Sutherland Shire Libraries Staff News

March is all about language, whether it's learning English or a brand new one to better converse with the neighbours.
March has Cultural Diversity Week, 15 to 23 March 2014, with Harmony Day being the 21st. Council is co-sponsoring the Harmony Day Short Film Festival to be held at Cronulla cinemas.

We have three databases which can be used for English language learning.
Road to IELTS - General
Road to IELTS - Academic
Mango Languages

Mango Languages can, of course, be used for learning 15 other languages as well.

Road to IELTS - general











Why would I use this?
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is a test that measures the language proficiency of people who want to study or work in environments where English is used as a language of communication.
People from a non-English speaking background (NESB) often need to prove their proficiency  in English before they can  be employed. IELTS is the standard most often asked for by employers.

General Training measures English language proficiency in a practical, everyday context.

What do I need to know?
This is a 'preparation and practise' version of the real thing, allowing users to hone their skills before forking out the money to sit an accredited exam. It includes 120 hours of work on the essential components of the test, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening and speaking. The program simulates the exam itself.

General Training measures English language proficiency in a practical, everyday context. The tasks and texts reflect both workplace and social situations.The distinction between the Academic version and the General Training version lies in the subject matter of the Reading and Writing components.

Features
The Help Tab (top right) of the Home Screen runs through the layout of the database...Skills screens and Exercise screens and how to navigate through the website.

One can login individually and follow progression through the 4 skill modules, as well as performance, but you don't have to. one can visit as a quest each time if that is preferred.

The syllabus is provided on the IELTS  - General page

Practise
Open up the module and give one of the skills, or the tests, a go. That way you will have a better idea of explaining it to a potential customer.... this is an example of a lower level activity..how would you go..in English let alone another language?









Road to IELTS - Academic










Why would I use this?
IELTS Academic measures English language proficiency needed for an academic, higher learning environment. The tasks and texts are accessible to all test-takers, irrespective of their subject focus.

What do I need to know?
One of the challenges of IELTS preparation is enabling learners to interpret and describe charts and tables. Road to IELTS - Academic includes a wealth of these graphics and more than 70 exercises. The program includes detailed explanations of each question type in each part of the exam, and tips on how best to tackle the tasks.

The set up is the same as IELTS - General.

One needs to sign in to each one separately, they do not savve from one to the other.

Features
Same as IELTS - General
The syllabus is provided on the IELTS - Academic page.

Practise
It is very similar to the General one. The differnece being the literacy level required, here's an example of a practise exam task.













Mango Languages







Why would I use this?
Mango offers 17 English courses for people from NESB's.
Arabic -  Egyptian                   Arabic - Modern Standard Arabic
Armenian                                Cantonese
Mandarin                                 French
German                                   Greek
Italian                                       Japanese
Korean                                    Polish
Portuguese (Brazilian)              Russian
Spanish (Latin American)        Turkish
Vietnamese


It also offers English speakers many languages to learn.























What do I need to know?

If one wants to keep track of the course taken, progression through it and results etc. one must login, thereby creating an account. Each use after that one will be asked to login to your account.

But it does have guest access so those who are paranoid about their privacy can use it too.

Mango uses real-life situations and actual conversations to more effectively teach a new language. By listening to and repeating after material designed from native conversations, users not only learn the individual words and phrases, they will know how they're used in practical situations and conversations.











There is an app to use Mango Languages on your mobile device

Features
Each language is divided into sections.

Then there are many lessons. Each one divided into small chunks which you can replay as many times as you like. You can easily go back to the beginning by using the slider accessible at the bottom and skip pages by swiping (on a mobile device) until you get to the phrase you are after.

Practise
Just sign up and give it a try, getting started is easy. It's continuing through the lessons that's the hard part of this one.
Try it via your mobile phone or tablet.
Hoscakalin!

I recently enjoyed a webinar on readers advisory sponsored by: EBSCO/NoveList and Library Journal

• never critise anyones reading choices
• be comfortable talking about books
• look at each conversation with a reader as leading to another conversation

• read outside your genre
• know what resources/services your library provides
• 50% of patrons discover books via the catalogue and people want to see book recommendations and reviews on the catalogue
• Lists are irrestistable to people!! They love a list (I admit to this)

Tools and  Strategies for Staying Up To Date:

• look around at what your patrons are reading
• look at reviews and discussions in local media
• talk about books/media with collegues

 There is a plethora of media sites so they suggest you pick a few different ones and just look at those reguarly. These include book blogs, online journals and prepublishing alerts. Some Australian sites are:
AUSSIE BLOGS
http://austbookbloggerdirectory.blogspot.com.au/
http://blog.booktopia.com.au/
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/alr/
http://aussiebookreviews.aussieblogs.com.au/
http://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/book-reviews

There should be something here we and our customers can use.
Don't forget they are all availabledirectly from Encore!
No software downloads required.
  
  
  

 2 New Library Science Books

Communicating professionally: a how-to-do-it manual [for librarians] / Catherine Sheldrick Ross & Kirsti Nilsen

Summary (Taken from Encore). 

• Mastering individual skills,
• Sensitivity to cultural, ethnic, and linguistic issues.
• Communicating with current technology using presentation software
Practical tips and skills training exercises, examples of common library situations, interesting research facts, a special section on support staff, and references to other sources are listed throughout this practical guide.
Chapter Headings: Nonverbal behaviour -- Listening -- Skills : speaking -- Skills : writing -- Integration : putting it all together -- Applications : speaking one-to-one -- Applications : working in groups -- Making presentations -- Applications : writing -- Training others in communication skills.

Quick review:

I found this book to be comprehensive and easily read. Its broad chapter headings are broken into smaller sub chapters which enable the reader quick access. I dipped in and out of this book accessing different information and found lots of helpful tips and exercises. Helpful and pertinent to library staff.

Adult programs in the library / Brett W. Lear

This is an updated edition of Lear's guide to adult programs, with refreshed, expanded content and new ideas to reinvigorate programs and give them a 21st century spin

Summary (Taken from ALA Publishing/AmericanLibraryAssociation ) :

 Programming is an important means of not only drawing new people to the library but also better serving existing patrons. Lear’s invaluable guide to adult programs is back—and better than ever, with refreshed, expanded content and new ideas to reinvigorate programs and give them a 21st-century spin. This edition includes
• Updated chapters on basics such as funding, crafting guidelines, topic selection, publicity, post-program evaluations, and more
• A new section on technology, with ideas for online book discussions, offering programs via Skype, and turning programs into podcasts
• Methods for tailoring programs for specific groups, such as men, baby boomers, and seniors
• A collection of "five-star" programs from libraries around the country that can be easily adapted
Walking the reader through every aspect of adult programming, this new edition of a tried-and-true book is truly a librarian’s best friend.

Quick Review:

 This book is divided into two parts.
1-Building a framework for success
 2-A collection of five star programs.
Anyone interested in how to put on Adult programs this is the book for you! I really enjoyed dipping into the Program examples in the second half e.g. “Who shot the librarian? A centennial mystery” and “Mile in my shoes: The human library." 

NEW ESL ITEMS 2014-02-03

Just conversations for ESL students: 

Summary(from the encore record):  As the title implies, this book is just about conversations. I wrote it to give my students ample material for speaking practice. An educator can discuss with students and/or dissect the dialogues contained in this book, as only he or she can do. There are a loads of idioms, phrasal verbs and colloquial expressions for a wide variety of situations and topics. The vocabulary in each dialogue is challenging but not unfamiliar or unusual. If you are a student, the idea is to get used to collocations and colloquialism. Practice, Practice, practice! In addition, the dialogues were composed for Jr. High School ~ Freshman University level students. In other words, the grammar found within the dialogues doesn't stray too far from levels most students are used to seeing in their respective school exams. After 17 years teaching university level ESL classes, I've found that practice, practice, and practice are the top three methods of improving speaking ability. 32232011232783

240 speaking topics: 

Summary(from the encore record):120 Speaking Topics -120 Sample Answers -480 Useful Expressions -480 Grammar Questions Great for -ESL Learners -High School Students -Test Prep Students -College Students *This book is a sequel to 120 Speaking Topics. It only contains 120 speaking topics and sample answers. "240 Speaking Topics" and "240 Writing Topics" cover the same topics.       32232011233492 

240 writing topics: 

Summary(from the encore record):

 120 Writing Topics-120 Model Essays-120 Essay Outlines-1200 Model Sentences Great for-ESL Learners-High School Students-Test Prep Students-College Students*This book is a sequel to 120 Writing Topics. It only contains 120 writing topics and sample essays. "240 Speaking Topics" and "240 Writing Topics" cover the same topics.   32232011233781

 

Official IELTS practice materials 2:

Summary(from the encore record): "These practice materials are intended to give IELTS candidates an idea of what the test is like. The also give candidates the opportunity to test themselves to see whether their English is at the level required to take IELTS

Penguins Readers