I had the pleasure to present my first conference program alongside my esteemed colleague Linda Braun yesterday.  We talked about apps at the Massachusetts Library Association Conference.  As when any two people who are enthusiastic about a topic are given room to run with it, we could have gone on quite a lot longer than our hour and fifteen minute time slot.  In an effort to economize on time, and deal with some inevitable technical difficulties, our presentation was a fast-talking, fun, and somewhat chaotic look at a bunch of apps we think are great and their potential for library applications.  Discussion was sparked, and various people stopped by throughout the rest of my conference day to say they were excited to experiment and learn more about apps.

To prepare for our presentation we used a Google Doc to create an annotated list of apps we wanted to recommend.  We weren’t able to discuss everything we listed, and our list is by no means comprehensive, but it is a selection of apps in various categories from gaming to art to academic, that we think you would enjoy.

Have a look at our document: Apps Apps Everywhere  and feel free to add some apps to our list.

Title: Flashcardlet (also called Flashcards* in the App Store)

Cost: Free or $2.99 for no advertisements

Platform: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Finals and AP exams are almost (or already!) here for many of the teens we serve. Top-rated study applications can help students organize their notes and prepare for end of the semester tests. This week’s app, Flashcardlet, lets teens create, share, and use study materials anywhere.

There are several flashcard apps out there, but students that need more than text to study will appreciate Flashcardlet’s features. A step beyond the traditional pen and paper flashcard, this app allows you to view images. Create your own deck or download one from Quizlet.com to study SAT vocabulary, science and math diagrams, art history, or any other subject imaginable. If you find or make a study deck that will be useful for a friend, share it by using Dropbox or email. (more…)

Can you believe it? The ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim is next month!

You still have a chance to take advantage of Early Bird Registration – just $215 for YALSA members until midnight on Sunday, May 13th. And once you’ve registered, plan out your conference activities with the ALA Conference Scheduler. Take a look at YALSA’s events at ALA Annual for ideas on how to fill your schedule!

Now that your detailed planning is underway, it’s time to figure out where to eat during the Conference. There is a wealth of excellent dining in the Orange County area. Where to start? To help you solve that dilemma, YALSA’s Conference Marketing and Local Arrangements Committee is kicking off a series of posts about restaurants in and around Anaheim. Bon apetit!

Did you know Orange County is home to the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam? The Little Saigon area, a short 15 minute drive from the Anaheim Convention Center, is rich with authentic Vietnamese culture, and of course, delicious food.

If you’ve never tried Vietnamese food, consider Brodard Restaurant. People come from near and far to sample their famous spring rolls. Boasting over 100 traditional Vietnamese dishes, there’s something for everyone here– but the spring rolls are an absolute must. Pork, shrimp, or vegetables are neatly bundled in translucent rice paper wrap with lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and a crunchy sliver of fried rice paper tucked inside. Crisp, fresh, and flavorful, these rolls are meant to be eaten by hand and dipped in the restaurant’s famous savory sauce.

Photo by manda_wong

The restaurant’s casual, modern ambience makes for a pleasant lunch spot, and at three rolls for $4.50, a meal is reasonably priced. There are often long lines due to the popularity of the spring rolls, so plan ahead.

Brodard Restaurant is located at 9892 Westminster Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92844
Visit them online at http://www.brodard.net/Home/.

We’ll be back next week with another Orange County restaurant recommendation. See you in Anaheim!

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 May 4 and May 10 that you think is a must for the next Tweets of the Week send a direct or @ message to lbraun2000 on Twitter.
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Title: Frankenstein for iPad and iPhone
Cost: 4.99 (promotional)
Platform: iOS

Whether it’s the compelling re-telling by Kenneth Oppel, This Dark Endeavor, or Liz Burns’ TeaCozy read-along, Frankenstein seems to be experiencing a resurgence among both teen readers and librarians.

Now Inkle has developed a stunning iOS app based on the classic Mary Shelley novel but with a rather HyperCard-feeling twist.

Victor’s story becomes something of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure as the reader decides how to advance a conversation or even choose how to navigate streets at selected points which then determine the next passage. It’s an interesting slice-and-dice approach to a classic. The app also features the complete text of the original, as well as a gallery with the many anatomical images and landscapes used throughout.

As with many of the book apps based on older works, this project also suggests how you might work with teens to demonstrate how something within the public domain can be monetized and transformed into something original and compelling. I love the ides of teens creating their own variable versions of curricular texts as a form of assessment.

For more Apps of the Week, visit the App of the Week archive.

The YALSA Legislative Committee is pleased to announce our April Advocate of the Month (sorry, a few days late!): Dr. Sharyl G. Smith.

She is the former State Specialist for School Library Media at the Utah State Office of Education. According to Matt McClain who nominated Dr. Smith, “she was instrumental in lobbying efforts to the Utah State Legislature during the 2011 Legislative Session.” Dr. Smith gained $600,000 in additional funding for books and electronic resources for school media centers around the state.

Here is a link about Dr. Smith’s efforts.

Thank you to Sharyl and all the advocates out there for libraries. If you know someone deserving of the YALSA Advocate of Month recognition, please nominate them here.

Monthly President’s Report – April 2012

April was a very interesting month for me on the YALSA front. I’m just back from a week in Washington, D.C. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week, YALSA Executive Director Beth Yoke and I, along with several hundred other library supporters, attended National Library Legislative Day. Beth and I had eight separate meetings over two days, with legislators’ staff members, and with representatives from other organizations that have similar interests to YALSA, such as the Afterschool Alliance, the Center for Excellent Education, and the International Reading Association. We talked about how we could support one another’s missions.

Then on Friday and Saturday of the same week, I staffed the YALSA booth at the USA Science and Engineering Festival at the Washington Convention Center. Along with DC-area YALSA members, I handed out bookmarks and flyers, showed the demo of the YALSA Teen Book Finder App (available in May—we hope—from Apple’s App Store), chatted with teens, parents, teachers, and librarians, and did some on-the-fly readers’ advisory. We encouraged teens to participate in this year’s Teens’ Top Ten, and there was a lot of interest and enthusiasm.

Below is a summary of activities that I have completed or am working on. (more…)

I have to tell you, I’m nervous about the state of YA collection development. Why? Because I worry that teen collections may transition from collections for teens who read YA to collections for adults who love reading YA. Don’t get me wrong, I am a reader of YA and I know that that reading can be just as good, if not better, than adult book reading. But, yet, I don’t think my library’s YA collection should be filled with the YA that I want to read if teens don’t also want to read it. And that’s why I worry. There is so much talk of late about adults reading YA and why that’s OK that I begin to wonder, who are we building YA collections for? The adults who love YA or the teens who are simply looking for a good book to read?

My take is that we always build for the teens. If adults want to read YA titles that aren’t popular with teens in the community, then those titles should go in the adult collection and be a part of the adult collection purchasing budget. Those serving teens often have to struggle with budgets as it is. So, if they are buying books for adults that read teen AND teens that read teen how are they going to have enough money to do both? They won’t. The teen collection is the teen collection. That’s the priority. That’s who teen library staff serve. That’s the bottom line. (more…)

You know how, no matter how many hundred channels you have, there is nothing on TV? More and more, people are turning to webseries and vlogs for fresher kinds of humor and entertainment. So why not start a vlog series for your library website, or get a bunch of teens together to write a script for an original series? You could also take advantage of the short format of these videos and host a “festival” of screenings of the best series and vlogs out there. Now that so many computers come fully equipped with a basic webcam and editing software, this is an inexpensive way to get creative and to learn more about technology.

Here are some great vlogs and webisodes that should provide you with inspiration as they entertain you.

• The Lizzie Bennet Diaries: This relatively new series transfers Jane Austen’s novel to the life of a grad student recording her angst. It’s funny and a great way to make classic literature applicable to our current times. If your patrons are having trouble getting ready for their AP English exam, use this to take off the stress. (more…)

Sometimes it can be frustrating to hear great, innovative ideas that don’t sound like they’d ever be possible with your budget. Or maybe you’re tired of hearing about great “new” tools you’ve been using since you were in grad school. Maybe you even read some of the posts in this series and thought, Yawn. Been there, done that. What’s innovative to another librarian might not be for you–it might be scary, or passe, or just not right for your library.

So why not try something that’s new for you?

When we talk about innovation, I think too often we feel a lot of pressure to be truly on the cutting edge, whether it’s using the absolute newest technology or finding the next Printz winner. And let’s be honest: that can be exhausting. I don’t mean to discourage taking risks–please do!–but I also want us to give ourselves permission to applaud the little innovations in our daily lives.

Is your library embracing bookstore shelving? Way to go! Are you diving in to co-teaching a class? Fantastic! Encouraging a spontaneous dance party in the stacks? That is great, and also please invite me next time.

In the comments, what’s one new thing you’re trying?