Virtual Road Trip: Texas

by

YALSA put out an extensive report on the future of library services (both public and school) for library teens as well as a summary report.’  After reading it, I knew this would make a perfect infographic to print and share or even send as a link to others who’d like this information.’ texas It’s important to know where library services should be going in the 21st century as teens and their culture, lifestyle and habits continue to change.

YALSA teen report

The link to the infographic is: https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1326505-yalsa-teen-and-library-report.

Submitted by Naomi Bates, Northwest High School Library, Justin, TX

YALSA App of the Week: Viz

by

Title: Viz
Cost: $1.99
Platform: iOS 6 or later

Sometimes the simplest apps can be the most powerful. Viz is a very simple app that can be quite powerful as teens, and library staff, collect and visualize data. Teens who are working on projects for school or collecting data about programs, services, etc. for the library, or related to their own personal interests, can use Viz when they want to give others a chance to understand that data through a visual. One of the great things about Viz is that teens can enter data into the app no matter where they are. As they collect data in school, on the street, in a mall, at the library, etc. they can add it to the chart information they are putting together with Viz. It also is a great tool to use to start conversations about analyzing and presenting data.

The screencast below shows how easy it is to use Viz.


Read More →

30 Days of How-To #17: How-To Use Infographics for Library Advocacy

by

Several months ago I put out a question on Twitter asking members of my professional learning network how they were using infographics in their advocacy efforts. It was a little surprising to me that only one person responded with an example. Others responded by saying things like, “Oh, that’s a good idea.” But, it looked like people weren’t using infographics as a way to inform their library community about what they do and why they do it.

Robert E. Lee High School infographicThen I talked with YALSA Board member/Strategic Planning Chair and high school librarian Priscille Dando about data, advocacy, and infographics and I found out that she used PowerPoint to create a visual that demonstrated the use of her library in the spring of 2010. One thing that really struck me about Priscille’s infographic was that it was produced simply with PowerPoint, a tool that most (if not all) librarians have access to, and it used clip art to effectively get out the message that the high school library is an active vital part of the school community.
Read More →