Library Guides from the State Library

Librarians from the State Library of Victoria have put together some Library guides on a range of different subject areas in order to help people with their research. These are pretty much to guide you through the research process in order to shorten the time you spend searching for information. The guides will help you find books, pictures, maps, documents, newspapers and online tools and resources to help you with your research.

The following is just a small selection of the types of guides that have been created:
1. Aboriginal people and the law
2. Bushfires
3. Court cases in Australia
4. How to find items in Newspapers
5. Magic and magicians
6. Victorian immigration and emigration
7. Water
8. Protest, advocacy and dissent in Victoria
9. Adoption and forgotten Australians
10. Finding poetry

There are also 28 other guides on a range of topics. You can see the entire list here.

Pinterest

You might have already heard of Pinterest, a social media platform which is becoming more and more popular. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard, where you can share images that you like. These can be from websites you like, or from your own collection, and link back to the website where they came from. You can create boards on any subject or theme you choose, or search through other people's boards which could be on subjects relevant and interesting to you. You can also re-pin other people's favourites to your own boards.

One of the most attractive things about Pinterest is that it's purely visual - you can't save text-only content, only material with images attached. The picture you 'pin' then acts as a link back to the main page that it came from. This means it's perfect for gathering items together like a scrapbook.

Some of the most popular collections are in themes like historical fashion and home design. There's also lots and lots of recipes on there too!

But if you spend a little more time (once you tear yourself away from the yummy looking food) and dig a little deeper you'll soon find some great teaching materials and activities (search in the Education category or look up your particular topic). You'll be able to find everything from historic photos of Victorian London or World War 1, to images of historical shoes or fashions, or wildlife and botanical drawings. You'll also find that Pinterest is a great image repository, link sharing community and an easy-to-use site for students or classes to quickly gather and assemble project materials on a huge range of topics.

National Geographic: Stock your palette

National Geographic Stock is a great way to find photos or pictures which are available for you, or your students to use. The photos on NG Stock are royalty free, which means that you won't have to worry about copyright - these are all copyright free!

One way to search for photos on NG Stock is to use the cute colour wheel which is located on the home page - this gives you a sample of photos in the colour range of your choice. All you have to do is click on the colour you like and a range of photos will come up. If you have something more specific in mind that you want to search for though, you can always use the search bar on the right hand side of the screen. All you have to do here is type in what you would like to search for and click Explore.

Love and Devotion: from Persia and beyond exhibition

The State Library of Victoria has a free exhibition Love and devotion: from Persia and beyond  from 9 March until 1 July 2012,  celebrating the beauty of Persian manuscripts and the stories of human and divine love told through their pages from the early 11th century on.

Romantic tales were copied and sometimes reinterpreted over time, and reached far beyond the borders of Iran. The universal themes of Persian narrative and mystical poetry appealed especially to audiences in Mughal India and Ottoman Turkey, and eventually to audiences in the West. Transcending time and place, these stories continue to resonate today and to be retold through contemporary literature and popular culture.
The idea of Persia has long fascinated Western minds. From the Middle Ages on, knowledge of Persia gradually expanded as a result of increased contact through trade, travel and diplomacy. Writers in Europe, such as Chaucer, Dante and Shakespeare, reflected this understanding in the parallels with Persian literature and shared symbolism evident in their plays, poetry and prose.

Love and devotion showcases a rich selection of manuscripts from the world-renowned collection of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, along with rare works from the State Library of Victoria and other Australian collections.

If interested, the link is http://exhibitions.slv.vic.gov.au/love-and-devotion  The site also includes audio excerpts of poetry you can listen to (read by Helen Morse).

-Tina-

Kony 2012

I wanted to share a video with you that Jenny sent an email out about yesterday. While it's quite long - 29 minutes - it's definitely worth watching and sharing with your friends and family.

The video was created by an organisation called Invisible Children, and it's about a many called Joseph Kony and the many horrific things that have happened in Uganda because of him. He is responsible for the kidnapping of over 30,000 children who have been turned into child soldiers (who are training to kill or mutilate other people - including their own parents) or sex slaves.

Invisible Children is trying to stop Kony, by having him arrested (he is number one on the ICC's list of most wanted people). To make sure this happens the people of the world need to spread the word and make Kony famous - not to celebrate what he has done but in order for the leaders of the world to take note and do something about this. Through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, the people now have a stronger voice and can make a difference. So please watch this video and get inspired and involved.

• To sign the pledge click here
• To donate click here
• To visit the store click here

Salesian Movie Night - The Fall

A last minute reminder to everyone that our social club is holding a movie night tomorrow night (Thursday 9th March) in the OLC. The movie that will be playing (as you can see above) is called 'The Fall' and is highly recommended by Peter Krausz, our school's own movie critic! Doors open at 7.30pm and entry is $5. It will be BYO snacks, however you may purchase soft drink ($2.50), beer and wine ($4.00) if you wish. Don't forget to put your name on the list, which is located on the general information board near Ward One in the staffroom. We hope to see you there!

Description taken from IMDB.com

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.

Searching the Library Catalogue

I know many of you have been wondering how to find out what resources we have in the Library (or the new Teacher Reference section in the Staff Room). About a year ago we switched our Library software over to a program called vLibrary. One of the great things about vLibrary is that it's accessible via the internet which means you can access it from your laptop or from your iPad! One easy way to access it is from the nifty link I've placed in the toolbar of this blog which you should be able to see on the right hand side of your screen.

Or! Another way to access it is via the programs menu that automatically opens whenever you log into your computer. On the left hand side you can click to open the Library folder and there you should be able to find v-Library.

Once v-Library is open you are free to search for whatever you need. As you can see below you can choose to search in a variety of ways, be it by title, keyword, author, media etc. For example if you're interested in searching for all the DVDs we have on Volcanoes you would type Volcanoes into the Keyword box and then in the Media drop down menu select DVD.

Beneath the main search area you are able to select where you would like to search. If you would just like to search for what we have in the Library you can leave Salesian College Library selected and click search. However you also have the ability to search through Google, Fairfax News, Britannica etc. which opens up a much larger range of search results.

If you have any questions or need for us to take you through using v-Library, you are more than welcome to come to the Library Staff for help. We are happy to answer any questions, or even run through a quick training session with you.