Knowledge Quest has a great cover May/June 11

Son Brady, who also illustrates the headers for the Blue Skunk, provided the art work for the AASL Conference issue of Knowledge Quest. I couldn't be more proud.

SIGMS Forum at ISTE - Get registered today!

ISTE is right around the corner! As announced last February, our SIGMS Forum is shaping up to the be most exciting one ever for attending librarians, administrators and, well, anyone interested in creating the best possible learning opportunities for kids.

This is a ticketed event with a limited room capacity. You snooze, you lose if you don't get registered. Don't say I didn't warn you.

SIGMS Forum: There is No Better Time: A Dawning Era for School Librarian will be a series of six TED-like talks.  Each of talk will be 10-15 minutes in length with a short introduction and a 2 minute response from a pre-selected attendee. There will be some back channeling, tweeting and other annoying stuff you all are so fond of as well.

Each talk centers on the theme of a "dawning era for school librarians and new definitions of our profession" with each speaker offering a unique focus.

Here's the ALL-STAR line up!

Anita Beaman	The E-volution of Books: Ebooks, E-readers and the Future of Reading or, Where Are We Going and Do I Have to Get in That Handbasket?
Buffy Hamilton	Libraries as Communally Constructed Sites of Participatory Learning: Creating Conversations and Connections Through Enchantment
Cathy Jo Nelson	The Blind Leading the Blind:  Be the trailblazer for newbies, veterans and students alike modeling the use of new tools for professional development and student learning.
Gwyneth Jones	Viva La Revolución! Make a daring digital shift for your practice & the community. Having a web presence, keeping hip with cultural literacy, transliteracy, & building strong personal learning networks is not just an extra burden, but a necessity for the modern teacher librarian. It’s never too late to start...and it’s easier than you might think! Advocate for our profession by embracing change & the digital shift: Don't Hate - Appreciate! Viva la Revolucion!
Shannon Miller	Be the change you want to see: Empowering students with a VOICE in education

These are all practicing librarians who turn theory into reality everyday. They are the new voices of school librarianship -  helping us create a more powerful, more integral (less vulnerable?) place in the lives of our students and our schools.

And they are each wonderful, engaging presenters.

Let's pack the room and rock the joint.

Getting the most from your tech dollar 2: buying power of groups

Over the next few days, I'll be addressing some strategies school districts use to get the most from their technology dollars. See the full list here. Any budget stretching strategies you're willing to share?

2. The (buying) power of groups: consortium purchasing, state contracts, bidding and quotes.

While technology products and services can be expensive, the industry is also intensely competitive. Savvy educators can use that competitive environment to their advantage.

For any purchase over a few dollars, getting two or more quotes is standard operating procedures. Even when we have formed a long and trusted relationship with a vendor, we still get a couple quotes just to make sure everyone is keeping the pencils sharp. Our state requires, as I assume do many, that we go through a formal closed bid process for any procurements of over $100,000. Just good bid-ness. Writing good bid specs is critical and involves, I believe, the ability to describe functionality rather than specific kinds of equipment. 

While such organizations vary from state, intermediate service agencies (AEAs, BOCEs, ESCUs etc) often offer consortium purchasing of goods and services. Our district takes advantage of discounted costs for Internet connectivity, educational resource subscriptions, and hardware purchases provided by our regional telecommunications cooperative. This may mean some compromise on specific brands, etc., but if it means big savings, we can live with it.

State government contracts can provide great costs for equipment and may eliminate the legal need for getting quotes or bids on products. While we often can do the same or better with many vendors negotiating as a district, we still check the state contract.

Districts can even take advantage of "group" discounts when entering a district-wide contract for resources rather than each building purchasing them. Often support agreements can be negotiated if the company knows there is a single point of contact for a district rather than multiple points in buildings. By standardizing and aggregating materials purchases district-wide, a volume discount usually applies. This requires, of course, some district leadership.

Nothing here that rises to the level of rocket surgery, just common sense.

Other ways to stretch your tech dollars by working together?