Library Media Center News December 3, 2007

Middle School Book Club We are reading the book, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  In this futuristic society, the characters are given an operation at the age of 16 to turn them into “pretties.”  Tally, the main character, meets someone who doesn’t want to have the operation and runs away to a place where everyone is “ugly.”  Tally is given a choice to be forever “ugly” or become a spy to find her friend.  The book counts for 13 points on the AR list.   The meeting will take place on Wednesday after school on December 5th starting around 2 pm.  Snacks are provided. 
Overhead Projectors Our overhead projector stock is depleted and we can’t replace broken ones.  We currently do not have a budget for equipment.  If you are interested in a tax-deductible donation for the school, please see me.  A new projector plus shipping from B&H Photo costs $117.60.   Also, if you have an overhead in your room which you do not use, please let us know.  Some teachers are desperate for them!
After School on Wednesdays The Library and Administration ask that if you send students to the library to PLEASE send them with a pass.  This is a particular problem on Wednesdays after school.  Because of the large number of students (from 70 to 100 each week) and the small number of staff (just Jen after 3 pm), it is virtually impossible to call classrooms. Middle School students are required to have a pass or they have to go back to class or the office.  The High School policy is currently under revision.
Water The Board and Ski Club has stopped its fundraiser of selling flavored water in the morning and afternoon on November 30, 2007.  They will begin again in the spring.  Watch for signs.
Celtics Tickets Raffle A former Media student at Quabbin, Peter Boccadoro, now works for the Celtics as their Digital Media Coordinator and is donating two Celtics tickets for two different games to be raffled off to help fund equipment for the Media classes.  Be on the lookout for signs to purchase a ticket!  These are from his own season tickets, so the seats should be pretty good.  See the Celtics with their best team in years.
Donation from Nagi Fayed Many of you will remember Mohamed Fayed, a sophomore at Quabbin who died unexpectedly eight years ago.  His father, Nagi Fayed, donated $990 last week in honor of his son to the Library Media Center.  With his donation, we will purchase two televisions, an AV cart, two DVD players, two boom boxes, and a new camcorder for teacher and student use.  His generous donation will be a benefit to the entire student body and we are extremely thankful.
Cambridge Collections Online This database is up for renewal this week.  The cost of the database has increased from $350 last year to $500 this year.  I need to know if this is something that students are utilizing.  Please let me know if your students use the database.  Thanks!
SmartBoards There are two Smart Board rooms in the school: one for High School and one for Middle School.  If you were in the training for Professional Development Day, or you already know how to use one, you may sign up for the room by stopping by or calling the Library.  We are booking by the day and the period (i.e. “December 6th, periods A, B, and C).  If you need to practice, feel free to book it for your prep period or after-school. 
UnitedStreaming (http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com) At the Smart Board Orientation, it was mentioned that it’s possible to capture video using SmartBoard technology and UnitedStreaming.  UnitedStreaming is in “half of all U.S. schools” and “is a digital video-on-demand and online teaching service.”  Unfortunately, our network can’t handle a full subscription at this time.  But, they offer a free 30 day trial if you’d like to check it out. 
Blocking/Unblocking Recently, there have been some changes with the Sonic Filter to report: Unblocked:  Ebay, Expanded Academic Index (a database of InfoTrac), United Nations Page.  AOL mail (You must type in webmail.aol.com)
 Now Blocked:  YouTube.  The reason is because the bandwidth of the network was being stretched to the max with people viewing YouTube.  It slowed down the network to a crawl.  If you need YouTube unblocked, please set up a time with one of us at the Media Center to unblock it for you.
 Still blocked: National Geographic’s search engine (because it has “proxy” in the address).