What's New in the IRC?

Check out the IRC blogs for the lasted information regarding new additions to the IRC collection, juvenile and education book selections, technology, and juvenile book reviews:

• Instructional Resource Center Blog
  
  This blog includes news and information with a main focus on collection development for the IRC; juvenile books, activity books, education titles, manipulative kits, software, audio books, and IRC reference items. Interested in having the latest IRC book lists delivered? It's easy, choose your favorite feed reader or news aggregator from the blog to receive your feed.
  

• IRC Book Review Blog
  
  In answer to: What new book would you recommend? Do you like anything on the new book shelf? Help! I need a good book for class. Reviews posted are written by librarians, professors, and education students. Focus will be on new juvenile fiction and non-fiction titles added to Ashland University Library's collection. Interested in having the latest book reviews as they are posted? Choose your favorite feed reader or news aggregator from the blog to receive your feed.
  
  

• EDCI 131/540: Instructional Technology Lab
  
  Are you currently enrolled in EDCI 131/504? Be sure to read the EDCI 131 Blog. A primary tool for information, weekly updates, and assignment tips from the EDCI 131/504 Graduate Assistants, it is a great course resource. As with the Instructional Resource Center blogs, sign up for a feed using your favorite aggregator directly from the course blog.
  
  

IRC Web Page What's New: The Sidebar

New to the IRC web page is the inclusion of widgets, snippets of coding, within the sidebar that allow for information from different different sources to be included directly on the page. Various widgets are a part of both IRC blogs as well as the 131/504 Instructional Technology Lab blog.

The following widgets have been incorporated on this page:

• LibraryThing: Free Online Cataloging
  The IRC Book Review Blog images are a widget from Library Thing. Each time a new book is reviewed, the title is added to the IRC Library Thing account and it is automatically updated on the widget. Take the LibraryThing tour to learn more about the service.

Using the LibraryThing widget? The book title provided links to LibraryThing and will display member reviews of the title; choose ircbookreviews from the list and you will be able to view the IRC Book Review account and catalog of reviewed books. Each book in the LibraryThing catalog links back to the IRC Book Review Blog. The book cover? Choose the book cover link and you will be sent to Amazon.com where book information and reviews are available.

• Widgetbox Blidget
  The IRC Blog widget, or blidget, was created at Widgetbox. This service uses rss or other feeds to create widgets out of blogs, allowing for previews to be placed on their blogs or web pages.

The Widgetbox Blidget previews the most recent news and information posted on the Instructional Resource Center Blog. Click on news of interest to view the entire post. As with the blog itself, the most recent item is listed; it is possible to scroll through the blidget and see several postings at a time.

• AU Library Catalog
  The catalog quick search widget allow users to search the library catalog without leaving this page. This particular snippet of script was snagged from another OhioLINK library and the code augmented to search our catalog.

Looking for the library copy of any of these titles? It is possible to search the library catalog directly from this page by entering title information into the catalog search box. Additionally, each title in the IRC Book Review Blog links directly to the corresponding catalog record. It is easy to check title availability from this page - and from any of the IRC blogs!

What's New Archive

Looking for a blast from the past? The What's New Archive has information dating from Fall 2002 - Fall 2006. Of special interest is the 2004 LSTA Grant page that details funding obtained for updated IRC technology.

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