My Favorite Web Resources: Part II

Back in February I shared some fun and useful reference resources that I’ve discovered through my LIS coursework this semester. The title of the blog was ‘My Favorite Web Resources: Part I’ --which implies that there will at least be a Part II. So, as promised/implied--I present another round of my favorite web resources.

Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
This catalog captures the entire image collection of the Library of Congress. While not all of the LOC’s collection is digitized, around ⅓ of it is--which means there is a vast amount of images waiting to be explored. LOC digital collections include everything from Walker Evans Farm Security Administration photos to vintage baseball cards to Japanese woodblock prints.

Kids.gov
This website is essentially a guide that offers links and descriptions for additional web resources about the U.S. Government. The site is made up of three broad sections. The first lists sites and resources appropriate for kids in kindergarten through the 5th grade. The next section lists government themed websites for students in grades 6 - 8. Finally, there is a section of the site designed for educators.

Statistical Abstract
The Statistical Abstract is a document and web resource published by the U.S. Census Bureau. This resource aggregates statistical information from multiple government organizations to provide a comprehensive, user-friendly statistical document for free public use. So if you’re wondering how much a gallon of gas cost in 1990 or you want to compare presidential election campaign funds--the Statistical Abstract has you covered--for now. Earlier this year it was announced that the Statistical Abstract is on the chopping block. To learn more about the Statistical Abstract and find out how you can help save it, see the Library Journal article: Statistical Abstract Faces an Untimely Death.

If the unknown fate of the Statistical Abstract can teach us anything, it’s that information resources need us as much as we need them. Some resources aren’t worth saving, but a great many of them are. If there’s a book, website, or service that you can’t live without--tell someone.

Season Opener

Lets make one thing clear--this blogger loves baseball. This week it occurred to me to marry my love of baseball with my love of books. I went to the Chicago Public Library and checked out a few baseball related picture books. Of the ones I check out, Baseball from A to Z by Michael P. Spradlin, illustrated by Macky Pamintuan, really stood out.

As implied by the title, this book takes the reader through the alphabet, relating each letter to baseball. I don’t think I’m alone when I say I judge themed alphabet books on how well they handle Q, X and Z. Spradlin hits a grand slam by demonstrating those letters against “Quick Release”, Extra Innings” and “Strike Zone.”

The illustrations in Baseball from A to Z make it a true winner. Pamintuan depicts the game in a cartoon-like style juxtaposed with a realistic texture and gem tone color palate. Each player has energy and motion breathing life and excitement into the book.

This book is a great pick for young sports lovers. It would also be good to have on hand at the ballpark to keep younger kids engaged and occupied during games. The simplicity of the alphabet format, combined with artful illustrations make this book accessible and relevant to a range of readers. If you are 3 or 63, I think you will enjoy Baseball from A to Z.

Find Baseball from A to Z at a library near you!

Thoughts on Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Summary
Its the Great Depression and Abilene Tucker has spent the better part of her life drifting and riding the rails with her vagabond father Gideon. After Abilene survives a serious injury, Gideon decides that a life on the road is no life for a young woman. Abilene is sent to live in Manifest, the only town Gideon has ever called home. As Abilene settles into her new digs, a bar turned makeshift Baptist Church, she uncovers a box of letters and trinkets. With the help of these mementos and a Hungarian diviner Abilene visits 1918 Manifest and discovers a world of knowledge about the town as it was--and why her father called it home.

Side by Side With Other Award Winners
There are two books I can think of that parallel elements of Moon Over Manifest (Newbery Medal), each is well regarded in their own right: Holes by Louis Sachar (Newbery Medal) and Bud, Not Buddy (Newbery Medal & Coretta Scott King Award) by Christopher Paul Curtis. Like Sachar, Vanderpool unites two stories--one present, one past--and makes them whole. In Bud, Not Buddy our title character sets out to find his father with the help of mementos from his mother’s past--Abilene discovers her father in a similar way. Bud, Not Buddy and Moon Over Manifest, both set during the Great Depression, shed light on racial and ethnic inequalities. Moon Over Manifest would be well paired with Holes or Bud, Not Buddy on library and class reading lists.

Final Thoughts
Moon Over Manifest is quite honestly one of the best books I’ve read. Why? First, the book is technically sound. Vanderpool weaves together two fully developed storylines like a true professional. Her vivid language makes the setting become real. The main characters are extremely well developed, helping the reader latch on to the story. Beyond that, the supporting cast (a whole town full) adds vital color and content to the book.

I must say, I think the setting of Moon Over Manifest is what really makes me love this book. If a young reader you know enjoys historical fiction, this book is an obvious next read. Vanderpool serves up the Great Depression, World War I, and prohibition. Along with that she addresses immigration, race and class struggles of the time. Moon Over Manifest is an amazing opportunity for young readers to learn about these eras and issues through “experience.”While none of these topics are to be taken lightly, this book is a fun and enjoyable read. There's a great balance between the weight of the subjects at hand, and the whimsy of the story and its characters.

Beyond Books & Basketball

This week I was privileged to hear former NBA player John Amaechi deliver a speech on Corporate Social Responsibility. Since retiring from the NBA Amaechi has earned a PhD in psychology. He now works as a consultant, and runs the ABC Foundation which focuses on youth outreach.

Amaechi presented a few simple yet impactful ideas in his speech that I’d like to share. He was speaking to national sponsors who build their brands with CSR campaigns, but I feel like there are some major learnings from his speech that apply to the library world as well. When speaking to these sponsors, he communicated that companies and community organizers can’t expect things like a baseball camp or a junior basketball league to magically make kids better people. Amaechi made his feelings very clear, there is nothing magical about sports. People who assert that they learned leadership or team work from playing a sport were likely influenced by other people, not the sport itself. Sports and other activities are just vessels to deliver life changing content to young people.

Another major point Amaechi made is that we have to set tangible goals for youth programs. We can’t set up a soccer camp to create “hope.” You can’t measure hope. We must be clear about attainable objectives so that we have something real to work towards. In the end, it makes organizers more successful and it makes a more lasting impact on kids.

My biggest takeaway is that there is a huge need to teach kids emotional literacy. For various reasons many children (and adults) in our society don’t know how to express, share or cope with their feelings. Lack of emotional literacy can have a host of consequences on an individual’s well being and society at large.

This is the point in the blog where you may ask--”what does this have to do with the library?” Everything. Just as people think that sports will magically change kids, I think people think reading will magically change kids. In general, I have the attitude that “as long as a kid is reading I don’t care what they’re reading.” This attitude is fine if we are just measuring literacy. However, if we are looking to make young people more emotionally literate, we must hand them reading materials that show them a range of life experiences and emotions.

At one point, Amaechi touched on the importance of empathy. Empathy is sharing the feelings of others--feeling their feelings. Empathy helps us to evaluate how we are treating others. If we make another person feel bad, but start to identify with them--we may stop. When we read novels, we have the chance to invest in characters and experience a piece of their lives. We also have a chance to feel what they feel--to experience empathy. Each time a kid reads a book there’s the potential to add another emotional experience to their empathy bank. For children and adults alike, a capacity for empathy may be the difference between bullying and not bullying--between committing violent crime or not.

During his speech Amaechi looked to the crowd and said, “You are axes in a sea of wood”-- meaning corporate marketers have control of massive marketing and CSR budgets that can be used to do a lot of good. I think that libraries are in the same position. Each library contains shelves of books that kids can access to vicariously experience situations and emotions that they might not otherwise. This leaves me with a new mission. As I read through the cannon of children’s literature, I’m now looking for books that can create a lasting impact on the reader. Amaechi likened creating an impact to a footprint in wet cement--it's there forever. Don't get me wrong. I don’t want books to be preachy and not everything a kid reads has to be profound. But I am on the lookout for things that will not only influence kids immediately upon reading, but also for books with situations that can be stored away and called on later when the difference between a good decision and a bad one is emotional literacy.

Lets Hug it Out: Thoughts on Hug by Jez Alborough

When I tell people I’m in library school, I get two pretty standard reactions that go something like this: “Oh, so you’re taking Dewey Decimal 101?” Or “Can you recommend any good books for my niece? She just turned 1.” The first response is usually met with some form of sarcasm followed by a semi-rehearsed speech on why librarians need a special degree and the details on what I’m learning. As for the serious question--the one about books--I usually recommend that people stick to books made of cloth or cardboard that focus more on illustrations than text.

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with some good friends when their 16-month old brought me a prime example of what a baby should be reading: Hug by Jez Alborough. Hug is about a “baby” monkey, Bobo, who observes other “baby” animals being hugged by their own kind. Bobo becomes sad that there is no one to hug. Finally, Bobo’s mother appears with open arms. After being hugged by his mother, Bobo exchanges hugs with other animals.

Hug is a great book for babies and toddlers. The text is basically limited to one word leaving room for readers to focus on the pictures. The illustrations, while not realistic, are vivid and well drawn. We see a range of Bobo’s emotions as he searches for someone to hug. Picture books aid in building emotional and visual literacy. The range of feelings put on display for the reader in Hug make it a great addition to any board book collection.

My Favorite Web Resources: Part I

As part of my coursework I have been charged with exploring and a evaluating a multitude of print and online reference resources. I’m doing this work in 3 batches, so for each batch of resources I’d like to share my favorites with you. Since you’re reading this blog, I’m assuming you’re a fan or at least a user of the internet. That being said I will focus on valuable web resources that will make your everyday information quests easier. You may be wondering, “Can’t I just google what I’m looking for?” Well--yes. Yes you can. I’ve found that the resources listed below offer more credible and relevant results than my typical Google search. So, here are some of my favorite web reference resources to date:

WorldCat
To library types, this resource may seem like an obvious pick. Before I began library school I was not familiar with WorldCat, so I’m assuming some of my readers may not have used this resource. WorldCat is a compilation of catalogs from member libraries from around the world. Users can conduct general searches to see what materials are available on a particular subject. By clicking on an entry you see standard bibliographic information as well as a listing of libraries who own the resource (in order of geographic proximity). If you really like buying books the entries also link to web retailers who will sell it to you. Attention scholars and students--entries also include citation information in APA, MLA and Chicago style among others. Just so we’re clear, WorldCat catalogs more than books. The catalog captures everything from DVDs, downloadable audio books to full text journal articles and web resources.

A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia
I may end up eating my words, but I’m done with WebMD. A.D.A.M medical encyclopedia is now my preferred source for self diagnosis (yes...that was a joke). But seriously, at some point we all need to know about health and wellness issues. A.D.A.M., a service of the National Library of Medicine, is a user friendly, reliable resource for health information. Articles include information on causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment. Articles also give recommendations for when to consult a physician. The best part-- articles list their contributors and their sources, so you know where the information is coming from.

ipl2
By definition, ipl2 is a guide. What does this mean? You can search ipl2 (like you would with google) or you can browse for resources by topic. Because ipl2 is a guide and not a search engine website listings include a brief description of the website’s content. ipl2 includes sections for kids and teens on their site, providing a safe haven of searching and researching for younger users. The site is developed and maintained by library and information science students within consortium schools like Drexel University and the University of Michigan--so the information can be trusted.

Go ahead-- try out these resources as part of your everyday web searches. Hopefully you will find that they provide you dependable and relevant results.

Mr. Darcy on my Mobile

Last night I watched the beloved BBC miniseries version of Pride & Prejudice with a couple of my gal pals. Admittedly, Pride & Prejudice is a gap in my literary knowledge so I’m catching up. Disc 1 ended right where I am in the book, so we called it a night. If you’re familiar with the series, at the end of disc 1... stuff gets real. As I communicated to my friends how excited I was to see disc 2, they implored me to finish reading the book. While we were on the topic of reading I shared that I am reading Pride & Prejudice on my phone using the Kindle for Android app-- Gasp! Like good friends and Austen fans my gal pals gave me my choice of three print copies to read from. I explained that reading the book on my phone is a personal growth exercise. While I may not be an avid e-book reader, I have to come to understand why others love the format. Why not learn through experience?

E-readers and mobile readers have arrived. While they may never replace books in print (at least not anytime soon) people are finding the format extremely useful and appealing. From my personal perspective, the Kindle app comes in handy when I’m on a crowded train. Sometimes I have to choose between reading a book or holding on so as not to fall. Reading on my phone allows me to do both. E-readers and mobile readers allow users to have their books without the bulk. If you are reading this and you drive a car, you may not get it. If you’ve ever been on a CTA Train at 8 a.m., you know where I’m coming from. Others may like the appeal of instant downloads, customizing font sizes or having their personal library on hand at all times. You may be a print diehard, but many readers find e-books to their liking.

Why does this matter to libraries and librarians? I believe that some people will only read if it’s really easy. E-readers add a level of ease and convenience that print materials can’t always compete with. For libraries to capture and keep the attention of these types of users, we have to play in the e-book space. While Kindles can’t offer the same services as a library (see Merrimack Public Library’s blog post "What A Librarian Can Do That A Kindle Can’t") libraries must strive to offer the same service as a Kindle in order to retain these users.

I currently have 6 days to finish Pride & Prejudice before my friends and I continue to disc 2. With plenty of crowded trains in my future, finishing the book shouldn’t be a problem.