CMCIG Spring Workshop

As the weather gets more and more wintry, we all need something to take our minds off the cold. What better solution than to plan on attending the Spring 2007 CMC Interest Group workshop? The workshop will be held this year in warm and sunny southern Ohio at Miami University in Oxford on Friday, May 18. The workshop will be devoted to collection development and will include a tour of Miami's new Instructional Materials Center and a visit to the William Holmes McGuffey Museum (http://www.units.muohio.edu/mcguffeymuseum/).

Please plan on joining your colleagues for the Spring Workshop.

CMCIG Spring 2007 Workshop

From year to year, the CMCIG makes an effort to hold its spring workshop in different parts of the state. In recent years, we have met at Bowling Green, Ashland, Kent, and Cedarville. If any of you would be interested in hosting the spring 2007 workshop, please be bold and volunteer! We do have a possible site lined up, but it would be very close to where we held last year's workshop (Cedarville). The CMCIG committee does the planning, but we would of course need help from the workshop site in arranging meals, breaks, etc. The spring 2007 CMCIG workshop will focus on collection development.

This would be an excellent way to showcase your institution, library, and CMC. We do enjoy seeing other CMCs and learning about their operation.

More on graphic novels

Browsing through ALA Direct this morning there was a link in the "Seen Online" section regarding graphic novels highlighted an Associated Press article from the International Heral Tribune; As more graphic novels appear in libraries, so do challenges. This article touches on issues regarding the graphic element in graphic novels and the important issue of these novels not always being for children. Graphic novel collections in academic libraries differ from graphic novels in public libraries. An academic library is purchasing to support a curriculum and a public library purchases to support the public. While the two overlap in many ways, each library is following a collection development and selection policy for purchases, there is a definite distinction in the resulting novels being added. From the article:

"Sales of graphic novels have more than tripled from $75 million in 2001. Milton Griepp, chief executive of ICV2, which tracks the pop culture marketplace, estimated libraries add another 5 percent to 10 percent to those retail sales figures."

"The Chicago-based American Library Association said it knows of at least 14 challenges relating to graphic novels in U.S. libraries over the past two to three years."

"The issue has become prevalent enough that the ALA, the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund earlier this year put out a set of recommendations for librarians looking to begin their own graphic novel collections but wanting to avoid controversy."

Tags: Graphic Novels, AlA Direct, Challenging graphic novels, International Herald Tribune

Fall 2006 Conference

If you were unable to attend Michael Pawuk's excellent session on graphic novels at the fall conference, a link to his PowerPoint presentation is now available at the ALAO website.

Back in business ....

With the exception of our site feeds, the CMCIG blog is officially back in business. A free counter, Statcounter, has been added. It will allow simple tracking including daily "hits." Should we need to determine if this project continues, daily statistics will allow us to determine basic usage of the blog.

Update: Several site feed "chicklets" have been added to the blog to make it easier to subscribe.

Tags: CMCIG, CMCIG blog, Statcounter, Feedburner

CMCIG blog glitch

Earlier this week, Greg Martin, CMCIG chair, was working on the Cedarville CMC blog and noticed a problem with the current CMCIG blogger template, the side bar items were gone and the blog scheme changed. We are not sure if the changes will show upon publication of a post. As luck would have it, Greg noticed the change before anyone posted about the ALAO conference and the information could be saved before testing our theory.

Therefore, this is a test post. If nothing happens, please excuse my blathering on about the issue. On the other hand, if you notice the side bar information has changed greatly (the CMCIG info is gone) and the color scheme different (any other color but the original green), we are working on the problem and hope to have it fixed on Monday.

Thanks for your patience.

Update: 11/11/06
The original CMCIG blog template has been restored and a free web statcounter installed.

ALAO Fall Conference

For those of you planning on attending the ALAO conference next month, I wanted to let you know what our sponsored session is going to be. Our featured speaker will be Michael Pawuk, nationally known authority on graphic novels. Michael is the teen services librarian at the Brooklyn Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library system, and is recognized as one of the leading experts in the country on the subject of graphic novels. In 2002, he chaired the YALSA pre-conference session “Get Graphic @ your library,” and he regularly speaks on building graphic novel collections in libraries. In his session at the fall conference, he will discuss the differences between graphic novels, comic books, and standard trade books. He will also discuss how to decide if a book belongs in a collection, the major publishers and what kinds of books they publish, and Japanese Manga. He will also bring along a large number of graphic novels for us to see.

Please plan on joining us at our session, which is scheduled for 1:30.

OhioLINK Marketing Workshop

If you are planning to attend the ALAO conference on November 3rd, consider going a day early and attending Marketing Research for Libraries 101, sponsored by OhioLINK. This pre-conference workshop is scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd, from 2 to 4 pm at the Crowne Plaza Quaker Square in Akron. The workshop is free of charge, advance registration required.

"Join Diane Cellentani - president of Marketing Backup and marketing research consultant to OCLC - for an introduction to the marketing research process. This two-hour workshop will introduce you to the market research techniques that will help you gather reliable information for the library service planning, service / resource development, and marketing and communication efforts." - Workshop flyer, 9/13/06

Thomson Gale is sponsoring an ALAO Welcome Reception in Crowne Plaza boardroom after the workshop from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Come early to the conference and stay overnight at the Crowne Plaze Quaker Square; to get the ALAO rate hotel reservations must be made by October 3.

For more information, or to make your reservation, email Candi Clevenger (candi@ohiolink.edu) with your contact information. Candi has mentioned "anyone who is interested should sign up early. We have a minimum attendance number we need to reach in order to have the workshop. We're slightly less than halfway there as of today." (Comments, Library Cloud, 9/14/06)

Remember, there is no cost to attend this marketing workshop.

Tags: OhioLINK, OhioLINK workshop, Marketing Research for Libraries 101, ALAO, ALAO Conference, Academic libraries

ALAO 32nd Annual Conference

Early bird registration deadline for this year's conference is next Wednesday, September 20th. Be sure to have your registration post marked for that date in order to receive the discounted price of $70 - save $10. Other items of interest from the Conference web site include:

• 2006 Conference Program
• Conference Schedule At A Glance (pdf)
• Information on the Key Note Speaker

Double check the program on the day of the conference, but according to the schedule at a glance, CMCIG's session on Graphic Novels is Session 3 (1:30 - 2:15), Conference D:

Michael Pawuk - Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn Branch

CMCIG's sponsored session at the annual Fall Conference will feature Michael Pawuk, nationally known speaker on graphic novels. Michael is the teen services librarian at the Brooklyn Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library system, and is recognized as one of the leading experts in the country on the subject of graphic novels. In 2002, he chaired the YALSA pre-conference session "Get Graphic @ your library," and he regularly speaks on building graphic novel collections in libraries. In his session at the fall conference, he will discuss the differences between graphic novels, comic books, and standard trade books. He will also discuss how to decide if a book belongs in a collection, the major publishers and what kinds of books they publish, and Japanese Manga.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: ALAO, ALAO Conference, Graphic Novels, CMCIG, Michael Pawuk

Wiki Books

Really, K-12 classroom textbooks. I have read articles about students considering electronic texts more cost effective for college courses, but have to admit not ever considering Wiki's to replace K-12 textbooks. This option (innovation?) seems to be growing as districts struggle to balance budgets against their the need for updated textbooks. Case in point, the California Open Source Textbook Project's K-12 World History Project (COSTP). The project is part of WikiBooks, the open-content textbook collection of "sister project" Wikipedia.

The COSTP home page states: "It is important to note that COSTP's mandate does not replace printed textbooks; it simply makes them less expensive to produce; and, in doing so creates many additional benefits, economies, and efficiencies that will fully leverage California's activities in the K-12 textbook publishing domain."

How will projects of this sort influence CMC's and their curriculum textbook collections?

More about the textbook project:

• Welcome to the California Open Source Textbook Project
• COSTP World History Project
• COSTP World History Project: Contents

More about Wikibooks:

• Wikibooks
• Wikibook FAQ's

Articles about Wikibooks:

• eSchool News Online: Wikibooks to offer free eTexts for education
• Philadelphia Inquirer: Imagine Textbooks in a new form
• ZDNet Education: Watch out for Wikibooks

ALAO News Blog

Hot off the presses, and the ALAO leadership retreat, the ALAO news blog! A press release will be issued shortly detailing the mission, vision, and policies of this newest venture. Below is a blurb from the spring press release detailed to the board.

"The blog will be a forum for information about workshops and conferences sponsored by ALAO and its interest groups. The blog may include summaries of events, pictures, comments, and links to related items."

AACE Digital Library

Does anyone have experience using this partiular database? It is also known by an additional or new title as Ed/ITLib: Education and information technology library. We currently have a trial subscription and I am interested in feedback.

Feel free to post here or to the CMCIG list.

The Impact of New Tools on Teaching

HigherEd Blog Con 2006 is currently hosting an online blog conference described as:

"a fully web-based eventfocused on how new online communications technologies and social tools are changing Higher Education. Except as noted, presentations are offered free of charge."

The conference is a month long event focusing upon four specific tracts of presentations including; teaching, library & information science resources, admissions, alumni relations, and communications & marketing, and websites & web development.

Of interest today is a presentation: "Legal Issues in Podcasting in the Traditional Classroom" by Elizabeth Townsend Gard and Colette Vogele, both from Stanford Law School. It is available in two parts as a quicktime movie and as a powerpoint presentation.

Congratulations to Gaynelle Predmore

Congratulations go to Gaynelle Predmore, Library Media Technical Assistant at the Jerome Library, Bowling Green State University. Gaynelle received special recognition from the judges in the Paraprofessional of the Year Award, sponsored by Brodart, for her work with the Ohio Library Support Staff Institute and ALAO's Support Staff Interest Group. Gaynelle is part of the staff of the Curriculum Resource Center at the Jerome Library.

CMCIG Spring Workshop

ALAO's Curriculum Materials Center Interest Group will hold its annual spring workshop on Friday, May 19, 2006, at Cedarville University, from 8:30 until 3:30. The workshop, "Planting Seeds for Professional Growth," will feature the following sessions:

Making Your Life Easier with BWI!
Eileen Armour and Nancy Cheney of BWI will demonstrate how using TitleTales, a free database, to search, select, and order materials online can benefit Curriculum Materials Center librarians.

Promoting Information Literacy through Webquests
Sara Bushong of Bowling Green State University will lead this discussion of using webquests with K-12 and pre-service teachers.

EBSS: Curriculum Materials Center Collection Development Policy Manual
Dr. Gary Lare of the University of Cincinnati will share the Collection Development Policy manual his EBSS Commitee has developed and go through the document with workshop attendees.

NCATE Technology Requirements
Debra Mallonee of Cedarville University, and formerly of the State Department of Education, will explain NCATE's increased expectations in the area of information technology and discuss how CMCs and library personnel can help meet those expectations.

Tour the Cedarville University Curriculum Materials Center

For more information and to register for the workshop, go to http://www.cedarville.edu/cmcig.

Hope to see you on May 19!

Art of the Picture Book Conference

Don’t miss the first Art of the Picture Book Conference to be held on May 12 and 13, 2006 at Ashland University, Ashland Ohio. The conference will bring together educators, librarians, artists, publishers, editors, aspiring writers or illustrators, and anyone interested in picture books. Art of the Picture Book will feature keynote presentations by award-winning authors and illustrators, many exciting sessions and workshops, a children’s art exhibit, and author autograph sessions.

Keynote Speakers

Internationally known authors and illustrators, Ted and Betsy Lewin have collaborated on notable books such as Gorilla Walk and Elephant Quest. Betsy Lewin is the author and illustrator of the 2000 Caldecott Honor Book Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type. Ted Lewin is the author and/or illustrator of several award winning titles including Peppe the Lamplighter, a 1994 Caldecott Honor Book.

Native Ohioan, Denise Fleming is the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Honor book In the Small, Small Pond, and The Everything Book, a Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books of 2000.

Other invited speakers include the Deputy Director of the Mazza Museum, Benjamin Sapp and children's book author, Dominic Catalano.

Graduate Workshop Credit

Teachers are eligible to receive one hour of graduate workshop credit from Ashland University by attending both conference days and completing an appropriate class project.

Registration

Registration for the conference is now open with the two-day registration fee only $95.00! Single day pricing and student rates are also available.

For more information about the conference and to register, visit the Conference Home Page @ http://www.ashland.edu/~artpicbk

Questions may be directed to artpicbk@ashland.edu

MLA: Education Curriculum Interest Group

The Michigan Library Association's Education Curriculum Interest Group (ECIG) is hosting a spring workshop at Saginaw Valley State University's Regional Education Center. This workshop, "New Technologies in the Classroom: Electronic Textbooks, Podcasting and Screencasting" is scheduled for Friday, April 21, 2006 from 9:30 am - 3:15 pm.

The program includes:

• "The Role of Math and Science Centers in the State of Michigan"
  Dr. Walter Rathkamp, Director
  Saginaw Valley State University Regional Math & Science Center
• "New Technologies in the Classroom: Podcasting and Screencasting"
  Russ Barneveld, Professor
  Grand Valley State University
• "ETextbooks: The Vendor's Perspective"
  Scott Goddard
  Holt, Rinehart and Winston
• "ETextbooks: The Librarian's Perspective"
  Sue Homant, Head of Reference
  University of Detroit, Mercy

Cost for this workshop, including lunch, is $40 for ECIG and ARLD members; $50 for MLA members; and $70 for non-MLA members. For more information, or to register, contact Anne Winkel (517) 394-2774, ext. 277 or register online (see post title link) @ https://orders.mlc.lib.mi.us/mla/2006registration.htm.

Registration deadline is April 16, 2006.

Collection Development: Graphic Novels

An interesting question was posted to the EBSS List Serv this afternoon concerning graphic novels and collection development policy. Is anyone including graphic novels in their juvenile or regular circulating collection? If so, what type of policy is being used to select and incorporate this genre into academic collections? I am curious as to how others are handling graphic novels in their collections.

I started including graphic novels after asking the professors teaching children and young adult literature at AU. The young adult class is required to read graphic novels, so I have a ready audience. One issue I have encountered is the placement of the books when cataloged. Some of them are in the juvenile collection. Others, because of graphic nature of the illustrations, content, or language, have been added to the regular circulating collection. Making that determination has not been simple. We spend time perusing each purchase individually to make sure location in the library is appropriate (adhering to development policy). With that in mind, our cataloger has added 'graphic novels' as a subject heading to each book, making it easier for students to locate within the catalog.

Note: Special thanks to Andrea Williams, Curriculum Materials Librarian at Midwestern State University for posting her inquiry on the EBSS List.

"Best sites for information literacy tools"

The December 2005 issue of Teacher Librarian has an interesting article by Joanne Troutner in the Web Wonders section. Detailed are several web sites to be used as information literacy tools, evaluating information. What is so great about these sites? They are "bogus web sites to use for practice activities." Click on the post title to view the article

Note: The link is an OhioLINK proxy persistent link. You will be directed to login before viewing.

Electronic Textbooks in the CMC

If you have electronic (CD/online) textbooks for K-12 in your collection, please share your experiences. How did you acquire them or access to them? How do you circulate them or monitor access? How do faculty and students use them? Are local schools using them? How have patrons responded to these resources?

OELMA Midwinter

Come to OELMA Midwinter 2006, Sat., March 11, 2006 in Columbus. (This is my experiment with posting. Hope it works!)

Finding and Using Library Statistics

Denise Rosenblatt, National Library of Education, passed along the following information concerning libraries and statistics via the EBSS list serv (1/25/06). Each of the titles are available online or may be ordered from Ed Pubs.

• Library Statistics (home page)
  
• Improving Literacy through School Library Evaluation
  
• America's Public School Libraries: 1953-2000
  
• Fifty Years of Supporting Children’s Learning: A History of Public School Libraries and Federal Legislation from 1953-2000

InfoSpeak

This site was posted on the ACRLog yesterday. It caught my attention for two reasons; it included a radio interview using flash, podcast, and mp3 technology, and the person interviewed was Joe Janes. "In this exclusive interview for InfoSpeak, Professor Janes points out how we all want to be heard; internet search (and for that matter, this podcast) reflects this fact perfectly. The question now, as he says, is how are we going to be found?" (InfoSpeak, 1-18-06)

For those of us who remember, Joe was the keynote speaker at the 28th Annual ALAO convention in 2002. He is also the American Libraries Columnist, Internet Librarian.