Thing 16 -- MnLINK

What a great resource for finding the materials one needs! When I was doing my Library internship through MCTC (at SPPL - Sun Ray branch), I used MnLINK to order books for customers when St. Paul didn't own them. It was an easy procedure and one that they could have done for themselves. But, of course, the public library is around to help people find the resources they want. So it is only right that if a customer/patron doesn't think they have time to find something, we find it for them. Why, it wasn't that long ago when all the "stacks" in the library were closed and one had to request a particular book or material before a librarian would go and get it.

I was a little curious about which libraries were hooked into the MnLINK system, though. I saw Gustavus Adolphus and the U of M and state colleges... But I didn't see Carleton or St. Olaf. I wonder why they aren't involved. I may email Gould Library at Carleton and ask; I figure that since both my children are students there...

Every year we run a little Valentine's Day Treasure Hunt for them comnplete with rhyming clues. This year I scouted out places at the Carelton library; it was the best treasure hunt ever, according to my daughter. It is really fun to do. :-)

New things on old things

"and its been going on for 10,000 years..." or at least since Cain killed Abel in a fit of jealousy because his motives were askew. I'm speaking of the shooting in Illinois of college students in a science classroom. It seems to me that as we confidently teach content to students, we also need to teach confidence and caring. I can hold my head up proudly if you can also do the same. We are all part of the same species and need to understand our interconnectedness. How we accomplish this formidable task is beyond any one idea or group. I only wish that all could understand that if one succeeds, we all succeed.

As I read all your blogs, I am impressed with the commitment and creative energy you all seem to possess. I could hope to have half of it and feel successful as a result. Keep up the good work! :-)

A thought on hectic lives

Sometimes it seems that we never learn,
we're off to here and there to look;
If if rhymes or it doesn't, the pages still turn
every day that we pick up the book.
And what does it mean? And where do we go?
Do we take the lessons along?
It seems like we race; we never go slow...
Do they listen? ...and hear my song?
...Webb

Thing 14: Reliable Online Resources

I tried DMOZ and was very impressed with what came up. I searched "music" and then narrowed the search by adding "composition." There were lots of really interesting sites. Then I looked up "poetry" and "poetry contests" and was also impressed. the funny thing was that most of the sites listed on were contests from the UK, Australia or New Zealand! I thought that the US would have had some, anyway. hmm

If I have time -- (I'm applying to Hennepin County for some part time library positions) -- I would love to do more browsing here. :-) It is almost like reading through an encyclopedia (hey, that can be fun, you know)

Facebook & MySpace 1/27-2/3

I know that both my daughter and son have a page on Facebook. I have warned them (more than once, I'm afraid) about the dangers of what could be posted on their sites. They tell me that they have to approve of who can post messages on their site. I know this is true because neither my wife nor I have been "approved" to post. :-) Too much parental involvement, perhaps? They are both Central HS graduates (2005 & 2007) and students at Carleton college. It used to be that Facebook was only available for college students; I guess that is not true anymore, though. It takes prayer and trust, I suppose, for parents to "let go." [But I don't know of any parental education that helps with that, especially coming from the school district. Sometimes I wish there was!] It is true that careers and reputations have been damaged as a result of people thinking of these networks as "private" when the reality is just the opposite. So we have a large task at hand to continually educate folk to be wise and thoughtful.

Orchestra Hall and Greatness

I read the blog of "Information Literacy Ramblings" and visited the WCCO link. Very interesting what appears as news online. I'm sure somebody thinks "bit on X or Y or Z" is news but...

I really wanted to put in a plug, actually for the MN Orchestra's stretch of concerts of film music. I went to hear the Orchestra play Chaplin's City Lights on Friday night. It was superb. But even better, in my mind, was the pre-concert given by Central High School's orchestra and chorus. I always knew that Mr. Oyen and Ms. Graber do fabulous jobs in the education of Central's music students. But in Orchestra Hall, one could hear every mistake and all of the harmonies that very likely are missed in the auditorium at school. Mistakes, let me tell you, were very rare on Friday night and the harmonies were glorious! I truly love listening to a great high school ensemble and to play at Orchestra Hall must have been a real treat for both the students and Mr.Oyen/Ms. Graber. I also had fun seeing former students of mine performing that night. (I used to teach elementary music at Jackson School.) All of you teachers/librarians should attend your schools concerts as much as possible. It will bring you new connections you can make with your students, even if you don't know that much about music!

Wikis -- thing 32

Wow! I was thinking about our meeting yesterday and what kinds of uses for wikis I could find. Not being a teacher with a class means that I need to look at other groups of which I am a part. I think any committee work could be done via a wiki which could cut down on meetings (hooray! but, we all love meetings, don't we??). My family decided over XPmas to plan a mini-reunion sometime this summer. Again, this could be planned on a private wiki set up for just our family to use. So that is something in which I will try to involve them. I think it would be an interesting experiment; especially since few of them have actively embraced use of computers or the internet (beyond email, I mean). I also belong to an intentional Christian community and we could find uses for this too, I think. So wish me luck in this endeavor.

It was a great meeting! The talk about copyright (and copyleft) is pertinent to me as a creative music composer and poet; I liked the discussion of a continuum with respect to copyright and the innovations/realignments taking place. Though the tension between individual rights and community's "common good" is always present in my understandings. I'm not sure about the "gold standard of individualism" which has hurt our society in many ways while driving discoveries and creative endeavors forward at the same time. hmm...