Information Literacy With Scratch and SMILE

The following report on a workshop held in our region was submitted by a recipient of CMLE scholarship program and is reposted from the CMLE blog by permission:

Submitted By: Betsy Miller

For generations our family has loved visiting the North Shore. When I received an email announcing that MINITEX was sponsoring a free workshop in Grand Marais this past August, I decided to attend. The combination of Lake Superior, learning something new and FREE was definitely a winner.

The workshop was Information Literacy Programming with SCRATCH and SMILE presented by Jennifer Nelson of the Hennepin County Library and Keith Braafladt of the Science Museum of Minnesota at the Cook County High School Media Center. They gave us a great deal of information as we experienced a hands-on workshop of practical Web sites I will continue to use.

SCRATCH is new to me but has been around for awhile both in time and geographically as it is used all over the world. It is a programming language used to create interactive stories, games and animations. The home page is found at http://scratch.mit.edu/ giving over a million projects that others have created. This is also the page where the free download is available for you to begin your own Scratch projects. There are several online tutorials giving you step by step directions to get started or to challenge you once you get going. As a teacher I find Scratch Ed to be very helpful, http://scratched.media.mit.edu/, giving resources and ideas for using Scratch in the classroom.

SMILE (Science and Math Informal Learning Educators) was also part of the workshop. This is a great online clearinghouse for math and science activities. The site, http://howtosmile.org/, partners with the Lawrence Hall of Science, Exploratorium, New York Hall of Science, Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Children’s Museum of Houston to bring activities of all kinds to kids of all ages.

HCC Library Art Exhibit : Art Among the Stacks

Jan Carey, Librarian/Information Media Specialist at the Hibbing Community College Library (1515 East 25th Street, Hibbing, MN 55746) has issued a cordial invitation to all to attend the HCC Library Art Exhibit: Opening & Dedication, Wednesday, Oct.27th, from 1pm-3pm.

Unfortunately, the newspaper did not release publicity for the HCC Library event. But you need to know you're cordially invited to this very special "Art Among the Stacks" exhibit.

In addition to the weaving exhibit & wall sculpture dedication, internationally acclaimed Scandinavian cookbook author, Bea Ojakangas, will be present for a book signing. Her latest books will also be for sale.

Bea will be accompanied by her husband, Richard Ojakangas, well-known author of Minnesota geology. He will bring his recent book.

Refreshments and food will be provided by the Ladies of Kaleva-Virginia, MN...Finnish ethnic food at its finest.

This exhibit opening has something for everyone....food, art, history, science, culture. HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE!!!

Internet Librarian 2010 Opening Keynote

The opening keynote by Patricia Martin at today's Internet Librarian Conference was quite interesting despite some microphone problems. Well worth a listen.

ARSL Conference Summary

Diane Adams, International Falls Public Library Director and NCLC scholarship recipient for attendance at the Association of Rural and Small Libraries Conference shares her report of the 2010 conference with us:

ARSL Conference Summary

The conference began on Wednesday evening with a mixer. It was a chance to talk with librarians across the country and enjoy time together sharing. Thursday morning we heart Dr. Loriene Roy share about her growing up years in Carlton, Minnesota and the impact small libraries had on her life. She talked about the books she still remembers reading growing up. Thursday I attended workshops on PR, trustee training and gaming in libraries. The best was the gaming workshop although the PR workshop did have a good handout with a guide to doing PR and fund raising. The gaming workshop focused on doing it on the cheap, with used and donated equipment.

I was surprised at the scarcity of vendors. There were probably only 15-20 vendors including American Library Association, Colorado Library Association and WebJunction. But it was fun to see the latest and greatest in bookmobile options. The late afternoon provided an opportunity for moderated discussions and I attended one on tourist town libraries. It was a valuable chance to share ideas, brainstorm together and just hear what others are doing to accommodate and discourage tourists/short-term employees from walking off with material. Thursday evening included a chance for groups to go out to dinner with someone from the area and talk. Again the sharing of what worked, what we struggled with and more was valuable.

Friday's workshops were great as well. I attended a workshop on a Colorado Public Library Advocacy Initiative that would be terrific anywhere and may work on trying to implement it on a small scale. Dom Testa, a Colorado author and radio personality, shared at lunch about his work with encouraging middle schoolers to academic achievement through reading, writing and not dumbing down. I then listened to Pat Wagner talk about "Hometown Ethics" and "Turning Enemies Into Allies" with both focusing on the basic idea of talking the high road and being kind and forgiving no matter which side of an issue you are on.

Saturday morning I attended a great workshop on what's hot in the world of reading for teens and finally a workshop on how to get staff excited and supportive of changes in the library. This workshop was frustrating because one of her main points was to take disciplinary action if they were hijacking the process and didn't really give suggestions about how to get staff on board.

Overall, the conference was wonderful and I am very glad I had the opportunity to go and learn and share what I've done that worked, and learned what other have done that worked for them. I also was reminded that there are many libraries (in fact there are many more small libraries, than large ones) and that working together we can accomplish more than we can imagine.

All About ELM Training

Jennifer Hootman from Minitex Reference, trainer




Twelve people attended the hands on All About ELM training at the Eveleth-Gilbert Junior High School in Gilbert on October 14. After a brief overview of the state funded databases offered, participant did the practice exercises, shared their experiences, and Minitex trainer Jennifer Hootman replicated their process as they talked about it so all could follow along. It seemed to be a very effective way to reinforce the search strategies used so they would be easily remembered.

Even during lunch lots of information sharing went on and all seemed to enjoy the opportunity.




Three drawings for picture books were held during the course of the workshop.
Winners were:

Gigie Harder - V is for Viking

Brenda Salo - North Star Numbers

Sue Solin - I Spy With My Little Eye

Hands On All About ELM Training

Do you get questions from students asking for articles or multimedia content as they work on their research? Do teachers ask you for resources to support the curriculum?

Do you get questions from patrons who are looking for information on a company, consumer product, a recent event, a health issue, or a debate?

Or have you ever wanted to find the latest information on issues and technology related to your work? If so, you won't want to miss this hands-on workshop.

In this workshop we’ll explore the statewide Electronic Library for Minnesota resources and discover how to find content specific to your patrons’ needs, your students’ curriculum, and your own interests. North Country Library Cooperative and Minitex invite you to a hands-on workshop that focuses on activities to give you an opportunity to discover new content and sharpen your skills.

North Country Library has arranged a hands on ELM (Electronic Library for Minnesota) training workshop with Minitex trainer Jennifer Hootman for October 14, 2010. It will be held in the computer lab of the Gilbert campus (Junior High School) of the Eveleth Gilbert School District from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. NCLC will provide beverages, snacks, and a light lunch for those attending this training.

If you're interested in learning about the recent ELM database changes and searching tips to use the ELM databases effectively with your students, you should plan to attend this training session. You must register for the training if you wish to attend by October 7. You may register to attend by e-mailing either Linda Wadman (lwadman@arrowhead.lib.mn.us) or Pam Johnson (pamjohn@arrowhead.lib.mn.us) with your name, address, phone, and e-mail address so that we have contact information for you.

Registration is limited to 32 attendees so be sure to register soon while space is available.

At the NCLC Governing Board meeting on September 21, 2010, the Governing Board authorized NCLC to set aside $3000 for the purpose of paying for substitutes and mileage for school librarians who might be unable to attend without assistance with these expenses. If you would need assistance for mileage or substitute expense to attend, you are required to contact NCLC for a scholarship application so we can track the cost for us since we cannot exceed the $3000 cap. There is a limit for expense payment of three attendees per school district and it is desirable to share rides when possible. To receive this assistance you need to contact NCLC to register no later than October 7, 2010. You may call the NCLC office with any questions at 218-741-1907 or 1-800-950-4401.

Here's a map of the location:


View Larger Map

NCLC Cooperative Connection

Cooperative Connection is the name given to the paper newsletter previously published by North Country Library Cooperative. North Country Library Cooperative is a multitype library system serving seven counties in northeast Minnesota.

For many reasons, the paper newsletter is not regularly published anymore, but we found we still need a way for our libraries to access information that we want to share or that they may find useful. While we investigate other avenues, like an electronic newsletter, we thought perhaps a blog might be a useful way to share things with member libraries. Using a blog linked to our library home page seemed like it might be a viable way to direct our librarians and library staff to information they can use.