florida media quarterly winter 2009

Inside this Issue:

Digital Literacy

| Florida Media Quarterly | Winter 2009 | |

Florida Media Quarterly is the official publication ofthe Florida Association for Media in Education, Inc.,and is published at least four times annually, Fall,Winter, Spring, and Summer. Interested persons areinvited to submit material for publication. Visit ourwebsite at www.floridamedia.org for specialinformation on articles and advertising.

Text submitted becomes the property of FMQand is not returned. FMQ is not responsible for the accuracy of text submitted; contributors areresponsible for the accuracy of material, includingreferences, tables, etc., and for obtaining necessaryreleases. The opinions expressed in Florida MediaQuarterly are those of the authors and are notnecessarily those of FAME. Articles are the propertyof the authors indicated and any use rights must besought from the author. All other materials may bequoted or reproduced for noncommercial purposesprovided full acknowledgments are given and FAMEis notified.

All members of FAME have access to FMQvia the homepage of the FAME web site atwww.floridamedia.org.

Pat Dedicos, EditorFlorida Media [email protected]

Insertion DeadlinesIssue Articles and Ads Due Publication Date

Fall August 1 September 1(Sept/Oct Issue)

Winter November 1 December 1 (Dec/Jan Issue)

Spring February 1 March 1 (April/May Issue)

Summer May 1 June 1(July/Aug Issue)

The Lion’s Paw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Mackin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

FETCJanuary 21-24, 2009Orlando, FL

ALA MidwinterJanuary 23–28, 2009Denver, CO

AASL 14th National Conference and Exhibition

November 4 – 8, 2009Charlotte, NC

ALA Annual MeetingJuly 10 –15, 2009Chicago, IL:

37th Annual FAME ConferenceSeptember 30-October 2, 2009Marriott World Center ResortOrlando, Florida

This magazine may be searched for keywords if you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher.Web site addresses in this magazine are hyperlinked—simply click on the site and it will send you there.

FAME OfficersPresident Deb SvecPresident-Elect Cecelia SolomonImmediate Past

President Miriam NeedhamTreasurer JoAnne Seale

Board of Directors2006-2009 Rhoda Cribbs

Nancy EverhartAlbert Pimienta

Kathy Wray2007-2010 Melissa Dorsett

William ConnellVange Scivally

Courtney Zepeda2008-2011 Jill Saracino

Mary SmitherBrooks Spencer

Chris Page

Editorial StaffPat Dedicos, EditorLaura Symanski, Graphic Designer

2008-2009 Production/Publications CommitteePat Dedicos, FMQ EditorCarol McWilliams, WebmasterAlbert PimientaRhoda CribbsLouise FreemanCecelia Solomon, President-Elect

PublisherFlorida Association forMedia in Education2563 Capital Medical BoulevardTallahassee, FL 32308Phone: 850-531-8343

Executive DirectorBodkin Management and ConsultingLarry E. Bodkin Jr., CAEPresident and CEO2563 Capital Medical BoulevardTallahassee, FL 32308Phone: 850-531-8343Fax: 850-531-8344Visit us on the web atwww.floridamedia.org

©2008 Florida Association forMedia in Education


Volume 34, Number 2

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14

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FEATURES

5 Principals AwardWinners 2008

7 Amanda Award Winners 2008

9 Your New BFFDr. Donna Baumbach

14 Florida Media Web 2.0Dorothy Sokowski

17 End of Year TaxPlanningWayne DeWitt

COLUMNS

3 Message from the PresidentDeb Sve

19 A Question of CopyrightGary Becker

20 Legislative News Bob Cerra

I am honored and proud to be serving as the 2009 President of FAME. The themeI have selected for the year ahead is “The Digital Literacy Hub”. I practice whatI believe, as well as teach and preach my theme. My messages will be deliveredto the membership digitally. Each episode of my podcast will give a sampling ofwhere I am in my advances integrating digital literacy into my media center.

I look forward to your responses to this podcast method of communication. I hope you will contact me and highlight what you are doing in your mediacenters throughout the state. I encourage you to share the exciting and uniquetechniques you have developed as we all move our students into this next centuryby presenting at the 2009 FAME Conference.

You can find my Podcast with a summary at: http://web.me.com/debsvec

Deb SvecPresident


Deb Svec FAME [email protected]

Marriott World ResortOrlando, Florida

September 30-Oct. 2, 2009

2008

2008 PrincipalsAdvocate AwardWinner –Secondary Nominated by Carole Koester

Dr. Lynne McGeePrincipalSeminole Ridge High SchoolLoxahatchee, FloridaPalm Beach school district

“Literacy is not…a portion of education. It is education.” – Richard Mitchell

This quote embodies the philosophy of Dr. Lynne McGee,the principal of Seminole Ridge High School, where a trueacademic reading community continues to blossom fromthe seeds of her vision and the nurturing of her leadership.To see teens reading in the hallways, the walkways, thecafeteria, and before and after school is an incredible sightfor any teacher — and yet a common sight at SeminoleRidge.

Dr. McGee’s vision for SRHS began with the opening ofthe school in 2005 and the implementation of a BookIt!Program. Now in its third year, BookIt! provides allstudents twenty minutes reading time daily at the end oftheir first period classes. Every student receives a readinggrade in that first class by earning a specific number of

2008 PrincipalsAdvocate AwardWinner –Elementary Nominated by Joanne Loy

Tonya FrostPrincipalCountry Isles Elementary School Weston, FloridaBroward school district

Mrs. Tonya Frost is anadministrator who understands the importance ofintegrating the school library media program, its resourcesand technologies into the total educational process at aschool. She shows her support in many ways. It beginswith providing the necessary staff to run the program.She funds a full time certified media specialist and a fulltime paraprofessional who is not pulled from the mediacenter for any other duties during the school day. Thedaily library media schedule provides open, flexible timeas well as scheduled class time for students and teachers.Her funding of the library media program budget iscontinually at or above the required amount per student.This past school year she used capital monies to purchasenew library tables for the media center.

She considers the role of the Library Media Specialist asan integral part of the learning and teaching process at herschool. The media specialist has been selected as theSchool Advisory Chair for the past three years and worksclosely with her and the committee to establish the schoolimprovement plan each year. She provides the mediaspecialist with release time to attend training and thenprovides the necessary time and materials to train thestaff. Planning time is provided to collaborate withteachers to integrate the library media program withSunshine State Standards, grade level content and project-based learning.

Mrs. Frost advocates for libraries at a number of differentlevels. At the school level she supports our PTA inhosting two book fairs, an annual Author-in-Residence,and an annual Community Reader Day. At the state levelshe provides funding and staff so her school can hostregional FAME meetings. At the national level she hasallowed her media specialist to use professionaldevelopment time to attend the ALA’s National LibraryLegislative Day, an experience she can use to continue heradvocacy for libraries.

Mrs. Frost is an exemplary principal who understands theimportance of a strong library media program and itsimportance in the total school educational process.


for Excellence inSchool Library Media ProgramsAward

Principals Advocate

the Scholastic ‘Reading Counts’ points, awarded when thestudent takes and passes quizzes on the books read.Lynne and her administrators routinely monitor theBookIt! period, visiting classes and, along with teachersand staff, modeling the act of reading themselves.Because of BookIt!, Seminole Ridge’s circulation statisticsare the highest of any secondary school in Palm BeachCounty. Annually and on average, over two thousandSRHS students have read twelve books each and takenseven ‘Reading Counts’ quizzes.

Dr. McGee champions literacy through freedom of choice.In the past three years the media center has had parentsbring censorship challenges to two books. Lynne,understanding the ramifications of censorship tointellectual freedom, supported strongly in each case thefundamental principal of literacy that high school students

must be allowed to make their own choices about thebooks they read.

With Dr. McGee’s financial and philosophical support, the Seminole Ridge media center has flourished. Eachyear, SRHS students become better readers and moreaccomplished writers. Each year FCAT reading scoreshave increased by a letter grade. The BookIt! and Turnitinprograms contributed to these successes, but withoutLynne’s enthusiastic endorsement, without her translationof leadership into action, without her demonstrating thatliteracy is education, those programs would have faltered.Because of her, the joy of books and the love of readinghave flowered on campus. Because of her, SeminoleRidge High School is a true academic reading community.


Principal’s Award continued from 5

2008 AmandaAward Winner – Middle School

Bunnie McCormack Library Media SpecialistChasco Middle SchoolPort Richey, FloridaPasco school district

Prose and Poetry Pop

OBJECTIVES:

• To engage students in activities designed to build self-esteem and enjoyment of working with various typesof literature creating an original project.

• To introduce new strategies or projects for teachers tointroduce to their classes designed to build self-esteem,enthusiasm and communication skills for both studentsand teachers.

• To increase reading skills of student participants.

During their Reading Marathon the media specialist readNorbert’s Nose from Laughs. She had a puppet nose in herhand while she read the story of a boy’s nose who thoughtit was from Jupiter. The students were in stitches.

She worked with students teaching them the benefits oflaughter, techniques and positive impact of laughter onlearning. The students wrote, performed, taped and editedan award winning video. Working with several classeswho practiced and performed reader’s theatre stories forother classes enhanced self-esteem and reading levels.

Approximately 96% of Lexile scores improved. Teachersobserved self-esteem was enhanced, while students’attitudes about reading improved.

2008 AmandaAward Winner –High School

Lori GallaherLibrary Media SpecialistBartram Trail High SchoolSt. John’s, FloridaSt. John’s school district

Building Better Bears

OBJECTIVES:

• Struggling readers will be encouraged and welcomedin a non-threatening environment.

• Book lovers will be challenged to read all Florida TeenReads titles and participate in book club.

• The library will be the heart of the school for sociallystruggling students.

• The library will be the hub of activity to meet theneeds of highly motivated students.

Building Better Bears successfully reached all goals andobjectives. By creating a media center that was the hub oflearning and the heart of the 9th grade academy, the 9thgraders made a smooth adjustment and succeeded inseveral areas. Their Battle of the Books team won thedistrict competition. The Freshman Friends Club focusedon socially struggling 9th graders and provided severalopportunities for them to mix with peers and makefriends. The Beta Club provided monthly serviceopportunities for 9th graders and they raised over $4,000to fight cancer. Struggling readers were winners in theirNational Library Week competitions/promotions.

2008 AMANDA AWARDwinners


• Did you bookmark a great site last week while working at home and now you’re at school, need it, and can’t remember what it was or how to find it?

• Is the bookmark file on your computer’s browser longer than the Akashi-Kaikyobridge?

• Does your organization of bookmarks sometimes let you down because you can’tremember if you filed that web article about Scott Westerfeld site under “Authors” or“Florida Teens Read” or “Uglies” or “YALiterature” or “Award Winners” or what?

• Do your word-processed or HTML files of URLs for frequently taught units have tobe opened and revised each time you want to update it or you find a relevant new site?

• Do you feel like you are reinventing the wheel by creating bibliographies of websitesthat other library media specialists have already created—or could help create?

Social bookmarking tools to the rescue!

Figure 1. Some of the many social bookmarking tools available for you to use.Each is unique. Find one or two that will meet your needs, but be aware of newtools with new features that may make your life even easier.

Social bookmarks may become your very best friend for storing, organizing, accessingand sharing information from the World Wide Web. Instead of storing bookmarks (orfavorites) on your local computer, social bookmarking tools enable you to store them onthe web, organize them in a variety of ways, add “tags” or keywords to them, annotatethem, access them from any computer, and share all or some of them with everyone orselected groups or individuals.

The sharing part is what makes them “social.” You can see what others who haveinterests similar to yours have bookmarked, you can share the bookmarks you have saved


Donna Baumbach,Ed.D.Professor Emerita, Universityof Central Florida

Your New BFF*

Social Bookmarking Tools*Best Friends Forever


with others, and, in some cases, you and others can addcomments, ratings or notes.

What can you do with social bookmarking tools in the schoollibrary media center? School library media specialists saythey are using social bookmarks to:

• Organize bookmarks in different ways• More easily locate saved information and URLs• Access bookmarks from home, school, classrooms, or

anywhere• List web resources by class or subject area• Provide visuals (thumbnails of web pages) for selected

links and different audiences• Annotate selected web links• Comment on web resources• Create pages of links students need for creating

particular projects• Link from library media center web page to resources

for different disciplines, classes, teachers, projects, etc.• Create RSS feeds of different tags for the school library

media center web page to keep it current• Guide students to most-relevant websites for

assignments• Share great sites and articles with other library media

specialists• Share sites with teachers by tagging them with their

names and/or subjects• Store and organize bookmarks• Create pathfinders• Collect and share lesson plan ideas• Collect and share new curriculum related websites

when the course content is changing• Provide quick bookmarks for specific teachers for

specific research projects• Create a webpage of research/report help sites• Check out sites recommended by others with similar

interests• Contact others who have similar interests to collaborate

on ideas, projects, papers, publications, and/orpresentations

• Annotate websites for students and teachers• Export bookmarks for handouts or websites for students

and teachers• Help students manage resources for projects and papers• Help teachers organize resources for units, projects and

topics• Teach students and teachers about social bookmarks

and social bookmarking so they can better organize,access and share their own favorite sites

A tag is a user-assigned keyword or term associatedwith or assigned to a piece of information.”(Wikipedia) Unlike Sears or LC subject headings, thereis no pre-defined list of acceptable terms. Tags allowusers to define what a site or article means to them,assign it to a particular teacher or subject, and providemultiple access points. Users can add as many or asfew tags as they feel appropriate to describe the articleor website.

“Folksonomy (also known as collaborative tagging,social classification, social indexing, and socialtagging) is the practice and method of collaborativelycreating and managing tags to annotate and categorizecontent. In contrast to traditional subject indexing,metadata is not only generated by experts but also bycreators and consumers of the content.” (Wikipedia)

Tags are often displayed as tag “clouds.” A tag cloud isa visual depiction of user-generated tags used typicallyto describe the content of web sites. Tags are usuallysingle words and are typically listed alphabetically, andthe importance of a tag is shown with font size orcolor.” (Wikipedia) Clicking on a word in a tag cloudgenerally takes one to a list of items with that tag.

See Taggylicio.us (http://taggylicio.us/) where you cansearch multiple social software sites by just clicking on

a tag from a giant tag cloud—or you can search bykeyword.

“Search for something aswide-ranging as “library” andyou will pull up results fromFlickr, YouTube, Digg,Photobucket, Dailymotion,Reddit, and Del.icio.us. Clickto see more in any givenservice or just browse thearray of photos, videos andlinks before you. Simple andfast. This is a nice way toexplore tagging and tagsacross several sites.”– From the Sites andSoundbytes blog:

Tag! You’re IT!

Social Bookmarking continued from 9

Tag Cloud fromthe SUNLINKAnnouncements Page


There are dozens of social bookmarking tools availablefor you to use. Like most Web 2.0 tools, socialbookmarking tools are absolutely free. From my 2008survey of school library media specialists aboutknowledge and use of web-based applications, the topsocial bookmarking tools being used by library mediaspecialists are:

Del.icio.us (http://delicious.com)Del.icio.us was the number one

choice of school library media specialists who use socialbookmarking tools and who completed the survey. It isvery easy to use. You can install an icon on yourbrowser’s toolbar and when you find a page you want tobookmark, just click on the icon. This brings up a newwindow where you can add notes and tags. If your friendsor colleagues use Del.icio.us, you can send thembookmarks you think they might find of interest and theycan check them out the next time they log in. They can dothe same for you. Since tags can be anything you’d like,you can create a tag for each subject area, each teacher oreach project and then generate a URL that will show onlythe links with that specific tag. Del.icio.us also showsyou when you bookmarked a site, how many others havebookmarked it, what bookmarks are currently popular andmore. You can create an RSS feed for your bookmarks orany tag. You can also mark any bookmark “private” sothat only you can see it.

Figure 2. Some of my author-related Del.icio.usbookmarks. You can see the date each was added,notes, number of times “Gnooks” has been bookmarkedin Del.icio.us, and my tags for each site.

I’d have to say that Del.icio.us is my first choice of socialbookmarking tools for myself and to share what I findmost interesting with colleagues. I use it almost everyday and you can see what I’m bookmarking on theSUNLINK Announcements page(http://sunlinkannouncments.blogspot.com). I created anRSS feed from my Del.icio.us account and use Grazr todisplay it. (Thanks to those kind folks at SUNLINK whostill allow me to share things I think may be of interest toFlorida’s school library media specialists!)

Figure 3. My Del.icio.us bookmarks on the SUNLINKAnnouncements page(http://sunlinkannouncements.blogspots.com)

BackFlip (http://www.backflip.com/)BackFlip is one of the first services to

allow you to save your bookmarks to the web and accessthem from anywhere. If you make your folders public,anyone can use them and use can use the public folderscreated by others. You will find many good foldersalready created for you to use. I found folders with greatlinks on the Olympic games, digital storytelling,information literacy and more. I can use the best of thoseas a starting point for my own folders or create a folderfrom my own web search. A “safe search” mode isavailable. (Caution: BackFlip pages haveadvertisements.)


StumbleUpon(http://www.stumbleupon.com/) With StumbleUpon you can not only save theURLS you like, connect with friends and shareyour discoveries, meet people that have similarinterests, and check out what other people arediscovering. You can rate sites and review them,and most URLs include a thumbnail of the site.My search on Harry Potter

Clipmarks(http://www.clipmarks.com/)

Instead of linking to entire web pages, Clipmarkslets you clip exactly what you want others to see.Once you have a clip, you can:

• Save it on Clipmarks.com Your clips can be saved publicly for others to learn from or be entertained by, or you can make them private. Either way you’ve got a fully searchable collection of great things you find on the web.

• Post it directly to a blog.

• Email it to friends. Straight from any web page you can clip and email something you want friends, family orcolleagues to see.

• Print it. Use clipmarks to easily print only the parts of the page you want.

Digg (http://digg.com/)When you bookmark

something on digg, you allow others to“digg” it (or give it a vote). Whensomething gets enough votes, it jumps to thetop of the page for that category. It mighteven become one of the Top 10! You canalso comment on any link. You cansubscribe to RSS feeds of particular topics,individual users, and the search terms ofyour choice. In short, you can see whatothers “digg!” For example, when thisarticle was written, the top Digg under“information literacy” was an article called“Banning Wikipedia at School: Good Idea or Missed Opportunity?” It had 1499 diggs and over 200 comments. You’resure to find people who agree with you whichever way you are leaning, but you will also find some good arguments forthe other point of view! Students, too, can see the positive and negative comments on topics they may be researching.

As you can see, in many ways these five tools are alike, but they each offer unique features. You may want to create anaccount on several sites to try them out and explore some of each tool’s features. You may even want to maintainaccounts on different sites for different reasons. I like some better for elementary students than for secondary students,some better for teachers than for students, and some better for visual learners or reluctant readers than for other kinds oflearners.



Figure 4. My StumbleUpon search results for “Harry Potter” reveals links tosites about Harry and author J. K. Rowling, other users who have taggedsites with the term “Harry Potter” and other tags that can be used to narrow my search to help me find specific or related information. (Users are represented by icons or avatars, not by name or email address.)

Figure 5. Top search results from Digg on the term “information literacy.” If I find another good article or website, I can bookmark it and tag it with“information literacy,” and others can “digg” it or not!

Here are some additional tools social bookmarking tools that I think have some very special features:

Diigo (http://www.diigo.com/) Social bookmarking plus sticky notes and highlighting! You can also make a very quick(and slick) interactive presentation from any of your Diigo tags using WebSlides (http://slides.diigo.com/). You’ve got totry that!

Iteraci (http://www.iterasi.com/) Makes thumbnails and lets you share notes about your sites; sort into folders, makesome private, create and search by tags, etc. Requires a toolbar download. Similar to Only2Cicks but offers a bit morefeatures including embeddable thumbnails, a widgetto display your public pages, captures you canschedule in advance, and more.

Only2Clicks (http://www.only2clicks.com/) Great forelementary students or visual learners. Only2Clickscreates a thumbnail image of frequently-used,bookmarked sites; sort by category (tabs), drag anddrop to any order you wish; share tabs or keepprivate. You might have one tab for search engines,one for Mr. Thompson’s class, one for science fairresources, etc. Because you can make a tab private or public with a single click, you can create pages of links for upcoming topics and make them publicwhen the time is right, then hide it again until it isupdated and needed again.

BuddyMarks (http://buddymarks.com/) “Only usersyou designate as your “buddies” have access to yoursites and are allowed to combine their tags and siteswith yours. That would allow your students toexperiment with social bookmarks in a safeenvironment. Try using them for research projects orscience-fair projects, so the information students findcan be shared collectively!”– from the EducationWorld Techtorial, Bookmarking without Borders

MiddleSpot (http://middlespot.com/) Search, zoomand pan on screenshots of your results, collect andstore your results on a personal “workpad,” share yourworkpad and see those created by others. I can changethe size of the text or images, email the workpad tomyself or others, or embed my workpad on my ownwebpage.

For more information about social bookmarking tools including more tools, tutorials, articles and examples of how they are being used in libraries and school library media centers, see the WebTools4U2Use wiki athttp://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com. If you have some favorites or ideas for using them, you can contribute them there as well.



Figure 6. Only2Clicks bookmarks. Each tab is a user-definedcategory and can be shared or kept private with a single click.Each image can have a note attached and the look of eachpage can be changed by selecting a new “skin.”

Figure 7. A Middlespot workpad on “Citing Web Resources”embedded on one of my own wiki pages.


Dorothy SokowskiMedia SpecialistColonial High School6100 Oleander DriveOrlando, Florida 32807e-mail address: (home)[email protected](work) [email protected]

Some of these tools, according toBambach (2008), include wikis, blogs,photo sharing, social networking,podcasting, and other presentation tools.

Wikis, such as those found at WikiSpaces,are webpages where a user can add orchange information as part of a group.Blogs, such as those found at EduBlog,

Web 2.0 tools have made their way into pk-12 media programs. Web 2.0is a phrase used to describe the newest technologies used on theInternet. Dr. Baumbach (2008) explains:

While early websites were passive — that is you could readinformation from the page, but you couldn’t add to the informationor change it in any way. … newer tools that are commonly calledWeb 2.0 tools because they allow for much interactivity and user-created content. Some people say that Web 1.0 was aboutlocating information, and Web 2.0 is about using websites asapplication software much as one uses MSWord or PowerPoint orother software on your computer. Web 2.0 sites allow one to readAND write! In addition, most Web 2.0 sites offer the opportunity toshare and/or collaborate on the work.

Web 2.0 in Today’s Media Center

are webpages that encourage participation from usersthrough the use of a comments section. Photo sharingwebsites, like Flickr and Shutterfly, allow a user to sharehis or her pictures with other users. Social Networkingsites, such as MySpace and Facebook, are places whereusers can generate web pages about themselves and sharethem with other users. Podcasting is sharing audio files ofa presentation or other audio activity over the Internetusing a program such as iTunes. Presentation Tools canalso be used to share a presentation over the Internet suchas SlideStory or GoogleDocs. Calendars, To Do lists,Invitations, Drawing and Mapping can all be done overthe Internet as part of the new Web 2.0 tools.

The use of Web 2.0 tools has had an educationalimpact for media specialists as well as students andteachers using the media center. One change is that it hascreated a divide between students and media specialistsand teachers. Prensky (2001) describes this divide in hispaper “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” Prensky(2001) defines digital natives as, “Today’s students – Kthrough college — represent the first generation to growup with this new technology. They have spent their entirelives surrounded by and using computers, videogames,digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all theother toys and tools of the digital age.” (p.1) He exploresthe changing roles of teachers and media specialists whenhe states, “Those of us who were not born into the digitalworld but have, at some later point in our lives, becomefascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of thenew technology are, and always will be compared tothem, Digital Immigrants.” (p.1)

This creates a challenge for teachers and media specialistswho are trying to reach students. Prensky (2001)explains:

Digital Natives are used to receiving informationreally fast. They like to parallel process andmulti-task. They prefer their graphics before theirtext rather than the opposite. They prefer randomaccess (like hypertext). They function best whennetworked. They thrive on instant gratificationand frequent rewards. They prefer games to‘serious’ work.

But Digital Immigrants typically have very littleappreciation for these new skills that the Natives haveacquired and perfected through the years of interactionand practice. These skills are almost totally foreign to the

Immigrants, who themselves learned — and so choose toteach — slowly, step-by-step, one thing at a time,individually, and above all, seriously. (p.2)

Teachers and media specialists have to make sure thatthey are also learning about Web 2.0 so that they can tryto bridge the gap that this technology has created. Bylearning about and using Web 2.0 tools, they will be betterequipped to reach more students. The use of Web 2.0Tools in the media center has made the media specialisthave to become more familiar and comfortable withtechnology.

There are many pros to using social networking Web 2.0tools in the media center. Social Networking is explainedby Willard (2006) in her article Schools and Online SocialNetworking: “In online social networking environments,youth register and establish profiles that provide personalinformation and photos. Then, they make connections orlinks with other members who share interests orconnections — so-called ‘friends.’ Members engage in avariety of forms of communication and informationsharing, which can include personal Web pages, blogs,and discussion groups.” (n. p.) Students get to interact andlearn from each other. Students can immediately see theircontribution to a project. It allows students to shareinformation with people from all over the world. Web 2.0tools provide some students with opportunities that theymight have never had with them.

There are also many cons to using social networking Web2.0 tools in the media center. A student could be easilydistracted because of all the other tools and mediaavailable on the web. There might also be a problem ofplagiarism since students have so much information rightat their fingertips. There might also be a concern withprivacy of student work. Willard (2006) also mentions thefollowing cons: “Unsafe disclosure of personalinformation, Addiction, Risky sexual behavior,Cyberbullying, and Dangerous Communities.” (p. 1)There is also a danger of sexual predators on the web whomight try to prey on young adults.

There are several barriers that impede the use of Web 2.0tools in school media centers. The largest barrier is theaccess to these sites. Many school districts have a websitefiltering system that does not allow websites that mayseem inappropriate for students. This includes many Web2.0 tools because they can be used for activities other thaneducational purposes. Another barrier facing students and


Web 2.0 continued from 14

teachers from using these tools is the level of technologyat the school level. Schools do not always have thenewest computers with the newest technologicalinnovations. It can be frustrating for students to belimited because they do not have the tools necessary suchas a scanner or a microphone. Another barrier that mightimpede the use of Web 2.0 Tools in school media centersis the willingness of the media specialists and teachers touse this new technology.

There have been many successful uses of Web 2.0 toolsthat have benefited the media program. Media specialistshave used Wikis and blogs to promote the use of theirmedia program. Blogs have been used to encouragestudent reading and even sharing as part of a book club.GoogleDocs have been used to present ideas andinformation. Social Bookmarking like Del.icio.us allowmedia specialists to share useful websites with studentsand teachers. There are endless possibilities for mediaspecialists willing to use Web 2.0 tools.

Web 2.0 Tools have made a rather large impact on pk-12media programs. These tools have changed the way that

students learn, teachers teach, and media specialistsprovide information. Technology will only continue toadvance and it is the media specialist’s job to set theexample in his or her school by learning about and usingthe newest technologies available.

References

Baumbach, D. (2008). Getting Started with Web Toolsin Your Library Media Center: Five to Test Drive. Florida Media Quarterly.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.Retrieved on October 29, 2008, fromhttp://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Willard, N. (2006). Schools and Online SocialNetworking. Retrieved on October 29, 2008 from,http://www.education-world.com/a_issues/issues/issues423.shtml


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What is year-end taxplanning?

As the end of the tax year approaches,you can probably get a rough idea ofhow much you’ll owe in taxes. Tolower your tax bite, it is wise to takecertain steps at year-end. Numerousstrategies exist to help you, includingreviewing professionally developedyear-end tax checklists, performing amarginal tax rate analysis to ensurethat you won’t be pushed into a highertax bracket unnecessarily, andpostponing income and acceleratingdeductions (or vice versa).

Year-end tax planning may sometimesresult in substantial tax savings. Year-end tax planning primarily concernsthe timing and the method by whichyou report your income and claimyour deductions and credits. The basicstrategy for year-end planning is totime your recognition of income sothat it will be taxed at a lower rate,and to time your deductible expensesso that they may be claimed in taxyears when you are in a higher taxbracket. In a nutshell, you should tryto do the following:

• Recognize income when your taxbracket is lower

• Pay deductible expenses when yourtax bracket is higher

What should you knowabout income anddeduction strategies?As stated earlier, you want to timeyour recognition of income so that itwill be taxed at a lower rate, and timeyour deductible expenses so that theycan be claimed in years when you arein a higher tax bracket. In general,taxpayers have a certain amount ofcontrol over the timing of income andexpenses. Although deferring therecognition of income is usuallydesirable, there may be occasionswhen you might want to accelerate therecognition of income. For example,you may want to accelerate therecognition of capital gains if youhave capital losses this year and needto offset them with capital gains. Also,you might want to accelerate incomeand postpone deductions this year ifyou expect to be in a higher marginaltax bracket next year.

Conversely, there are several reasonswhy you might want to postponeincome and accelerate deductions thisyear. For instance, you might expectto be in a lower tax bracket next yearbecause of retirement orunemployment. Also, if you loweryour income enough this year, youmay pay tax at a lower rate if youposition yourself into a lowermarginal tax bracket.


Wayne T. Dewitt, CPAChief Financial OfficerBodkin Management andConsulting, LLC (BMC)2563 Capital Medical BoulevardTallahassee, Florida 32308850-531-8343 (Phone)850-531-8344 (Fax)[email protected] (E-mail)www.bodkin.org (Web)

Year-End Tax Planning

Accelerating Deductions/PostponingIncome

If you’ll be in a lower tax bracket next year, you may wishto accelerate your deductions into this year and postponeyour income into the following year.

You can accelerate your deductions into this yearby:

• Making next year’s charitable contributions thisyear instead

• Prepaying deductible interest • Accelerating capital losses • Taking advantage of flexible spending accounts,

Archer MSAs, and cafeteria plans • Making January’s alimony payment in December • Prepaying next spring’s college costs in December

(if it qualifies you for added Hope/LifetimeLearning Credit)

You can postpone your income into the followingyear by:

• Delaying the collection of any debts that you areowed

• Deferring compensation • Deferring year-end bonuses • Transferring funds to bank certificates and Treasury

bills in order to delay tax on the interest • Setting up a tax-deferred annuity or retirement

account • Deferring the sale of capital gain property, or taking

installment payments rather than a lump-sumpayment

• Postponing receipt of distributions that are over therequired minimum from retirement accounts.

• Increasing your contributions to your company’s401(k) plan or other tax-deferred plans

Accelerating Income/PostponingDeductions

If you’ll be in a higher tax bracket next year, you maywish to accelerate your income into this year and postponeyour deductions into the following year.

You can accelerate your income into this year by:• Collecting any debts you are owed • Taking distributions from your IRA or retirement

plan if you will not incur an early withdrawalpenalty

• Collecting accounts receivable if you’re self-employed and use the cash method of accounting

• Arranging to receive dividends • Selling any assets that would result in a capital gain • Redeeming any Series EE savings bonds (also

called Patriot bonds) that you have elected to defertaxes on until they are redeemed

• Convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA

You can postpone your deductions into thefollowing year by:

• Postponing charitable gifts • Paying December’s deductible expenses on

January 1 • Delaying the payment of deductible interest • Scheduling nonemergency dental and doctor’s visits

for the following year• Delaying the realization of deductible capital losses

You may want to schedule an appointment with your taxprofessional to discuss these and other techniques to loweryour tax liability.


Tax Planning continued from 17


A “Question of Copyright” is anongoing column authored byGary H. Becker, nationalCopyright law consultant andretired public school systemtechnology administrator. If youhave a question, pleased sendit to [email protected] will receive an individualresponse and your questionmay appear in a future editionof FMQ. Requests to withholdnames will be honored.

Gary H. BeckerNational Copyright [email protected]

QWhat are the copyright guidelinesfor podcasting? Can we create mp3or mp4 book talks that include brief

excerpts read aloud? Does it follow the10% rule; that is you cannot use more that10% of the entire written piece or theexcerpt cannot be more than 10% of yourfinal project?

AA podcast has several componentsthat need to be taken into account.First is creating a recording

incorporating portions of copyrightedworks. Second is making a copy of therecording, whether by loading on a serverfor students to download or by directlymaking copies onto MP3 devices forstudent use. A third consideration wouldbe if the material is placed on a web site,for greater public/student access.

In regard to the recording portion, the10% guideline is not truly a fixedpercentage, but rather is an outgrowth ofdiscussions between educators andproducers in regard to interpreting FairUse. The TEACH Act, which governs theuse of copyrighted materials in distancelearning environments, permits the use oflimited portions of copyrighted materialfor a limited period of time. Based uponprecedents set with other guidelines, suchas educational multimedia, the 10% orless limit has appeared, but you can’tautomatically assume that you may take10% of a work. In some cases, you mayactually be able to use more, and in otherinstances, depending on the degree oforiginality and uniqueness of the originalmaterial, you may only be able to use amuch smaller portion.

Therefore, following all of therequirements concerning the use ofmaterials in a distance learning

environment, which would includepodcasts, you would be able to record abook talk, using limited portions of abook and such recordings could be madeavailable to students enrolled in the classfor which the materials were created,while preventing others not enrolled fromaccessing such materials.

QIf I post pictures of the Battle of theBooks covers (Sunshine State YoungReaders Award titles) on my blog,

is that breaking any laws? I’d like to justcopy them from elsewhere on the Internetand paste them in (if that is possible). (Itwould not be a picture that I took of thebook, or would that be a better approach?)

I would also like to ask if the answerwould be the same for posting to a schoolwebsite?

ABook covers and their accompanyingart, work are copyright protected. Ifused for instructional purposes and

placed on a restricted access web site orrestricted access blog, an argument couldbe made for educational fair use, but it isnot an automatic privilege. However, ingeneral, prior permission would need tobe obtained, especially in the case ofplacing such images on open sites whereanyone could visit those sites and use theimages in whatever manner they saw fit.

In terms of copying images from websites vs. taking your own picture of thebook cover, either approach could beused, but in each instance, full creditneeds to be given to the source of theartwork or book cover. If taking from aweb site, credit to the web site should alsobe given.


In a widely reported developmentyesterday, Governor Charlie Crist has toldeach department of Florida’s governmentto offer planned budgets where 10% cutswould be made to the 2009-2010 budgetyear. While it is not expected that thisexercise will result in actual 10% cutsbeing made next year, the order doesreflect the growing concern about currentand future state revenues.

The only good news, if there is any, in thisdiscussion is that for once the state seemsto be planning for a fiscal year that willbegin in a little more than eight monthsinstead of continuing to cut the currentyear’s budget of which we have alreadycompleted a third. I am still concernedabout the stability of the current yearbudget, but with the focus turning towardthe future, it suggests that thegovernment’s leaders have evolved beyondjust looking just a few days at a time.

Without any doubt, all of the currentofficial revenue estimates for both thecurrent year and for 2009-2010 werecompiled before the recent nationalfinancial crisis and federal bailoutprogram. As such, they are likely toreflect continued overestimates of whatwill be available to pay for state serviceswithin the constitutionally requiredbalanced budget. However, the FloridaConstitution requires much more than justa balanced state operating budget. It alsorequires the Legislature to provide for ahigh quality system of free public schoolsand for class sizes to be reduced each year

until either all of the classes in the statemeet mandated sizes in core classes orprovide enough money to reduce theclasses by two students on average eachyear from general revenue and not localproperty taxes. These requirements are noless important than the requirement for abalanced budget. If current revenues donot meet the constitutionally requiredneeds, the Legislature must consider otheroptions to meet their responsibilities.

While this is in fact the case, the fact isthat the expected legislative leadership hasindicated a strong preference to operatewithin the current tax structure withoutany consideration of revenueenhancements. This posture will make itextremely difficult to meet their duties.

Another positive note is that even underthe 10% cut proposal, the DOE didmaintain the bulk of the instructionalmaterials categorical and the still providedfor funding for SUNLINK. So, even ifthis worst case scenario was adopted asdrafted by the Department, these key itemswould still receive meaningful funding.

Teacher PerformancePay ProgramsSenator Gaetz (R – Destin) has indicatedin several newspaper articles that heintends to change several state programsdesigned to incentivize performance oradditional credentials be combined into acoordinated program. Some programs hehad mentioned for consideration wereMAP, Excellent Teacher Program, School

Bob CerraChairman/CEOCerra Consulting Group, Inc.FAME GovernmentalConsultant206-B South Monroe StreetTallahassee, FL 32301(850) 222-4428 office(850) 222-4380 faxEmail: [email protected]

10/17/2008

State Budget Shortfalls Present OngoingChallenges for High Quality Schools andSuccessful School Library Programs

Recognition, and even the Teachers Lead Program. Nospecifics have been released, but the discussion could be aprecursor to a massive reduction in the overall costs of thecombined programs.

Florida ElectionAt this point, most election observers do not expect amajor change to the membership of the Florida House orFlorida Senate. While a net shift of approximately fouradditional seats for the Democrats is possible in theFlorida House, this will not impact the control orleadership of the House over the next two years. The netchange to the Florida Senate is expected to be practicallyzero although both parties face a few competitive contests.As such, the expectation is that this body will also havegeneral stability with the Senate President-Designee beingextremely likely to officially take the post during thereorganizational session in November.

FAME Legislative PlatformThe FAME Legislative Platform was released to ourmembers during the recent FAME annual conference.Members are encouraged to use the document in meetingwith their legislators about the need for quality schoollibrary programs. An electronic copy of the platform isavailable on the FAME website (see link below).

ConclusionsVery little is likely to change in philosophy, outlook andplanning for the Florida Legislature based upon theupcoming elections. State revenues continue todisappoint, and current estimates are likely to drop againnext month. While a balanced budget is a requirement ofthe Florida Constitution, this is not nearly the onlymandate for the Legislature to fulfill its duties under thatdocument. FAME members are encouraged to use thenew 2009 FAME Legislative Platform to support qualityschool library media programs for the benefit of students.


Legislative News continued from 20

References

DOE Budget Requests and 10% Cut Exercise Documentshttp://floridafiscalportal.state.fl.us/Documents.aspx?FY=2010&EXID=8&AGY=4800&DOCID=245&DisplayAgy=Y

Florida Constitution – Article 9 - Educationhttp://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?Mode=Constitution&Submenu=3&Tab=statutes&CFID=36575411&CFTOKEN=60809459#A09

FAME 2009 Legislative Platformhttp://www.floridamedia.org/associations/7436/files/0809Leg_platform.pdf

Marriott World Resort

Orlando, Florida

September 30-Oct. 2, 2009

MARK YOUR CALENDAR37th Annual FAME Conference

How to Submit ArticlesHave you completed a research project you want to sharewith other media specialists? Have you just returned froma trip where you witnessed exciting innovations for mediaspecialists? Have you learned a new technique, found anew product or service, or just have information that youwant to share?

Format

Submissions should be in Word or Word Perfectdocuments. Articles should be clearly written and may be accompanied by black and white photographs, charts,or graphs; however, please do not embed your visuals intothe text.

Photographs and Graphics

All photographs, charts, and graphs accompanying articlesshould be submitted as .jpg or .eps files and must besubmitted along with the article. You may indicate whereyou would like them placed, if you have a preference, by simply noting it in BOLD in your text.

Rights

Materials, once submitted, become the property ofFlorida Media Quarterly (FMQ). The editor reserves the right to publish the article in the most suitable issue.Materials will not be returned. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the material submitted and for any and all copyright permissions necessary.

How to Submit ArticlesSubmit articles via email directly to Pat Dedicos, FMQEditor, at [email protected]. Please include the following information with your article:

• a .jpg of yourself• the name of your school• address of your school• your position• your email address

How to Submit Book Reviews Please follow the steps below to submit book reviews toFMQ. Submissions should be in Word or Word Perfectdocuments and be clearly written.

1) Read the book.

2) Include the following in your review: • author • title• illustration• publishers• copyright• ISBN• grade level appropriateness

3) Email the review to Pat Dedicos, FMQ Editor, at [email protected] including

• a .jpg of yourself• the name of your school• address of your school• your position• your email address

Deadlines and Focus of FMQThe publication dates and focus of each FMQ issue hasbeen provided below to help you plan article submissions;however, you may submit articles at any time of the year.The FMQ editor will select from the articles submitted forplacement in the most suitable issue.

Issue Focus of Articles & PublicationPublication Issue Ads Due Date

Fall Emergent Trends in August 1 September 1Media Programs

Winter Promoting Your November 1 December 1Media Program

Spring Evaluating Your Media Program February 1 March 1

Summer Tips for a Successful Media Program May 1 June1


Florida Media Quarterly (FMQ) is the Florida Associationof Media in Education (FAME) electronic magazine published quarterly.Each issue includes articles of interest to all media specialists. Specialcolumns focusing on technology, copyright, and book reviews, as well asfeature articles on topical issues are written by colleagues and specialiststo keep media specialists on the cutting edge. FMQ is available online in.PDF format from the FAME website at http://www.floridamedia.org

florida media quarterly winter 2009

Documents

florida mediaquarterly

fame web site

editorflorida media

members of fame

web site addresses

web atwww

deadlinesissue articles

accuracy of text