Media matters, Vol. 5, Issue 2 (Sept. 2006)

Media Matters

Volume 5, Number 2 September 2006

New Georgia Encyclopedia

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is a free online resource with authoritative entries in twenty-six subject categories covering Georgia's history and culture. Among the categories are environment, history, literature, music, sports, government and politics, science, and folklife. In addition to approximately 1,600 articles, the NGE includes archival and original media clips, audio clips, and thousands of photographs that also help tell each story.
The site is easy to navigate, and there are different ways to find content: using the search box, browsing the tree of categories, or viewing the alphabetical index of article titles.
The NGE is a reliable source of information for students, teachers, parents, and anyone interested in learning about Georgia. Entries are written by scholars and professional writers, and every article is reviewed thoroughly, copy edited, fact checked by college reference librarians, final edited, and proofread. Updates to the site are made weekly.
Students can find not only information relevant to course work but also articles that may expand on the assigned topic. It's easy for a motivated student to follow links within NGE articles that can lead to serendipitous discoveries.
The NGE has received several awards, including "Best Reference Source on the Web" by Library Journal; History in the Media Award, given by the Georgia Historical Society; and "Excellence in Documenting Georgia's History," awarded by the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board.
The NGE is a project of the Georgia Humanities Council, in partnership with GALILEO/University System of Georgia, the University of Georgia Press, the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education, and the Office of the Governor. Because of the extraordinary commitment of the project partners, the NGE is stable, secure, and well supported. It will always be available to users.

Inside this issue:

Ga. Peach Award

2

Decatur Book Festival

2

ETTC News

3

Student Advisory Team

3

1st District RESA/ETTC

4

Banned Books

5

Georgia Council for the

6

Arts Grants

Woodrow Wilson

8

book

GALILEO Rocks!

9

Conferences/

10

Meetings

September Calendar 11

www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

--Kelly Caudle, NGE

PAGE 2

MEDIA MATTERS

Spotlight on the Georgia Peach award
Day of Tears by Julius Lester. A novel based on the story of the largest slave auction in
American history. The auction took place in Savannah, Georgia, over a two day period. When the auction began, there was a torrential downpour. The rain stopped a few minutes after the auction ended. Through flashbacks and flash forwards in shifting first-person narratives, readers travel with Emma, a slave girl sold that day, and others through time.
2006 Coretta Scott King Award Winner 2006 Capitol Choice Noteworthy Book for Children VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle Grade Readers 2006 Cooperative Children's Book Center Best-of-the-Best List Boston Authors Club Finalist for Young Readers Booklist Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth Booklist Editor's Choice 2005 Booklist Top Ten Black History Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2005 New York Public Library 100 Books for Reading and Sharing 2005
http://members.authorsguild.net/juliuslester/works.htm

D e c at ur b o o k f e s t i va l S e p t e m b e r 1 -3 !

The Decatur Book Festival has everything you can find at other book festivals, plus much, much more. Here are some of the highlights:

A children's stage featuring interactive activities and presentations by top authors and illustra-

tors
Live music performed by nationally touring musicians

Cooking demonstrations by noted cookbook authors An opening day Children's Parade led by the Cat in the

http://www.decaturbookfestival.com

Hat

A dramatic reading of Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham

by Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd

A Youth Poetry Slam, for kids 12-18 years old

A Poetry Slam for adults

The annual conference of the Georgia Antiquarian Booksellers Association, including opportu-

nities to examine and buy collectible books. Bring in your own books for appraisal.

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2
News from ETTC: The KSU-ETTC has posted its fall schedule. http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/course/reg17.htm
Expand your mind (for free!) We've started posting podcasts! Please see our main page (http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/) and click on Podcasts at the bottom of the menu on the left.

PAGE 3
"Books and ideas are the most effective weapons against intolerance and ignorance."--Lyndon Johnson

We're Looking for a few good kids!
State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox is accepting applications for the 2006-2007 Student Advisory Council. The members of the Student Advisory Council meets 4 times during the school year with the Superintendent to discuss how state level decisions are affecting students throughout Georgia. Members are advisors and act as liaisons between the Georgia Department of Education and the students of Georgia.
All students in grades 9-12 are eligible to apply. Meeting dates are: October 16, 2006, December 4,2006, February 12, 2007, and April 16, 2007.
(Dates are tentative and subject to change). Applicants should be able to attend all four meetings.
To be eligible for the Council, applications must be received by September 8, 2006. Encourage your students (especially those avid Library Media Center users) to submit an application.
Here are the URLs so that you can find more information and the application form: http://www.gadoe.org/pea_communications.aspx?ViewMode=1&obj=1226
http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/Student%20Advisory%20Application.pdf?p=6CC679 9F8C1371F64897FC110089C9483BE55FEBD3F99171150F4E16E974FC3A&Type=D

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MEDIA MATTERS

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2
More than a b ook a day challenged

PAGE 5

Banned Books Week marks 25th anniversary September 23-30
(CHICAGO) More than a book a day faces expulsion from free and open public access in U.S. schools and libraries every year. There have been more than 8,700 attempts since the ALA began electronically compiling and publishing information on book challenges in 1990.
Twenty-five years after the first observance of Banned Books Week, more than 1,000 people stayed past 1 a.m. debating a request to remove nine books - including "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison - from a Chicagoland school district. The books were ultimately retained.
"Forever" by Judy Blume was one of more than 70 titles a Fayetteville, Ark. mother requested be removed in 2005. Twenty-five years earlier, the book was restricted in the Park Hill (Mo.) South Junior High School library because the book promotes "the stranglehold of humanism on life in America."
"Throughout history, there always have been a few people who don't want information to be freely available. And this is still true," said ALA President Leslie Burger. "The reason more books aren't banned is because community residents - with librarians, teachers and journalists - stand up and speak out for their freedom to read. Banned Books Week reminds us that we must remain vigilant."
Bookstores and libraries around the country will celebrate the freedom to read with exhibits, readings and special events during Banned Books Week, September 23-30, 2006. First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. City Lit Theater in Chicago and ALA will kick off the week with theatrical readings from recently challenged books September 24. The ALA also will participate in a virtual panel discussion with author Chris Crutcher ("Whale Talk") and 15 high schools on September 25. Participants will hear about Crutcher's experiences as a frequently challenged author, learn more about the history of book banning in the United States and examine contemporary issues in intellectual freedom and access to information.
There were 405 known attempts to remove books in 2005. Challenges are defined as formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. About 70 percent of challenges take place in schools and school libraries. According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.
"We are as busy as we've ever been in fighting censorship attempts in schools and libraries," Krug said. "Libraries are no longer simply about books - but also about DVDs, videogames and online information."
Robie Harris' "It's Perfectly Normal" was the most challenged book of last year. Rounding out the top five most challenged books in 2005 were:
"Forever" by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
"The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language; and
"Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language.
Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the ALA, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

From American Libraries Direct: http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2006/august2006/bbw06.htm Reprinted by permission.

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MEDIA MATTERS

Georgia Council for the Arts Arts Education Granting Opportunities:
Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) Grant Pa r e n t Te a ch e r A r t i s t s ( P TA ) G ra n t Deadline October 13, 2006

Research has proven that students with high levels of arts participation outperform by virtually every measure those students in a school that is "arts poor." Given that arts participation is highly correlated to socioeconomic status, this research is not surprising. However, research also shows that high arts participation makes a more significant difference to students from low-income backgrounds than for their high-income counterparts. Further, the research demonstrates that sustained involvement in particular art forms music and theatre is highly correlated to success in mathematics and reading.

But most importantly, research proves that learning in the arts has significant positive effects on learning in other domains.

Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) Grant
GCA's TPL Grant is designed to fund professional development activities for Georgia's K-12 teachers and professional staff in curriculum-based arts integration, which is training in the use of the arts as a teaching tool in the instruction of other academic subjects.
ELIGIBILITY
Any certified K-12 Georgia teacher or professional staff (i.e., Principal, Arts Specialists, Curriculum Coordinators) registering for an arts integration program at an approved Georgia nonprofit arts organization that specializes in a single discipline, whether dance, music, theatre, literary, or visual arts, in the Teacher-toProvider grant type. Any K-12 Georgia school contracting with a Georgia nonprofit, single-discipline arts organization (dance, music, theatre, literary, or visual arts) to provide arts integration training at the school, in the Provider-to-School grant type.
AWARD TPL Grant requires no matching funds. The award is for a maximum of $200/per participating teacher or staff, whether a Teacher-to-Provider or Provider-to-School grants type.
DEADLINE The application deadline for the TPL Grant is October 13, 2006. The Guidelines for eligibility and the complete instructions for both the electronic and narrative portions of the application are available at . Contact Debora Ott, Arts Education Manager or 404/685-2795 with questions.
Continued on next page

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2

PAGE 7

Parent Teacher Artists Grant
Research has demonstrated that students attain higher levels of achievement through engagement in the arts and that parental involvement has a positive impact on a child's success in school. Further, arts participation makes more of a difference to students from low-income backgrounds than their counterparts from higher income backgrounds. The arts provide learning opportunities for the adults in the lives of students and connect learning experiences to the real world for the students.
PTA Grant has been developed as a collaboration between partnering organizations and schools (K-5 only in the pilot year FY2007) to engage students and their parents/families in hands-on arts education activities. At least two partnering organizations must participate, one must be a parent/family organization and the other must be an arts organization, whether community-based or professional.
ELIGIBILITY Applicant must: be a Georgia K-5 public, private, or parochial school on behalf of a K-5 classroom or group of classrooms that has scheduled the arts activities for either after school or weekend programs.
AWARD The PTA Grant is for up to $3,000 and requires a one-third match.
PTA Grant awards may be used to fund the following expenditures: Fees paid for arts programming activities, such as artists' fees and tickets or admissions to arts organizations (i.e. art museums or theatre/concert performances), activity-related costs, such as transportation to arts venues and art supplies for the hands-on activities. Child-care costs for parents participating in the arts programming with their child, who need child-care services for younger siblings, are also allowable. The applicant must show the necessity of this expenditure by providing the school's numbers for free and/or reduced lunch program students. Preference will be given to schools using communitybased organizations that provide child-care services, such as the local Y, churches, or United Way organizations.
The PTA Grant award may not be used to fund the following expenditures, though they may be funded through cash or in-kind donations or discretionary funds: Payment to parents for their participation in the project, teacher per session or per diem reimbursements, and artist residencies during the school day.

DEADLINE
The application deadline for the Parent Teacher Artists Grant is October 13, 2006. The Guidelines for eligibility and the complete instructions for both the electronic and narrative portions of the application are available at . Contact Debora Ott, Arts Education Manager or 404/685-2795 with questions.

PAGE 8
The names of the two stone lions in front of the New York Public Library are Patience and Fortitude. They were named by then-mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

MEDIA MATTERS

Pre-order New Book About President Woodrow Wilson and His Georgia Connections
The much anticipated book by Erick D. Montgomery of Historic Augusta, Inc., Thomas Woodrow Wilson: Family Ties and Southern Perspectives is scheduled to be published by the end of this year in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of Wilson's birth. The publication aims to be the definitive edition on the subject of President Woodrow Wilson's boyhood and his connections in Georgia. It will explore the family and individuals with whom he associated, the influences that shaped him, and the Augusta manse in which he lived longer than any other house for the rest of his life.
Pre-order copies of the book today for your school! Thomas Woodrow Wilson: Family Ties and Southern Perspectives will be an excellent addition to every media center in Georgia and throughout the United States. Both soft bound and a limited edition of hard bound copies will be available. Soft bound books will cost $14.95 plus tax and hard bound books will cost $29.95 plus tax. Please contact Julia Jackson at Historic Augusta, Inc. by e-mail at julia@historicaugusta.org or via telephone at (706) 724-0436 to obtain an order form or for more information.

Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat, or fly into the future. Jim Bishop

VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2
What's New in GALILEO

PAGE 9

Quick Search
If you haven't visited the GALILEO home page for a while, you'll be surprised to find the big Quick Search box taking up the real estate in the middle of the page. Quick search is a federated search tool from the vendor WebFeat that allows a user to launch a search across sets of databases from a search box on the GALILEO home page.

Users can select to search in categories that match the subject tab categories--Arts and Humanities, Medicine and Health, Social Sciences--or they can search in the default General Topics category. The General Topics category for K-12 users includes those databases most appropriate for K-12 students, including SIRS Discoverer and Researcher (Knowledge Source), Encyclopaedia Britannica Online School Edition, MAS Ultra, Middle Search Plus, Grove Art Online, Kids Infobits, and Newspaper Source. For more refined searching, an Advanced Search page is available.

Having Quick Search on the GALILEO home page doesn't mean you can't still go directly to a favorite database. In fact, sometimes choosing to use the database's native interface will be preferable to choosing Quick Search. Individual databases offer many features that are not offered in Quick Search, such as the "Leading Issues" resource in SIRS Researcher or the ability to limit by format (newspaper, magazine, book, etc.) in SIRS and EBSCO databases.

Journals A-Z and Citation Linker
If you need to know which database indexes a particular journal, you no longer need to search each database to find it. Just click on the link to "Journals A-Z and Citation Linker" and enter the name of the journal you are looking for. If you have access to the journal through a GALILEO database, you will be taken to the title's publication page where you can link to articles in individual issues or set up an alert to be notified when a new issue is added to the database. You can also locate a journal using the alphabetical browse function.

Citation Linker allows you to link to specific articles by entering some key information from a citation. This feature will be useful for students as well as for educators working on advanced degrees.

The launch of Quick Search and Journals A-Z and Citation Linker completes the first phase of a three-year upgrade to GALILEO. In the next phase of the project, GALILEO staff will work with groups from the K-12, public library, and academic library consortia to customize the GALILEO environment for each audience. For the next two years, the GALILEO interface for the K-12 community will be undergoing changes as enhancements based on the habits and needs of the users are integrated.
Karen Minton Virtual Services Librarian, GALILEO Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

PAGE 10

MEDIA MATTERS
Don't Miss these Conferences and meetings

como
September 20-22 Athens www.gacomo.org http://www.georgiacomo.org/
NECC
June 24-27, 2007 Atlanta http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2007/

GaETC
November 15-17 Atlanta
http://www.gaetc.org/
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 1970 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Phone: 404-657-9800 Fax: 404-657-6822
Email: jserrite@doe.k12.ga.us
We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.

Regional meetings/consortiums

National Science Center ETTC Media Consortium
Augusta
September 13, 2006

Pioneer RESA Media Consortium Cleveland September 29, 2006

Dalton ETTC Media Consortium Dalton October 19, 2006

First District Consortium Brooklet September 25, 2006

Northwest Georgia RESA Media Consortium
Teasley Middle in Cherokee County
October 12, 2006

September 2006

GaDOE Library Media Services

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

August S M TW T F S
12345 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Wednesday

Thursday

October S M TW T F S
1234567 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Friday

Saturday

1

2

Germany invades The Great Fire of

Poland

London breaks

beginning

out destroying

World War II: most ofthe city:

1939

1666

Who is Edgar Who is Christa

Rice Burroughs? McAuliff?

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Birthday ofAliki: 1929-

Richard Wright 1st Continental born: 1908-1960 Congress meets: 1774

President McKinley shot by an assassin: 1901

Grandma Moses' birthday: 18601961

Birthday ofJon Scieszka: 1954-
Jack Prelutsky born: 1940-

Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy is born: 1828
U.S. Civil Rights Act: 1957

10
Roy Doty born: 1922-

11
2001: Terrorists hijack 4 commercial airliners

12 13 14 15 16

Jess e Owens

Roald Dahl born:

born: 1913-1980 1916-1990

Russians launch

1st rocket to

moon: 1959

Francis Scott Key writes the StarSpangled Banner: 1814

Birthday ofTomie dePaola: 1934-

H.A. Rey born: 1898-1977

17 18 19 20 21 22

Who is David Birthday of

Arthur Rackman Birthday ofSue The Hobbit by

Souter?

Samuel Johnson: born: 1867-1939 Ellen Bridgers: J.R.R. Tolkien is

Who is William 1709-1784

WilliamGolding 1942-

published: 1937

Carlos Williams? U.S. Air Force

born: 1911-1993 Upton Sinclair is

began: 1947

born: 1878-1968

Autumn begins!

23
Lewis & Clark complete their expedition: 1806

24 25

Who is F. Scott Birthday of

Fitzgerald?

William

Wilson Rawls

Faulkner:

born: 1913-1984 1897-1962

26 27 28

Who is T.S. Eliot? Who was Thomas Nas t?

Birthday of Confucious: 551-479 B.C.
Kate Douglas Wiggin born: 1856-1923

29 30

Stan Berenstain born: 1923-
U.S. Army established: 1789

What did Truman Capote write?

No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot. Charles Dic kens in Our Mutual Friend.