OEMA Newsletter
  
An Electronic Newsletter
of The Oregon Educational Media Association
Volume 15 No. 9
May, 2003

FROM THE PREZ - Kelly Kuntz

What a month April proved to be! I had the remarkable opportunity to be on the same agenda as three of my heroes - Annette Lamb, Jamie McKenzie and Dr. Steve Wisely at the Library Leadership Symposium, NCCE Conference in Portand. Annette, a former media specialist guides our way through the jungle of the web helping us collaborate with our teachers thanks to her Eduscapes web site <http://www.eduscapes.com>. Jamie McKenzie, with his perceptive insight shines a light on the perils, pitfalls and pratfalls of technology and information literacy (http://newlibrary.org). It was a treat to hear Oregon's own Dr. Steve Wisely, Medford Schools Superintendent, share the experience of a lifetime when he was invited to speak at the White House about the power of school libraries! What a thrill to listen to an administrator who truly believes in and understands what a strong and supported library program means to student learning and the school environment.

In another venue, Jim Scheppke, our state librarian, always a supporter of school libraries and I testified before the Oregon House Education Committee who agreed to sponsor Senate Bill 238 which authorizes the State Library to process and distribute the school library statistics collected by ODE. We also had the opportunity to share the results of Keith Curry Lance's research in Oregon with the legislators. Next week, Janet Webster, OLA Past President, Jim Scheppke and I will have twenty minutes in which to share the importance of strong school library programs with the Oregon Quality Education Commission and urge them to designate the library media specialist as a required component in the Quality Education Model for elementary schools as they are in middle and high school.

Other OEMA travels this month took me around the state. Jean Towne and her wonderful crew assembled Region 2's Spring Conference in Philomath, treating attendees to sessions on the new eREF, virtual reference service available to all Oregonians, essentials for weeding/collection maintenance, book talks, and graphic novels to name a few. Thanks to Kate Grant, Region 7 participants enjoyed a beautiful and educational day at Kahneeta hearing a local high school teacher-turned author explain the process of writing for profit, sharing helpful websites for collaboration and discussing the various methods of "legally" discarding books.

Check out the May/June issue of Multimedia Schools magazine; Jann Tankersley (OEMA Media Specialist of the Year-2002) and I are "published" authors!!! What a delight to hold the issue in my hands and see my name on the byline! This issue spotlights the ways in which library media teachers support student learning. Check out the web site: <http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/default.shtml>

So, know that your association continues to work the "political crowd", and I urge every one of you during these perilous, turbulent times in Oregon education to share what you do to improve student achievement with your administrators, your school boards and your community. As reported by Lance in eight statewide studies examining library media programs since2000, strong library media programs are absolutely essential in raising test scores while contributing to the education of life-long learners. Let the world know!

JUDY MOODY 1st BEVERLY CLEARY AWARD WINNER

Megan McDonald is the winner of the 1st annual Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award for her book Judy Moody. Runner up for the award was Oregon writer Judy Cox for Weird Stories from the Lonesome Café. The award was announced by Jann Tankersley, chair of the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award and librarian at Dayton Grade School, on April 12 to honor Beverly Cleary on her birthday.

This new literary award was named in honor of prolific children's novelist Beverly Clearly who set many of her stories in northeast Portland. Trained as a children's librarian, Mrs. Cleary has won many honors for her writing, including the Newbery Award for Dear Mr. Henshaw. In assessing this birthday present, Mrs. Cleary said, "I can't think of a lovelier gift or one more appreciated than an award named after me! The best part of this award is that every reader who takes part is a winner. You cannot lose because every book you read from the library shelves will help you in growing up.This is something I discovered when I was your age. Be readers all your lives."

2004 BEVELY CLEARY CHILDREN'S CHOICE NOMINEES

The following books have been nominated for the Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award for 2004.

***IMPORTANT CHANGE TO THE 2004 CONTEST:

Students need only to read (or listen to ) TWO of the nominated books in order to vote. (This year required reading 4 titles. This has been changed to align with the YRCA criteria and to recognize the problem with limited budgets for purchasing books)

OEMA SPRING REGIONAL CONFERENCES

Mark your calendars for OEMA Spring Regional Conferences. Here are the dates and the organizers who are working very hard to produce a quality Saturday spring mini-conference for you:
Region 1: May 3 - Kathy Chan
Region 3: May 10 - Melinda Warburg
Region 4: May 10 - Edith Fuller

2003 CONFERENCE: KEEPER OF THE KEYS

Watch the OEMA webpage <http://www.oema.net/ >for updated information about the conference. You'll find information about the keynote speakers, authors, conference hotels, schedule and much more.

Jim Hayden, OEMA Executive Director and conference site chair, wants members to know that there are two hotels that we will be using for our 2003 Fall Conference. They are the Hilton (new hotel with rates of $89.00 single or double), which is right next to the conference site, and the Super 8 (rates $53.88 single and $62.88 double with a complimentary continental breakfast) which is not within walking distance of the conference. Registration information will be in your packets this summer.

The conference committee is aware that you could get internet or AARP rates (for some of us) at other hotels which could possibly be cheaper, but we urge you to stay at the two hotels that are helping sponsor our 2003 conference.
Linda Ague, conference chair and OEMA President-elect says, “When you make your lodging arrangements for the conference, we want you to make your plans to attend the 2003 conference. Just be aware that if the cost difference is very little between your option and the conference hotels, it may not matter much to you, but it could make a big difference in the cost of the conference for OEMA.”

INTERCHANGE IDEAS WELCOME!

Three times each year, the Interchange arrives in your mailbox filled with ideas and information. Each themed issue is prepared by OEMA guest editors who volunteer their time to bring this great resource to you.

What topics would you like to see in upcoming issues of Interchange? We've covered the Oregon Study, Reading Promotion, Political Advocacy and other topics related to school libraries and school librarians. Please send your ideas for upcoming issues and, if you have a suggestion for someone who might make a good guest editor or if you would like to be that editor, please tell us. Being a guest editor is NOT a scary job- ask some of the previous editors and they can share their experiences with you. Please contact Garnetta Wilker, Interchange Coordinator, at wilkerg@attbi.com with issue ideas, editor suggestions, or questions.

2004 FALL CONFERENCE WANTS YOU!

Are you helpful? Do you desire to work with great folks? Are you full of good ideas? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then join the OEMA 2004 Fall Conference Committee. No experience is necessary!

The 2004 Fall Conference will be held at the Seaside Convention Center on October 8 & 9, 2004. For further information or to join this exciting group, contact Gregory Lum, conference chair, glum@astoria.k12.or.us or 503.325.3911 (work).

2003 YRCA WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Junior Division (grades 4-6)
BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo
Intermediate Division (grades 7-9)
NO MORE DEAD DOGS by Gordon Korman
Senior Division (grades 10-12)
HOPE WAS HERE by Joan Bauer
See photos of the winning books and the 2004 list of nominees at http://www.pnla.org/

TV TURN-OFF CHALLENGE AT NORTH EUGENE HIGH

Thanks to Linda Ague's help, Karen Leeson, librarian at North Eugene High, held a TV Turnoff Challenge Contest in the North Library during the week of April 21-27. Students and staff were invited to pledge to turn off their TVs for the week. They could enter a drawing for a pizza party if they do so. At lunch time during the TV Turnoff week, Karen played card/board games with any takers and served up popcorn as a way to highlight the event. In addition Karen set up a number of displays in the library and scheduled morning announcements to raise awareness of the up-side of watching less TV. At the end of the week when the pledges were in, Karen held a drawing for two pizza parties: one for a department that had entered and one for a student that had entered.

NEWS FROM THE DALLES

The two school districts in The Dalles (TDSD and Chenowith SD) will be consolidating July 2004. These two districts will cease to be and a new one will form. Betty Krause of Chenowith and Jim Tindall of The Dalles have been meeting regularly to inform prospective board members on the ins and outs of library media programs. One of the dreams that has come from this collaboration has been moving their various collections to a web-based system.

OREGON’S VIRTUAL REFERENCE SERVICE DEBUT APRIL 16th

The motto “Real Help. Right Now. From Oregon’s Libraries.” encapsulates Answerland <http://www.answerland.org>, Oregon’s Virtual Reference Pilot Project. The collaborative project, which began offering service to all Oregonians on April 16, also serves as a second-level reference service for Oregon libraries, replacing the Reference LINK program in that function beginning July 1, 2003.

Answerland is available to libraries and end-users seven days a week, afternoons and most evenings; service hours are posted at the site. The pilot project is based on LSSI Web virtual reference software, and to fully take advantage of Answerland’s services and software, users should have Internet Explorer 5.0 or better (recommended) and a PC. (Users may access the service with a Macintosh, in “Basic” mode, which does not allow co-browsing). Although the live format is “chat” interaction between requester and service provider, users may submit e-mail queries as well.

Currently there are 21 volunteer libraries <http://answerland.org/libs_type.shtml> which provide service for the project, at the end of the pilot, there will be opportunities for other libraries to become service providers. Nicki Maxwell from Eugene and Jim Tindall from The Dalles are the two K-12 piloters. The Web based software allows virtual reference to be geographically distributed; when you use Answerland, it won’t be apparent which library is providing the service at that moment. In addition, the LSSI software package allows providers to appropriately route subject questions to other library providers when warranted.

How can you participate? Since this is a statewide collaborative project, your feedback is vital in creating a high-quality service. As you use the service, please report any glitches and difficulties you encounter to the contact addresses and numbers provided on the Web site. Also, when you ask reference questions via chat, be sure to identify yourself as a librarian. This is truly a pilot project -- everyone involved is learning, and we can all learn from each other. 

The Answerland Web page provides comprehensive information on service hours, troubleshooting tips, how libraries can link to the project, ready-to-go bookmarks and other PR materials that any library may download/print to promote the service to their patrons. There is also information on the project’s background, a timeline, and a Webliography of related resources.

Funding for the pilot project is provided by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) through the Oregon State Library. Multnomah County Library is the fiscal agent and pilot project leader, with Eva Miller as interim pilot project manager. There is also a multi-type library statewide advisory committee assisting the project <http://www.answerland.org/contact.shtml>. Kelly Kuntz represents school libraries on the advisory committee.
For more information, contact Pam Horan at the Oregon State Library. <horan_pam@oslmac.osl.state.or.us>

GEORGE FOX SUMMER COURSES

George Fox University will offer the following courses on the Newberg campus from June 23- July 11. These courses are part of those needed for a Library Media Endorsement.

EDFL550 The Dynamic School Library
3 semester hours June 23- July 3 M-F 12:30-4:30, TTH 8:30-3:30

EDFL533 Advanced Studies in Children/Adolescent Literature
2 semester hours.
MWF 8:30-11:30

EDFL556 Resource Management 3 semester hours
M-F 5:30-8:30

Additional courses are offered for Master of Education and Doctor of Education programs.
Complete course offerings and online registration can be found at edfl.georgefox.edu. Karen Wedeking, Coordinator of the Library Media Endorsement Program at George Fox University will respond to questions at kwedeking@georgefox.edu.

OREGON SCHOOL WEBSITE COMPETITION ANNOUNCED

Top schools will each receive $1,000

May 1, 2003. Representatives of Oregon Websites and Watersheds Project, Inc. (ORWW), Friends of Paul Bunyan Foundation, Inc. (FOPB), and the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation announced today the start of the 2003 Oregon School Websites Award competition. The contest deadline is
midnight, May 31, 2003.

A panel of judges will select the state's top high school, middle school, and elementary school websites. Each winner will receive a certificate and $1,000 cash award. Second and third place finishers will receive
lesser amounts. Nine different Oregon schools were awarded a total of $4,8000 during the 2001-2002 school year. For a list of last year's winners, see www.ORWW.org/Awards/2001_2002/Awards.html.

The primary purpose of the awards is to identify and reward Oregon schools that use Internet communications to learn about local resources and to make their findings available to others. Winning schools provide excellent models for other schools to follow and help develop a sound foundation for linking students, teachers, and community resources throughout the state.

A secondary purpose of the competition is to identify programs and projects that might qualify for additional funding and support by contest sponsors. FOPB, for example, is interested in funding worthwhile projects
taken on by Oregon schools, students, and teachers that are related to the scientific management of forestlands.

All public and private K-12 Oregon schools are eligible for awards. Competing websites will be judged according to five basic criteria: homepage design, website function, community outreach, local sciences
content, and archive plan. A meaningful portion of the local sciences content is expected to pertain to one or more of Oregon's natural resource industries: forestry, agriculture, ranching, mining, and commercial
fishing.

Competition judging will be performed by a panel of experts under the guidance of Oregon Educational Media Association (OEMA). Judges have been selected to represent public and educational media, contest sponsors, and environmental sciences.

More information about the contest and an electronic entry form can be found at: www.ORWW.org/Awards/2002_2003/Info_Rules.html

Additional questions can be answered by ORWW project assistant Nana Lapham, by contacting her at: LaphamN@ORWW.org

Information regarding the FOPB grant program can be obtained by contacting H. Mike Miller, FOPB Director, at: hmmiller@oregonloggers.org

CALENDAR

OEMA Newsletter -- Editor: Sheryl Steinke

Published monthly on the 5th of the month September through May
To receive the OEMA Newsletter by email, subscribe to the OEMA mailing list using the form at http://www.oema.net/telecommunication/list.html

Send news items for the Newsletter to:
* Email: steinke@4j.lane.edu
* Mail: Sheryl Steinke at 2405 Blacktail Dr. Eugene, OR 97405

Deadline: 1 week before publication, except 2 weeks for the January issue.