Paris Cooperative High School Library

Using an e-reader for research?

2011-08-29T09:24:00.001-07:00

Noodletools wrote a great article about how to cite sources from an e-reader. Take a look!

http://www.noodletools.com/blog/archives/388

Citing images

2011-04-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

Taken from the Purdue OWL website....

"For other images, cite as you would any other Web page, but make sure you're crediting the original creator of the image. Here's an example from Webshots.com, an online photo-sharing site ("brandychloe" is a username):

brandychloe. Great Horned Owl Family. 22 May 2006. http://www.flickr.com/brandychloe/56/84.jpg.

If you need copyright free images, use the Creative Commons search on Flickr. Also, use Alternate Sources of Materials to find copyright free images, music and video.

Movie Trailer for The Help--out August 12th

2011-04-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Book Club

2011-04-07T10:29:00.001-07:00

Amazing things happen at Book Club on Thursdays at lunch. We discuss what we're reading, and we have some pretty varied tastes. We discuss movies, prom, and anything else that's going on. And, sometimes, slushies get a mind of their own and refuse to slide back down into the straw. :)

Show up next Thursday at lunch! See Ms. Hill if you have any questions....

Save our Libraries!

2011-01-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

The American Library Association has started a new campaign to increase awareness about libraries--the new endangered species. Libraries, like parks, help ALL members of the community. Librarians help with job searches, edit resumes, and provide resources for students. Libraries provide free internet access for low-income families who don't have it. Libraries provide downloads of audiobooks and loan DVDs for free. No matter your political party affiliation, you must agree that libraries provide resources for ALL citizens. The doorway inscription at the Library of Thebes says it best--"Medicine for your soul."

2010-12-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

Common core standards to pchs

View more presentations from gsarahthelibrarian.

Buddy Lee Visits the Library!

2010-10-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Citing Images

2010-05-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

Works Cited

brandychloe. Great Horned Owl Family. 22 May 2006 .

http://www.flickr.com/brandychloe/56/84.jpg.

If you need copyright free images, use the Creative Commons search on Flickr. Also, use Alternate Sources of Materials to find copyright free images, music and video.

Ellen Hopkins Visits PCHS!

2010-04-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some lucky card swiping at last year's ALA conference, I won a visit from Ellen Hopkins (Thanks Simon & Schuster!). Today she spoke to our entire student body about her books, her writing process, and how Crank, Glass and Fallout (coming in September) are based on her daughter's experience with meth. She signed books after the session, and many students purchased multiple copies for her to sign. Thanks, Ellen and S&S, for bringing an author to Paris, Illinois!

New Abe Lincoln IL Book List Chosen!

2010-03-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I drove three students to Normal Public Library so that Shelby could vote on the Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award committee. Here's what she and 29 others voted for....

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian -- Sherman Alexie
Artichoke’s Heart – Suzanne Supplee
Boot Camp -- Todd Strasser
Deadline -- Chris Crutcher
Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks -- E. Lockhart
Elsewhere -- Gabrielle Zevin
Evermore: the Immortals -- Alyson Noel **
Graceling -- Kristin Cashore
Hold Tight – Harlan Coben **
House Rules: a Memoir -- Rachel Sontag
Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Jerk, California – Jonathan Friesen **
Just Listen -- Sarah Dessen
Paper Towns -- John Green
Perfect Chemistry -- Simone Elkeles
Right Behind You -- Gail Giles
Rucker Park Setup -- Paul Volponi
Spanking Shakespeare -- Jake Wizner
Thousand Splendid Suns -- Khaled Hosseini
Twisted -- Laurie Halse Anderson **
Unwind – Neal Shusterman
Wake -- Lisa McMann

The starred titles were chosen by the student panel. See the special Abe shelf in the library this week for these titles!

2010 Lake Land Technology Conference

2010-02-25T11:31:00.001-08:00

Tech Tools for Encouraging Reading on Prezi

http://techtoolsforencouragingreading.wikispaces.com/

Citing Images in APA Style

2010-02-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

Basic Format for an Electronic Image (No Author, No Title, No Date)

Many images found on the Web are of this category, but you should still look for this missing information: try clicking on the image, and/or looking at the bottom of the image.

[Subject and type of work]. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from: URL (address of web site)

So, it would look something like this....

[Untitled photograph of babies]. Retrieved March 13, 2010, from: http://www.keystophotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/playing-babies.jpg

Presenting the 2010 Alex Award Winners!

2010-01-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Some of you know that I've been serving on the Alex committee for the last three years and this past year I've been the committee chair. What a rewarding experience! Why? First of all, there are some freakin' awesome librarians on the committee. Such a great mix of public librarians, school librarians, system librarians and consultants, all focused on finding the top ten adult books for young adults. What can be better than that? Secondly, as chair I was the Oz-like voice that started the Youth Media Awards. You can't know how exciting it was to speak in front of hundreds of librarians about great books. I'm honored to have served on the committee and give a huge shout-out to the librarians, authors and publishers who make this award possible. And, of course, to the American Library Association and the Young Adult Library Services Association. I still can't believe "someone" trusted me to run a nation-wide committee. ;)

The 2010 Alex Award winners are:

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (9780061730320)
The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020997)
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr., published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020928)
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel, published by Sarah Crichton Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux (9780374165734)
The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch, published by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (9780307396044)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman, published by Viking Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (9780670020553)
My Abandonment by Peter Rock, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (9780151014149)
Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, by Gail Carriger, published by Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group (9780316056632)
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small, published by W.W. Norton & Company (978039306857)
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson, published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins (9780061579028)

Members of the 2010 Alex Awards Committee are: Chair Sarah Hill, Paris (Ill.) Cooperative High School ; Lana Adlawan, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library; Hope Baugh, Carmel Clay (Ind.) Public Library, Carmel, Ind.; Beth Gallaway, Information Goddess Consulting, Hampton, N.H.; Liza Gilbert, Community Library, Salem, Wis.; Jennifer Hubert, Little Red School House & Elizabeth Irwin High School, New York; Karen Keys, Queens Library, New York , N.Y.; Betsy Levine, San Francisco Public Library; Ann Perrigo, Allegan (Mich.) District Library; Meghan Cirrito, administrative assistant, Queens Library, New York , N.Y.; and Ian Chipman, Booklist consultant, Chicago.

In addition to selecting titles for the Alex Awards, the Alex Committee presents a program at the ALA Annual Conference. The 2010 program will take place in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 27, 10:30 a.m. to noon, with authors discussing the impact the award has had on their careers.

Most Popular Books at PCHS

2009-12-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

I've been librarian at PCHS for five years and sometimes like to look at interesting statistics. It's the former math major in me! Today I ran the Popular Titles report, and look what I found! I'm just thrilled that the Meyer titles don't rule the roost--and you can really tell what books I push on the kids--Colasanti, Dessen, Leitch, Runyon, Green. I'll be honest and say that I never blogged about the Meyer or Cast books. But the rest of them I've read and enjoyed and earn me the title book pusher....

Most Checkouts and Renewals
1. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
2. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
3. Marked: a House of Night by P.C. Cast
4. When It Happens by Susanne Colasanti
5. The Glass Castle: a Memoir by Jeanette Walls
6. Catch by Will Leitch
7. The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon
8. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
9. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
10. Looking for Alaska by John Green
11. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
12. Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte
13. The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
14. Cut by Patricia McCormick
15. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Beware of Science Teachers Bearing Marshmallows

2009-12-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

Technology Tuesdays - Prezi

2009-12-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

Prezi is a great alternative to PowerPoint.

Examples:
PCHS Library Board Presentation
A Sweet Recipe for Solving Problems
Learn Prezi in Four Minutes
Is the Web Dead?
Welcome Back! to Advanced Calculus
How Can We Measure Teaching and Learning in Mathematics?

ISLMA Conference Highsmith Award Presentation

2009-12-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

I was able to capture this video during the Awards presentation at the latest ISLMA conference. Unfortunately, I had to hold the camera unassisted. Sorry about the shakiness!

Congratulations to Janet Jenkins from Robinson for building an awesome library program! Watch the video for more details....

Freshman Technology Survey

2009-11-10T13:41:00.001-08:00

Click here to access the survey.

Author Ellen Hopkins is coming to PCHS!

2009-11-02T12:04:00.001-08:00

My library regulars know that I go to a lot of conferences. Every summer I attend the American Library Association's Annual Conference (this year held in Chicago, next summer in Washington DC) and bring back tons of goodies to use as give-aways during a reading promotion. I enter contests, too. Five years ago I won a LCD projector from Demco. I won a set of almanacs from World Almanac Publishing (not too thrilled about that one!) three years ago. But this year takes the cake! PCHS has never had a nationally-known author visit before! Why? Because it's darn expensive! So it's great that my name was randomly drawn from thousands of entries at the Simon and Schuster Publishing booth.

Ellen Hopkins is a best-selling young adult author of novels written in verse. She isn't afraid to tackle issues that hit teens hard--drug abuse, suicide, child abuse, teenage drinking, and other sensitive topics. I'm excited to have her talk about her books, her writing process, and the basis of her first novel, Crank. It's based on the story of her own daughter who suffered from methamphetamine abuse.

More information will be coming about the type of visit and when it will be. The publisher is supposed to contact me after Thanksgiving, so I'll let you know as soon I know more! In the meantime, read her books!

"Not Boring" Books -- Book Talks for Teachers

2009-10-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Job Listings

2009-10-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.jg-tc.com/jobs/
http://www.tribstar.com/monster

Citing Images

2009-02-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

Taken from the Purdue OWL website....

"For other images, cite as you would any other Web page, but make sure you're crediting the original creator of the image. Here's an example from Webshots.com, an online photo-sharing site ("brandychloe" is a username):

brandychloe. Great Horned Owl Family. 22 May 2006 .

http://www.flickr.com/brandychloe/56/84.jpg.

If you need copyright free images, use the Creative Commons search on Flickr. Also, use Alternate Sources of Materials to find copyright free images, music and video.

2009 Alex Award Winners Announced!

2009-01-26T21:09:00.000-08:00

I've had the pleasure of being on the American Library Association's Alex Awards committee for the past two years. The committee of 9 people from across the country select the top ten adult titles for young adults. What does this mean? This means that I receive hundreds of free adult hardback books to read in order to discuss the titles at the ALA conferences. This past weekend I was in Denver with my committee members (and now good friends) and we had a wonderful time discussing the great books we've read in the past year. However, we had to vote. And the picture shows the winners! I've included links to my reviews for each of the titles. These are awesome books! Here is the official page from ALA.

City of Thieves, by David Benioff

The Dragons of Babel, by Michael Swanwick

Finding Nouf, by Zoë Ferraris

The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti

Just After Sunset: Stories, by Stephen King

Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

Over and Under, by Todd Tucker

The Oxford Project, by Stephen G. Bloom, photographed by Peter Feldstein

Sharp Teeth, by Toby Barlow

Three Girls and Their Brother, by Theresa Rebeck

I'm honored to be serving as chairperson of the 2010 Alex Award committee and can't wait to find ten more "not boring" (so says Nick Hornby) books for teens to read!

Book Reports

2009-01-05T09:17:00.001-08:00

Teachers looking for new and exciting versions of the old-fashioned two-page book report should look at Kathy Marie's website for ideas.

Looking for Alaska in San Francisco

2008-11-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine recently moved to San Francisco. Like a good librarian, I gave him some great books as a going-away present. Currently he's reading my fav YA book ever--Looking for Alaska by John Green. What a great pic!

A New Tech Gadget

2008-11-13T06:30:00.001-08:00

I must admit that I'm a fan of new things, especially tiny ones. Take a look at this cool article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?_r=1&oref=slogin about a tiny little projector that connects to your ipod. Awesome!

Mr. Hibschman's Links

2008-11-06T11:52:00.001-08:00

Are you ready to learn about the Ancient Romans? Use the following links for Mr. Hibschman's research project!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/

http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/

http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html

http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_rome.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/22866/English/FRAME.HTML

http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/gladiators.html

http://www.unrv.com/government/emperor.php

Lincoln Trail Library Systems Policy Council

2008-10-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

The voting for LINC Policy Council is now complete. Here are the representatives who were elected to a two-year term:

-Karen Hackman, Champaign Central High School (School Representative)

-Sarah Hill, Paris Union School (School Representative)

-Beth Kent, Oakwood Public Library District (Public Library Representative serving under 10,000)

-Debra Sherrick (At-Large Representative)

-Holly Thompson, Rantoul Public Library (Public Library Representative any size)

Other members of LINC Policy Council, whose terms of office continue through 2009, are:

-Alice Cisna, Arthur Public Library District (At-Large Representative)

-Scott Drone-Silvers, Lake Land Community College Library (Special/Academic Representative)

-Kathy Fell, St. Joseph-Ogden High School (School Representative)

-Marsha Grove, Champaign Public Library (Public Library Serving over 10,000 Representative)

-Susan McKinney, St. Joseph-Township Public Library (Public Library Representative)

Mr. Hibschman's Research Sites

2008-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/

Read a few articles (The Decipherment of Heiroglyphics, A Short History of Pyramidology, Ancient Egyptian Magic, Ramsses the Great, etc.)

Look at some of the photo galleries (Egyptian Top 10, Sacred Animals, Treasures of Tutankhamum)

Go to http://www.upennmuseum.com/hieroglyphsreal.cgi/ for Write Like an Egyptian.

2008-07-06T20:58:00.001-07:00

Spice Girls Invade May Fete!

2008-05-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

PHS teachers danced to The Spice Girls last Friday night during May Fete. Sure, we had Ginger, Posh, Baby, Scary and Sporty. But we also had Daddy, Nerdy, Sleepy, Old, and a few others. We even had choreography!

Mrs. Mattingly's on YouTube!!

2008-04-14T13:29:00.001-07:00

Last week, PHS English teacher had the privilege of sitting behind Senator Barack Obama when he was visiting Terre Haute. Go to YouTube to see!

Mr. Cox's Science Exploration Class Video

2008-02-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

Copyright Free Images, Sounds, and Videos

2008-01-29T18:40:00.000-08:00

John Evans, a contributor to LeaderTalk has created an awesome wiki called Alternative Sources of Materials. It has lists of sites that give you permission to use their images, videos, and sound clips. So, students, this prevents you from violating those pesky copyright laws. Leave Google Image Search alone, and try some of these sites!

Alex Award Winners Announced

2008-01-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a press conference was held in Philadelphia to announce the winners of the American Library Association's major book awards. Guess what? Your librarian was there! This year (and next) I have the honor of serving on the Alex Award committee. Click here for the 2007 winners. I had a blast serving on this committee and will be donating many books to the PHS library in the next couple of weeks. I have to empty my bookshelves at home to make room for the 2008 nominees.

The best Xmas message ever....

2007-12-20T11:23:00.001-08:00

from a student's card given to me today....

"Miss Hill, you always have the best book advice!"

What book PHS students and teachers are thankful for....

2007-11-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

As part of a Thanksgiving bulletin board, I asked students and teachers to write the title of the book they are most thankful for. What a response! Here are the results:

Uncle Tom's Cabin
Eragon
the Twilight series
Wicked
The Life of Pi
The Great and Secret Show
Harry Potter series
To Kill a Mockingbird
Warrior's Heir
Darren Shan's books
The Catcher in the Rye
Richard Dansky's books
1984
Phule's Company
Black Like Me
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Kite Runner
Upstate
Animal Farm
A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Child Called It
Marie, Dancing
Gossip Girl series
Avalon High
Pride and Prejudice
Red Badge of Courage
Rebecca
ISland of the Blue Dolphins
the A-List series
the Redwall series
Of Mice and Men
the Clique series
Necroscope
The Bible
The Bell Jar
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series
Lord of the Rings
Speak
Nineteen Minutes
Love, Lucy
Green Mile
The World According to Garp

ISLMA Blogger and LibraryThing Presentation - Nov. 2007

2007-11-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

I uploaded the PowerPoint to GoogleDocs. The fonts are messed up a little, but the text and links are all there. Please email me if you have any questions!

Censorship and Banned Books Week (Sept. 29-Oct. 6)

2007-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

I'm a member of YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) and am quite proud that they have created a wiki just for teenagers and librarians about banned books for teens. It lists the top 50 banned books for teens. I've read 43 of them--how about you?

Do you even know what banned books are? Banned books have actually been removed from library shelves because someone complained about their content. In many cases, the book ends up slipping quietly back onto the shelves a few months later. Or, like in the case of one of my favorite authors Maureen Johnson, the author keeps donating her books to the school library where a banning occurred. Maureen has inundated the public library in the same town with freebies and rallied other librarians and community members to speak up against banning books. Her blog about the banning spurred a world-wide letter campaign to the school board where the action took place. I wrote one.

I have a poster in my library that says "Censorship causes blindness" and I'm a firm believer in this statement. Reading has opened my eyes to different cultures and different beliefs and helped me become a caring person. I think fiction continues to help me grow. People who challenge books have good intentions. They want to protect other people from difficult situations or strong language. But, we can't ban the world or television or the Internet from our students. We can't stop kids from growing up either. So, while parents continue to try to control their own children's world, I have to ensure that students and teachers at PHS have access to information and materials that encourage growth--academic, social, and personal.

2007-02-23T10:54:00.000-08:00

I LOVE attending library conferences and wearing really cool nametags! Contact me at gsarahthelibrarian@gmail.com if you have any questions about the library.