My Experience Learning How To Blog

Emerging technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS, ebooks and emedia, are rapidly changing the way people, societies and libraries access information. Today’s Web 2.0 user is a proactive, participative and creative consumer of information. Blogs, an increasingly popular means of information exchange, are  an example of one way people use new technologies to give, receive and create knowledge (Zanin-Yost, 2010). The exchange of information and commentary online via blogs creates dialogue and facilitates communication, and this is increasingly being used to connect libraries and library users.

The content and format of a blog is similar to a diary or journal, displayed in reverse chronological order, is updated regularly and allows the inclusion of images and links to other blogs and websites (Zanin-Yost, 2010). Published online and available to be read by everyone, each blog has a thread which allows its readers to write comments and engage in online discussion (Zanin-Yost, 2010). Even a small number of active participants help to make for a lively blog and participation should be encouraged (Fasick, 2011, p. 26). Libraries today want children to be active learners and for them to participate in programs designed for them. Opportunities to join book club discussions via a blog, for example will increase children’s involvement with the Library (Fasick, 2011, p. 40).

My journey in establishing a blog was challenging and interesting as I have little technological experience. After a long break (over twenty years) from the workforce I have spent the last year rapidly rebuilding my skills and knowledge as a Librarian, including the need to learn about emerging technologies on the web.  My learning experience for this unit was to set up a blog using Blogger, an online hosting service owned by Google. Although it was relatively easy to set up, with online tutorials to watch and sites such as Blogging Basics 101 available to step a new blogger through the process of establishing a blog (Nelson, 2014), I still faced some difficulties. The biggest mistake made was not having an offline copy of my draft posts. Several draft posts disappeared from the Blogger server without warning and had to be rewritten, this time directly into a Microsoft Word document. This was a significant learning process.

Blogging Basics 101 provided useful guidance, stressing the importance of usability and readability when designing the blog (Nelson, 2014). I also found the NSW Public Libraries Learning 2.0 site useful when researching how to blog (Week 2: Introduction to blogs, 2008). Exploring other blogs online gave examples of how creative bloggers can be when customising their design. In setting up my blog I have attempted to create a blog reflective of my personality.

Creating my blog has been a positive experience, increased my confidence in using emerging technologies and developed an interest in creating a blog reviewing new children’s books  and giving publicity for children’s services at my workplace.

References:

Fasick, A.M. (2011). From board book to facebook: children’s services in an interactive age. Santa Barbara, CA.: ABC-CLIO Greenwood.

Nelson, M. (2014). How do I start a blog? In Blogging basics 101. Retrieved from http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/how-do-I-start-a-blog/

Week 2: Introduction to blogs (2008). In New South Wales Public Libraries learning 2.0 program. Retrieved from

 http://nswpubliclibrarieslearning21.blogspot.com.au/2008/02/week-2-introduction-to-blogs.html

Zanin-Yost, A. (2010). Library 2.0: blogs, wikis and RSS to serve the Library.  Retrieved from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/_mbolin/zanin-yost2.htm

National Simultaneous Storytime 2014

National Simultaneous Storytime is a free annual event organised by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) to encourage a love of books and reading for children. It provides a connection between the community and the Library and is celebrated by children all around Australia being read the same book at the same time. This year, National Simultaneous Storytime, which has been running for fourteen years, was held on May 21 at 11.00am as part of Library and Information Week (ALIA, 2014).

National Simultaneous Storytime is an event held in local Public Libraries, schools and childcare centres and uses a children’s picture book written by an Australian author, promoting the value of reading through age appropriate literature. In 2014 the book chosen, Too Many Elephants in this House, was written by award winning children’s and young adult author Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Andrew Joyner (ALIA, 2014).

The event encourages awareness of Public Libraries and helps to promote storytime activities regularly held in Libraries across Australia. Such activities play an important role in developing language and literacy skills in young children (ALIA, 2014). Programs such as pre-school storytime support parents in their role as their child’s first teacher and provide early learning opportunities for children in a fun and literature based environment (Kelly, 2012, p. 181).

I attended National Simultaneous Storytime at Concord Public Library. It had been promoted within the Library with posters and on the Library website. Storytime was held in a light and bright space bounded by the picture book collection. This is a friendly and welcoming literature based environment for children and over forty-five children were in attendance. The songs and books read on the day had an elephant theme, with the final story being Too Many Elephants in this House. The children were informed that it was National Simultaneous Storytime and that children all over Australia were participating in the event. At the end of storytime, the children made an elephant mask during craft.

This was an enjoyable event to attend and one that is important on a Children’s Librarian’s calendar. It is recognised that the early exposure of babies and children to books and being read to can have a significant effect on their literacy and language development, central to ensuring children meet their developmental potential (Bundy, 2007, p. 173). National Simultaneous Storytime promotes reading as an important life skill and encourages parents to read to their children on a regular basis. My observations were that this shared reading event was a highly enjoyable and positive experience for both parents and children.

References:

Australian Library and Information Service. (2014) National Simultaneous Storytime. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/nss.

Bundy, A. (2007). Looking ever forward: Australia’s public libraries serving children and young people. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 20(4), 173.

Dubosarsky, U. (2012). Too many elephants in this house. Illustrated by Andrew Joyner. Sydney: Penguin Books Australia.

Kelly, C. (2012). Building a learning community: the Brimbank Libraries strategy. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 25(4), 181

Book Review: Violet Mackerel's Pocket Protest

A review of Violet Mackerel's Pocket Protest by Anna Branford and illustrated by Sarah Davis

Violet Mackerel’s Pocket Protest is the sixth book in a very successful series of books about friendship and family life. It is written by Australian author Anna Branford and beautifully illustrated by Sara Davis. Book five in the series, Violet Mackerel’s Possible Friend was shortlisted in the 2014 Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards in the Younger Readers category.

Violet Mackerel and her best friend Rose live next door to one another. They come from different family situations: Violet has a new step father and a family that is laid back and crafty. In contrast, Rose’s family is wealthier and she has lots of nice possessions, but they both have inquisitive minds and a sense of adventure. In this latest book in the series, Violet and Rose endeavour to save an old oak tree from being cut down in a nearby Clover Park. After trying a number of different strategies, the girls decide to embark on an ingenious “pocket protest”, leaving acorns with small notes inside them around their local area. They hope people will pick up the acorns and help them to save the tree. The Council finally makes the decision to save the tree after the local paper runs a story about people finding the pocket protests.

This positive and upbeat story is about the ability of ordinary people to create change and make a difference by doing small things. Throughout the series, readers will be aware that Violet loves small things, such as writing tiny notes and making small gifts. The theme of friendship is relevant to girls aged five and over, who enjoy reading stories that reflect what is happening in their lives and as they begin to form their own social networks.

Violet Mackerel’s Pocket Protest is written for girls aged seven and over and is suitable for children in lower primary. The book has short chapters, clear large font, and is illustrated with black and white drawings throughout. It is an excellent choice for emerging, independent chapter book readers. The language used is clear and descriptive and the simple sentence structure suitable for early readers, with well developed characterisation. Children will relate to and connect with Violet and Rose, who are authentic and likeable characters. Both girls come up with great ideas throughout the story as they try to save the beautiful old oak tree.

Children in the age group suitable for this book are influenced in their reading choices by such factors as whether a book is part of a series they have already read, is written by author they are familiar with, and cover art and illustrations. This gives them confidence in independently selecting books to read (School Libraries in Canada, 2005, p. 34). Girls prefer narrative text and books with themes such as friendship, loyalty, school life and acceptance, and the Violet Mackerel series meets these recreational reading needs (Hedemark, 2012, p. 120). The books have attractive, brightly coloured cover design and the series is released in small hardcover books.

Children can visit Anna Branford’s website to find out about the author and her books, or Violet Mackerel’s website to find out about Violet, do activities or read the first chapter of each book in the series.

Children who enjoy reading the Violet Mackerel series would also enjoy such series as Ivy + Bean, Judy Moody, and Hazel Green.

References:

Banford, A. (2014). Anna Banford: children’s author and maker of things. Retrieved from http://www.annabranford.com

Hedemark, A. (2012). A study of Swedish children’s attitudes to reading and public library activities. New Review of Childrens Literature and Librarianship. 18(2), 116-127.

School Libraries in Canada. (2005). Influences on students self-selected, recreational reading material: literature review. School Libraries in Canada. 25(1), 34-41.

Violet Mackerel (2014). Retrieved from http://www.violetmackerel.com.au

A Reflection on Chinese Storytime at Hurstville Library

I observed a Chinese Storytime program at Hurstville Public Library which is conducted in Mandarin. An extremely popular program at the Library, Dragon Tales is run every Monday during Term time over two half hour sessions and celebrates the sharing of cultures in the local area, a culturally diverse community. Over sixty Chinese families attend the storytime each week and it is presented by a Chinese member of staff.

Dragon Tales is conducted in a different format to other children’s programs at the Library, with a greater focus on performance than Pre-school storytime. The presenter uses a microphone and background music while singing and encourages the children to move and dance during rhymes and songs. Puppets and props are also used to enhance the experience for the children attending. Following a number of songs and action rhymes three stories were read to the children in Mandarin on the themes of the beach and holidays. There is a different theme every week which gives the children information about the world around them through age appropriate literature (Williams, 2007, p. 27). Due to a smaller budget allocation than for Pre-school storytime, there is no craft activity after the storytime, but toys such as puzzles and Duplo are brought out several times a term for children to play with for twenty minutes at the end of the session. This did not occur the week I attended.

Bi-lingual storytimes, run in Public Libraries, provide children with opportunities to learn about their culture and heritage in a fun and friendly environment while also supporting their language and literacy development (Alakus, 2009, p.27). They give people from diverse backgrounds the message that their language and culture is valued by the community and that they can find support at their local Library (Alakus, 2009, p. 27). Such support can include opportunities for social inclusion, increasing a parent or caregiver’s skills and confidence to share songs, rhymes and books with their children, and help in maintaining a child’s first language. Parents can, through observing and modelling a Library professional’s skills, learn new skills to help them play with and teach their children, and gain more confidence to read in an expressive manner to their children (Alakus, 2009, p. 28).

Dragon Tales at Hurstville Library provides informal learning opportunities for members of the local Chinese community. Social interaction and engagement with residents who are recent arrivals to the area are positive outcomes of the program (Kelly, 2012, p. 181). When I attended the storytime sessions, I observed a lot of interaction and conversation between the parents and children before and after the program.  This can be important to community members who are socially isolated (Kelly, 2012, p. 181). There was increased activity in the children’s collection and Chinese collection areas during the morning with many parents borrowing picture books and toys for their children.

Chinese storytime is a celebration of diversity and the sharing of cultures. In observing the program I was able to see that the program met the cultural, information, education and linguistic needs of the Chinese families who attended and provided an opportunity to promote Hurstville Library collection, resources and activities. In meeting the challenges of cultural diversity when planning children’s services, Hurstville Library has provided a positive connection with the community.

References:

Alakus, R. (2009). A fun way to connect with the community. Incite 30(4), 27-28.

Kelly, C. (2012). Building a learning community: the Brimbank libraries strategy. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services 25(4), 181.

Williams, A. (2007). Storytime model for large groups: implications for early literacy. Children and Libraries: the Journal of the Association for Library Science to Children, 5(2), 27-29

Hidden Forms of Censorship and Their Impact

A reading and analysis of a peer-reviewed article on the topic of censorship. 

Givens, C.L. (2009). Hidden forms of censorship and their impact. Bookbird: a Journal of International Children’s Literature. 47(3), 22-28.

In her 2009 article, Canadian author Cherie Givens provides an insight into the ways children’s authors and illustrators may be impacted by pre-censorship of their work by educational publishers, trade publishers, and award committees.

These insidious forms of censorship are hidden from and largely unknown by readers as they occur prior to publication, often as a means of avoiding post publication censorship. Broadly defined, censorship in this context refers to the “practice of suppressing or deleting material considered to be objectionable” (Fourie & Dowell, 2002).

Motivations behind censorship are varied but generally fall into four categories: family values, religious grounds, political views and minority rights. Content is the single most important factor prompting a desire to censor due to offensive subjects and offensive language. Censorship motivations influence not only educational and trade publishers, but also have a significant impact on the decisions made by award committee members who can make subjective decisions based on their own values and predilections (Givens, 2009, p. 23).

While censorship claims its aim is to present unbiased information and illustrations, educational publishing responds to pressure groups from the left and the right. However, such restrictive guidelines can actually lead to censorship (Givens, 2009, p. 24). Censorship in trade publishing, particularly for children’s books, occurs during editing where language can be changed in response to concerns about family values or religion (Givens, 2009, p. 25).

Pre-censorship occurred to author Cynthia Grant. Her Young Adult novel’s protagonist in Hard Love (1983) was a conscientious objector. Grant found all references to this eliminated from the final text due to concerns that conservative reviewers would object to the characters morals (Grant, 1995, p. 48). Grant argues that authors have an obligation to children, to write honestly and to not write for censors. Authors and illustrators should not serve as instruments of any particular religious, moral or political agenda (Grant, 1995, p. 50).

While censorship can occur at any point in the publication process, it can also occur after distribution, impacting sales and subsequent printings. Book awards and awards short lists have a powerful influence on a books success and marketing, and failure to gain recognition through Prize Committee recommendation due to censorship results in loss of exposure for the work. Such censorship can be a result of bias on the part of a single judge, concerned for example about language used in the book or family values (Givens, 2009, p. 27).

The information in the article is highly relevant for information professionals, who perhaps are unaware of the pre-censorship that occurs of trade books for children and young adults. It is important that such pre-censorship of books is limited and that young people have access to a broad selection of points of view, values, and language. It is recognised that Libraries select books for their collections based on  book awards and award short lists, author recognition and marketing by publishers and as such pre-censorship of books influences decisions made by information professionals.

This article increases awareness of the various hidden forms of censorship prevalent in children’s publishing and highlights the need for authors and illustrators to be supported in their intellectual freedom and their creative choices.

References:

Fourie, D. & Dowell, D. (2002). Libraries in the information age: an introduction and career exploration. Greenwood Village: Libraries Unlimited.

Givens, C.L. (2009). Hidden forms of censorship and their impact. Bookbird: a Journal of International Children’s Literature. 47(3), 22-28.

Grant, C. (1995). Tales from a YA author: slightly uneasy. School Library Journal, October 1995, 48-50.

Rubin, R. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. (2^nd ed.). New York: Neal Schuman Publishers.