ETL 504 Assignment Two: Part B-Reflective critical analysis, blog post.

Reflective critical analysis

At the beginning of this unit I believed leaders were simply people who managed to get others, known as followers, to do things. Saints and bullies could both be leaders. One leads through inspiring acts; the other leads through coercion. I also assumed some people were "born leaders", those with well developed people skills. Furthermore I thought leadership was a hierarchical, top down system. This still occurs in Australian schools, however a more collegiate system of leadership can occur, where leadership groups report to one another (Bush and Middlewood, 2013, p. 73).

This subject has extended my knowledge and understanding of the role of the TL as leader as I have now come to realise that leadership is an activity or a process, not a position (MacBeath & Swaffield, 2008, p. 38; Haycock, 2010, p. 2). I have also come to understand that teachers are all leaders, simply by virtue of their profession (Collay, 2011, p. 75).

Haycock (2010, p. 1) argues that TLs lead from the middle, establishing good relationships with colleagues and the principal. Furthermore if TLs manage to be visible in formal leadership roles, such as curriculum, budget or professional development (PD) committees, they become well regarded and supported by principals (Haycock, 2004).

Collaboration is one area where TLs as teachers can take the lead especially in areas of developing Project Based Learning throughout the school and also presenting PDs to staff. Many teachers fear collaboration as they see it as a waste of time and effort and they may view it as a competitive exercise (Semadeni, 2009, p. 28; Bush and Middlewood, 2013, p. 138). However the advantages of collaboration far outweigh these negative misgivings. Collaboration is powerful because it forges good work relationships and maintains staff (Aguilar, 2012). It also develops interesting units of work and stretches student achievement (Kuhlthau, 2010, p. 3).

The module on PDs has inspired me to put a lot of effort into this field. As Livingston (2012) states, in-house PDs are cost-efficient, effective and best suited to the needs of individual teachers. Promoting such PDs will need to be focussed and measured to target potential learners.

As  the TL promotes an inclusive service he/she needs to be aware of the different personality styles and how these can manifest.  I believe this unit has given me the understanding of being able to recognise resistant folk such as those Belisle (2005, p. 76) terms cynics and "sleepy types". It has also equipped me with some strategies in working with such people. These include presenting ideas over time in small chunks so as not to intimidate people. Listening skills are also paramount and this is an area I need to work on (Montgomery, 2014a).

In this unit I learned that tools in the planning process such as STEEP and SWOT are worthwhile instruments for  a TL to use. It is important to know what your school library looks like and how it performs, here and now, if you are to make any changes. These tools help the TL to set out the positive and negative characteristics of the school library or a particular program so that measured realistic steps can be taken to turn challenges into opportunities. Similarly the seven step process outlined in the video by BNet Video (2011) was inspiring and something I aim to utilise.

The detailed explanations of the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement were enlightening. I have personally found these statements to be vacuous waffle and it was pleasing to hear that the shorter they are, the better (Montgomery, 2014b). I can only assume that my jaded viewpoint is coloured by having read too many poor ones which ramble on. I believe my ability to craft a tight mission statement and a punchy, moderately ambitious vision statement has been improved by this subject.

I enjoyed learning about strategic planning. Public libraries use them as a vital planning tool which can be easily adapted for school libraries (State Library of Queensland, 2009). The step by step, measurable objectives line up with the vision statement to show how the library will achieve its goals over a set time. If I obtained a TL position I would make use of strategic planning to document and implement changes to the school library.

I found module four, relating to communication to be the most interesting part of the unit. The conflict resolution questionnaire I took showed me as a 'teddy', who uses an accommodating style. It was clear that I need to work on my assertiveness skills. I also need to be a more attentive listener as discussed in my blog comments (Montgomery, 2014a).

At the end of this unit, and now the whole course, I feel I can take a more professional approach towards my work in the public library. If I ever obtain a school library position I feel I will be well equipped to fully advocate for the profession in terms of student outcomes. I will also be an enthusiastic member of staff who is passionate about collaboration and developing a modern school learning centre.

 

 

References

Aguilar, E. (2012). Effective Teams: the key to transforming schools? retrieved 10 March 2014 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-teams-transform-schools-elena-aguilar

Belisle, C.H. (2005). The teacher as leader; Transformational leadership and the professional teacher or teacher-librarian. School Libraries in Canada. (17108535)., Vol.24 Issue 3, p 73-79.

BNet Video. (2011, June 8). 7 Step Problem Solving. [Video file] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXDGQSuF9I

Bush, T. and Middlewood, D., (2013). Leading and managing People in Education. (3rd Ed) Los Angeles CA: Sage

Collay, M. (2011). Everyday Teacher Leadership: Taking action where you are. Hoboken: Wiley

Haycock, K. (2010). Leadership from the middle: Building influence for change. In S. Coatney The many faces of school library leadership Ed. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO

Haycock, K. (2004). Priority setting: the tough work. Teacher Librarian, April, Vol. 31, Issue 4, p. 6.

Kuhlthau, C. C. (2010). Guided Inquiry: School libraries in the 21st Century School Libraries Worldwide, Jan, Vol. 16, No. 1, (pp. 1-12)

Livingston, K. (2012). Approaches to professional development of teachers in Scotland: pedagogical innovation or financial necessity? Educational Research,  54:2, (pp. 161-172) DOI:10.1080/00131881.2012.680041

MacBeath, J. E., & Swaffield, S. (2009). Leadership for learning. In J.E. MacBeath & N. Dempster Connecting leadership and learning: principles for practice (pp. 32-52).

Montgomery, E. (2014a, April 18). Mods 3 and 4 ETL504 Retrieved from http://bethsbiblioteked.blogspot.com.au/

Montgomery, E. (2014b, April 29). Mod 5 ETL504 Strategic Planning Retrieved from http://bethsbiblioteked.blogspot.com.au/

Semadeni, J.H. (2009). Taking charge of Professional Development: A practical model for your school. Alexandria: ASCD

State Library of Queensland [SLQ] (2009). Your Library Strategic plan: a guide to its development Retrieved from www.slq.qld.gov.au

Mod 5 ETL504 Strategic Planning

This topic has been very difficult for me to participate in when I am not working at a school. I have no access to the financial aspects of our school. I haven't seen the high school's vision statement or a mission statement. I can't even find one for the public library.
   However, the local primary school was redrafting their mission statement last term. They had various drafts in the school newsletter. At the time I just thought it was a useless exercise. I can know see that it forms the bedrock of 'where we go from here'. I am still loathe to write one though. It's the imprecise language that I have no wish to copy.
   I am a big fan of Don Watson's book Death Sentence where he laments that 'Today's corporations, government departments, news media, and, perhaps most dangerously, politicians – speak to each other and to us in clichéd, impenetrable, lifeless sludge'. This sludge, I fear, is the mainstay of vision statements and mission statements.
   So now I need to think of writing a strategic plan for a fictitious school library, using the sort of language I abhor. I am not relishing this next assignment.

Mods 3 and 4 ETL504

It is taking a while to internalise all the readings for these two modules, nevertheless I'm determined to jot down a few comments.
   Firstly on leadership for learning...
   It's clear that leaders need to be learners and that they act as models of lifelong learning for colleagues and pupils alike. But teachers generally work alone and are not privy to how others do things (such as manage classes, present material, use new technology). They can also be possessive of their own teaching strategies and are reluctant to have people observing their classes. I can relate to this. It seems as if the pressure is on when there's another adult in the room. I did do some team teaching in my first year out when I taught environmental science. I got on tremendously well with my colleague and the two of us planned many class outings and projects for the students. Two heads were definitely better than one.
   Now I am not teaching any longer I am out of touch with all the professional development that teachers have to do. As I only have provisional registration I don't have to do the compulsory hours every year. I have to land a job first and then work towards getting full registration. This would entail working with a mentor which is an idea I am open to now after doing all these readings.
   The second topic is communication...
   I don't enjoy public speaking. I don't enjoy talking. I often tangle my words and say things I regret. I much prefer the written word as a medium of communication. I looked through these reading with a growing sense of dread. I am such a loser when it comes to dealing with other people. I avoid conflict at all costs. I don't listen as fully as I ought and that's not just because I'm becoming deaf in my later years. I know I tune out if I'm not interested. How many times at staff meetings have I indulged in day-dreaming? Too many. How many times do I simply not register that people are talking to me because I am absorbed in some task? Daily. How often have I got facts wrong because I jump to conclusions? Too often to count.
   If anything this module has given me the courage to do three things.
1. Give people my full attention and ask them questions.
2. Be determined not to take things personally and therefore act defensively, thus inflaming situations.
3. Try to think of seven different ways of looking at things, and hence find a win/win solution.

ETL 504 Assignment 1 pt B: Critical Analysis

I rarely work in schools these days, but when I do, it is a pleasure to work under the guidance of the TL at our local Secondary College. She has two subordinates and a handful of student volunteers to co-ordinate. She builds relationships with students well, considering many of them are fleeting or irregular library patrons, and she is also a favourite with colleagues, as she is affable, helpful and steers clear of staff factions.

The TL has identified "promoting reading for pleasure" as the key vision of her library. She puts a lot of energy into guiding students' borrowing choices and challenging them to read voraciously and widely. Her vision has enthused the whole English department. She is also professional in her outlook and conduct, generating trust and respect from her colleagues (Browning, 2013). She promotes creativity in her team, actively asking for opinions and contributions from subordinates. She runs professional development sessions for the staff on internet research, databases and using the online encyclopaedia.  

I've always known that this TL is a great boss, but now having studied "organisational theory" and "leading change" I can name those qualities that make her leadership great. She is a transformational leader because she has vision, integrity, and encourages creativity and professional growth (Marzano, Waters, and McNulty, 2005). She is approachable, listens actively and  is keen to further her own understanding of new technologies. Her leadership shines from within the school organisational structure; it does not impose from above. She is also an active member of the IT team, which meets thrice a term to discuss policy and new technologies. As a team player she exhibits the qualities of a change agent (Aguilar, 2012).

One day a SOSE teacher approached her, asking how he could encourage better research skills in his year 9 class. The TL invited me into the conversation. I offered to put together a pathfinder for him using a wiki. She was happy to let me work with the SOSE teacher to provide a  pathfinder for him. Her faith in my ability motivated me to do my best. As Winzenreid (2010, p. 71) states, if people are valued, their productivity grows.

By contrast, one of my supervisors in the public library is professional, brisk, and difficult to approach. She has what Bush and Middlewood (2013, p. 17) term a managerial leadership style: focussing strongly on functions, tasks and behaviours. Although Winzenreid (2010, p. 72) would describe it as a coercive style, one that stifles creativity and innovation. She is part of the OHS team and the Band 6 group, but she rarely defers to subordinates. The work atmosphere under her leadership is gloomy; you do the work and don't offer suggestions.

The organisational structure in the public library is more hierarchical than the Secondary school. There is a Library Management tier (Human resources, IT and Collection Manager), a band 6 tier (Principal Librarians, Marketing and Early Years Co-ordinator) then branch managers and finally library officers. Casuals, like myself, are the bottom rung. Apart from occasional opportunities to give feedback to the marketing department, there is for me, little sense of belonging to a team or appreciation for a job well done. Perhaps the public library could learn something from embracing transformational leadership.

 

 

References

Aguilar, E. (2012). 'Effective teams: The key to transforming schools?' Edutopia: What works in education. Retrieved 10 March 2014 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-teams-transform-schools-elena-aguilar

Browning, P. (2013). Creating the conditions for transformational change. Australian Educational Leader. 35(3) p14-17

Bush, T., & Middlewood, D., (2012). Leading and managing people in education. (3rd Ed). Los Angeles, Ca: Sage Publications

Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A., (2005). Some Theories and theorists on leadership. School leadership that works: from research to results (pp. 13-27 Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Winzenreid, A. (2010). Visionary leaders for information, Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

 

ETL 504 What is leadership?

When studying any topic, definitions are crucial, so that you can understand what you are studying. What struck me about many of the readings in this module is that they are written in 'business speak', a lifeless form of English that sends the reader to sleep. (If you don't know what I'm referring to, have a read of Don Watson's book, Death Sentence. ) This drab English has made the first week of study hard to grasp, but I've done my best. In fact, I've found a reference that is a lot easier to understand, called Bush and Middlewood. See below.
   So, what is leadership? Firstly, it's different to management - that's to do with maintaining things. Leadership is about people. It's an influence exerted by someone to get others to act, generally in line with the values of the group or organisation that they all belong to. Leadership is also supposed to involve developing and articulating a vision. But is vision a good thing? A leader full of vision would include Nelson Mandela, a man who brought about the end of an oppressive social construct. But one could also argue that Hitler had vision, as he lead a generation of humanity into a very dark place. 
   There are different types of leadership and the particular one in vogue seems to be transformational leadership. This relies heavily on the issue of vision. In relation to education, it's asking for the commitment of teachers to the goals of the education department all the way through to the goals of the school board. It seems to me that if staff are opposed in an ideological sense to a policy such as NAPLAN, that the notion of transformational leadership falls flat.
   Transactional leadership  focusses more on a reward system - you act this way, and you will be rewarded with a pay rise, for instance.
   Moral leadership was very apparent when I worked in a Catholic boarding school overseas. There was no way you could live on campus with a partner, unless you were married. Two staff members were sacked or resigned in rather scandalous circumstances. We also were encouraged to make the children say morning and afternoon prayers each day and if we didn't attend Mass each week our position was in jeopardy. The board kept a very sharp eye on everyone's moral compass.
   There is also instructional leadership, managerial leadership, participative leadership, distributed leadership, emotional leadership, postmodern leadership and contingent or strategic leadership. I need to keep reading to get my head around all this.

Bush, T and Middlewood, D (2013). Leading and Managing People in Education (3rd Ed). Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Two weeks prac placement

I've just finished my practical placement: two weeks with the West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation. What a whirlwind of different experiences and scenes! One day number crunching, another processing donations, another helping out with Baby Rhyme Time-where I have to admit my recollections of various tunes was a bit rusty. I spent one day zooming around the countryside delivering tubs of books and DVDs, and another sitting in on a formal board meeting. I got to have a lunch break on the pristine beach at Sandy Point and another day I helped set up the mobile library in the pouring rain.
The people I worked with were all interesting, helpful and informative. I thoroughly enjoyed my two week's placement. Thanks so much to West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation who have also recently given me a job! Yipee!

Canberra Study tour

What a great bunch! The Canberra cohort.

Study visit to Canberra

Strolling through the gardens at the Australian
 War Memorial. (Source: B. Montgomery)

Last week I spent four days touring libraries and archives in Canberra. Although exhausting it was an extremely interesting and rewarding tour. I came away with great memories of some of precious national institutions and plenty of ideas for helping people conducting family research. The team leaders were wonderful guides and it was tremendous to meet some fellow student Teacher Librarians. Learning online is such a lonely experience.

Signing copies of my novels at the
Lu Rees Archive of Australian Children's
 literature housed at the University
 of Canberra. (Source: B. Montgomery)

Meeting Dr Belle Alderman, the curator of
the Lu Rees collection. (Source: B. Montgomery)

An outrigger canoe from Kiribati. One of the Asia/Pacific items
 on show in the Menzies library at the Australian National
University. (Source: B. Montgomery)

Pathfinders

Last week I had the privilege of spending a couple of days making up a pathfinder for a year 9 Social Science topic. All this came about because there is a new SOSE teacher who is now the Department Head and was recently teaching at the senior level. He found that kids in years 10 and above had no grounding in research. He was determined to make amends and came to the library to ask advice. We suggested the idea of pathfinders to him as well as two intensive lessons on avoiding plagiarism. He was enthusiastic.
   The Teacher Librarian set to work to develop her anti-plagiarism lessons with the teacher and I was directed to make a pathfinder on the topic of Plate tectonics. The teacher was so thrilled with what I'd created that he took the hardcopy to his department meeting and insisted that all his staff use pathfinders in future when conducting research lessons in the library.
   As I was only filling in for the library technician at the time, I suspect I have probably created an extra workload for an already overworked TL. However she was so delighted with the SOSE teacher's enthusiasm and the fact that they would be working together to improve the students' research skills that I think she won't mind.

INF 506 Evaluative Report

Evaluation

My online journal Ibid et al features seven blog posts undertaken throughout session three to achieve the course objectives.  These are all tagged with the folksonomy INF 506 and are all to do with aspects of social networking.  

Social networking can be defined as using interactive software to link like-minded people, maintain social relationships and share information online. These platforms are often called Web 2.0 technologies and when libraries adopt such media they can be described as embracing Library 2.0. Even so the term is a slippery one which is open to interpretation (Farkas, 2008). My blog post ‘Implementing Library 2.0’ highlights aspects of the library 2.0 movement which I felt were applicable to the school library I knew.

Understanding user’s needs is a basic tenet of Library 2.0. There is no need to take on every social networking platform available which is what Porterfield and Carnes (2012, p122.) term ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’. For instance most students at my school use Facebook and Instagram. Trying to connect with them using Myspace or Twitter, platforms they hardly use, would be fruitless. 

Establishing a policy for Web 2.0 use is essential for the library (Porterfield and Carnes, 2012, p83).  Information policy needs to be developed which can guide students’ use and not be overly restrictive. If students learn that information sharing and social networking come with responsibilities as well as freedoms then they are more likely to become responsible digital citizens.

This web post also noted the need to manage one’s time effectively. Maintaining Web 2.0 technologies takes persistent effort, but similarly spending many unfocussed hours on a few sites is not good management.

As professionals we need to try out a range of these technologies ourselves to be able to guide our patrons with first-hand knowledge and interact with them on these very same platforms. Over this session I have experimented with Twitter, Facebook, Movellas, Second Life, Filckr, LinkedIn, Goodreads and Delicious, documenting my experiences of the last four in blog posts.

The technology I used was limited to a digital camera and a desktop computer as I do not own a webcam, mobile phone or tablet.

Using Delicious, a social bookmarking site, was problematic. In my blog post ‘Dealing with Delicious’ I wrote about how I found its features confusing and its functionality compromised by the technical capabilities of my computer.  This was because I didn’t have an up-to-date version of the web browser Internet Explorer (Delicious, 2013). Frustrated, I abandoned the site for several weeks. Eventually I changed my browser to Google Chrome which gave me better access. The platform appears to have been upgraded in that time and its ease of use has improved for me.

Compatibility issues are a technical aspect of becoming familiar with social networking platforms. Through struggling with Delicious I have learnt to seek advice from ‘help’ buttons, colleagues and trial and error as well as asking advice from IT professionals.

Trends in social media were examined in my blog post ‘Did You Know 4.0’. One important issue for librarians raised here is that of content sharing versus copyright restrictions. Librarians need to educate the public about creative commons licensing and fair use (Brooks-Young, 2010, p81). Privacy issues were also highlighted and are important for users of social media to understand (Brooks-Young, 2010, p80). All too often in public life an unguarded comment can tarnish reputations. This is also true for those not in the public eye, particularly students.

  

Data protection is another issue which has ethical implications. Cybercrime is rife and students need to arm themselves against it, as much as possible. But more insidious is what companies do with our personal information in terms of advertising. Companies can skilfully target advertisements to suit the individual because they have harvested lots of data on our ‘likes’ or interests (Bailyn, 2012, p20).

In an educational sense students and teachers can use platforms such as wikis and blogs to share assignment content, post results or converse with peers. If students become familiar with the collaborative nature of wikis they are more likely to critically examine the plethora of information available to them on the Web.

Overall social networking is an expanding phenomenon with hundreds of millions of people posting online daily (Adams, 2012). As an information professional we can use these tools to connect to our patrons and cater our services to their needs. We can also highlight the pitfalls of using social media, guiding patrons to be savvy digital citizens.

Reflection

When I tell people that I have been studying social networking I get mixed reactions. Younger people say, ‘cool’; older people say, ‘Oh yes, what’s that then?’

To the latter I explain that it is connecting with friends or like-minded individuals online, by creating and sharing content such as photos, news, videos and links. They condescendingly say, ‘That must be interesting.’

Well, it is!

This subject has given me the motivation to become an intrepid explorer of ‘Web 2.0’ platforms. Although I have a Facebook page and a blog, I have struggled with using them effectively. I also have a Twitter account that I rarely use. The assigned project developed my skills and confidence in using a range of social networking media. I now know how to tweak my posts in response to Facebook’s ‘Insights’, how to upload links and videos and navigate around the administrator’s options and settings.

Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn and Goodreads are also manageable and easy to navigate once the ‘help’ button is discovered.  

As an author I have enjoyed joining Movellas and Goodreads. These are set up for writers and bibliophiles respectively. Movellas is a site for serious writers of Young Adult Fiction, the majority of whom are teenagers. Building a presence here targets potential readers of my YAF fiction and I can interact with them, offering constructive feedback. Goodreads is a network where readers rate and review books, a characteristic of any good librarian. A TL can recommend both these platforms as ideal networking sites for committed literature students (Hilbun, 2011).

I have also enjoyed using Flickr, even when approaching photographers to gain permission to use their work. Understanding copyright is an essential skill of a librarian and Flickr offers a unique slant to this by employing creative commons licensing. I have learnt how to assign different licences to my own pictures and how to find the licensing on others. Newman’s (2013) article on licensing changes emphasises the necessity for TLs to record the dates of retrieved photographs and their ascribed licences.

LinkedIn is a platform for business professionals and has a static atmosphere. I am uncertain about how valuable it is to me in the short term. However it may be that sometime in the future a professional contact will prove beneficial to my career or perhaps I can help further the career of someone else. These are the fundamentals of social media: sharing and networking.

I found Delicious with its technical issues frustrating, however its potential as an online easy-access filing system for specific topics is a boon for library professionals and a great organisational tool for senior school students (Edwards & Mosley, 2011). Also TLs can guide teachers in its use as a way to share resources (Shareski & Hertz, 2012).

As for Second Life, unfortunately my computer couldn’t accommodate it apart from making an account and an avatar.

I agree with Brown’s (2009) statement that in order to use Social Media effectively you need to have a plan otherwise you could waste a huge amount of time and effort. She recommends limiting the sites used on a regular basis to four as any more than this becomes untenable (Brown, 2009). I am content with Facebook, Flickr and Goodreads. The fourth contender will be chosen from LinkedIn, Delicious and Movellas.

Twitter doesn’t even register on my preferred sites, which is partly due to not owning a mobile phone. I am currently a spectator there, content to simply view tweets and not contribute (Bernoff, 2010). Twitter obviously has plenty of advantages for information professionals. It can be used to share links for professional development so educators can keep abreast of recent information on virtually any topic (Chamberlain & Lehmann, 2011, p379). It can also be used as a short sharp communication tool for providing instructional support or administrative concerns (Couros & Jarrett, 2012, p149). But you need to develop an approach on who to follow. Some tweets are banal and others are thinly disguised spam. ‘Unfollowing’ or blocking persistent annoying tweeters are strategies to filter such tweets (McFedries, 2010, p63, p76).

Apart from shunning Twitter I believe I have met the goals I set in November. No longer frightened to experiment with these platforms, I know I have learnt the skills to create my own brand as an author. But better still as a TL, I feel I can confidently develop and implement a plan to promote the library and help others to explore social networking sites too.

References

Adams, P. (2012). Grouped: How Small Groups of Friends are the key to Influence on the Social Web. CA: New Riders.

Bailyn, E. (2012). Outsmarting Social Media: profiting in the Age of Friendship Marketing. Indiana: Que.

Brooks-Young, S. (2010). Teaching with the Tools Kids Really Use: Learning with Web and Mobile Technologies. CA: Corwin

Brown, A. (2009). Developing an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy. Salt Lake City Social Media Examiner. Retrieved 30 Jan 2013 from http://www.examiner.com/article/developing-an-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy

Chamberlin, L. and Lehmann, K. (2011). Twitter in Higher Education. Educating Educators with Social Media. UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

Couros, A & Jarrett, K (2012). Twitter. What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media. (Ed. McLeod, S. & Lehmann, C.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Delicious (2013). Frequently Asked Questions. Delicious. Retrieved 1 Feb 2013 from https://delicious.com/#help/mobile-browser-support

Edwards , G. And Mosley, B.F. (2011). Technology Integration can be Delicious: Social Bookmarking as a Technology Integration Tool. Educating Educators with Social Media. Wankel, C. (ed.) UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

Farkas, M. (2008). The Essence of Library 2.0? Information Wants to be Free. Retrieved 1 Feb 2013 from http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/01/24/the-essence-of-library-20/

Hilbun, J. (2011). Using Social Networking Sites to Connect Teens with Young Adult Literature. Teens, Libraries and Social Networking: What librarians Need to Know. Agosto, D.E. & Abbas, J (Eds.) Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited 

McFedries, P. (2010). Twitter, Tips, Tricks, and Tweets. (2^nd.Ed). In.: Wiley Publishing

Newman, B. (2013) The Danger of Using Creative Commons Flickr Photos in Presentations. Librarian by Day. Retrieved 28 jan 2013 from http://librarianbyday.net/2013/01/27/the-danger-of-using-creative-commons-flickr-photos-in-presentations

Porterfield, K. & Carnes , M. (2012). Why Social Media Matters. IN.: Solution Tree Press.

Shareski, D. And Hertz, M.B. (2012) Social Bookmarking. What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media. (Ed. McLeod, S. & Lehmann, C.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

503 Collection Policy

I thought it would be a straight forward task to revise the old School Library policy: fix up a few clauses throughout and then insertsome statements about e-resources. On closer inspection I realised the whole structure of the document needed an overhaul.

So where does one start? After examining a handful of policies from different schools I found that everyone does it a little differently. But some consistencies remain. They all have a set of goals about what the collection is meant to achieve and go into some depth about selection and weeding. I read through the existing policy and isolated anything to do with collection management. Revising it section by section I found that it wasn’t such a daunting job. I actually enjoyed the process as it was akin to editing. Deleting lines of redundant phrasing is something I enjoy. The end product is a crisp document that has lost a lot of its rambling vague statements.

When it came to addressing the topic of e-resources I found Evans and Zarnosky Saponaro (2012) instructive. But as change is rapid in this area it is an aspect of collection management policy that will need to be constantly monitored and revised. Unfortunately our TL has a ‘wait and see’ mentality when it comes to e-resources. She doesn’t embrace e-books and is very entrenched in her love of print resources even for students conducting research. It’s only a matter of time before many students read predominantly from Kindles or iPads at home. It is imperative that the library stay ahead of this wave of technological change.

I can understand her reluctance to make a poor selection on big budget items, and licensing agreements do make selection difficult but doing nothing isn’t staying true to the guiding philosophy of what the library is and what purpose it serves. It is our duty to provide information in a range of formats and to expose patrons to new technology. Revising the policy reinforces this connection between patrons and the service we provide (Selby, 2012). It also guides selection when the time comes for her to make a decision on e-resources.

Another aspect I added to the policy was a clause on evaluation. Currently the only collection evaluation that goes on is in the TL’s head. Using the LMS can be a quick way to gain relevant information on the age of the collection and what sections are poorly represented. Hard data can back up hunches on where imbalances occur. Hard data is also a language the business manager understands when discussing budget demands.

The section on challenged materials is heartening. It’s reassuring to know that there is a process to follow when people complain about an item in the collection. This bolsters selection choices, because controversial material would be omitted if the TL was worried about complaints.

References

Evans, G. E. and Zarnosky Saponaro, M. (2012). Collection Management Basics. (6th Ed.) Libraries Unlimited. Santa Barbara.

Selby, C. (2012). Honesty is the Best Policy: Collection Development Policy Revisions in an Era of Change. The CRIV Sheet Vol.34 No.2, Feb.

ETL503 Evaluating the Collection

There are lots of ways to evaluate the collection ranging from comparing it to other collections right through to gathering data from users. For the smaller school library that is understaffed, the best options are those that are efficient and cheap. In libraries that have a wizz-bang computer system gathering data on circulation and publication should be easy enough, as well as determining how many items are in each section of the non-fiction library.
   So why is evaluation needed? TLs can collect data to reinforce budget requests, to gear the collection better to the existing curriculum and to meet demands from administration.
   One of the things I like about collection evaluation is that it informs administration a lot about where their funds are being used and how up-to-date the collection is. Excel can be used to manipulate the data into various graphic representations, suitable to show committees.

Flickr fun

Flickr is a steep learning curve for me but I am determined to master it. I've decided to do a little each week until it becomes second nature. The first hurdle was creating a user name and uploading a few pictures. Once I'd got my head around this I decided to group varius pictures into 'sets'. Then I thought I'd send my happy snaps to the INF506 group which was not what I was meant ot do but I was so excited by my small success that it blurred my reading of the course objectives.
   Once I discovered that I'd put photos where they weren't supposed to be then I had to remove them. I found the FAQs and 'help' sections of this platform very user friendly and easy to follow and invaluable in discovering how to delete pictures. However my understanding of where the tiny drop boxes and copyright boxes were took some time to master. In many ways the design of Flickr is quite busy but not overwhelmingly so. The links to other pages are still a bit confusing for me but I feel I am slowly getting the hang of this platform.  
   Once I discovered (from advice given from fellow students) how to do a screen shot, I took several snaps of the steps I went through to delete my pictures. My intention being to upload them straight away but Flickr didn't want to upload them as I'd saved them onto a word document.
   I have since discovered Zamzar, a site which changes files from one format to another. I used this to convert my screen shot into a jpeg file. Then I found Flickr was happy to upload the page, and I subsequently added it to the INF506 group.
   The other thing I've been doing on Flickr concerns trying to get my head around creative commons and the different licenses on offer. I found a photo I wanted to use for my Island Stories blog but it didn't have a creative commons license. So, trying to be a good digital citizen, I contacted the photographer, which is very easy to do. Just click on their name and a profile pops up. Highlight the profile and a drop box appears beside it. Scroll down the list of options and select 'send Flickr Mail'. Then when the text box appears, type your message asking for permission to use the photo.
   I got a response in two days, saying 'sure thing, but please link it back to my photostream.' I wasn't sure how to do this but it ended up being surprisingly simple. With the photo you have permission to use, move the cursor just above the picture to the small menu on the left hand side. Select the 'share' button and find your desired platform. In my case it was blogger. Then a new box appears where you can add some text. Once you post it, the whole thing appears quickly on your blog, just like magic!
   I have started to think about what kind of licenses I want my works to have. For the time being I have settled on Attribution-NonCommercial-No deriv's License which seems to be a pretty popular option.
There is still much to learn and I have very few friends on this site. Perhaps that is the next step: trying to connect more with others. But for the moment I am just trying to immerse myself in the land of creative commons so I can guide young learners to this fabulous pool of photographs.

Did You Know 4.0 ...

    

After watching “Did You Know 4.0” (2009), an official update of the original “Shift Happens” video I noted a few trends that are undoubtedly much more entrenched than they were when the video was made.

Firstly the issue of Copyright was highlighted. The video stated that 95% of downloaded music was pirated. Music is an obvious one, but what of videos, photographs, documents and artwork? Creators deserve recognition and copyright is the law which protects this right. Librarians need to instruct students on the best use of other people’s work. We can direct them to use creative commons and guide them in protecting their own creations when using Web 2.0 technologies.

Mobile phones are now ubiquitous and their use has many implications. One prediction is that mobile phone will connect just about everyone to the internet within the next seven years. Students use mobiles primarily to send text messages. Text messages can create a wave of public action in a political context as evidenced in the recent ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings. There are benefits in whipping up public support but public hysteria is the other side of the coin. Students need to know that they have a responsibility to be accurate and refrain from defamatory remarks as there can be legal consequences.

The former speaker Peter Slipper MP would also acknowledge that posting sexist remarks on his mobile phone cost him his job. Privacy is becoming a very slippery issue (please excuse the pun). The video highlighted how a casual remark on a social networking site could be seen by an employer and compromise a worker’s position. Similarly job applicants could be vetted by an administration by viewing their social networking profiles. It pays to say only things that you would say in front of your grandmother.

 Even though the majority of adults own mobile phones, apparently many of them are reluctant to make purchases using their phones. I’m not so sure about this one as the rise in online shopping is skyrocketing. But I understand the reluctance to put one’s financial information online. The issue here is cybercrime, I guess, and also the issue of data protection. Just how safe is our personal information? What is it being used for and to whom is it being passed on? We need to make sure students are cautious about online transactions and are aware of scams and fraudsters.

Lastly the video explains that traditional forms of advertising are rapidly declining. It cites that 90% of emails sent everyday are spam. This form of advertising has been around for a long time but students need to be aware of how businesses are targeting them now on social media platforms and search engines. We need to educate students about being producers of spam too. Sending off form letters, chain letters or impersonal pleas to all their friends to 'please respond' or act on a certain purchase or post is just as annoying as receiving spam.

So, ‘Like’ this or what?

 

ETL 503 Weeding

I love weeding, both literally and metaphorically. There is nothing so satisfying as seeing clear space between beloved items. But weeding in the library is fraught with problems, the likes of which a garden bed never encounters. For instance people walking past your garden don't rifle through the wheelbarrow and grab a weed and lament its passing, or replant it in a 'just in case it's needed' garden bed. They don't abuse you for pulling weeds, in fact they can see the need for it. Gardeners don't normally sell the weeds or put them in a box to send overseas.
   Weeding the collection makes the shelves more attractive, rids the library of misleading/outdated information and keeps the collection relevant to patrons.
   Our local Primary school library hasn't been weeded in years and it shows. Books overflow from the shelves; many books are bent or pushed behind others, damaging them. Many books are dusty, shabby-looking tomes with fraying spines or torn pages. Lots in the picture story book section are so well worn that the front covers are wrinkled and soiled like soft leather.
   Many of the books date back to the 1960s or beyond. I recently found two published in the 1950s. That means they are approximately 60 years old. Relevant? I doubt it. Cutting edge, up-to-date info? Definately not.
   I have hinted many times that the shelves need weeding. I've even had a go myself and been chastised for it.It's not seen as a priority. 'Getting kids to read' is the priority. As the library stands now it is a cob-webbed old tomb of obsolete knowledge. I wonder how many more kids would explore the library shelves willingly if they were filled with clean, shiny, new books filled with contemporary information.
 

Grappling with Goodreads

I've just spent a week reading Teens, Libraries , and Social Networks: What librarians Need to Know edited by Agosto and Abbas (2011). In it were two seperate chapters on engaging students in Social networking around Young Adult Literature. Over and over the book-sharing social networks Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThing were mentioned. I decided to check out Goodreads as it was meant to have added extras for authors.
   Well, what a blast! I've never had so much nerdy fun. It was easy to login through Facebook and to start rating the books I'd read. (Now how often as librarians do we consciously get to go through hundreds of books and rate them, as if anyone cared?) Well this site asks you to do it so that it can generate an idea of what type of books to recommend for you. I really don't think the program has this down pat though. A lot of the books they recommended to me was stuff I'd never go near because it was too trashy for my tastes. This brings me back to the topic of tagging items. How can a computer program plug into the aesthetic whims of the reader and provide similar titles? Neal Wyatt touched on this issue in one of the readings we had to do for Module 4.
   This problem was amplified when I created my own shelf called 'Island books'. The program had obviously never considered sorting books in such a way and it threw all sorts of riciculous options at me when recommending new Island Book titles.
   I joined a few groups so that I could see what sort of threads generate the best discussions. This was quite easy to do, just by clicking on the groups tab and following the prompts. However other aspects of the site weren't so intuitive. For instance it stated that I could follow different authors. OK, so how was I to do this? It took me over an hour of fiddling around to discover that I needed to highlight the author's name, whereby I would be sent to the author's profile page and that's where I could become a fan, or indeed a friend.
   I then decided to sign up for the special tool for authors. It took me a while to find the tab for this in small print at the bottom of the home page. Once there I had to apply to be accepted to the program. I did this and received notification the next morning. I had to then fill out my author profile which is always an irritatingly self-centred activity. Soon I will be able to add widgets to my blog and other helpful links. It's all a matter of continuing to play around with the platform. And guess what? I love it. I think I've found the almost perfect social networking platform for bibliophiles/authors combined.


Burns, E. (2011). Fandom as a form of social networking. Teens, Libraries and Social Networking: What Librarians Need to Know. Libraries Unlimited.

Hilburn, J. (2011). Using social networking sites to connect teens with young adult literature. Teens, Libraries , and Social Networking: What Librarians Need to Know. Libraries Unlimited.

Wyatt, N (2009). Large-scale tagging projects outside libraries put users at the center and offer a model for readers' advisory. Library Journal, 10/15/2009

ETL503 Funding the library program

It is sad to see the demise of audio books at the school I work at but as there is no demand for them, they have become an obsolete technology. Where once funds were allocated for them they can be redirected into more DVDs or perhaps into purchasing e-books for the library.
   Every year the TL needs to evaluate the collection and see where there is high demand and high use, and where other items are neglected and dusty. Items need evaluating to see where the collection is over-represented or deficient. If this information can be shown to the funding body it gives clout to the TL's budgetary claims.
   I like the idea Robyn Young (2008) has of using charts and graphs to visually represent the budget and to represent such relationships as the price of an average book versus the amount spent on books per student for the year.  Also the number of resources per topic per student in each curriculum area is an important evaluation tool.
   Clearly, the TL needs to know his/her collection. They need to make funding decisions based on balancing the collection and providing a range of resources for the curriculum. The TL must keep a close eye on incoming items, checking them off against invoices and making sure she is aware of how much of the budget is available at any time of year. It's not easy and there will be mistakes, so keeping a good record system helps and some computing systems are available to manage this. I don't know how it all works at the local secondary school, but the TL assures me she has a generous budget and I often see her ticking things off a list when they come in. Hopefully one day I will be privy to the budgeting process.

Reference:  Young, R.R. (2008). Eight Easy Steps to Maintain and Increase the Library Media Centre Budget. Library Media Connection. Jan

ETL 503 Copyright and other musings

   School has finished for the year but study marches on. One thing I had the pleasure of reading last week was information from Smartcopying: The Official Guide to Copyright Issues for Australian Schools and TAFE. As an author I was already aware of the fact that anything I create is automatically covered by copyright in Australia. However I didn't know the nitty-gritty of viewing films/DVDs with regard to copyright. I was especially interested to see the emphasis on how using a film for the purpose of parody/satire is considered OK. I think there is room to expand on this as a teaching resource.

Source: Beth Montgomery

   One of the other students wrote in the forum that notices can be posted near the photocopiers at school to educate staff regarding copyright. This is a good idea, as is presenting a few PD sessions on copyright issues.
   The whole issue of artistic ownership interests me as I can see it from the creator's side. When you spend hundreds of hours creating a text you don't want people using it for free. You want them to pay for it. Are teachers aware that authors only recieve a small payment of the total price of each book sold? For instance, one of my books sells for $17.95. I receive about $1.60 from each sale. It's easy to see why most authors keep their day jobs. If you sit down and do the maths for how much work the average author puts into a book and the financial reward they receive at the end of it all, it would equate to something as ludicrous as 15 cents an hour. Don't they at least deserve that, over and above nothing, which is what they currently receive when you rip off their work by indiscriminate photocopying.
   Enough of my rant. As I look forward to 2013 I wonder if this will be the year when the school library purchases a few e-books.  Will the school library embrace social networking? Will it find new ways to improve the Internet connection at the school? Change may be slow but change is inevitable. Let's hope our school can be bold and embrace the digital age at last.

An Inkling of Linkedin

Setting up a Linkedin account was the easy part. I typed in my name and a password, then I went on to fill out a professional profile. Editing the profile is simple and the buttons are easy to find and use. OK, I get all that, but there's so much more to this platform that eludes me. For instance it says at the top of the home page that you can "grow" your professional network by using your email information.
   I hate the word grow in an economic context. Don't people understand that it doesn't collocate; only living things grow. (Stuff like bacteria and bananas and people and pimples) But I digress. The email set-up didn't work for me. It seems none of my email contacts are with Linkedin, which is strange because when I look for contacts manually using the search bar, there they are, a handful of my friends. Weird!
   The platform also seems to assume that because I have a science degree in horticulture I may be interested in a lecturing job in astronomy. I don't think so. Or that because I'm a qualified teacher a professorship in Music education is advertised for me to consider. Hey, I'm tone deaf, I have no rythym, I'm a science and ESL major, for heaven's sake!
   It also has this weird quirk of assuming that because I'm an author and teacher that I don't know anyone who is a Sales and Marketing Executive and I can't connect with a certain individual because I am outside of her network. This is even though I say hello to her most days and our kids are best friends. I have to get her email address from her daughter in order to send her a request. Whereas someone I know as a friend who happens to work in Higher education was easy to connect with. I just sent them a request and ticked the friend button. I'm obviously missing some vital instruction somewhere, because I keep going from page to page looking at other people's connections and tripping up when it comes to making my own. I guess I am just a dud to connect with.
   The other issue that really bugged me was the group function. I enthusiastically joined a couple of groups and very soon regretted it. Why? Because I was bombarded with emails everyday from two of these groups, who seemed to delight in clogging my inbox with trivial discussions. Isn't that the function of Facebook, not a profesional site like Linkedin? However I made friends with the help button and succeeded in following the steps to 'leaving a group'.
   Despite the teething problems I quite enjoy coming back to this platform every few days. I don't know what purpose it will serve in the long run, but I am willing to play around with it and experiment.

INF 506 Implementing Library 2.0

Implementing Library 2.0

The school I sometimes work at is a split campus. Unlike the junior campus, the senior school has a reliable Internet connection and all students have a laptop. The library at the senior campus is therefore better positioned to attempt library 2.0.

Meredith Farkas’ keynote speech on Building Academic Library 2.0 mentioned the dangers of ‘technolust’. This is when librarians take on a new technology whether patrons need it, want it or will ever use it. The library must examine which Web 2.0 platform connects best with the students: a blog, a fiki, a webpage or a facebook page?

Students currently get told off for accessing facebook in the library. The TL sees it as a distraction or worse still, a foray into cyberbullying. The library needs to develop a risk-tolerant culture where social networking and information sharing are encouraged. Obviously a policy needs to be developed to cater for this.

Adopting a library 2.0 ethos would be done in small steps. If the library collaborates with IT staff and other interested teachers useful partnerships are created. Pathfinders can be established on wikis, which staff can add to over time. Students could use Web 2.0 platforms to comment on issues, compare experiment results, share photographs for assignments and so on. Having some staff members on board builds support and slowly changes the school culture.

Another simple step would be the marketing approach where the TL can use the Web 2.0 platform to highlight collections. This doesn’t just refer to new print resources. Often students are unaware of digital resources in the library. For example our school has ECHO online, an online database of newspaper articles. Most students don’t know what it is, let alone how to use it.

Maintaining the Web 2.0 platform must be made a priority. If we make it a rule that two hours each week are devoted to Web 2.0 maintenance then surely benefits will begin to appear. If not, then we need to adapt to the next technology that is capturing our student’s time and attention.