Library Open even while Closed

Here is something that I think that most might not have remembered or thought of when considering the online options for libraries. But just as schools today are considering online options for what to do when schools are closed due to weather or other issues, so too can community libraries still serve their public through online options even though their doors have to be closed, in this case due to a power outage. On one side, I hate to see any library closed for any reason, but do understand that it will happen from time to time. In Florida, we add days to the school calendar to ensure that we will have enough days to maintain accreditation even if we get a major storm. I don't want this to be considered a substitute for a public library, but instead more like the redundancy built into a good system. This way if one part isn't working another can take up some of the need. Here also is where users having a variety of ebook devices could be useful. My tablet is good for about six to eight hours of continual use, but my kindle will run for about a month. So as power goes out (and when hurricanes are considered, you must plan for what could be weeks of no power), something that can run for an extended time and could be recharged off a couple of standard batteries or a solar re-charger is an excellent option. Then too, you can easily put your reader into a plastic bag and continue to read, even in the rain. I'm sure that even non-readers would really appreciate a book to read after a week without power.

Damage in Miami resulting from a hurricane in 1926.

While Parkland Library's closed, online resources and ebooks are available
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/parkland/mc-library-closed-parkland-content-1028-20121031,0,254837.story

Comments

Auto Summarization

In dealing with textbooks and students with disabilities, one of the most common things that we would do is to get the textbook in a digital format, as an ebook. By doing this we were able to use a number of tools based on the need of the student. I've had students who could not lift their physical printed textbook, but would be able to access though a laptop installed in their electronic wheelchair, for students with vision issues we could boost the font size or use a text-to-speech tool to have the book read aloud to them. One tool that I used with a number of my students who had issues was the Auto Summarize tool in Word. The tool works well with textbook, but wouldn't work for other texts, such as novels. I used this to reduce the amount of text that they had to read, the "cognitive load" of the text, but would still enable be able to get the information. Word did a great job, and depending on the student I would reduce the text to about 66% for facts and support...

Ebooks as Textbooks - Part 2 - Highlighting

Highlighting can be a very effective tool in reading and learning no matter the kind of text being read: from novels to textbooks. Most textbooks or other forms of information text will usually used text features along with graphics to help organize information presented in the text. These elements are done to help focus attention on important or key concepts and provide additional information. The text organization itself can include structural elements such as heading, subheading, index, glossary, paragraph spacing, bulleted or numbered lists, sidebars or side boxes, italics, underlines or bold for words or even sections. Graphic content can include the use of symbols, colors, illustrations, pictures, diagrams, charts, and graphs. Poor highlighting design - too much text has been highlighted. The act of highlighting is less time consuming and much easier than note-taking ( to be discussed in an upcoming posting). To be ...

StoryBots - free for early childhood teachers

Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers can have free access to StoryBots from http://www.storybots.com/educate . StoryBots Classroom offers an expansive new suite of classroom-ready activities and resources,including: Math Skills – Common Core-aligned kindergarten-level math games Learning Videos – a library of 110+ animated musical videos that explore a wide range of topics Starring You® and Learning Books – 90+ eBooks that help kids practice reading Starring You® Videos – offering fun, quick and personalized reward for the classroom and can be used for brain breaks Activity Sheets – 20 printable books and 350+ sheets for teachers to use in their classrooms Teacher Tools – including Class Roster, Lesson Planner, Group Builder — to help educators manage their classroom and create custom plans.

eBook News

Search This Blog