Making a SPLASH for Spanish speakers in 2008!

This month, the State Library is launching SPLASH! workshops to encourage libraries to reach out to Spanish speakers. The issue of immigration has been in the local headlines for more than a year now and is a big topic in the presidential debates. Legislation pending in the S.C. State House may have implications for how we serve Spanish speakers. In the meantime, however, Latinos are coming to the library to use the computer, learn English, discover how to become Americans. Can we do more to welcome them? Yes, of course! Check out the SPLASH workshop schedule at http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/ , and join us in getting to know our Latino customers. I’ll be posting some facts, figures and thoughts about Latinos/Hispanics in South Carolina libraries over the next few months, as the SPLASH program moves forward. SPLASH is sponsored by WebJunction and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Carver’s Bay Branch Library Reports on Successful Digital Arts Experience

The staff of the Georgetown County Library has every reason to be proud of the success of their current project — the Digital Arts Experience or DAE.  The program is a fast-paced 12-week course designed to expose middle school students to the basic concepts and skills required to complete digitally oriented audiovisual projects. The students are encouraged to think for themselves as they work together in teams to concept, storyboard, shoot and edit their own video productions.

Not only did they get promotion from WebJunction, there was a front page article about the project in the Myrtle Beach Sun.

Go here and here for more information. Congratulations to the Georgetown County Library Staff!!

 

Technology Camp for Teens

Computer World has an interesting article about a Technology Camp for Teens at the Memphis Public Library.  What a great opportunity to identify the library as the place to learn about emerging technologies!  Go Here

 

PRWeb - A New Concept In PR

PRWeb offers a new, free and (unfortunately, it was discovered that it is not free to post to it but free to for the viewer only - bummer, this could have been a neat tool) easy-to-use, service for organizations to increase the visibility of their news, improve their search engine rankings and drive traffic to their Web site. Check out this quick video and demonstration by the Common Craft Show to see how you could be boosting the press at your library/community events and services.

 

Tweens and Cell Phone Usage

The use of cell phones to obtain information is becoming commonplace with the younger generation. If tweens are indeed using their cell phones in this way, libraries will need to adapt some of their online presence to be adaptable to their needs. Take a look at this YALSA blog posting here and Stephen Abram’s post here.