Thing 10, Week 5

Here's the link to my poster I made with BigHugeLabs. It was pretty easy to use. My problem was deciding WHAT to do!! I decided to use a quick idea from the PaLA workshop last week with the theme being how to sustain your library in tough economic times. One of the ideas the presenter shared was how we can consider promoting our libraries like a company promotes a product. One of the easiest, most effective ways to sell a product is to put "new and improved" on the packaging. One of the libraries he works with put a huge banner across the upper corner of the outside of the building with those exact words - "New and Improved!" They had people coming in the library just to see what was new...obviously the new books and materials were displayed and presented, but the most important factor they stressed to everyone walking through the door was that the entire staff had a new outlook and commitment to service. (I know, I'm supposed to be concentrating on my technology experience rather than why I chose to do what I did, but I thought this was a great, simple idea and could be applied to ANY library.)

For this project, I garnered a picture from APImages through Power Library (AccessPA). It was easy to upload it with step-by-step instructions on the site. Then I just added my words. These types of sites are great for kids needing graphics, posters, or any type of pictorial materials to add to a project, academic or otherwise. I really like that sites like Flickr, APImages, etc. take care of the copyright issues especially when it comes to educational projects.

Link to image
http://bighugelabs.com/photos/f0929acdacfcf024bd0c521c9736fdcb/motivator6c4a9b50039e376ba1bac49768888cfd1df8efc4

Link to site
http://www.bighugelabs.com/

I checked out the link for educators: http://bighugelabs.com/education.php
It's really cool that BigHugeLabs makes it possible for educators to use this with their students. Most sites require an email address for ID and verification which a website is not permitted to ask for relating to anyone under 14. The educator's link allows a teacher to register their students without an email address!