Language Translation Features in GALILEO Resources

Many of the resources in GALILEO have recently added the ability to translate articles, which can be helpful for students who are learning English or other languages.

All grade levels of Encyclopædia Britannica allow you to turn on the Spanish translator in an article and then click a word in the article to see the translated word.

Articles in SIRS Issues Researcher have a Translate dropdown menu to allow users to translate the article into a variety of languages.

Many EBSCO resources, including Kids Search, Middle Search Plus, Student Research Center, MAS Ultra, Literary Reference Center, History Reference Center, and others, allow you to change the language of the database interface as well as the language of the article.

Students can also find a Spanish-language encyclopedia and article databases in the Spanish Resources section of GALILEO High School and GALILEO Teen. In addition, Global Reference Center provides encyclopedia and reference resources for several languages, including Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Korean, French, and Japanese.

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

Screenshot from Translate feature in MAS Ultra

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 Issues Researcher: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zsks
Kids Search: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbks
Middle Search Plus: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbms
Student Research Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbst
MAS Ultra: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbma
History Reference Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbhr
Literary Reference Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zblr
Global Reference Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zegr
Find All Your Express Links (what’s this?)

Volunteer Gifts!

Volunteer Gifts! (and clerks, of course!)It’s a challenge every year, isn’t it?  And gift giving is such a minefield these days.  How much to spend?  What if there’s no money?  Dietary restrictions? What holidays are they cool with?

Well I have some answers for you, my friends!  Of course, most of these are not my own.  I’ve been collecting them for years from other blogs, teachers, media folks, and online comments.

Let me just start by saying, personally, I like things that go away.  Baked goods and gift cards.  None of us need anymore candles, tree ornaments or candy-filled mugs.  But that’s just me.  Here we go:

Some people have…

…bought a beach bag with a towel, sunscreen, water bottles, and beach toys.

…bought an ice cream bowl, scoop, and gift card to ice cream place.

…bought a bowl, microwave popcorn, candy, soda, and video rental gift card.

…made a gift basket out of BBQ items.

…made a small gift basket with pen, memo pad and other small supplies.

…bought a set of patio dishes and glasses.
…gave a nice notecard set.

…bought a nice beach towel.

…gave a nice candle.

…gave some bath stuff.

…gave a potted or hanging plant or flowers.

…gave a gift card. (One teacher said they gave a MC/Visa gift card so the volunteer could use it as they pleased).

…got a yummy type of chocolate…Ghiraldi Peppermint Bark this year and attach a bookstore gift card

…baked them some pumpkin bread and/or Starbucks gift cards.

…had a luncheon and then give a nice ornament or poinsettia.  At the end of the year, we do a breakfast and another small gift like soap or stationery.  We also give them a book & treat bag during each book fair.

…got fleece throws at Kohls (I think they were $4 with my coupon) and I was going to attach some homemade chocolates and a note for them to use this to snuggle up with a good book this holiday season.  Last year I found winter themed to go coffee cups and put in packets of hot chocolate in them plus some homemade chocolates.

…bought them pedicures. They loved it!

…gave an ornament with their child’s picture in it.  The volunteers love it.  For those volunteers that do not celebrate Christmas I just put their child’s picture in a non-holiday frame.

…had a good friend who makes key chains, wristlets, and lanyards and all of the proceeds go to a charity.  I am ordering key chains for all of my aides, a wristlet for teachers who are always good “customers” and will probably order lanyards next semester for end of the year gifts.

…purchased tree ornaments from Pier One and they loved them!

…usually hit Bath & Body Works for all their travel sized items.  This year, I’ve done the socks infused with shea butter and an anti-bacterial lotion.  The most important part is presentation.  You don’t have to spend a lot, just make sure you wrap in cute cellophane and maybe throw some candy in there, too.  They always love it!

..purchased gift certificates from restaurant.com  to local establishments.  $25 denominations only cost $2 each.

…moved away from the Christmas gift and give them a token of our appreciation towards the end of the year.  I try to write personal notes throughout the year to let them know how much I appreciate them.

…make a few homemade goodies and write a nice thank-you note.

…took NEW books that I just ordered and  before I circulate them, I let the volunteers children come by and look at them and select a book to “dedicate” to their mom.  I make a dedication page and put it in the book which we cover with clear contact paper.  I then let the child be the first one to check it out when it is ready.  I also print a thank you card with a picture of the cover of the dedicated book.

…buy these lovely ladies gift cards out of my own pocket and am happy to do it.  But if I had more than my current 3 or 4 volunteers, I’d just do a whole lot more baking.  I also brought in a coffee maker last year and keep that stocked with good coffee and creamer and such out of my own pocket.  Because they are awesome.

More ideas?  Leave them in the comments!

Thanks,
Jim Randolph
Partee Elementary
Snellville, GA
@library_jim

Celebrating Literacy in the Library and Inviting Participation

How do you invite a participatory culture in your library?  For me, this is a term that is an embedded part of my philosophy.  I strive to find ways for students to have multiple opportunities to connect, participate, collaborate, and create in the media center throughout the year.  All students don’t participate every time, which is fine, but my goal is to offer enough variety of experiences through collaborative lessons, resource promotions, and incentives/contests that every student has a chance to find a place to participate during the year.

After several impromptu conversations with parents and teachers recently, I’ve come to value the power of library sponsored literacy contests and reading promotions.  Teachers have mentioned that they love the “choice” that is a part of these contests and promotions because they see such a variety of students who participate.  Parents have commented to me that their child had no interest in writing poetry or essays until a contest came along.  Multiple parents have mentioned the motivating power of these contests.  My parapro and I have seen how the simple interactive component of stamping a box on a piece of paper can give direction in choosing new books outside of comfort zones and motivation to try something new.

What have I done this year?

• In September/October, students had sheets where they were asked to read books from different categories of the library such as biographies, informational, graphic novel, fiction, etc.  Each time they read one of these books, they earned a stamp, and they stamped their papers themselves.  When they completed their sheets, they had their name displayed in the media center on our book fair decorations and had their name entered into a drawing for a book fair gift certificate.  Requirements for the sheets were different for each grade level.
• In October, we partnered with a few other schools in the district and Avid Bookshop, a local independent bookstore, and held a Mysteries of Harris Burdick writing contest.  Students in every grade wrote stories based on the images of the book by Chris Van Allsburg.  We judged the final pieces at the school level to choose the best pieces and sent those on to Avid Bookshop for a local competition.  Avid recruited authors and other community members to select several finalists who were honored at a celebration at the bookshop.  One winner was chosen to enter a national competition.  All students who entered the contest received a certificate of participation.
• In November, we celebrated National Picture Book Month.  Picture books were promoted all month long on our morning broadcast, and students kept a record of all of the picture books they read for the month, no matter where they came from or whether they were read to them or by themselves.  Depending on how many books students read they earned a bookmark, picture book month certificate, and their name in a drawing for free picture books.  We had about 180 students turn in sheets out of 500 students and over 3,500 picture books were logged during November.

What else is coming this year?

• In January and February, we will sponsor a persuasive writing contest.  At the moment, we think this will be a spin-off of picture book month.  The picture book month site has several essays by authors about the importance of picture books that could serve as mentor texts for students.  I have already promoted this in collaborative meetings with teachers as a possible project I might work on with whole classes or groups of students.  Students will write pieces about the importance of picture books.
• In March, we will hold another reading promotion leading up to our spring book fair where students earn stamps.
• In April, our 2nd annual poetry contest will be held.  This was a huge success last year with over 150 entries from students.  Poems can be written in any form (rhyming, list poetry, free verse, acrostic, etc) and any platform (a napkin, hand written on paper, typed and printed, Animoto, Photo Story, etc).  This year we may partner with Avid Bookshop to extend the contest beyond our school.  The contest will culminate in our annual Poem in Your Pocket Day open mic cafe where all students share poetry into a microphone in the media center.  This event will be broadcast live on the web through Adobe Connect.

These contests and promotions are just one layer of the participatory culture of the Barrow Media Center, but they have come to be a piece that students, teachers, and families appreciate and expect.  These promotions and contests run simultaneously with the multiple collaborative lessons and projects that take place in the library and by no means replace other purposes of the library.  I will continue to evaluate their relevance to our program and always look to give even more students opportunities to connect and create in our library.  How are you celebrating literacy and inviting participation in your library?

Andy Plemmons

School Librarian

David C. Barrow Elementary

Athens, GA

http://barrowmediacenter.wordpress.com

http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/webpages/aplemmons