Minor Musings

Winter hit.  More accurately, a winter cold hit.  And wouldn’t let go.  But luckily things are back to normal and I’m able to enjoy our Spring Break (two+ weeks in March, unlike public schools nearby that get a week in February and a week in April).  There’s the AISL conference in NOLA later this week and a Faculty Forum when we return – stay tuned for things learned from the amazing people at AISL as well as the library department’s Fake News presentation for my colleagues.  Until then…

Books, Reading, etc.

• Serving on book award committees and keeping an eye on various best selling lists, I’ve always wondered.  Now I know what makes a best seller.
• Food for thought: Angie’s Towards A Less Normative Future in Library Services to Children & Teens
• If you like Litographs, you’ll love these star charts!
• The artwork of these manuscripts is stunning.  Thanks BL for sharing.
• What happens when you read a book?

School Life

• What about creating something similar for your school or community using local archives and oral histories?
• Creative Commons now has an image search!
• Love the “sounds of learning” in your library?  This is food for thought (and a plea for quiet spaces).
• A new way to look at 21st century pedagogy.
• For the visual learners among us: a guide to statistics.
• It’s research season for many of us.  The OUP has some thoughts about using quotations. And LJ lists great “ready reference” websites and apps we should all use.

Tech Stuff

• If you’re a fan of Chrome and use Amazon, check out this extension, which shows whether the book you’re about to pay money for is available for free in your local library!
• Colorized photos from the 1800s?  Definitely changes how you see people and events. (ht: David)
• Note to Self’s Privacy Paradox challenge (and tip sheet). And according to this quiz, I’m a minimalist in terms of social media.  Do you need to unplug?
• FeedFlip from MIT – get out of your Twitter bubble.
• Librarian tested & approved apps. Flippity looks like fun, too.

Miscellany

• In honor of our mid-March storm, an interactive guide to Boston’s museums (for those don’t leave home “field” trips).  Or maybe take this Southern Literary Trip, do a virtual museum tour, go around the world in 80 models, take a tour of where penicillin was discovered or plan to visit some secret libraries.  Best: Honey, I Shrunk Myself (into a prayer bead).
• This course looks interesting.
• These miniatures make me happy.

Bubble Bursting

I could swear that I’ve blogged before about bubbles and how excited one of my graduate school professors was about how in the then-near future, we could drive across country listening to “our” radio station, rather than continually trying to find a station that played music we enjoyed.  It worried me then, this bubble, and it continues to worry me today.

A few weeks ago, one of my cousins and I were speaking and she was expressing sorrow and confusion that a friend of hers had said that they couldn’t be friends because my cousin had voted for Trump.  (perhaps I should mention that most of my family are Republicans, adhering to those oft-forgotten New England Republican ideas)  This past weekend I had dinner with another group of cousins and one of them said “[your father] is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met – how can he be a Democrat?”  Of course, my father would ask the same, in reverse, about this cousin.  Most of my cousins are appalled at what’s currently going on in Washington, and while they may have voted Republican in November, they are not fans – or supporters – of the current president.

My point being, not every Republican supported the presidential candidate.  Just as many Democrats didn’t support that party’s presidential candidate.  But… do we really know that?  understand that?  My first cousin’s friend feels – as so many others feel, and have expressed on Facebook/Twitter – that simply being Republican and voting that way means that you are evil and responsible for all the proposals being mooted now (eg., rolling back environmental protections, changing or repealing LGBTQ legislation and so much, much more)  Why would otherwise intelligent, nice people vote that way?

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It’s not a new observation, but the problem is that we live in increasingly narrow bubbles and echo chambers, relying on confirmation bias only rather than exploring the subject and making up our own minds.  With that in mind, I was interested to read Joyce Valenza’s column about Allsides.com. While I don’t pretend to understand their crowd-sourcing of “left”, “right” and “center” or agree with all their rankings, I do think that it’s interesting as a source of different viewpoints on a topic.  David Wee then started an email conversation about the use of this site (he’s doing great work teaching about “fake news”), and Tasha Bergson-Michelson recommended Burst Your Bubble.  The problem with the Guardian site is that it presupposes you’re liberal – where’s a similar site for conservatives?

At my school, there’s a definitely hostile attitude towards conservatives.  Some are upset that the school hasn’t officially come out against recent executive orders and policies, much less against the president.  What if, instead, we tried to understand why people voted the way they do, or the why they have the opinions they do about issues that don’t conform to our opinions?  I’ve read many articles recently trying to understand why people voted for Trump (here’s one) because I understand what was appealing about Clinton and Sanders.  Have you?  Do you assume that everyone you know feels the same way you do about issues and candidates?  Or do you know that there are some who don’t share those opinions, and do you try to understand what they’re thinking?

We have another year, perhaps, before the midterm election campaigns start up.  Trump 2020 is actually a thing.  What is your commitment to getting out of your bubble before then?

Not quite a day off

When you live in the Northeast, you get used to snow.  Lots of snow.  I grew up in Central New York’s snow belt and have spent my adult life in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  And – no surprise, I’m sure – snow days are as exciting for teachers and librarians as they are for students.

Except…

February is when our students do their US History paper.  That’s 7 – 12 classes a day, 170+ students.  Some periods, we have three classes in at once.  Luckily, we have a large enough space for them to spread out and do research in (book sharing is a must on a few topics, but for others, we have more than enough).   We already lose a day to President’s Day, a week before the paper is due.  Then we had a snow day last Thursday, and a delayed opening/shortened classes on Friday.  The weather forecast for today wasn’t heartening.

But this is the 21st century, right?  So when the email/text/phone call (I get all three) stating school was cancelled today, I – and the other two librarians – was prepared.  This morning, I sent out an email to the USH students and teachers, offering online reference help.  Just to be sure people saw it, I sent out a photo on Instagram:

 

Yes, I could be sleeping… reading books for Alex or the SF award… but instead, I’m online, waiting for students to ask research/reference questions.  Thus far, one student has contacted us – but we were able to help.  And that’s the important thing, isn’t it?

What do you do on your snowdays?

Minor Musings

I’ve been busy planning for ALAMW and the YMAs – while I usually avoid the crowds, this year I need to be there as part of my Alex Award committee work.  So here’s a little something to think about and explore while I finish the 2017 award work (feel free to get ready for the Big Reveal!).

Books, Reading, etc.

• Tracking Reader Habits?  Luckily,  the majority of mine is print and untrackable.
• Wondering what good books you missed in 2016? The WSJ has a list of the 20 that made their year.
• While 2016 seemed to have a higher than normal number of celebrity deaths, did you know about these literary losses?
• Fiction vs. Nonfiction: does the difference matter? Is there a difference?
• Valentine’s Day is coming – this interactive map of fictional romances in New York City is the perfect to share with students.  Then have them update with local information!

School Life

• Word Births might be a fun winter display (my year produced “cyberculture” – who knew it was that old?)
• From detecting “fake news” (can we stop using that phrase?) to choosing courses, we can all use these Tips to Improve Critical Thinking. Or what about a course in The Fine Art of Sniffing Out Crappy Science?

Tech Stuff

• It’s never too early to have students think about internet privacy and to reconsider how they’re using the web. And in filter bubble news, make sure everyone knows how Facebook Warps Our World.
• Schools have replacement cycles for tech, but upgrades just aren’t great anymore.  Maybe time to rethink? And what about users skill levels?

Minor Musings

Wow.  It’s been a year since I did one of these!  I’ve been squirreling away links and things to share, and using Schoology at work to share them with my team.  Now, here’s some sharing with you…

Books, Reading, etc.

• This is the time of year when I make a list and check it twice: what great books from the previous year slipped under my radar?  Here’s YA Interrobang’s list. And this of “what to read in each of life’s decades“.  And one on Native voices.  Did I miss any of 2015’s great translations? (yes, probably) For Rory Gilmore fans, a list of her past 9 years reads.
• Why the library shouldn’t be all things to all people.
• Important reading for all, especially English teachers: The Reading Rules We Would Never Follow As Adult Readers.  Amen.

School Life

• With “fake news” and “post-truth” being topics of conversation/angst, here’s a great list of ideas and resources. And then there’s this article and Hoaxy. And this graphic:

View post on imgur.com

• Many schools (including mine) spend a lot of time talking about privilege.  That phrasing bothers me, and when I read this in IHE about using “advantage” rather than “privilege” I wondered how we can convince others to change their phrasing.
• What a great idea for a local history project for students (also, helps the community) – linking graves to historical society information.
• Not all information wants to be free.  Something we’re thinking about regarding student work (newspaper, etc.) and our archives.

Tech Stuff

• Some interesting ways to reenvision the to do list.
• If you use your phone for notes (and who doesn’t?) consider Bear.
• Did using computers lower China’s PISA score?  What are the implications for the US?
• It’s the new year.  Perhaps add one of these tech blogs to your feed?
• What do you know about the TOS for your apps and related content?  Probably not enough.
• A great graphic of the ISTE Standards.  Is there one for ACRL and AASL?

Etcetera

• Thought-provoking post about deciding if traveling for PD has a good ROI.  Networking isn’t covered, but should have been.
• This is the second school I’ve worked at that touts the presence of Harkness tables, yet no one has been trained in the method.  I suspect that many schools are in the same position.  So here is one way “to Harkness” (hint: it’s not about the table!!)
• Why streaming music (I may be one of the few who refuses to) is going to harm music creation.

More from the mailbox

Part of reenergizing the program at work has included purchasing the LibGuides platform to create what we’re calling Resource Guides (it’s the Kleenex/tissue issue – who knows if we’ll stay with the same platform, so why confuse students with a brand name?).  This is the third school I’ve used these guides in, and they’re an amazing way to collect resources and guide students to them, as well as teaching them how to do research.  The usual sequence is: teacher approaches us with a topic, we create the guide, we meet with the class, and then we forget about it until the next year or next time the project is done.  So imagine my surprise when I found this in our mailbox the other week:

Here’s a guide I whipped up in a few moments, presented and hadn’t thought about in several months that has had an impact on someone completely unrelated to our school!  I’m… pleased.  Stunned.  Thrilled.

Here’s proof that what we do matters in ways we don’t always anticipate or see. And proof that adhering to our mantra of sharing resources (via ILL, online, etc.) is one that serves us well.

So here’s what puzzles me: why do school libraries keep their resources hidden?  Why aren’t all school libraries easily findable on the school’s homepage?  If you’re using the LibGuides platform, why aren’t your guides public (there are ways to hide database passwords and login information that still make the rest of the guide public)?  It’s such a surprise to me when I look for a friend’s website, attempt to search a catalog or try to see what databases a peer school has and I can’t find more than a publicity page created by the communications people.  It saddens me that all that’s available to the public is a few facts, maybe a photo.  Allowing others to see what’s going on and what you have is such a help to those of us looking to find books on a topic that work for a certain education level (“will this work with our 7th grade?”) or ways to present information for a research project.  And it’s free pr for your school and its program.

We’re considering a third revamp of our website in two years, asking students for input on usability and comparing our page to peer schools and colleges.  Are we using similar language? What’s important to share, and what can be hidden? One thing we know for sure is that links to our Resource Guides, our catalog and our databases will be available (we use EZProxy, so you can’t access our database content without being a member of our community).  We want to share that with anyone looking because we know how important that can be.

And if anyone asks why, that email is response enough.

What I did on my summer “vacation”

Wow.  I know I promised to post when life calmed a little – guess what, it didn’t.  While my position is on the teachers schedule, this summer we had a major project going on.  In the space of seven weeks, I and two recent graduates worked hard to weed books, reshelve them in a better order, move furniture and really start the process of creating a 21st century library space:

There’s still much to do, but at least the pace will be a lot slower.   I won’t promise to blog more, because that hasn’t worked in the past, instead I will promise to try to blog more.

My Kanye moment

No, I’m not going to interrupt someone – I’m talking about this moment:

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698926987281371136

Research season (part one) hit us, and once again I thought about how difficult research is for students.  As we’ve been weeding the print collection and bulking up the digital offerings, it’s been interesting to watch how students interact with what we have.  Much of their research has been what I’d call “cherry picking” research: find a fact here… find a fact there… find a quote somewhere else… repeat.  The great narrative nonfiction we have doesn’t get used to their fullest extent, in part because they (the students) don’t really have time to delve into their topics.  Of course, that hasn’t changed since I was in high school!

Over the past few years, I’ve regretted the loss of those Time-Life book sets.  Remember them?  So many of them were great resources for research, perfect for a quick read and cherry pick information, much as they do with Daily Life series.  But, sadly, T-L has ceased publishing (before completing This Fabulous Century!) and what we have is falling apart from use.

Years ago, the Marvelous Marion and I dreamed up a business idea: Sugar Daddy Press (because we’d need a sugar daddy to get things going).  We’d buy the rights to those series and create wonderful reprints, even extending them.  Example?  The Library of Art would move into other arts, giving us The World of Mozart and The World of Bronte in addition to The World of Van Gogh. We’d also take on those Jackdaws, only now they’d be online (Rosen, please get on this ASAP!).  There were so many other books that we found – and I still find – missing from our shelves, if by “missing” you mean “never published” or “out of print”.

Hence my Kanye moment.  Much as I love my job, if someone invested in Sugar Daddy Press I’d leave this one in a second to start getting things moving.  Because Research Season (part two) is about to hit.

Minor Musings

Some things to think about while I digest ALA Midwinter and hiring new staff…

Books, Reading, etc.

• While I’d love to teach this exact class, since I’m on the Alex Committee for the next couple of years it might be possible to figure out a way to create something similar with those books.
• More Shakespeare thinking (this time from JSTOR and the Folger)
• This year we’ve been working with the 6th grade English class and creating book recommendation materials.  Here’s an idea. And another one for increasing vacation reading from Katie: bring the books to the kids.
• Don’t you love year end lists for personal and professional collection development?  I do.  Here’s stuff from The Hub, Semicolon

School Life

• We have a Senior Transitions class at MPOW.  Maybe this could be part of it?  And even though we don’t have AP classes, perhaps we could get the Senior Projects to look like the AP Capstone.  I’ve been thinking about Courtney’s VAASL presentation, too.  More to come about that.
  
• The library is part of the school’s Big Master Plan for renovation (reality: 5+ years from now) but it’s never too early to think about getting student input, particularly since we’re considering some small steps towards a better space.  Buffy’s summation is a great place to start.  And then there’s signage/branding via Courtney.

Tech Stuff

• Joyce points out the great AP Archive is now online.  Bookmark it. Then bookmark these Old Maps.
• Do you recommend podcasts?  Here are some to start with.
• Privacy check up time: Google and Facebook.

Etcetera

• Time to remind our seniors (and younger students) how to get involved in the political process.

Minor Musings

The past couple of months have been filled with work stuff and some interesting (read: thought provoking) professional development.  As I digest all of that and distill into posts, here’s a round-up of other things catching my eye.

Books, Reading, etc.

• As we teach/talk about diversity, maybe Shakespeare teachers should talk about his views of different religions?
• Maybe something those themed English classes could do?
• Still waiting for the interrobang, but until then, this history of punctuation will do.
• The most read book (by HS seniors) around the country? Check out this map.
• Beth’s Flash Booktalks are inspirational (for me, at least), plus more RA goodness from Angie M, the NYPL (also here) and Miss Print
• Just because: A.A. Milne reads Winnie-the-Pooh

School Life

• With the election coming ever closer, and the bubbles we live in growing smaller, maybe the WaPo’s Internet Debunker shouldn’t quit (or we need to do a better job teaching students how to do this for themselves with tools like Domain Researcher)
• At MPOW we’re creating new evaluations for our classes; maybe we should pause and consider this.
• With 2016 college acceptance season upon us, this is a must share with seniors.

Tech Stuff

• My drawing ability is not good enough for this but if you can Sketch (like my colleague Mark), it’s a great tool for summation of ideas/sessions or an interesting way to have students “talk” about a book or concept.  And then there’s Classeur…
• Wondering how we can promote this type of archive: British Library’s public domain images or the Met’s downloadable art books
• In 2016 I’ll be talking with our Dean of Students about ways to increase digital literacy in students and faculty.  This infographic may help. We’ll also talk about managing your online presence and share these statistics.
• My history teachers love primary sources (like this archive).  These tools are going to help during Research Season.  And maybe in a year we can work on collaborating on teaching this!
• Google Operators – necessary to know and use to effectively search.
• I love Evernote, but if you’re on the fence between Evernote and OneNote…

Etcetera

• Carol Dweck on how her research is misused
• Is your school talking about equality and diversity? Read this.