Why We Love Reading Lists

Creating a reading list from the BA Library's OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) has several valuable benefits:

1. Curated Resources: It helps in curating a collection of resources that are relevant to your research or reading interests. By creating a list, you can systematically gather and organize materials that are pertinent to a particular topic or theme.

2. Efficient Resource Management: It allows for efficient management of resources. Instead of browsing through countless titles, you can create and keep track of a focused list of books and materials you plan to explore or use.

3. Enhanced Organization: A reading list can be categorized and organized by subject, author, or type of material, making it easier to navigate and locate specific resources later.

4. Time-Saving: It saves time by providing a ready reference of materials to consult, which can be especially useful when preparing for research projects, studying, or simply planning your reading schedule.

5. Library Utilization: It helps in maximizing the use of the library’s resources. By identifying and listing the materials you need, you can ensure you make the most of what the library offers, potentially discovering resources you might not have come across otherwise.

6. Collaboration and Sharing: Some OPAC systems allow you to share your reading lists with others or collaborate on lists with peers. This feature can be beneficial for group projects, book clubs, or academic courses.

7. Monitoring Availability: You can track the availability of items on your list and receive notifications or updates about their status, which is useful for ensuring you get access to the materials you need in a timely manner.

8. Personal Tracking: For personal readers, it provides a way to track books and resources of interest that you might want to read in the future, helping you to keep your reading goals organized and manageable.

Overall, using the OPAC to create a reading list enhances the effectiveness of utilizing library resources, whether for academic, professional, or personal purposes.

BA Library Online: The Flow and Structure of MOOCS and Online Classes

Here is another throwback post. The 23 Mobile Things is a MOOC created and delivered by librarians from the Philippines and Singapore back in 2014.The MOOC is designed to assist librarians in learning, using and implementing twenty three mobile apps into the services and programs of their libraries. Nanyang Technological University Library and the Rizal Library of ADMU hosted the MOOC.

Five years is a long time ago but there is learning and insight to be had because the contents and the design of the MOOC are still applicable in our current experience of online learning. Do take note that the MOOC is designed for adult learners. But the creators set a structure and a method for communicating content, the learning activities that go with it and an online chat or conversation. There is entrance, engagement and an exit in each "thing".

For example, a Getting Started Page is set-up for participants of the MOOC. A point of entry is then established. In Thing 14, which is about mobile apps for curation like Pinterest Tumblr Storify and Scoopit, curation is briefly introduced and defined. This is followed by thinking and exploratory activities on the four curation apps.Engagement with the content in the form of a text, media and/or technology happens. Facilitators then schedule and lead a group chat or conversation among participants online. A wrap-up of the online chat is the exit or the end of the cycle until the next "thing".

Entrance. Engagement. Exit. That's the structure. The sequence. The flow.

In our last faculty meeting before campus closure, the Head of School (HOS) presented three parts to structure an online class -- Consume, Communicate. Create. It would be interesting to see how this structure or flow translate into practice.

The Lighthouse Diary Entry #16: Curation as a Library Service

We are in the in-between days. It is nearly the end of the academic year and preparation for closing out the year and graduation is in full speed. As this happens, we look to the coming summer and the inevitable in-service work that lies ahead. Curriculum alignment. Unit Planning. Attendance to professional development activities. 

Teachers have been planning on interdisciplinary projects that inspire collaboration. Librarians and libraries can lend support in this learning experience. I am sharing this email I sent out to teachers on curating and how it can support collaborative projects.

Curating sources of all media types and formats, people services and community resources is a library service we can do (and have been doing) with you. It is aimed at assisting teachers and helping students archive, record and manage information and meaningful content following citation formats and bibliographic standards (Ola, academic honesty!). Curating is best done collaboratively by teachers, the librarian and his/her staff, a class or a study group learning about specific units of study or projects. Curating can come in the form of a simple bibliographic lists of concepts in a unit of study, a LibGuide, a Pathfinder or a curating app that can be accessed and used via a mobile device. 

The tools for curation are many. Google Classroom has one as well as apps that can be merged or embedded in Google Drive. There are web apps like Scoopit, Pocket, Pearl, etc. World Book Online, which we have a subscription to, has Pathfinders. A class can create one and this is can be "shared" not just for a grade level, but to other classes in other schools here and abroad. We can also subscribe to LiGuides. Our new WebOPAC can also host and link curated sources and content. And, as your teacher librarian, I can also do it by request. We can sit together and plan a curating system that can function as an independent learning tool for your class.

It will get mixed reactions, I am sure. But, at the end of the day, I know I did my job.

Tips, Tools and Tech for the Busy Teacher: Online games, Citation apps and Curation Tools

Because sharing is caring!

Kahoot is an online game and mobile app that you can use for defining terms, improving vocabulary and reviewing concepts learned in the different content/subject areas.  https://kahoot.com/ 

Cited is a mobile app that guides you in following different citation formats for various resources and sources of information. It is free in the iTunes App store.    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cited/id630292792  

Remember the bookmarking tools in the late 90s and early 2000? Really Simple Syndication (RSS),mailing lists and list sers? Well,  Scoopit is all that and more. It is a curation tool that you can manage per topic of interest. The free web app has a limit of articles and content for curation so if you are serious in sharing curated info and knowledge, consider getting the premium account. Scoopit is also a tool to brand and market your expertise or grow a professional learning network.  https://www.scoop.it/ 

How can you annotate or take notes while watching a video on YouTube of Vimeo? Use VideoNotes. It can be an extension app in Google Chrome so, your notes can be saved and shared on Google docs.    http://videonot.es/ 

UAAP Season 2018: The Battle of Katipunan

Original work by "the" Arnold Arre, 2018

By now the Battle of Katipunan has ended. The dust have settled. Bonfires extinguished. As a basketball fan, I follow the UAAP's games and news on TV, social media and once upon a time, watched the games. I have long gave up on the Philippine Basketball Association though and that is another story. I digress.

Back to this season's UAAP. It is a memorable and historic run by the University of the Philippines' Fighting Maroons. From zero to hero, the Iskolars ng Bayan showed grit, perseverance and diligence in a sport dominated by the well trained, systematic and scientific Blue Eagles of the Ateneo de Manila University. Suffice it to say that this season's UAAP had a lot of inspiring stories that will keep us hoping in a time of darkness and divisiveness.

I have chosen and curated news and articles that show this inspiration and hope in the competitive sport of basketball.

Jijil Jimenez tells us the fighting spirit of Paul Desiderio, team captain of the Men's Basketball Team and how alumni rallied and banded together to help raise the team that we all saw fight during the finals of the UAAP.

Nikko Ramos and Recah Trinidad recalls the highlights and memorable moments of the season, comparing the Ateneo to UP teams, how different in status quo and socio-economic backgrounds these two schools are, but all the more the same in charism, spirit and devotion to God and country. In the end, it is the camaraderie of these learning communities that radiated and made this basketball season one for the books.

To end, an Atenean, Eriko C. Dela Cruz wrote an endearing and sincere letter to the UP Community. Proof that the Battle of Katipunan is a competition between friends who, different as they are, are one in ideals and dreams of building a better Philippines.