Monthly Archives: September 2011
Finding Maps in GALILEO
Need some direction in finding maps for your students? GALILEO resources provide current and historical maps from around the world; state maps, including current and historical Georgia maps; and even some outline maps for student activities. Let’s get our bearings so that we can locate these valuable treasures in GALILEO.
Encyclopædia Britannica offers a World Atlas feature where you can choose a country or state and see a profile, the encyclopedia article, and points of interest. You can also search for a country or state and then click the Images and Media section to see maps.
The SIRS resources include current and historical maps as well as outline maps. All maps can be viewed online or printed from a PDF file. In SIRS Discoverer, click the Maps of the World feature under the Database Features section on the right to see these. In SIRS Issues Researcher, click on SIRS Researcher to access the database. Then, click on Maps in World Almanacs and Maps on the right.
For Georgia maps, the Digital Library of Georgia and GeorgiaInfo have plenty of historical and current maps. In Digital Library of Georgia, go to Browse by Media Type and choose Maps from the list to see collections with maps. Also, don’t miss the Fire Insurance Maps link to see the Sanborn maps, which provide an interesting historical look at the streets of Georgia towns over the years. GeorgiaInfo has an extensive map collection with political, physical, and highway maps in the Maps section of the site as well as some instructional handouts with maps.
Please Contact Us if you have questions or comments or if you need to report problems.
Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
Image from Encyclopædia Britannica
Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Encyclopædia Britannica High School: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs
Compton’s by Britannica (for middle school): http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebm
Britannica Elementary: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebk
SIRS Discoverer: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zssd
SIRS Issues Researcher: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zsks
Digital Library of Georgia: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=dlg1
GeorgiaInfo: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=gnfo
Book Review: The Lighthouse Christmas by Toni Buzzeo
Review by Susan K.S. Grigsby
One of the perks of doing a little extra for the library profession here in Georgia is the chance to meet some really interesting and wonderful people. And so it was 2 years ago, as a member of the COMO XXI committee, I met author/educator/librarian Toni Buzzeo. I had the pleasure of driving her to the Atlanta airport from Columbus at the conclusion of the conference and we chatted, sharing stories and anecdotes for the entire trip. We have kept in touch ever since and I was delighted when she asked me to take a look at her new book The Lighthouse Christmas to review for all of you. Did she know that I am a Christmas freak? Did my kids tell her they think it looks like the North Pole threw up in my house every year? Did she suspect that I still have fond memories of throwing gobs of thin, metallic tinsel strands on our puny tree while my mother stood behind me begging “One string at a time!”? No, I don’t think so … just call it serendipity.
The Lighthouse Christmas opens with Frances and her little brother Peter, children of the widowed lighthouse keeper, anticipating Christmas. Frances is older and aware that since her mother’s passing and her father’s acceptance of a post at a very isolated and lonely lighthouse, Christmas will not be the buttery sugar cookies and family Christmas carols and presents from Santa that she and Peter remember. Storms have kept the supply boats away and the thought of leaving her Papa alone on Christmas while she and Peter visit their Aunt Martha on the mainland makes Frances feel “like a boat moored to a dock.” When a heavy storm hits, Frances must keep the flame lit in the lighthouse while Papa goes out to rescue a fisherman from his upturned boat. Both of the children are sad to realize they won’t have the kind of Christmas they had hoped for and make the best of it by celebrating with some makeshift decorations, simple gifts, and helping the rescued fisherman feel welcomed into their family. And then, well yes, Virginia… the magic of Christmas happens in a most wonderful, believable, and heartwarming way.
The illustrations are beautifully simple with rich colors and nostalgic touches that put the reader into the time and place of Toni’s story. Frances is given such expression and personality with just a few pen strokes. Peter is drawn with an obvious warmth and tenderness. All in all, I believe this book will become one of those classic stories that remind us of what Christmas is really about: families, caring hearts, and the pure joy of giving. Have a hankie ready if you plan to read this aloud. This one is going into my personal collection…
The Lighthouse Christmas by Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter; published by Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-8037-3053-3
Announcing the 2012 Annual GALILEO Staff Awards for Best Use of GALILEO Resources in a Georgia Student Media Festival Project
The GALILEO staff will present two awards for the best use of GALILEO resources in a project submitted to the 2012 Georgia Student Media Festival: group project (classroom teacher) and individual (student). In addition to fame and glory, the awards provide a technology-oriented incentive such as a mini HD video camcorder. The award winners are selected as part of the festival judging process based on the number of GALILEO resources used and cited.
Previous Winners
• 2011: Max Meyer, 7th grade student, and teacher Kathy Hall at Harris County Carver
Middle School, sequential stills individual project
• 2010: Teacher Vicky Tettelbach, 4th grade, Hopkins Elementary School in Gwinnett
County, digital magazine class project
Help with Project Ideas
• Example projects are available in the GALILEO Scrapbook
• Standards-Aligned Lesson Plan “Where I’m From in GALILEO” lesson plan (see example in GALILEO Scrapbook)
• Standards-aligned activity “Create Your Own Story in GALILEO“
Here is a handout if you would like to share this information with teachers.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
GALILEO Staff
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
GALILEO Resources for National Hispanic Heritage Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from September 15 to October 15. If you’re looking for resources to help students celebrate this month and research Hispanic Americans and their contributions, take a look at our previous GLMA blog post with GALILEO resources for National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Please Contact Us if you have questions or comments or need to report problems.
Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
The simple joy of Twitter
At our last county gathering of media specialists I was asked by a number of colleagues if I was on Twitter. It was the first time in a long time that I’d wish I was. I don’t feel the same way about Facebook. I tried it, didn’t like it, don’t miss it. Same with Google+, though it seems better than FB. But Twitter, while I’d tried it some time ago and closed the account, now sounded better. I think I was persuaded by Alan Jacobs when he said that he prefers the simplicity of Twitter over all the decisions he’s forced to make on other social networking sites (link).So I set up a new Twitter account. Since last I tried it, they have a new ‘’list’’ feature which I’m enjoying very much. I hope I haven’t broken any unspoken Twitter etiquette rules, but some folks I at first started ‘’following’’ I have now ‘’unfollowed’’ but added to a list. That way I can look at only the group of feeds I want to at that moment without having a million posts to scroll through on my main page.
Up until this new Twitter account, I’ve been more than happy with my blog and feed reader. Well, that and reddit. Reddit is all kinds of awesome but not so much a professional tool. I think the first time I tried it, Twitter seemed more like a solution in search of a problem for me. This time, it fits more of what I’m interested in. It lets me keep up with some bloggers I’ve had to trim from my feed reader and gives me the ability to check up on their stuff without having to have it all come in at me.
The people that have been swearing by it as part of their ‘’PLN’’ (‘’personal learning network,’’ or what I like to call ‘’other people’’) have touted all the great articles and links they’ve come across through twitter. Well, I’ve come across most of what I can handle happily enough with my feed reader and general surfing. In fact, lately I’ve found myself wanting to read more actual books and have cut my feed reader down to the bone.
Bur sure enough, this week of glancing at Twitter has led to a few happy discoveries I’m not sure I would have come across otherwise–at least not as soon as I did. As I’ve been writing this I’ve been reminded that Thursday is Dot Day (and man oh man do I love those Peter Reynolds books). I’ve discovered the joy that is The Kid Should See This, which I can’t wait to share with my teachers now that China my district has lifted its online video blocking (for teachers, anyway). Check it out. It’s given me a bad case of blog envy since I find and show my daughter cool videos like that all the time. But I never thought to make a whole blog just devoted to that. Awesome!
That was another drawback to Twitter I no longer face. Now that it’s open to me at school, I’m more likely to check it at lunch or whenever I check email. I’m less likely to check it at home when I’m interacting with my family and don’t want to get too involved with a phone. So now that it’s unblocked at school, I can open it up to my ‘’library’’ list and learn all kinds of good stuff.
Catch you later, I need to check my Twitter feed or stream or whatever it is you crazy kids call it these days.
Jim Randolph
Partee Elementary
Snellville, GA
@library_jim
