Library story

These are not my words but I thought the story too important to lose so I'm putting it here.
Crutcho Public School

Four years ago a woman I know, surveyed 6th grade students at Crutcho school. This was her first year at this school as their new librarian. She asked, "Do you ever read a book because you want to, not because you have to?" Answer: No She asked another question, "What was the last book you read that you liked?" Answer: none or Cat in the Hat in second grade.

The library had been closed and books were piled everywhere. Nothing was organized much less cataloged. Most students hadn't ever been in the library.
Things have changed since that first encounter. Now they are not only reading but they are particular about what they read. They browse the books and they will say things like, " Oooh so and so will like that one. He likes this or that author or this or that type of book." So not only are they reading they are also discussing the books. They talk about the books with their new librarian and request certain books that are not available in their library.

There are just over 300 students kindergarten through 8th grade. The librarian estimates that about 1000 items are being circulated per week now as compared to zero just 2 years ago. The students are in the hall waiting to get into the library at 7:45 a.m. They are sneaking in during their lunch hour. They're upset when the librarian isn't in the library to check out books.

She began leaving a clipboard for them to record their names, the names of the books, and the barcodes so children could check out on their own when she wasn't available. She says that if she is away from the library for 20 minutes she returns to a clipboard filled with names and book titles. The children have become readers that value the books and their library.

She gets donations from other places like Feed the Children but the books are mostly old and not of much interest to her students. Those books that can't go into the collection, go out on shelves in the hallways for students to take away and keep if they like. She also puts tables full of books and magazines out at parent/teacher conferences and invites parents to take what they want. The first couple of years people would just take everything they could get just because it was free. This year she noticed that parents were actually sifting through the books and asking questions like, "Is this a good book for my 3rd grader?" or getting excited because there was a dictionary that they could take home.

She told me that all donated books are very much appreciated but about 90% of the books from our discards are added to her collection mostly because they are of interest to her students. They are the type of books that the kids want to read. Our teen librarian keeps up with what teens want to read, what is hot on the market, and what is pertenent to the times. She weeds regularly to make room for more of what the teens want which benefits the teens in our library and in Crutcho. I give this school librian a lot of credit. She hauls heavy boxes of donated books to the school, goes through them all and then does all the cataloging and shelving by herself that our whole library system staff does to make our libraries the great places that they are. She loves her library and her students and what she has done will make a difference!

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

One of the books that I read for my current MLIS readers advisory is called Daemon by Daniel Suarez. http://thedaemon.com/ It is about changing the economic environment of the globe. The idea is forced on the world by a dead man who was a gifted gaming programmer and the head of a company that runs a MMOG that is incredibly popular. His daemon (a computer program) that is activated upon his demise creates situations and objects that ultimately will bring down the "old boy" network and way of doing things. Of course the US government is not about to let that happen and violence, death and destruction ensue. It would probably make a terrific movie. You might like it if you have any time for recreational reading.

Cooking Spray

Do not experiment with cooking spray and your cake pans when baking birthday cakes for grandchildren.
Also,
Do not attempt to ignore the direction on the cake box that calls for three eggs when you have only two.
Just So You Know!

Potato Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3-4 baking sized potatoes, cubed (1/2 inch)
2 tablespoons butter, divided and melted
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 ounces cheese that melts well
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
2 cups flake cereal, coarsely crushed.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and drizzle over potatoes. Toss well.
3. Combine soup and cheese in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for two minutes. Stir. Microwave on HIGH for two minutes. Stir. Add yogurt or sour cream and stir well.
4. Pour cheese mixture over potatoes and stir well. Spread in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
5. Melt remaining tablespoon of butter. Combine with flakes and sprinkle evenly over top of potato mixture.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Yield:
Twelve 1/2 cup servings about 180 calories per serving.

If you have a vagina, Oklahoma is not a good place to live

Can you believe what our legislature has done? I looked up the actual bills this morning and you know at first it didn't sound too bad but the longer I read, the worse it got. If I can figure out how to do it, I will post the bills here.

Go here:
http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/TextOfMeasures/TextOfMeasures.aspx
and look for HB 2780 and HB 3284

What I Learned in Class This Week

I've been thinking about on line search engines and how people use them. I read the histories and reminisced about the early days of internet access. We didn't understand then how important it was going to be to our lives and the way that we find information. Today, that's where I start my interactions on the Internet. The Google search interface is my home page.

I was surprised to learn that Yahoo uses the Google search engine and that started me thinking about the differences in online search engines. I've used Dogpile infrequently but I know that it exists and use it when I can't find what I'm looking for on Google. Google seems to be offering more and more sites that have paid to be at the top of the list. I know the quest for money overrides the quest for information- everyone needs to stay afloat economically but one does get tired of sifting through commercials.

I was also interested in the way that Google seemed to zoom to the top of our searching awareness. We've made the site's name a verb for goodness sake! What was it that set it apart from Dogpile, Yahoo, Lycos, Altavista and all the rest? My own thought is that for most of the users, the algorithms, spiders and cached work mattered less than its interesting name and clear, uncluttered interface. It was easy to remember that the odd word, Google, allowed us to search for information by typing in a couple of words. Magic! For most people, it hasn't mattered much that part of the Web is hidden, inaccessible. Google gives them enough to start and sense that there is a lot more if they want to look at it.

The past year has brought us Bing, a new search engine from Microsoft. I thought I remembered that it had a few flashy ads on the page but checking it just now revealed that I was wrong. I find myself negatively influenced by the graphics and the animations. A simple search showed many of the same sites that an identical search on Google brought up. I find that I still prefer Google's white page and search field presentation.

My search experience is only one of millions, billions, trillions that happen on the Internet. I wanted to say that most searchers feel the way that I do but I don't know that. Given that I tend to evaluate based on visual attributes, I will probably continue to use Google for most searching, digging deeper into databases only when Google can't give me what I need.

Another school project

I know that I've usurped this blog for school stuff but the rest of you are welcome to do the same thing. Let me know if you want to have the kind of access that will let you create a post. If you are a woman who eats, I'll give it to you. If not, you'll have to content yourself with making comments. :)

So anyway, I had to learn to use a new Web 2.0 application named Jing. Jing allows you to create a 5 minute video of something that can happen on your computer and save it to a website called Screencast. From there you can share it with whomever you want and they'll be able to see the video. Here is the one that I created for my class. Just left-click on the colored underlined text below

Nancy's Paint dot Net Project