Yoga and Pilates are everywhere these days, and it's no wonder. Innumerable medical studies have shown that yoga and Pilates not only help people improve their fitness levels and slim down but also help them to alleviate asthma symptoms, manage arthritis and carpel tunnel pain, decrease cardiovascular risk factors, and improve one's emotional…

The medical community understands surprisingly little about autism, referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), because its symptoms can range from severe to a high-functioning autism, known as Asperger's syndrome. There's general agreement that a genetic predisposition coupled with unknown environmental triggers may explain what's behind it,…

In the digital era, information literacy skills enable users to locate and use online materials effectively. One persistent library service for libraries is providing skills training to students. This article traces the creation of online library instructional tutorials, currently referred to as digital learning objects, in academic libraries. It…

In this article, the author talks about the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL), an online digital library which gives students an opportunity to read and learn about other cultures and countries in a different way. The library's web site (http://www.icdlbooks.org) was designed by children, with the guidance and expertise of adults.…

The resource typologies proposed in the new standard, "Resource Description and Access" (RDA), are evaluated in the context of a particular university library catalogue through two card-sort exercises. Although it was found that end-users recognised the content and carrier aspects of the resource types as listed in RDA, they did not…

This article presents K-12 motivational strategies that focus on different ideas school library media specialists can use to gain and sustain attention in the research topic. Some have come from recent submissions to the S.O.S. database of lesson plans and teaching ideas. A student-directed searching activity for college level library instruction…

Developing lifelong readers is integral to the role of the librarian. Facilitating, encouraging, and promoting reading is not an add-on to the job. Consider the role librarians play in developing readers in school. They know they are contributors; they must make sure the school community is aware of their valuable role in supporting the five…

Since libraries first used RFID systems in the late 1990s, more and more libraries have identified the advantages of the technology. With advances in HF and UHF RFID, both alternatives are now viable in library applications. While some librarians are still skeptical towards UHF RFID as unproven in the library arena, the City University of Hong…

Large-scale projects such as the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) send out crawlers to gather snapshots of much of the web. This massive collection of archived websites may include content of interest to one's patrons. But if librarians want to control exactly when and what is archived, relying on someone else to do the archiving is not ideal.…

From Web guides to online tutorials, academic librarians are increasingly experimenting with many different technologies in order to meet the needs of today's growing distance education populations. In this article, the author discusses one librarian's experience using Camtasia Studio to create subject specific video tutorials. Benefits, as well…

"Moodle[TM]," an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is an open source software package that teachers can use to produce Internet-based courses and Web sites. "Open source" basically means that it is copyrighted, but it can be used at no cost as long as the user agrees to provide the source to others. "Moodle[TM]" can…

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has a long history of leadership as an important membership organization serving the research library community. A reading of its history highlights a substantial shift in its methods of community leadership in recent decades. Historically, like most membership organizations, ARL was largely focused on…

This article features an open letter written by the author to her school library media colleagues, applauding those who are providing informative and interesting staff development activities for teachers, administrators, and their library media peers. She reminds her colleagues about their role in staff development and not to underestimate the…

"Digital Literacy in Higher Education, Part II: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief" is a follow-up to the 2016 strategic brief, supported by Adobe, which explored an increasingly pressing challenge for United States higher education institutions: advancing digital literacy among students and faculty. This second edition aims to…

For over 30 years, the Department has published the Annual Condition of Education (COE) report in order to provide education stakeholders quality information about the status of Iowa's education system. The 2020 COE covers a wide variety of content from information about Iowa's students, schools, educators, administrators, performance and school…