Over 1 Million Digital Books Now Available Free to the Print-Disabled

Many librarians are interested in finding new ways to encourage more students and teachers to use library materials and do high level research. Their efforts are often limited by available time or unfamiliar subject matter. For that reason, librarians should be excited about the teaching possibilities available through the Our Documents initiative. This program offers school librarians ideas and materials to improve use of their collections. Here are some suggestions for using Our Documents in a school library.

Meet Candy Carter I'm an AP Language and Comp teacher at McQueen HS in Reno, NV. My students lead very busy lives: they're in sports, band, choir, journalism, debate...and on and on. They also do not necessarily live close to one another. In past years, I had had nonfiction book groups in which students chose books from a list and completed projects and presentations on their reading. Over the years, it seems to have become increasingly difficult to find time for them to confer, and the presentations in class took too long. I needed to come up with a way for them to share their ideas in a different way, and I needed to have a way to hold them accountable for their work. I also was aware of the increasing importance of social networking sites in my students' lives. Candy's Perspective I had been introduced to Tapped In at a teacher workshop two or three years ago but had never made the time to really explore it. I was also a bit concerned that some their parents would object to them being online so I wanted to come up with an anonymous way for them to participate so that parents would not worry that their children's names were "out there" online. I hit on the idea of using Class ID numbers (which my students already use for peer reviews to ensure writers' anonymity). I was able to get all three of my classes into the system. I set up a calendar so groups could discuss online without bumping into other groups. Overall, this turned out to be a successful way for kids to share ideas about books. They enjoyed the novelty and talked about their reading in kid-speak, not just so they could impress their English teacher. Except for some technical snags (some kids are not as computer-savvy as others; they also needed to have Java on their computers, which turned out to be a problem for a few of them), this was relatively easy to monitor and manage. I loved reading what they said online--very authentic.

Varying projects that can be done between students worldwide using writing skills.

Issuu is the leading digital publishing platform delivering exceptional reading experiences of magazines, books, catalogs, reports, and more. In just a few seconds users can create beautiful digital editions simply by uploading their publications. It's our mission to empower individuals, companies, and institutions to publish their documents across all digital platforms. Issuu is also a popular destination site visited by millions every month. It's a dynamic library where people are drawn to and engaged by great publications and where publishers find and build targeted audiences. Issuu is free to use though professional publishers opt for our Issuu Pro solution with enhanced customization.

Summer Reading Program--New York State History Reading Lists To commemorate the New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial, the New York State Library, as part of the 2009 Summer Reading Program, has created four selected reading lists that celebrate the history, culture, and diversity of New York State. Each of the four lists covers one reader age group: Picture Books; Elementary; Tween; and Teen and up.

Over the past few years, Nelson Lauver's nationally syndicated radio feature "The American Storyteller Radio Journal" has established a dedicated U.S. listener base. Fans refer to his stories as unique, timeless and "great radio" and have likened his style to that of Charles Kuralt and Mark Twain. Now, the complete library of these 4-minute radio stories is available free online at www.TheAmericanStoryteller.com. Visitors to the site can search the approximately 300 story library by keyword or over 20 topics -- then listen to, download, link to, or send the story to a friend. Each 4-minute, mp3 story is broadcast quality and available in high speed or dial-up versions. There is also a free "story of the week" feature whereby visitors can sign up to automatically receive a new story link every Wednesday. While the average listener demographic is 24 to 60 years of age, stories are suitable for all ages. Subjects range from hometown America to interesting incidents and individuals, real people profiles, American History, etc.

LoudLit.org is committed to delivering public domain literature paired with high quality audio performances. We pair together great literature and accompanying audio. Putting the text and audio together, readers can learn spelling, punctuation and paragraph structure by listening and reading masterpieces of the written word. Read and listen via your web browser or on your mp3 player. Regardless of how you enjoy the audiobooks (audio books), they are free.

Over 2000 free audio and video titles. This directory features free audio books, lectures, speeches, sermons, interviews, and many other great free audio and video resources. Most audio titles can be downloaded in digital formats such as MP3 and most video titles are available to stream online.

Fiction:Classics, Modern, Adventures, Crime Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Westerns, Terrorists, Martial Arts, Spy Stories, Thrillers, Historical, Adult, Philisophical, Experimental, Humour Comedy.

The downloads are available in mp3 and in m4b audio book format for iTunes and the iPod. The advantage of using the iPod format is that it remembers where you stop in a file. The iTunes player software is available for free download here.

The Learning Center is designed to help educators and students develop a better sense of what plagiarism means in the information age, and to teach the planning, organizational, and citation skills essential for producing quality writing and research. Our site offers information about: * Plagiarism defined, in easy-to-understand terms * Tips on how to avoid both internet-based and conventional plagiarism * Guidelines for proper citation, and links to help with specific citation styles * Suggestions for developing good research and writing skills * Answers to frequently asked questions, including explanations for often misunderstood concepts like fair use, public domain, and copyright laws * Definitions for important research-related terms * Suggestions for integrating plagiarism education into lesson plans * Tips for creating assignments that discourage plagiarism and encourage original thinking * Information on the causes of plagiarism today * Help with identifying different types of plagiarism, in particular plagiarism from the internet * Printable handouts for students on plagiarism, proper citation, and paper writing