The Flower of Nature - Medieval manuscripts blog The British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site has recently acquired some new residents, including unicorns, amorous elephants, humans and dragons. These can all be found in the recently digitised Der naturen bloeme or The Flower of Nature (Add MS 11390), a natural encyclopedia and bestiary in Middle Dutch verse. Add MS 11390, f. 22r The manuscript is one of only eleven extant copies and contains 571 fantastic illustrations of the humans, quadrupeds, birds, sea creatures, fish, poisonous snakes, insects and crawling animals, common trees, spice trees and medicinal herbs. Add MS 11390, f. 23r Be warned, however: this bestiary is not rated PG! Add MS 11390, f. 13r The text of Der naturen bloeme was written around 1270 by the Flemish poet Jacob van Maerlant (b. c. 1200, d. c. 1272) at the request of his patron, the somewhat appropriately-named Nicolaas van Cats. Add MS 11390, f. 13v In addition to its fantastic drawings, it also provides rare evidence of a medieval lending library.
3 must-have skills for today’s librarians | eSchool News Districts nationwide are looking for new and innovative ways to provide training and resources for their staff, all while keeping within a limited budget. What many administrators fail to notice is that their greatest asset is already in their building. It’s the 21st century, and school librarians are no longer just “the keepers of the books.” Librarians and media specialists are highly trained, highly versatile staff members, whose scope of responsibilities spans all students and all subjects. I represent library media specialists at the district level. This means that I am in charge of maintaining a district media committee for vetting district-provided digital resources, and I am also responsible for the professional development for our school librarians. As the first certified library media specialist at the district level in this system, I have been busy building a strong standard of practice for our librarians. 1) How to Introduce New Technology
La biblioteca que en lugar de libros presta gente con historias para contar | QuéLeer Buen día, ¿me puedo llevar a esta persona prestada por una media hora por favor? Algo más o menos así es lo que uno puede preguntar en la biblioteca humana, un proyecto que en vez de ofrecer libros para llevar, ofrece a diferentes personas con historias interesantes para contar. La idea de la Organización Biblioteca Humana es romper barreras entre la gente y promover el diálogo y la comprensión. El sistema es muy simple: los usuarios consultan un catálogo en el que hay una lista de personas con historias para compartir. Después de elegir, el usuario tiene alrededor de media hora para escuchar a este libro viviente y también para preguntar, dialogar. Los libros son por lo general personas que han sido víctimas de prejuicios, exclusión social o que han sido estigmatizadas, para que el lector tenga la oportunidad de revisar sus propios prejuicios. Uno puede, por ejemplo, consultar “el libro” Lee Co En, que trata sobre cómo es vivir con enanismo. FUENTE: Me gusta: Relacionado
Column: Can librarians help solve the fake news problem? Students study at a library table. Image by Blend Images/ Dave and Les Jacobs/ Getty Images Imagine, for a moment, the technology of 2017 had existed on Jan. 11, 1964 – the day Luther Terry, surgeon general of the United States, released “Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States.” What would be some likely scenarios? The social media noise machine explodes; conservative websites immediately paint the report as a nanny-government attack on personal freedom and masculinity; the report’s findings are hit with a flood of satirical memes, outraged Facebook posts, attack videos and click-bait fake news stories; Big Tobacco’s publicity machine begins pumping out disinformation via both popular social media and pseudoscientific predatory journals willing to print anything for a price; Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater characterizes “Smoking and Health” as a “communist-inspired hoax.” Maybe not. History of information literacy
Bringing It All Together: Literacy, ICT and the 21st Century Skills By Stephen Pinel Literacy, 21st century skills, ICT and a common pedagogical framework – these four seem to be flavours of the month in many schools, including mine. What is not evident, however, is how schools blend all of these disparate strategies together into one framework. Too often, the professional development (PD) delivered for each of these strategies is delivered separately, in a piecemeal approach, and in ways that can contradict each other. This article shares a framework that integrates these four important strategies, so that units of work can be prepared that take students from learning basic skills directly from teacher modelling, right through to collaborative application of these skills against real-world, authentic problems. ICT and 21st Century Skills The 21st century skills have been hashed over by quite a few different groups over the last 20 or so years. • collaboration • knowledge construction • self-regulation • real-world problem solving and innovation 1. 2. 3. 4.
7 Books That Explore the Boundaries of Language The film “Arrival,” based on Ted Chiang’s short story “Story of Your Life,” follows a group of scientists as they attempt to determine a way to communicate with aliens who have recently made their presence known on Earth. It’s the stuff of classic science fiction, but in Chiang’s hands, it turns into a meditation on memory, loss, and perception — while diving headfirst into the kind of satisfying big ideas that its genre does so well. In Chiang’s story, explorations of language prompt readers to question time and causality, leading in turn to a greater understanding of what makes us human. Buy The Book Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang Those questions of humanity and communication are essential to understanding ourselves. Here is a look at seven that, through both fiction and nonfiction, can expand our knowledge of what language can do. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus
Reading for pleasure — a door to success The benefits of reading for pleasure are far reaching. Aside from the sheer joy of exercising the imagination, evidence indicates reading for pleasure improves literacy, social skills, health and learning outcomes. It also gives people access to culture and heritage and empowers them to become active citizens, who can contribute to economic and social development. Contents Reading for pleasure — a definitionThe importance of reading for pleasureEngaging children with readingReferences Reading for pleasure — a definition Reading for pleasure is also referred to as independent reading, voluntary reading, leisure reading, or recreational reading. “Reading we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction we will get from the act of reading”. It is also defined by the same group as reading which began at someone else’s request, that we continue because we are interested in it. The importance of reading for pleasure Increased engagement with learning Positive impact on reading achievement
10 Reasons Librarians Are More Important Than Ever It’s National Library Week, and we couldn’t resist paying homage to one of the most important members of the school community: librarians. Also known as library media specialists, librarians play a unique role in our schools. Often asked to take on a wide range of duties, these passionate and savvy educators deserve more than only a week of praise. And in case you need a reminder of all that librarians do for our students and our schools, we’ve put together a list — but it’s only a start. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. This article originally appeared in Common Sense Media. –Erin Wilkey Oh Common Sense Media Executive Editor, Education Marketing
10 dicas para se tornar um bibliotecário mais moderno - Portal do Bibliotecário Para bibliotecários, olhar para o futuro é abraçar novas formas de abordar o seu trabalho e o papel da biblioteca dentro do contexto em que ela está inserida. Os bibliotecários mais modernos estão trabalhando para revitalizar suas bibliotecas, tornando-as mais do que simples lugares que armazenam informações. Parte museu, parte laboratório, as bibliotecas do futuro estão explorando e definindo os seus serviços com base nas necessidades das pessoas. “Os bibliotecários se encontram no meio de uma tentativa de se reinventar profissionalmente” falou Sebastien Marion, bibliotecário de serviços virtuais no Instituto de Tecnologia de Nova York. “O desafio é: como ir de um espaço que guarda coleções de livros para um lugar que coleciona habilidades” Bibliotecários modernos possuem várias habilidades que podem contribuir e incentivar o crescimento pessoal, desde que acompanhe os avanços tecnológicos de informação e comunicação. Aqui estão 10 dicas para se tornar um bibliotecário mais moderno. 1.
Home "ZEIG DICH" // Museum Night at the German Museum of Books and Writing of the German National Library in Leipzig // Saturday, 6 May 2017, 18:00-24:00 This year's theme is "Zeig dich!" ("Show yourself!") and numerous museums and collections in Halle and Leipzig will be opening their doors to present themselves and their diverse holdings. All information about the Museum Night in Halle and Leipzig can be found here . Parsing the New ALA School Librarian Competencies Framework Left to right: Dorcas Hand, Sara Kelly Johns, and Susan Ballard An ALA committee has defined eleven professional competencies that emphasize leadership and growth. Using the work roles of school administrators as a guide, an American Library Association (ALA) committee has released a set of professional competencies for today’s school librarians. Part of ALA President Julie Todaro’s “Libraries Transform: The Expert in the Library” initiative, the effort was presented last month during the ALA Presidential Program in Chicago. The committee “saw the Todaro initiative as an opportunity to provide for school librarians a personal, professional growth tool,” Johns says. In crafting the competencies, the committee first studied those that had been adopted by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and by the Association of College and Research Libraries, both divisions of ALA. Johns says the competencies can provide practitioners with a baseline measurement of efficacy.