The document summarizes the author's monitoring and evaluation of the ISLMANET-L electronic discussion list over three weeks in September and October 2009. Some key findings include:
1) The listserv is open to anyone interested in school libraries and allows subscribers to easily post, view archives, and manage subscriptions.
2) During the monitoring period, the list averaged 4-6 discussion threads per day on topics like announcements, job postings, and requests for advice.
3) Two popular threads involved sharing activities for teaching the Dewey Decimal System and expressing outrage over cuts to an Illinois public library.
4) The author believes the listserv is a valuable local resource for Illinois school libr
Conspiracy Stories: Building Archives to Facilitate Narrative Analyses of Onl...Peter Broadwell
A discussion of the initial steps taken to assemble a corpus of web-based “fake news” in order to facilitate a massive narrative framework analysis of online misinformation masquerading as news, using a modified version of software previously applied to the study of anti-vaccination narratives. Accompanying the data-gathering discussion is a commentary on how current web-archiving approaches and frameworks might be enhanced to help achieve such research-oriented objectives. This work additionally presents some initial results of small pilot studies conducted to test the narrative analytical techniques that ultimately will be scaled up to the level of millions of online postings. Because these subsequent studies are likely to compare the narrative “shapes” of news stories along a continuum from hoaxes to verifiable reporting, the pilot studies focus on archives of web materials based around two conspiracies: one that turned out to be real, namely, the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal of politically motivated lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, and one that was false: the so-called “Pizzagate” hoax.
This presentation was given on December 7, 2009, as part of the Louisiana State University Libraries Tech Talks Series, facilitated by Digital Technologies Librarian Rebecca Miller.
Conspiracy Stories: Building Archives to Facilitate Narrative Analyses of Onl...Peter Broadwell
A discussion of the initial steps taken to assemble a corpus of web-based “fake news” in order to facilitate a massive narrative framework analysis of online misinformation masquerading as news, using a modified version of software previously applied to the study of anti-vaccination narratives. Accompanying the data-gathering discussion is a commentary on how current web-archiving approaches and frameworks might be enhanced to help achieve such research-oriented objectives. This work additionally presents some initial results of small pilot studies conducted to test the narrative analytical techniques that ultimately will be scaled up to the level of millions of online postings. Because these subsequent studies are likely to compare the narrative “shapes” of news stories along a continuum from hoaxes to verifiable reporting, the pilot studies focus on archives of web materials based around two conspiracies: one that turned out to be real, namely, the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal of politically motivated lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, and one that was false: the so-called “Pizzagate” hoax.
This presentation was given on December 7, 2009, as part of the Louisiana State University Libraries Tech Talks Series, facilitated by Digital Technologies Librarian Rebecca Miller.
Assignment 2 (RA 2) Cultural Influences in DevelopmentIn this as.docxchandaronald
Assignment 2: (RA 2): Cultural Influences in Development
In this assignment, you will apply your knowledge of cultural influences on development to create psychosocial workshops for a specific population.
Tasks:
Scenario
:
As a human services administrator at a local agency, one of your duties is to write descriptions of the agency's community workshops to publish in the community's resource guide delivered free of charge to all residents. These are the titles of the workshops:
Single Moms
: A workshop for working mothers to help them balance work and home
Community Living
: A workshop for those transitioning from incarceration to society
Caregiver Parents
: A workshop for those taking care of aging parents, while also raising a young family
Parenting Teens
: A workshop to enable parents to help their teenage children transition to young adulthood
Your community largely comprises blue-collar workers, many of whom are working on either visas or green cards; thus, there are pockets of immigrant communities. Some of the workers are those who were reintegrated into society after prolonged incarceration (more than three years). The median age of the area is thirty-five years, and multigenerational households are commonplace. The public school system is underresourced, and truancy is a big problem. Many students do not complete high school, and standardized test scores are well below what is federally mandated for funding.
Directions
:
For each of the four workshops, write a 100- to 200-word description on the basis of the following:
Utilize what you have learned throughout the course to describe specific services that each workshop will include.
Tailor each description to the community and the target audience for the workshop.
Apply cultural and multicultural sensitivity within and across all descriptions. Remember, a single mother may also read the description for community living. Craft your descriptions to be readable and sensitive to all.
Account for individual differences and environmental contexts that will influence developmental changes.
Account for the role of culture in shaping attitudes, values, and behaviors.
For each description, write a two-page rationale. Use at least three references from scholarly sources to demonstrate how you determined which services to offer for each workshop.
Submission Details:
By
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
, prepare a 6- to 8-page analysis paper. Your response should rely upon at least three sources from professional literature. This may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov). Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA format); and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Save your paper in a Microsoft Word document with the name M4_.
American Institute of Biological SciencesIntroductionDiscour.docxnettletondevon
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Introduction
Discourse community defines as a group of people sharing the same goals and interests and they are trying to share these values by communicating. According to Swales discourse community the way people communicate with each other to achieve common goals and interests. The organization I have chosen in my field is the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) , the organization is a scientific organization that promotes the importance of using science to make decision regarding biology to improve the society. It has been founded in 1947 as a part of the National Academy of Sciences and it became independent organization three years later. Since 1950s until today the organization is promoting and focusing on biology and it is importance. Biology is basically the basic of our lives. As a biology major student and as a health major student I understand the importance of the organization. It promoting a very important topic that could be forgotten, which is biology. Researchers after researching for many years they tend to forget about the basics and about the things that control and affect every results of their search. That is why this organization is very important. The organization members believe they can achieve that by communicating with each other independently, and by communicating with young researchers and students who are still learning the basics of biology. The organization represents the importance of the basics of this filed as everything is build on each other and every fact depends on the other one, so it is important to shade the lights on these small details.
The community of American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) focus on discussing public concerns and help in solving them. The organization is financed by people and organizations who are interested. The organization members are almost 40 members who are working full time.
According to Swales first character that the organization member share the same goals and interests and they “agreed” on it. In the organization I chosen the group member share the same common goals, which are the uses of biology to make decisions that would change the future of sciences and communities. They also share the goals of improving the public education by introducing more concepts and facts to the educational books in schools and universities. The members of the organization of the American Institute of Biological Sciences provide workshops to publics, too, to the people who are interested in biological sciences.
According to Swales second character organization members the way and the mechanism people communicate with each other is important. The organization I have chosen they have special way to communicate as they have weekly outside meetings, and they have groups in social media they communicate with each other through it, and they have a page online where new members can join them and learn more about the organization.
Assignment 2 (RA 2) Cultural Influences in DevelopmentIn this as.docxmaribethy2y
Assignment 2: (RA 2): Cultural Influences in Development
In this assignment, you will apply your knowledge of cultural influences on development to create psychosocial workshops for a specific population.
Tasks:
Scenario
:
As a human services administrator at a local agency, one of your duties is to write descriptions of the agency's community workshops to publish in the community's resource guide delivered free of charge to all residents. These are the titles of the workshops:
Single Moms
: A workshop for working mothers to help them balance work and home
Community Living
: A workshop for those transitioning from incarceration to society
Caregiver Parents
: A workshop for those taking care of aging parents, while also raising a young family
Parenting Teens
: A workshop to enable parents to help their teenage children transition to young adulthood
Your community largely comprises blue-collar workers, many of whom are working on either visas or green cards; thus, there are pockets of immigrant communities. Some of the workers are those who were reintegrated into society after prolonged incarceration (more than three years). The median age of the area is thirty-five years, and multigenerational households are commonplace. The public school system is underresourced, and truancy is a big problem. Many students do not complete high school, and standardized test scores are well below what is federally mandated for funding.
Directions
:
For each of the four workshops, write a 100- to 200-word description on the basis of the following:
Utilize what you have learned throughout the course to describe specific services that each workshop will include.
Tailor each description to the community and the target audience for the workshop.
Apply cultural and multicultural sensitivity within and across all descriptions. Remember, a single mother may also read the description for community living. Craft your descriptions to be readable and sensitive to all.
Account for individual differences and environmental contexts that will influence developmental changes.
Account for the role of culture in shaping attitudes, values, and behaviors.
For each description, write a two-page rationale. Use at least three references from scholarly sources to demonstrate how you determined which services to offer for each workshop.
Submission Details:
By
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
, prepare a 6- to 8-page analysis paper. Your response should rely upon at least three sources from professional literature. This may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov). Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA format); and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Save your paper in a Microsoft Word document with the name M4.
This overview of information literacy (IL) and information literacy instruction (ILI) focuses on the terminology used in advocating for and discussion of IL practices in public libraries. Although the focus of the proposal is on public libraries, the practices reviewed also look to academic and school libraries for understanding of how IL and ILI are currently perceived and delivered. This study also considers the unique situation of public libraries in regards to the terminology that has been appropriated by academic institutions, as well as the role of public librarians themselves in providing ILI.
Information in practiceEthical issues in qualitative resea.docxjaggernaoma
Information in practice
Ethical issues in qualitative research on internet
communities
Gunther Eysenbach, James E Till
The internet is the most comprehensive electronic
archive of written material representing our world and
peoples’ opinions, concerns, and desires. Physicians
who surf the internet for the first time are often
stunned by what they learn on websites set up by lay
people or patient self support communities. Material
on these venues can be a rich source for researchers
interested in understanding the experiences and views
of people and patients. Qualitative analysis of material
published and communicated on the internet can
serve to systematise and codify needs, values, concerns,
and preferences of consumers and professionals
relevant to health and health care. While the internet
makes people’s interactions uniquely accessible for
researchers and erases boundaries of time and
distance, such research raises new issues in research
ethics, particularly concerning informed consent and
privacy of research subjects, as the borders between
public and private spaces are sometimes blurred.
Internet communities
Internet communities provide a way for a group of peers
to communicate with each other. They include
discussion boards on websites, mailing lists, chat rooms,
or newsgroups. Examples of health related mailing lists
can easily be found by inserting a key word such as “can-
cer” in the search box at the Topica website (www.
topica.com/). One example is the Breast Cancer Mailing
List, based at Memorial University in Newfoundland
(www.bclist.org), which provides a forum for those seek-
ing peer support and information, with an emphasis on
information on treatment and disease, practical infor-
mation (such as relevant online resources), personal
experiences, and emotional support.
Qualitative research on the internet
Qualitative research seeks “to acknowledge the
existence of and study the interplay of multiple views
and voices—including, importantly, lay voices.”1 Inter-
net postings are accessible for qualitative research of
these voices—for example, to determine information
needs and preferences of consumers or to investigate
how health related information can best be converted
into knowledge and disseminated widely.2
Three different types of internet based research
methods can be distinguished.3 One is passive analysis,
such as studies of information patterns on websites or
interactions on discussion groups without the
researchers actually involving themselves. Examples
include the study of helping mechanisms and content
of online self help groups for colorectal cancer,4 breast
cancer,5 Alzheimer’s disease,6 and eating disorders.7
The second type of online research is through active
analysis, in which researchers participate in
communications—for example, to determine the accu-
racy of responses to healthcare questions on the
Usenet.8 In the third type researchers identify
themselves as such and gather information in the form
.
A lecture on how to do a literature review. Covers what a literature is, journal hierachies, H index, I index, types of lit review - narrative, meta and systematic, search startegies, forest, filtering literature, using databases to search and making a search string
In this assignment, you will apply your knowledge of cultural influe.docxrochellscroop
In this assignment, you will apply your knowledge of cultural influences on development to create psychosocial workshops for a specific population.
Tasks:
Scenario
:
As a human services administrator at a local agency, one of your duties is to write descriptions of the agency's community workshops to publish in the community's resource guide delivered free of charge to all residents. These are the titles of the workshops:
Single Moms
: A workshop for working mothers to help them balance work and home
Community Living
: A workshop for those transitioning from incarceration to society
Caregiver Parents
: A workshop for those taking care of aging parents, while also raising a young family
Parenting Teens
: A workshop to enable parents to help their teenage children transition to young adulthood
Your community largely comprises blue-collar workers, many of whom are working on either visas or green cards; thus, there are pockets of immigrant communities. Some of the workers are those who were reintegrated into society after prolonged incarceration (more than three years). The median age of the area is thirty-five years, and multigenerational households are commonplace. The public school system is underresourced, and truancy is a big problem. Many students do not complete high school, and standardized test scores are well below what is federally mandated for funding.
Directions
:
For each of the four workshops, write a 100- to 200-word description on the basis of the following:
Utilize what you have learned throughout the course to describe specific services that each workshop will include.
Tailor each description to the community and the target audience for the workshop.
Apply cultural and multicultural sensitivity within and across all descriptions. Remember, a single mother may also read the description for community living. Craft your descriptions to be readable and sensitive to all.
Account for individual differences and environmental contexts that will influence developmental changes.
Account for the role of culture in shaping attitudes, values, and behaviors.
For each description, write a two-page rationale. Use at least three references from scholarly sources to demonstrate how you determined which services to offer for each workshop.
Submission Details:
By
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
, prepare a 6- to 8-page analysis paper. Your response should rely upon at least three sources from professional literature. This may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov). Write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA format); and use accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation
.
This presentation was provided by Joyce Valenza of Rutgers University, during the NISO event "Transforming Search: What the Information Community Can and Should Build." The virtual conference was held on August 26, 2020.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Thesis Statement for students diagnonsed withADHD.ppt
Listserv Monitoring Report
1. Fiona B. Griswold
October 6, 2009
Electronic Listerv Monitoring and Evaluation: ISLMANET-L
The term “listserv” has come to be used as a general term for any electronic discussion list,
though it originated as the name of software (LISTSERV) developed in the mid 1980s to automate the
management of e-mail discussion lists in that individuals could join or leave a list without an
administrator having to intervene (LISTSERV 2007). Though somewhat low-tech in today’s Web 2.0
world, the listserv continues to be popular as a low-effort yet efficient means for a group of individuals
sharing a common interest to communicate with each other. One common use for electronic discussion
lists is to provide a means of information sharing and networking to individuals in a specific discipline
or professional field. In my previous work experience as a university Study Abroad Administrator, I
maintained a subscription to the primary list for individuals working in similar jobs--SECUSS-L--which
allowed me to passively monitor the information being shared and questions being posed by people
throughout the world or to actively post my own queries or respond to those of others. Now, as I make
the transition to a career in youth librarianship, I have begun to explore the resources, including
listservs, available to me for networking and for learning more about the field and about current issues
or “hot topics.”
For a librarian working with youth, there are a number of discussion lists that could provide the
sort professional connections and exchange of ideas that can enhance an individual’s professional
development. These discussion lists are frequently, though not always, sponsored by professional
associations such as the American Library Association (ALA) and will usually have a specific audience,
such as school librarians, young adult librarians or public youth librarians, at which the list is targeted.
For this assignment, I chose to monitor and evaluate the electronic discussion list sponsored by the
Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) and hosted through the Early Childhood and
2. Griswold / Listserv Monitoring
Parenting Collaborative (ECAP) at the University of Illinois. ISLMA was founded in 1988 by a group of
school media specialists who saw a need for a state-based organization of school media specialists that
was separate from the Illinois Library Association (ILA). As such, ISLMA has affiliated with the nation-
wide American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and cooperates with other library associations
to ensure that school librarians have a role and voice in collaborative projects with librarians serving
other populations (ISLMA 2009).
The listserv, known as ISLMANET-L, is open to any individual with an interest in school library
programs and an e-mail address to send and receive messages. While the list must have an “owner” or a
person or persons who started the list and are responsible for its continuance, it does not appear to have
an active “moderator” or someone who would monitor the list for inappropriate postings and, perhaps,
approve individuals who seek a subscription to the listserv. This means that virtually anyone who adds
themselves to the list can be a subscriber, though, during the time I was monitoring the list, virtually all
the postings came from either school librarians or individuals closely associated with school libraries,
such as authors of books for children, other school staff or people who work in organizations that offer
professional development or education to school media specialists. Unlike some other electronic
discussion lists, which provide very specific instructions to subscribers about appropriate use of the list,
tips on general “netiquette”, policies for posting advertisements or jobs and general instructions for
modifying and updating subscription options, ISLMANET-L provides very minimal guidelines. The
page on the ISLMA Web site concerning the listserv simply provides subscription instructions and
reminders that automatically replying to a message will send the reply to the entire list and that users
should be careful about not sending unnecessary replies that will clutter e-mail inboxes as a courtesy to
others. To some extent, it seems that ISLMA is putting a lot of faith in users’ knowledge of discussion
list participation and ability to be considerate colleagues. I would be interested to know how many
2
3. Griswold / Listserv Monitoring
people subscribe to the list and whether there have been problems that have resulted in someone being
reprimanded or banned from the list. It is possible that, while there isn’t a formal monitor for the listserv
there may be an informal means of ensuring proper usage that is not readily apparent to a short-term
observer.
The actual mechanics of subscribing to and using ISLMANET-L are quite simple and
straightforward. Individuals can subscribe and unsubscribe by sending a simple message to the CITES e-
mail address for the list. Once an individual’s subscription is confirmed, they can then visit the CITES
LISTSERV Web interface to make changes to their subscription preferences, including temporarily
opting out of the listserv for a period of time, such as vacation, or choosing to receive the postings in
digest form where all the messages for one day are sent in just one e-mail message. An archive of
messages for the previous year is also available through the CITES Web interface. This archive is
accessible to non-list-subscribers through a browse option which reveals message content, but blocks e-
mail addresses of the individuals who posted them. List subscribers can, after logging in to the
LISTSERV Web interface, search the archive for key terms that can be narrowed by date, author or
subject line, and are able to view the e-mail addresses of the senders. The search feature is important,
particularly in instances where an individual may have seen a topic of interest mentioned in an earlier
post, but then cannot find the specific message.
While I have been subscribed to ISLMANET-L since last March or April, I have not been an
active reader of the messages sent through the listserv, nor have I posted to the list. Because of the
quantity of e-mail, I have used the filtering option available in Gmail to make it so that messages from
this and several other lists to which I subscribe automatically bypass my inbox and go directly to
dedicated folder. Using this setup, I do not need to go to the archive to skim through or search for
messages, they are easily accessible for when I have a few moments to spare and can browse through the
3
4. Griswold / Listserv Monitoring
subject lines to see if anything catches my interest. For the purposes of this assignment, I actively
monitored the list for approximately three weeks, beginning on September 11, 2009 and running through
October 4, 2009. During these weeks (and, from reviewing the archive, it would seem during most
weeks), the discussion list was very active, averaging an estimated 4 to 6 separate “threads” or
individual topics per day. Some topics, particularly announcements, elicited no replies, while others
(especially “hot” or controversial issues) generated 13 or even 16 responses. In a paper I wrote for a
class last year, I conducted a study of a neighborhood-based electronic discussion list, which included
the coding of individuals messages and of threads by content or purpose and author in an attempt to
develop a rough picture of this online community and how it could relate to the geographic community
in which the listserv was situated. While I did not conduct a similarly formal evaluation of the
ISLMANET-L list, it was possible from active reading of the postings to develop a rough set of message
types as well as a sense of the people who were the most active participants in the list.
The sorts of messages that frequently observed included the following categories:
announcements containing information about workshops, conferences, grants, award winners and so on
which were often posted by people in ISLMA leadership or representatives of educational institutions;
advertisements of chances to win books, authors available for class visits and similar that were often
vehicles for self-promotion; requests for advice or help that could run the gamut from recommended
book titles or Web sites for particular subjects to recommendations for programming or technology
purchases; job opportunities posted either by those who are hiring or those who are seeking
employment; and comparisons where posters are looking for baseline info or “what everyone else is
doing” in order to help in decision-making or support a proposal for their library. The participants in the
list during these three weeks was quite diverse. True, there were a few names that appeared a number of
times and I recognized some of the individuals as librarians that work with student teachers or
4
5. Griswold / Listserv Monitoring
classmates from GSLIS classes, but in all, the participants represented a wide sample of the subscribers
to the list in geographic distribution, age levels taught and areas of interest. The one most common
element shared by participants was employment--it is clear that this list is being used by the school
media specialists it was intended to serve.
During these three weeks, two particular threads seemed to generate more interest than others.
The first of these was a request for advice about hands-on activities to introduce 3rd and 4th graders to the
Dewey Decimal System posted by Lori Peterson of Evergreen Elementary School (personal
communication, September 10, 2009). Between September 10 and September 28, fourteen individuals
responded to the original message with suggested resources, such as books or Web sites that contained
lesson ideas, as wells as some specific suggestions about activities that they use, such as a Dewey
Decimal checkout game (like bingo) or a poster creation activity. All of the responders in this thread
seemed very willing to share ideas and a few commented on other responders good ideas while offering
their own. The original poster posted a “thank you” response towards the end of the thread, letting
everyone know that she was following the thread and appreciated the assistance. This exchange
provided an excellent example of the sorts of useful information and advice that are regularly exchanged
through this discussion list.
The second thread was started by Sarah Scholl, a librarian at Deer Path School in Cary, Illinois
posted a link to an article from that day’s edition of the Daily Herald (personal communication, October
1, 2009). The article recounted a recent meeting concerning the future of the Oak Brook Public Library
and highlighted a particularly obnoxious lawyer, Mr. Xinos, who is working against the public library
and stated to the reporter, “I wanted that kid to lose sleep that night” in reference to an 11-year-old girl
that he told to “stop whining” at the recent meeting after she spoke in defense of the librarians who had
been laid off (B. Constable 2009). In her message, Scholl expressed her dismay at this story and the
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situation in Oak Brook and wondered if others on the list had further knowledge about what was
happening there. The seventeen messages that followed the original post were mostly expressions of
outrage at the situation, extreme dislike of Mr. Xinos and his actions and suggestions for ways to
advocate for the library (including boycotting shopping at Oak Brook Mall to deprive the village of sales
tax receipts from those stores). The article was certainly written to stir outrage and discussion, and,
based on the responses on this listserv, it did that. For the most part, none of the comments got too
heated and the tone among the responders was very civil (which might be expected, since they all more
or less felt the same about the problems in Oak Brook, especially at such a sensitive time when a number
of libraries have been threatened with closure or radical cuts in budgets, staffing and service).
I chose ISLMANET-L for this assignment as opposed to LM-NET, a world-wide list for school
librarians, for very specific reason that I believe there is value sometimes in spending more time
learning about the local environment and making virtual connections with individuals that you have a
good chance of meeting in person at some point in the future. While it is true that ISLMANET-L may
not give as broad an overview of the field of school librarianship and that the suggestions and
information that are shared on it might be more limited than on a larger list with more geographically
dispersed members, the more intimate nature of ISLMANET-L also makes it more manageable/less
overwhelming, particularly to someone just entering the field. I firmly believe that this list is an
excellent resource for any current or future school media specialist in Illinois--no matter what an
individual’s stage of career, they will find something to gain (and to contribute, if they wish) to this
community. Furthermore, the big issues in the field of school librarianship are very likely going to find
their way into this list, but they will presented with the overlay of how the big issue is at play or affects
individuals working in Illinois (as opposed to Indiana or California or Australia). Also, as school
librarians are often quite solitary within their schools, and school districts often don’t do a very good job
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of facilitating interaction even among other librarians in the district, the ISLMA list can help to foster a
sense of community and create interconnectedness and relationships between librarians who may be
working in neighboring towns, but otherwise may never have the opportunity to meet or collaborate.
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References
Constable, B. (2009, October 1). Ugly battle has librarians in Oak Brook turning to Teamsters. Daily
Herald. Retrieved from http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=325508.
ISLMA (2009, August 14). ISLMA mission and goals. Retrieved October 6, 2009 from
http://www.islma.org/about_islma.htm.
LISTSERV (2007, November 27). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 5, 2009 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LISTSERV.
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