October 17, 2012

Well, I’ll be. Look how well Cyber Security Awareness Month fits right in to Information Literacy Month. It’s like they were made for each other!

As part of ILM, maybe you could share something with school staff about CSAM. For example, while exploring the resources, I learned that National Cyber Security Awareness Month is “an effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Multi-State ISAC [What?!], and the National Cyber Security Alliance along with many governments, businesses, schools, and other groups to improve cyber security preparedness. It’s a great time to evaluate your online activities and take some basic steps to protect yourself.”

One activity from the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center [Oh, that!] is to sign an online pledge to do things like create strong passwords and safeguard sensitive data. Huh. Those sound like information literacy skills for 21st-century folks.

Also, the MS-ISAC is sponsoring a national K12 computer safety poster contest. Submissions are due February 28, 2013. Winners from three age groups (K-5, 6-8, 9-12) will get their artwork included in a calendar that will be distributed nationally, among other things. Coolio.  

Finally, I had never heard of the website called Stop. Think. Connect. until I learned about CSAM. Have you heard about it? Have your teachers? The site has online safety posters you can download for free. Or, get down with Jay Wise while learning online safety tips from a funky music video!

For other tips to spread the word about Information Literacy Month, see previous OSLIST postings.

Ideas for October’s Information Literacy Month
Information Literacy Month => Promote With Your Stakeholders

(Ok, so the 2nd one was never sent out on OSLIST. It’s the article I wrote for the October OASL newsletter, and I thought I’d include it in the archive. No worries. I’m not usually that sneaky.) ;-)

Thanks,
Jen


Jennifer Maurer
School Library Consultant
Oregon State Library
250 Winter Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
503.378.5011
jennifer.maurer@state.or.us