SLIS NEWS: Fair, Blogs, 5 Things to Do

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

The Fair was great! We had so much fun, laughing, eating, petting horses, riding the sky ride * it was a beautiful night and we made the most of it. Next year we'll have the second annual SLIS goes to the fair so get it on your calendars now!

Our own Dean Bierbauer is in the press this week. I attended the panel session that he moderated titled "Would St. Paul be a Blogger?" and the following story is a good summary.

USC seminar explores new media’s impact on religion, culture: ... “Imagine what Paul could have done with a Web site,” said Charles Bierbauer, dean of the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/2006/10/21/news/
local/15811645.htm

This week is stuffed with meetings culminating with Faculty Meeting on Friday. If there is anything you think we need to know about or think about, please email and I'll get it on the agenda.

Here are your 5 items for this week, some to do, some to think about and some to act on. If you only have time to click on one be sure to check out Ms. Dewey!

1. Great fun! Check out this interactive video search engine with Ms. Dewey:
http://www.msdewey.com/
I searched for Improving Information Literacy and received a relevant and ranked list. You can also share the search with a friend.

2. Excellent bibliography on use of Open Source Software in Libraries:
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/staff/brenda_chawner/biblio.html

3. How about a Library Camp? This sounds like a great idea.
http://wiki.library2.net/index.php/Library_Camp_East_2006

4. We all need to celebrate because last year entry level salaries for librarians finally broke $40K with minority graduates making about 6% more!
http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article
Print&articleid=CA6379540

and

5. from our good friend, Frank Baker, media literacy expert:
THE RISE & FALL OF READING SCHOOL LIBRARY BOOKS
There’s nothing quite so wonderful as a new book. Imagine it in your hands as you admire its jacket and then flip through its crisp pages. Can you smell the newness? Are you excited about embarking on a new adventure? It’s too bad our school library shelves aren't overflowing with new books every year because Indiana students would increase their practice of reading if they had access to new, interesting, and useful books. New books really do make a difference. From 1997-2001, the Indiana General Assembly provided funding for school library books. During that period, school corporations matched that funding. The result was just what one would expect. There was a huge increase in the purchase of books. Circulation rose from a per student average of 33.8 to 43.1 as a result of the School Library Printed Materials Grant. With the loss of
funding for new books, the circulation dropped to 32.7 to 2006. As with everything else, the price of books has steadily increased over the years. The average cost of a school library book is now over $20, and schools should be purchasing two books per student per year to keep their library collections current. Even with the state funding, most schools are not purchasing two books per student per year. No matter the cost, there is no escaping the fact that there is no substitute for books. Without access to current, appealing, high-interest, and useful books in school libraries, reading achievement suffers. Money most definitely does make a difference in reading.
http://mgrn.evansville.edu/library%20report%202006.pdf

Have a great week and let me know if there is anything I can do for you,

sam