Library News, Events, and Blogs

On November 12 USM’s own Betty Robinson and Bernice Conklin-Powers presented a webcast entitled “Do what we say (now) not what we did (then): Information for those new to the scene.”   There they shared insights gained as they had transferred courses to online or blended format.

Some of the ideas were overall statements of good online practice.  For instance, samples and models become very important in an online environment, since online courses allow less opportunity for real-time interaction than do face-to-face courses.

Other ideas were more concrete tips.  Instead of responding to each discussion board post, for example, Conklin-Powers and Robinson recommend –when appropriate–unified responses to groups of posts.  This tip makes the workload more efficient and allows the instructor to address patterns in student responses.

As useful as the ideas were, the act of sharing them was the most important part of the presentation.  By telling their stories Robinson and Conklin-Powers were not only modeling lifelong learning, but  also contributing to it.

You can access the recording of this presentation via the NCLC ning (social network).  Go to the very bottom of the page for the link to the recording.

After seeing my earlier post on Time magazine’s best websites, a colleague sent this list of A-Z New and Notable Websites, geared more towards an academic audience.  Do you know PressDisplay or want to compare European countries? Or use an Engineering Dictionary? Check out the list!

6th floor, Glickman Family Library, USM Portland Campus

October 26,2009-February 26,2010 (during regular Library hours)

OPENING RECEPTION November 19, 5:30-6:30pm

Annual Exhibition of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine

Curated by: David Carey, Jr. and Blanca Iris Santiago
Assisted by: Robert Atkinson, Reza Jalali, Victoria Chicon

In the whitest state in the nation, recent immigrants struggle between wanting to be visible and wanting to fade into the background. Whether by conscious decision or destiny, Maine is now home. This exhibition explores the triumphs and challenges of Mainers from such diverse paces as Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

For further information or to schedule a gallery talk, contact Susie Bock, bocks@usm.maine.edu, 207-780-4269.

For directions:
http://usm.maine.edu/discover/maps.html

“People have always been fascinated by aquatic and marine stories and imagery. Many gorgeous 18^th century books provide lovingly hand-colored images of curious fish and other living creatures. Narratives of exploration have included wonderful pictures of explorers crossing polar seas and icecaps.” and 19 This is how the Freshwater and Marine Image Bank from the University of Washington introduces its new digital collection of images. This collection includes images of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, dams, vessels, fish hatcheries, and all other limological (freshwater) subjects. The collection of over 21,000 images were scanned in from sources published between 1735 and 1924. This collection also includes a list of sources for more images and related works as well as a bibliography.

URL: http://content.lib.washington.edu/fishweb/index.html

Libra Scholar Public Lecture: Henry Giroux
Beyond Bailouts: Children of the Recession and the Challenge of Higher
Education
Thursday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m.
University Events Room, 7th Floor, Glickman Library
No RSVP is needed

Libra Scholar Workshop: Henry Giroux
Friday, November 13
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
423/424 Glickman Library

The workshop will include a film and a discussion of neo-liberalism and
the impact of the global market society on America’s youth. The
workshop is based on a series of writings by Henry Giroux that are
required reading. To access the readings visit:
http://www.usm.maine.edu/cehd/About-Us/Achievements/Faculty/Henry-Giroux.html

Please RSVP by November 9 to Christina Spellman at 780-5373 or
spellman@usm.maine.edu

BIOGRAPHY: HENRY GIROUX
Giroux, author of the AESA Critics’ Choice Award in 2008 for “The
University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic
Complex,” holds the Global Television Network Professorship at
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His primary research areas are
cultural studies, youth studies, critical pedagogy, popular culture,
social theory, and the politics of higher and public education.  In
Giroux’s most recent book, “Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or
Disposability?” he addresses issues that “points to the changing
conditions youth now face in the new millennium and the degree to which
they have been put at risk by reactionary social policies, institutional
mismanagement and shifting cultural attitudes. While youth have always
represented an ambiguous category, they have within the last 30 years
been under assault in ways that are entirely new, and they now face a
world that is far more dangerous than at any other time in recent
history. And these new conditions demand a new set of categories and
vocabulary for understanding the changing problems youth face within the
relentless expansion of a global market society, one that punishes all
youth by treating them largely as commodities.” Giroux is a 1967
graduate of Gorham State College, a predecessor school of USM.

Are you looking for articles about film and television productions? Need a source that delves into the the nature of sex in Streetcar Named Desire? Then be sure to try the Film Literature Index from the Indiana University, which covers over 150 film and television journals along with 200 other periodicals with articles on film and television. The index covers the range of articles from popular to scholarly from 1976 to 2001 with over 700,000 citations included. To search for articles one may search by keyword, production title, subject, or even particular persons in film and television. This index is something you will want to bookmark for later use.

URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp

On October 30 USM co-hosted the New England Regional Sloan-C Conference.  The gathering brought together educators concerned with the quality of online education.  The attention to quality particularly struck me (Maureen Perry) in two of the presentations.

Michael Davis  (Pathfinder Consulting) described a learning module approach to course design.  Instead of having a confusing array of Blackboard buttons (Assignments, Course Documents, etc.) the instructor has the content organized into self-contained modules.  Students can spend more time engaging with the material and less time searching for it.

In the other session David Lavoie, an instructional designer,  and Andrew Rosman, an accounting professor, described their partnership at the University of Connecticut.    By paying close attention to course objectives at the start they made sure that the chosen technologies and activities best met the desired goals.  Thus the technology doesn’t drive the course: it serves the course.

Let us continue to share our ideas.  Let us continue to put the learning in online learning.

Free and Open to the Public

2:00pm
Saturday November 7th
7th floor of the Glickman Family Library
Portland Campus
Kate Cheney Chappell ‘83 Center for Book Arts at USM will present a lecture
“Artists’ Books: When the Goblet Becomes the Wine” presented by Bill and
Vicky Stewart of Vamp and Tramp Booksellers, Birmingham, Alabama. The
lecture takes place at 2:00, on Saturday November 7th, on the 7th floor of
the Glickman Family Library, Portland Campus. The lecture will include 8
large tables of artists’ books from Europe, Canada, and America.

For more information contact Rebecca Goodale at 228-8014 or
goodale@maine.edu

Time magazine online has their list of the 50 best Web sites of 2009 – how many are YOU familiar with?  Granted, not many of them are scholarly resources, but you probably use – or could be using – a good number of them on a regular basis!

Now, if you are looking for the best free REFERENCE sites, here is a reminder to check out the ALA RUSA annual lists, including the newly published 2009 list.

Want to explore the treasures of Iraq’s long cultural history? Luckily, there is the Virtual Museum of Iraq for just that. Funded by the Italian government the museum allows visitors to explore eight galleries highlighting Iraq’s past from prehistoric to the Islamic period. Each object in the collection has a description and animated video to explain the object and its significance. Along with the selected objects each gallery also contain information and maps about each period. So if you are interested in exploring some of the history from the Fertile Crescent then explore this site.

URL: http://www.virtualmuseumiraq.cnr.it/prehome.htm