Presentation: School Librarians In Action Responding to Changes During Pandemic Times

Using Google Site To Make A Library Website (1 of 2)

On Sunday night, I posted on Facebook photos of the library website I made using Google Site. The Pioneer is one of two library websites I made during quarantine spilling over the summer while preparing for the opening of online distance learning. 

Along with the photos are my reflections that came about after working on the site.

I made my first library website using HTML, Windows Notepad and Internet Explorer. That library website was one of the requirements submitted to Ma’am Lourdes T. David, my grad school prof for LIS 100 - Information Science (if my memory serves me right). I had a lot of fun in her class but that deserves another post in another time. Suffice it to say that in Ma’am Lou’s class, there was diversity, inclusion and care. So my insecure heart gained confidence and the courage to try new things. 

I still feel insecure on most days. Doubting myself, thinking through processes for long periods of time and tempering my moods.  

 Oo. Procrastinator ako. 

But I always go back to those memories with Audrey in Ma’am Lou’s class. Learning logic from her and listening to computer language spoken in lectures delivered by Ma’am Lou herself. There were also resource speakers from the IT and EdTech disciplines whom she invited to speak in class. From her, I learned collaboration too!  

I often tell myself, that if I was able to do it back then, I can do it again and again and again. 

And here is my handy work! A new library website for our students who will begin school tomorrow. My library orientation with them will start on Tuesday. I am excited and nervous. And stressed. Thanks to Google Suite for these cool tech! And so much love to Ma’am Lou for teaching me the basics of programming. It sure comes in useful especially in this day of intuitive technology. 

Have a look at the screenshots of the library website I made. This one is an online module for learning research and information literacy skills. Send feedback. Ask questions. We can always learn from each other!

How I made the website, I will write about it the next post.

The BA Library Online: Goals and Directions for AY 2020-2021

The Beacon Academy Library Online

Academic Year 2020-2021

As the Academy move into online learning this academic year, the BA Library continues its commitment to provide access to relevant learning resources, conduct virtual readers’ services and implement programs that support inquiry and research. There are four ways in which the library personnel actualize these goals.

Learners and members of the BA Community can:

·      Connect @theBALib - access the Library OPAC, peruse the BA Library Gsite that has directories of online resources carefully curated by its staff and, schedule consultations and inquiry sessions with the Teacher Librarian;

·      Bridge information gaps @theBALib- access IB recommended databases and online subscriptions namely EBSCOHost, The Day and World Book Online. Usernames and passwords are shared and given to students, faculty and staff, parents and alumni;

·      Collaborate @theBALibrary – share and contribute to the Learning Playlist, avail of the virtual reference and advisory services on Academic Honesty, Creative Commons and strengthen professional partnerships with local and global learners;

·      Feed your curiosity @theBALibrary – spend some time at the The Pioneer, a virtual space where Grififns can jam and jazz up ideas, inquiries and questions and nurture one’s sense of wonder!

Get in touch @theBALibrary through these email addresses - teacherlibrarian@beaconacademy.ph / library@beaconacademy.ph

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balibonline_2021

empowerEd Podcast Channel: "Global Voices: Pondering Over Education and the COVID-19 Pandemic,"

I just had an interview with Francis Jim Tuscano for an episode in his podcast channel, empowerED. The theme for this season is "Global Voices: Pondering Over Education and the COVID-19 Pandemic".  It aims to tell the stories of educators around the world at this time of the pandemic- challenges, hopes, and reflections. 

I am honored to be a guest in his podcast channel. This is my first podcast recording with a distinguished educator such as Mr. Tuscano. I first met him through a paper he wrote on integrating information technology and finally, shaking his hand and seeing him face to face last year in the Reading Association of the Philipines DemoFest and Mid-Year Conference in Iloilo. Our paths crossed in a field of discipline that I often traverse outside Library and Information Science. We also share the Xavier School experience since he is a faculty member and I, a former librarian in the Greenhills, San Juan campus. 

Jim Tuscano (second from left) with RAPpers in Iloilo City

Life is indeed strange and beautiful!

For the interview, Mr. Tuscano sent me these guide questions:

What challenges in terms of literacy are we seeing or anticipating at this time of school closure?

How can teachers continue to foster literacy despite school closure?How can the home help in ensuring that kids continue to love and appreciate reading?What have been the most important learnings that you got at this moment? 

I have notes as answers to his questions but the interview didn't turn out the way I thought it would - which is pretty cool. I will post my answers to the questions for the blog, but I do encourage you to visit Mr. Tuscano's podcast channel not just on the day of my interview, but right now. The ideas, insights and sharing of experiences among professionals and practitioners in the field of educational technology in empowerEd are awesome sauce. Also, issues on teaching and pedagogy are discussed. 

Follow these links  To know more about empowerED Podcast Channel, you may visit our channel on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2kHX53u or Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2kEpabQ. Our empowerED Podcast is produced and distributed for FREE to educators globally. 

BA Library Online: Updated Pathfinder on COVID-19

BA Library Online

Pathfinder: COVID-19

Updated April 20, 2020

This Pathfinder is prepared for the learning community of The Beacon Academy. The school has established workflows and set up protocols for medical emergencies in light of the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus.

Keywords: COVID-19, epidemic, pandemic, virus, viral infection

BA Library Online Subscriptions

The Day: News to Open Minds - http://theday.co.uk

Username: *****

Password:  *****

EBSCOHost - http://search.ebscohost.com

Username : ****

Password :  ****

Science News - www.sciencenews.org

        Username:  *****

        Password:   *****

World Book Online – www.worldbookonline.com

Username:  ****

Password:    ****

BA  Library Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) http://beaconacademylib.com/webopac/webopac.asp

BA Library: On Shelf

Viruses: agents of change  / by Fettner, Ann Giudici. New York : McGraw-Hill Pub. Co., c1990 616.0194 GIU

The coming plague : newly emerging diseases in a world out of balance : Garrett, Laurie. / by Garrett, Laurie. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c1994 614.4 GAR

Life: the leading edge of evolutionary biology, genetics, anthropology, and environmental science New York City USA : Harper Perennial, 2016 570.1 BRO

Flu, the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it : the story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it : Kolata, Gina Bari, / by Kolata, Gina Bari, New York : Simon & Schuster, 2001 614.518090 KOL

Federal body snatchers and the New Guinea virus : people, parasites, politics : Desowitz, Roberts. / by Desowitz, Robert S. New York : W.W. Norton & Co., c2002 616.9 DES

Online Sources

The Department of Labor Philippines issued an advisory for workplace safety in the event of confirmed cases of infection.

Advisory on the 2019 n-CoV and health care information are up in the website of the Department of Health Philippines. Check the feeds of DOH's Health News for updates as the department is closely monitoring the medical history of areas with reported cases of infection.

Pandemics: Resources - curated by Library 2.0 for libraries and librarians as they prepare their workplaces and protect staff and library patrons from the outbreak of the virus; includes information, advisory and medical protocols by government agencies in the US namely, labor, health and public safety.

Science News for Students has put out a series of articles on the 2019 n-CoV.

●      The coronavirus is spreading globally (but is likely not spread by snakes)

●      Challenges to corralling that coronavirus

●      Your urgent questions about the new virus, answered

●      What is a coronavirus?

●      How infectious diseases spread

●      What is a virus?

Top three publishers of science research journals, Wiley Online, Elsevier and Springer Nature, brought down their pay walls and opened access to relevant studies on the Coronavirus. Click each photo to view the link and web page.

Elsevier
Link to access: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/coronavirus-information-center
The interactive global map of experts looks impressive. Check the inks to educational products that teachers and HR Offices can use to educate students and the work force.

Springer Nature
Link to access: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/campaigns/coronavirus
For an academic reading of the health issue, go to the list of research and studies. For a more practical perspective on the virus and the state of the world, go to the Our Blog section. Blog articles and postings are written by resident scholars and scientists. The language is accessible; the content is valuable and relevant, and statistics, graphs and images are included to further help readers understand this health issue.

Wiley Online
Link to access: https://novel-coronavirus.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
Includes a list of CDCs (Center for Disease Control) from all over, and a live Twitter coverage on #COVID19 and #SCARSCOV2 by @wileyinresearch and @DrEricDing.

Information service from EBSCOHost

The EBSCO Health teams have aggregated public and proprietary content from government agencies and publishers to create a resource portal that spans our collective knowledge on coronavirus. The site is being updated daily and all of the content is free to all. Our goal is to support health care providers and leaders in their work related to combating the coronavirus, and we will continue to gather and develop tools and resources to help.

We thought this would be useful for you and your institution. We are working with all of the major publishers to aggregate open access to their most relevant journals on coronavirus.

Overall site: https://covid-19.ebscomedical.com/

• Direct access to point of care content for clinicians: https://www.dynamed.com/condition/covid-19-novel-coronavirus
• Direct links to free journal articles from major publishers: https://covid-19.ebscomedical.com/trusted-open-access-resources
• Direct links to International, federal, and state agencies’ sites: https://covid-19.ebscomedical.com/direct-links-official-information

All of these resources are publicly available so feel free to pass them on to other colleagues and groups as well.

COVID-19, Children and Teens 

A free ebook for younger kids to understand the COVID-19 and their emotions towards the pandemic

https://www.mindheart.co/descargables

Voices of Youth

Voices of Youth is a digital community for young people by young people as sponsored by UNICEF. News articles, advice columns, write ups on issues like education, children’s rights, health and wellness are made available for young readers and the adults who care for them. There are portals for kids and teens to contribute creative work on the website. A page about the Corona virus and ways to cope and survive through this pandemic is a special feature of Voices of Youth.

https://www.voicesofyouth.org/

COVID-19, Data Science and Math

Our World in Data has a comprehensive and updated status and reports on the COVID-19 gathered from research and studies all over the world.

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR2NV74-rZvxlUc6d4lpzh1G-OFuFUrs5pWzuESH42CiEjZbWJOlm4jxOrI

COVID-19 and Mental Health

Teaching Through a Pandemic: A Mindset for this Moment: Stephen Merill presents emotional and psychological scaffolds for teachers teaching through this pandemic 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-through-pandemic-mindset-moment

The Time for a Flux Mindset: April Rinne writes about the flux mindset. Let go. Slow down. Think “we” not “me”

https://forge.medium.com/coronavirus-time-for-a-flux-mindset-b14b1c35114a

 Our Corona Diary

Keeping a diary or a journal has many benefits. It helps clear the mind and sort out feelings especially in times of confusion and worry. It is a way to record moments and milestones that become one’s personal history leading to a better knowledge of one’s self. Furthermore, it is our way of looking at ourselves against a bigger event or phenomenon as it happens until we call it history.

The #ourcoronadiary project is anchored on these concepts and ideals. Visit the website and discover the creative and varied ways to keep a diary or journal in difficult or less challenging times.

https://www.ourcoronadiary.com/about