Thing 5--Libraries

Thing 5
I somewhat take exception to the sentence of this “Thing”: Public libraries are the doorway to information for you and your students. I LOVE my public library system, but I think most teacher/student relationships start with the school’s library and then move out of that “doorway” to the public library, as needed.
I enjoy being a media specialist in a school. I cannot imagine working in a public library and not getting to know the clientele the way we get to know “our” students.
But I have not had all of my professional career working in schools. I did have the unique experience of working on the development of the national library in Iran in 1975. I was a lowly employee of the Pahlavi National Library in New York and Tehran. It was an amazing privilege to experience all the considerations and details that went into planning a service that would span satellites and donkey delivery of information. Experts from around the world were brought in to consider all the facets of developing a library system for a country that did not have much of an existing system. The library’s plans ended up literally in the gutter when the Shah was overthrown.
For years, I have very much enjoyed the Apple Valley branch of the Dakota County library—even volunteered there one summer years ago. More recently, I took my granddaughter to the weekly story times. I love to request books online and have them waiting for me, using self-serve checkout. I don’t know how I would keep my sanity during my daily commute without the library’s books on tape. I am thankful for books, copy machines, and even tax forms

Copyright

Draft from January 28, 2009
Our first question is "Why talk about copyright?".
What came out immediately is that times have changed.
It used to be cut and dried. We stayed away from using much of anything created by another person.
Now things seem to be in flux. Not by presenters.

Okay, it is May. Copyright is a concept that kids need to know. Kids easily understand. We all break. I started leading students away from Google Images. There has been kicking and screaming and I feel their pain. This is a great issue.

Web 2.0--How visible or hidden?

So I am on the couch, watching the Vikings game with my wonderful wireless laptop in full gear. I am updating the schools website a wee bit but spending HOURS fixing things on the program that has replaced the venerable "card catalog". Destiny is the program's name. I am removing 16 mm projectors that are listed as available. Same for microphones that were purchased in the 1970s. I am removing a number of fiction books that I know are not on the shelf after a recent partial inventory. I am changing the material type from "book" to whatever for a number of things that then have the call number listed as "videotape" or "cassette tape".
Before our Winter Break, I was showing students how they can find information that is in the media center by using the catalog listed on the school's home page. I showed how to tell if the information was leading them to a book or a bit of multi-media or a website. But so much of the data is wrong!
So, while I am not doing an obvious two way communication, I do feel that my activities are a form of communication, albeit behind the scenes. Does a Web 2.0 exchange have to be very visible? Do we have to know who we are speaking to or does the knowledge that we have an audience who will act on our posting serve?
Happy New Year!