Teens and the Internet...these days it seems that they go together as naturally as peanut butter and jelly. And while the Internet is full of wonderful things and useful information, it also has its share of potential dangers. Stories of Internet predators fill the news, causing parents of teens to worry about the safety of their teens on the Internet. Mix in excessive advertising, cyber-bullying, and the potential effects on teens' reputations and it can be hard to remember that the Internet isn't all bad.

According to the latest Pew Internet and Life Study--Parents, Teens, and Online Privacy 81% of parents of online teens say they are concerned about how much information advertisers can learn about their child's online behavior; 72% of parents of online teens are concerned about how their child interacts online with people they do not know; and 69% of parents of online teens are concerned about how their child manages his or her reputation online.

Ask a teen though about internet safety or cyber-bullying, and you might end up getting rolling eyes and a standard "I know all about it, I'm not stupid" response. That doesn't mean the topic isn't worth revisiting with them.

Digital footprints are virtual tracks that everyone leaves behind when posting information online. Photographs posted on Flickr, the personal information added to Facebook, the book reviews or comments on blogs or other websites - all of these leave a footprint of where they've have been, information about what they think, and details about who they are. Details that other people online can also see.

Does all this mean teens should avoid the Internet? Of course not, it just means that they need to be aware of the risks and take steps while online to keep themselves, and others around them, safe.

As a librarian, how can you help make sure teens are safe online? There are a number of online resources available to help both parents and teens broach this subject:

For Parents and Teens:

Help Guide: Bullying and Cyber Bullying

Netsmartz for Teens and Tweens

Uses comics and videos to explain how to use the internet safely and avoid cyber-bullies and predators.

On Guard Online

Offers tips for parents and teens on a variety of online risks and how to make safe responsible choices.

Especially for Teens:

 That's Not Cool

Your cell phone, IM, and online profile are all digital extensions of who you are. When someone you're with pressures or disrespects you in those places, that's not cool. That's Not Cool provides tools to help you draw your digital line.

Make sure Internet safety information and resources like these are available both on the library's website, as well as in brochure form in the teen area of the library. You could even take it a step further and hold informational workshops for parents and teens. Netsmartz.org, OnGuardOnline.gov both offer free educator and librarian kits that can be used for workshops. YALSA also offers a free online toolkit [http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/professionaltools/Handouts/sn_toolkit11.pdf] that offers programming ideas and examples of social media sites.

Finally, be sure to listen. Many teens if they are having a problem feel awkward talking to their parents. Let them know that you are also a trusted adult and that they should feel comfortable coming to you if they need help with cyber-bullying or Internet safety.

There has been a lot of interest in the media lately about 3D printers - President Obama even mentioned them in his State of the Union address. The staff at Cranston Public Library was interested to learn more about this emerging technology, and on March 5, James Rutter of AS220 Labs came to the Central library to demonstrate how 3D printers worked. The program was held as part of the library's 2-13 Teen Tech Week celebration. The $250 program fee was covered by a legislative grant from Senator Hanna Gallo.

Rutter has worked as the manager of AS220 labs for two and a half years. He brought a MakerBot FDM printer along, and attendees watched as it printed out a small plastic squirrel. He described the smell emanating from the printer while it worked as "like cooked waffles".

"The hardest part of using a regular printer is writing the paper. When you want to print, you just click a button and your paper prints out," he explained as he passed around an item that hadn't printed properly. "With a 3D printer, you're slowly building up and out. You have to think about how gravity affects your print. Sometimes you have to troubleshoot or think about how you want to print something. "

Rutter said that just a few years ago, using and maintaining a 3D printer was an arduous, expensive, and very technical process. As the printers have become more mainstream, they have become easier to use and troubleshoot. There are elements of engineering and math involved in designing projects. He gave an overview of some of the programs that are used to design 3D printer projects.

SketchUp is free program can make models for 3D printers. Because the user interacts with shapes and "sculpts" the model on the computer screen, this is a good program for visual learners.

OpenSCAD takes a different approach from SketchUp.  This free program uses a text editor and a lot of geometry and trigonometry. The user inputs code for shapes, radius, and height and the model appears on the screen.

Items printed on AS220's 3D printer

The programs mentioned above create something from scratch, which Rutter said can be intimidating. 123D Catch is a free program that requires a digital camera. You can take photos of whatever you want to make a 3D model of. "Walk all around your friend and take 40 different photos," said Rutter. "Gather different perspectives. Then upload the photos and 123D catch will give you a model."

The MakerBot printer company's Thingiverse website has a dedicated community of users who share their project plans online. The class browsed the website to choose a simple item that they would print in the second week of the program. This was idea for the purposes of a library program because users can download models and just print - there's no need to design.  It allows you to jump right in and get experience using your printer before you tackle the modeling. Rutter compared it to a Lego kit because the projects come with parts and instructions. Users can design customizable models or customize other peoples' models

Once a project is modeled, users download printing software. ReplicatorG is a free download that allows you to generate your modeling code so you can send it to the machine and print.

 Part two of the 3D printer workshop is scheduled for March 26. We are looking forward to seeing which projects the teen choose and learning more about the process of 3D printing. As of now, no public libraries in Rhode Island offer 3D printers to the public to my knowledge. But interest in this technology is growing at a rapid pace, and the machines will continue to become more readily available and affordable in the future. This would be a great way to incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) elements into library programming.   

The Rhode Island Early Learning Standards provide guidance to families, teachers and administrators on what children should know and be able to do as they enter kindergarten. They are intended to be inclusive of all children, recognizing that children meet the standards at different times and in different ways. www.ride.ri.gov.

A group of parents, and early childhood experts worked with RIDE to design a family resource, Fun Family Activities for Preschoolers which is filled with enjoyable ways to support the development of learning of preschool children. The activities in the eight sections of the FFAP are based on the RI Early Learning Standards and are designed to help children develop skills for school success. Where do children's librarians come into the mix?

One way is to become a certified facilitator through RIDE.I attended the training when it was offered last year to librarians in partnership with Rhode Island Parent Information Network. It was a fast paced hands on training where we covered a lot of ground over a short period of time having fun along the way.We were trained to work with parents of preschoolers focusing on specific ways to support their child in the eight domains. As children's librarians who work with preschoolers on a weekly basis, we are familiar with their interests, favorite stories and creative energy. Through story hours and other programming we have the good fortune of experiencing the joy found within this dynamic age group.

Over the course of the six weeks of meeting with the adult learners we focused on learning about each domain, reviewed relevant research and experienced creative and fun ways to support their child's learning in each area through home and community activities. A major piece of the training is to build upon our understanding that children learn best through play.

Each participant receives a color coordinated set of FFAP cards that are chock full of information which we refer to throughout the training. Each domain is featured with tips for parents, games, experiments, craft ideas and best of all a list of books the children will enjoy.

As the weeks moved on we became more comfortable with each other as we tried some science experiments, danced, read stories and played with blocks. Another huge component of the workshops is creating individualized Family Treasure Boxes which reflect each family's unique culture and values.

My favorite part of the training was getting to know the parents as they shared their family traditions and warm memories of the books they were read to as children .I admired their dedication in attending the workshop despite the challenges of meeting early on a Friday morning after getting their kids off to school. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with very talented co -facilitators from the local Head Start which is where the training took place. We worked well together dividing up the responsibilities and resources we each brought to the table.

I am delighted that I decided to take a leap and check out a new way to reach out into the community.   

NoveList is a database that is EBSCOhost's answer to a Reader's Advisory for fiction and narrative non-fiction books. NoveList first tempts the patron with a picture-list of current bestselling novels and offers recommendations based on the themes, subjects, genres, or series of those novels. Books can be searched if title, author or other information is known, or "best of" lists can be browsed based on genre. NoveList also has lists of "read-alikes" for those who want to read books similar to a particular title of book or author. Patrons can also find those "read-alikes" based on series as well as finding a complete list of a published series (ever need to find Book 1 of a series?). Any of the lists that are generated through NoveList can be reduced using limiters based on the reader's preferences such as audience (age range), publication date, if there are reviews available, if the book is an award winner, or if it's a forthcoming novel.

Books are tagged with different informational categories in order to define the pace (fast-paced) of the book, the tone (romantic, suspenseful, upbeat), the writing style (compelling), the type of storyline (action-packed, plot-driven), or the genre (urban fantasy, first-person narrative) among other categories. Each of these categories are additionally linked to more lists of suggestions for books that fall into those categories.

A link is available in a NoveList book entry that connects the patron with the Ocean State Library catalog which shows the availability of the book within the Rhode Island library system. It also provides links to reviews for each book that can be found on GoodReads.com; a social website that allows people to build "bookshelves" of their reading lists and share those lists and reviews with their friends.

The Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) is in the process of revising the Minimum Standards for Rhode Island Public Libraries. The Library Board of Rhode Island (LBRI), OLIS' advisory body, created an ad hoc committee to oversee the revision of the Standards. Members of the Standards Committee are: Brigitte Hopkins, Chair, Aaron Couto, Ken Findlay, Ed Garcia, Joan Ress Reeves, Tom Viall, Howard Boksenbaum, and Donna DiMichele.

You can find a copy of the draft Standards on the OLIS website. PDF The Standards have been revised with an eye toward becoming more measurable and to reflect clearer objectives. The total number of Standards in the proposed draft has been reduced from 54 to 23. The library community and others are being invited to give feedback on the proposed Standards.

Take a survey!

The LBRI Standards Committee has posted a survey which allows respondents to comment on each of the proposed Standards or to simply choose from one of three responses: Agree / Neutral / Disagree. Members of the library community are encouraged to share the survey tool with public library trustees, city/town officials, and other stakeholders who have an interest in the outcomes linked to the revised Standards. Public libraries will have to certify compliance with the new standards on July 1, 2014 as part of their application for grant-in-aid for FY2015. The survey closes on March 22, 2013. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Minimum_Standards_for_RI_Public_Libraries  

Monday, April 08, 2013
2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
CCRI - Warwick Campus, Board Room, #4090

Presenter(s)/Discussion Leader(s): Dr. Cheryl McCarthy, Professor, School Library Media Program & Information Literacy Certification - Coordinator, GSLIS at Harrington School, URI Mary MacDonald, Professor, University Library, Head of Instruction, Information Literacy Librarian. Ed Garcia, Library Director at Cranston Public Library. Jennifer Thomas, Director of Library and Technology Integration at Bishop Stang High School. Amanda Richman, Public Services Librarian, Rhode Island Hospital/Lifespan

Roundtable sessions:

1. Are You Ready for the Common Core?
2. Information Literacy Continuum K-16
3. Free & Cool Tech Tools
4. Finding and Evaluating Health Information
5. Marketing Your Invisible Resources, Databases (AskRI)

Information Literacy and Inquiry/Reference Services are of increasing importance to patrons of all ages in all types of libraries. Join the OLIS Multi-type Library Reference Advisory Group for a keynote presentation and roundtable discussions that will bring together school, public, academic, and special library staff to learn and share ideas about best practices and future applications to enhance and connect these valuable services across all Rhode Island libraries.

Registration required.
Intended Audience: Open to all library staff.