Week 7, Thing 16

I really spent alot of time today prowling wiki sites on the net, between, of course, the duties of a "domestic goddess". Today, that means interviewing painters! The wikis were more fun. I checked out articles on weeding (great advice! I hadn't though of approaching the task on a one shelf/one week basis. It really makes sense, though, and avoids the dreaded task looming over one's head ad infinitum. While shelf reading before school started this year, I realized our collection of painstaking collected science project books were more than a decade of 2 old. How is it that I lost track of how long I've been at this profession now?? I built the collection for a teacher who vigorously pursued Junior Scientist contestants and mentored them to success, but when she moved on no one else required class science projects with the level of sophistication she did. Sigh...At least now they're weeded and not taking up space...languishing, even. You can tell I was an English teacher before I morphed into a librarian. Anyway, the article on weeding has inspired me to take on the task MONDAY!!

I also visited the cite on producing reviews for worldcat and wondered whether those reviews by librarians could be used as lit crit for students in our Senior World Lit survey class who often select very recent titles by new world authors, some of which haven't hit Gale yet. There were some that were sophisticated enough and content rich enough to suffice. Hope my teacher agrees!

I have been working with the principal of our elementary school whose library has fallen on hard times. Many of the grants listed on the librarian's wiki will offer her hope of rebuilding more easily. She asked my 90+ Sister who spent 3 years putting records in to our Follett software to consider spending this past summer bringing their library back to life. Oh, the tale she told when she returned from visiting their "library" with its need for a card cat weeding if not an online catalog building, space shared by the Spanish teacher, stored non-library items , depleted collection pillaged by students waiting for school to start (no circ system!), lack of a librarian!! and offered her thoughts on the importance of defining an appropriate purpose for the library before beginning collection assessment.

Another Sister who runs an after school program for children in our township's historic but now beleaguered Mooncrest area can benefit when I share what I've learned about grants that will help build their mini library into a real presence in the community's life. Many residents have no way to get to our township library. Too far to walk, no bus line, etc. What an impact grants can have there in building life long learners there!

I also spent some time on the Flat Classroom site and was impressed with what was accomplished there. I especially liked the use of the videos with students testifying to the impact of the net on their lifes and the interview with the super hacker whose name escapes me right now being interviewed by the late, great Ed Bradley. The impact of the ethical/unethical choices made by users of technology clearly illustrates the nature of the 2 edged sword that technology has always been and still is.

Literary circles offer a golden opportunity for students to interact with each other and their parents virtually without the intimidation of the need to express oneself extemporaneously in a classroom. The opportunity to work with students from another culture through the net is another unique use of wikis.