Libraries obsolete? - a quote

I burgled this one from a teacher librarian's email signature. We are of course biased, but even so... (mad idolatry, that's a nice phrase...)

The Web is great; but it’s a woefully poor substitute for a full-service library. It is mad idolatry to make it more than a tool. Libraries are icons of our cultural intellect, totems to the totality of knowledge. If we make them obsolete, we’ve signed the death warrant to our collective national conscience, not to mention sentencing what’s left of our culture to the waste bin of history. The Internet is marvelous, but to claim, as some now do, that it’s making libraries obsolete is as silly as saying shoes have made feet unnecessary.

Mark Y Herring

TED Tuesday: Goodbye textbooks; hello open source learning

From the TED online archive of talks, Richard Baraniuk on: Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning




To quote from the TED website:

Rice University professor Richard Baraniuk explains the vision behind Connexions, his open-source, online education system. It cuts out the textbook, allowing teachers to share and modify course materials freely, anywhere in the world.

A short week about the future

It's a long weekend in Australia, with the Queen's Birthday holiday Monday. So this is all the post for today, but coming this week are several angles on the future of books and creative content in the digital age.

EdPod on ABC radio/podcast

If you're after a regular 25 min podcast focusing on educational matters, EdPod may be just what you want.

To quote from the ABC website:

EdPod presents a mix of education stories from early childhood to the end of secondary school.It's a jargon-free look at the experience of educators, researchers, parents and students. EdPod examines new education ideas, and asks whether things could or should be done differently.From the classroom to the staff room and on to the home, EdPod brings you the latest ideas about learning.

POD: http://abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/edp.xml

We love The Pigeon

Mo Willems' wonderful picture books about the Pigeon - my favourite is probably Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and I can't tell you how many people I've shared it with, and enjoyed watching their fun with it - were first brought to my attention by our wonderful local independent bookshop. If you haven't read any of them yet, seek them out. They're just as good for high school as primary.

The latest one is just out - The Pigeon wants a puppy. And now I learn that Mo Willems has a blog. Right here. Mo Willems Doodles.

Pictures from http://www.amazon.com

TED Tuesday: Our cellphones, ourselves

From the TED resource of online talks, Jan Chipchase on the many possibilities of cellphones (mobile phones):





To quote from the TED website:

Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase's investigation into the ways we interact with technology has led him from the villages of Uganda to the insides of our pockets. He's made some unexpected discoveries along the way.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn cover

Just to get your Twilight enthusiasts even more enthusiastic, here's the cover design for book 4 in the series. Image from http://www.amazon.com/.



I'm putting together a list of 'books for Twilight enthusiasts while you're waiting for Breaking Dawn'. We have some at which we point them - but do add your suggestions in the comments, and they can improve our list, which I will of course share on this blog. Among those on our list are the Vampire Academy series and Sunshine, by Robin McKinley. It's good to have keep-'em-reading lists like this.



(Idle thought: if Bella's the queen, who's the prawn, I mean pawn? Edward, merely a pawn? Jacob?)



ADDED LATER: here's a link to Stephenie Meyer's FAQ page with an explanation of what this cover means.