New Titles for May: Comic Books and Graphic Novels

We’ve always got new additions to our juvenile literature collection – and this includes comic books and graphic novels!

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, Ben Clanton, 2016

Younger readers will enjoy the adventures of Narwhal and his friend Jelly the jellyfish. This book contains simple, charming stories about friendship and imagination. Balanced by Jelly’s skepticism, Narwhal’s optimism and enthusiasm for life is catching – and involves everything from the excitement of making new friends to the small joys of eating waffles.

Princess Princess Ever After, Kate O’Neill, 2016

Most of us are familiar with the traditional tale of the story of the princess kidnapped by a witch and locked in a dragon-guarded tower, only to be rescued by her prince and live happily ever after… right? Not always! This book features the engaging tale of two very different princesses and their friends, who all get to their happily ever afters in sometimes unexpected ways. In addition to subverting many of the traditional fairy tale tropes, the adventures of Princess Amira and Princess Sadie include lessons about kindness, bravery, and dealing with people’s expectations for your life.

Cave In, Brian Ralph, 2012

Follow the exciting adventures of one individual living in a labyrinthine underground world as he encounters monsters and mystery! This book exhibits a sophisticated mastery of storytelling: both story and emotion are clearly conveyed to the reader through images alone – it is entirely wordless in execution. The tale in this book is told through several story arcs, which are both allowed to flow into one another and yet are clearly defined through use of colour.

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty, G. Neri and Randy DuBurke, 2010

More mature readers may be interested in this compelling story about a tragic murder that happened in Chicago in 1994. This book follows a fictional narrator named Roger, a young boy trying to understand what caused eleven-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer to murder fourteen-year-old Shavon Dean. Was Yummy some sort of monster, or just a kid in over his head? This book explores the realities of youth gang life and forces the reader to think critically about truth and question their own understandings of good and bad.

Akissi: Histoires pimentées, Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin, 2014

The OISE Library also has a number of non-English children’s books. This book is a collected edition of the first three volumes of Akissi, a French-language comic. The stories in this book tell the tales of Akissi’s everyday adventures growing up in Africa – adventures such as trying to retrieve a ball from a neighbour’s yard, sneaking into the movies with her friends, finding a mouse in the house, and going on summer holidays with her siblings.

You can find these books and other new additions to the library’s collections on the “New Arrivals” shelf, located near the reference desk on the ground floor of the OISE Library.

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Featured Activity Kit: Makey Makey

Everyone is an inventor with the Makey Makey kit. Two graduate students from the MIT Media Lab created this easy to use invention kit that is recommended for anyone ages 8 and up. The kit can transform everyday objects into touch pads that send keyboard and mouse messages to the computer. The kit includes a human interface device (HID) circuit board and a USB cable to connect the board to a computer. The computer will register the circuit board as a keyboard or mouse. The front of the board has a space bar, click, and arrow keys, while the back of the board features additional keyboard keys and support for a mouse. Attach alligator clips to any object that can conduct electricity, for example, a lemon, pencil, coin, and more. The connected object can then be used as a touch pad. Up to 6 objects can be connected to the board, so that keyboard messages can be sent to programs and web pages.

Makey Makey encourages us to explore new ways to interface with computers, beyond the keyboard and mouse. This kit can be used to support educators with teaching about human centered design, engineering, arts, and other subjects.

The Makey Makey kit is currently on display on the Ground Floor table, adjacent to the Circulation Desk. Start inventing new ways to interface with your laptop. More information about the Makey Makey kit, along with many other hands-on learning resources can be found in the OISE Library K-12 Manipulatives Database.

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Labour Movement Seasonal Display

May 1st marked International Workers’ Day, a day dedicated to both political action and commemoration, focused on the historic and contemporary struggles of the labour movement and workers around the world. The day was first established in 1889 in memory of the Chicago Haymarket Affair, designated as a day of protest for workers’ rights and improved labour conditions. In honour of International Workers’ Day we have put together a display highlighting materials in our collections related to workers’ rights and the labour movement.

The OISE Library’s Stacks research collection features materials on both historical and contemporary labour movements. Many of the historically focused works examine the role played by women in the labour movement of the 19th and early 20th. Mother Jones: Raising Cain and Consciousness by Simon Cordery explores the life of the legendary Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, detailing her early life and eventual turn to labour activism at the age of 60. Living the Revolution: Italian Women’s Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945 by Jennifer Guglielmo examines the involvement of Italian-American women in the labour movement and other political causes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker by Theresa Serber Malkiel originally published in 1910 offers a fictionalized account of the New York City garment workers’ strike, an event which took place just a year before the “diary’s” publication.

Additionally the Stacks collection features works which focus on contemporary labour struggles within Canada and around the world.  We Are in This Dance Together: Gender, Power, and Globalization at a Mexican Garment Firm by Nancy Plankey-Videla relies on ethnographic research to the tell the story of an overwhelming female workforce and the factors which lead them to strike. Manufacturing Meltdown: Reshaping Steel Work by D.W. Livingstone, Dorothy E. Smith, and Warren Smith examines the changing situation of workers at the Stelco plant in Hamilton, Ontario starting with the industries decline in the 1980s, and going on to consider the current state of steel workers and the industry. Care Work and Class: Domestic Workers’ Struggle for Equal Rights in Latin America by Merike Blofield considers the tactics and strategies employed by domestic workers throughout Latin America in their efforts to improve labour laws and working conditions.

Many works in our Children’s Literature and Curriculum Resources collections focus on the experiences of child workers, introducing readers to the realities of child labour and development of child labour laws in the early 20th century. Kids on Strike! by Susan Campbell Bartoletti details American children’s participation in strikes in the 19th and early 20th century, telling the stories of children who worked as newsies, garment workers, and coal miners. The picture book Kid Blink Beats the World written and illustrated by Don Brown offers a fictionalized portrayal of the Newsboys’ Strike of 1899, following the story of how the newsies took on Joseph Pulitzer’s The Morning World, and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Evening Journal.  Factory Girl by  Barbara Greenwood alternates between historical fiction and fact, focusing on the struggles of child labourers in early 20th century Canadian garment factories.

The display case on the Ground Floor of the OISE Library features these books and many more works related the labour movement. All items included in the display are available to be checked out, speak to staff at the library service desk if you need any assistance.

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New Titles: Technology in Education

Curious about recent developments in educational technology? The OISE Library has recently acquired some new titles that shed light on how technology is being used in education, while considering how instruction and learning are affected by technology.

Digital Badges in Education: Trends, Issues, and Cases (2016) offers an extensive overview about digital badging systems, which are increasingly used as tools to represent a learner’s credentials in an online environment. Edited by Lin Y. Muilenburg and Zane L. Berge, this publication includes 25 chapters that explore the use of digital badges in both professional and academic settings, and provide the reader with insight into their implementation. The book begins with chapters that cover the history, trends, and issues of digital badges. Other chapters address a number of cases including digital badges for K-12 learners, higher education, and adult learning. Readers should find this book to be useful for developing digital badges learning projects in a variety of learning contexts.

Using Games and Simulations for Teaching and Assessment: Key Issues surveys how games and computer-based simulations are used as educational tools. Published in 2016, this collection contains chapters that identify issues surrounding the design and development of games and simulations. The authors consider learning games in a variety of education and training contexts, including K-12 and higher education. Chapters in the collection’s first part investigate theories, frameworks, and contexts of learning games. The following three parts describe assessment, cognitive, motivational, and psychometric issues. This collection examines both theoretical and design aspects of computer-based simulations and games, and emphasizes how games can address the science of learning.

Educational Psychology and the Internet discusses the role of the internet in education. In this 2016 publication, Michael Glassman draws from past and current research to consider several issues about “Internet-infused education”. Key terms and concepts about the internet such as cyberspace and hypertext are defined and put into the context of education. The textbook identifies issues such as net neutrality and open source licenses that are increasingly relevant to educators and students who use the internet as part of the learning process. The author also addresses the internet’s use for learning through course management systems, social networking sites, and blogs. Glassman’s research can be applied to several educational projects and initiatives such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), and open educational resources.

Part of the Routledge Research in Education series, Improvising the Curriculum: Alternatives to Scripted Schooling explores how curricula can be improved. The authors argue that improvisational techniques can be applied to developing and delivering curricula. Improvising curricula can offer useful approaches for teachers. This volume describes a research project about the use of student filmmaking by teachers at a school to learn how improvisational techniques can be applied to curricula. Published in 2016, this volume is also available as an electronic resource.

Technology for Transformation Perspectives of Hope in the Digital Age presents an edited collection of essays that examine the relationship between educational technology and social justice. The editors argue that educational technology is not value-free, and that technology can contribute to the transformative goals of social justice. The essays explore different perspectives on research, theory, and case studies that show how educational technology is used by students and teachers in various educational contexts. The first two sections of the book cover a diverse range of topics including how technology is used in educational contexts, and how it can support social justice. The third section explores how social education can be integrated into teacher education. The final section of the book considers how educational technology and social justice are applied by K-12 educators and students. This book will appeal to practitioners, scholars, and policymakers with an interest in the emerging importance of educational technology.

These books are on display on the “New Arrivals” shelf on the ground floor of the OISE library, across from the reference desk.

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Summer Hours

Starting April 28th, the OISE Library will begin its summer hours. Please take note of hours below:

Monday-Thursday: 8:30am-7pm

Friday: 8:30-5pm

Saturday: 9am-5pm

Sunday: CLOSED

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