Proper Email Address Etiquette - Correctly Using To:, CC: & BCC: Addressing | Russ Harvey Consulting

When sending emails with long lists of recipients, it is proper etiquette to remember that everyone values their privacy, even when considering email addresses.  This is why it is important to use the BCC email addressing option when sending emails to more than one person.  What is the difference in TO, CC, and BCC?  Below is a link to a website explaining these in more detail; there is also an example posted below.  Basically the BCC option hides the addresses from view when the recipients receive the message.  Let’s say I am composing an email to several recipients.  The best way to send this email is to place my email address in the TO field and the remainder of the addresses in the BCC field.  This ensures privacy for all receiving your email… just something to think about!

Proper Email Address Etiquette - Correctly Using To:, CC: & BCC: Addressing | Russ Harvey Consulting

Forwarding Email Hoaxes

The weekend is finally here.  We are sitting at home kicked back checking the fifty emails we did not have a chance to check at work today while hearing "Mommy, Mommy" in the background!  What fun!  Among the emails are several that begin with "Fw:" which means someone finds us worthy of recieving a very important forwarded email.  We are touched that our friends and colleagues think of us, yet we eventually realize the email about Walmart giving out free gift cards is actually a hoax.  While we enjoy the forwarded jokes and inspirational messages if time allows, many forwarded emails are quite often fake petitions that need to be signed, baby car seats beside the road luring women for gang initiations that never happened, prayer requests for children who do not even exist, etc.

I thought I would take a few minutes on my blog to introduce Snopes.com.  What is Snopes?  This is the place to go if you have a question about the validity of an email.  Please take a moment to check out this site's credibility by visiting http://www.snopes.com/info/articles.asp.  You will find Snopes has been recognized as a reputable fact-checking service by ABC News, CNN, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Reader's Digest, and many more.  It is so important to check out information in our emails before passing it along.  If you receive an email about a car seat beside the road, simply go to Snopes.com and check it out.  There is a search box at the top to type in the search, and a true or false response is returned with sources cited and the email explained in detail, along with the many variations floating around in cyberspace.  As educated individuals, it is so important to realize that everything in our inbox is not true.  I guess it is the information specialist in me, but I have a strong feeling that if we know the information is false, there is no way we would continue to forward them.

I know that so many of us would be embarassed and feel almost violated once we realize
the email that found its way into our hearts...
the email that took time away from our children to read and forward...
the email that truly tugged at our heartstrings...
the email that resorted to rage and calling up a political official...
the email that brought tears to our eyes...
the very email that we took our precious time to forward to our dearest friends and colleagues...
is actually a hoax that has been circulating since 1975.

Hope you find this information useful in your future emailing!  Have a great weekend!

Storybird...Collaborative Storytime Online

 

I recently found this Web 2.0 tool and could not wait to share.  What is Storybird?  It is a website were you can create imaginative online books with illustrations that are available for others to read instantly.  I see so many possibilities with such a site.  Take a few minutes to look over some of the books that have already been created.  Visit http://storybird.com/tour/ for a tour!

Making Creative Bookmarks

While browsing Service learning projects, I ran across the following website with ideas on some really creative bookmarks and wanted to share! I think it would be great to work with the art teacher to make some of these to spread around the community or even have a Bookmark Center in the media center for those creative helpers who love to come to the media center daily during break and recess.  This would be a great activity for almost any child-centered program.  Some of these could easily go with different themes.

http://www.kidactivities.net/post/Make-Bookmarks-with-Kids.aspx

TITLEWAVE | Follett Library Resources app for Iphone

Remember a few weeks ago when I raved about the new Titlewave app for Iphones?  As a librarian, it is just too convenient!  I went to Disney last week with my family and was able to enjoy many educational centers with my kids.  There we were checking out this really scary-looking tarantula and I looked over and spotted a children’s book called Harry the Tarantula.  It was the cutest book so I was thinking… wouldn’t it be great to purchase this title for our Media Center?  My handy Titlewave app made this task so simple.  So many of the displays included books of interest to elementary-age students.  It was too easy to pull out my Iphone, scan the barcodes on the books my kids could not put down,  and quickly add the titles to a new Disney list I created on my Titlewave account.  How cool is that…and the books are already ordered!  Apps are the future!

TITLEWAVE | Follett Library Resources

Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy? | Crave - CNET

E-book readers are the buzz!  I have had several friends and family members ask which one is better.  There are so many options now varying in style, performance, price, etc.  Check out this website for an updated comparison.  This information was updated just a few weeks ago, and current information is key in making such a decision.  I personally have a Nook Color and do not know how I ever lived without it, but everyone has a different preference.  Talk about a great Christmas gift!!

Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad: Which e-book reader should you buy? | Crave - CNET

We Give Books–Online Books

It has been a few weeks since I last blogged, but school has been super busy lately.  This is an awesome resource for parents and elementary teachers.  This website was created by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation.  “We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a platform for caregivers and educators to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.”  I just love they put this!  We are always striving to create those lifelong readers.  There are around 150 online books with very vivid images.  Teachers…these would be great to use with Smart boards!  There are many places to find online books, but this one has popular titles, as well as some you may not have seen before.  Below is a clip of Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney.  Enjoy and share!

We Give Books - Books