President Obama recently promoted the importance of information and media literacy. There  are new AASL Standards for 21st Century Skills for information literacy.

Librarians collaborating with teachers is the key to implementing 21st Century digital information literacy in our schools. Librarians can help teachers move from traditional textbook learning in their classrooms to more effective inquiry-based learning because librarians already have the training and expertise.

This month’s learning activities are designed to help librarians help teachers to learn more about the importance of information literacy, and learn how to implement it in classroom assignments.

Traditional Search Student Learning Activity

Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words (or a PowerPoint presentation of at least seven slides) that cites at least three resources. Students should address at least three of the following essential questions for critical thinking in their reports (you can create or substitute others):

• Why is a lot of the information found on the Internet unreliable?
• How can you tell credible information from false or misleading information on the Internet?
• What benefits do library databases provide for students doing research vs. surfing?
• How can the teacher create assignments that help develop your critical thinking?
• Why is inquiry-based learning replacing textbook learning now and in the future?
• What do you consider to be the most important information literacy skills and why?

Suggested online resources:

SIRS Knowledge Source

It’s new, easy to use and best of all, it’s free. What is it, you ask? It is called Study Guide Zone. The Study Guide Zone was developed to simplify the process and provide you with free, easy-to-understand preparation materials. Whether you are applying for college, looking for a better job, or trying to get into the military, there is something useful for you in the Study Guide Zone.

Can’t use our regular electronic resources because you either do not have a library card or you live outside of the Las Vegas area. No problem, this new site is free for anyone to use and contains all the information you need to better your scores on many of the standardized test that are given today.

Ok, now you want to know how you can access this. Ok, great! Follow these 4 simple steps to get there.

1. Go to our homepage, www.lvccld.org
2. Click on “Infoguides” from the left hand side of the page
3. Click on “Test preparation” under “Education”
4. Then look under “websites” and click on the link for “Study Guide Zone.’

How easy was that? Ok, now you are there, what can you do? There are several things you can do on this site.

Test taking: General information
To begin with, the site provides general information for four different kinds of examination: admission, licensing, vocational, and primary/secondary.

1. Admission exams are those like the SAT or GRE that are taken as part of your application to college or graduate school.
2. Licensing exams, for example the NCLEX and Praxis exams are required for certification in professions like teaching and nursing. Vocational exams are part of the admissions process for professional schools and the military.
3. Vocational exams are the ASVAB and the HOBET examinations.
4. Primary and secondary school exams are those like the FCAT and the THEA that are taken by students in elementary, middle, and high school. Success on secondary exams can be essential to advancing to the next grade or receiving a high school diploma.
Test taking: Test preparation
You don’t need general information, because you are already familiar with the test that you need to take. You just need to practice for the test. Ok, no worries, this is where the Study Guide Zone Test Directory comes in handy.

Simply click on the name of your exam and you will be taken to a page containing detailed information and links to free preparation materials. For many of the exams, this preparation material includes extensive guidebooks covering every aspect of the examination. Isn’t this fantastic?

In addition, many of the exam pages listed in the Test Directory contain links to practice questions composed by test experts. Each set of practice questions is modeled directly on the real exam, so that your preparation can be as authentic as possible.
Study tips
Finally, be sure to check out the “Study Tips” section for some great general advice on taking tests, writing research papers, and getting the most out of your time in the classroom. This section of the Study Guide Zone summarizes the most important education research, and, perhaps more importantly, describes some of the ways you can use the insights of this research to improve your performance.

If you find this information useful, please let us know we would love to hear how we can better serve your needs.

This week: The Internet

Some people calculate that, this year, the internet is 40 years old – because the ARPANET was created in 1969, and was the first generation of the internet. Check your knowledge of the internet with this brainteaser.

1. Which internet search engine was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin?

2. Many people access the internet on a PC. What does “PC” stand for?

3. In connection with emails, what is the meaning of “phish”?

4. Skype is a trade name for a piece of software that allows what to be made over the internet?

5. When talking about the internet, what does “W3″ stand for?

6. Which word for inappropriate or unwanted messages sent by email apparently derives from a sketch in “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”?

7. Which online video sharing company was founded in 2005 and purchased by Google for $1.65 billion the following year?

8. Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia on the internet. What does the word “wiki” mean in Hawaiian?

9. When talking about online forums, what does ‘lurk” mean?

10. In connection with email, what does “SMTP” stand for?

Find the answers here.

Image entitled “Internet”. Available on Credo Reference: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/heliconhe/internet/3

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

The Last Lecture is available as an eBook and an audiobook, so feel free to read along with us and let us know what you think! Please leave your comments.

Here is to being thankful for what we have and to remembering what matters most!

Proving its staying power, less than one month after its release, Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol still tops the list of the most downloaded audiobooks and eBooks. Making its first appearance in the top ten is the newest audiobook title from Romantic Times Career Achievement Award Nominee Nevada Barr; 13 1/2 is a New Orleans suspense novel sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The children’s version of Greg Mortenson’s international bestseller Three Cups of Tea also cracked the top ten on the Juvenile Nonfiction Audiobook list. Those who love this story are surely anticipating the follow-up title by Mortenson; Stones into Schools picks up right where Three Cups of Tea left off, recounting his humanitarian work in Afganhistan. Another consistent force on most downloaded juvenile audiobook and eBook lists are Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series titles. Fans of Edward and Bella will be lining up on Nov. 20 to view the latest movie in this series, New Moon.  Everyone loves great books turned into movies, but we wonder… how long will it take before we can line up to see The Lost Symbol on the big screen?

The Most Downloaded Books from the Library lists are organized by subject and format, and compiled based on activity at more than 9,000 libraries in the OverDrive global network. Look for our link Las Vegas – Clark County in the alphabetical list of libraries who own the item.

from Lindsey Levinsohn