Image-based promotion

Over the past two weeks, St Paul’s has had a poster campaign running at Morayfield Shopping Centre. We used the same posters that we had up over the Christmas period last year – and I’d like to credit the record number of enrolments the school received, to these posters. Well… it may not have been to these exclusively, but nevertheless…!

And last week, I was inspired by @connectyou‘s post on the new Covers for the Facebook Page Timelines – to be rolled out on the 30 March, but which are able to be ‘published’ beforehand. So yesterday, I got busy. Evidenced by three cover photos. Check them out!

Caloundra Christian College:

St James Lutheran College:

And last but not least… St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School:

So – what do you think?

Things are looking up…

The idea of the High School Library holds quite a bit of excitement for me. As an aspiring soon(ish)-to-be-qualified Librarian, the challenge of engaging teenagers with reading is something to which I may reasonably look forward to, one day.

Source: flickr.com via Randy on Pinterest

 

 

Just think of it – those young minds taught to enquire effectively, to understand clearly about their world, and to dream big regarding how to change this world – hopefully, for the better.

That’s been the aim behind these entries this last couple of weeks. How to use even just a few of the multitudinous number of Web 2.0 tools, to improve the High School Library – into a place where not only is it seen to be a place of relevance, but that it might actually become the place of choice for teenagers seeking information. This would be much more preferable than their turning to just a simple google / Wikipedia search!

Using RSS feeds, explaining and teaching about copyright and Creative Commons, leveraging the hundreds of thousands of wikis for collaborative learning, going mobile (as in, connecting with patrons ‘on the go’ – where they are) and even using gaming as a valid tool, were all ideas explained in this High School Library series.

In my opinion, it’s just so important to capture the minds of the children – especially in a day and age where information is ubiquitous, and not all information is accurate or free from bias. If our children can be taught that google and Wikipedia do not hold all the answers, and that discernment of information is a valuable if not crucial skill to have, then our future as a whole society, looks better.

Would you agree?

Weekly Review

This week saw the commencement of the new St Paul’s ‘Welcome’ campaign. This meant a very intense (time-pressure-wise) Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And unfortunately, the constant rain still held up the painting of the St Paul’s wall – which in turn held up the installation of the 3D lettering and sign. Rather annoying.

Online, I continued the series on ifttt.com – and they added two more channels this week, too! – and then made suggestions to enhance the reputation of the School Library. Using RSS feeds, the teaching of copyright issues, and using a wiki or two – just some ideas that could help the Library to again become the “Learning Hub” of the school.

All in all, a huge week. And just an interesting thought to leave you with – a new development in the world of books. Forget e-books; let’s go with virtual ones!

(I think this is pretty cool! Unfortunately, I also think that it’s rather impractical.)

My ‘crystal ball’ view of the School Library

I was trying to decide on a title for this post, but kept coming back to the idea of ‘Through the Looking Glass’; which, of course, had connotations of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis’ Carroll’s drug use, and all things ‘curiouser and curiouser’. Why? I hear you ask. Well – it’s that whole ‘what implications does X have for Y’ topic. The discuss ion surrounding the possibilities that lie in our future; specifically, the future of Libraries. Following on from yesterday’s “How to improve your Library’s reputation”, I started thinking about what else a School Library should probably be doing. And that’s when my thoughts turned to Creative Commons.

What’s this? I hear you ask. This is them – in their own words:

And again, in mine…

http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf

The copyright story on Prezi

So – my prediction? The School Library – in fact, all Libraries, and their respective Librarians – will be needed to show people how to use Creative Commons, and how to attribute properly. We all know that students plagiarise wily-nily from the internet – images, text, etc. Often teachers, too, when planning worksheets, happily copy and paste pictures off the internet without attributing. I am not suggesting though, that teachers are malicious in their intent! Just uninformed. As are the large majority of people in professions other than teaching, who do the exact same thing. Hence my prediction that Librarians will be needed to inform their users regarding how to attribute properly, so as to not infringe on the copyright of the creators of that content.

Of course, Libraries can also use the CC licensed content for their own use, in websites, promotional documents, and the like – just as they can create content, upload it to Flickr etc, and license this content within whichever category they feel is appropriate. However, I feel the main implication Creative Commons has for Libraries is to add one more thing to the role Librarians have to fill; that of teaching their users how to approach this whole issue of copyright. So there you go… my crystal ball view of CC and Libraries. What does your crystal ball show you?

CC Image courtesy PR at http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolorestifo/24926633/

Improve your Library’s reputation: use RSS feeds

How did you view your High School Library? If you’re among the majority, you saw it as a repository of books and ‘some other stuff’; dry words on dry paper; a place that you would voluntarily enter only if you were in Lower Primary, or one of the few Seniors in the Debating Team. How sad. How can this reputation be changed?

One solution is to enlist the help of RSS. Below is a 4 step plan; implementing it should enhance the profile of the Library.

1. Subscribe to RSS feeds from websites which students are interested in.

By subscribing to feeds from sites that are popular with kids, internet terminals within the four walls of the Library become places where students want to be, so they can keep up with the latest information. They can then be ‘the first of their friends to share’ this information. What prestige! (Talking about their discovery with their classmates, also helps to increase their sense of importance – and get the message out there that these RSS are now available in the Library.) Unfortunately, the interest in the Library will probably begin and end here, unless the students are shown, and encouraged to use, the Library for other information-gathering purposes. How then to channel this enthusiasm into more scholarly pursuits?

2. Enlist the help of the teaching staff.

The Teacher Librarian needs to work closely with the teaching staff, informing them of the most current websites and blogs available, on the topics staff are covering, so that RSS subscriptions can be made to these sites as well. Once the teachers are aware of the availability of this wealth of resources, they are more than likely to use these, or at least refer to them, in their classes. And if assessment pieces require student research, it is to these same RSS feeds which students could turn.

3. Keep it current.

Teenagers interests change. Teaching topics change. Therefore, the RSS subscriptions should also change, to reflect currency. Otherwise, the Library quickly becomes irrelevant, and vacant, again. Keeping current with teaching topics is fairly easy, with regularly maintained Work Programs. Keeping current with teenagers is more difficult. One option is to use RSS again – in reverse. Set up a Library blog with an RSS feed, and encourage your customer base to subscribe. Not only can you receive immediacy in feedback to your posts, but you can also seek advice, obtaining valuable information about the opinions of your customers in the process.

4. Inform, inform, inform!

The task then becomes one of exposition – showing, regularly and effectively, the continually updated benefits that the Library has to offer those who are interested. And not just through the blog, and through the teaching staff, but through other channels as well. Noticeboards, newsletters, announcements at Assemblies, etc., all help to get the message ‘out there’ that the High School library is now a place of relevance and interest.

By implementing these 4 steps, the student body and teaching staff alike,  will probably place their faith in the Library as being no longer just a place for ‘old school technology’ and out-dated ideas. Instead, they will believe that it is a place where current information can be found, on sites of interest to them. Mission accomplished!

Image courtesy Allie Des Meules at http://pinterest.com/pin/11188699043725379/