Tips for Google Reader

I just saw these tips for keyboard shortcuts in Google Reader and thought they were worth sharing:

Use j/k to navigate through a feed's items, t to tag an item, / (slash) to search, or press ? to get the list of all the keyboard shortcuts Reader supports.Press Escape to make the shortcut list disappear.

BlogThis Toool

What is BlogThis! ? "BlogThis! is an easy way to make a blog post without visiting blogger.com. Once you add the BlogThis! link to your browser's toolbar, blogging will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking BlogThis! creates a mini-interface to Blogger prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then publish or post from within BlogThis!"

And yes - I used BlogThis to create this post!

Discovering eBooks for my iPod Touch

This weekend I discovered that there are many FREE ebooks available for my iTouch through iPhone apps. Previously, I had not really been very interested in exploring ebooks for my small iTouch screen since I imagined that the print would be too difficult for me to read, much like the text when browsing through websites. However, not only was I surprised by how clear the print is, but I was pleased to see that the Kindle app offers quite a few titles for free. As might be expected, many free titles are classics such as Pride and Prejudice and Dracula, but I was pleased to find quite a few new releases such as Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (which was my first pick!). I also learned from a Tweet from @DoremiGirl that Stanza and Classics are two other great apps for ebooks and also offer many free titles.

The text preferences within these ebook apps can be adjusted to make your reading more clear and legible. Not only can you choose different font sizes, but you can choose between a day-time or night-time screen (as pictured) and there are various features for bookmarking, adding notes, or searching within a book.

While I'm not anywhere ready to purchase an ebook reader for myself for a couple of hundred dollars, I certainly am pleased to find I now have a couple of ebook options for my iTouch, and that many of the titles are free, or at a very low cost!

Book Review: Liar

Though Micah is a self-proclaimed liar, she begins the book with a promise: "I will tell you my story and I will tell it straight. No lies, no omissions. That's my promise. This time I truly mean it." Or does she? Throughout the novel, readers are taken on such a roller-coaster of self-admitted lies that nothing can be believed or taken for granted. Was she born a girl, a boy...or something completely different? What kind of relationship did she really have with Zach, a fellow high school student who was murdered? What does she know about the murder...was she involved? The ambiguous ending will leave readers intrigued with an urge to discuss the novel with others.

Larbalestier, Justine. Liar. New York: Bloomsbury, 2009. 978-1-59990-305-7. 376p.

Book Review: Sorta Like a Rock Star

I just finished reading Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick which is due to be released in May 2010. It's one of those very special reads which I didn't want to put down, and which I will be recommending to many. It most certainly will be one of my top ten for the PSLA Top Forty Book Review Committee!

Amber Appleton is one of The Five - a group of misfit, "freak" students who have been friends since they were put together for counseling in the fifth grade. After school, you can find Amber drinking green tea with a Vietnam vet who is fond of writing haiku's, tutoring Korean women in English by leading them in Motown songs, or visiting a retirement home where she and Joan of Old entertain residents with their optimism vs pessimism battles. At night, Amber sleeps (often alone) on the Hello Yellow bus which her mom drives for a living. Her mom is often "out fishing" at bars, looking for her next Prince Charming. Readers will smile with delight at the positive, vivacious attitude of Amber as she spreads hope among her various, eccentric friends. However, when she struggles to come to terms with a tragic, life-changing event, we find that Amber is not as capable of receiving help as she is at giving it. This is a truly delightful book which will have readers both laughing and crying throughout. Highly recommended!

We were privileged to have Matthew Quick visit our school last Spring to discuss his first novel, The Silver Linings Playbook. The students not only loved this book but were fascinating by his personal story of becoming a writer. Let's hope he has many more novels to come!

Yes, Benjamin. A Google Robot Really Does Exist

In a recent New York Times article, it was reported that children often are frustrated with their search results on the Internet. The article, Helping Children Find What They Need on the Internet, cited a recent study sponsored by Google, University of Maryland and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. It tells us of 11-year-old Benjamin and his struggles in the use of the Internet to answer the question, "Which day would the vice president’s birthday fall on the next year?" Benjamin later realizes that finding information on the Internet is a multi-step process. But at the time he was fully expecting Google to give him the information immediately.

"...Google has long known that it can be difficult for users to formulate the right keywords to call up their desired results. But that task can be even more challenging for children, given that they do not always have the right context for thinking about a new subject".

As librarians, we are all-too aware of this fact. How many times do we see our students frustrated with their searches simply because they don't know where to begin with search terms, or because they expect the information to appear immediately with very little higher-order thinking on their end. Google's answer to this dilemma is to continue to make the search process more transparent for children and adults alike. Apps such as the Wonder Wheel, make the search more graphical and help the user to narrow-down the results. Google, like other search engines, is also making it easier for searchers to use questions and statements to find answers to questions. Simply enter a sentence with an * where the sought information is, and Google will find your answer.

For example: Albert Einstein was born on *

It seems to me that Google is aiming to do exactly what librarians have been doing all along: helping patrons in their search for answers and information. Of course, we librarians add a very important component: rather than to serve the information on a silver platter for our students, we rather guide them so that they can become better gatherers...better evaluators...and better synthesizers of information. After all, could there by a more important life-long skill than to know how to find valuable information?

That student, Benjamin (who has now learned a thing or two about Internet searching), has an idea about how Google could help students with their searches:

“I think there should be a program where Google asks kids questions about what they’re searching for,” he said, “like a Google robot.”

Hmm...that Google Robot sounds an awful like a librarian to me. And, guess what, Benjamin. One of those librarians is available 24/7 just like Google.

Google Custom Search + Pathfinders = Great Resource

Pathfinders are great resource tools which librarians, such as myself, create for student research projects. They are customized lists of specific sources on a particular unit or subject, consisting of both print and online media. Google Custom Search allows users to pick & choose which websites will be utilized when performing a search. Then, with just one search performance, all sites can be searched at one time. Put the two together, and librarians can provide students with an invaluable, customized research tool.

Recently, I created a Google Customized Search for Literary Criticism and embedded it on my Literary Criticism pathfinder. Now, students who are looking for critical reviews, not only have a list of resources to explore, but they can quickly search through the best, most relevant websites with one, easy search.