Digital Literacy
Libraries Ready to Code Opens Call for Applications: Hour of Code Mini-Grants
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In advance of Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), an annual event to get students excited about coding, ¾«¶«´«Ã½is opening a call for applications for $300 mini-grants to school and public libraries to facilitate an Hour of Code activity for youth...
PLA to share digital skill-building tools in free September webinar
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CHICAGO – Public libraries have long been leaders in bringing people into the digital world, providing programs and services that help patrons get jobs, gain knowledge, increase productivity, and engage with others online. Leveraging and strengthening...
Upcoming webinar offers guidance on starting a WiFi hotspot lending program at the library
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CHICAGO -- Last month, PLA announced a new project, supported by Microsoft Corp., called DigitalLead: Rural Libraries Creating New Possibilities, which seeks to increase digital skills programming and access to technology in rural communities. Through...
Public Library Association expands access to technology and digital skills training for rural communities with Microsoft Philanthropies
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CHICAGO — Today, the Public Library Association (PLA) announced a new effort, supported by Microsoft Corp., to increase digital skills programming and access to technology in rural communities. Through $400,000 donated by Microsoft Philanthropies, PLA...
How media consumption and technology impact the learning of K–12 students: an updated text
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CHICAGO — Though media literacy and information literacy are intertwined, there are important differences; and there has never been a more urgent need for an incisive examination of the crucial role librarians and other educators can play in teaching the...
Anonymity is examined in new book from the Center for the Future of Libraries
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CHICAGO — " Anonymity,” by Alison Macrina and Talya Cooper, is the newest volume in a series from ALA’s Center for the Future of Libraries. The Library Futures Series is edited by Miguel A. Figueroa, Director of the Center for the Future of Libraries, and...
Public libraries in Connecticut, Maryland, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia awarded funding for workforce development
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CHICAGO -- Today the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ (ALA) and Public Library Association (PLA) announced the names of another 36 libraries across five states, which have been selected to receive funding from Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, an initiative...
A guide to successful community technology projects
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CHICAGO — As a newly minted librarian, Margaret Heller volunteered at a grassroots independent library founded to bring together the work of disparate art communities of Chicago. Since then she has participated in many library technology communities with...
PLA announces collaboration with Capital One aimed at increasing financial well-being through libraries
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CHICAGO – The Public Library Association (PLA) is working with Capital One Financial Corporation to bring innovative financial literacy resources to public libraries across the U.S. Through this project, PLA and the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ will help...
Metaliterate learning for the post-truth world
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CHICAGO — Metaliteracy, Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson’s revolutionary framework for information literacy, is especially well suited as a tool for ensuring that learners can successfully navigate today’s information morass. Indeed, it is starkly...
How to judge a book by its cover—and everything else
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CHICAGO — Paying attention to subtext is a crucial component of literacy. However, the concept of peritextual analysis takes such examination much further, teaching readers how to evaluate information and sources using elements that precede or follow the...
Digital literacy unpacked
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CHICAGO — Digital literacy is a powerful subject, which supports inclusivity, social mobility and digital citizenship globally. “ Digital Literacy Unpacked,” published by Facet Publishing and available through the ¾«¶«´«Ã½Store, brings together thought...
ALA's Libraries Ready to Code to Release Beta Collection at 2018 Annual Conference
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The ¾«¶«´«Ã½’s (ALA) Libraries Ready to Code initiative, sponsored by Google, is releasing the beta version of the Ready to Code Collection at the 2018 Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans. A release reception will be held...
PLA launches new interest groups in online community platform
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CHICAGO -- The Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ (ALA), has unveiled eight new interest groups in the online community platform, ¾«¶«´«Ã½Connect. ¾«¶«´«Ã½Connect is a site where members of ¾«¶«´«Ã½meet and mingle...
eForum: Assessing Electronic Reference Services
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CHICAGO - Have you been wondering if your users are aware of your chat service? Or maybe how your students are using your research guides or your online FAQ? Do you need a little inspiration or advice on how to find out? If so, this Assessing Electronic...
DigitalLearn.org Year in Review
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CHICAGO – Twenty-seventeen was a busy year for DigitalLearn.org, the Public Library Association’s (PLA) website designed to help consumers increase their digital literacy skills. DigitalLearn.org offers a collection of tutorials on a wide range of...
The complete guide to personal digital archiving
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CHICAGO — Scholars and scrapbookers alike need your help with saving their most important digital content. But how do you translate your professional knowledge as a librarian or archivist into practical skills that novices can apply to their own projects...
Courses in budgeting, using mobile devices added to PLA’s DigitalLearn.org website
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CHICAGO — DigitalLearn.org, the Public Library Association’s (PLA) website designed to help community members increase their digital literacy skills, has added two new beginner-level courses to its collection of tutorials, which now totals 21. The...
PLA, Gail Borden Public Library team up to expand DigitalLearn.org training resources
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CHICAGO — DigitalLearn.org, the Public Library Association’s (PLA) website designed to help consumers increase their digital literacy skills, now includes a robust suite of resources and tools for library staff and other educators to use when conducting...
A sourcebook of 63 ready-to-use maker projects
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CHICAGO — A new compilation from editor and maker Ellyssa Kroski, “ 63 Ready-to-Use Maker Projects,” published by ¾«¶«´«Ã½Editions, spotlights a multitude of creative projects that you can tailor for your own library. Librarians and makers from across the...