NY Times: 2008 November 23
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/books/review/KidsNotable-t.html?ref=review
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Are you native to the digital world or just visiting?
Vancouver Sun: 2008 November 27
Mitch Joel
Is your company presently blocking access to YouTube? Can no one get on Facebook or check out MySpace? Is your IT department still trying to sell your senior management on the absurd notion that allowing people to access websites that have Flash animation on them could cause some kind of security breach, or worse, cripple your entire technological infrastructure with a deadly computer virus?
We made it through the Y2K scare, but something bigger is brewing in your business. It has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with your human capital. Your ability to grow your business efficiently is at stake, but this time it's about your people and not your choice of software solutions.
If you thought your business is going to be challenged over the next little while with trying to figure out the economic downturn and how you're going to bootstrap your way through this recession (it is a recession, isn't it?), there might be something even more challenging happening within your organization.
How many employees do you have who are Digital Natives?
A Digital Native is essentially anyone who was born and raised in a household where there was always a computer. We're talking about your new employees who have never known a world without a mouse and a keyboard. Some of them have not only always had a computer in their life, but they've also been online since they were infants. Being connected, chatting through Instant Messenger, sharing files through Google Docs, working collaboratively on a wiki (a web page that anyone can edit), creating and uploading their own videos, posting their thoughts to Twitter or updating their Facebook status is all a large part of their daily lives -- much in the same way you pick up the phone to call your spouse or go to the bathroom. Most of us older folks are Digital Immigrants (anyone over 30 is, pretty much, a Digital Immigrant -- someone who grew up without digital technology and adopted it later). I love this example from Wikipedia: "A digital native might refer to their new 'camera'; a digital immigrant might refer to their new 'digital camera'."
How old do you feel now?
Clay Shirky (educator, technologist and author of the amazing book, Here Comes Everybody) summed it up best when he recounted how his friend's four-year-old daughter wondered why the TV screen didn't come with a mouse. Their perspective is very different from ours. We're doing our best to recruit, retain and engage this workforce, and we're mistaking their multi-platforming (you know, the types of people who watch television with a laptop on their laps -- and seven different windows open -- while they're listening to their iPod and texting off of their BlackBerry) for time wasting and lack of focus.
If your company is blocking channels like YouTube and Facebook, you are missing the point. You're missing an opportunity to enable and empower your people to connect. The same tactic of blocking is used when any new technology comes into the workplace and causes a level of disruption. First off, that's what great technology does ... it disrupts. When phones were first introduced, many companies saw no reason why employees should have access to one. The same was true for faxes, computers and e-mail. You would think that we would have learned our lesson by now. Sadly, we have not.
Being connected is not only a part of who they are, it is what they are. Their digital footprints are their personality, and not giving them access to these tools, channels and media would be the equivalent of someone telling you that you can't use the phone or talk to your peers during office hours. The people who are going to abuse their access to Facebook and YouTube are the same ones who would take an extra hour for lunch or not come into work because they are -- cough, cough -- sick.
Any great business knows that to get the best talent, you need to be a great place to work. Taking away communications and marketing channels that are critical to their success is not going to attract the best and brightest. Digital Natives have an expectation that work is going to be like school, where they are constantly connected, collaborating, researching, sharing, having fun (gasp!), and growing beyond the confines of your four physical walls.
"We believe human contact is what makes companies successful," said Bernardo Huberman with the Information Dynamics group for HP in a recent interview. "If people don't communicate and collaborate, not a whole lot will happen. We know there are risks, but the positives far outweigh them in how much spirit social networking and collaboration brings to an organization."
Lee Thomas, the vice-president of IT at Berkshire-Hathaway went on to say, "My supervisor used to send messages about team strategies via e-mail. But when new people came onboard, they didn't have access to that tribal knowledge."
It might seem like these types of new channels are forcing a new kind of business environment (I'm sure they said the same thing when overnight couriers first started popping up), but the blunt reality is that by enabling and empowering your team to embrace the ways of the Digital Natives, things should get much more efficient as that "tribal knowledge" now resides in interactive intranets powered by wiki-like software. Places where the knowledge builds over time instead of getting lost in some past employee's Outlook folder.
If you're still not sold on the power of Digital Natives and how their culture can help improve and sustain your business, check out Don Tapscott's latest book, Grown Up Digital -- How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. Tapscott is the best-selling author of Wikinomics and one of the foremost technology thinkers in Canada. And, if that doesn't convince you to think about how much new media and connectivity has changed everything we know, read this quote from David Neale, head of product development at Telus: "My son still watches prime-time TV. He just doesn't watch it in prime time. And he doesn't watch it on a TV."
Mitch Joel is president of the digital marketing and communications agency Twist Image. He is writing a book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his blog and podcast.
Mitch Joel
Is your company presently blocking access to YouTube? Can no one get on Facebook or check out MySpace? Is your IT department still trying to sell your senior management on the absurd notion that allowing people to access websites that have Flash animation on them could cause some kind of security breach, or worse, cripple your entire technological infrastructure with a deadly computer virus?
We made it through the Y2K scare, but something bigger is brewing in your business. It has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with your human capital. Your ability to grow your business efficiently is at stake, but this time it's about your people and not your choice of software solutions.
If you thought your business is going to be challenged over the next little while with trying to figure out the economic downturn and how you're going to bootstrap your way through this recession (it is a recession, isn't it?), there might be something even more challenging happening within your organization.
How many employees do you have who are Digital Natives?
A Digital Native is essentially anyone who was born and raised in a household where there was always a computer. We're talking about your new employees who have never known a world without a mouse and a keyboard. Some of them have not only always had a computer in their life, but they've also been online since they were infants. Being connected, chatting through Instant Messenger, sharing files through Google Docs, working collaboratively on a wiki (a web page that anyone can edit), creating and uploading their own videos, posting their thoughts to Twitter or updating their Facebook status is all a large part of their daily lives -- much in the same way you pick up the phone to call your spouse or go to the bathroom. Most of us older folks are Digital Immigrants (anyone over 30 is, pretty much, a Digital Immigrant -- someone who grew up without digital technology and adopted it later). I love this example from Wikipedia: "A digital native might refer to their new 'camera'; a digital immigrant might refer to their new 'digital camera'."
How old do you feel now?
Clay Shirky (educator, technologist and author of the amazing book, Here Comes Everybody) summed it up best when he recounted how his friend's four-year-old daughter wondered why the TV screen didn't come with a mouse. Their perspective is very different from ours. We're doing our best to recruit, retain and engage this workforce, and we're mistaking their multi-platforming (you know, the types of people who watch television with a laptop on their laps -- and seven different windows open -- while they're listening to their iPod and texting off of their BlackBerry) for time wasting and lack of focus.
If your company is blocking channels like YouTube and Facebook, you are missing the point. You're missing an opportunity to enable and empower your people to connect. The same tactic of blocking is used when any new technology comes into the workplace and causes a level of disruption. First off, that's what great technology does ... it disrupts. When phones were first introduced, many companies saw no reason why employees should have access to one. The same was true for faxes, computers and e-mail. You would think that we would have learned our lesson by now. Sadly, we have not.
Being connected is not only a part of who they are, it is what they are. Their digital footprints are their personality, and not giving them access to these tools, channels and media would be the equivalent of someone telling you that you can't use the phone or talk to your peers during office hours. The people who are going to abuse their access to Facebook and YouTube are the same ones who would take an extra hour for lunch or not come into work because they are -- cough, cough -- sick.
Any great business knows that to get the best talent, you need to be a great place to work. Taking away communications and marketing channels that are critical to their success is not going to attract the best and brightest. Digital Natives have an expectation that work is going to be like school, where they are constantly connected, collaborating, researching, sharing, having fun (gasp!), and growing beyond the confines of your four physical walls.
"We believe human contact is what makes companies successful," said Bernardo Huberman with the Information Dynamics group for HP in a recent interview. "If people don't communicate and collaborate, not a whole lot will happen. We know there are risks, but the positives far outweigh them in how much spirit social networking and collaboration brings to an organization."
Lee Thomas, the vice-president of IT at Berkshire-Hathaway went on to say, "My supervisor used to send messages about team strategies via e-mail. But when new people came onboard, they didn't have access to that tribal knowledge."
It might seem like these types of new channels are forcing a new kind of business environment (I'm sure they said the same thing when overnight couriers first started popping up), but the blunt reality is that by enabling and empowering your team to embrace the ways of the Digital Natives, things should get much more efficient as that "tribal knowledge" now resides in interactive intranets powered by wiki-like software. Places where the knowledge builds over time instead of getting lost in some past employee's Outlook folder.
If you're still not sold on the power of Digital Natives and how their culture can help improve and sustain your business, check out Don Tapscott's latest book, Grown Up Digital -- How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. Tapscott is the best-selling author of Wikinomics and one of the foremost technology thinkers in Canada. And, if that doesn't convince you to think about how much new media and connectivity has changed everything we know, read this quote from David Neale, head of product development at Telus: "My son still watches prime-time TV. He just doesn't watch it in prime time. And he doesn't watch it on a TV."
Mitch Joel is president of the digital marketing and communications agency Twist Image. He is writing a book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his blog and podcast.
Why stories will never die
Storytelling is under assault in schools, universities and from the Internet, but the power of narrative shows no sign of waning
Vancouver Sun: 2008 November 27
Ian Lindsay
"Tell me a story." It’s a plea that echoes through the ages; not only the ages of human civilization, but the ages of man.
While the Internet is good at providing some types of information, books are still much better for storytelling.
As a child, tucked up and ready for bed. As an adult, settling deep into a popcorn- scented cinema seat as the house lights go down. In old age, becalmed, combing your memories. Telling stories is as old a game as language itself.
So it’s odd — not to say alarming — to read reports that some people seem to think we’re on the verge of running out of narrative. A group of academics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in cahoots with some Hollywood moguls, have announced the opening of a “ Center for Future Storytelling.”
“The idea as we move forward with 21st- century storytelling is to try to keep meaning alive,” explains its founder, David Kirkpatrick.
Baffling. Are they hoping — like Sarah Palin prospecting for oil in Alaska — to find fresh reserves, another two basic plots, maybe? Or are they proposing a more efficient use of our existing narrative resources — a prohibition on excessive use of plot twists, or an annual allocation of tradable deus ex machina credits to the larger Hollywood studios?
Their announcement does not tell us, offering instead a feast of bilge about “ next- generation synthetic performer technologies.” But there we are. The Center for Future Storytelling is a sign of the times.
The notion that the narrative arts are under threat from information overload, shrinking attention spans, text messaging, social networking sites and slam-bam CGI blockbusters is one widely given voice. What’s so odd is that the remedies proposed, as often as not, seem to involve a massive increase in just such things.
The eggheads at MIT have, in this respect, more than just a prose style in common with the governing body at Meadows Community School in Chesterfield. The closure of the library at this 759- strong comprehensive in central England is being explained as “a move towards the relocation and redistribution of nonfiction and fiction resources in the light of the new developments in a virtual- learning environment and interactive learning.”
Every clause is doubled- up into redundancy in the hope of sounding grand. How does “relocation” differ from “redistribution” — and don’t they add up to “ relocating from the library to the skip”? What are “nonfiction and fiction resources” — other than a fancy way of saying “all the books we have”? How does “a virtual learning environment” differ from “interactive learning” (what learning isn’t “interactive,” come to that) — and is it just clever- sounding verbiage for the Internet?
The thing is, the Internet does some things very well, and the codex book does other things very well. There is an overlap — they are both means of preserving and sharing information — but it’s foolish to see the two as interchangeable, or the former as supplanting the latter.
One of the cliches about education is that it should teach you not what to think, but how to think; and a vital part of that is understanding the shape of knowledge — being able to evaluate categories of information and degrees of authority in sources. If the educators themselves can’t or won’t think about these distinctions, God help their pupils.
The examples aren’t too hard to come by. The Internet does academic apparatus, at least potentially, better than books ever could. Concordances can be compiled in seconds, rather than in lifetimes. The work of footnotes — embedding explanatory material or further reading — and bibliographies is done wonderfully well by hypertext links: Entire fields of further reading open up at the click of a mouse. It does reference, in some cases, at least as well as a book. The online Oxford English Dictionary is a glory; the book version is unwieldy and comparatively expensive. The Dictionary of National Biography online, by now, should have fewer mistakes than the book version — and the ease of searching and cross- reference it offers is unarguably superior.
Some of the weaknesses of the online world have to do with authority. Many of the most popular online resources, like Wikipedia, are collaborative, and therefore tremendously useful but vulnerable to the bad faith of malicious users, or “trolls.” Even those resources that are more monolithic are vulnerable to hackers. And all is not, on the Web, what it seems.
These dangers can be exaggerated — one much-cited ( and much-debated) study found Wikipedia’s accuracy compared favourably with that of the Encyclopedia Britannica — but on the Internet the good stuff is often drowned out by the garbage. The printed word may preserve errors longer (the DNB can correct errors in its online edition instantly), but because the bar to entry is higher, it is less likely to make them in the first place. Books — the right books — are slower but more often trustworthy than a Google search.
Leave that aside, though, to consider an area in which authority is less — or at least, differently — important: storytelling. Prose narrative is one of the things that the book still does much, much better than any computer or the sluggish and buggy electronic readers available.
Reading a full-length novel on a screen is next to impossible. Your back aches. You mouth parches. Your eyes fall out. For portability, browsability and ease of annotation the book is the best form of technology we have, and has been since its invention.
That alone explains why it is a mistake to abolish a school library (with its librarian; a professional guide to the shape of knowledge) in favour of the “ virtual learning environment.” Writing to the headmistress of the Meadows in protest, the author Philip Pullman protested against what he saw as a decision to “relegate the whole activity of reading fiction to the status of a trivial and innocuous activity, like stamp collecting or playing with a Frisbee.”
I’m in agreement with him: Reading fiction is not a trivial activity. Not only does narrative pleasure sugar the pill of learning in all sorts of areas, it is a good in and of itself.
The old theory that there are only a handful of basic plots in all literature points to something. Storytelling is underpinned by myth. The characters in Beowulf, and in Henry James, and in Joel Schumacher’s latest slam- bang movie extravaganza, all participate, with more or less elaborate variations, in archetype.
One of the first people to look into this systematically was a Russian folklorist called Vladimir Propp, whose book The Morphology of the Folk Tale sought to distill a sort of universal genome of myth. He got pretty far with it.
You don’t have to be a crazed Jungian, a structural anthropologist, or a seven- basic- plots believer to agree that storytelling is something of universal importance in human experience, and something that exhibits deep and suggestive similarities across cultures.
Myths, it has been said, are “good to think with.” Storytelling is a way of trying out situations imaginatively, of preserving knowledge and social value, of attesting to a commonality of experience. Stories are central to how we think about the world, from the individual to the wide sweep of history.
The ability to put yourself in another’s shoes is the foundation- stone of all morality. And what is that but an imaginative process? Where do we learn it but in stories? “In dreams begins responsibility,” said W. B. Yeats. He wasn’t kidding. It’s no accident that the great boast made about the Bible is not that it tells you how to behave, but that it is “the greatest story ever told.” It has a beginning — an “in the beginning,” in fact — a middle and an end.
We may well run out of oil. We are in no danger whatever of running out of narrative.
Changing technologies have affected the means by which stories are told. You can follow the story of a person’s life pointillistically through a Twitter feed or voyeuristically through a webcam. You can read a self-contained novel; one with an alternate ending, or a choose-your own adventure book.
But when you strip off all the bells and whistles, these stories will be in all the important essences no different from those of the Bible or Homer.
Vancouver Sun: 2008 November 27
Ian Lindsay
"Tell me a story." It’s a plea that echoes through the ages; not only the ages of human civilization, but the ages of man.
While the Internet is good at providing some types of information, books are still much better for storytelling.
As a child, tucked up and ready for bed. As an adult, settling deep into a popcorn- scented cinema seat as the house lights go down. In old age, becalmed, combing your memories. Telling stories is as old a game as language itself.
So it’s odd — not to say alarming — to read reports that some people seem to think we’re on the verge of running out of narrative. A group of academics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in cahoots with some Hollywood moguls, have announced the opening of a “ Center for Future Storytelling.”
“The idea as we move forward with 21st- century storytelling is to try to keep meaning alive,” explains its founder, David Kirkpatrick.
Baffling. Are they hoping — like Sarah Palin prospecting for oil in Alaska — to find fresh reserves, another two basic plots, maybe? Or are they proposing a more efficient use of our existing narrative resources — a prohibition on excessive use of plot twists, or an annual allocation of tradable deus ex machina credits to the larger Hollywood studios?
Their announcement does not tell us, offering instead a feast of bilge about “ next- generation synthetic performer technologies.” But there we are. The Center for Future Storytelling is a sign of the times.
The notion that the narrative arts are under threat from information overload, shrinking attention spans, text messaging, social networking sites and slam-bam CGI blockbusters is one widely given voice. What’s so odd is that the remedies proposed, as often as not, seem to involve a massive increase in just such things.
The eggheads at MIT have, in this respect, more than just a prose style in common with the governing body at Meadows Community School in Chesterfield. The closure of the library at this 759- strong comprehensive in central England is being explained as “a move towards the relocation and redistribution of nonfiction and fiction resources in the light of the new developments in a virtual- learning environment and interactive learning.”
Every clause is doubled- up into redundancy in the hope of sounding grand. How does “relocation” differ from “redistribution” — and don’t they add up to “ relocating from the library to the skip”? What are “nonfiction and fiction resources” — other than a fancy way of saying “all the books we have”? How does “a virtual learning environment” differ from “interactive learning” (what learning isn’t “interactive,” come to that) — and is it just clever- sounding verbiage for the Internet?
The thing is, the Internet does some things very well, and the codex book does other things very well. There is an overlap — they are both means of preserving and sharing information — but it’s foolish to see the two as interchangeable, or the former as supplanting the latter.
One of the cliches about education is that it should teach you not what to think, but how to think; and a vital part of that is understanding the shape of knowledge — being able to evaluate categories of information and degrees of authority in sources. If the educators themselves can’t or won’t think about these distinctions, God help their pupils.
The examples aren’t too hard to come by. The Internet does academic apparatus, at least potentially, better than books ever could. Concordances can be compiled in seconds, rather than in lifetimes. The work of footnotes — embedding explanatory material or further reading — and bibliographies is done wonderfully well by hypertext links: Entire fields of further reading open up at the click of a mouse. It does reference, in some cases, at least as well as a book. The online Oxford English Dictionary is a glory; the book version is unwieldy and comparatively expensive. The Dictionary of National Biography online, by now, should have fewer mistakes than the book version — and the ease of searching and cross- reference it offers is unarguably superior.
Some of the weaknesses of the online world have to do with authority. Many of the most popular online resources, like Wikipedia, are collaborative, and therefore tremendously useful but vulnerable to the bad faith of malicious users, or “trolls.” Even those resources that are more monolithic are vulnerable to hackers. And all is not, on the Web, what it seems.
These dangers can be exaggerated — one much-cited ( and much-debated) study found Wikipedia’s accuracy compared favourably with that of the Encyclopedia Britannica — but on the Internet the good stuff is often drowned out by the garbage. The printed word may preserve errors longer (the DNB can correct errors in its online edition instantly), but because the bar to entry is higher, it is less likely to make them in the first place. Books — the right books — are slower but more often trustworthy than a Google search.
Leave that aside, though, to consider an area in which authority is less — or at least, differently — important: storytelling. Prose narrative is one of the things that the book still does much, much better than any computer or the sluggish and buggy electronic readers available.
Reading a full-length novel on a screen is next to impossible. Your back aches. You mouth parches. Your eyes fall out. For portability, browsability and ease of annotation the book is the best form of technology we have, and has been since its invention.
That alone explains why it is a mistake to abolish a school library (with its librarian; a professional guide to the shape of knowledge) in favour of the “ virtual learning environment.” Writing to the headmistress of the Meadows in protest, the author Philip Pullman protested against what he saw as a decision to “relegate the whole activity of reading fiction to the status of a trivial and innocuous activity, like stamp collecting or playing with a Frisbee.”
I’m in agreement with him: Reading fiction is not a trivial activity. Not only does narrative pleasure sugar the pill of learning in all sorts of areas, it is a good in and of itself.
The old theory that there are only a handful of basic plots in all literature points to something. Storytelling is underpinned by myth. The characters in Beowulf, and in Henry James, and in Joel Schumacher’s latest slam- bang movie extravaganza, all participate, with more or less elaborate variations, in archetype.
One of the first people to look into this systematically was a Russian folklorist called Vladimir Propp, whose book The Morphology of the Folk Tale sought to distill a sort of universal genome of myth. He got pretty far with it.
You don’t have to be a crazed Jungian, a structural anthropologist, or a seven- basic- plots believer to agree that storytelling is something of universal importance in human experience, and something that exhibits deep and suggestive similarities across cultures.
Myths, it has been said, are “good to think with.” Storytelling is a way of trying out situations imaginatively, of preserving knowledge and social value, of attesting to a commonality of experience. Stories are central to how we think about the world, from the individual to the wide sweep of history.
The ability to put yourself in another’s shoes is the foundation- stone of all morality. And what is that but an imaginative process? Where do we learn it but in stories? “In dreams begins responsibility,” said W. B. Yeats. He wasn’t kidding. It’s no accident that the great boast made about the Bible is not that it tells you how to behave, but that it is “the greatest story ever told.” It has a beginning — an “in the beginning,” in fact — a middle and an end.
We may well run out of oil. We are in no danger whatever of running out of narrative.
Changing technologies have affected the means by which stories are told. You can follow the story of a person’s life pointillistically through a Twitter feed or voyeuristically through a webcam. You can read a self-contained novel; one with an alternate ending, or a choose-your own adventure book.
But when you strip off all the bells and whistles, these stories will be in all the important essences no different from those of the Bible or Homer.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Nashville Mayor Wants City Library to Enfold Media Centers
American Libraries: 2008 November 23
Officials of the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) seemed taken aback by a November 20 press conference Mayor Karl Dean held at Nashville Public Library’s East branch where he announced that the city library would begin taking over the operation of school libraries systemwide in January 2009.
Nashville Public Library Director Donna Nicely confirmed to American Libraries that she and Mayor Dean had been conferring with each other for several months about the prospect of combining public and school library operations. “We all talk about thinking outside the box, but here’s an idea that truly could transform the public library and the school libraries because we would be enfolding them into the public library structure,” Nicely said, explaining that the idea was “strictly a proposal at this point.” However, she told CBS affiliate WTVF-TV at the press conference, “It‘s just a matter of organizing it and understanding how it all works and going forward with it.”
But school officials seem to have been left out of the loop. “We can’t say whether or not this is something we could do or could not do,” MNPS spokesperson Olivia Brown told AL. “At this point, we’ve not had any discussion, we’ve not had any proposal presented to the school board.”
The plan as envisioned by Nicely and Dean starts with the public library taking on the acquisition of materials for high school libraries “because Ms. Nicely says those libraries most reflect, in size and setup, what our branch libraries are like. So those would be the easiest to enfold into our library system,” mayoral Public Information Officer Janel Lacey told AL.
Lacey also emphasized that the mayor has made education “his number-one agenda item” since he took office in September 2007, acknowledging that his concern was heightened by the school system having entered Restructuring I status for the 2008–09 academic year for not making adequate yearly progress as defined by No Child Left Behind regulations. The category of Restructuring I places district-level financial decisions in the hands of the state Department of Education, and Tennessee DOE Commissioner Tim Webb confirmed in the November 17 Nashville City Paper that he was already researching whether Mayor Dean could legally be appointed trustee of the school district should it slip into Restructuring II status for the 2010–11 academic year.
These scenarios were playing out behind the scenes for the most part until the November 20 press conference. The next day, Dean and school officials disclosed letters dated November 20 that they had just exchanged. Dean’s letter to MNPS Acting Director Chris Henson cited a prior conversation between the two about “the benefits of consolidating the library services of Metro Schools and the Nashville Public Library” and advised Henson that library Director Donna Nicely “is prepared to move forward with this endeavor . . . with preparation starting in January 2009 and the first phase, primarily focused on combining the procurement of materials [for the public library and high school libraries], taking effect July 1.” Asserting that “this decision is common sense,“ Dean went on to say, “I know the libraries in Metro Schools have staff devoted to supporting the education we give our students in the classroom, and I believe this collaboration will greatly enhance their ability to do so.” (MNPS spokesperson Brown told AL that the system of 137 schools currently budgets for almost 200 librarians and aides.)
Replying for Henson, school board Chairman David A. Fox wrote Dean that, while school officials “are receptive to any efforts and ideas that could generate higher quality and more efficient services for our students,” a change of such magnitude “ultimately would be decided upon by the school board itself.” Besides, Fox emphasized, there had not yet been any “meaningful conversation” between city and school officials about a library merger aside from comments that “seemed to be just exploratory and . . . confidential.”
Genesis of a vision
Anticipating that “we’ll be sitting down with school officials soon to talk over what this means,” with the phase-in of consolidation starting by the end of 2009, Nicely told AL that idea of NPL overseeing school-library services emerged from a series of public hearings about the public library’s 5–10-year plan that began eight months ago. “We heard such a strong concern from people in the city about the teenagers. What are they doing after school? Could the public library assist them with after-school activities?” she explained, characterizing citizens’ comments as reflecting “an urgent concern, worrying about gangs.” Asked repeatedly by members of the public “how much more closely could we work with the public schools,” Nicely said she and Dean began to discuss the possibilities.
Nicely added that she saw enormous benefits for high-school students, who would have access from their school-library catalogs to Nashville Public Library’s 1.5-million holdings and—thanks to NPL’s online link to the records of area universities—a gateway to an additional 5 million items “if we can merge the automation systems.” Noting “all the programming that goes on in these public libraries after school for our teens,” she asked rhetorically, “Why can’t all of those programs be across the city in all the libraries,” with school libraries remaining open after hours thanks to the merger.
“If we’re going to make this work, then the school libraries need to be under the purview of the public library,” Nicely mused, adding, “If you think about all the staff as one entity, then you’re moving among and strengthening all the libraries.” Citing the profession’s often-expressed dream of “making [libraries] the center of life in the schools and the community,” Nicely predicted, “This is going to do it.”
Officials of the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) seemed taken aback by a November 20 press conference Mayor Karl Dean held at Nashville Public Library’s East branch where he announced that the city library would begin taking over the operation of school libraries systemwide in January 2009.
Nashville Public Library Director Donna Nicely confirmed to American Libraries that she and Mayor Dean had been conferring with each other for several months about the prospect of combining public and school library operations. “We all talk about thinking outside the box, but here’s an idea that truly could transform the public library and the school libraries because we would be enfolding them into the public library structure,” Nicely said, explaining that the idea was “strictly a proposal at this point.” However, she told CBS affiliate WTVF-TV at the press conference, “It‘s just a matter of organizing it and understanding how it all works and going forward with it.”
But school officials seem to have been left out of the loop. “We can’t say whether or not this is something we could do or could not do,” MNPS spokesperson Olivia Brown told AL. “At this point, we’ve not had any discussion, we’ve not had any proposal presented to the school board.”
The plan as envisioned by Nicely and Dean starts with the public library taking on the acquisition of materials for high school libraries “because Ms. Nicely says those libraries most reflect, in size and setup, what our branch libraries are like. So those would be the easiest to enfold into our library system,” mayoral Public Information Officer Janel Lacey told AL.
Lacey also emphasized that the mayor has made education “his number-one agenda item” since he took office in September 2007, acknowledging that his concern was heightened by the school system having entered Restructuring I status for the 2008–09 academic year for not making adequate yearly progress as defined by No Child Left Behind regulations. The category of Restructuring I places district-level financial decisions in the hands of the state Department of Education, and Tennessee DOE Commissioner Tim Webb confirmed in the November 17 Nashville City Paper that he was already researching whether Mayor Dean could legally be appointed trustee of the school district should it slip into Restructuring II status for the 2010–11 academic year.
These scenarios were playing out behind the scenes for the most part until the November 20 press conference. The next day, Dean and school officials disclosed letters dated November 20 that they had just exchanged. Dean’s letter to MNPS Acting Director Chris Henson cited a prior conversation between the two about “the benefits of consolidating the library services of Metro Schools and the Nashville Public Library” and advised Henson that library Director Donna Nicely “is prepared to move forward with this endeavor . . . with preparation starting in January 2009 and the first phase, primarily focused on combining the procurement of materials [for the public library and high school libraries], taking effect July 1.” Asserting that “this decision is common sense,“ Dean went on to say, “I know the libraries in Metro Schools have staff devoted to supporting the education we give our students in the classroom, and I believe this collaboration will greatly enhance their ability to do so.” (MNPS spokesperson Brown told AL that the system of 137 schools currently budgets for almost 200 librarians and aides.)
Replying for Henson, school board Chairman David A. Fox wrote Dean that, while school officials “are receptive to any efforts and ideas that could generate higher quality and more efficient services for our students,” a change of such magnitude “ultimately would be decided upon by the school board itself.” Besides, Fox emphasized, there had not yet been any “meaningful conversation” between city and school officials about a library merger aside from comments that “seemed to be just exploratory and . . . confidential.”
Genesis of a vision
Anticipating that “we’ll be sitting down with school officials soon to talk over what this means,” with the phase-in of consolidation starting by the end of 2009, Nicely told AL that idea of NPL overseeing school-library services emerged from a series of public hearings about the public library’s 5–10-year plan that began eight months ago. “We heard such a strong concern from people in the city about the teenagers. What are they doing after school? Could the public library assist them with after-school activities?” she explained, characterizing citizens’ comments as reflecting “an urgent concern, worrying about gangs.” Asked repeatedly by members of the public “how much more closely could we work with the public schools,” Nicely said she and Dean began to discuss the possibilities.
Nicely added that she saw enormous benefits for high-school students, who would have access from their school-library catalogs to Nashville Public Library’s 1.5-million holdings and—thanks to NPL’s online link to the records of area universities—a gateway to an additional 5 million items “if we can merge the automation systems.” Noting “all the programming that goes on in these public libraries after school for our teens,” she asked rhetorically, “Why can’t all of those programs be across the city in all the libraries,” with school libraries remaining open after hours thanks to the merger.
“If we’re going to make this work, then the school libraries need to be under the purview of the public library,” Nicely mused, adding, “If you think about all the staff as one entity, then you’re moving among and strengthening all the libraries.” Citing the profession’s often-expressed dream of “making [libraries] the center of life in the schools and the community,” Nicely predicted, “This is going to do it.”
Authors fight to preserve school library
Philip Pullman tells head her comprehensive will be a 'byword for ignorance' if closure goes ahead
Guardian, UK: 2008 November 23
Philip Pullman, the bestselling author, has warned a school that it will become a 'byword for philistinism and ignorance' if it goes ahead with the closure of its library.
The comprehensive in Chesterfield has become the focus of an authors' campaign since it announced that its librarian will be surplus to requirements after Christmas, when the school is to become a 'virtual learning environment'. Pupils will be encouraged to read at break times and at after-school clubs, but its traditional library will go.
'The idea that fiction is not worth looking after properly and does not need a qualified librarian runs contrary to every experience I have ever had,' Pullman wrote in a letter to Lynn Asquith, headteacher of the 759-pupil Meadows Community School. 'Are you going to relegate the whole activity of reading fiction to the status of a trivial and innocuous activity, like stamp collecting or playing with a Frisbee?'
'A library with a dedicated and professional staff should be at the very heart of any institution dedicated to learning,' he continued. 'I am deeply dismayed to hear of the decision, which cannot be in the best interests of the students. Nothing can replace a proper library, with its resources centrally available and with the expertise of a qualified librarian to guide the students in the best and most productive ways of research.'
The author has joined Michael Rosen, the Children's Laureate, and children's writer Alan Gibbons in a campaign to save school libraries, which they say are being eroded up and down the country. 'This school is the tip of the iceberg,' said Gibbons, who argued that without a librarian there could be no library. 'Forget the blather about virtual and interactive learning. This is cost-cutting, pure and simple.
'There's one secondary school, which shall be nameless, where the headteacher was going to throw all the non-fiction books into a skip to make way for computers,' he said. 'We're witnessing a new wave of virtual philistinism.'
Rosen says he highlighted the cuts in library provision when he met Children's Secretary Ed Balls and Schools Minister Jim Knight last week. 'The [Meadows] school is a local problem, but it is a national tragedy,' he says. 'Cuts are going on everywhere. I met Ed Balls and Jim Knight and they were saying that they were committed to supporting reading for pleasure. But on the ground there isn't the staff, the time or the money to support it.'
Public library spending on books fell by 1 per cent to £76.8m in the year to March 2008, or just 8.7% of overall library expenditure. Spending on audio-visual materials such as DVDs rose 4.2% over the same period. There were 38 public library closures last year, up from 35 the previous year.
The campaign to save the library at Meadows Community School was started by its pupils, who began a petition when they heard that their librarian, Clare Broadbelt, had been told that her post was no longer required because of 'a move towards the relocation and redistribution of non-fiction and fiction resources in the light of the new developments in a virtual-learning environment and interactive learning'.
A string of famous authors have joined the battle since then. Broadbelt was told that the library was not being removed, but would be operated in a different way, with curriculum leaders managing the resources from the internet. Fiction material would be maintained in a new reading centre for use in break times and at after-school clubs, but it would not need a librarian.
Asquith said little work had been done to improve the library since it opened in 1991. 'It is not big enough to accommodate the number of pupils who want to use it during peak time and some areas are not accessible for all pupils,' she said. The school's governors had approved a £90,000 redevelopment programme, she explained. 'This is a great opportunity to develop a new learning resource centre for the benefit of all pupils.'
Gibbons, who visits 150 schools a year, says that 25 local authorities in England spend less than 1 per cent of their library budgets on books for children. 'No amount of googling and copying and pasting can replace the intellectual flexibility developed by reading whole books,' he said.
Guardian, UK: 2008 November 23
Philip Pullman, the bestselling author, has warned a school that it will become a 'byword for philistinism and ignorance' if it goes ahead with the closure of its library.
The comprehensive in Chesterfield has become the focus of an authors' campaign since it announced that its librarian will be surplus to requirements after Christmas, when the school is to become a 'virtual learning environment'. Pupils will be encouraged to read at break times and at after-school clubs, but its traditional library will go.
'The idea that fiction is not worth looking after properly and does not need a qualified librarian runs contrary to every experience I have ever had,' Pullman wrote in a letter to Lynn Asquith, headteacher of the 759-pupil Meadows Community School. 'Are you going to relegate the whole activity of reading fiction to the status of a trivial and innocuous activity, like stamp collecting or playing with a Frisbee?'
'A library with a dedicated and professional staff should be at the very heart of any institution dedicated to learning,' he continued. 'I am deeply dismayed to hear of the decision, which cannot be in the best interests of the students. Nothing can replace a proper library, with its resources centrally available and with the expertise of a qualified librarian to guide the students in the best and most productive ways of research.'
The author has joined Michael Rosen, the Children's Laureate, and children's writer Alan Gibbons in a campaign to save school libraries, which they say are being eroded up and down the country. 'This school is the tip of the iceberg,' said Gibbons, who argued that without a librarian there could be no library. 'Forget the blather about virtual and interactive learning. This is cost-cutting, pure and simple.
'There's one secondary school, which shall be nameless, where the headteacher was going to throw all the non-fiction books into a skip to make way for computers,' he said. 'We're witnessing a new wave of virtual philistinism.'
Rosen says he highlighted the cuts in library provision when he met Children's Secretary Ed Balls and Schools Minister Jim Knight last week. 'The [Meadows] school is a local problem, but it is a national tragedy,' he says. 'Cuts are going on everywhere. I met Ed Balls and Jim Knight and they were saying that they were committed to supporting reading for pleasure. But on the ground there isn't the staff, the time or the money to support it.'
Public library spending on books fell by 1 per cent to £76.8m in the year to March 2008, or just 8.7% of overall library expenditure. Spending on audio-visual materials such as DVDs rose 4.2% over the same period. There were 38 public library closures last year, up from 35 the previous year.
The campaign to save the library at Meadows Community School was started by its pupils, who began a petition when they heard that their librarian, Clare Broadbelt, had been told that her post was no longer required because of 'a move towards the relocation and redistribution of non-fiction and fiction resources in the light of the new developments in a virtual-learning environment and interactive learning'.
A string of famous authors have joined the battle since then. Broadbelt was told that the library was not being removed, but would be operated in a different way, with curriculum leaders managing the resources from the internet. Fiction material would be maintained in a new reading centre for use in break times and at after-school clubs, but it would not need a librarian.
Asquith said little work had been done to improve the library since it opened in 1991. 'It is not big enough to accommodate the number of pupils who want to use it during peak time and some areas are not accessible for all pupils,' she said. The school's governors had approved a £90,000 redevelopment programme, she explained. 'This is a great opportunity to develop a new learning resource centre for the benefit of all pupils.'
Gibbons, who visits 150 schools a year, says that 25 local authorities in England spend less than 1 per cent of their library budgets on books for children. 'No amount of googling and copying and pasting can replace the intellectual flexibility developed by reading whole books,' he said.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Web 2.0 Guru
The Best Web 2.0 Resources for Relevant Educational Technology Integration
http://web20guru.us/
http://web20guru.us/
Family Literacy Day World Record Attempt
ABC CANADA and Oxford Learning Set World Stage to Make Reading History
All Canadians have chance to participate in Guinness world record as part of Family Literacy Day festivities
TORONTO, ON – November 5, 2008: ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Oxford Learning today announced a new partnership to present the Family Literacy Day® World Record Attempt, a national, bilingual initiative encouraging adults and children to engage in 30 minutes of reading together on January 23 or 24, 2009. The initiative, part of Family Literacy Day (FLD) 2009 celebrations, encourages Canadians to read along and help break the Guinness World Record™ for “Most Children Reading with an Adult, Multiple Venues.” The current record of 78,791 was set across the U.S. in 2006.
“Every year, thousands of Canadians participate in Family Literacy Day activities across the country. The World Record initiative is another great way to rally Canadian communities and help raise awareness for the benefits of adults and children reading and learning together,” said Margaret Eaton, President, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation. “A few minutes of family reading a day helps a parent and a child in very big way. It prepares children for challenges ahead, encourages a lifetime of reading enjoyment, and sharpens an adult’s literacy skills. ABC CANADA is delighted to have the support of Oxford Learning, and FLD founding sponsor Honda Canada, in these exciting initiatives.”
The first sponsorship ever in their 25-year history, Oxford Learning has been named the Official Family Literacy Day World Record Attempt Sponsor. In addition to providing support toward the development, execution and promotion of the world record attempt, all 85 Oxford Learning centres across Canada will host on-site public events.
“Reading, language development and literacy are the basic building blocks for thinking, learning and almost every skill that we use in our day-to-day lives,” says Dr. Nick Whitehead, CEO, Oxford Learning. “Oxford Learning is proud to work with ABC CANADA and participate in Family Literacy Day events that promote literacy and stimulate the brain.”
Anyone can participate in the FLD World Record Attempt, from one adult and child reading together at home to large groups with a number of children being read to by several adult readers in a public setting. In addition to Oxford Learning centres, public events are being planned for YMCAs, libraries, schools and literacy organizations across the country to occur in the 24-hour period between 2:00 p.m. on January 23 and 2:00 p.m. on January 24.
A special section on the ABC CANADA website www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca (and the French equivalent at www.fld-jaf.ca), has been created to provide all the information and resources teachers, librarians and families need to participate in the FLD World Record Attempt.
“Guinness World Records commends ABC CANADA for organizing this upcoming attempt. Guinness World Records is committed to literacy and fully supports activities that involve family reading. We were delighted to donate copies of the “Guinness World Records 2009” to ABC CANADA to encourage even more Canadian families to read and enjoy,” says Carey Low, Canadian Record Keeper, Guinness World Records.
Click here to go to the FLD World Record Attempt webpage.
About Family Literacy Day
Family Literacy Day, held annually on January 27, was developed by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Honda Canada in 1999 to encourage families to read and learn together on a daily basis. Last year, for Family Literacy Day’s tenth year celebrations, it is estimated that over 275,000 Canadians participated in literacy activities at home and in schools, libraries and literacy organizations across the country. For more information, visit www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca.
About Honda Canada
Honda is the world’s pre-eminent maker of engines for automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. With 135 manufacturing facilities in 28 countries worldwide, Honda now attracts more than 23 million customers annually. Honda Canada manufactures the Honda Ridgeline and Civic sedan and coupe, and the Acura CSX and MDX at its two plants in Alliston, Ontario.
About Oxford Learning
Since 1984, Oxford Learning has been using cognitive learning techniques to help children develop new ways of thinking, concentrating, listening, and remembering. Oxford Learning goes beyond tutoring to help students reach their learning potential, not just for one grade or one year, but for a lifetime.
About ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is Canada’s private-sector voice championing adult literacy. The national charity envisions a Canada where individuals, regardless of their circumstances, are provided the opportunities to increase the skills that prepare people for realizing their full potential at work, at home and in the community. To learn more, visit www.abc-canada.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
ABC CANADA:
Karen Benner, Communications Manager
416-218-0010 x 122
kbenner@abc-canada.org
Ashley Tilley
Phone: 416-218-0010 x 127
Toll free: 1-800-303-1004 x 127
email: atilley@abc-canada.org
All Canadians have chance to participate in Guinness world record as part of Family Literacy Day festivitiesTORONTO, ON – November 5, 2008: ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Oxford Learning today announced a new partnership to present the Family Literacy Day® World Record Attempt, a national, bilingual initiative encouraging adults and children to engage in 30 minutes of reading together on January 23 or 24, 2009. The initiative, part of Family Literacy Day (FLD) 2009 celebrations, encourages Canadians to read along and help break the Guinness World Record™ for “Most Children Reading with an Adult, Multiple Venues.” The current record of 78,791 was set across the U.S. in 2006.
“Every year, thousands of Canadians participate in Family Literacy Day activities across the country. The World Record initiative is another great way to rally Canadian communities and help raise awareness for the benefits of adults and children reading and learning together,” said Margaret Eaton, President, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation. “A few minutes of family reading a day helps a parent and a child in very big way. It prepares children for challenges ahead, encourages a lifetime of reading enjoyment, and sharpens an adult’s literacy skills. ABC CANADA is delighted to have the support of Oxford Learning, and FLD founding sponsor Honda Canada, in these exciting initiatives.”
The first sponsorship ever in their 25-year history, Oxford Learning has been named the Official Family Literacy Day World Record Attempt Sponsor. In addition to providing support toward the development, execution and promotion of the world record attempt, all 85 Oxford Learning centres across Canada will host on-site public events.
“Reading, language development and literacy are the basic building blocks for thinking, learning and almost every skill that we use in our day-to-day lives,” says Dr. Nick Whitehead, CEO, Oxford Learning. “Oxford Learning is proud to work with ABC CANADA and participate in Family Literacy Day events that promote literacy and stimulate the brain.”
Anyone can participate in the FLD World Record Attempt, from one adult and child reading together at home to large groups with a number of children being read to by several adult readers in a public setting. In addition to Oxford Learning centres, public events are being planned for YMCAs, libraries, schools and literacy organizations across the country to occur in the 24-hour period between 2:00 p.m. on January 23 and 2:00 p.m. on January 24.
A special section on the ABC CANADA website www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca (and the French equivalent at www.fld-jaf.ca), has been created to provide all the information and resources teachers, librarians and families need to participate in the FLD World Record Attempt.
“Guinness World Records commends ABC CANADA for organizing this upcoming attempt. Guinness World Records is committed to literacy and fully supports activities that involve family reading. We were delighted to donate copies of the “Guinness World Records 2009” to ABC CANADA to encourage even more Canadian families to read and enjoy,” says Carey Low, Canadian Record Keeper, Guinness World Records.
Click here to go to the FLD World Record Attempt webpage.
About Family Literacy Day
Family Literacy Day, held annually on January 27, was developed by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Honda Canada in 1999 to encourage families to read and learn together on a daily basis. Last year, for Family Literacy Day’s tenth year celebrations, it is estimated that over 275,000 Canadians participated in literacy activities at home and in schools, libraries and literacy organizations across the country. For more information, visit www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca.
About Honda Canada
Honda is the world’s pre-eminent maker of engines for automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. With 135 manufacturing facilities in 28 countries worldwide, Honda now attracts more than 23 million customers annually. Honda Canada manufactures the Honda Ridgeline and Civic sedan and coupe, and the Acura CSX and MDX at its two plants in Alliston, Ontario.
About Oxford Learning
Since 1984, Oxford Learning has been using cognitive learning techniques to help children develop new ways of thinking, concentrating, listening, and remembering. Oxford Learning goes beyond tutoring to help students reach their learning potential, not just for one grade or one year, but for a lifetime.
About ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is Canada’s private-sector voice championing adult literacy. The national charity envisions a Canada where individuals, regardless of their circumstances, are provided the opportunities to increase the skills that prepare people for realizing their full potential at work, at home and in the community. To learn more, visit www.abc-canada.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
ABC CANADA:
Karen Benner, Communications Manager
416-218-0010 x 122
kbenner@abc-canada.org
Ashley Tilley
Phone: 416-218-0010 x 127
Toll free: 1-800-303-1004 x 127
email: atilley@abc-canada.org
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