I would like to encourage and invite all school librarians (and interested others!) to join with us at http://groups.google.com/group/nealit.

Now every time I go to my library web site in a browser, I am pleased to see that an older computer that I set up with Linux, is just working away in a back room at my school serving out web pages whenever they are called. And with LAMP installed, I could easliy set up WordPress or Moodle if any of our teachers wanted to use these tools.

It was a bit of trouble upgrading the Mini9 from Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) to 9.10 (Karmic Koala) because I wanted to install the “lpia” (low power information architecture) version rather than the “netbook” version and I had to hunt it down. I also updated the BIOS, and that was a bit of a problem because Dell seems to support its Windows users better than its Linux users. Still, however, with the upgrades it seems to run even faster, cooler, and with longer battery life.

And, of course, any software I want: office, internet, games, audio/visual, productivity… are all free!

Leaving aside the fact that Secondary students need to learn to be responsible for themselves, and that every time they check out a book they are given a receipt that clearly tells them when the book is due, and that they they have received at least two overdue book notices from the library through their English teacher, the parent doesn’t want to pay the fine because they claim they weren’t notified.

To help parents get the information they seem to want, our District-wide Follett Destiny library circulation system allows for overdue and book fine notices to be sent to both students and their parents via email. This makes notification fast and convenient, and no trees are killed for printed notices that get lost or thrown away anyway.

It looks like a Win-Win situation right? Except that last week at our District librarian training we were asked to refrain from using the email notification option more than twice a year. It seems the District has been getting complaints from parents that they are getting too many emails regarding their student’s overdue books and library fines.

Netbooks are now popping up everywhere. The Asus Eee is at Target, and Costco has the Acer Aspire One. I bought my Dell Inspiron 901 (Mini 9) online at dell.com.

Besides selecting a brand, the two big decisions one needs to make are the operating system you want, and whether you prefer a hard drive or flash memory that acts like a hard drive.

My big requirements in a mini were a fast boot up and a long battery life. For both these reasons, I chose LINUX and a flash drive. The Dell had the best LINUX (Ubuntu) and the biggest flash drive (16 gigs), so my choice of brands was easy.

I am delighted with it, and I am really starting to wonder why anyone needs Microsoft Windows….

clipped from www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk

The National Education Association has a caucus for school librarians called the Library, Information Literacy, and Technology (LIT) Caucus. Typically this group only meets annually at the NEA Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly. Now, however, we can continue those conversations throughout the year online at our own social networking site!

I would like to encourage and invite all school librarians (and interested others!) to join with us at http://nealit.ning.com/.

Two of my colleagues at work are excited about this new computer. It is either a mini laptop or a souped up PDA. Mark already has one and it is TINY. The screen is only 7″ (800×480) and the keys are “chiclet” size. It has USB, VGA, and SD Card ports along with built-in WiFi. It comes with either LINUX or Wiindows XP. Compared to any traditional laptop, this thing is SUPER portable.

clipped from www.amazon.com

I have been using the social bookmarking tool Del.icio.us for some time to save and tag web pages and highly recommend it. This new tool, clipmarks, allows one to save, tag, mail, and blog just those portions of a web page (including pictures and video) that one chooses. Like del.icio.us, clipmarks also has a browser plugin one can use to make things simple.

In fact, I did this blog post using clipmarks!

clipped from clipmarks.com People all over the world clipping the best parts of web pages Learn more ? Start clipping

Every conference or convention has its vendor exhibit floor, but just imagine a convention hall filled with nothing but books and services for school libraries! It was heavenly! And, they even had the foresight to have a satellite US post office right in the exhibit hall so attendees could conveniently send all those books home!

The keynote speaker was Dan Pink the author of “A Whole New Mind.” (I got an autographed copy). Pink is a business writer, but said he enjoys talking to librarians because we “get it.” His thesis is that while the “Information Age” has been dominated by left brained thinking, we are now moving into what he calls the “Conceptual Age” which will require a re-emphasis on right brained (holistic, artistic, empathetic) skills.

His argument is compelling and his book lists six aptitudes or “Senses” that he feels successful people will need to develop. These are: 1. Design, 2. Story, 3. Symphony, 4. Empathy, 5. Play, and 6. Meaning. The implications these ideas could have for public education are profound. I strongly recommend the book.

Today, as a school librarian, I remembered that two of my four library copies of the book were checked out just this past week. One of them was checked out on Thursday. I, of course, have no idea what time Ms. L’Engle officially left Camazotz for a better world Thursday, but I like to think that just as she was leaving, another young girl was just starting to get acquainted with Meg Murray….