GBS Library to Go!

The GBS Library is excited to announce that we now have a mobile app for the library. Access the GBS Library anywhere, anytime with our new GBS Library to Go app! You can use all of our LibGuides, catalog, databases, ebooks and audiobooks and more. Contact us or keep up with the GBS Library's Twitter account. Available in the App Store: http://tinyurl.com/gbslibrarytogo-appstore and in Google Play: http://tinyurl.com/gbslibrarytogo-android

Facebook & College Admissions

Courtesy of: Schools.com

Can you guess the six novels these famous opening lines are from?

Banned Books Week Virtual Read Out

It's the American Library Association's Banned Books Week (September 24-October 1).  This year, the ALA is hosting a Virtual Read Out:

"During this year’s celebration of Banned Books Week, readers will be able to proclaim the virtues of their favorite banned books by posting videos of themselves reading excerpts to a dedicated YouTube channel."

Find out more about how to upload your own video here: Virtual Read Out--Banned Books Week.

Access My Library School Edition

Access My Library is a wonderful resource from Gale.  It allows students to access many of the GBS Library's subscription resources from their iPhones:



AccessMyLibrary School Edition app is free for your iPhone/iPod touch www.gale.com/apps

Requires the Gale password for first use. Click HERE for the password or ask a librarian for help.

Book Buddies--Glenview Public Library

"Play a vital part in helping new readers retain their skills during summer vacation. Be a one-on-one Reading Buddy for the Book Buddies program and meet once per week with a child entering grades 1-3 to read aloud together. One training session is required, as well as one hour of service per week for six weeks."

Click Here for more information

National Library Week

Happy National Library Week!  Come down to the library for the annual Jelly Bean Counting contest, tell us about your Favorite Book, and try your hand at our daily scavenger hunt question.

Unity Junior High School Library Adapts the GBS Library Information Literacy Game 2.0

I'm really excited that our GBS Library Information Literacy Game has been adapted by Librarian Kathy Wickline of Unity Junior High School for her school's information literacy curriculum.

It's a testament to the awesomeness of creative commons licensing and library culture that junior high and high school librarians have been able to take a game that was designed for college students and been able to adapt it to our unique needs.

Check out Kathy's game here: http://ujhs.com/mediacenter/gamefiles2010/gamefiles2010/index.html

20 Ways to Teach About the Disaster in Japan Across the Curriculum (New York Times)

The folks at the NYT have a developed a comprehensive guide to teaching students about the disaster in Japan.

Here's the link: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/20-ways-to-teach-about-the-disaster-in-japan-across-the-curriculum/

Seuss Week Video

Check out our 2011 Seuss Week Video and our dress up contests.

Smart People Use Smart Libraries

Great video for 2011 Library Week Ireland

Seuss Week is Here Again!

During the week of March 8^th, the library will be hosting a variety of activities including dress-up days, a check-out goal, best-dressed contests and a Drop Everything and Read time.

Dress up days:

Tuesday – Pajama day for The Sleep Book

Wednesday – Twin day for The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

Thursday – Zoo Animal day for If I Ran the Zoo

Friday – Gold and Blue day for One Fish, Two Fish, GOLD Fish, Blue Fish 

*** Come to the Library for the best-dressed contest!***

Thursday, March 10^th: D.E.A.R. Day –

Drop Everything And Read at the end of 2^nd period.

-The entire school (even teachers) will take 16 minutes out of the day to READ!!!

Here be Kindles

The Kindles are here!

We have 5 Kindles available for student and faculty use.You can check them out at the circulation desk.
 
For more information, click here .

Have a suggestion for a title you want to see on the Kindles (or on the shelves)?  Please fill out our  Library Materials Suggestion Form.

Macho Man Randy Savage in the Library

For your holiday viewing pleasure, I bring you this Slim Jim commercial in which Macho Man Randy Savage visits a library.  It promotes the usual stereotypes of libraries (boring, full of dull-looking books) and librarians (frumpy). I was heartened to see that this 1993 library has at least one computer.

Access My Library

Get all of the *many*  Gale databases the GBS Library subscribes to on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Get the  Access My Library app by clicking here.

You'll need the GBS Library Password for the Gale resources for a one time authentication.  Click here for the password info (and you'll need to use your username & password--the same ones you use on the school's computers to access the document). 

Let us know if you have any questions. 

Make your own information literacy game--ISLMA conference presentation

John Casey, our esteemed lab manager and I are going to give a presentation at the ISLMA Conference next Friday on how to modify an existing open source software information literacy game designed by Scott Rice & Amy Harris to tailor it to your information literacy curriculum needs.  What's so cool about this is that it's free and you can modify it using basic Windows software (Paint, Notepad) and create a feedback survey using free online software (GoogleDocs).

We've set up a site on our LibGuides to provide all of the resources you'll need to create your own game.  We'll be putting up the slideshow, too, once we've finished it :)

Here is the link:
http://gbslibguides.glenbrook225.org/infolitgame

GBS Library's Virtual Reference is here!

Photo by JKonig. flickr. Used under creative commons license.

As of today, you can access the GBS Librarians from home if you're home from school or in another lab in the building.

If you're with your class in the social studies lab and you're not quite sure how to cite a source for your next paper, just go the the GBS Libguides and click in the GBS Reference chat box to ask a librarian for help. (Or you can access it from the box on the right). If the librarians are all teaching classes or are helping other students or teachers, leave your question & an email address. We'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Virtual Reference Desk hours are 7:30-4:15 on school days.

We're excited about this opportunity to further extend our services beyond the library's walls.

QR codes in libraries

Prior to a recent conversation the librarians had with with our Instructional Technology Coordinator, David Jakes, I never thought about QR codes, much less their application to libraries.  But a lot of people have, and they are doing some pretty neat things.   I especially like the way ACU Library uses them to enhance displays and provide more information about the books.

                           QR Codes to enhance displays & provide more information to patrons at ACU Libraries


Other libraries, such as the University of Huddersfield,  are using them to provide text reference services, which I think is really cool, as I love the idea of extending reference beyond the desk/phone model.

Not sure at  this point whether the QR codes will catch on here as they have in Japan, or if it's more of a fad.  Either way, it seems like an easy & fun way to extend interest in the library resources, say, via book trailers tied to books on a display, or as a way to promote services, such as reference and research help.

Learning with Infographics

I've seen some really neat stuff on infographics lately. It's officially Infographics week on the New York Times Learning Network, so I'll be checking that out all week.

Today's entry on Teaching Social Studies, History, and Economics with Infographics has some great interactive maps (such as the one illustrated above, which shows immigration patterns in the United States) and some fun tools, such as one where you can compare your own opinions with those of the US Supreme Court.

Even more impressive is a tool from across the pond.  BBC Dimensions "takes important places, events and things, and overlays them onto a map of where you are." It's a great way to help students understand the geographical scale of current (Gulf oil spill, Pakistani floods)and historical (Beijing circa 1425, Constantinople) events and places. I often have a hard time trying to figure out "how big" something is based on mere numbers--23 square miles means nothing to me. But I know how big Glenview is, and how big Chicago is, so I found this tool to be very helpful in gaining a genuine perspective of the size of these places and events.

I think resources like this can be a very effective way to enhance student experiences and understanding.

Almost time.....

School starts again in just a few days. I'm almost ready to roll out the LibGuides. I think they look okay. Still a work in progress, obviously, but I'm really enjoying the ability to modify them so quickly and to be able to incorporate the kind of features we need to extend the library's services beyond the school walls. To that end, I'm desperately hoping we can get the Reference Chat feature working from on the campus. I think it will be such a great and convenient way for people to access our services.

I've added it to the big list-o-gadgets to the right :) We'll be "manning" it starting 8/24.