Week 4 #9

Just for fun, I started by using a general search engine, Good Search, which donates to my school for every search. My search term was "young adult book reviews." Among the results was the Young Adult (& Kids) Books Central Blog, which was intriguing since the format and style are so different from traditional review sources. I decided to put the blog on my page because I especially liked the feature they include of links to author blogs. I could have spent hours reading the blogs of some of my favorite YA authors, whose books are popular in my high school library.

I looked at the Edublog award winners and followed a link from the library winner to Alan November's blog, and added a link to his site. I heard him speak at an ALA conference event several years ago and was in awe of how many perspectives he adds to libraries and education. This will give me a way to keep up with his ideas and initiatives.

I followed the suggestions to try other search tools and look at the results. Since I'm especially interested in finding articles/blogs/news about school libraries and related topics like censorship, I used those search terms. Unfortunately I didn't find anything that immediately caught my eye, but will keep trying. Through Technorati, which was in the business news this week because of a personnel change at the head of the company, I found a school library blog with thoughtful, specific ideas of goals and actions for her school library program. I added that since I'm always interested in hearing about other programs. As the teacher librarian at the only public high school in Berkeley, CA, I am able to connect with other high school professionals through list servs, friends and professional associations, but not in my own district.

When I searched School Library Learning 2.0 in Google Blog Search, I got over 4,000 hits. This is concrete evidence of the need for and impact of this program! The teacher librarians of the California School Library Association, specifically Connie Williams and Jackie Siminitus, plus all those who test drove the program and offered feedback before the official launch, deserve kudos for their work! Thank you!!!!