The New & Improved SUNLINK Database Has Arrived!

Today (August 27th), SUNLINK http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu launched its new and improved database.  Among its many improvements, SUNLINK now includes a basic search interface, as well as an improved power search interface with increased material types to help zero in on specific resources. 

As you explore the new SUNLINK, let us know what you think. Contact us at: 1-800-226-0085, or email sunlink@mail.ucf.edu

Maintaining 2009-2010 ILL Statistics

Due to high mailing costs, SUNLINK will not be sending out an ILL Tally Sheet at the beginning of the year. You are encouraged to design your own tally sheet to track ILLs, or you may print out a copy of the Interlibrary Loan Statist record. http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/ill/default.aspx 

Consider posting your ILL statistics sheet near your circulation computer to make it easier to record your transactions in real time. These statistics will not be due until June 1, 2010. Like last year, you will report those totals online instead of mailing or faxing them to the SUNLINK office.

 

Reporting 2008-2009 ILL Statistics.

If you missed the June 1, 2009 deadline to report your ILL statistics for the previous school year, please go to http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/ill/default.aspx and submit your totals directly online.

Do It Online! SUNLINK ILL Stats Due June 1, 2009

It's that time a year when SUNLINK requests all of your interlibrary loan statistics.  You can now enter those statistics online from the SUNLINK home page: http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu

Click on the ILL link at the bottom of the page.

Please submit by June 1, 2009.

Have a great summer!

The SUNLINK Staff

Budget Cuts

From Bob Cerra, "As the lobbyist for FAME, I am very aware that the state budget provided by the Legislature to the school districts will result in substantial cuts to all types of education services. If your district is making disproportionate cuts to school library media programs and/or positions, please let us know what the proposals are and the rationale for cutting school libraries more than the rest of the education program.

FAME is doing its best to help to keep unfair cuts from being accepted into final district budgets. In order to assist, we need to have a good handle on what is being done at the district level. Please feel free to send a private email (not using your district's email system) to my email at bobcerra@comcast.net. We want to make sure that we do not attack superintendents and/or school boards for having to make cuts. The Legislature has decided that they were unable or unwilling to provide for the current system. However, we do not want to watch certain districts destroy their library media programs without doing something about it."

Florida Teens Read Winner Announced

From FAME, "The Florida Teens Read Committee of FAME is delighted to announce that Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is the winner of the 2007-2008 Florida Teens Read Award. Uglies is the first in a series of books by Westerfeld that explores such themes as the nature of beauty and conformity vs. rebellion. Set in a future world that is eerily close to our own in some ways, the fast-action plot will engage most teens. We are also happy to report that over 1,300 Florida teens cast votes for this year’s titles. Thank you to all the high school media specialists and teachers who promoted these titles and encouraged the love of reading." Do you have it available for your students?

What Do Children Read?

More than 3 million students took quizzes on books they read last year. This comprehensive report provides detailed information about the books school children are actually reading. The report also includes results by sex and section of the country. Renaissance Learning's Accelerated Reader software for monitoring reading progress online was the source of the survey. Read the Washington Post article for additional information.

Join the Flock

Flock is essentially Firefox with added features that let you connect with various social services (Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, etc.), as well as collect your favorite RSS feeds in one place. You may not want this on school computers (Do we really need to make it even easier for the darlings to socialize online?! :-) ), but so far, I like the organization, the look, and the cool tools.

For those of you who like your browsers a little greener, Grist (tagline: it's gloom and doom with a sense of humor. So laugh now -- or the planet gets it.) has partnered with Flock to bring you this eco-version.

Make Every Day Earth Day

Make doing good for our planet a year-round activity. Here are 50 fairly simple things that can make a difference. Hopefully you've already made some of these changes, if not, there's no time like the present to go green.

FAME Members -- Vote Now!

The 2008 FAME Election is now open to all FAME members. Vote for the next FAME President, four FAME Executive Board members, and two members of the FAME Nominations Committee. Read about the candidates, then make your choice. Cast your vote anytime between April 20 and May 10, 2008.

Vote for FAME officers now!

Final Call for Student Videos

Students from grade school to grad school are invited to submit a compelling video clip to the Empowered Education student video awards. The contest is produced by eSchool News, in cooperation with the Pearson Foundation. The application deadline is April 30, 2008. Enter today at http://www.eschoolnews.com/empowered/.

To qualify for the award, students should make a three-to-five minute original video on the theme of “How Technology Helps Me Learn.” Winning entries will be those produced by students in the best journalistic style illustrating how their schools or colleges are employing technology to advance learning.

Teen Read Week™ 2008

Register now for Teen Read Week 2008, October 12-18. The theme this year is Books with Bite @ your library. 2008 marks the 11th anniversary of Teen Read Week, an initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). More than 4,800 school and public libraries participated last year, so join the fun and register now!

Tech Help

Doug Johnson has made his and his son's book, Machines are the easy part; people are the hard part, available online. You can download the book for free or order a copy for a small charge. Here's a description of the book, "This little book takes a somewhat skewed approach to educational technology. Its focus is on the human elements to which attention must be paid before technology can have an impact on teaching and learning." Read, learn, and enjoy!

Are You One?

Here's a game to test your memory and skill in finding the right books for a never ending stream of students. Fair warning, the game is just a tad bit addictive. Ready? Get set, GO!