Happy Holidays!

The Master of Horror: Stephen King

It should come as no surprise to anyone that another Stephen King book is being adapted into a made for TV movie. Bag of Bones by Stephen King has been made into a TV mini-series for A&E. Hollywood movies, made-for-TV movies, TV mini-series, as well as regular television series have all been made based off some of the author's most popular books. Here is a small list of some of these projects:

Carrie ~ Major motion picture starring Sissy Spacek

Misery ~ Major motion picture starring Kathy Bates

The Shining ~ Major motion picture starring Jack Nicholson

The Green Mile ~ Major motion picture starring Tom Hanks

The Dead Zone ~ Television series starring Michael Anthony Hall

The Stand ~ Television mini-series starring Gary Sinise and others

It ~ Made for TV movie starring Tim Curry (also the reason 1/2 the people I grew-up with were afraid of clowns)

We have a large collection of Stephen King books in the library. Half of the books can be found in the Accelerated Reader section and the rest in the regular Fiction section. Here is a list of titles we have that have also been movies. Consider checking one out!

Bag of Bones

Desperation

Dolores Claiborne

Firestarter

Hearts in Atlantis

Insomnia

It

Misery

Pet Sematary

The Shining

The Dead Zone

Cujo

The Tommyknockers

Happy Reading!

The BEST Book EVER, or so I've been told

The other day I had a student return Nicholas Spark's The Lucky One. She was highly recommending it to anyone within ear shot. I believe it was immediately checked back out by one of the lucky people in the library at the time. So I was not surprised to see a trailer/featurette pop up online today. As always I hope the movie doesn't ruin the book for everyone!




I will try to hold back the book to movie trailers now! But to be honest it's not my fault, the Holiday Movie Season happens.

Speaking of books becoming movies...

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick has just been released in theaters. If your interested in the book it is located in the AR section of the library with the call "number" F Sel. Here's a quick idea of what the book is about:

"When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1932, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized"

I'm not sure how close to the book the movie turned out. Watch the trailer and decide for yourself.

Rules to Live By

One of my favorite series of books is currently being made into a movie. The Hunger Games will be released in theaters on March 23, 2012. In preparation for this momentous event I thought I'd share my thoughts/rules when dealing with movies based on books.

1. The book is always better.

2. Avoid the book before the movie.

3. Don't bring someone who hasn't read the book with you to watch the movie. The temptation to explain EVERYTHING will be too great to avoid.

4. If possible it is always best to see the book and the movie as two ideas that have NOTHING to do with each other.

So good luck to all Hunger Games fans! May the movie not completely ruin the book! Here's a look at the first trailer.

May the odds be ever in your favor!


P.S.
If anyone is having a hard time waiting for the movie there is a board game based on the Training Days before the Games begin. If anyone is interested in playing stop by the library and talk to your librarian!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What was that? You need help?

You say you need help finding information about the history of physical education (PE)? Or maybe you are trying to find out more about color blindness. There is a place to find reliable information on these and many more topics: Encyclopedia Britannica Online! Provided by the Iowa AEA Online resources. While some entries are more in-depth than others this resource is a great starting point for any research topic. Helpful photographs and images accompany most articles as well as links to other web sources, making this an excellent substitute for just "Googling it." And if you are still having trouble with that pesky Works Cited or Bibliography page never fear! Encyclopedia Britannica Online provides a citation for every article in MLA or APA format. Find it at the bottom of the webpage. Encyclopedia Britannica Online can be found at the AEA Online webpage:

Iowa AEA Online

For username and password please ask your teacher or librarian!

Veteran's Day

Thank you to all the brave men and women who have served our country and kept us safe. Follow the links below to find out more about this important holiday.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day

***Image of NYC Veteran's Day Parade from AP Images through the Iowa AEA.

MLA Format and Citation HELP!!!

It's that time of year, when research papers and projects abound. If, like so many before, you find yourself in need of some help don't despair! Here are some helpful links to get you through.

Noodle Tools: Citation Help for MLA or APA

This website will practically do all the work for you. At the bottom of the column titled "Free Software Tools" click the link that says NoodleBibExpress. Then choose the MLA format and choose the type of source you will be citing. The options are almost endless, but highlights include "interviews," "website," "film or video," and "online database." Most online databases, such as SIRS and EBSCO, will include the citation information for an article. However other types of sources will not be so accommodating.

MLA Format Guide

This PDF was created by California State University: Los Angeles as a guide for their students. Luckily it can help you too. This guide gives you examples of how your paper should look, including the Works Cited page. It also gives examples of several types of citations including how to cite the source in your paper, parenthetical references.

Still lost? Stop by the library and ask for some help, what I don't know I can find out!

Soundzabound

Soundzabound is another great resource provided by the Iowa AEA Online. Students and teachers today use multimedia in many different ways so it is important to have copyright free resources available. Using copyright protected music can be dangerous and costly. By using Soundzbound you can find many entertaining and creative copyright free cuts of music.

When searching for music from Soundzabound the best way to find what you are looking for is to search by Category. This lets you see artists, genres, and time periods that are available. If you are looking for the latest song by your favorite artist, chances are you won't find it. Soundzabound will however give you "sound-a-likes" if you are looking for a specific sound. Some songs will use electronic sounds, others real instruments, and sometimes they actually have songs with vocals.

*Images from iClipart.com provided by Iowa AEA Online

iClipart

The AEA Online has many resources, including iClipart. This site lets you search clipart, photos, and animation options! The iClipart site is a wonderful way to find and use copyright free images for posters, signs, presentations, websites, and even blog entries.

FOR EXAMPLE HERE IS A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ME USING iClipart!

I'm sure many people would be surprised to know that I played the violin from 4th grade thru 11th grade.

My favorite city on Earth is Paris.

I would visit again in a heartbeat.

It is a truly unique city.

I love to play card games like Cribbage, Euchre, and 500 with my family. We are all very competitive and it can get ugly!

*All images in this entry from iClipart.com provided by Iowa AEA Online.

Prezi

Looking for a new and interesting way to make a presentation? Try Prezi, a zooming presentation tool, to help you show off your creativity. Prezi lets you add images, text, video, and more to create your presentation. This example is my very limited attempt to create a Prezi for a book talk. This was created in a day, but I think it serves its purpose well.

Book Talk: A little of this...a little of that on Prezi

Book Return vs. Book Cart

There has been some confusion about where to place a book returning it here in the library. There is a book return located at the end of the circulation desk, where you check out, that books maybe placed when returning them. There is a sign below the hole in the desk that reads "book return." That is where you put your books! The book cart also at the end of the circulation desk is for books that I have checked in and sorted. Some books have been returning to the shelves still checked out to people, probably due to being placed on the cart rather than in the book return.

New Books

There were a number of new books added to the library collection at the beginning of this school year. For now all the new materials are being shelved in the area across from the PC Pod of computers. These books will soon be placed on the regular fiction, non-fiction, and AR shelves. The compete series of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was added to the collection. As well a new set of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

Welcome!

You have just found the IKM-Manning High School Library Blog, a great place to find out what's new in the library! As news and events happen I'll post them here.