Modern digital scholarship requires faculty to navigate an increasingly complex research and publication world. Liaison librarians are uniquely suited to assist faculty with scholarly communication needs, yet faculty do not identify the library as a provider of these services. Proactive promotion of scholarly communication services by librarians…

This article highlights an inquiry project in an eighth-grade ELA class in a rural middle school. Using the novel "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, we encouraged students to form questions relating the text to the larger world. To begin the unit, students participated in three anchor activities over a three-week period. Students blogged…

This report introduces connected learning, a promising educational approach supported by the MacArthur Foundation and the Digital Learning Media (DLM) initiative that schools and out-of-school sites are adopting to enhance student learning and outcomes by connecting their education to their interests. Connected learning uses digital media to…

More districts realize that communicating in a clear and engaging way with stakeholders about everything from the district's overall education vision to scholastic and extracurricular success stories can go a long way toward enlisting broad community support. And although face-to-face communications are still important, technology provides a…

In communities including New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Chicago, educators are creating alternative schools for struggling students that employ online credit-recovery programs as a core portion, or all, of their curriculum. The growth in online learning generally, including blended learning, has fueled the proliferation of computer-based credit…

The face of reading is changing, and it is happening at a much faster rate than most people had imagined. Where is it all going? What factors are driving the most significant developments? And what role do librarians play in this rapidly evolving world? These are some of the key questions that stakeholders--including educators, publishers,…

Textbooks are an essential, but increasingly expensive part of obtaining a college degree. Digital textbooks are a promising way to lower costs for students. The digital format has the potential to cut production costs, increase options for students, and open up the market to more competition. Digital textbooks are now beginning to gain a more…

Some regions are prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or earthquakes. Other tragedies, such as fires or acts of violence, can occur just about anywhere. Regardless of the specific type of disaster, schools and universities must be prepared to cope with crises that can disrupt operations, destroy facilities, and displace students and staff.…

Scott McLeod says the great sin in the way professional development is provided in this country is one of omission. On his blog, McLeod, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University and the coordinator of the department's Educational Administration Program, writes, "Most of our…

Online learning is evolving into much more than discussions via Blackboard. Today's online learners are spending time engaged in discussions, meeting in virtual classrooms, and combining online and on-the-ground learning, even if they live time zones away from campus. In response, universities are adjusting their curriculum, learning expectations,…

Since its humble beginning, Digital Past, a centralized local history digitization initiative at the North Suburban Library System (NSLS), a multitype consortium in Wheeling, Illinois, has now grown into a large centralized collaboration that consists of 32 libraries and a museum as its primary contributors. With Digital Past, there are various…

Describes how Illinois libraries are promoting awareness and ease of access to government documents and services. Electronic products, select bibliographies, sources of foreign country information for businesses, dealing with electronically published information, and classification of Illinois documents are among the topics covered in this…

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate the ways faculty at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign use Networked Information Sources And Services to support their research task. Library and Information Sciences faculty at the University of Illinois were chosen as…