-- not hovering, spying, or with the purpose of blackmailing), but I hadn't thought about using Social Network pages for the library. The examples I saw were outstanding-- especially with the slide shows of pictures and embedded training videos. They definitely got the cogs to turning in my mind.

The MySpace pages that I viewed have a better look about them (really impressed with the Library of Congress's page), but the Facebook pages seem to be more user friendly. I would love to create an interactive social page for our library where students can leave reviews, recommendations, and ratings for books along with how-to's related to searching for information-- in the library and on the Net. I think the hardest part would be to get beyond the fear of letting students loose with technology, but we might as well train them here where we can monitor and teach them rather than leaving it up to them to learn on their own-- usually the wrong way. Talk about teachable moments!! Everyone's getting on board; our libraries need to be there to virtually greet them and show them the best way to use this technology.

My Web site: http://www.donnavancleve.com/

My blogs: http://www.blog.donnavancleve.com/

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/donnavancleve

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/help/#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1222644456

Art work by Nessa Dee - http://www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com/ Used with permission. See also http://www.etsy.com/shop/nessadee

#7 Tagging, folksonomies & social bookmarking in Del.icio.us

2009-12-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Dozen Ways to Two-Step training, I have discovered a wonderful tool called Delicious. It is a social bookmarking site that allows us to collect, tag, and access our favorite Web sites and blogs from any online computer. We can also share our favorites with our peers.

We swim in a huge ocean of information, and librarians' jobs are evolving from organizers and keepers of quality print information (and the DD treasure code) to finders and organizers and disseminators of quality electronic/virtual/online information. The Delicious tool is one more way that we can avoid reinventing the wheel by sharing good information with each other. No one individually has the time to wade through millions of Web sites and blogs, but collectively we can glean the best information out there. Wonderful idea!

Artwork by Nessa Dee at www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com; Used with permission. Also available at http://www.etsy.com/shop/nessadee

Method 6: You, too, can You-Tube

2009-10-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

I checked out the McCracken County Public Library, who posted this video on Youtube. and they use quite a few of the Web resources that we've been learning about through A Dozen Ways to Two-Step, for example, the Flickr Web site to store their library activity photos.

McCracken County Public Library Web site: http://www.mclib.net/staff.html. Used with permission.

Youtube video found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu-TijjVs_g&feature=related

Method 5: Photos and Images

2009-10-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

These two pictures of my son happened to be on Flickr on the Texas Governor's Flickr account. These were taken in Baghdad when my son was guarding Governor Perry.

Flickr versus Picasa: I guess I prefer Picasa because I'm more familiar with it, but I have used both.

Method 4: Make life “really simple” with RSS and newsreaders

2009-10-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

RSS and newsreaders sounds great if I had an iPhone, which I hope to have some day. I can see how this would be a tremendous time saver on personal communication devices. Right now it's easy to access my favorite Web sites/blogs from the computers I use most often. I'm not there yet, but I see how this could be very useful in helping us sort the overwhelming amount of information we have to wade through daily.

Clutter by Vanessa Roeder. www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com. Used with permission.

Method 3: Computing in the Clouds

2009-10-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

Cloud-based Computing - "enables users and developers to utilize services without knowledge of, expertise with, nor control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. Utility computing, conversely, provides on-demand infrastructure with the ability to control, scale, and configure that infrastructure."1

Doug Johnson asks the question Could you live in the clouds? referring to cloud-based computing in his Blue Skunk Blog at http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/3/15/could-you-live-in-the-cloud.html. 2 My answer: yes and no. I love the idea of being able to work on some of my projects from any computer. I tend to email myself projects so I can access them anywhere I can find an Internet computer, but I'm out of luck if I sent the wrong file or forgot to send it altogether. I would definitely not depend on the cloud for my only storage, but I love the idea of having my computer files available from anywhere.

On Michael Stephens’ Tame the Web blog post, 4 he advocates the use of cell phones and allowing unfettered Internet access in the libraries, which would pose risks on several levels in public school libraries. Public and academic libraries are different environments and would be more conducive to working wide-open with the cloud and personal and public information and communication devices.

1 Danielson, Krissi. Distinguising Cloud Computing from Utility Computing. http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/saasweek/2008/03/distinguishing_cloud_computing/

2 Johnson, Doug. Could you live in the clouds? http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2009/3/15/could-you-live-in-the-cloud.html#comments

3 Roeder, Vanessa. Drifting. http://nessadeeart.blogspot.com/search/label/Illustration%20Friday Used with permission.

4 Stephens, Michael. How can libraries use the cloud? Taming the Web blog, http://tametheweb.com/2008/08/04/how-can-libraries-use-the-cloud/.

2009-10-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Method 1 & 2: Library 2.0 and Web 2.0

I love that the library is ever-changing, always evolving, and technology's merging of print and plastic is introducing more ways of allowing people to access information and reading sources.

A Dozen Ways to Two-Step, Texas State Library & Archives Commission's shortened version of Helene Blowers' work, 23 Things Program, will help me learn more about "emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way people, society, and libraries access information and communicate with each other."1

This blog was created for the purpose of demonstrating and reflecting on what was learned from the Web-based training.

1 - A Dozen Ways to Two-Step. http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/12things/?page_id=116

Library Elves by Vanessa Roeder www.nessadeeart.blogspot.com Used with permission