OASL Libraries Resources

Resource! Talk about a terrific primary source! In the summer of 1865, a former slave by the name of Jourdan Anderson sent a letter to his former master. And 147 years later, the document reads as richly as it must have back then.

Free professional resource for school librarians.

In June of 2010, members of the Georgia Library Association and the Georgia Public Library Service launched this bi-monthly educational webinar series. The series highlights trends, innovation, and best practices in Georgia libraries. The free sessions feature Georgia speakers, but they are open to library employees from all geographic (and astral) locations. Topics are chosen to be of interest to employees of all library types, and each session is approved for one Georgia Continuing Education (CE) contact hour.

Last week Google announced another round of service and product closures. The popular image editing tool Picnik was included in the list of services that they're shutting down. I've had a few people ask me for recommendations for alternatives to Picnik, so here's a short list of alternatives to explore.

YA Narrative Nonfiction booklist

There's no real difference between ebooks and traditional paper books when it comes to kids' reading comprehension, says a new study.

...create a quiz on this site, and print out the QR codes which provide students with the directions and the questions via a series of QR codes. You can cut them apart and have a treasure hunt or simply give the students the codes and allow them to answer the questions by scanning the QR code with their mobile device.

"Extreme Speed Booking" The idea behind the site is to introduce students to a variety of books and form classroom book groups. How does Extreme Speed Booking work? A whole lot like speed dating. :) Students spend a little time with each book and then rate them accordingly with "I want to read more", "Interesting", "Not for me", or "I've already read". Students can also make a note of how interested they are in reading the book (maybe a 1-10 scale)? This process introduces students to a variety of books, genres and authors. Students may come across titles and authors they wouldn't otherwise find. It also helps teachers form classroom book groups that are of high-interest and investment to students because they had input.

Freebie alert! Did you know that April 30-May 6 is Screen-Free Week? The challenge is to  turn off the screen media for a week and see if you and your imagination are changed. Free kit available.

IWitness is an online application that gives educators and students access to search, watch, and learn from more than 1,000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses.

INTERESTING background.

...upload a multi-page document to the site, and a QR code is created and appears on the document when you download it. Then, you simply share the QR code, and users can download your entire document from the TagMyDoc site. Great for sharing large presentations and packages!

Having completed four years worth of "Best of" lists for picture books, I was finally inspired to compile a list of the  best middle-grade and chapter books I have read in the last year. Maybe I didn't want to be forced to pick any favorites, or maybe this was the first year that I felt like I had actually read enough newly published books in a given year to compile a fair list. Either way, although I remain dedicated to working through that massive pile of older books that I want to share with my readers, I am very excited about this list and passionate about all of the books that made it on to this list. If you were to encounter me in my workplace and ask me about any of these titles, I would gush, most likely somewhat embarrassingly, about any or all of them, if you gave me enough time. 

The Giving Tree Narrated by Shel Silverstein

After organizing their own bookshelf earlier this year, Sean Ohlenkamp and wife Lisa re-doubled their efforts for Type Books in Toronto. After several sleepless nights of animating with a crew of over 20 people, the Joy of Books was born. Music composed especially for the short by Grayson Matthews. See many more books here. (via metafilter)

Can I let you in on a secret? Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong.
And yet people who use two spaces are everywhere, their ugly error crossing every social boundary of class, education, and taste. *

World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child's right to a safe education and access to books and technology.

Ebook limitations, humor/reality