FIMSCon 2014

In October 2014 I was given a chance to present research that I had done on Early and Emergent Literacy at a conference held by the student council of the Facility of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario. It was my first experience giving a conference talk, and my first stab at talking about my research to people other then coworkers and other FIMS students. Three people came to my talk, which lasted about 35 minutes – which was impressive when you think that it was held on a Saturday morning in the middle of a semester!

If you are interested, I’ve attached my presentation slides, so that you can take a look at the research that I’ve spent the last 2 semesters doing.

ABSTRACT: This talk will report on the results of an Individual Study completed as part of my MLIS in the Summer 2014 term. Over the last ten to fifteen years, public libraries have embraced the support and development of preschool children’s early literacy skills. This is evident in the development of ALSC’s Every Child Ready to Read, a program which not only outlines for librarians and library workers, the skills a child needs to succeed in their literacy development, but also provides them with the tools and materials they will need to help facilitate this development.
In order to explore if and how public libraries have actually embraced strategies to support early literacy, I conducted a content analysis of a small sample (n=10) of diverse public library web-site. These sites, all serving over a million people, were analyzed for: evidence of using a standardized early literacy program, ease of web-site use, and presentation of information (was the web-site meant for a primarily adult audience, or did it gear its delivery toward children). The results not only indicated that the Every Child Ready to Read initiative was the program of choice for the majority of North American public libraries but also that it was clearly dependent on the individual library, as to how the information was presented.
My presentation will provide a brief overview of key related literature, a description of the methods used, the findings of my analysis and the implications for both practice and further research.

Please remember, if you use or cite this work to give me credit! I hope you enjoy!

FIMSConFINAL

The Curvy Girls Club – Another Review for Publishers Weekly

In September I was given the opportunity to read and review Michele Gorman’s book: The Curvy Girls Club. I thought that this was an excellent book, and I really identified with the characters; AND I’m really excited to read Michelle’s new book, Perfect Girl!

Mating for Life Review

Here is a link to a review that I did for the book Mating for Life by Marissa Stapley. I really enjoyed reading this novel – I thought that it was an interesting examination on how the choices people make can have long lasting, and long reaching consequences.

Review of Dear Margaret, By V.M. Parker

Earlier this summer I had the distinct honor of being asking to review the debut novel of the author V.M. Parker; a talented author, editor, and sometimes model, whom I met when we attended the same high school, many many moons ago. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I had previously never read an epistolary styled novel before. I was throughly charmed though! I really hope that Ms. Parker continues with the Dear Margaret world, and writes a sequel soon.

You can read my review on V.M. Parker’s blog, Natural Zero

V.M Parker can also be found on Facebook here

You can also purchase the on Amazon in a number of different formats here