EBOLA Infographic - Yikes

The EBOLA outbreak has been on my mind lately since a dear friend has her daughter in Africa working at a hospital.  She is a PreMed student at Brown University and was thrilled to work in Africa for a second time.  She is in the middle of infected areas. Infographics like this help break the information down for everyone.

by Raj Kamal.

Social Media Influence

I ran across this infographic on social media influence. How much social media are you using? Are you using professionally and/or personally? I read an article today by Mashable that stated an employee who actively uses 5 social networks is a better employee. "That's one conclusion that can be drawn from new data on the workplace by Evolv, a startup that monitors hundreds of metrics from Fortune 500 companies. Not only has Evolv determined that hourly employees who use social networks are more productive in general, but it seems the more social networks you use, the more productive you are,"according to Chris Taylor. Interesting information to say the least - I wonder if employers will agree!
 
DashBurst – Your Guide to the Web & Social Media

Sources Cited:

Taylor, Chris. "Use 5 or More Social Networks? You're a Better Employee." MASHABLE. 03 Apr 2013: n. page. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://mashable.com/2013/04/02/social-networks-workplace-study/>.

The Anatomy of a Successful Book Infographic

by NowSourcing. Browse more infographics.

MYTH #5 - POLL RESULTS

A Hot Potato

Based on some of the comments we received in the poll for Myth #5, this topic of titles and certification touched a nerve among our readers.  I see this as a positive, because it leads to discussion, and discussion can lead to greater understanding among individuals... If we all keep an open mind.  

So before we look at the poll results, let's talk about who we (all of us) are.

Who We Are

People who work in libraries love books or students or reading or teaching or technology or organizing or some of the above and sometimes all of the above.  We are a passionate group.  We come to the library from different walks of life and specialize in different aspects of librarianship.  We begin our role of librarian before, during, or after becoming certified.  Some of us are assigned to the role, some of us volunteer.  Some of us take two or three or more years to complete our degree; others take the fast-track and complete it faster.  We are learners and we are teachers.
  
In the case of these Flying Librarians, Ann and I were both certified teachers who moved into the library and started working as our schools' librarians before we were certified.   Personally, I found this to be invaluable and enriching.  EVERYTHING I was learning was immediately applied.  I had a group of peers and an expert (the professor) with whom I could bounce new ideas and improve them before trying them out with students. One vivid memory during my LMS classes is of analyzing the materials in my reference section (back in the day when we had large reference sections), and discovering materials I would never have seen until it was time to weed them.  It was eye-opening to the classroom teacher in me who would have used said materials if I had known they existed.  

What is in a Name?

I worked in the library.  I was in charge of the library.  I taught students in the library.  I called myself the librarian.  I will not apologize for taking on the title before the certification... What else would I have called myself?    But herein lies the conundrum we face... Because we do not have clear titles, the definition of a librarian is muddied.  The public has developed their own understanding of who we are and what we do based on their prior experiences.  And some of those experiences are 20+ years old!

Most people would never walk into a doctor's office and call everyone in there a doctor.  And doctor could get away with calling herself one before she has completed her certification.   But in the medical world has provided a number of titles to identify at what level a doctor is: intern, resident, board certified.  Librarians do not spend time as interns or residents, but perhaps we should.  

I have worked with certified librarians.  Some were amazing, some were less so.

I have worked with library staff who were certified teachers who have taken classes but not finished their library degree.  Their years of experience give them an edge over those with LMS degrees just starting out in the library. 

I have worked with library staff who were not certified teachers, not taking LMS classes, but worked magic with their students on a daily basis. 

Currently, I work with some of the finest library assistants who receive minimal guidance from certified librarians, and do a fine job of keeping the doors open and the books circulating while they juggle non-library related duties.   

ANYONE Can Do It

As school library positions are cut, it seems that our job has been boiled down to book circulation, and the common belief is that ANYONE can circulate books.  Anyone can.  But can ANYONE assess a students interests and reading ability through a casual conversation?  Can ANYONE teach a student how and why to access a database rather than "do a Google" search?  Can ANYONE convince teachers that graphic novels are really books with merit?  Does ANYONE know what to do when a parent comes in to request a book is removed from the shelves?  Does ANYONE know why we do not arrange a library by reading level and restrict students to the books that an automated reading program has identified at their "instructional level", but allow them free access to information so they can satisfy their curiosity and information needs? 

So what is the difference between certified school librarian and ANYONE?  The #1 difference is that we are teachers, and we need the public and our supervisors to know that. How are you spreading that message?

Poll Results:

Myth #3 - Poll Results and (NEW Infographic Tool!) easel.ly

Our readers believe librarians are needed more than ever...


The results of poll #3 are below, put into infographic form with easel.ly, a new online tool in beta form.  It has a wide variety of vhemes (visual themes), icons, and backgrounds available.  Only drawback: it does not auto-save.



easel.ly

Apps of the Week - BugMe! & Visualize

With 1000's of apps out there, how do you find what you need? My app choices are generally either serendipitous or word-of-mouth recommendations. I certainly haven't tried them all, but I am committing to share a couple of my favorite apps each week.

BugMe!

I am a messy thinker. Ann about fell out of her chair the first time she watched me take my to-do list, write each item on a separate sticky note, spread them out across my desk, sort, and stack into a prioritized list. "What happens if you lose them?" she asked.

Losing my stickies has never been an issue, despite the daily travel. Staying focused is. I just can't work down a to-do list without getting side-tracked from the highest priority. So a stack of stickies gives me one thing to focus on at a time. AND I love the physical act of crumpling up and throwing away each item when a task is complete.

Fortunately, they are some other messy thinkers out there who know how to create apps. Now I can create virtual stickies without fear of losing them. BugMe! is an app that allows you to create stickies, color-code and sort them. They can be "written" with a finger or, for you less-messy thinkers, keyed in. You can even set up reminders or save them to your launch screen. When a task is complete, throw them in the virtual trash can. I do not remember how I found this one, but for $1.99 it has been a steal. Between BugMe! And Outlook, I stay focused while on the fly.

VISUALIZE
Visualize is the photo layering program on my ipad that I used to create the graphic in my last post. (ThingLink was added later.) This program came as a recommendation from
Kathy Schrock at the Infographics session I attended at TxLA. There was a small cost which I cannot remember.... There is a free version, but I splurged and got the $0.99 version. This is the first program I have been able to successfully create visuals with on my iPad. It is eBay to use, but the provided backgrounds and stickers are limited. It allows for imported PNG files, but I have not yet tried that.

What are YOUR favorite apps?

TxLA takeaways - Thanks, Kathy Schrock

I have used Kathy Schrock's 5 W's of Website Evaluation mini-poster for ages, because I like how simple it is for students to remember....  

I have lurked on her websites here and here...

And, hallelujah!  I finally had the chance to learn from Kathy herself at the TxLA annual conference at a session on Infographics.

Some of my best take-aways had nothing to do with Infographics specifically, and the ideas are so simple, they are brilliant.

VIDEO AS REVIEW

At the end of the first hour, which was mostly lecture, she showed the video below as review.  It is made up of her powerpoint slides that she lectured from.  And she posted it online where I can refer to it over and over and over again.  I know I will be using this technique with future lessons.

GUIDE STUDENT GOOGLE SEARCHES WITH LINKS

Kathy provided links to google searches with the query already in place.  Middle school students researching history immediately come to mind, but I think this would be an excellent tool with all ages.  What a great way to model use of quotation marks and other Boolean limiters!
Some of Kathy's examples:
Movie Infographics
Education Infographics
Election Infographics