Sunday, July 1, 2007

Increasing Children's Access to Books through Technology

Title: Increasing Children's Access to Books through Technology
Title of Journal: School Library Media Activities Monthly; March 2007
Author: Weeks, Carlson Ann
Date: July 1,2007

This article talks about The International Children's Digital Library. The ICDL began as a research project funded by many different organizations. By 2008 they hope to build a collection of 10,000 books in at least 100 languages and then make them freely available. The ICDL caters to two different audiences. The first audience is children 3-13 as well as teachers, librarians, parents and those who work with children. The second audience is international scholars and researchers in the area of children's literature. The collection of books consist of contemporary children's books and historical works. The intent of this organization is to make children's books more accessible and to preserve children's literature with the help of technology. The ICDL has unique characteristis for searching their catalog. Children may search by physical characteristics of a book, the way a book makes you feel, the size of the book and main characters. These searching strategies were made possible by the help and partnership of children during its conception.
This is quite the hidden treasure. I totally was in awe of this article. I went online and sat up a free account and started searching. This is an absolutely wonderful resource. I could totally see me utilizing this in any library or classroom situation. It opens a door to the unknown of children literature. I especially liked the searching strategies. The ICDL is truly committed to servicing children and others with bounds of children's literature.

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