10h
Learn about “Online Productivity Tools: Smart Shortcuts and Clever Tricks,” presented by Jaclyn McKewan, in this 90-minute LITA webinar on November 8. McKewan will discuss to-do lists, calendars, and other programs, and will explore ways these tools can be connected. She will describe the use of widgets on your desktop and mobile device to keep information at your fingertips. Register online.
LITA, Sept. 29
11h
Sedley Abercrombie writes: “Several years back, I wanted to attend a local technology conference. My district is strict on paying for conferences and I’m pretty cheap, so a colleague encouraged me to submit a call to present to get free registration. I wrote something up, and it got accepted. Things went pretty well. The positive feedback encouraged me to try again and I did. I can say that I have done enough conference presentations that I’ve become an authority on what not to do.”
Knowledge Quest blog, Sept. 29
12h
Paul Hover writes: “The call for action came from Michael Dowling, director of the ALA International Relations Office. According to Dowling, the library of Mzuzu University, in Mzuzu, Malawi, was ‘in dire, dire need’ after a devastating fire on December 18, 2015. Nothing was left of the library, the only one at the principal institution of higher learning in the least-developed region of this very poor African country. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was one of the first to hear about the fire.”
American Libraries, international supplement, Sept.
12h
Students will continue to learn the origin and central features of Islam in middle school under new draft standards proposed by the Tennessee State Board of Education. The changes to the standards for all grades, currently under review, are meant to streamline the content teachers are expected to teach students in any given grade, said Laura Encalade, director of policy and research. Under the new draft standards, students are asked to learn the origins, spread, and central features of Islam.
Nashville Tennessean, Sept. 27
12h
Marlon Hernandez writes: “In my previous post I showed how we turned a Raspberry Pi into a digital display device by installing a Video Looper application. Now let’s take a look at how to fill that display with content. I went with PowerPoint, as it met two major requirements: low cost and user familiarity. With that said, I will look at: export capability, templates, working in PowerPoint, Raspberry Pi, and fine tuning the project.”
LITA Blog, Sept. 29
13h
Effective interpersonal communication lies at the center of the library profession. In Library Conversations: Reclaiming Interpersonal Communication Theory for Understanding Professional Encounters, published by ALA Neal-Schuman, Marie L. Radford and Gary P. Radford offer expert analysis applicable to all types of library situations. The book uses examples from different types of library interpersonal encounters, to discuss how theoretical, historical frameworks apply to libraries.
ALA Neal-Schuman, Sept. 29
13h
Three new articles are now available in the AASL peer-reviewed online journal, School Library Research (SLR). Nancy Everhart reports on “A Proposed Theory of School Librarian Leadership”; Violet Harada discusses a professional development initiative that targeted teams of teachers and librarians working with high school students; and a team of researchers from the Lilead Project presents findings related to the position and office of district-level library supervisors.
AASL, Sept. 28
