Resrcs.Links

Online Resources for Teachers/ Librarians, Parents, and Children -- by AJLSC and AJL

[* Check Resources from AJLSC Authors* (below) for detailed and up-to-date online resources]

• List of Children's Authors and Illustrators -- most are local and available for library visits; they were guests at our Children's Literature Conference in February 2005.

• Great Websites for Kids - sponsored by American Library Association's ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children). (updated 2010)

Other Online Resources (links are very selective and are provided as an AJLSC service):

BabagaNewz - innovative, educational website for Jewish middle school students and teachers, focusing on Jewish beliefs, practices, and values.

Jewish Book Month - starts one month before Hanukkah annually. For JBM kits, contact Jewish Book Council, 15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010 - 212.532.4949 X297; fax 212.481.4174.

• Authors @ Your Library -- a website linking librarians with publishers "to simplify the process of scheduling library events." Sponsored by the Association of American Publishers.

• AJLSC: A Bibliography of Jews in Sports: Books! Articles! Videos! for Adults and Children. Designed by Ellen Cole. Arranged by Joel Tuchman. April 2003. 24pp. Three sections: Books for Adults; Books for Children; and Videos, Periodicals, and CD-Roms. Table of Contents, Key to [14 Local] Institutions Holding Titles, and Index of 22 different sports careers. Professionally bound. Free to AJLSC members.

• Ben-Zvi, Hava Bromberg. Portraits in Literature: The Jews of Poland. An Anthology, Compiled and Edited. Portland, OR; Vallentine Mitchell Publishers, June 2011. The Bride Who Argued With God: Tales From The Treasury of Jewish Folklore. Compiled, Translated and Retold. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2006. Eva's Journey, A Young Girl's True Story. New York, NY; iUniverse, 2004. (See author's website for more info)

• Drucker, Malka, Rabbi. Women and Judaism. Praeger, 2009 (Finalist, Religious Book, 2009 New Mexico Book Award); Portraits of Jewish American Heroes. Dutton's Children's Books, 2008 (Winner, Juvenile Book, and Finalist, Religious Book, 2009 New Mexico Book Award; also one of the Top Ten Religion Books for Youth: 2008 - Booklist Online); White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America. Skylight Paths Publishing, 2002. See author's website for more books.

• Goldenberg, Amy. Papercutting: Revising a Jewish Folk Art. Northvale, NJ; Jason Aronson, 1994.

AJL News - new electronic publication of AJL as of 2/11/2011. This is the News portion of the former AJL Newsletter, print edition.

AJL Reviews - new electronic publication of AJL as of 2/11/2011. This is the Reviews portion of the former AJL Newsletter, print edition.

AJL Wiki - Your one-stop knowledge base for everything related to Judaica librarianship. (a work-in-progress)

AJL Blog - includes Weekly Link Roundup, AJL Links to the World of Jewish Books, Jewish Book Carnival Headquarters, and much more.

Convention Blogs -- contain lots of information, links, and helpful lists, including how to use Twitter successfully.

AJL Podcasts -- "best talks on Jewish literature and the Jewish library world, with respected experts and popular authors."

Social Networks - presentation at 2009 Chicago AJL Convention - read it on the AJL Convention Blog.

• Susan Freiband with Barbara Leff: Collection Development in Smaller Judaica Libraries: An Introduction and Guide. Susan Freiband and Barbara Leff: iCollection Development in Smaller Judaica Libraries: Resource Guide. Both: AJL, 2006. (available through AJL Publications)

• The New Jewish Valuesfinder: A Guide to Values in Jewish Children's Books,edited by Linda R. Silver, for Association of Jewish Libraries -- ONLINE PUBLICATION -- ALWAYS KEPT CURRENT -- the most comprehensive annotated source on the Internet for finding Jewish values expressed in Jewish children's books. The database is continuously updated and includes each book's author, title, illustrator, publisher, ISBN, values, subjects, contents, and age level. The Valuesfinder also contains lists of award winners, notable books, and news about Jewish children's books and publishing, as well as links to other children's literature websites. [Note: All who use it say this is an "excellent resource."]
• PRINT EDITION of The New Jewish Valuesfinder... by Linda R. Silver, for AJL. 2008. Order directly from Neal Schuman Publishers - $55.

AJL-NYMA Chapter - Check out the website of the New York Metropolitan Area Chapter of the Association of Jewish Libraries. Workshops are listed under Past Events. You can download print materials, Power Point presentations, audio presentations.

Internet and Jewish Internet Resources

The Internet (a very select list)

• Kathy Schrock's ABC's of Web Site Evaluation -- an educator lists and explains criteria for evaluation. http://www.kathyschrock.com/abceval/index.htm

• Online Searching, by Colleen Baker. Judaica Library Network of Metropolitan Chicago Newsletter. Summer 2003. http://home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/jln-sum03.htm

• Search Engine Showdown -- The User's Guide to Web Searching. This award-winning website is loaded with helpful information about search engines, e.g. comparisons, analysis, reviews, news, how-to's, directories, special features. http://www.searchengineshowdown.com

• School Libraries on the Web -- Searching the Internet. This website includes an introduction to searching the Internet, search engines, subject indexes, and kid-safe search sites. http://www.sldirectory.com/search.html

The Jewish Internet (a very select list)

• Jewish History / American Jewish History websites - a selected list - by Larry Laufman, Ed.D.

• Index to Jewish Periodicals - for access to Jewish periodicals, including Judaica book reviews.

• Ekman, Rae. How to Run a Readathon (http://www.holysparks.com/readathon.html). For Library Tea Parties, write to author rae@holysparks.com [Source: AJL's Hasafran, October 13, 2003.] Rae Ekman is a Jewish artist, writer, master calligrapher, and librarian at Emek Hebrew Academy, North Hollywood, CA.

• Romm, Diane. The Jewish Guide to the Internet. 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 2002. 359p. index. paperback. $30.00. Comprehensive guide to Jewish sites on the Internet by a librarian and AJL member. More than 1500 sites arranged in 136 subject areas. Lists over 375 Internet Host Sites in Israel. [Jason Aronson titles are now available through Roman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. <http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/aronsonj/>

• Romm, Diane. Jewish Internet Guide.com (http://www.jewishinternetguide.com), 2003. A searchable website created by the author (a librarian and AJL member) to complement the 3rd edition of her book, The Jewish Guide to the Internet. The searchable site contains the entire text of the 3rd edition of the book, plus updates and additions of material added since the book's publication in 2002. Also, the website provides Internet links to Jewish search engines in English, Hebrew, and other languages and to institutions and individuals who maintain sizable websites with Jewish resources.

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Other Librarianship Resources (reference and selection tools, articles, online periodicals, databases, other links)

Library and Information Science Resources on the Web -- a potpourri of useful links from Intuit: Universities offering information science courses, career resources, general tools (databases, digital libraries, portals), tools by library departments, sites for librarians.

Recent Conference Presentations and/or Handouts

Israel & Israelis in Comix - a blog for posting scans used in Steven M. Bergson's presentation "From Tintin to Waltz with Bashir : Israel and Israelis in Comic Books, Comic Strips, and Graphic Novels" at the AJL Conference in Cleveland, June 22, 2008.

California Learning Resource Network (at bottom of screen) -- free, high quality online reference resources (screened and selected by teacher librarians and classroom teachers). This is a Power Point presentation prepared by Peter Milbury for the California School Library Association's Annual Conference, November 15-18, 2007, in Ontario, CA.

Recent Selection Tools

Linda R. Silver. Best Jewish Books for Children and Teens: A JPS Guide. Jewish Publication Society, 2010. Selection of Jewish books for children -- from preschool through high school -- written in or translated into English and published during the 20th and 21st centuries, with most appearing since the end of World War II. Recommended Reading by Subject -- Fiction and Non-Fiction -- Plot Summaries. Award Winners and Recommended Reading Levels. Indexed by Title, Author, Illustrator, and Subject.

Creating a Collection: A Resource Booklist for a Beginning Judaic Library (5th edition), 2008, by Merrily Hart.

• Susan Freiband with Barbara Leff: Collection Development in Smaller Judaica Libraries: An Introduction and Guide. Susan Freiband and Barbara Leff: Collection Development in Smaller Judaica Libraries: Resource Guide. Both: AJL, 2006. (available through AJL Publications)

Anti-Defamation League recommends fiction books on Israel for children K through 12th grade. Also check this topic on AJL's Jewish Valuesfinder.

Jewish Book Council – Jewish Book World, Jewish Book Annual, Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and National Jewish Book Awards 1949 to current.

• The Case for Libraries and Librarians - an Invited Paper, Submitted to the Obama-Biden Education Policy Working Group, December, 2008, by Stephen Krashen. Summary of ways to promote your library to the powers-that-be who control the budget.

• The Jewish Presence in Children's Literature (a special issue). The Lion and the Unicorn: A Critical Journal of Children's Literature. Vol. 27, No. 3, September 2003. Includes "Becoming an 'All-of-a-Kind' American: Sydney Taylor and Strategies of Assimilation" by June Cummins, pp. 324-343.

• "Libraries: Unsung Heroism" in The Inexhaustible Wellspring: Reaping the Rewards of Shtetl Life by Dr. Klepfisz Heszel (Devorah Publishing, 2003; 312p.; ISBN 1930143753) (pp. 303-312 for a brief history of Jewish libraries to the end of World War II). "Since the end of World War II, much as been written about the kinds of institutions that existed in Jewish Eastern Europe . . . but libraries have been almost completely neglected. Yes, libraries were important to the way of life in Eastern Europe. This is not to say that Jews first created libraries when their culture began to develop in Eastern Europe. Collections of religious and other books existed in antiquity and their importance was recognized even then. . . . " (p. 303).

• Social Networking (short video) -- to communicate with others -- explanation and links
• Social Networks - presentation at 2009 Chicago AJL Convention - read it on the AJL Convention Blog.