Book Fair in the Media Center

We will be holding a Scholastic book fair March 8 -14th. The fair will be open to students and parents between the hours of 7:30 am - 4:30 pm each day.

We will have a selection of young adult books, children's books and sale books.  Open to students, parents and teachers.

QR Codes

"A QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The "QR" is derived from "Quick Response", as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. QR Codes are common in Japan, where they are currently the most popular type of two dimensional codes. 
[http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/index-e.html]

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used as convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (known as mobile tagging).

QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about any object that users might need information about.  Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone's browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL.

Users can also generate and print their own QR Code for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR Code generating sites."  [http://www.qrstuff.com]

The media center has put QR codes on the search computers that you can access and save on your phones, that you can use to access OPAC from your phone.  There are also QR codes posted around school that will give you access to the Media Center webpage and the Ashley Readers webpage.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code]
[http://mobile-libraries.blogspot.com/]
cnet.tv video : How to Use QR codes
http://cnettv.cnet.com/use-qr-codes/9742-1_53-50085349.html

New Link Added for Instructional Videos

The Khan Academy is a non-profit organization. The mission of the Khan Academy is to provide a world-class education, for free, to anyone in the world. It consists of 1800+ (and growing) videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus, chemistry, physics and biology, finance and economics, and history.  There is also test prep for SAT Math.

You can watch the 12 minute instuctional videos for reinforcement of concepts you have learned in class and if you like you can login to the academy for a series of exercises that allow students to practice and assess their knowledge at their own pace.

There will be a permanent link posted in the left-hand column of this page.  You do not need any passwords for access to the site.

For more information about Sal Khan the creator of Khan Academy, you might want to read the following article titled "Bill Gates' Favorite Teacher" in Fortune Magazine.  http://www.khanacademy.org/press/fortune

Teen Read Week and Bookfair

We had a fun week in the Media Center this week celebrating Teen Read Week.  The students had a chance to play Author Bingo during all three lunch periods, winning books and eating M&Ms, the Library Book Club met and also the first meeting for a Dungeons & Dragons game was held.  There was also a drawing held Friday for free books - Fifty students won a free book!

 All of the activities culminated with a Bookfair at Barnes & Noble on Saturday.  We had a lot of fun with many students and parents coming out.  We would like to thank all of our student volunteers and the performing groups who came out to entertain.

Visiting Area Librarians

The seniors who are taking English 4 this semester met with Susan Wood from NHCPL, Melissa Raymer from CFCC and Beth Kaylor from UNCW.  The librarians came in to discuss how to access and use the materials in their libraries.  The sessions are held each semester to encourage students to make use of all of the resources that are available to them when doing their Graduation Projects.

New Poster Making Machine

We have just set up a new color poster machine in the media center.  Teachers may make school related posters for their classrooms for free and personal posters for $2.00.  Poster size is 24" x 18".  Students may also make posters for $2.00 a piece.  Some ideas for poster use is a class project, election poster or happy birthday poster for a special friend. 
To order a poster bring in, a 8.5"x11" copy of what you would like scanned and fill out the order form in the media center.  Please order posters at least 2 days before you need them.  Payment is due when you place the order.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

We have added new titles to our Reference eBooks collection.  They have been linked to the Pathfinder page.  The titles include: St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History, Constitutional Amendments: from freedom of speech to flag burning, and Human Diseases and Conditions.  These reference titles and the others we already have can be accessed online.  Students have been given the needed password, if you do not have it, please see a librarian.

Scholarship Sweepstakes

Author James Patterson is giving away a number of awards to be used for the purchase of college books. Awards range from $250 - $5000. See the attached link.

http://jamespatterson.com/dollars-for-scholars-entries.php

Library bookmark

We started the week off helping teachers with equipment, laminating and bulletin board supplies for their classrooms. Then turned to organizing book displays for the media center, doing our own bulletin boards and putting the finishing touches on our web sites.  On Wednesday, the students arrived!  It was good to see a lot of our regular users mixed in with a lot of new faces.  Checkouts started the first day for students.

Ms. Lucas and Mr. Jarmon were using the computer lab for English assessments and Ms. Ransom and Ms. Raspet's senior English classes were in the library starting their graduation projects.  They received a handout and explanation of how to use the new media center websites.  The seniors were doing some preliminary searches to develop their topics. 

It was a busy and great start for the new year.  Don't forget August 30-September 3 is Amnesty week.  Turn in any overdue book from last year and your fines on that book will be forgiven.