ORCON: The Science of Oil Spills

Becoming a Facebook fan of the Ohio Resource Center has already created another student fan of the ORC. Thursday afternoon I was discussing the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with a student creating a lesson on the topic and working with databases, including Middle Search Plus, to find articles for middle school students. When I logged in to Facebook on Friday morning I was pleased to see a wall post detailing the most recent ORC ON topic e-publication, The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

"Current events present us with unique learning opportunities. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico gives us a chance to connect what budding scientists are learning in the classroom to the world. We've pulled together a set of materials that can be used to examine the oil spill through a variety of lenses. - ORC*ON, The Ohio Resource Center

E-publications are presented by grade level, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, and detail a variety of information such as podcasts, internet resources, lessons, and activities covering the oil spill, it's environmental impact, clean up, and response. After emailing the resource to the student in question, I was thrilled to see her working in the library not long after lunch Friday afternoon. Exploring the Grades 6-8 tab, we found a great web connection link; Gulf Coast Oil Spill Map. In conjunction with Google Earth, this site compares the size of the oil spill with different global locations. Selecting Ashland, Ohio, the oil spill covers an impressive portion of the state from Lake Erie through Cleveland, Ashland, and Columbus, and then trails through the southeastern counties and into West Virginia (screen shot, Google Maps).

I spent a longer period of time working with this application than was necessary, but it definitely provides opportunity to put the spill into a more easily understood perspective for students. To be honest, it was eye-opening for me as well. Visit ORC ON: The Science of Oil Spills, for more great resources.

Sparky Award Web Tools

A message from Adam Burling at ALA:

The organizers of the Sparky Awards video contest have released several new resources to help college instructors and librarians engage students in an exploration of information sharing and copyright by encouraging their participation in the 2008 contest, “MindMashup: The Value of Information Sharing.” Contestants are invited to submit videos of two minutes or less that imaginatively portray the benefits of the open, legal exchange of information on the Internet. Mashup is an expression referring to a song, video, Web site, or software application that combines content from more than one source.

Educators at all types of institution – including 4-year colleges and universities, community and junior colleges, art and film schools, and others – are invited to incorporate the contest into fall curricula, whether as a formal assignment or extracurricular activity. The following new resources are available to facilitate adoption of the contest:

• Video invitation to enter the Sparky Awards
• Sparky Awards promotional poster
• Educators’ Guide to Using the Sparky Awards in Your Classes
• Librarians’ Guide to Introducing the Sparky Awards on Your Campus
• Banner ad art to promote the Sparky Awards on Web sites

All tools are available for download and customization through the Sparky Awards Web site at http://www.sparkyawards.org, along with complete details on the awards.

The 2008 Sparky Awards are organized by SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and cosponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, Campus MovieFest, Penn Libraries, Students for Free Culture, and The Student PIRGs.

Resource Opportunity

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), in cooperation with the ALA Public Programs Office, is now accepting applications for the second round of Picturing America. Online applications will be accepted through Oct. 31 at http://picturingamerica.neh.org.

Picturing America is a free educational resource that helps teach American history and culture by bringing some of our nation’s greatest works of art directly to classrooms and libraries. At no cost, recipients will receive a set of high-quality reproductions of 40 pieces of great American art (each approximately 24 inches by 36 inches) and an illustrated teachers resource book with information about the artists and artwork and lesson ideas for all grade levels to facilitate the use of the reproductions in core subject areas. Delivery of these materials is scheduled for spring 2009. Additional educational resources are also available through the Picturing America Web site, http://picturingamerica.neh.gov. Resources to support public library programming will be added in the spring.

All public libraries, schools (K–12, public, private, parochial, charter and home school consortia) in the United States and its territories who have not previously received Picturing America may apply for the program through Oct. 31 at http://picturingamerica.neh.gov.


Additionally, other libraries (academic, special, research) with programs and collections for the general public are eligible to apply. Please note that previous recipients of the Picturing America collection are not eligible for a second award.

With questions, contact the ALA Public Programs office at publicprograms@ala.org.