Happy Holidays!

Today is the last day of school before Christmas holidays begin, and I hope everyone has a fun and enjoyable vacation.

School (and the library) will start up again on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007. See you then!

PRHS Senior Boys Basketball

The senior boys basketball team schedule is as follows:

January 9th, HOME vs. Advocate, 7:00pm

January 11th, HOME vs. CCA, 4:00pm

January 15th, AWAY vs. Tatamagouche, 5:00pm

January 25th, AWAY vs. Amherst J. V., 7:00pm

February 6, AWAY vs. Musquodoboit, 4:30 pm

Want to use Google more effectively?

Sick of getting 2.3 million hits, none of which are what you really want?

Want to find more precise results, or search more than one search engine at one time?

Well, it's your lucky day! I have given this presentation about searching the internet to a number of classes here at the high school and received feedback from teachers that they, too, found it helpful. So I'm putting it out there for anyone at PRHS (and elsewhere) to look at.


Finally...

A wonder of the web - Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is fantastic! It has become one of my favourite internet tools since I learned about it last year. What it does is allow you to save links to webpages that you can access from any internet connection, which is a whole lot better than just having a Bookmarks or Favorites folder on your computer (because you can only access those bookmarks from that computer). All you have to do is create a free account and start posting (adding) websites.

Take a look at what the PRHS library account looks like.

When you post websites you can also add tags, or descriptive words to help you find that website later in your del.icio.us account. For example, if you added this blog to your del.icio.us account, you might use the tags "PRHS," "library," and "blog." I currently have 90 items in the PRHS library del.icio.us account and my tag cloud looks like this:



The bigger the tag in the tag cloud above, the more posts I have tagged with it. Also, if you click on one of those tags, perhaps "astronomy," you will get a list of all the websites that I have tagged with the word "astronomy." You can also bundle the tags, which basically makes folders that contain all the posts that contain a particular tag or set of tags. If you go to http://del.icio.us/prhslib/space it is the bundle of all the posts that contain the tag "space."

You might have noticed that anyone can look at the PRHS library's Del.icio.us account and its contents. Although I am the only one who can add more websites, anyone can access the links themselves, which is great for student projects (like the grade 9 project on space) because it is accessible from any internet connection.

So, if you are interested in making your own del.icio.us account, go here to get started.

Enjoy!

Grade 9 space project

Below are links to some helpful websites about space (also found at http://del.icio.us/prhslib/space):

• Solar System Exploration homepage - a NASA site.
• Windows to the Universe - find information on Earth, the solar system, and other astronomical entities.
• Lunar and Planetary Institute - go to Resources on the menu bar to find "Exploring Mars" and "Exploring the Moon" sites.
• CSA - Canadian Space Agency
• Chandra Field guide to x-ray sources - a Harvard site that provides clear overviews of astronomical entities like white dwarf stars and supernovas.
• National Science Teachers Association - links to space websites.
• NASA ISS EarthKam
• Astronomy magazine - links to brief overview articles.
• Astronomy websites - from Librarian's Internet Index.

If you have any questions or comments about these sites, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Fantasy books - virtual display

Pendragon: The Merchant of Death by D. J. MacHale

Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby: he is going to save the world. And not just Earth as we know it. Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution.
If Bobby wants to see his family again, he's going to have to accept his role as savior, and accept it wholeheartedly. Because, as he is about to discover, Denduron is only the beginning. - from the publisher.

Pendragon website.


The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

Although she is the daughter of Damar's king, Aerin has never been accepted as full royalty. People whisper the story of her mother, the "witchwoman", who allegedly cast a spell on the king so he would marry her - and then died of despair when their first child was a girl. But no one knows Aerin''s destiny. From dragon-killer to defender of Damar, she will become a true hero, and wield the power of the Blue Sword, Gonturan. - from the publisher.



Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Doomed to - or blessed with - eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a starnger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune. - from the publisher.

About Natalie Babbitt.


The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Lyra Belaqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar Pantalaimon always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle--a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears. And as she hurtles toward danger in the cold, far North, young Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: She alone is destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle. - from the publisher.

This is the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

His Dark Materials series website.

Read a review.

Author's website.


Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me. She meant to bestow a gift. When I cried inconsolably through my first hour of life, my tears were her inspiration. Shaking her head sympathetically at Mother, the fairy touched my nose. "My gift is obedience. Ella will always be obedient. Now stop crying child."
So begins this richly entertaining story of Ella of Frell who wants nothing more than to be free of Lucinda's gift and feel that she belongs to herself. For how can she truly belong to herself if she knows that at any time, anyone can order her to hop on one foot, cut off her hand, or betray her kingdom - and she'll have to obey?
Against a bold tapestry of princes, ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, and fairy godmothers, Ella''s spirited account of her quest to break the curse is a funny, poignant, and enchanting tale about an unforgettable heroine who is determined to be herself. - from the publisher.

Read an interview with the author.