On Libraries and New Media, powered by Library Journal and School Library Journal
At one of the hottest sessions at ALA’s most recent Midwinter meeting, the Dewey Decimal System—that sacred cow of library organization—was trotted out in front of a packed room and subjected to intense scrutiny. But in the midst of Common Core, among other pressing issues, is this debate really worth our time?
Webooks, a cooperative ebook purchasing plan, has been named a Cutting Edge Technology Project by the American Library Association. It could be a model for districts around the country, says Christopher Harris.
I’m afraid I must interrupt my series of posts on “Being Different”, which begins here, for this important message. Yesterday I participated in a panel that I arranged, and that my employer (OCLC) sponsored, on linked open data at the ALIA Information Online Conference in Brisbane, Australia. The drawing in this post was created by […]
“School libraries, I believe, will be the coming focal point for ebook licensing,” write Chris Harris. “We have strong relationships with our K–12 publishing partners, but now we must reach out to the trade houses. As the print market weakens, the time is right for schools to present a new business proposal.”
How will schools pay for new CC resources, including digital? One approach is to look for existing funds within your school and district that can be redirected so that your library can purchase CC resources for the classroom. But that requires that libraries market their expertise in resource selection and collection development so that your value is obvious to others, says Christopher Harris.
Christopher Harris shares his thoughts on how rural districts—with an average size of 1,100 students and less than half the budget of the average New York school district—are, in effect, subsidizing the state’s large, wealthy, suburban systems, which are purchasing the same content at the same cost per building.
Under Common Core, students will be writing scripts, reviewing books, making public service announcements, and creating other content, all using video. For schools, this presents a technical challenge: Where to host all this video? SLJ columnist Christopher Harris has found a solution.
Librarians are masters of information. Finding it, storing it, organizing it, retrieving it—you name it. We excel at a wide range of skills. And in today’s world, that’s the name of the game.
Christopher Harris and Kristie Miller are the latest to brave the uncharted territory that lies beyond the Dewey Decimal System. Harris recently joined the librarian in the effort to reclassify her elementary school collection. Here’s the result.
Want to help teachers find high-quality “complex texts,” a key ingredient of the new educational standards? Christopher Harris shows you how.
