Library As Universe - Library of the Future

Watch Free Documentaries

Free, embeddable, full-length documentaries!

This week, over a billion people will celebrate the 39th annual Earth Day, the largest secular civic event in the world. To celebrate, SnagFilms presents Earth Day 2009: Going Green, a specially curated collection of films that highlight the impact we all have on the environment, and the responsibilities we bear for the planet’s future.

You'll find films like:

* Human Footprint, by PBS, A remarkable look at what you consume during your 2,475,526,000 seconds on earth.
* The Times of Harvey Milk The Oscar-winning documentary about the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first openly gay elected official
* Chahinaz: What Rights for Women? (ITVS International) A 20 year-old Algerian woman wonders what life is like for women in other Muslim countries

Users may search the collection or browse the 650 documentaries A to Z or by channel or topic.

Full-length documentaries offering yet another way to expand our collections in tight times. Shared by Kathy Schrock http://tinyurl.com/d6uxfj

Windows Live Writer

Experimenting with new blogging feature on Windows which posts automatically to my blogger account.  I will let you know more when I see how this works!

Slide Share presentation sent by Deborah Lazar

Although this is 2 years old, the ideas are still "fresh".

Facebook Apps and Libraries' Friendly Future

View more presentations from Cliff Landis.

Makes me want to get out there and explore Library Facebook pages. Argh...can't do it at school because Facebook is blocked.

2009 Pulitzer Prizes

Read about the Pulitzer Prize winners in today's New York Times: 2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music.

For the New Trier Library, I'd like to purchase:
GENERAL NONFICTION: “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black People in America from the Civil War to World War II,” by Douglas A. Blackmon
A precise and eloquent work that examines a deliberate system of racial suppression and that rescues a multitude of atrocities from virtual obscurity.

FICTION: “Olive Kitteridge,” by Elizabeth Strout
A collection of 13 short stories set in small-town Maine that packs a cumulative emotional wallop, bound together by polished prose and by Olive, the title character, blunt, flawed and fascinating.

FINALISTS: “The Plague of Doves” by Louise Erdrich, a novel that explores racial discord, loss of land and changing fortunes in a corner of North Dakota where Native Americans and whites share a tangled history.

“All Souls” by Christine Schutt, a memorable novel that focuses on the senior class at an exclusive all-girl Manhattan prep school where a beloved student battles a rare cancer, fiercely honest, carefully observed and subtly rendered.

Read the complete list of 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Nominated Finalists at the Pulitzer website.

World Digital Library to launch April 21

UNESCO and 32 partner institutions will launch the World Digital Library, a web site that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world on 21 April. The site will include manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs. It will provide unrestricted free public access to this material.

Adding a Facebook Fan Page for New Trier Library

Experimenting with various applications in Facebook for the Library. The Wall tab is for updating the status with recent news or upcoming events. The ability to create photo albums or upload videos, post Notes or post Links for interesting content is useful. The idea is to "Be connected. Be discovered. Be on Facebook".

YouTube Channel at the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is trying to “do YouTube right.” They are now "the stewards of the world’s largest collection of audiovisual materials" (some 6 million films, broadcasts and sound recordings), and have created their own YouTube channel which has now gone public.
They are staring with a limited number of 70 videos, arranged in the following playlists: 2008 National Book Festival author presentations, the Books and Beyond author series, Journeys and Crossings (a series of curator discussions), “Westinghouse” industrial films from 1904, scholar discussions from the John W. Kluge Center, and the earliest movies made by Thomas Edison, including the first moving image ever made. One of the Library’s stated missions is to 'preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations'. The new YouTube channel certainly accomplishes this mission.

Twitter Presentation

What are you doing?

I am co-teaching a class with Matt Stuczynski on Twitter to students for the Student Alliance T.E.L.L. day (Teach Experience Learn Live). I would like to see IGSS students next school year learn how to create a personal learning network via Twitter. Twitter is a social media for staying connected in real-time. It can be done from a computer or mobile phone. Take a look at 100 tools that can help twittering teachers make the most out of this helpful microblogging tool.