Thing 15 Collaboration

I'm feeling a bit like Superman these days. Yesterday a teacher came to me requesting my help. It seems she couldn't get her new Mac ibook to talk to her new LCD projector. Funny, but Leslie Yoder and I had the same problem when Leslie was presenting to staff members at Harding. It seems there is an definite order as to which machine needs to be turned on first. At the moment I don't remember which one it is, but I was lucky with the teacher and in her eyes I am "amazing!" I was then able to answer her powerpoint question too. She said, "I feel like I have just dipped my big toe into the 21st century! Maybe next year it will be my foot!" and she has applied for the new high school technology initiative. All year I have been collaborating with teachers. I'm catching on slowly. It seems there have not been high expectations of librarians in the past at Harding and teachers are surprised that I "actually teach!" The wheels of progress move slowly but we are in gear!

Google revisited

This week I was asked to teach some classes about annotated bibliographies (AB). When the class didn't know what an AB was I took the opportunity to review the use of Google. Even though Google is not always the best source, sometimes it is a great starting point and the link we need to a reliable source. Sorting through the hits for AB we evaluated the URL's and were able to find the information we needed.

Google image: http://www.maip.com/media/images/Google%20Logo.jpg

Thing 32, Wikis

For awhile now I have been thinking about trying to compile all the family tree information on my Dad's side of the family. He never talked very much about his family and growing up so imagine my surprise when at age 32 I first learned that he had been married before my mother! This bit of information only came out as she was angry and wanted to get back at him for something he did or said, I don't remember the exact circumstances now. Familes, don't you love them? Anyway, when we learned about Google Docs I contemplated trying that with a first cousin I keep in contact with once a year through the Christmas letter. After learning about Wikis in class it seemed just the ticket. I set up the Wiki and emailed my cousin who wrote back that he had got it. Now we just need to figure out the best format to compile the information and of course find the time. I've tried looking up family tree templates but haven't found anything I can actually download into my Wiki. If anyone has done any genealogy work I'd love to have your suggestions.

Image source: http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/wikis/wikitbl.jpg

Thing 2, More on Create Your Blog and Post About It

Last night I was with a group of family and friends whose level of expertise in technology was about as wide and varied as it can come. Two were St. Paul teachers who have been retired for 6 years, three were active LD teachers from the St. Paul Public Schools and one is the director of the toxicology lab for the State of Wisconsin. I had my laptop along as I needed to send an update on my daughter's medical condition. They were amazed and quite impressed that I had a blog (I left out the part that I was dragged into it kicking and screaming.) All at different places in our lives we talked about how we all look at and use technology differently and how much it has changed from the "olden days." It was pretty amazing. As we talked about different things and couldn't remember details I took out my laptop and "googled." One said, "how did you find that?" It just re-enforced that it's not just the kids that need the education but it is the adults as well and our job is HUGE!
Image source:www.ibritt.com/.../hearnoseenospeakno_blogOK.jpg

Thing 10, More on Plagiarism/Copyright

When I asked the Harding English Department chair if we had a policy on plagiarism I was told that would be the next thing the department would work on. It seems they have been so busy unpacking the standards and working on common assessments that a plagiarism policy has been put on hold. So out of curiosity I went to all of the St. Paul Junior and Senior High School websites in search of Library Media Center sites and plagiarism policies. It's embarrasing. There are 11 junior high schools in St. Paul, not a single one even mentions plagiarism, but also consider, only 5 of those Junior Highs even have a LMS. There are 7 senior high schools and 4 of those schools have what I would consider an extensive copyright and plagiarism section on the Library Media Center page of their school web site. Those same four librarians are in their second year of the Information Literacy Project. This is an important issue and we need to continue our quest not only to educate our students but also our colleagues. Enough said.
Cartoon source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/aba0039l.jpg

Thing 10, More on copyright

I think this cartoon summarizes the apathy surrounding copyright law. No one seems to think it pertains to them. Teachers are indignant when I mention the violation as they stand at the xerox machine and duplicate an entire paperback novel. At lunch colleagues feel they are entitled to burn DVD's of every movie they rent from Blockbuster. Students cut and paste into their reports and think it's o.k. as long as they have a bibliography. As technology develops the problem is only going to get worse. At what point do we come to the realization that just because we don't agree with copyright, we still have to follow the law?
Cartoon taken from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/copyright.jpg&imgrefurl=http://xkcd.com/14/&h=499&w=640&sz=95&hl=en&start=15&tbnid=kc-VqIhpeVv0VM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcopyright%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Thing 10. Copyright/Plagiarism

I've always considered myself fairly knowledgeable on copyright. Afterall, I've been preaching to teachers for years on the use of video tapes in the districts video retrieval systems. But with the development of new technology comes new rules governing responsible use. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that I too have been violating copyright law by using images from Google without citing my source! But I did discover"The #1 Cartoon Studion on the Web!" and you can use their cartoons FREE on non-commercial websites when you give them a link. Try it out at http://www.artie.com
(Copyright image taken from www.abortmag.com)