FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TAR HEEL READER

Be sure to visit the Libelli Latini Blog for all the latest information!!!

You can also find more FAQs at the TarHeelReader.org site.

Quick Getting Started

Creating your account to write Libelli: You do not need an account to view the readers, but you need an account to write them. You can find the access code for creating your account in the password-protected LatinBestPractices group at Yahoo - or you can contact Laura Gibbs for the access code (laurakgibbs AT gmail DOT com), or contact Gary Bishop, the genius computer science profesors who is the designer of the TarHeelReader.org project (contact information). When you have the access code, you can complete the registration page.

Tagging your Libelli as Latin: Make sure you use latin as a tag when you create your reader, so that it will be listed with the Latin-language readers (the languages are listed in the right-hand column of the Tar Heel homepage). You can use other tags as well. Just make sure you use the latin tag, and that you separate multiple tags with commas.

Formatting: You can cut-and-paste the text from another file if you want, and the Tar Heel site seems to be macron-friendly. So, feel free to use macrons and/or accent marks (ecclesiastical style). These characters do not seem to pose any problem:

ā - ē - ī - ō - ū  -  Ā - Ē - Ī - Ō - Ū

á - é - í - ó - ú - Á - É - Í - Ó - Ú

Writing your book: 

 1. Go to write-a-book - link is in right-hand column:

http://tarheelreader.org/write-a-book/

2. You create pages by choosing a picture:

-- browse for an image on your computer and click upload button

OR

-- put in a search time in Flickr, and browse results; click to choose one of

the pictures if you want

3. A page appears below with the picture; you type in the caption.

4. Repeat for all the pages you want. To delete a page, click on the red X to

delete it. You can drag and drop the pages around to move them, or use the green

arrows.

5. Save your draft with the button at the bottom of the page, or publish if you

are done! MAKE SURE TO TAG YOUR BOOK AS: Latin.

Types of Books and Sources for Stories

From words to stories: You can compose a whole range of different types of Libelli, based on the needs and abilities of your audience. You can do a book of just words/phrases with accompanying images, or a book that is based on sentence patterns. Stories can be beginner stories (just a few words per image), or for advanced beginner stories (more complex sentences), or you can create intermediate stories which are adaptations of existing Latin works, but simplified to make them easier to read.

Stories and scripts: You can take any story (such as the stories in your Latin textbook), and turn them into scripts! Instead of describing the events of the story in third-person style, you can relate them through the first-person observations of the characters in the story. For an example of a script style approach to storytelling, see this Aesop's fable, Auceps-Palumbes-Anguis.

Adapt existing books: You can take ANY existing Tar Heel book and translate it into Latin! So, if you see any of the Tar Heel Readers that you like, just open the book, then click on SET UP in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. This will take you to a page with all kinds of information - including a link that allows you to Create a new version of this book. You can also use this same option to create multiple versions of your own book: for example, you can use the same images for vocabulary practice AND to tell a story, or you can do an English version of your Latin book, etc.

Compose with your class: You can queue up a series of images for your class to look at (just save the book in DRAFT form, and don't publish it yet) - and then together with the class you can write the text as a group effort!

Viewing, Downloading and Linking to the Libelli

View the text and images on one page: You may find it useful to look at a reader on a single page so that you can quickly scan the contents. To do this, just click on the "Photo Credits" link that appears below each image. This will take you to a single page which conveniently displays thumbnails of all the images and then also has a table listing the captions for all the images. It's a great way to review  the contents of the entire reader on a single page.

Download and view offline: In addition to viewing the Libelli online at the TarHeelReader.org site, you can download the readers in a variety of formats for viewing offline - and this applies to ALL  the readers, not just the ones  you have created.To download and view a reader offline, just go to the reader, and then click on the SET UP link in the upper left-hand corner. This will give you access to various options format options for downloading, including a Powerpoint option.

Link to individual pages: It's easy to link to individual pages of a reader. As you page through the reader, the URL changes - so just copy the URL for any page in the reader and use that to link directly to that page. Here's an example:

http://tarheelreader.org/2009/05/12/bestiarium-latinum/22/

(That is page 22 of a reader - see where the page number has become part of the address?)

Embedding a Libellus Slideshow. Taking advantage of the Powerpoint download option, and the power  of GooglePresentations, you can embed a LIbellus in a webpage  or wiki  or blog page. To see an example and learn how, visit the Embedded Libellus Slideshow page here at this wiki.

Embedding a Libellus Video. Another way to take advantage of the Powerpoint download option is to then convert the Powerpoint into a video so that you can use Ning.com (or a similar video service) to embed a LIbellus video in a webpage  or wiki  or blog page. To see an example and learn how, visit the Embedded Libellus VIdeo page here at this wiki.