2016 Teens Top Ten Books

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (from @Truthdig)

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (from @Truthdig): Although the title is deceiving for those expecting the fast-paced heroics of James Bond, the reader will find that this account of a small group of ordinary people risking their lives to preserve their culture is an even more rewarding and essential story.
- 2016/12/23

Make a two minutes video. Win money for you and your school!

Teachers, HS students: Contact me if you are interested. Deadline is January 15.

Good Google Training

A short and sweet compilation.  It also includes G Calendar. All credits go to Jennifer Judkins.

Atomic Learning also features tutorials on more GAFE (Google Apps for Education).

3-D virtual visits and exploration of art, history, Culture and Wonders: Google Arts & Culture

Welcome to Profile EasyBib EDU

Look for your coupon code for Profile School EasyBib EDU in your email (11/27/16).

New Students to EasyBib:

●  Enter the Coupon Code on here (you only need to do this once!) (https://edu.easybib.com/auth/coupon)

●  Fill out the form when prompted

●  Remember your username and password

●  Start citing!

Students with Existing EasyBib Accounts:

●  Login to your existing EasyBib account here (http://edu.easybib.com/auth/login)

●  Enter in your coupon code (you only need to do this once!)

●  Start citing!

Teachers:

By registering, you will be able to access your students' lists of Works Cited, comment on them, and assess their research work (quality, variety, relevance, depth, time spent).

Do not hesitate to contact me for a 15 minutes demo for you and/or your students on how EasyBib integrates with GAFE, Profile's OPAC and databases (Gale Virtual Reference Library and EBSCO).

Jude

EasyBib and MLA 8

MLA, The most used citation format has changed. Watch this clear overview with activity lessons appropriate for Middle School and High School. Your students may use MLA 8 with EasyBib Edu. See what else EasyBib Edu can do for your students in six (6) minutes from 39:55 to 46:00.

How to get the French accents on your Chromebook

It is quite easy to type the French diacritical signs (aka: those pesky accents)  with your chromebook. Let’s take the mystery out of them:

• First you need to set up your keyboard input one time:

1. Click on user icon -> Settings -> scroll down, Show Advanced -> Languages -> Customize languages and input...
2. Under "Input method" check the "US International Keyboard" checkbox (Leave "US Keyboard" checked as well)
3. Click the "Add" button
4. Select "French"
5. Also check the “US Extended Keyboard”

When you’re done, your languages screens should look like these:

• Exit the settings page.  There will now be a little "US" next to the clock and the wifi indicator in the lower right corner.
• Go to the page/Doc where you want to do international input.
• Use control-shift-space; the "US" in the corner will change to "INTL" or “EXTD” or “FR” -- pick “INTL”

• Now, the letters:

• à, è, ù: Left alt-grave accent and letter.
• é: Right alt-e  or leftalt-apostrophe ( right of keyboard) and e.
• â û ô ê : shift -6 and then the letter: a, u, o or e.
• ç:   right alt-comma.
• ü : rightalt-y or shift -"- u
• ë : shift -"- e
• ï : shift-"- i
• œ: rightalt-k
• æ: rightalt-z
• ¨ ' ¨: rightalt - )

• To enable Caps Lock: Left alt-search (magnifying glass key). Use left alt-search again to turn off caps locks.

• When you are done, control-shift-space will set back your keyboard to "US" (and right alt will just be alt again)

Upcoming blog updates

Library Media list of links is being updated. It will reappear after Thanskgiving.

Information Literacy Lessons Crucial in a Post-Truth World

For several years, Profile School  provided  students with research skills based on ImagineEasy's ResearchReady and then Academy (dearly missed for its assessment package) . ImagineEasy terminated those last summer as it was bought by Chegg. I am currently evaluating several alternatives. Do not hesitate to contact me for scheduling web evaluation units to be embedded into your class.

Jude

BY SARA STEVENSON on 11/18/2016 • ( 0 )

In the aftermath of the US presidential election, I’ve been reflecting on what it means to live in a post-truth world. I was shocked to read several accounts explaining that a majority of Americans receive their news via Facebook. “Trending stories” are highlighted in the right-hand margin of your Facebook page and serve as click bait. Since Facebook has already determined your political bias (check it out– it’s in your settings under US Politics), these stories play into each user’s biases and fears and are selected by algorithms, not people. Between 40-60% of Americans recently surveyed depend on social media as a news source.

I wasn’t really aware of this problem of fake news until I read an op-ed in The New York Times. Suddenly I remembered a recent day on Facebook. I saw a trending news story, and I remember thinking, that’s an odd story, but I fell for the click bait. Within reading the first two sentences, I could tell it was totally bogus.  It wasn’t until I read the New York Times column that I realized the proliferation of fake news stories, which may have played a role in the election.

Teaching Information Literacy and How to Evaluate Websites

For years we librarians have been teaching our students how to evaluate websites and warning students about the dangers of going out on the world wide web without applying a critical lens to what we find. We remind our students to evaluate websites based on the acronym CRAAP: Currency, Relevance, Accuracy, Author, and Purpose (Gettysburg College). One of my best lessons for this I borrowed from Alan November’s Web Literacy for Educators. I ask my students if this URL sounds legitimate: http://www.martinlutherking.org. We all agree it does, and then we click on it. At first we see a portrait of Martin Luther King and a link for rap lyrics, but as we examine the site more closely, red flags go off in our heads. We then go to the domain identifying website, https://who.is/, to look up who owns the domain. We discover the owner is Don Black whose organization is named Stormfront. Stormfront is a white supremacist organization that preys on naive young people in order to recruit them to its racist ideology. I can’t think of a more powerful warning to be careful on the world wide web.

Screenshot of http://www.martinlutherking.org

Seeking the domain address via who.is

The Profound Importance of Teaching Information Literacy

As librarians, we at times find ourselves in the awkward position of directing our family members to a Snopes.com article, proving what they just disseminated on social media was a lie. Of course, when so many Americans continually distrust the mainstream media, the fourth estate or journalism, “truth” becomes malleable, merely reflecting the reader’s own suspicions and biases. Still, we must remember that we are the gatekeepers and guides of information. In the olden days, publishers were the guardians of the truth, and whatever we read in print had a kind of trusted authority behind it. Now anyone can say anything on the Internet, including a seventeen-year-old boy who creates fake news sites from his home in Veles, Macedonia, in eastern Europe, according to the New York Times op-ed column.

Here’s another example on the proliferation of false news, this time after the election. The source, USASupreme.com, is also based in Macedonia, according to The Washington Post. In this case, Google is the culprit.

More fake news reported in The Washington Post

Help in Detecting Fake News

While at first defensive, both Google and Facebook have recently agreed to take steps to flag fake news and to cut off the ad support and earnings that motivate these fake news sources. There is even a Google Chrome extension you may want to download which alerts you to false news: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/b-s-detector.

Then again, there’s no substitute for critical thinking.

Our Two Lights Shining in the Wilderness

Not only is our profession as school librarians crucial in shining the light of literacy on our students, but we must never forget the importance of our fight against information illiteracy. The very survival of our republic depends on an educated, engaged, and information-savvy populace.

References:

Kristof, Nicholas. “Lies in the Guise of News in the Trump Era.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/opinion/sunday/lies-in-the-guise-of-news-in-the-trump-era.html>.

“Musselman Library.” Gettysburg College. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. <http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/research/tips/webeval/index.dot>.

November, Alan C. Web Literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2008. Print.

“WHOIS Search, Domain Name, Website, and IP Tools – Who.is.” WHOIS Search, Domain Name, Website, and IP Tools – Who.is. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. <https://who.is/>.

Bump, Philip. “Google’s Top News Link for ‘final Election Results’ Goes to a Fake News Site with False Numbers.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 14 Nov. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

Dwoskin, Elizabeth, Caitlin Dewey, and Craig Timberg15. “Why Facebook and Google Are Struggling to Purge Fake News.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 15 Nov. 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/information-literacy-lessons-crucial-post-truth-world/

Media time at Faculty Meeting 11/16/16

• Vote for our subscriptions, make suggestions!

• Find the Profile OPAC via the school website and QR code. Show it to your students!

• Post a Book Review on the Profile OPAC

• Recent acquisitions

• Student and staff e-subscriptions passwords

• Gale Virtual Reference Library: Search, save and export to Google Docs and Google School

• EBSCO: new interface for students: Explora allows advanced search by reading level translated into grades.  Novelist: readalikes helps finding out new books based on your favorite titles

• Easybib: teachers can assess  students work on their bibliographic research. Use your EDU coupon

• Atomic Learning: we have a school wide subscription to online tutorials primarily on computer literacy (apps, internet).  There is more  to it. For example: FAFSA and transitioning  to college, GAFE, also PD with assessment and certificates of completion:such as  learning style, critical thinking. Teachers, see if fits your individual needs.

• Last but not least: Two one-month trials (logon emailed to teachers):

          *  Gale Interactive Science, Interactive Human Anatomy,

and Science in Context.

          *  Smithsonian Primary Sources in U.S. History and

U.S. History in Context.

          Enjoy!

Book? Movie? eBook? Database?

Book? Movie? eBook? Database?

Check out the Media Center Online Catalog

https://profile.goalexandria.com/researcher#_

Overdrive

You have  free access to a state-wide, rapidly developing collection via your local Public Library. 
All you need to do is ask for your Overdrive number at your local library (issued on the spot) and then download the appropriate app to your personal device (tablet, smart phone, ipod...) or PC . Once you open your app, choose the  NH Downloadable Books Consortium and check out  as many as three books at a time. The lending period is 15 days. You may create wish lists and put a hold on books already checked out. 

Enjoy anywhere, anytime!

Jude 

IT tips for the new year

A poignant and powerful demonstration of the value of reading

When reality meets Fahrenheit 451 and People of the Book

Assistive Technology for Chromebooks

Dear Profile faculty,

the following free features were presented to Special Education teachers and Paraprofessionals. Let me know if you'd like to know about some of them:

Accessibility:

Large mouse cursor

Home button

Touchpad speed

Zoom

Adds on:

Speech Recognition

Tools:   

Voice typing

Spell checker.

Changing the language of the spellchecker

Dictionary

Apps:

Text to speech  app

High Contrast app

Hide Images app

Google Docs quick create