How To Remember Who You Are and Where You’re Going: Evernote

This amazing, free tool can get your life so organized that your cohorts will not recognize you! Evernote is a means by which you can collect everything (from web pages to audio files to personal notes to bills to virtually anything you see) and organize as searchable content. Items can be assigned tags so that all contents are easily searched. But, entries can also be searched by any word in the document, not just assigned tags.

So, what kind of gallimaufry can be assembled with this tool? Word documents, web pages (partial or full), pdf files, photos of ANYTHING, personal notes (Handwritten or typed), audio files, and multimedia files are among the myriad of things that can be included.

Now, how does this work in a professional world? Obviously, the ability to clip and save websites is useful. All websites you save are searchable by any word at the site. Same with documents, any word in the doc, text, pdf, etc. file can be located and highlighted within the document. In addition, anything that is photographed can be searched. This is amazing – simple photos of scratched out notes, bulletin board or white board shots, business cards, air line tickets, purchase orders, to do lists – anything that can be photographed can then be automatically searched. Evernote scans the image and identifies words in the photo. The item is retrieved even though the photographed document has words that may be handwritten!

Think about the way this compilation of data can help you to organize information. Examples listed at the Evernote website include:

• Snap a photo of a business card or a white board with your phone, and have an easy way to store and access contacts or retrieve information gathered at a meeting or conference.
• Capture plane tickets and confirmation numbers, hotel invoices, and receipts for your expense reports.
• Get inspired. Keep a file of anything cool you want to buy for yourself or as a gift, whether it’s online or out in the real world.
• Keep notes from your meetings all in one place. Take a picture of a whiteboard and you’ll be able to find it later.
• Plan your next trip. Clip web pages, maps, and itineraries. Capture sights, sounds, tastes, and anything else.
• Research web sites and clip pages directly from your browser.
• Keep a record of your favorite foods and drinks by snapping a photo of the label when you find one you like.
• Remember the things you were supposed to remember. Create to-do lists, jot down random thoughts, leave a voice memo, and more.
• Create notes right from Twitter and save tweets that you like by following @myEN on Twitter.

Remember that tags can be assigned, so this adds another method for labeling and organizing files and content. And you can create notebooks with specific information included in the notebooks – similar to folders where you organize your files. Think about all the possibilities with this type of capability – immediate access to everything, literally, that you might ever need to remember for professional or personal use!

Phyllis R. Snipes,
University of West Georgia

Evernote Homepage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Evernote Notebook

GLMA Intellectual Freedom Award

 Georgia Library Media Association (GLMA) and ProQuest, jointly sponsor the Intellectual Freedom of Information Award.  The award recognizes the contributions of a school library media specialist who has affirmed in an active way the rights of students to information and ideas furthering the cause of intellectual and academic freedom.  This award is donated by ProQuest® and will be given at the 2010 COMO Annual Conference.

Applications can be downloaded from the following web site:

http://glma-inc.org/freedomaward.htm 

Please submit all nominations by November 30, 2009 to: Valerie Ayer, DeKalb County Schools, valerie_ayer@fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us or Fax: 678-676-2427

Request for Information for GaETC

Posted on behalf of GLMA member Windee Little:

I am presenting at GaETC and would like some statistical information to help emphasize some points I will be making. Would you please take a few minutes and complete this survey for me so that I can obtain this very important information? I would greatly appreciate your help. Any anecdotal information is also welcome through email. (Please forward to any other media specialist/librarian you know that may not be on this listserv.)

Survey Link

Come see me at GaETC, Friday, November 6 from 8:30 -9:30 in Spanish I-II. Thank you for your consideration!

The Great Dewey Hunt

A new children’s book by Toni Buzzeo (who was the keynote speaker at our GA COMO conference) plus there are lots of links to instructional resources including a ppt!

Peach Book Award Pathfinder

Creekview High School LibGuides – Georgia Peach Book Award Nominees and Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl 2009-10 – Home via kwout

We are kicking off Teen Read Week 2009 with a brand new research pathfinder for some of the most popular authors and books at The Unquiet Library!   Check out our new Georgia Peach Book Award Nominees and Reading Bowl research pathfinder page! I have created a landing “home” page with general resources and information as well as book widgets for the Georgia Peach Award nominees and the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl.

I am also in the process of adding tabs for each nominated author that will include:

• RSS feeds for each author’s blog (if available)
• RSS feeds for each authors’ Twitter account (if available)
• YouTube videos featuring the author and/or his or her works
• Websites related to the author and his/her books
• The “Books from Our Catalog” feature spotlighting some of the books by each author; there is also a link to the Destiny catalog so you can search on your own
• Other links of interest, such as interview with the author or official websites for a book or for a series by the author
• Book widgets with previews of the author’s books when available

This is a work in progress, so please check back often!  If you like the materials here, please feel free to use and link to the page.

Creekview High School LibGuides – Geor

Buffy Hamilton, Ed.S.
Creekview High School

http://theunquietlibrary.wordpress.com

Copyright Resources

Copyright is a regular topic in our school library program at Georgia Southern but we focus on it during the Administration class. This semester we’re trying something new-every student has to create a wiki with a set of copyright resources designed to be used by differerent grade levels of students or teachers. Many more links will be added in the next week or so but I thought you’d like to see our work in progress and I’m sure our students would appreciate any feedback about what they’ve done.

Judi Repman and Stephanie Jones

Georgia Book Awards

Hi Members of the Georgia Library Media Association,

I am a retired middle school media specialist, and I am researching children’s choice award programs all across the country, including both the winners and the nominees. Information on the Georgia Children’s Book Awards web site includes all the winners and the nominees from 1999 to 2010. I have been in contact with a person from the College of Education at the University of Georgia and have been sent many more of the nominee lists, but I am still missing lists for fifteen years. My interest is limited to the Middle Grade Novels section of the award. Would any of you happen to know the nominees for the Grades 4-8 Award for the following years and be willing to send them to me? The following are the years I am still missing: 1970-71, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1987-88, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, and 1996-97. If anyone could help me with this information, I would certainly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,

Christine Blair Media Specialist (Retired from Nuttall Middle School) Robinson, Illinois

What’s Next?

In the School Library Journal, Joyce Kasman Valenza and Doug Johnson have compiled a great list of “Things That Keep Us Up at Night” and it’s a wonderful wake up call for those of us who might be sitting on the fence about some things.   It’s especially great for a library graduate student like myself to see what they consider some of the current big issues.

I guess I like it so much because it’s sure to cause some arguments.  Heck, it already has.

But that’s why I’m so excited to enter this field.  It is forever changing and librarians always adapt (or, I suppose, get left behind).  It’s wonderful to talk with members of the profession who have been at it since before their school even had one computer, let alone the banks of them we have now and have embraced and are excited by these changes.  They still do wonderful story times and dictionary lessons–but now they publish in blogs and wikis and show their students and staff how to connect beyond the walls of the library.  We can never imagine where these changes will take us next.  What will the profession be like in 18, 25, 30 years?  Who knows?  But I know one thing.  There will always be more information and there will always be a need for those who can help to find, evaluate and share it.

Can’t wait to see where we go next.

What keeps you up at night?  What do you think can be done about it?

Thanks,

Jim Randolph

AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action

ALA | via kwout

Last week, Dr. Mary Ann Fitzgerald blogged here on the GLMA blog about Empowering Learners:  Guidelines for School Library Programs from AASL.  As Dr. Fitzgerald explained, that particular book is our new “handbook”and offers helpful information in conceptualizing our roles for contemporary times.

If you have been looking for a resource to help you find concrete strategies for implementing and documenting your instruction of the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, then I highly recommend the purchase of AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner in Action for your professional and /or personal library.  Although it was published several months ago, I have just recently acquired it for my professional collection; after reading it, I can only say get your copy NOW if you don’t have one.

There are several qualities I love about this book, but there are two features I especially love.  First, the book really unpacks the indicators for every strand and skill set for each standard.  Second, benchmarks for each indicator are also provided for every grade level.  In addition, sample action examples are provided for benchmarks; a section on self-assessment strategies for learners is also included.

Equally useful is the action example template, which is comparable to a unit or lesson plan template.  The template provides you a concrete way of documenting the how you are teaching or addressing a standard, its benchmarks, and indicators for skills, dispositions, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies.  The template also includes a section for documenting local standards, an overview of the learning activities, the final product, library lessons to be taught, assessment strategies for the learning plan, and a checklist menu to show which resources you will be using in the lesson.  I really like the checklist menu where you can indicate where the lesson falls on under library context as well as the collaboration continuum.

I will be using the template and incorporating into my research pathfinders for the remainder of this academic year so that anyone who sees the pathfinder (parents, teachers, students, administrators, other community members) may clearly see the organization of the lesson for that pathfinder ; in addition, I will be keeping a library document in my new library Google Site to easily house and archive lesson details–consequently, I will have an even more transparent way of documenting teaching and learning at The Unquiet Library through my monthly reports as well as on the fly demonstrations to visitors.  I believe that by investing the time in doing this kind of documentation, I will be in an even stronger position to advocate for my library and to show my community what we are teaching in the library.

I encourage you to get a copy of this book to help your efforts to document your work in your library and to add to the body of data that everyone needs to advocate for his/her library program.  If you are already using this book as a part of your lesson/unit planning, please share your experiences here to expand our body of knowledge.

Buffy Hamilton, Ed.S.
Creekview High School
http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com

New Employment Page

New to the GLMA blog is an employment page for hiring managers to post openings for Georgia media professionals.  The link is in the top right-hand corner of the blog.  Openings can be posted via the comment box on the page.  Check the page often for any new listings.

Kris Woods

GLMA Communications Chair