Search me!

Have you seen this new search engine called Search me? Although it is still being developed, you can select what type of search you want (in this case, the search was for George Clooney.) The offering to select from was: movies, US news, motorcycles, politicians or you can ‘search all’. Your results are then shown as a number of thumbnails (although somewhat larger). To enter the site you like the look of, just click on the ‘thumbnail’.

searchme.com

It would be interesting to do a side by side comparison search with Google and Search me and take note of the difference in results.

International School Library Month October 2008: Literacy and Learning at Your School Library

International School Library Month

International School Library Month occurs in October.  The theme for 2008 is ‘Literacy and Learning at your School Library’.  Check out more details here.  

What does it involve? The ISLM Bookmark Project involved matched schools making homemade bookmarks  that reflects the International School Library Month theme. Your bookmarks will be sent on to your matched school and you will receive bookmarks from that school in return.

What do you have to do?  If you would like to become involved in this project, you will need to send the following information to the ISLD coordinator, Amanda Curtis.

  • your school’s name
  • your school’s location (city, state/province/country)
  • the grade/age level of the students to be involved
  • the number of students involved (this is very important to ensure you are matched to a school of similar size)
  • the contact information (name and email address – include a contact email where you can be reached during any school holidays)

Every few weeks until early September, a new list of schools will be sent to the participating schools to choose a match. Matching takes place on a regular basis and it is vital that you provide contact information during your respective school holidays. All contact regarding this project should be directed to Amanda Curtis.

You can also obtain a poster to promote ISLM, thanks to the International Association of School Librarianship. ISLM 2008 Tabloid

Why use Bright ideas?

As most of you probably know, the School Library Association of Victoria recently offered members a professional development opportunity to complete the ’23 things’ of Web 2.0. The program was a roaring success and SLAV would like to use this blog for library staff to share and support each other in the use of Web 2.0 in schools.

The use of new media has fostered a shift from the dominance of independent study to more collaborative and interactive learning, and Web 2.0 applications are collaborative in nature.

This is reflected in the expectations of VELS where we are looking at students using ICT as a major element of their learning environment, working with others in a collaborative way, creating new knowledge and sharing it with others and with a real audience.

An engaging medium – our students are using it – it’s the information and communication environment in which they operate – and we need to be more than just familiar with this environment.

As Dr Ross Todd says, ‘It’s not about libraries: it’s about learning.’