July 7

Theme: Technology and Research

Richardson, Will. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for the Classroom. Chapter 5.
Valenza, Joyce K. They Might Be Gurus. Teacher Librarian 34 no1 18-26 O 2006
Steven Baule. Data, Data, Everywhere and How Do You Search Through It? Library Media Connection. Worthington: Mar 2007. Vol. 25, Iss. 6; p. 54
West, Jessamyn. Subject Headings 2.0: Folksonomies and Tags. Library Media Connection; Apr2007, Vol. 25 Issue 7, p58-59, 2p

Try searching a variety of library catalogs. As you do think about what students, teachers, etc. would find useful about the catalog. How do the catalog features meet or not meet expectations and needs of a school library community? What would you like to see to make the perfect catalog?
- Denver Public Library Kids Catalog - pay attention to how the icon/visual search works.
- Los Angeles Public Library Try searching with the search box and pulldown menu on the main page to see how Web Feat works.
- New York Public Library Catalog - what else can you get to via a library catalog search?
- Queens Library Catalog - check out the Aqua Browser.
- Springfield Township High School Catalog - how well does this catalog work from a student/teacher perspective?
- University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Lab School Catalog - how well does this catalog work from a student/teacher perspective?
In groups of 4 (and one of 3) discuss what makes an ideal library search tool. At the end of the week you and your group should have a list of tools that every search tool should have in order to make student/teacher/administrator searching possible and plausible. Post your list and ideas on the discussion board for the week. Make sure to list the entire group in the posting. Post the names of group members below.

Group 1
1. Amanda Pegg-Wheat
2. Erin Daly
3. Becky
4. Elisabeth Zimmer

Group 2
1. Kate Covintree
2. Erica Braverman
3. Maryrose
4. Anna Jubilo

Group 3
1. Amy Bloom
2. Elizabeth Rey
3. Amity Johnson

Group 4

1. Tina Sherlock
2. Eileen Parks
3. Janet Frasca
4. Kris Foti

Group 5

1. Paul Orzech
2. Sara Ross
3. Breigh Ann Menza
4. Jennie Simopoulos

Visit Visual Learning info. at Inspiration.com. Make sure to follow all of the links and read through all of the sections.
Watch the Inspiration screencasts - each file is a .mov QuickTime file. You may find it easiest to right-click on each file, select Save Link As and then save each file on your computer. That way you can download the files and watch them locally.
- Part 1 - Getting Started
- Part 2 - Creating Links
- Part 3 - Changing Characters
- Part 4 - Hyperlinking & Saving
Using either Kidspiration or Inspiration, create a graphic organizer you might use with students in order to help them through the research process - it can be a tool for taking notes, synthesizing information, evaluating information, etc. Email me your document when it's created.

The Google Docs Collaboration is due at the end of this week.

Erin and Kate made this one.

Erica and Maryrose's is here.

Anna and Janet's collaboration

Paul, Sara, and Breigh Ann's collaboration right here

Tina and Elizabeth's collaboration here and reflections on using Google Docs as a tool for student collaboration here

Eileen and Kris' collaboration here