School+Library+Monthly

=School Library Monthly=

I didn't like the looks of this journal. It was very dull and didn't contain very much color. Black, gray and blue don't really get me interested in the articles. But, as they say you should never judge a book by it's cover, or in my case "color", I found the articles in the journal to be very good. There were areas that had different lesson ideas with graphic organizers and the lessons were related to the standards. Most of the articles give ideas for instruction in the school. The article that I liked was called, //Three New Digital Libraries By World Book//. This article presented three new online libraries that World Book had put together. The libraries each have a different grade level range. The article also gave lesson ideas that you could do with the students to get them more familiar with research. I thought this article was very cool and would be great to use in a classroom or even the library. BT

I can't comment to the looks of this publication, as I viewed it online (thanks to the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County for their online subscription to SLM) but the first thing I noticed was the amount of articles. None were very long (I didn't see any longer than three pages in the March 2010 issue) but there were many (more than 18) and they covered a very wide range of topics. One that really caught my attention was the "What happens when you call the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom for help?". A simple but really useful Q&A. One thing I didn't know, for example, is that you don't have to be a member of ALA or any of its subsidiary groups to call the OIF and get help. While the OIF doesn't provide legal advice, they do have a network of attorneys that will work on intellectual freedom cases pro bono and will direct you to that network if they feel legal assistance may be needed. Another interesting article in the bunch was "Empowering Learners" in which the authors put forth that, "the answer lies in empowering students with the skills they need to enjoy researching as well as reading for information and pleasure." They also insist that it's part of our job to learn and understand what the students like (seemingly a DUH! thought but apparently not for those who kick it old school). I never knew, till I went looking out of sheer need, that the service which offered the ENTIRETY of the issue (even the table of contents and credits) full text online even existed. And it was FREE with my library card. Don't libraries rock? --erin