Author Archives: Editor

Library of Congress summer program

The Library of Congress is pleased to announce details about its summer programs for K-12 educators.

Institutes

The application for the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute is now available. The five-day institute provides educators with tools and resources to effectively integrate primary sources into K-12 classrooms.

Teachers and school librarians of all grade levels and curriculum areas are encouraged to apply.

Interested? Check your calendar–Institute dates are listed below.

  • June 9-13        Institute session #1
  • July 7-11         Institute session #2
  • July 21-25       Institute session #3

Additional information, educator testimonials, and the application for the Institutes can be found here!

US grant opportunity

Underfunded libraries, schools and non-traditional organizations that provide educational services to children are invited to apply to receive one of three Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants. The grant program provides books submitted for consideration for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards to libraries and other organizations to expand their collections. Each year, three organizations are selected that demonstrate need and potential benefit from receiving the collection. All three libraries will receive copies of more than 80 titles submitted for consideration for the 2014 awards. Applications will be accepted through January 31, 2014.

New research and articles of interest

Kidd, D., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science 18 October 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6156 pp. 377-380  http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/377.short

 

There is also an interesting Press Release about this research from the New School in New York City:

http://www.newschool.edu/pressroom/pressreleases/2013/CastanoKidd.htm

 

The article and the press release both refer to ToM Theory of Mind.  Here is a brief description of what this term actually means:  http://www.howstuffworks.com/theory-of-mind.htm 

 

Another older piece of research:

Bookworms versus nerds: Exposure to fiction versus non-fiction, divergent associations with social ability, and the simulation of fictional social worlds.  Authors:  Raymond A. Mar,  Keith Oatley,  Jacob Hirsh,  Jennifer dela Paz,  Jordan B. Peterson. published by the University of Toronto in 2006. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009265660500053X

Student video festival

The White House is looking for videos (up to 3 minutes) that “highlight the power of technology in schools” through films addressing the current technology use in classrooms or school and/or the role technology will play in education in the future. Among the topics:
How does technology help with:

  • Personalized Learning
  • Online Learning
  • Global Collaboration
  • Student Creativity
  • Making and Tinkering
  • Project Based Learning
  • Critical Thinking

The video might show, e.g.:

  • The use of technology as a creation tool
  • The use of technology in new and innovative ways
  • The use of technology to access high quality online content and resources
  • Technology in schools.

This could be an excellent opportunity to show the “power” of school libraries as an educational and transformational “tool” /”technology” (and methodology!) that stimulates students’ creativity, collaboration etc.
Hopefully, U.S. school librarians can get their students’ involved in such a film festival. If a video showing the SL role in active, personalized, collaborative etc. learning were selected, it would help us in advocating for school libraries.

For more info visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/filmfestival?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email277-text1&utm_campaign=filmfest

ECIL 2014 conference call for proposals

The 2nd European Conference on Information Literacy (or ECIL) organized by the Department of Information and Communication Sciences of Zagreb University and Department of Information Management of Hacettepe University, Turkey. 2nd European Conference on Information Literacy (or ECIL) will be held on 20-23 October 2014 in Dubrovnik at the Valamar Lacroma Hotel, Croatia.
ECIL is an international conference and conference committees include over hundred distinguished experts
from over sixty countries. The language of the Conference is English.

Aim & Scope
Information Literacy, Media Literacy and Lifelong Learning being the main theme, ECIL aims to bring together researchers, information professionals, media specialists, educators, policy makers, employers and all other related parties from around the world to exchange knowledge and experience and discuss current issues, recent developments, challenges, theories, and good practices.

Important Dates
Second Call: 26 January 2014
Third Call: 23 February 2014
Abstract submission: 16 March 2014
Notification of acceptance: 6 April 2014
Deadline for submitting final versions: 18 May 2014
Full paper: 15 June 2014
Notification of acceptance full paper: 27 July 2014
Full paper final version: 17 August 2014
Registration starts: 30 May 2014
Conference sessions: 20-23 October 2014

Paper Submission
The conference will be composed of several types of contributions, such as full papers, posters, PechaKucha, best practices, workshops, panels, invited talks, doctoral forum. Each has different requirements and restrictions regarding the length, time allocation and content. Submission of abstract should be prepared using the templates available through the Conference web site and submitted electronically via the conference management system by 16 March 2014. At least one of the authors should
register online via Conference web site and take part at the conference to make the presentation.

The website for ECIL 2014 is ready ( http://www.ecil2014.org ). Second Call for Papers will be released soon. This year our keynote speakers are Dr. Michael Eisenberg and Dr. David Bawden.  Proceedings Book will be again published by Springer under its CCIS series. If you like to access ECIL 2013 papers:
ECIL 2013 Proceedings Book has been published http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-03919-0
ECIL 2013 presentations (ppt files) are now available on the conference website  http://ecil2013.ilconf.org/program/ Just click on the links in the program.
ECIL 2013 Book of Abstracts which includes abstracts of all contributions is available on conference website http://ecil2013.ilconf.org/ Please click on the book cover on the right hand side.

Contacts
Mihaela Banek Zorica, Co-chair of the Standing Committee and Co-chair of the Local Organizing
Committee, [email protected]
Sonja Špiranec, Co-chair of the Standing Committee and Co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee,
[email protected]
Serap Kurbanoğlu, Co-chair of the Standing Commitee and Chair of Program Commitee
[email protected]
Conference Secretariat: [email protected]

IASL 2014 conference call for proposals

International Association of School Librarianship International Conference and Research Forum:  August 25-30, 2014 Moscow, Russia


THEME:  “School Library in the knowledge society: use of cognitive technologies, form creative person”

Proposals are invited from librarians, principals, teachers, educators, researchers, and others directly involved with the development or management of school libraries. Others who share an interest in advancing the field of school librarianship, including publishers, vendors, authors, illustrators, architects, psychologists, economists, and journalists, are also welcome to submit proposals.

Proposals should clearly relate to one or more of the Conference sub-themes:
•    School library as a cognitive resource for the development of education
•    New brands of school library: information culture and e-environment in the context of cognitive sciences development
•    School library on the map of cognitive future
•    School library in a rapidly changing world
•    School library as a forming center of personal information culture
•    The world of school libraries’ worlds: searching for harmony, intelligence, technology, culture
•    School librarian – an agent of change in modern educational approaches to teaching
•    New approaches in the all-life learning system of teacher-librarians


TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS
Proposals for presentation should be one of  four types:
•    Workshops (90 minutes or 180 minutes) on a focused topic related to the conference theme, where participants are actively involved in the learning process. They may comprise small or large group discussions, collaborative activities and exercises, or opportunities to practice applying the concepts that are presented. Workshops are not intended to be extended lectures, but are hands-on learning opportunities.
•    Professional presentations (20 minutes each) on a topic related to the theme of the conference, which represent descriptions of programs, projects, activities, and/or innovations that are of relevance to a diverse audience and contribute to their professional development.
•    Research presentations (20 minutes each) on a topic related to the theme of the conference, which represent findings from investigations (either complete or in-progress, but not proposals) that would be of interest to an international audience.
•    Posters (a designated time will be set for presenters to display and meet viewers) of projects or research on a topic related to the theme of the conference.

The Proposal Form can be downloaded here .
Proposals for posters should be accompanied by a preliminary sketch in a single PowerPoint slide (proposal for poster must be sent via email).
All proposals must be in English.

Persons who are new to submitting conference proposals may find the following resources useful:
Writing Successful Conference Presentation Proposals
Writing a successful conference paper proposal
Writing a Great Conference Proposal
Planning, developing and writing an effective conference abstract
Writing conference abstracts
What makes a good conference abstract

ORIGINALITY
All proposals must be original, and not have been presented at any other conference, or published or submitted for publication in a journal.

SELECTION OF PROPOSALS
All proposals will be subjected to a double blind peer-review process.
Proposals will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
•    Workshops, Professional papers and Posters – Relevance to theme of conference, Originality, Practical implications (where relevant), Interest to diverse audience
•    Research papers – Relevance to theme of conference, Clarity of objectives, Significance of research, Appropriateness of design/methodology/approach, Findings (or Expected findings), Originality, Interest to diverse audience
The decision of the Program Committee shall be final, and no appeals will be entertained.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Proposals may be an attachment to on [email protected]  before 1 March 2014.
Please note that all expenses, including conference registration, travel, accommodation, visas, etc. are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IASL or the Organizing Committee. However, the Organizing Committee can issue, upon request, invitation letters for the purpose of applying for outside financial support.

KEY DATES
March 1, 2014    Last date for submission of proposals
April 15, 2014    Presenters informed
May 31, 2014    Final papers due
June 30, 2014    Last date for presenters to register in order to have their presentation scheduled in the program
Presenters who do not register by June 30 may not be included in the presentation schedule nor have their papers included in the conference proceedings.

FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information, please send a message to: [email protected] or [email protected]