How to e-book?

The big question at the moment at the Junior High School library is what to do with e-books. Should they be part of the library or not? If yes, how do we present them? Does the library buy kindles or some other device? Should they lend out the e-reader or just let students use them in the library? How do we go about buying content? Is a subscription the way to go? And how do you catalogue an item that has no tangible quality?
   I can't help thinking that there must be a way to do it. Perhaps we need to really think 'outside the square' to develop a suitable borrowing model. But more and more questions pop up.
   I have a Kobo at home and it uses a USB cable to download content. Is this better than wireless because you can regulate what gets downloaded? The school techy is adamant that strict regulation is needed. What about licencing? Does the library have the e-book for just one user or for multiple users? Is the cost for multiple users prohibitive?
   I have been reading No Shelf Required  by S. Polanka (2011) and I'm afraid I'm more confused than ever by all the problems e-books pose. But the future of e-books is expanding. E-books are so popular now that we can't afford students to miss out on them at school. So I hope our school library finds a way.

Just for a laugh...

For those of you who haven't guessed, I love Discworld novels. I found this quote the other day and thought this audience may appreciate it.

   'But we're a university! We have to have a library!' said Ridcully. 'It adds tone. What sort of people would we be if we didn't go into the Library?'
   'Students,' said the Senior Wrangler morosely.

Pratchett, Terry. (1998). The Last Continent. Corgi Books. p31

ETL401 Part B: Critical Reflection

The Role of the Teacher Librarian

I was interviewed for a Teacher/Librarian (TL) position in March. Some of the questions the panel asked were: what are the features of a good library, can you tell us of any occasions where you worked well with others, how can you help students with their research? I made universal statements about access and organisation, about sharing ideas and helping people, about evaluating websites and avoiding plagiarism, but I had limited notions of the role of a teacher librarian.

I didn’t get the job; they wanted someone who was qualified. But with my enthusiasm sparked I began this course. Since doing some CRT work in a school library and wading through the subject readings my perceptions have evolved. What I once thought would be a stress free job shelving books and helping students use the catalogue has transformed into a super-charged position full of creative potential.

Working in a school library is busier than I ever imagined. New books need scanning and summarising for upcoming power point presentations. A monthly report needs drafting. Letters for overdue books need to be collated. Tasks are never completed in one sitting because interruptions are inevitable. Teachers want tubs of books made up for next week’s classes. Students want staplers or sticky tape, or help with the printer or photocopier. Class sets go out and come in again and there are always students and staff who can’t find something on the shelves or the Internet.

In such an environment TLs need to plan and prioritise. Wilson (2009) suggests taking time to plan the day into manageable chunks. TLs need to know what to give their full attention to as there is little free time (Wilson, 2009). Even lunch hours are pared back because TLs are supervising students. Purcell’s (2010) time study exercise is one method of recording what a librarian achieves each week. It can also inform where productivity measures can be introduced.

TLs can’t afford to be recluses. I know of one TL who only leaves the library to use the toilet, which I would suggest is not the best way to get to know the staff and their curriculum needs. Sharing ideas is important but a librarian must do more than offer a few resource suggestions to colleagues in the rest-room. Yucht (n.d) suggests TLs should have lunch with different staff members each day to make sure you are on good terms with everyone. She stresses the importance of observing faculty interactions and school culture carefully. TLs can’t afford to exclude people just because they have little in common. Libraries are for all. 

TLs need to be good listeners to cater for both student and staff needs and to deal with conflict situations (Gilman, 2007; Sanders, 2004, p127). Conflict between staff creates a climate of negativity in which librarians shouldn’t indulge. Good professional relationships should also be cultivated with the principal. Haycock (2004) states that this is vital to foster support for the library program. Likewise, joining curriculum panels or management committees further shows the school community that the TL is a leader, a team player and a committed professional. This engagement also advertises to staff that you are willing to engage in collaboration (Ashworth, 2006).

Collaboration is one of the key skills of the TL. If TLs are actively engaged with the teaching process they will be held in better regard by staff and if good results ensue, staff will return for further collaboration. As a CRT I’ve had little opportunity for this but I make sure I’m hovering nearby to guide staff and students to relevant resources whenever a class researches a topic.

Another way of generating collaboration is through using Web 2.0 tools like wikis and blogs with staff members (Gilman, 2007). Being a ‘techno savvy’ individual is another vital skill of the modern TL (Ashworth, 2006) and TLs need to encourage staff and students to become more information literate. 

There are many Information Literacy (IL) models that provide a framework for helping students to understand their learning journey and give cues for TLs to step in and help. I see a lot of merit in Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) however my local school is over-represented by ‘macho’ Outdoor Education type teachers who would sooner kick a football than articulate feelings about looking for information.  Despite this, Kuhlthau’s (2012) ISP is a great theory for TLs to identify the steps students go through in the library. Every day students are muddled about what an assignment means. We see students eager to find a book on their topic, or downcast when bombarded with 200,000 hits on Google. Students are unsure of how to take notes when they do find relevant information. This is where TLs can guide students on their research journey.

I’m still in the exploration phase of my journey. Let’s hope I can focus on the task ahead as the TL position at the local school remains unfilled.

 References

Ashworth, Justin. (2006). Letter to a First Year Librarian.  School Library Journal.  Retrieved 27 Sept from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6367047.html

Gilman, Todd. (2007). ‘The Four Habits of Highly Effective Librarians.’ Do Your Job Better. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 21 July from http://chronicle.com/article/The-Four-Habits-ofHighly-E/46544/

Haycock, K. (2004). Priority-setting: the Tough Work.’ Teacher Librarian, Apr, Vol.31 Issue 4, p6

Kuhlthau, Carol Collier. (2012). Information Search process. Retrieved Sept 3 from http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/information_search_process.htm

Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians do is Check out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, v. 29 n.3 p30-33 Nov-Dec

Sanders, R. (2004). Conflict Resolution.  Australia Library Supervision and Management (2^nd ed.) (pp. 127-132). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Wilson, Tim. (2009). Effective Time Management for Teachers-How to Manage Your Workload. Retrieved 21 July from http://www.time-management-success.com/time-management-for-teachers.html

Yucht, Alice. (n.d.). Alice in InfoLand. Y’s Guide to Starting a New School/Library/Job. Retrieved 27 Sept from http://www.aliceinfo.org/ysgd-new-job/

After ETL 501

Before ETL 501

·        I was a luddite. (I still am. I can’t use a mobile phone without remedial instruction from my teenage daughter, I broke my other daughter’s tape recorder and I can’t program the DVD recorder.)

·        I Googled 100% of the time.

·        I thought Wikipedia wasn’t too dodgy.

·        I thought a domain was a tunnel.

·        I had never heard of a pathfinder.

·        I thought tweets were noises birds made.

·        I thought Delicious was a reference to Black Forest Cake.

·        I took notes in an exercise book.

·        I used a print dictionary

After ETL 501

·        I regularly use Bing and Dogpile, and I encourage my children to do likewise. I think of keywords before I search and I use AND or OR or maybe NOT.

·        I avoid Wikipedia, and if I do use it, I triangulate for confirmation of facts.

·        I check domain names before I click on a hit and when looking at a website I search around for dates and author's names and copy down URLs exactly.

·        I have made my first pathfinder and guess what? It’s a wiki. It was so much fun I look forward to making hundreds more.

·        I muddle around with Twitter every day. I have learnt to tweet and how to respond to someone else’s tweet. I only have a handful of followers, but hey, it’s early days yet for this luddite.

·        I have saved a bunch of interesting things from the Web onto my Delicious site. I have an Information Technology tag, a Pasifika tag, a Maths tag etc...

·        I have learnt to take e-notes which made doing assignments kind of detached but workable.

·        I have a list of more things to conquer, chiefly Informit, Weebly, Animoto, Flickr, Wylio and Scootle.

·        As for my other life as an author, ETL501 has made me determined to make a few book trailers and to self-publish some short stories as ebooks using Smashwords.

Thanks Barbara for pushing me into the deep end. I may be spluttering and gasping for air but I think I’ll be able to tread water soon.

Oh, I still use a print dictionary. The spine’s broken and the pages are dog-eared, but it smells familiar and holds memories of scrabble games long gone. It’s one thing technology can never replace.

Is this Pratchett's librarian?

Ook! Source: B Montgomery

I'm currently reading Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent where the poor librarian is very ill. For those of you who have never read a Discworld novel you may enjoy Pratchett's unique view on the image of a librarian. I wish I could reshelve books with my toes.

ETL 501 Teacher Librarian Collaboration Commentary

Activity  1.    

·        I have no idea about what the school is doing regarding a learning website as I am only a CRT. There is a school website and there is a link to the library. I am aware that they use Moodle but I know nothing about it.

·        A story board helps to visualise steps and sticky notes are easy to move around and change the sequence. This is harder to do in the finished product. If you can organise the structure first you ultimately save time.

·        I’ve looked at website design a lot lately. I am a huge fan of white space as I know how intimidating huge chunks of writing can be. They turn me off no end. That’s why I could never engage with Isobelle Allande’s House of the Spirits...but I digress. Tree maps show how to navigate around a site, and show structure. Contrast is important too. No dark on dark colours.

·        I started off looking at Weebly some time ago and ditched it because I was too impatient with downloading photos. I really had trouble with it and found the directions confusing. I’ll get back to it once all these assignments are completed. I found Wikispaces a lot easier. No frills here. Prezi is on my to do list.

Activity 2.

·        Subject content is the main criteria. If it doesn’t fit the curriculum and isn’t pitched at students, then what is the point?

·        I agree in principle that learning websites developed at the school are more likely to engage kids. The sense of ownership will be strong.

·        You can put a few points in the annotations referring back to whatever Info Lit model the school uses. I’m ashamed to say I don’t even know what the school uses because I am so rarely there and there doesn’t appear to be any reinforcement of policy around. I have seen a poster in the staff room about Bloom’s Taxonomy so I’ll draw a long bow here and suggest they may be fond of the Big6 model. But I’m only inferring here. I have no proof.

·        Annotations can give directions about how to use the resource. That’s helpful. Don’t be didactic or patronising as it turns readers off.

·        If students find a good resource we can encourage them to add it to the learning website-with a wiki this should be easy.

·        I read bits of Lynch and Horton (2008). Web Style Guide: Basic design principles for designing websites on line, at www.webstyleguide.com/wsg3/index.html. It goes on for pages and pages about interface design and is rather technical for the most part, so I was rather confused. Animoto looks really cool. The kids would love this. This is also on my to do list.

ETL 401 Blog Task #3

Information Literacy is more than a set of skills.

Information literacy (IL) is a slippery term to define. Academic and Teacher Librarian (T/L) Linda Langford (1998) wrote a lengthy article trying to clarify a definition and admitted that the whole process could bamboozle or alienate an audience. I admit to being one of those perplexed and bored readers. Greenblatt (2005) is more succinct, taking only a sentence to proclaim IL as ‘the ability to find and use information’. Academic Michael Eisenburg (2008) states that it is the ‘basic skills set of the 21^st century.’
   Perhaps a middle ground, borrowing heavily from Abilock (2004), would be to describe IL as an illuminating process where the learner locates, understands, evaluates and uses a range of information.
   What the person does with this information is up to himself/herself. Whereas Abilock states the learner should use the information to create something, I would argue that information literacy could end with the learner using it for decision making purposes only.
   So is I/L just a set of skills? Certainly today’s students are ‘digital natives’ already highly skilled in technology use. They can download music and videos, use a keyboard, mouse or touch pad, Google for unlimited information, post photos, link platforms, text friends, and so on. The list continues to grow. But most self-taught digital natives aren’t using the technology to exploit its potential to the fullest. They are simply skimming the surface. The new technology may be the tool to finding information but these self-taught craftsman can learn a lot from someone who knows the trade. In short, the teacher librarian.
   Information literacy goes further than a set of skills. It involves critical thinking, application and transfer. Students need to critically evaluate the information they find, particularly on websites. They need to look for bias and be alert to scams.
   Students must apply their I/L skills in a responsible way. They must be upstanding cyber citizens who obey copyright laws, are sensitive to privacy issues, avoid plagiarism and communicate on the Web using the appropriate etiquette.
   I/L is also about the transfer of these skills to other areas of life. Academic James Herring (2011a) showed that Scottish students on work placement found that work places sourced their information differently to how it was done in schools. A heavy reliance on databases, email and mobile phones contrasted with the schools’ emphasis on the Web to source information. Research into this topic is limited but Herring suggests that both groups can learn from each other. As Kuhlthau (2004) states, ‘Transference is the ultimate objective of education.’ Imagine if students could transfer I/L skills into adult life. What a switched on workforce we would have.
   Furthermore I/L is also about dealing with Web2.0 technology without fear. Kuhlthau’s theory of the Information Search Process (ISP) shows that emotions play a large role in how we all search for information and understanding this relationship helps T/Ls to guide students sympathetically.
   Teachers can also model the fact that we are learners too. We need to continually demonstrate to students that we use the new technology responsibly and efficiently. T/Ls can run professional development course to introduce various aspects of I/L in small chunks (Herring, 2011b, p72). For example, avoiding plagiarism or using creative commons or Google Advanced Search etc.
   We can be better prepared for visual learners too. Posters or laminated cards reinforcing a learning method such as Herring’s PLUS method can be placed prominently around the library. T/Ls need to shamelessly ‘bang on’ about this chosen method at every staff meeting and every time a class comes into the library to research. Eventually we will create lifelong learners.

 References

Abilock, Debbie. (2007). Information Literacy Building Blocks of Research: Overview of Design, Process and Outcomes. Retrieved 27 August 2012 from

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html

 

Eisenberg, Michael B. (2008). ‘Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the Information Age’ DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, Vol.28, No.2, March, pp39-47

Greenblatt, Melinda. (2005). ‘Library Connections: Creating Lifelong learners’ Catholic Library World,
             Sept Vol 76 No.1

Herring, James, E. (2011a). ‘From School to Work and From Work to School: Information Environments and Transferring Information Literacy Practices’ Information Research. Vol.16 No.2, June

Herring, James, E. (2011b). Improving Students’ Web Use and Information Literacy: A Guide for
            Teachers and Teacher Librarians, Facet Publishing, London

Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). ‘Learning as a Process’. Seeking meaning: a Process Approach to Library and Information Services (2^nd Ed.) pp13-27). Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Langford, Linda. (1998). Information Literacy: a Clarification, from Now On: The Educational
             Technology Journal. Retrieved 27 August 2012 from
http://www.fno.org/sept98/clarify.html