On October 6, 2011, I presented at the Nebraska Library Association annual conference. I shared free online resources to use at the library. Approximately 50 people attended the 50-minute presentation.
Find the list of resources I discussed here.
Find the PowerPoint presentation here.
My library branch is a heavy user of Google Docs. All of our weekly and daily schedules, among other things, are shared there. This is helpful because I can check my schedule from anywhere that has Internet access and changes appear immediately. This also means supervisors can make changes to the schedule from home. Schedules are color coded to signify the supervisor on duty, closers, meetings, and schedule abnormalities. The only downfall to this system is if the Internet is down, we can’t access our schedules. I think using Google Docs for scheduling is a brilliant idea.
I have seen wikis used in the library environment in a few different ways. At my previous job, we were part of an organization for young adult librarians; the organization had a wiki of book lists and program ideas to which everyone could contribute. The reference department at my previous job had a departmental wiki used to keep track of projects and changes. I created a wiki for my current workplace with book lists. I noticed that most of our reader’s advisory questions came from kids and teens. The youth services librarian is well read in that section, but other staff members are not. I made book lists on a variety of topics, such as mysteries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid read-alikes, and teen supernatural fiction. Any staff member can add to the lists or create new ones. Anyone can view the wiki located at http://eiseleylibrary.pbworks.com
As someone who uses 4 or 5 different computers per day, I think Dropbox would be highly useful. Between work and home, I create documents and need somewhere to save them. I carry my flash drive in my purse, but it isn’t always handy to retrieve it. I have not used Dropbox, but I plan to download it to my home computer.
Online tools for saving and sharing documents are very handy and something I will continue to use in my personal and professional lives.
The following is a booktalk I did in a 9th grade classroom. The teacher asked us to talk about books that would be interesting for students in 9th grade that were reading at about a 5th grade level. My coworker and I chose 15 books to booktalk, many of which were claimed by students by the end of the class period.
Coraline
By Neil Gaiman
Coraline is bored. Coraline is so bored that she’ll do anything. She and her parents have just moved into an apartment. Below them are two old ladies that are of questionable mental state. Above them is an old man who keeps talking about his circus mice. Coraline likes to go exploring, especially outside. But one day it is raining. She is so bored, that she counts all of the doors and windows in her apartment. There are 21 windows and 14 doors. Out of these 14 doors, 13 open and close like normal doors. But the fourteenth door – the big, carved, brown wooden door – is locked. She asks her mother where this door goes. Her mother tells here that it goes nowhere, and unlocks it so Coraline can see that behind the door is a brick wall. That night, though, Coraline is lying awake in her bed when she hears a “creak”. Then she sees a shadow in the hall, a black shape that looks like a person. When she turns on the light, there’s nothing there. The next day, Coraline is still bored. When her mother leaves her at home alone, Coraline decides to take another look at that mysterious door. She climbs up on a chair and takes down the key ring. There is a cold iron key that must go to that door. She listens for her mother. She’s alone, so she puts the key into the keyhole and it turns. She stops again. Still alone. She slowly turns the doorknob and opens the door. Instead of bricks, there is a dark hallway that smells like something very old. She carefully walks down the hallway, until she sees something very familiar. The carpet is the same carpet in her hallway. The wallpaper is the same is her wallpaper. The picture hanging in the hall is the same picture that hangs in her hall. She looks around, confused. She couldn’t have gotten turned around in a hallway. Then she hears someone call her name. It’s her mother – only it’s not. The person standing there looks like her mother, only her skin is white as paper, she is very tall and very thin, and her fingernails are dark red, long, curved, and very sharp. And one more thing – instead of eyes, she has big, gleaming black buttons. “Coraline, we’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
The 411 newsletter was created for teens at the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library. I created a new design for the newsletter that was recognized in the April 22, 2008 online edition of School Library Journal.
Click the link below to view the newsletter.
Bethany Grabow- Enthusiastic Librarian 