The hard data and analysis on the state of school libraries from School Library Journal en-us http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/community/Surveys/47077.html?nid=3268 2009 Reed Business Information. Subject to its http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/info/260304.html Terms of Use. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:45:51 MST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6704732.html?nid=3268 Media professionals and educators converged on Google’s campus in Mountain View, CA, to discuss technology, teaching, and new ways to enthrall children at last week’s Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age forum. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6703702.html?nid=3268 Windows 7, Microsoft’s answer to the ill-received Vista operating system, was released on October 22, just days before this review was due. I started using Windows 7 in beta last winter and was impressed by how well it performed on my old Thinkpad T40. Since then, I’ve been eager to see if Windows 7 would perform equally well on a more Spartan device: the typical netbook. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6704267.html?nid=3268 Even though I love children's picture books, I almost always cringe when a high school art student asks me to help them locate examples of titles that use "woodcuts" or "wash." While I handle these books on a daily basis, I admit that I'm not as familiar with the original media used or the style displayed within the pages of these mini museums. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6702647.html?nid=3268 Teachers, media specialists, and students around the world are gearing up for the 4th Annual K12 Online Conference—a chance for tech-savvy educators to virtually mingle and share, while those less familiar with Web 2.0 tools can learn about their use from the experts themselves. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6701479.html?nid=3268 Media specialists and other members of the K–12 community are gearing up for the T+L Conference, set for Oct 28–30 in Denver. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6700294.html?nid=3268 Frances Jacobson Harris, Joyce Valenza, and Harold Rheingold believe librarians are on the front lines in teaching students how to evaluate which sources are relevant and which are not. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699111.html?nid=3268 Good grammar is important, but how do you inspire kids to watch their Ps and Qs (and commas and ellipses)? It’s easy, according to Jeff Rubin (pictured), who breaks into song, a little ditty called “Punctuation, Punctuation,” sung to the tune of “Frère Jacques.” That’s just one example of how to teach younger students the basics, he says. Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699112.html?nid=3268 If a pandemic or other significant event made it difficult or impossible for your students, staff, or teachers to physically attend school, how would you make sure that communication and education still take place? This is the question looming for educational institutions nationwide, given the potential of the H1N1 virus to disrupt or even close schools this year. Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6697883.html?nid=3268 For every teacher and librarian who feels like a last guardian of the semicolon, there’s a holiday tailored just for them. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6685546.html?nid=3268 Kathleen Kohl was penning 2,000-word short stories at 12 years old and by 13 set her sights on writing a novel. In a move gutsy enough for any would-be writer, much less a teenaged one, Kohl last year signed on for National Novel Writing Month, an online contest, of sorts, that challenges all comers each November to complete a 50,000-word piece of fiction over 30 days. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6685549.html?nid=3268 www.teachersfirst.com/firstday.cfm Ah, the first day of school. For students, educators, and parents alike, it’s a remarkable occasion, loaded with excitement, anticipation, and, yes, sometimes even a tear or two. To help get things off to a good start, the Web site TeachersFirst has created “First Day of School Icebreakers. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6685550.html?nid=3268 School librarians searching for a better way to broaden their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) resources for K–12 students may soon have some innovative help. Marcia Mardis, an assistant professor at Florida State University, is embarking on a three-year project to build an RSS-like feed that she says will search Web sites and online libraries, pluck specific images and o... Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6685551.html?nid=3268 Though the burgeoning netbook class of computers arguably began with the One Laptop per Child educational initiative, look around and you’ll see just how far the little laptops have come. You’ll find them serving as second computers in urban cyber-cafes and suburban kitchens, tucked in the briefcases and gloveboxes of mobile professionals—even connected to park-based WiFi in r... Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6685552.html?nid=3268 Libraries of the future will primarily manage digital repositories of information rather than warehouse physical books. A more functional method geared toward easy browsing will replace the Dewey Decimal system. And computers will surpass human librarians in the ability to answer even the most complex reference questions. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6685553.html?nid=3268 At the Intersection of School & Home—Parent Corner school.discoveryeducation.com/parents Some kids look forward to the start of school—others are less than thrilled about it. On this site designed to help parents encourage their children, start at the “MotivationStation” for articles on various issues from academic performance to fitting in at school. Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6673572.html?nid=3268 At 7:25 am on the last day of school, five avid fifth-grade readers hustle into the library of Chamberlin School in South Burlington, VT. They shrug off backpacks and pull out advance copies of The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, my middle-grade novel about a Vermont girl who’s convinced her school leaf collection project is ruining her life. Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6673577.html?nid=3268 www.loc.gov/teachers Most of us know the excitement that primary sources can bring to teaching. Photographs, maps, correspondence, and other original records that have survived from the past spark the imagination, and a staggering 13 million of these items have been digitized and made available online, thanks to the Library of Congress. Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6673578.html?nid=3268 NECC, the big National Educational Computing Conference, has come and gone, but attendees, both in person and virtual, are still basking in the glow of all that sharing (bit.ly/dbGY5). School librarians Keisa Williams of Monarch Academy, a K–5 charter school in Oakland, CA, and Melissa Techman of Broadus Wood Elementary School in Albemarle Co. Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6673579.html?nid=3268 Among the scads of curious new computing permutations out there, the MSI Wind Top is among the most interesting multitasking mongrels I’ve tested to date. Reminiscent of the second gen Apple iMac, the Wind Top is a beautiful machine with its PC innards neatly hidden behind a stylish, 18.5-inch diagonal, 6:9 widescreen WXGA display that’s under two inches thick. Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6673580.html?nid=3268 Over the past few years, Google has changed the way we search. Later this year, the search giant is going to reinvent how we communicate and share online with its new Google Wave application. To get a good feeling for what Google Wave’s about, imagine that your email program got a bit hungry and ate your instant-messaging client. Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EST