Number 1 http://socialtimes.com/ Social Times

I discovered this website over the summer and it has become my all time favorite website.  It has all kinds of different information that is pertinent to our field.  It gives quality info about all things digital. It has information about new technology that is coming out, new websites, old websites, any current news going on in the world of technolgy. This website helps me to stay on top of many different areas of my  job and gives me the knowledge to competently speak on current issues in our field.

In edition to all of this useful information, it also has a very cool web video section.  Every week the editor puts together viral youtube clips on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Whenever I am stuck trying to find something to post on my library system’s teen Facebook page, I just go to this section and find a funny video to post – total lifesaver!

Number 2- www.teenreads.com Teen Reads

This is a great source for checking out new (and old) YA titles.  This site offers reviews of newly released or soon to be released YA books.  It has booklists and resources for starting a teen book club. It has author interviews- some are podcasts, some are written.  I’ve also seen video book reviews on this site.  You can sign up for their monthly newsletter so you don’t have to remember to check it all the time. There’s also fun stuff- like polls and all kinds of different giveaways ( I enter every month and haven’t won anything yet.  I still keep trying- it’s gotta be my turn sooner or later, right?).

Number 3- www.etsy.com Etsy

I’m going to assume most childrens and YA people know about Etsy.  It’s a website where people sell handmade crafts and crafting supplies.  Don’t judge it yet- there are REALLY nice things on Etsy. If you’ve heard of it and have been meaning to check it out, today is the day.  When I’m totally stuck on what to do for a teen program, I check out Etsy. There are all kinds of different craft categories and I just start browsing through for inspiration. Some of the things they sell are really cheap. ( I also just found out about www.regretsy.com  – crazy stuff found on etsy and similar sites- funny stuff:)

Number 4- http://www.the4yablog.com/ 4YA

I decided to just go ahead and keep with the craft theme and mention the 4YA blog here. One of my co-workers had this site up one day when I came to take my turn at the desk. HELLO- it’s awesome!  It has all kinds of great ideas for YA librarians to use from program ideas and crafts,plus useful information about things like new gaming systems and video game reviews.  It has a focus on outreach oppurtunities.

Number 5- http://www.webjunction.org/1 Webjunction

Do you need to brush up on your reader’s advisory?  Want some tips on how to deal with unhappy patrons?  Tyring to figure out what ereader is the best for your library system?  Have no fear, webjunction is here.  The website has fantastic FREE webinars for library workers.  I have listened to three or four different webinars  at this point and they are all put on by experienced professionals.  The information given has been very useful and applicable, not ideas that just sound great in theory but do not work in reality.  All library workers should b eusing this site so we can continue our own life long education.

Number 6- prezi.com Prezi

So, this is a relatively new site for me and I am not very experienced with it, but it is too cool not to share.  I learned about it in a session at the Virginia Library Association conference this October.  It is the new way to do powerpoint, except it is so much cooler than powerpoint.  It twists and turns, zooms in and out, makes charts, adds photos, adds websites, everything that powerpoint does, only cooler, faster and easier.  You can save all of your prezis to a flash drive, so if you are somewhere without Internet access, you are still good to go.  You can have a free account or you can pay a yearly fee to have more memory.  Rather than me try to explain the coolness to you, click the link below:

http://prezi.com/ftv9hvziwqi2/coca-cola-company/

Number 7 – http://graphicnovelreporter.com/ Graphic Novel Reporter

This website is a treasure trove for those of you who are graphic novel novices (like myself). I’m sure those of you who are pros can find it helpful as well.  I know a little about graphic novels and have read manga and am actually starting a teen anime club at my library next weekend.  For the past few years I have ordered the graphic novels for my building.  So, I guess maybe I’m somewhere between novice and pro.

This site is run by the same group as Teen Reads and has many of the same features. The feature I liked best was the reviews.  They are broken down into age and genre categories and are in alphabectical order with a search box to type in a particular title.  It has reliable resources, such as book lists and manga terms.  It has an accompanying blog.  You can also sign up to recieve the weekly newsletter.  I was so excited to find this website.

Number 8 – yahoo.com Yahoo

Okay, so I know this is a search engine, not a webpage, but still.  But the way I use Yahoo is much more like a website than a search engine. I actually perfer to use Google as a search engine.  I use Yahoo just about every day to keep up with world news.  Now, not every story they feature in their rotator is of interest to me, but I at least read the headlines.  I also like to see what’s trending and why.  This helps me to stay current with teens and adults instead of looking like a complete dolt when it comes to current events.

Number 9 – urbandictionary.com Urban Dictionary

Ever see an acroynym on Facebook and been clueless?  Ever heard a teen use an expression and had no idea what they were talking about?  This is the website for you.  I don’t have very many websites favorited on my iPhone, but this is one I do.  There are very few occassions when the term I want to find is not on this site.  There are some very strong expressions found at this website, so you might want to keep this one adults only.

Number 10 – youtube.com YouTube

Like Yahoo, I know it’s not a top secret site you have never heard of, but it is really a great place to go when you work with teens.  I have used Youtube videos in many teen programs, for many different reasons.  For instance, I have used it as a resource for digital storytelling and I have used it for pure entertainment in programs.  When you share one of your favorite videos with a teen, they will watch and want to show you one of their favorites and you can go on like this for a really long time.  And how cool do you look when they are talking about a viral video and you can join in on the conversation?  If you’re not a Youtube junkie, you’ll be surprised at how long you can stay on the site.

There you have it!  Hope you found something useful and don’t forget to list your favs in the comments.

Do you have a favorite Tweet from the past week? If so add it in the comments for this post. Or, if you read a Twitter post between February 10 – February 16 that you think is a must for the next Tweets of the week send a direct or @ message to lbraun2000 on Twitter.

But what, specifically, is the life of a tween or young teen like in this digital age? What are the particular challenges and opportunities they face online? And how do libraries help them?

We will explore these questions at the 2012 Presidents’ Program at ALA in Anaheim. It will be a joint affair between ALSC and YALSA. Michelle Poris (of Smartypants) and Stephen Abrams will be talking about tweens and young teens, exploring their use of technology, and asking the question “What should libraries be doing?”

But the real point of this post: what are YOU doing? How are you engaging with the digital lives of tweens and young teens at your library? We are calling for video submissions from librarians on the front line. We want to know: what worked? What didn’t? What did you learn? What will you try next?

Videos should be 2-3 minutes in length and created by librarians, for librarians. Show and tell us about an experience or project dealing with tweens and young teens and technology at your library. Here’s how to enter:

• Post it on YouTube with the tag “youthprezprogram12”
• Email co-chairs Tessa Michaelson Schmidt and Sarah Couri at tweenlibraryvideos at gmail dot com with the YouTube link and your contact information
• Deadline for submissions: Monday, April 30, 2012 at midnight

All video entrants will be eligible to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Selected videos will be shown at the 2012 ALSC and YALSA Joint Presidents’ Program in Anaheim! Speak up and speak out: how are you working with technologically active tweens and young teens?

Do you have a favorite Tweet from the past week? If so add it in the comments for this post. Or, if you read a Twitter post between February 3 – February 9 that you think is a must for the next Tweets of the week send a direct or @ message to lbraun2000 on Twitter.

Do you have a favorite Tweet from the past week? If so add it in the comments for this post. Or, if you read a Twitter post between January 27 – February 2 that you think is a must for the next Tweets of the week send a direct or @ message to lbraun2000 on Twitter.

Cost: Free

Platform: iOS 4.0 or later, Also available in the Android Market.

Launched on January 12^th of this year, SoundCloud is not the first sound recording app, but I would argue that it is certainly the most polished. SoundCloud gives users the ability to record sounds, with the choice to then share them publically with friends and followers or keep them private. When you first employ the app, you will be prompted to create a free account by designating yourself a username and password along with the option of adding a photo to your profile. The next step is to choose sounds or people to follow. By searching for people, you can find your favorite music artists and the new sound bites they record. Just like with Twitter, real bands have the “Official” seal of approval on their account so users know that it is, in fact, the actual artist or band behind the account. This is a great way to hear new music that hasn’t even been released yet. Fans can get a sneak peak of what is coming down the pike and musicians have the ability to get their music out before the album is released.

Not only does this app have excellent features for music fans, but it’s also, ideal for aspiring musicians. SoundCloud is the perfect way for budding teen artists to record their sounds and share them with the world. The sharing featuring links to Facebook to help the user locate friends who also use the app as well as to post sound recordings, for others to hear. Within the app there is a tab called “stream,” where you can look at recent activity within your follower community. From there, you can also listen to new sounds complete with timestamps noting when they were originally posted.

The app is not even a month old, but I can foresee this being a very useful tool for teens who are into GarageBand, YouTube, and many of the other music-inclined apps available for mobile devices. The social networking angle will be most appealing for teens who wish to get “discovered”. For tweens and teens who may not have a Facebook account, the option to keep your sounds private is most appealing. Recording your sounds and keeping them private is like a new spin on journal writing for teens. Instead of writing down lyrics or poetry in a diary, they can now be recorded with or without instruments.  Youth librarians may find this app inspiring in creating a variety of programs with children and teens. I’m personally anxious to find out if and how teens are using SoundCloud.

Well, not really, but kind of. If you’ve ever read Paper Towns, you might catch a few things in the above screenshot that don’t seem quite right. Did Margo and Q REALLY switch places-and he becomes the enigma and she the one to follow his clues? Did Paper Towns REALLY debut as #1 on the NY Times Bestseller list AND appear on Oprah? In my world it did but I’ll share a secret. I put on my X-Ray Goggles and they helped me see John Green’s site in a whole new light. (John can thank me later of course for not sharing EVERYTHING I saw)

Okay, joking aside, YALSA shared these online tools early this morning at the Midwinter Hack Jam. Jack Martin, YALSA President-Elect, said that Hackasaurus started as a project about two years ago with the New York Public Library, YOUmedia with Chicago Public Library, Hive Learning Network NYC, the MacArthur Foundation, and Mozilla.

Teen Tech Week is an obvious fit for introducing this at your library, but introducing digital literacy concepts and content creation span year round for both school and public libraries where this could be easily implemented.

When we hear the word ‘hack’ we might understandably feel a bit nervous as it can have connotations of going against the rules, being dangerious or worse case scenario even be something illegal. There have been previous discussions on this blog in regards to hacking and how it can be considered as a library program.

Jess Klein, Design and Learning Lead of Hackasaurus, with Mozilla, gave an overview and explanation of what hacking is, particularly in relation to this project. It lets youth do the following to the web:

• explore
• remix
• redesign

Nothing illegal there. In fact, because of how the web is built (those pages that use html), it encourages participation and to reshape it to make it more personal and meaningful.

Back to the X-Ray Goggles. Once the goggles are installed and downloaded on your computer (is browser based and works with Firefox, Chrome and Safari), teens will be able to see through the surface of a web page. Html tags for images can be shown and easily replaced with another image, background colors, text (think newspaper headlines), and more can be altered. While the change is local (i.e. on your computer), a URL can be generated to then ‘publish’ the work or share with friends the changes made. Think of how empowering this can be for teens to literally shape their own world on the web.

Hackasaurus comes with a Hacktivity kit where suggestions for lesson plans, information on running a hack jam, and learning goals are included.

Hacking isn’t just for the web. This photo shows participants (including amazing teens from the Dallas Public Library) hacking the robot dance in order to have some fun (at 8am!) and to have a better understanding what hacking is. Details on hacking the robot dance are provided in the Hacktivity kit. It was hard not to notice that some YALSA members (especially Jack) have some great robot moves!

Have fun and happy hacking! Feel free to share how this has worked out with your teens at your libraries.

P.S. John Green will be at the Dallas Public Library tonight as part of the Freedom to Read Foundation’s Annual Banned Author Event and Fundraiser.

While defining outcomes for your teen programs and services, isn’t necessarily something new, we’re probably seeing a lot more on our radars in terms of the importance of telling our story as libraries, particularly because of limited resources that we’re competing for in our communities. Being able to share that we’re making a difference in the lives of teens, is one way that we can show as a library we’re bringing value to the community. At my library in Charlotte, NC we have a teen intern program where teens learn to create with digital media and teach others how to do this as well.

Libraries that utilize teen volunteers or build teens as leaders in a similar capacity, might see some of the similarities with developing outcomes for their programs. Every quarter, we open the application process for Studio i teen interns. Each teen is interviewed. Some of the questions center around the technology skills they are bringing, if any, to the position as well as social skills of working together, problem solving, and thinking creatively. Throughout their internship, we focus on building those technology skills using software such as Garageband, Pinnacle, and Stop Motion Pro. They will create various projects using the software as well as an assessment at the close of their three month internship to measure what they learned. For helping build the skills of problem solving or working together, we record instances during their two hour shift throughout the term of when these situations happened. As staff, we’re consistently working with them through these occurrences, giving them feedback and suggestions as well as noting their approach and anything they might consider improving on.

We’ve developed what is called a Logic Model for the Studio i teen intern program which shows us how to plan our program and reach our outcomes. It involves gathering data to show why there is a need for such a program in our community in the first place (One reason is that since the economic crisis has left a disproportionate effect on teens seeking jobs, having access to real world on the job experience through an intern program is valuable). We established goals for the program (gaining technology skills in order to develop experience to use in school or in a job), activities (what it is they’re doing during their shift), inputs (staff time, equipment and supplies, etc.), outputs (number of interns, number of hours worked, etc.) and outcomes.

While we’ve only done this for one three month term and it’s not meant to be a scientific study, we’re able to articulate our story about the Studio i teen intern program much stronger than we ever were before. One teen, Whitney, who completed the first term, used her skills she gained from learning Garageband to teach a basics workshop to younger kids. The kids and families enjoyed it and Whitney was able to use her experience she gained in the intern program to share her skills in this way. Another teen thanked me for the skills he learned in the program and said that he was applying them to his web design business. We’re making a difference because we’re seeing changes in behavior, skills, and knowledge from when teens entered the internship to completing the program.

One resource on developing outcomes for youth is Dynamic Youth Services through Outcome-Based Planning and Evaluation by Eliza Dresang, et al. The Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets is a commonly used set of tools to articulate the skills important for teens to grow into caring adults. An upcoming webinar with Urban Libraries Council will talk about how telling our stories can show how the library brings value to our community, and ALA TechSource and Webjunction recently cosponsored a webinar this month whose archive can be found here regarding using stories for leadership, advocacy, and community.

There’s a lot more to outcomes than this brief post, but this is it in a nutshell. It might sound like a bit of a process, but once the scaffolding is developed, to see that all your hard work is truly changing lives, you’ll never want to look back.

If your library has established outcomes for a teen based program, feel free to share as a comment to this post.

Head over to the TTW 2012 website to begin the hunt, and good luck! Thanks so much to our TTW sponsors for making this all possible.

Do you have a favorite Tweet from the past week? If so add it in the comments for this post. Or, if you read a Twitter post between January 20 – January 26 that you think is a must for the next Tweets of the week send a direct or @ message to lbraun2000 on Twitter.