I also realized that as a result of teaching teachers to be more comfortable with technology, I indirectly further student use of this technology in the classroom. If a teacher is unfamiliar and “afraid” of a particular piece of technology they have, they are not likely to allow students to explore that technology (specifically the Promethean ActivBoards I mentioned earlier). If a teacher is comfortable with the technology and views it as a part of the classroom, they are more likely to allow their students to use it and even encourage them to use it on a daily basis. Since the start of my class, I have helped teachers view this and other technology as “community” property rather than “theirs.”

After leaving UNT, I plan to keep up with the latest in libraries with great blogs like ricklibrarian (http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/) and Librarian in Black (http://librarianinblack.net). I also plan on looking for new blogs with a great tool I discovered while doing my del.icio.us project called LibWorm (http://www.libworm.com/). I also plan on creating a librarian blog (or perhaps just continue on this same blog) to share things with the world that I have learned along the way. Blogging is a great way to communicate with others in your field and can be an integral part of keeping up with what is going on in the library world. Finally, I plan on attending library and technology conferences to meet face-to-face with other librarians and technology teachers and share ideas the old fashioned way: by talking.

SLIS 5720 has taught me the importance of collaborating with other professionals before rolling out a major technology plan. In the past, I have tried to reinvent the wheel every time I implemented a new project and it has usually been very stressful and time-consuming. As a result of taking this class, I have learned that countless other teachers are out there doing the exact same thing that I am trying to do and there is a wealth of free information and advice that I just need to search to find. It is even possible to directly communicate with others who have been in the same position as I and learn from their experiences. From now on I plan on consulting the internet before I try to do any major technology implementation and have a more cohesive plan instead of just figuring it out as I go like I normally do. I am used to being one of the only people in the building with significant technology experience, but I have learned to expand my walls outside of my physical location and use the knowledge of others to guide my work.

These days, everybody is a cataloger. Every day users of the internet classify their posts as well as those of others with a flair that becomes honed over time. Whether the tags, as they are called, are for personal reasons or for the benefit of others, they become more effective as they grow in number and are infinitely malleable.

As usually is the case, librarians must learn to be a buffer between the arcane world of Library of Congress catalogs and the less refined world of internet tagging. Librarians must know when the terms overlap and which is most effective for each situation. We must also be educators, teaching those familiar with one the intricacies of the other and when to use them. Librarians must embrace the social and democratic world of internet tagging without losing the formality and organization of the traditional categories.

Tagging links on the internet is fundamentally different than cataloging books for the library of congress. The tags used on sites like Delicious serve a related purpose but not an identical one. Social bookmarking sites encourage users to tag in ways that are useful to themselves, relying on the idea that the more popular tags will be the most accurate, and that the accuracy will increase as more users tag the bookmark. Library of Congress and other formal systems have to get it right the first time and don’t have the luxury of constant checking and rechecking by thousands of people. They are also for different audiences. Social tagging is useful for everyday users of the internet and are usually thought of in terms of function – for example “how will will this  particular link be used – rather than in terms of audience. Formal cataloging has a particular audience – other librarians – and suits its system to the needs of librarians and libraries, not everyday users.

In judging the helpfulness of tags vs. subject headings, one has to consider the audience. I think that for librarians, subject headings are still appropriate and serve an important purpose for the organizational structure of a library and are useful to those who are specially trained for the unique peculiarities of formal categories. However, social tagging is extremely useful for everyday users of the library and suits the way they are used to finding information. I think all OPACs should have both LoC subject headings and user tags alongside each other in order to improve the accuracy of searches.

Social tagging has one facet that traditional subject headings lack by design: subjectivity. When searching for new reading material, a user may be looking for authors who not only write in the same category, but the same style. While the LoC headings for Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut include “World War,” “Historical Fiction” and “Science Fiction,” they lack important tags like “satire,” “sarcasm,” “time travel,” and “aliens” that might be included in a social tagging format. Users can discover similar works through tags in ways that LoC headings don’t allow them to and therefore serve the purposes of readers better in some cases.

Web 2.0 is a term that has come to encompass the trends that have been sweeping the internet lately: a high level of collaboration between regular users, the web browser as a software platform and the richness of the web experience.

Wesch’s  video and Kelly’s article explain that Web 2.o sites are constantly changing and growing due to their users.  eBay and Amazon.com depend on feedback and reviews to draw customers and make sales.  Monster.com relies on users to post biographies to encourage companies to subscribe and find potential employees.

The more users that use the internet, the more powerful it becomes. The vast network of computers surpasses by far the processing power of any standalone computer and is doubling every year. This massive machine is made up of a billion individual computers, each with one or more users behind it. Its power lies in the content created by these users and the dollars spent by them. It depends on the ideas and communities created every day by regular people. It is perhaps the most democratic form of mass communication ever created.

At the same time, those creating the content aren’t always the ones that are benefiting from it, at least not financially.  Facebook and MySpace would be nothing without their users, but they generate significant incomes from ad sales. Amazon doesn’t have to hire professional expert reviewers when users provide objective and varied reviews for free.  Yahoo’s service Flickr actually charges users to post a certain amount of content, even while it draws users to their other services.

Companies that originally viewed the internet with skepticism now have become huge players in the new media. Large amounts of money are both spent and made on the internet, both by users and companies. Ads on the internet are ubiquitous and internet shopping has recently become a large driving force in the economy. Users are happy both to give their money to companies peddling new products and receive more information about products and services offered both on- and offline. The machine is feeding on the creativity and sociability of its members and it is growing and making loads of money in the process.

Wesch’s title reflects the ambiguity that those paying attention feel about the direction of the internet. It is becoming more democratic to be sure, but it is a democracy lined with consumerism. Users are creating more than ever before, but much of their creativity is being used to make money, and not by those that are creating the content. Indeed, the Machine is made up of us and is using us.

Tablet PCs have multiple functions in a library. A middle school library with 6 tablet PCs (HP TouchSmart tm2t series are about $1200 each, running a total of $7200) could do many things with these units. On a daily basis, the tablet could function as a portable OPAC, reducing the need of a student to return to a computer to look up a book. A student (or teacher) could pick up a tablet, use the wireless network to browse to the library’s OPAC site and search for what he or she needs, carrying the tablet with them the whole time. As a set, the tablets could assist a teacher in trying to manage multiple groups of students doing research. Each group could have a tablet to do research at their table along with a group of books. This prevents students from needing to go back and forth from a computer to a group and allows more collaboration between group members. Since the tablet is handheld, it is simple for students to pass it between each other, rather than needing to move furniture for another student to take control. The touchscreen aspect of tablet PCs also gives them a smaller learning curve for students unfamiliar with using computers in a formal setting.

MP3 players have come a long way since the first iPod. Today they can play videos and games, and even access wireless internet. For a library, a set of MP3 players could be a great way to help struggling learners or English learners to read along with an audio book when doing this with the class isn’t feasible. Many times audio books come separated by chapter so selecting the right starting point is simple. The inexpensive and easy-to-use Creative Zen 32GB is a perfect choice for a school library. A set of 12 would run about $2200 which is a great price when a similar iPod touch is almost twice as much. For the use this is serving the Wi-fi and gaming capabilities are unnecessary. Having 12 would be enough to use in the library on a daily basis as well as having a few to check out to teachers that would like to use them with students in their own classrooms, perhaps as an accommodation when doing silent reading.

My weaknesses lie in creating situations for students to use computers in a meaningful way throughout the day. There is much software available for students which I feel would be beneficial, but time and money constraints have prevented me from implementing any of these for the students. I tend to focus my technology efforts on the needs of teachers and other adults and leave children behind. Since the adults on my campus rely on technology on a daily basis to do things such as take attendance, communicate with each other and provide grades for students, I tend to put them ahead of students who are used to using paper and pencil on a regular basis. My district has taken the initiative of providing Promethean Active Boards on the campuses but once again these tend to be mostly used by the teachers rather than the students.

To address these issues, I will need to dedicate my time to researching and testing software for students both myself and with student helpers. As a school librarian, I would take the lead in discovering new software for students to use on campus for both learning and assessment purposes. I will be attending the Texas Computer Education Associations annual conference this year and plan to focus more on student products rather than ones that adults will be using.

My strengths will continue to come in handy as the learning curve for technology becomes higher and teachers feel like they are being left behind. I am a huge advocate of teachers learning how to use technology constantly and try to make sure my co-workers feel comfortable and competent using technology both for their students and for themselves. I will also combine this love of teaching adults to use technology and transfer that to students to make them more comfortable with the kinds of things they will be expected to know how to use once they enter the workforce as adults.

Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes

When I picked Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes to read this week, I didn’t know what to expect. I went into it with the foreknowledge that the book was about death and that it was on the banned or censored books list for this week and that was basically it. I was surprised to find an innocent tale of growing up and coming to terms with the death of a classmate, an aging grandmother and a disappointing first kiss – and first heartbreak. I began to search the internet to find out why the book was challenged. I discovered that it was on the ALA’s 10 Most Challenged Books of 2007 for “sexually explicit content and offensive language.” This one really floored me and showed me how nitpicky some parents can be about children’s books.

I flipped through the book again to figure out if there was something that I missed in this quick read but the most “offensive language” I could find were the words “asshole (pg 108),” “shitty (pg. 136)” and “prick (pg. 140)” – pretty mild from a 12-year-old’s perspective. As a middle school teacher, I hear much worse language on a daily basis just in the hallway during passing period. Any young person who wasn’t totally isolated from other young people would hear language this bad on a regular basis. The only “sexually explicit” content was the implication of Martha’s parents having morning sex. This is assuming that a non-descriptive occurence of a kiss is not considered sexually explicit. If the book were made into a movie, it would easily earn a PG rating.

The defense of this book against censorship would be pretty simple. I think a librarian would just have to instruct the party recommending censorship of this book to read it. The themes outlined in the book are important themes to explore for a young person: death, love and heartbreak. This book develops those themes in a way that is sensitive and realistic with the harshness and disappointment of reality tinted with hope and aspiration. Martha is a normal girl surrounded by other normal children and the world they live in is not a white-washed Disney Channel world with clever responses and heartwarming endings. At the same time, it is not a “starkly realistic” book like Fat Kid Rules the World or other YA books that deal with death and isolation. Most reasonable parents of middle school aged children would not have an objection to this book. I am still surprised that this book made it’s way onto the list of banned books and I think increasing the age of the protagonist by even a year would deflect much of the controversy surrounding it.

This book is proof that even innocent coming-of-age tales can have their detractors and that even the slightest attempt at creating a realistic environment for a young reader can be met with opposition. I personally am an advocate for the “middle years” genre of children’s books – those between children’s and young adults – to begin using more realistic language, both to make their characters more believable and address the fact that this is the way middle schoolers talk when adults aren’t around and that we may as well accept it. Reading children’s books in this class has really opened my eyes to the great variety of stories and experiences to be gained by reading these kinds of books, but I have still run into problems with the quality of dialog. Creating realistic and believable characters that children can relate to begins with language, and middle school children for the most part use swear words and talk about sex on a regular basis. Owning up to this fact would be a great relief for both children and adults so we can get the issues out into the open and address the underlying communication problem that results in parents being offended by these kinds of books.

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

In recent years, homosexuality has been a controversial political topic on both sides of the issue. In 2004, it was reported that two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo in New York had paired and even successfully hatched an egg. This remarkable event resulted in a large amount of publicity and a new facet to the debate about homosexuality. In 2005, playwright Peter Parnell and psychiatrist Justin Richardson teamed up to write a children’s book about the event, the result of which was And Tango Makes Three. Since it’s publication, the book has been the focus of much controversy and has become the most banned book of 2009, according to the American Library Association. The controversy from no doubt stems from the fact that positively portrays the same-sex “couple” as being fit and able non-human parents despite their non-traditional pairing. The book even states that the zookeeper believes “they must be in love.”

For all of the controversy surrounding the book there seems to be little talk about the quality of the book in general. If it was just the story of two penguins raising a chick, it would have fallen into the mix of penguin-related children’s books that resulted around the release of March of the Penguins. The book seems to capitalize on that trend to some extent, but with an obvious agenda. The praise on the back cover from John Lithgow claims that the book “will delight young readers and open their minds,” assuming that those young readers have an advanced cultural sense of the difference between same-sex and “traditional” couples.

All in all, I don’t think the book is very good. I did enjoy the illustrations as Henry Cole’s watercolors bring the characters to life and give them the personality these funny-looking birds seem to have in real life. It is mildly informative and touches on a subject that is noteworthy and seems to have good intentions, but I didn’t particularly like it. This isn’t a reflection of my personal or political views (which are probably in agreement with the authors, that homosexuality is natural, even outside of the human race), but I think the book was written as another weapon in the ongoing culture wars. That is I think the authors knew that the book didn’t have to be very good because it would sell well due to its subject matter. I also find the facetiously naive attempts at surprise that the book is controversial by the authors (as in this article) annoying. It is a telling detail that neither of the authors have gone on to write any other children’s books (Richardson did indeed right Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex, but it is a parenting book, not a children’s book). When I become a parent I will probably raise my children with an openness to homosexuality as I was raised, but is it too much to ask that books about the subject be entertaining in their own right?

A School Library Journal review from Amazon.com

This tale based on a true story about a charming penguin family living in New York City’s Central Park Zoo will capture the hearts of penguin lovers everywhere. Roy and Silo, two male penguins, are “a little bit different.” They cuddle and share a nest like the other penguin couples, and when all the others start hatching eggs, they want to be parents, too. Determined and hopeful, they bring an egg-shaped rock back to their nest and proceed to start caring for it. They have little luck, until a watchful zookeeper decides they deserve a chance at having their own family and gives them an egg in need of nurturing. The dedicated and enthusiastic fathers do a great job of hatching their funny and adorable daughter, and the three can still be seen at the zoo today. Done in soft watercolors, the illustrations set the tone for this uplifting story, and readers will find it hard to resist the penguins’ comical expressions. The well-designed pages perfectly marry words and pictures, allowing readers to savor each illustration. An author’s note provides more information about Roy, Silo, Tango, and other chinstrap penguins. This joyful story about the meaning of family is a must for any library.

This book would be good on a series about penguins or about “non-traditional” families, assuming the school or library was one whose clientele was open to this sort of thing. In general, I think it is an appropriate addition to any children’s library collection despite its mediocrity. The fact that the book is so popular and controversial makes it a must-have. The subject is definitely noteworthy and something children should be exposed to, or at least have to option of being exposed to.

Guys Write for Guys Read Edited by Jon Scieszka

In the realm of children’s literature, female authors are definitely the norm. There are many notable authors and illustrators who are men, but the vast majority are women, even when the books are intended for boys. Guys Write for Guys Read is a collection of short stories edited by Jon Scieszka, author of essential children’s books like the Time Warp Trio series and The Stinky Cheese Man. All of the stories contained within are almost a hundred short pieces on growing up male. It includes pieces by famous children’s authors like Chris Van Allsburg and Dav Pilkey, as well as more “grown-up” writers like Matt Groening and Stephen King. The proceeds from the book support Scieszka’s Guys Read initiative which exists to “encourage boys to keep reading by helping them find books they will enjoy.”

While this story is about childhood and is well within the readability realm of a middle school student, it is something adults would definitely enjoy. I really connected to a lot of the stories and it has given me a nice list of new authors and illustrators to check out for both “research” purposes as well as pleasure. The comic strips were a great surprise and Jack Gantos’ story about his masochistic need for adventure was hilarious. Most of the stories are about peer pressure or some kind of new responsibility, important parts of growing up a boy. This will be a book who I will thumb through repeatedly for years to come and I’m really glad that it was on that list!

A School Library Journal review by Jeffrey Hastings from Amazon.com

Scieszka has put together a diverse and fast-paced anthology of scribblings and stories that deserves a permanent place in any collection serving middle graders. The book features brief contributions from scores of heavyweight authors and illustrators like Walter Dean Myers, Dan Gutman, Chris Crutcher, Avi, Brian Jacques, Dav Pilkey, Stephen King, Daniel Pinkwater, Jerry Spinelli, Will Hobbs, Chris Van Allsburg, Laurence Yep, and frequent collaborator Lane Smith. If there’s one overarching theme here, it’s the simple but important message: “read what you like, when you like, whatever that happens to be.” Several other themes reappear in multiple selections. Among them are the importance of fathers, what it is to become a “real” man, how childhood reading predicted and shaped an author’s future, adventures and misadventures in sports, why it’s okay to be a “guy’s guy,” and, conversely, never being a “guy’s guy” and finding out that that’s okay, too. Boys who are constantly doodling–even when they’re not supposed to–will be particularly inspired by contributions from successful illustrators like Tony DiTerlizzi, Timothy Basil Ering, and Brett Helquist, who’ve dug up their old, shaky drawings from parents’ attics to show boys just what they were creating when they were kids. While the anthology arguably contains not one single masterpiece, there’s something undeniably grand about this collective celebration of the intellectual life of the common boy

This book would be a great way to start a boys book club or some other way to encourage boys to read more. In middle school especially, most of the readers are girls and boys see books as being “nerdy” or “sissy.” A lot of the crazy adventures in this book would easily dispel that myth.

See You Later, Gladiator by Jon Scieszka

The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka is a popular children’s book series that has also been made into a television show. The protagonists – Fred, Sam and the narrator, Joe – are young boys from Brooklyn that possess a magical tome known only as The Book that mysteriously whisks them away to different time periods and faraway lands. Unable to control The Book, the boys often find themselves in incredible and dangerous situations. They often use their personal knowledge of the time period to help them out of a bind and locate The Book, allowing them to return their own time and place.

See You Later, Gladiator is the ninth book in the series. It follows Fred, Sam and Joe into ancient Rome where they unwittingly become students in a gladiator school making a new friend, and some enemies, along the way. They use simple physics to overpower the giant bullies Horridius and Brutus, but not before challenging some gladiators to a belching contest in the cafeteria. Their friend, known only as the Professor, helps them devise a plan to be allowed to become citizens of Rome in a gladiatorial battle. They wow the audience with their showmanship learned from modern-day professional wrestlers and escape the Colosseum, known then as the Flavian Amphitheater, with their lives. When Brutus and Horridius learn of their escape they chase the friends through the streets of Rome. They are finally saved by a Vestal priestess who foresaw their appearance and returns The Book to them, bringing them back to present-day Brooklyn.

The book is filled with wordplay based on the Latin language which allows humor and learning at the same time. The story is fast-paced and keeps the reader’s attention, highlighting the similarities and differences between a gladiator school and a modern elementary school. Adam McCauley’s illustrations provide an added sense of humor to the mix, depicting the gladiators as deformed giants, all the while sticking to the ancient Roman theme. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it and the entire series for any children interested in history and science fiction. The last few pages of the book are dedicated to teaching some basic Latin phrases that, while not too useful, are fun and may pique the reader’s interest.

A School Library Journal review from Barnesandnoble.com

Joe, Sam, and Fred didn’t mean to open Joe’s magic book again, but while they were wrestling, they bumped into the bookcase and now they are back in the golden age of Rome, trying to do as the Romans do, as gladiators. Will their moves, culled from hours of watching WWF, impress in the Coliseum [sic], or are they history? Fear not-the boys triumph in the arena, using their cleverness and ingenuity against tridents and swords. Scieszka has an ear for the fast-paced language and sense of humor of school-aged kids and this book continues to illustrate his talents. McCauley’s black-and-white cartoons are a perfect match for the action-packed text. This is an excellent addition to the series and fans of the “Time Warp Trio” will shout “thumbs up” for these three would-be gladiators.

This book would be the perfect compliment to a series on ancient Rome. It would also work if studying martial arts or fighting forms throughout history. Finally, the extensive wordplay would be great for young children studying the Latin language. As part of a series, it could be part of either Reading or Social Studies, as most of the books continue on this wordplay theme, as well as teaching fascinating aspects of the cultures of different time periods.

It is difficult to sufficiently capture the life of a controversial figure like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a book. Much of the details of his death and even parts of his life are shrouded in mystery and hearsay. Accusations made at the time by politicians and the FBI have still not been cleared up to this day. The nature of King’s work garnered him some powerful enemies and his lasting contribution to American history has no doubt been embarrassing for those who opposed him at the time. On the other hand, his part in the civil rights movement has given him a legendary quality that could be tempting to gloss over some of his shortcomings and flaws. A biographer attempting to be reverent might find it appropriate to leave out certain parts of his life deemed “irrelevant” to the topic at hand.

As a result, autobiographies of King might have the tendency to be biased in one direction or the other.  King’s part in history is still controversial and he still has apologists and detractors, and doubtlessly will for a long time to come. Writing a children’s biography only complicates the issue as there might be a tendency to oversimplify some of the things that makes King such a powerful figure, such as his willingness to break what he viewed as unjust laws.

The two books I have chosen to compare for this journal are Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier and Martin Luther King, Jr.: Apostle of Militant Nonviolence by James A Colaiaco. These books are very different in their presentation of King’s life, although both bear a positive portrayal of him that is common of these sort of biographies.

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

Martin’s Big Words is a beautifully illustrated account of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life. It begins with a young King asking his mother about “White Only” water fountains and quickly moves to his life as a minister and leader. It attempts to succinctly and simply convey King’s message of love and nonviolence. It also explains opposition that King faced from “White ministers… mayors and governors and police chiefs and judges.”  It uses quotes and striking illustrations to show King’s powerful message. The book ends by describing the circumstances surrounding his death, although leaves out any controversy surrounding it and leaves open-ended the question of who shot him and why.

This book is a fair and accurate portrayal of King that is respectful and wholly appropriate for the age group that it is written for. It focuses more on King’s message than his personal life, which is to be expected for a political figure. The book offers a list of resources for those who wish to read a more complete account of his life as well as a brief description about how to search for more information on the internet. In this way, the book acknowledges its own shortcomings to older readers. The book accomplishes its goal of teaching children about the basis of King’s message and the circumstances that surrounded his coming to prominence.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Apostle of Militant Nonviolence by James A Colaiaco

James A Colaiaco’s Martin Luther King Jr.: Apostle of Militant Nonviolence is a more scholarly and analytical account of King’s philosophy of nonviolence. The book begins with Rosa Parks’ defiance of Montgomery bus laws and quickly explores King’s role in promoting the boycott that would follow her arrest. The book pairs descriptions of events with analysis of the political climate of the time including the activities of the SCLC, NAACP, The United States Congress and other various groups that were either in support of or opposed to the brewing civil rights movement.

The book forgoes delving into King’s personal life to more thoroughly outline King’s philosophy and analyze nonviolence and the problems with implementing it. Indeed, his death occupies only a paragraph in the whole book. The focus is more on his shifting politics from civil rights for Black Americans, to a more holistic stance on the whole of society, including his opposition to the Vietnam war.

This book is thorough and appropriate for what it is, but will leave the average reader wanting more. It explores King as a thinker and activist, but not as a man. It imparts King’s importance in revolutionizing the political climate of America in the 60s but doesn’t go into his personal relationships with his family and friends and the strains that being a prominent and controversial person must have had on his everyday life. This book is more of an analysis of political thought in the context of the events that surrounded King’s political life than a true biography. Indeed, the book only takes into account the last 12 years of his life and leaves the first two-thirds unmentioned. Scholars and philosophers would find this book fascinating, but the average person wanting to learn more about King would be likely disappointed by this book.