Weekly Reader

School Library Journal Best Books 2014
"In 2014, more than 250 titles received an SLJ star; after much passionate discussion, the following titles were selected by the review editors as the very best of the best. These 70 books distinguish themselves with excellence in writing, art, design, storytelling, originality, and appeal. From raucous read-alouds to off-the-wall adventure, there is something for everyone on this list; dig in and happy reading." -- School Library Journal, 11/20/14

"We're Replacing Pedagogy"
"Academic libraries can help promote the adoption of open educational resources, but ultimately the push for open content has to be about more than textbooks, advocates said this week during the Open Ed Conference. The conference, which concludes today, comes on the heels of two reports suggesting that adoption of OER has the potential to grow dramatically in the next three years -- if faculty members are able to discover the resources they need." -- Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed, 11/21/14

What's Missing from the Industrial Internet of Things Conversation? Software
"These days, you can hardly have a technology conversation without talking about the Internet of Things (IoT). And when that conversation shifts its focus to the industrial sector, including energy, Oil & Gas, Power & Utilities, and petrochemicals, among others, the discussion changes to what is being called the “Industrial Internet of Things” (IIoT)." -- Matt Cicciari, Meridium, Wired, 11/20/14

Who's in Charge Here?
"I have often wondered about the way librarians use the word “library.” Sometimes we are referring to a building (“the library will be open until 2 a.m. during finals”), but more often we use it as if it’s a collective being that has agency. The library is offering a new program. The library has to cancel more journals. The library has started a strategic planning process. Actually, librarians and library staff are doing those things." -- Barbara Fister, Inside Higher Ed, 11/20/14

Weekly Reader

24 Examples of Using Hashtags for Teaching and Learning
"So Many Hashtag Ideas and so Little Time! The “hashtag” ( “#”) has become the go-to hot key for trending topics and Twitter discussions. They’re prevalent on Twitter (where they got their start), but they have also seeped into Instagram, Google+, Vine, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, Tagboard and even come up in Google searches and Google alerts." -- Stephanie Echeveste, Emerging EdTech, 11/9/14

Six Questions You Need to Ask Before Taking a Job
"After hours spent meticulously fine-tuning your cover letter and resume, you’ve finally scored an elusive interview with the employer of your dreams.At least, that’s what you think. In our eagerness to impress hiring managers and potential future bosses, many of us come fully prepared to sell ourselves in a job interview—but neglect to ask key questions of our own. You know, the kind that can help reveal if it really is a dream to work at a given company."-- Meghan Rabitt of LearnVest, The Muse, 11/6/14

Making Screencasts, The Talking Head
"Here is the second video in the three-part series that I did for the An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching on Coursera. This is one gets under the hood about how I make the videos I call “talking head” videos — where it’s just a voiceover and some lecture slides running. The talking head video is very similar to a traditional lecture or a conference talk, so for those instructors out there who are looking to transition to a flipped learning model, or make additional video content available to students and are looking for the simplest place to start, this would probably be it." -- Robert Talbert, Casting Out the Nines, 11/11/14