My New Digital Frontier

I just recently went to the Encyclo-Media conference and took all the workshops dealing with technology.  I went to a number of presentations by Hall Davidson, a Discovery Educator.  He was great!  He demonstrated how you could take a cell phone video of your class and post it (safely) on a blog, wiki, or web page.  I was amazed at how simple and easy it was for someone to take a video on a phone and upload it to a blog.  I did wonder how many people were on the Internet without their knowledge. It is a good thing the majority of people have good ethics! 

Mr. Davidson also talked about Google Earth and how to incorporate this cool tool in your library.  I was impressed with the many application to libraries you can do with Google Earth.  The one thing I am going to try before Thanksgiving, is mapping a trip across the United States/world with a book.  This will be good since many of the children I see seldom leave their neighborhood.  

Wikis and blogs were also discussed for library use, as a way to connect library users to the library.  The subject of Second Life and avatars also came up.  Since I am not a digital native, I am still exploring excatly what an avatar is, as well as why you would want one.  I believe an avatar is a picture of yourself to represent you in the digital world.  Wow!  We sure have come a long way fast!  I still remember when we though Instant Polaroids were cool!  Pictures on the net still make me quiver, especially when it comes to children.  

Technology is progressing so fast that it makes it difficult for school libraries to catch up.  There are many reasons for this, but one statistic took me by suprise.  In the article, Digital versus Print: the Current state of Reference Affairs in School Libraries by D.J. Maxwell, he states that 92% of school librarians were women.  Not surprising since women dominate the teaching profession.  Interestingly though, of those women, 45% are age 45 and older (which is where I fit in)!  The author also noted that this age group of women often are slow to adapt any type of technology, and move toward a digitial reference collection in their library.  I would be inclinded to disagree.  The women and men in this age group that I know are trying to embrace technology, and discover how to best use it.  I will admit it is easier for children and adults who have grow up with technology to learn faster than myself.  

Digital collections is something we can not postpone in school libraries.  It is often cheaper, especially for reference materials and more accessable for children to obtain information.  My thoughts today are wondering how we can incorporate Google Earth, wikis and blogs into our current children’s digital library project.  How does copyright apply in this environment?  I would welcome your ideas!