Mrs.Yingling Reads.blogspot.com

  Mrs, YinglingReads bog is a great find! She is a middle school librarian who shares book reviews.
She has read all of the books in her library! What an accomplishment!!
   Her blog is so neat. I can't wait to read as many of her reviews as I can and get some good ideas for books for my library!  This will be a great resources for me and other librarians looking for ideas for books for their libraries.
   I like her reviews. They are detailed . She also gives the book strengths and weaknesses, and the verdict- what she really thinks  about the book.
  She is really organized with her reviews- there are also tabs with suggestions  for books similar to famous titles that are the same genre.( there are suggestions for Adventure, fantasy, historical, humorous, and sports books.
http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/

Teacher Librarian Journal

   Last week I received my first issue of Teacher Librarian ,  the October issue. This is my first issue  in probably 10 years. It looks like a really good issue!
    Back in my Elementary days I got this  and loved it. Now it seems to have a more scholarly focus. Although I have not read any of the articles ( Had surgery  this week and did Nothing!) I feel it will be a good addition to my professional learning. Also there are many items in this issue that look like they will be helpful with advocacy  to the administration.
   Does anyone else get this?   I am also impressed with the persons on the advisory board. They are all leaders on school libraries. What other journals do you get that you find helpful? 

Blogging for Libraries- Factors

   When you are beginning a library blog, there are a few factors to consider before starting .  Doing this first planning session will make your blogging easier. Your blog will be tighter and more interesting.

   First of all , determine the purpose of your blog.  What is your focus or main reason for writing and promotion   your blog.

  Secondly, decide who will write the posts, and who will monitor and proof read the entries,  It is a great idea to have several staffers who will contribute to the information and post. That way there is not just one person responsible and  burn out will be greatly reduced.

    Determine which blogging platform you will use. Using a free platform will virtually  eliminate the cost of  to the library.

  Also consider the amount of time that the  staffers will need to write their posts. You might want them to have a specific time to work, or possible just use downtime during the slow parts of the workday.  Determine how many posts per week will be published.  It is a great  idea to have posts waiting ('in the wings') and just have someone go in and publish  on the determined day. ( This is what I like to do- have  a bunch all written and I just publish them on a regular day)

   Finally , begin with a list of specific topics, themes, or article ideas. Any of the staff can recommend  ideas to throw in the "post " pile of ideas.

Information Expert

        As the information expert  and the  librarian in your school/ building, you have an obligation to your students and patrons.  The first thing that comes to mind is that students and patrons need  to be taught search strategies for collecting and evaluating  the information that they need.   The  Strategies for finding information using headings, types of scanning reading, using parts of the text and also additional items like labels, captions, charts,  and graphs  will always need to be taught.  Also strategies for deciding on what  and where to look can also be practiced and taught to  patrons.
    Evaluating information is another skill that can be modeled and then practiced  by students.   Evaluating is a skill that  when practiced comes over time and use .  A student/ patron questions the materiel being read and then decides if it is  needed for his work.

      The librarian / information expert also needs to organize the use of the computer and the web for  information seekers. The information expert can create a blog, a wiki, website or porta portal  to pull together resources to meet the need specific needs of their learning community.  This can be done as a general resource  site,  with link, tabs, or pages of specific  information curriculum needs.  This is why I have always made a Porta Portal to go along with my schools curriculum  with links  to sites needed by the students and teachers.