International Digital Entertainment Festival

Hamish Curry, the Library & Online Learning Manager, Learning Services at the State Library of Victoria has kindly sent the following information:

I’d like to bring to your attention the programs we’re delivering for the International Digital Entertainment Festival (iDEF).

The full list of programs we’re delivering is available here, but highlights include –

  • Friday Oct 30 – two schools programs featuring speakers Vincent Trundle from ACMI, and Dr Joanne O’Mara from Deakin Uni highlighting her research into ‘Literacy in the digital world of the 21st century: learning from computer games’
  • Friday Oct 30 – a free screening of the gaming doco Second Skin, which will be its first screening in Australia, andintroduced by the Director Juan Carlos Pineiro Escoriaza.  
  • Saturday Oct 31 – a presentation about game development from the organisers of Freeplay
  • Saturday Oct 31 – SYN and FReeZa present their 1Up Youth Gaming Tournament.
  • Sunday Nov 1 – a forum ‘I’m a gamer and proud of it!‘ featuring James Dominguez from Screenplay, and Anna Dunne from Australian Gamer and Channel 31 show Level 3.

Certainly seems like lots of relevant and interesting sessions! Thanks Hamish for passing on the information.

Boys, blokes, books and bytes

Authored by those creative folks at the Centre for Youth Literature, the State Library of Victoria (in partnership with the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development), Boys blokes books and bytes  is a fantastic resource.

Boys, blokes, books and bytes

This blog provides information on

  • events
  • meet the author
  • try this book
  • win stuff
  • reviews

and other categories.  A good resource for boys who need (or who don’t need) encouragement to read.

2009 Inkys longlist

Here are the books that have made the 2009 Inkys longlist. Information from Insideadog website:

The 2009 Inkys Longlist

 


Broken Glass by Adrian Stirling 

Something happened when I was fifteen, something that made me invisible to everyone in Broken Glass.

 

 

I believe in Chloe and chocolate.

I believe the best part is always before.

I believe that most girls are shifty and most guys are dumb.

 

The boy with all the dreadlocks had two line of business: cars and the patio trade.

Ollie was in aisle five of Galaxy Art Supply stocking oil paints when Clio Ford emerged from the manager’s office.

Everyone thinks it was because of the snow.

The SS Loongana steamed slowly up the Derwent River towards it’s berth at Salamanca Warf…

I tend to worry, I know I do, but only because I think there is lots of things to worry about.

It was fun at first, playing house. I made all my own meals. Crackers and cheese, three times a day.

I am a reading girl, with a pale face, and glasses.

The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle.

Chelsea Dean opened the front door to her parents’ substantial riverside residence and was assulted by booming reception-centre music.

I had a dream
I put my hands
inside my chest
and held my heart

Ray was bigger but José was boss. They were fourteen and fifteen, on their own and on the run.

Tuesday the fourteenth of February began badly for Frankie Parsons.

I was born with water on the brain. Okay, so that’s not exactly true.

She looks good for a corpse.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.

I let the tips of both by swords dig into the sandy arena floor. It was the wrong move, but the dragging pain in my gut was pulling me into a crouch.

It’s six-thirty in the morning. I stumble out of bed and splash cold water in my flushed face.

A sound brought Col out of a deep sleep. Something was happening out in the corridor.

Media Learning Week – August 24 – 28

A number of free professional learning sessions are being offered by SYN and the State Library of Victoria during Media Learning Week, August 24-28, 2009.

Some of the sessions include:

  • gaming and learning
  • video workshop
  • media careers and planning pathways

Please be aware that even though the events are free, bookings are essential. The attached program outlines more details.

FUSE – Find, Use, Share, Education

Victoria’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has released stage one of their new website. FUSE; Find, Use and Share quality Education resources is set to be revolutionary for teachers by the time it is complete by early 2010. Even now, it has many features both for Victorian DEECD employed teachers and others outside of this system. Teachers can log in using their Edumail details to access extra content and features.

FUSE homepage

FUSE homepage

FUSE is the one place to get everything you need for teaching and learning. It also provides the ability to save, bookmark and package items for later access. So if you are looking for items such as URLs, documents and videos for teaching a unit of work, they can be found, saved and packaged for easy access at a later date. Teachers can also rate and comment on resources.

FUSE has been developed in conjunction with organisations such as the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the State Library of Victoria, Scienceworks and Museum Victoria

Innovation and Next Practice Branch Assistant General Manager Katrina Reynen at the release of FUSE

Innovation and Next Practice Branch Assistant General Manager Katrina Reynen at the release of FUSE

Teachers are ecouraged to upload to FUSE. Documents, URLs, videos and more are accepted in all types of formats.

FUSE is the total online planning tool that will be the virtual library inside the Ultranet, once the Ultranet is released. Teachers can begin using this fabulous tool now with the confidence that it will be a major part of the Ultranet.

Bright Ideas has already uploaded a document, a URL and a video to FUSE to share with other teachers.

Gaming @ State Library of Victoria

Xperience XBOX
FRI 17 JULY, 6.30 – 9PM
Come in and experience some of the best XBOX 360 games with an evening of modern, multiplayer, and online XBOX 360 games, such as Guitar Hero: World Tour, Halo 3, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Street Fighter IV, and Sacred 2. There’ll also be giveaways and opportunities to win major prizes*, including an XBOX 360 & games pack. All funds raised on the night will be going to benefit the Royal Children’s Hospital. So engage with XBOX 360 gaming and help others at the same time! Presented in association with OzBoxLive.
Experimedia
State Library of Victoria
FREE [Bookings required] *$5 payable per ticket for the prize raffle
Phone: 03 8664 7099
Email: bookings@slv.vic.gov.au
Online (via Eventbrite): http://xperiencexbox.eventbrite.com

The World of Web 2.0

The State Library of Victoria is offering a free professional learning session on The Web 2.0 World. With participants able to experiment and gain hands-on experience with Web 2.0 tools, this session will be extremely valuable for anyone who needs some support and information about using the Web 2.0 World.

Held on Tuesday 9th June between 6 and 7.30pm in Experimedia at the State Library of Victoria, this free event does require bookings. Phone (03) 8664 7099 or email  bookings@slv.vic.gov.au.

More on library careers

The Library and Information Industry Careers Evening was held from 5.30 – 7pm yesterday at Experimedia @ the State Library of Victoria – and what a wonderful success!

180 young people eagerly sought information about courses and career prospects – with large numbers expressing interest in becoming teacher-librarians.

Further information regarding careers and courses can be found on the destinationlibrary wiki at: http://destinationlibrary.pbworks.com

Library careers

An Information Evening regarding careers in the Library and Information Industry is to be held on Tuesday 26 May at Experimedia @ the State Library of Victoria from 5.30 – 7pm. Representatives from the industry and representatives from tertiary institutions will be on hand to assist secondary students with advice and information. If you have students who are interested in information management, website design or any library field – please let them know! Please circulate this information to the careers advisor at your school and display the posters in your library.

Colour, black and white, A3 and A4 posters are available on the SLAV website.

Library and Information Industry Careers Evening

An Information Evening regarding careers in the Library and Information Industry is to be held on Tuesday 26 May at Experimedia @ the State Library of Victoria from 5.30 – 7pm. Representatives from the industry and representatives from tertiary institutions will be on hand to assist secondary students with advice and information. If you have students who are interested in information management, website design or any library field – please let them know! Please circulate this information to the careers advisor at your school and display the posters in your library.

Colour, black and white, A3 and A4 posters are available on the SLAV website.