Your Technology Outreach Adventure

This guide will empower libraries to design and prototype technology-based outreach ideas safely, quickly, and with confidence, leading to better service for all members of the community.

Armed with this book's clear-sighted perspective, libraries will be empowered to make informed and responsible decisions concerning their technology infrastructure.

A perfect introduction to the topic, this book will encourage libraries to look beyond their own reality and adapt the ideas inside.

By one count, there are more than 7,200 escape room environments in 1,445 cities in 105 countries. So why not in libraries? Sharpening participants’ problem solving and collaboration skills by mashing up real-time adventure, immersive theater, gaming, and old-fashioned entertainment, they’re a natural for libraries. And, as Kroski demonstrates in this fun guide, they’re feasible for a range of audiences and library budgets. Whether you’re already an escape room aficionado who’s eager to replicate the experience at your own institution, or an intrigued novice looking for ways to enliven your programing, Kroski has got you covered. This book discusses the differences between escape rooms, which are highly structured, and immersive experiences, which are more casual;shows how these unique experiences can be used to teach information literacy skills, add unique youth programming, bring adults into the library, and instruct patrons about library resources in the form of puzzles and challenges;profiles several successful library projects, from large scale programs like New York Public Libraries’ Find the Future: The Game to smaller ones like Search for Alexander Hamilton;offers dozens of programming ideas and examples that can be tailored to fit a variety of libraries and budgets; andprovides information on game kits available for purchase, tips for partnering with local Escape Room businesses, and links to additional resources. With the assistance of Kroski’s guide, libraries everywhere can offer their own take on these exciting forms of entertainment, engagement, and education.

Read professional, fair reviews by practicing academic, public, and school librarians and subject-area specialists that will enable you to make the best choices from among the latest reference resources. This newest edition of American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) provides librarians with insightful, critical reviews of print and electronic reference resources released or updated in 2017-2018, as well as some from 2019 that were received in time for review in the publication. By using this invaluable guide to consider both the positive and negative aspects of each resource, librarians can make informed decisions about which new reference resources are most appropriate for their collections and their patrons' needs. Collection development librarians who are working with limited budgets—as is the case in practically every library today—will be able to maximize the benefit from their monetary resources by selecting what they need most for their collection, while bypassing materials that bring limited value to their specific environment.

Offers instructions on writing and implementing disaster plans for libraries.

The engaging programs in this book will have people flocking to your library—it's all in the game.

From one of the world’s most renowned cave divers, a firsthand account of exploring the earth’s final frontier: the hidden depths of our oceans and the sunken caves inside our planet More people have died exploring underwater caves than climbing Mount Everest, and we know more about deep space than we do about the depths of our oceans. From one of the top cave divers working today—and one of the very few women in her field—Into the Planet blends science, adventure, and memoir to bring readers face-to-face with the terror and beauty of earth’s remaining unknowns and the extremes of human capability. Jill Heinerth—the first person in history to dive deep into an Antarctic iceberg and leader of a team that discovered the ancient watery remains of Mayan civilizations—has descended farther into the inner depths of our planet than any other woman. She takes us into the harrowing split-second decisions that determine whether a diver makes it back to safety, the prejudices that prevent women from pursuing careers underwater, and her endeavor to recover a fallen friend’s body from the confines of a cave. But there’s beauty beyond the danger of diving, and while Heinerth swims beneath our feet in the lifeblood of our planet, she works with biologists discovering new species, physicists tracking climate change, and hydrogeologists examining our finite freshwater reserves. Written with hair-raising intensity, Into the Planet is the first book to deliver an intimate account of cave diving, transporting readers deep into inner space, where fear must be reconciled and a mission’s success balances between knowing one’s limits and pushing the envelope of human endurance.