Sunday, April 30, 2017

Free Comic Book Day May 6th!

CiTi Library Media Center

 Free Comic Book Day is May 6, 2017

Every year the first Saturday in May is designated Free Comic Book Day!  This means that local comic book shops will be handing out free comics to anyone that stops into their stores.  I've included a map of the locations in our area.
As you can see by the map that their is only one location in Oswego County listed, but there are several listed for nearby Onondaga County.  Realizing that many of our students may not be able to get to these places on Saturday.  I attended an event at OCM Boces to learn more about the program and to pick up supplies for our students.    A BIG shout out to Diamond Comics for donating many of the comics for the event I attended. Students are encouraged to write thank you letters and cards! http://www.diamondcomics.com I picked up comics for our students.

The Library Media Center will be holding a free comic book day at 4th Street and for STRIVE on campus within the next two weeks. Please watch your emails for the dates. Also, for others in the Exceptional Education program that are interested please email me with grade levels and student counts, I will send out to you comics for your students by courier. my email The comic book give away will be paired with lessons on how to create your own comic book and story boards. Plus a sign a Thank You card to Diamond Comics for their generosity.
There is a lot that Comic books and Graphic Novels have to offer all students. Here is a link to the presentation from Friday. Graphic novels are a great visual format for students to enjoy reading and for learning new things. Our library collection has many great graphic novels some of which on listed on the ENGAGENY pagesl Comic books have tackled many of the classic novel titles and some science, but what I love about comic books is that they encourage students to read. Comic books can lead to students reading novels based on their favorite Super Heroes which can lead to interest in reading other books.
Take away:
  1. Free Comic Book Day is May 6th at your local comic book shop
  2. The CiTi Library Media Center has free comics for students. Contact Mrs. Cummings for more information.
  3. Comics and Graphic Novels are great for learning and encouraging students to read.


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SYNC Audio books for Teens for Free

CiTi Library Media Center

SYNC Audiobooks offers free audio books every summer.  I have created the following video tutorial to help you see how to download the books.  Over Drive will need to be installed on the computer that you will do the downloading on.  Over Drive is available on the Chromebooks and the download can be saved to your Google Drive.
Every week SYNC Audio offers 2 free audio books.  One is a classic title and one is a current young adult title.  Here is a list of the pairs and the dates they will be available:

2017 SYNC Audiobook Title Pairs

April 27 – May 3
May 4  – May 10
May 11 – May 17
May 18 – May 24
May 25 – May 31
June 1 – June 7
June 8 – June 14
June 15 – June 21
June 22 – June 28
June 29  – July 5
July 6 – July 12
July 13 – July 19
July 20 – July 26
July 27 – August 2
August 3  – August 9
August 10 – August 16

Things to remember:

  1. Your name is embedded in the meta data so each person must download their own copy
  2. You have one week to download after that you miss out on the book, weeks start on Thursdays
  3. You will need to back up your files since you cannot re-download after the week is over. 
  4. These books are meant for a teen audience and may not be appropriate for younger students.
  5. The Library (School and Public) are places you can go for help with your audiobooks.
  6. Take the time to download and enjoy listening to these great books and share this with your students and their families.
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Monday, April 3, 2017

Copyright & Videos for Education.

CiTi Library Media Center

Copyright and Videos for Education

 No, don't stop reading!....We all do it.  We show videos during our classes.  In today's multimedia world it is necessary to incorporate multimedia into our lessons.  That being said, we can not ignore copyright rules when we do this and you can be personally held accountable for the violations that result in fines.  The article - Teachers Should Know Copyright from Wrong provides insight into this area.  For expert advise on specific situations you need to talk with a lawyer that specializes in copyright use in education.

Just because you are in a school setting does not mean that the use of a video is covered under the Fair Use Act. For more information on Fair Use please look to the Copyright office link here.  The Fair Use Act does not cover showing a movie in school to entertain students for whatever reason, i.e. it is raining outside and students can't go outside today.  To be able to do this properly the school would need to purchase a public performance license.  For more information on this please look to this article - Why Schools Aren't Safe Harbors for Copyright Infringement Think educators can show a movie at school for any reason?  Think again.  The cost of this type of license can be found with a little research and should not be too expensive.  There are plenty of Fair Use options for viewing multimedia and creation of multimedia in schools, we just need to be aware of and have the goal of meeting the Fair Use Standard.  Here are the 4 things to consider and ask yourself:

The four factors judges consider are:
  • the purpose and character of your use
  • the nature of the copyrighted work
  • the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
  • the effect of the use upon the potential market.

Netflix.com
Netfilx in school setting.... No don't stop reading!......There are things you should know when it comes to streaming Netflix in schools.  No matter what the customer service person tells you on the phone you do not have permission to stream Netflix movies and shows in school! This article - May one stream a Netflix Video for in-class use?  This article explains that what you would be streaming would not be considered a legal copy.  Due to the user agreement you signed when you subscribed to the service and for Fair Use to apply it must be a legal copy.  Basically when you signed that user agreement you signed away the copyright exceptions.  I recommend reading all user agreements before signing up.  You would be surprised what is actually included in some of them.

I do have one last piece of information to share with you about Netflix.  Please keep in mind that when you access Netflix at work using the Internet at work you need to remember to follow your School's and District's user agreements and guidelines.  When you access Netflix you are accessing your personal account and anything that shows up on your screen will be reflected in your computer usage history.  I would recommend keeping this in mind.  Do you really want to open your personal viewing history to everyone?  This also includes anything that your family and friends have viewed on your account. Personally I do not want anyone to know what I watched last night when I couldn't fall asleep, or what I put on when I binge clean my apartment, nor do they need to know what I spent the weekend binge watching because I was bored.

Things to remember:
1. You are personally responsible for any copyright violations you make
2.  Public performance you need a license for this
3.  What you show must be considered a legal copy for Fair Use to apply
4.  Using personal accounts at work opens them to scrutiny.



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