Throughout the class I learned many things that will be helpful to me as a librarian. Some of the things I learned about throughout this course include:
The different types of reference materials
Evaluating Print and Digital resources using the evaluation criteria
Reference Interviews
Copyright and Fair Use
Below is a reflection of how my knowledge and understanding of "Reference Instruction and Information Seeking" expanded over the course of LIS512 during Summer I.
This was my very first LIS course I have ever taken, and also aside from a desire and passion to be in the library I have no professional experience working in one. Due to my limited library experience my original perception of "Reference Instruction and Information Seeking" was really broad and generic. My original thinking was that Reference Instruction involved teaching students about using non-fiction works within research, how to cite information, and learning the skills needed to be able to find information in a way that was relevant to the library.
I now know that Reference Instruction goes much further than simply teaching about non-fiction sources and citing sources. There are bibliographies, biographies, geographical sources (maps, atlases, gazetteers), Factbooks/Almanacs/Directories/Handbooks, Encyclopedias, and Dictionaries. There are many different print and online re available to librarians to help students and staff find the resources and information they may be seeking. While helping people seek for information that process is called the Reference Interview. Through the Reference Interview assignment and assigned readings I learned that oftentimes readers/information seekers will come to the library not entirely sure what they are looking for. According to our textbook, "The reference interview is fundamentally a conversation between the school librarian and the student, for the purpose of clarifying the student's needs and aiding in meeting those needs... [The goals] are to determine efficiently and productively the nature, quantity, and level of information the student requires, as well as the most appropriate format." (Riedling & Houston, 2019, p. 89). From the assignments, readings, and reflections this "reference interview" is one of the parts I am most excited to experience for myself in my future library. I feel confident in my ability to guide the student through welcoming and thoughtful interactions using open-ended questions to elicit information needed to help with the search. From evaluating my librarian during the Reference Interview assignment, I have an understanding of the criteria that librarians should always follow, and understand the importance of all of the guidelines needed for a librarian to be successful. The guidelines for a successful reference interview are: Approachability, Interest, Listening/Inquiring, Searching, and the Follow-up!
The community and culture that is established in my future library is important to me. All staff and students should feel welcome not only to come into my library, but to express thoughts and concerns, as well as ask for help as needed on any kind of quest for information. I look forward to continuing to learn throughout the rest of my LIS classes and developing even more of an idea on how I envision my library being.
Riedling, A. M., & Houston, C. (2019). Reference skills for the school librarian: tools and tips. Libraries Unlimited, an imprint of ABC CLIO, LLC.
For access to some of the assignments I completed please use the links below:
Reference Interview Assignment
Almanacs and Encyclopedia Exploration
Evaluating the US Holocaust Museum Website
Throughout the class I learned many things that will be helpful to me not only as a future librarian, but as an educator, or educational technologist. Some of the things I learned about throughout this course include:
Educational Technology
Analyzing the affordances of technology
The SAMR & the TPACK model
Using Blogs, Portfolios, and Creativity Tools in the classroom
Winn's Stages and Ages of Technology, ACOT, Texas STaR
Developing my Philosophy of Educational Technology (See Philosophy tab to read my philosophy)
Below are some of my reflections that demonstrate how my knowledge and understanding of Educational Technology expanded over the course of ETEC 524 during Summer I.
Original Thinking About Educational Technology
When I THINK about educational technology I think of all of the endless opportunities that are available for teachers and students. Educational technology gives students the ability to engage in their learning instead of the typical "sit and get" model that has been implemented since long ago. Teachers truly researching and using tech tools that are meaningful, engaging, and well designed for students gives teaching a whole new definition. No longer is a teacher stuck at the front of the classroom, but instead they can transform the learning for all of their students in a way that allows each of their students to progress through the concepts in a way that allows them to go farther than just remembering. Educational technology allows students to engage all the way from the lowest "Understand/Remember" level of thinking up to the "Synthesize/Evaluate/Create" level of thinking. What I think I know about educational technology is always changing as I continue to learn and grow.
What PUZZLES me is how to help teach others that there is a fine line between using Educational Technology as a tool that engages students, but also holds them accountable for meaningful learning and simply using an educational tool to adapt daily assignments for the sake of using technology. So many teachers that I work with feel that they are using technology in an enhancing way when in reality they are only uploading a worksheet with the intention of having it provide automatic feedback and "easy" grading.
One way I could EXPLORE my puzzle might be to send out a survey to other teachers to get a gauge on their perspectives and their "whys" for using educational technology.
Revised Thinking About Educational Technology
1. Did any of these readings provide answers to the questions or puzzles that you posted in your introduction? Why or why not?
When I first started reading the 23-page AECT article I was a little concerned with my ability to connect and read the entire thing without starting to lose focus. I had never heard of AECT before and I thought this was going to be a very dry read that I would struggle to enjoy. However, I quickly began to realize how everything I had mentioned in the PUZZLE piece of my introductory post was integrated into the key topics of the project. I read page by page and the farther I went the more phrases it contained that were on target for the thoughts I had originally conveyed. Although my puzzle was not necessarily given a solution it did directly correlate and confirm what I believe and think about the topic of Educational Technology. At one point in the AECT article it states, "[educational organizations] have shifted toward deep rather than shallow learning, the learning environments have become more immersive and more authentic. In these environments, the key role of technology is not so much to present information in drill-and-practice format (to control learning) but to provide the problem space and the tools to explore it (to support learning)". My puzzle discussed the problem of teachers claiming to use technology in engaging and integrated ways, but the reality is that they are simply just digitizing their normal worksheets and calling it "better learning".
2. Did anything that you read prompt new questions or puzzle you more? If so, what are those questions?
As someone who feels strongly about maximizing the effectiveness of the technology used in my classroom and reading both in the AECT article and in the Wikipedia Article direct reflections of making sure that the technology is still meeting the needs of all levels of learning and not just sticking to the "retention and memorization" models of learning I have a question that remains a thorn in my side. How do we ensure that all educators understand the importance of using the technology as a tool that goes beyond what the kids could do on paper? I want to find the best strategies to reiterate that just because a device is used does not mean that the learning is more effective than it would be without the technology.
3. What one (or more) item or idea on the “Talk” page in Wikipedia struck you the most? Why?
I had never known that the "Talk" page was available on Wikipedia. One idea that struck me the most was that the tools that relevant to incorporating and integrating technology into the classroom in meaningful ways were missing. There was so much focus on everything else that relates to educational theories and the shift in the learning paradigm, but the essential tools that can be utilized by students and teachers alike to explore and create were not mentioned. I believe that having a section or even multiple sections that break down the different avenues that can be used would be important. If we were to create a section for each of the different "Depths of Knowledge" levels or the different "Blooms Taxonomy" levels we could list or describe different apps and digital tools that could be used across the different levels of learning.
Analyzing Affordances and SAMR
One of my technology-rich lessons:
Every year my seventh-grade scientists learn about all things Ecology. They have to be able to identify producers and consumers and differentiate between biotic and abiotic factors in the environment. The students have to be able to distinguish different trophic levels within a food chain, food web, or pyramid. My students learn about organisms and how they interact with their environments and what kind of relationships they have with other organisms. For the past several years I have created a project-based learning unit for my students that incorporates all of the standards they need to learn throughout the unit. My unit integrates an activity created by Biologist Katie Hinde called March Mammal Madness. March Mammal Madness is a lineup of 64 organisms all selected by Hinde and her team. They get placed on a bracket where they go head to head to determine who the animal champion is for the tournament of the year. The process is very similar to March Madness that most associate with basketball. The past couple of years I have taken her tournament but enhanced it so that my students are having to research and create presentations that inform the class about their organism. The students get paired up with the student who has the opposing animal for their bracket. They collaborate on slides and ultimately they have to work together and determine which animal they feel would win the round. Although they are creating slides based on the facts that can be easily found online the students have to not only apply the knowledge they gained but create different aspects within their slides. The students have to use drawing tools or create pictographs to show where that animal falls on a food chain and food web. At the end of every week, once the pair of students have created their slides and determined their "winner" they have a choice board that they can use to chose the presentation method. They have to summarize all of the information they learned about their competing animals and justify why the animal would win that battle. They can choose to make a Flipgrid, they can use a song-making app to create a rap/song, they can use a comic strip app, or make a children's book. One of my favorite presentation methods I have seen over the years includes the use of WeVideo to edit and create a news broadcast. The opportunities for technology integration are endless. At the end of the presentations for that round, I play the video created by Katie Hinde's team and the students get to see what happened and which animals get to progress to the next round. While some of the time the students do get it accurate and cheer with excitement other times they end up getting surprised and an underdog wins due to other environmental factors that they had not considered.
1. Growing up, learning for me was always the most beneficial to me when I was able to be involved. I can learn from being fed the information, but what is the point of rote memorization. I have made it a point in my classroom to constantly try to incorporate activities that allow my students to dive deep and connect learning to the real world. The learning experience ends up being such an amazing process to sit back and watch as the teacher. A couple of years ago I stumbled on March Mammal Madness via one of my science social media pages. I saw several teachers post that they loved how fun it was to watch the students make their guesses and follow along each week. A lot of what I was seeing from the comments, however, was entirely surface-level. The students were either being given information about the organisms or told to research the animals and then make their best guesses. I didn't want that. I did not want to use this amazing resource that is available for free to just be one extra thing my kids did during the unit. This is something I wanted to be all-inclusive. I needed to find a way to make all of my expected standards follow along with the bracket. So I came up with the idea of having the students create slides using my templates that would guide them in their research. In order to place an animal in a food web, the student had to first know what a food web was. Then they had to research what kinds of things did their organism eat and go from there. I knew from a training over collaborating with Google Slides that my district had provided that Slides was the method I wanted them to use to collect their research information. They could both work on it at the same time and be organized as they worked through each required task. That is where I started the first year I developed this plan. By the second year, I had expanded the idea. It wasn't enough just to have the students use my templates to collaborate, research, and make selections of winners... They needed to be able to create something that tied all of the information together and present it to the class. The presentation part was important not just because of the skills needed for students to present, but because it also allowed all of the other students who hadn't researched that part of the bracket to have an understanding of the other organisms competing. The year I started allowing them to create was the year that I started to see sparks in kid's eyes week after week until finally the unit/bracket had come to an end.
2. I believe that my unit reaches the modification and redefinition levels of technology use.
3. The technology choices work well with the pedagogical approach to the content objectives and standards. The slides lend themselves to easily creating food chains and food webs by being able to insert pictures of organisms straight from Google and arrows to show the energy flow. The slides allow the students to focus on and organize the information about their organism to each standard specifically. They have to have a slide that describes whether or not their organism is a producer or consumer. Another that demonstrates where on the food chain it falls, whether it is a primary, secondary, or tertiary consumer. Once they have organized the research aspect of the slides the two students can compare their assigned animals all on one screen. The final component the students get to choose from the variety of tech tools available. Some of the methods like creating the video for broadcast take a little bit more time and are typically recommended only for students who have finished their research early in the week since I want them to script out the broadcast and have a plan rather than just quickly throwing together a recording like you can do more readily on Flipgrid. I know that some of my students do not have as much time on the final presentation, however, would love to be able to have the opportunity to record as well. When groups are short on time, Flipgrid is used as the alternative to digitally editing and piecing together an "official broadcast". The students are given a variety of options that will allow them to choose which format they want to present but also factors in how much time they have to put it all together and their skill ability. Every year I get to see a variety of student projects and make note of different ones that worked the best and eliminate the tools that I feel are least effective from the choice board.
Using Blogs, Portfolios, and Creativity Tools in the Classroom
Check out my blog for more information on TPACK using Blogs, Portfolios, and Creativity Tools
1. One of the reasons that eportfolios are so compelling to those examining eportfolios for assessment is that they can function both as assessments OF learning and assessments FOR learning. What are the differences between assessments OF and FOR learning? How do eportfolios address both in ways that grades, transcripts of grades, and exam scores do not?
First, let me begin by breaking down what my knowledge and understanding of these two components are. When I compare assessments OF learning vs. assessment FOR learning, simply put I think of the end vs. the process. For example, assessment OF learning would rely on looking at information received from a summative assessment given at the end of the teaching of a specific unit. Students would be given grades either in the number or letter format to represent their level of achievement. Other than whether or not they passed or failed, the student does not really care. However, when I look at assessment FOR learning, I see an opportunity to embed the assessment process throughout the entire learning process capturing the important details from beginning to end. An additional layer has been added to the electronic portfolio. The focus is not entirely on the end result of the grade, but instead on the learning that occurred leading up to and the synthetization and evaluation of everything they have completed within the unit as well.
As mentioned in our instructor's video about Folio Thinking I really liked the examples she provided for the scenarios. Using a portfolio is always a great thing to implement, but in order for it to be a learning tool students/professionals must be using it as a place where they reflect and make connections.
2. Another reason that eportfolios have captivated those interested in learning is that eportfolios provide a means to document learning “lifelong” and “life-wide.” What might eportfolio enthusiasts mean when they refer to these two affordances of eportfolios? Why might these affordances be particularly illuminating and/or helpful for an assessment?
An exchange between Exective Director/CEO of AAEEBL, Trent Batson, and author Mary Grush really got me thinking about the "why" of portfolios. The exchange begins after Mary Grush questions the index of grades proposal stated by Batson. Below is the exchange that I have chosen to focus on for this question:
"Batson: If someone asked you how your daughter or son was doing with friends, sports, learning, and socially would you answer "2.98"
Grush: Well mine would be much higher! But no, of course I wouldn't say that.
Batson: Instead of answering your friend asking you about your daughter with a cryptic "4.0+," you could say, "ah, look at these photos on my iPhone of my daughter's semester abroad, of her internship experience, of her undergraduate research, of her learning community, of her field work."
It is now possible to have evidence (documents, photos, audio clips, diagrams, video, slide sets, etc.) backing up the grades we give to students."
When I analyze that exchange I can easily see the affordances that having an eportfolio allows. Eportfolios, or folios in general, allow for the user to establish and build a collection of information, achievements, examples projects and store them in one place. More importantly though has to do with what they do next once they have collected and selected the materials they want to include. The eportfolio user has the opportunity to reflect on a lifelong set of learning, knowledge, and skills. They get to showcase all of the evidence they have that proves that they are the best candidate if they are using this portfolio as a means for gaining employment etc. The portfolio does have the affordance of being lifelong because year after year the user can build onto, add, reflect, learn, and grow from the materials and different pieces that they add into it. The portfolio can also provide an opportunity to be life-wide. Again, focusing on that exchange between Batson and Grush. The student's GPA was just a single part of their collegiate or high school career. If humans were only summed up by the simple number that shows up on the final transcript or our "assessment of learning" a lot of valuable information would be missed out upon. A numerical value does not define how creative someone is. A numerical value does not determine how kind, respectful, and willing to work as a team someone may be. A numerical value does not determine the work ethic of a student, nor does it depict a strong problem-solving ability. However, if you have a portfolio that shows a collection of work and reflections and shows growth over time you have proof of a user's ability to have lifelong growth.
By looking at the portfolio you have the opportunity to see the bigger picture of the 4 years that the student/employee attended college. They may have "only" had a 3.0, BUT by using a portfolio to gather all of the other things and events that occurred at the same time as the learning we can find out a little bit more about who the person is that we are looking at.
Grush02/15/12, M. (n.d.). AAEEBL: It's All About Evidence-Based Learning--Supported by ePortfolios. Campus Technology. https://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/02/15/evidence-based-learning-supported-by-eportfolios.aspx.
Winn's Stages and Ages of Technology, ACOT, Texas STaR
Draw a conclusion: which one(s) gave you the most insight or were most helpful to your developing understanding of the goals of technology integration?
Reading through the three different models ACOT, SAMR, and Texas STaR I was able to gain a level of insight into how strong I am at integrating technology throughout my day to day. In order to draw a conclusion I basically had to look at the other two discussion questions as well in order to compare and contrast the models in order to determine which one held the highest value to me. While I was truly able to gain some insight from each of the models the one of them truly pulled all of the pieces together in a clear way. While the benefits of the ACOT are that it is extremely simple to see key features of each stage from entry level to innovation there is not any part of that model that I feel really ensures that the learning taking place is involving higher order thinking skills from the students. The SAMR is beneficial as a way of creating a lens in which you can view/create assignments for students and also ensure that you are maximizing technological benefit as well, but does not necessarily provide any goals for improvement other than trying to create lessons that reach the Modification/Redefinition levels of usage. The tool that I found provided me the most insight into how to set goals for technology integration and developing my understanding was the Texas STaR. While I found the read to initially be tedious, I found the rubrics and the breakdown of the levels to be something that could help any teacher identify just what categories they are demonstrating strengths in and which categories they still have room for improvement in.
Throughout the class, I learned many things that will be helpful to me not only as a future librarian but as an educator as well. Some of the things I learned about throughout this course include:
Elements of Fiction
Subgenres of Fictional and Nonfictional Literature
Selection and Evaluation criteria of all Genres
Book Award types and titles
SEL and Diverse literature in the library
Creating annotated bibliographies and performing in-depth evaluations of multiple pieces of literature.
Below are some of my reflections that demonstrate my knowledge and understanding of Children's and YA literature over the course of LIS 227 during Summer II.
Strategic Selection: Ways of Reading
As I was reading through this article there were so many pieces that I found to be helpful towards the selection process. As a science teacher, I often have to find creative ways to integrate good literature into my curriculum since most of the curriculum writers do not tend to add in a list of excellent book candidates within the units. What I felt was the most important to me and my practice is being able to distinguish both the pedagogical response and the personal response to a book. According to the Strategic Selection article, “When selecting and using a book in a classroom, teachers tend to focus on the pedagogical goals and ignore the personal or the aesthetic aspect of the literature." Although we had been aware of the tendency to focus on a book as a tool, it became a reality…” (pg. 52)
The reason why I feel that understanding the two ways of reading (pedological and personal) as the most important takeaway for me is due to my Science background. There are an abundance of great informative and entertaining fictional pieces that connect to the concepts that I teach. What I have noticed in the past is that oftentimes as a teacher, who's curriculum does not have reading time built in that the books I read often have a direct correlation to the TEKS that I am teaching. I do not pick them necessarily because I enjoy them, but because I know they are going to supplement what I need the students to know. There have been several times that I have been reading for personal enjoyment and come across a book that covers material from some of our bigger units of study. As the teacher I make the connection, but I have never actually shared that connection or the opportunity to make that connection with my students as I tend to keep personal and professional separate. Could I find a way to incorporate them into the pedagogical stance of my classroom? As I reflect on the reading for this week I am encouraged to try to end that type of mindset. Reading can be selected due to personal enjoyment or because of the pedagogical connection and sometimes the two can coincide together. The best literature, ultimately, are those pieces that are enjoyed personally by the teacher and have a strong pedagogical response.
As a teacher and future librarian I now have equipped my toolbox with two new phrases thanks to this weeks reading. I now have the tools to evaluate a reading in two distinct ways. As a selector of literature I have two roles, one as a reader and the other as a teacher. Once I have finished a text, I should evaluate it with the reader hat on by asking myself an important (personal) question. "This book made me (Examples: sad, excited, think, happy, [etc.])." As the role of the teacher, I should evaluate the text from a pedagogical view. "[How could I] use this book to teach content or standard? (Examples: types of rocks, mentor text for character, how to share)." (Jiménez & Mcilhagga, 2013, pg. 53).
I analyzed this article as a reader and as a teacher, one part that I haven't fully established is reading as a librarian. As I was reading through the article and they began sharing about how their lack of engagement in the text they had selected was noticeable, I immediately thought of a librarian either doing book talks or even worse recommending books to students. Imagine if a student came in with a totally different reading style than you and within your reference interview you kept trying to steer student's away from a book all because of your personal preference or biases. That would be incredibly wrong. I also thought about a time that I was trying to find information as a kid about sharks and other ocean predators for an English project at a public library and remember leaving afterwards more upset by the lack of engagement I got from the librarian who was supposed to be helping me. The one person who could have helped feed my excitement, was void of all emotions and you could tell it was because marine life was "not her cup of tea". The writing prompt got me started on thinking how as a librarian I could make excellent literature known to my faculty across all content areas. I know a big struggle I have always had year after year is that libraries and ELA go hand in hand. Science and social studies can do research on a topic, but that is not a guarantee and truly depends on the teacher. As a librarian, one of my future goals is to make a connection with every content and share ways that I (the librarian/the library) can support them within their curriculum.
Which leads me to the final question... How can I apply all of what I have mentioned above about personal vs pedagogical reading to my role as a librarian? As a librarian I could create either a Blog/Vlog or Google Site as a means of sharing out recommended texts. I can create a page for each content area and get a list of standards that are covered within each 9 weeks of the year. I can make a chart that lists the standard/unit of study with a title of a book. If the book is one I have personally read, I could add in a blurb with my personal reason for adding the book to the list. Of course I would have to update this quarterly, but think of the reward/payout! Students across all content areas having the opportunity to be exposed to literature within their curriculum because it is already available for teachers to access. Having this kind of resource as a teacher would exponentially increase the amount of read-alouds I complete in my classroom. I would simply ahead and say next week is about adaptations... I should check my librarians science literature chart to see what is available. BOOM! I found 7.12A in the chart and she recommends this book, but also lists 5 other books she has downstairs. Maybe I am crazy to think on top of everything else a librarian does within a campus that something as extensive as that could be completed, but it could definitely be done. Start with on content area and work your way through the grade levels, move onto a different content area and repeat. As a librarian I feel it is important to help lead and guide anyone and everyone to the resources they need to support learning in any way, shape, or form.
Jiménez, L. M., & Mcilhagga, K. K. (2013). Book Review: Strategic Selection of Children's and Young Adult Literature. Journal of Education, 193(3), 51–58.
Censorship Metaphors in the Library:
In the article by Boyd and Bailey, the reader is introduced to the idea of "Censorship in Three Metaphors". The three different metaphors were thought-provoking and interesting to visualize and apply to books and other resources that have been or could potentially be challenged or censored in a variety of ways. Whether the censoring occurs in the form of a parent challenging a book in a school library and the librarian complacently removing it before the review of the book by the committee determined it was inappropriate or not or as severe as the Briar Rose book-burning incidents. The metaphor that I found to be the most compelling and useful to me was the "Censorship as a Barbed Wire Fence" comparison. In this comparison, there are two distinct views as you could be on either side of the fence ready to slice anyone who dares to venture to the other side. In the article they discuss the book being on one side and the reader on the other, but in my head I visualize the controllers of the material on the same side as the book they are trying to/have successfully censored.
In the case of a book being censored the thorny, wired fence made of sharp spikes serves two different purposes. The first purpose the fence serves is for those doing the censoring. The fence allows a barrier to be put up that blocks a reader from being exposed to topics that others may consider to be inappropriate for "children" to view/read. The censorship or "barbed wire" fence allows the complainant to feel safe that "others" would not be exposed to those views that differ from their own. When it comes to future challenges that teacher/librarian/admin who removed the book or who strategically made selections that refrained from stocking that type of book on the shelf allows them to feel safe from future objections and challenges.
The second purpose of the fence is to block others and act as a "barrier to free thought and speech". Those who would gain or benefit the most from reading that censored material would have to climb over or through the barrier in an effort to gain insight into the knowledge or new perspectives presented.
In my last Reference course we had a discussion post/ assignment about evaluating the "Challenges" part of our district policy and evaluating the procedures. This metaphor and the learning gained from that course has made me realize how important it is as a librarian to be understanding and respectful of others opinions and views, but to also "put my foot down" in a sense to protect books within the library. If a book is challenged by a parent I will follow the protocol and the book will remain on the shelves for others to continue to check out and read as wanted. By taking it off the shelf until the review by the committee is completed the librarian would be adding a barrier (barbed wire fence) in front of the title in question.
Throughout the class, I learned many things that will be helpful to me not only as a future librarian, but as an educator, or educational technologist. Some of the things I learned about throughout this course include:
Developing a collection policy
Analyzing and evaluating collection policies
Establishing a weeding policy and selecting resources eligible for elimination from a collection
Developing an understanding of budget and acquisition processes and practicing using a budget to purchase materials for my library
Analyzing and evaluating library collection resources in a variety of ways
Below are some of my reflections that demonstrate my knowledge and understanding of collections over the course of LIS 524 during Summer II.
Analyzing Collection Development Policies on Selection and Maintenance:
I teach in Northwest ISD and have been using my campus librarian for other courses. However, she is currently on vacation and has not been able to help me with policies. Our neighboring district and one of my mentors that I worked with for several years before moving to NISD, agreed to help me out by sharing their policy with me at least until the librarians in my district that I have reached out to can be more helpful. The policy I am sharing is from Keller ISD.
Link to Keller ISD Collection Development Policy on Selection and Maintenance:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16h1mnup0zLp5iED7aH2zJxc9DmINA5NF/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1afu3A4ztmOE1r4Yz6Yr1bAW0gFwFyrG0/view?usp=sharing
What are the basic issues/concerns in collection development?
According to our text, today "it is much more difficult to define a school library collection [than before the 1990's.]" (Mardis, 2016, pg. 1). Now a school library has to consider what all is considered a part of the collection. The collection could consist of many materials and resources such as, online databases, websites that are collected by the librarian, virtual library links, books obtainable through ILL, student accessed websites from inside a library. The challenge and concern due to the advancements of technology is what is truly defined as part of the collection in this digital age. I would have to agree that one of the biggest issues of collection development is that ultimately the collection now expands farther than the walls of the library.
2. What questions should be addressed in examining collection development models?
When examining collection development models the librarian should determine whether or not the collection is "collection-oriented" or if it is a "user-centered" perspective. A librarian should should also begin by learning about the existing collection. According to the text, in order to effectively learn about the collection a librarian should focus on the following questions: "What is your general impression when you enter the library? Are materials displayed in inviting ways? Do signs clearly and accurately point users to materials and services? Are there materials that are inaccessible to users? How does the online catalog help students locate items? Do materials appear to be old or worn? Are reference sources available in print and /or online? How do users access digitally delivered information? Did the previous school librarian collect and mark websites for student use? Does the collection allow students and teachers [to] remotely access it from classrooms and outside of the school? (Mardis, 2016, pg. 16)
Some questions that should be addressed are when evaluating a collection and determining whether or not an item should be added or withdraw to a physical collection includes: "Is the same information already in the collection, but in a different format? Will an alternative format make the information accessible to more people? Is the same or similar item quickly accessible through a resource-sharing network or the Internet? Does this item uniquely fill a particular user's need?" (Mardis, 2016, pg. 3).
Other needs of the library collection that should be questioned are about the community needs, the needs of special programs such as "Battle of the Books", processes for resource-sharing if available, questions about circulating materials, as well as district school library programs and how they affect the campus library.
3. Why should a library consider having a written collection development policy?
According to Mardis, "one of the most important responsibilities of a school librarian is to develop or maintain an updated policies and procedures manual." (Mardis, 2016, pg. 47) In the text, we learn that a written collection development policy can help to save time, ensures that confusion can be avoided, and provides guidance for anyone stepping into the library.
4. What functions does such a policy perform?
Written policies and procedures have numerous functions that are important for the librarian to consider. Written policies allow for "ensuring a degree of consistency, [defining the collections scope and coverage], assign[ing] selection responsibility, facilitat[ing] quality selection, guid[ing] evaluation of the collection, aid[ing] in the weeding or deselection of the collection" and many other important purposes. (Mardis, 2016, pg. 47)
5. What are the essential parts of a collection development policy?
Some of the essential parts of a collection development policy are explaining the creation of the collection, circulation information, describing the maintenance steps, describing how items will be used and where they will be located, explaining the steps and criteria for weeding materials, Internet or technology usage, copyright and fair use implementation, and intellectual freedom. Policies need to reflect the goals of the campus and district.
6. Can you suggest additional content that has not appeared in the policies you have examined?
Some additional content that has not appeared in every policy that I examined is the lack of organization features such as a table of contents or in digital policies hyperlinks that allows for easy movement throughout the document. Not every policy has clearly stated the libraries goals, especially since the librarian's that has provided me materials have sent the policies in segments.
Selection Process:
1. According to our text, "selection tools exist in a variety of [print and electronic] formats: books, reviewing periodicals, and bibliographic essays". (Mardis, 2016, pg. 66). Some examples of some of the resources that can be used to support the collections include:
H. W. Wilson series (books; however there is a lead time that is required due to printing time)
Booklist, School Library Connection, VOYA, and School Library Journal (Reviewing Journals)
Teacher Librarian, School Library Journal, and Book Links (Bibliographic Essays)
2. According to Mardis, (who drew upon an original study by Janie Schomberg) there are several pieces to examine in order to determine whether or not the review is "good". To evaluate a review and determine whether or not the title would be a good fit in your library Mardis lists the following as items you should consider:
Bibliographic information
Purchasing information
Cataloging information
As well as the description and evaluation of each of the following:
Literary characteristics: plot, character, theme, setting, point of view, and style
Usability: authority, appropriateness, scope, accuracy, arrangement, and organization
Visual characteristics: shape, line, edge, color, proportion, detail, composition, and medium style
Comparison: author, illustrator, and other works
Sociological factors: controversial or popular
Other considerations: total artistic appearance, book design, use, and audience.
(Mardis, 2016, pg. 68).
3. In the process of my courses I have had the opportunity to review different sources for reviews. So far I have studied both Booklist and School Library Journal in depth. Out of the two, I tend to lean more towards Booklist due to the number of reviews available and the focus of the magazine to be purely on reviewing materials. I do appreciate the SLJ as well, however, with only 50 percent of the SLJ being dedicated to reviews, there seems to be a lot of extra publication pieces to sift through. One journal that I am looking forward to exploring more is The Horn Book Magazine.
4. When selecting materials to be added to the collection one should consider both the general selection criteria and the criteria that are specifically tailored for a certain format. As a librarian, you should begin with the general selection criteria in order to begin the evaluation of the materials, as the general selection criteria are standards that should be considered regardless of the format. The general selection criteria focus first on the intellectual content and its presentation. Criteria to evaluate this first focus include: "(1) authority, (2) appropriateness and audience, (3) scope, (4) authenticity, (5) treatment, (6) arrangement and organization, (7) instructional design, (8) special features, (9) materials available on the subject, and (10) value to the collection". (Mardis, 2016, pg. 76).
While I am not going to get into the specifics of the criteria it is important to remember that one must also evaluate the criteria of the selected format. Every media type has its own special considerations that a librarian must take into account. Another important consideration for librarians to consider in the digital age is the transition of physical formats to their digital counterparts and how the balance comes into play within their library based on users and the collection's need.
I do not think that you can pick just one of the criteria to be important over all of the rest as a title must be evaluated as a whole. However, if I had to distinguish one criterion that should be considered every time I would say the Authority of the resource is important. If a nonfiction book about Earthquakes was written by an author who lives in an area that never experiences Earthquakes and did not prepare by doing extensive research into scientific findings and eyewitness accounts all of a sudden tries to write a text about the experiences of surviving an Earthquake the book would need to be extensively reviewed and facts analyzed.
5. While a person who is truly invested in a particular topic or passion would have a hard time remaining objective it is critical that one does their best to not allow their own personal thoughts, feelings, or beliefs to impose on an objective review of the material. In the selection process, it is extremely important for the librarian to remain objective, because otherwise they could be potentially censoring certain types of materials even if not intentionally. This is why it is valuable for specific criteria to be established that allow for a non-biased approach to evaluating and analyzing the title.
6. In the article written by Guenther she builds off of the original criteria established by Katz on how to evaluate digital resources. She goes into great detail, but the primary focus is on the following topics:
"How well it fits"
"Product and content quality"
"Utilization"
"Formatting"
"Searchability"
"Product design"
"Access"
"Evaluating the vendor"
(Guenther, 2000).
When evaluating the vendor a user should consider assessing the manageability of the product and consider many aspects of the license agreement.
GUENTHER, K. (2000). Making smart licensing decisions. Computers in Libraries, 20(6), 58–60.
Collection Analysis, Acquisitions, & Budget:
What are the challenges for generating income to support library collections?
Oftentimes when looking at generating income using a book fair there are obvious benefits, but the challenges remain in the background. One of the challenges of book fairs and grant writings are that they are very time-consuming. Due to the fact that book fairs cannot be run by a lone librarian effectively, it is important to include PTA parent volunteers. Another challenge associated with book fairs as a way to generate funds is dependent on school enrollment and economic status. Schools that are large will generate a larger profit share versus those that have minimal enrollment numbers. The same can be said about economic status. Schools that are in more affluent regions will have students and parents with more funds at their disposal versus schools that have parents who struggle with paying their own bills.
What are some alternative sources of funding?
Aside from the state and campus provided funds, there are several options available for librarians as an alternative means of funding. While many of them are time-consuming gaining funds for the library is a valuable benefit. According to Mardis, "other means of obtaining he funs needed for a school library collection include fund-raising (sponsoring book fairs or read-a-thons), writing grants, and engaging in crowdfunding campaigns". Pg. 266.
What arguments would be most persuasive for budget reallocation in a school library?
Due to the library being an integral part of the campus some states do require a certain amount of money has to be dedicated to library resources based on student enrollment numbers, but often that amount is not enough for a year. When it comes to gaining additional campus funds the principal plays a major role in deciding how funds will end up being dispersed and are often associated with different departments all sharing their need for additional funds with justification. When trying to persuade a principal for more of the campus funds the librarian should "clearly communicate in writing the needs of the library, with well-documented costs of the resources that you think need to be purchased for the library". (Mardis, 2016, pg. 260). By being able to demonstrate a clear need for materials based on circulation data or data gained from the collection a librarian will be able to argue for money needed to fill the gaps in the collection.
What are the ethical considerations in the librarian-vendor-publisher relationship?
Ethical considerations in the librarian-vendor-publisher relationship are timeliness, honesty, availability, consistency. A jobber/wholesaler/distributor is what connects the school librarian to the materials put out by the publishers or producers in a way that can be beneficial to the librarian in many ways. Oftentimes using a "jobber" allows a librarian to have one source of contact for follow-up orders allowing a relationship to be able to be formed. However, if a "jobber" does not provide honest answers on costs of materials or on the timeliness of when the material will be back available when it has already been purchased then a librarian could potentially run into one of the many problems that could be encountered using one of these intermediaries. Another consideration as mentioned on page 129 of our text is standing order agreements. "A standing order is an agreement that is made to purchase all items that match certain terms, such as Caldecott Medal Award-winning books or materials on a particular subject." (Mardis, 2016). According to Mardis, all librarians inheriting a library previously managed by someone else need to ensure that the library does not have any standing order agreements already in effect. If so, they need to make sure that they understand what materials or subscriptions are already in place to be ordered.
In your response in conclusion (separate paragraph) address the following questions:
6. How will the increasing emphasis on access and electronic resources impact the use of evaluation methods?
On page 135 of our text, Mardis states that "integrating digital resources into a physical collection poses particular challenges for description... For digital resources, the resource is not a physical entity and it can [be] difficult to define a discrete beginning and end, and harder to accommodate for various uses". The librarian would have to determine how they are going to catalog the digital resource. Do they catalog the digital resource in its entirety or do they catalog the digital resource as separate catalog entries that break down all of the pieces contained within the one digital resource. The emphasis of adding digital resources to the collection will make an evaluation of the collection more abstract.
7. What are the significant research findings that can be considered when you plan to evaluate your library's collection?
As mentioned above when discussing a librarian's argument for additional funds, the librarian needs to be able to provide facts that they are basing their "need for funds" on. When a librarian evaluates their collection they understand where the shift of financial resources should be allocated, which programs need to be expanded and where the cutbacks should occur. Everhart and Curtis (2001) led a project to obtain library funding through the analysis of a school library collection. Their strategy focused on making connections between student achievement and access to quality information resources. (Mardis, 2016, pg. 170). Mardis also states that "the evaluation process can reveal answers to the following questions: Does the collection meet the users' needs? Is the collection integral to curricular and instructional needs? Does it provide access to materials from outside the school? Does it include formats that users prefer? Does it hinder or facilitate the library program? Is the collection responsive to changes in the school's program?". (pg. 170). The text provides 10 ways that the collection can be analyzed:
"collection percentages"
"copyright dates of the collection"
"average age of the collection"
"collection use"
"comparison of the collection to standard bibliographies"
"comparison of the collection to textbooks or periodical indexes"
"teacher requests"
"evaluation of a limited area"
"estimating update costs and benefits"
"comparison of information in various formats". (Mardis, 2016, pg. 170).
Those ten components are very important to consider when trying to determine how you are going to evaluate your collection and what data you are looking for.
8. Which particular evaluation method do you think will work best for you? Why?
I found that the vendor collection analysis services were an important part of the library when I was analyzing my library this week. Although I did not refer to the actual analysis that they provided until after I had completed my own analysis to compare I loved the availability of a variety of percentage data points that would allow for a librarian to easily identify where their library may have weaknesses. When creating my own analysis of the evaluation I think performing an age analysis, mapping the collection, and circulation studies are important because these are the three most important parts where collection-centered and user-oriented evaluation meet and allow a librarian to truly see key details about their library collection.
This was one of the most challenging courses of my coursework thus far. Cataloging and classifying requires the librarian to be methodical and selective in the information used. In this course I learned all about the different cataloging "languages" from AACR2 to Dewey to RDA and MARC. I dived deep into SEARS and LOC Subject Headings and had to navigate through "Authorized" headings. Even though this class was the biggest challenge I ultimately feel as if this is the class that I truly learned the most! I started at ground zero not even thinking about how a librarian catalogs and classifies to feeling prepared to use and efficiently catalog and classify in my own library someday. Being able to understand and write code through cataloging is a beneficial skill that will ultimately help me to be a librarian that can be knowledgeable about my future collection.
This course really allowed me to dive deep into the administration aspect of the library. Throughout the assignments and discussions of this course I was able to:
explore the function of a school library through both state and national educational lenses.
learn about the different administrative/management duties including; personnel, resources, facilities, and the budget.
identify the school librarian's role in collaborating with classroom teachers to provide insight into curriculum and instruction, instructional strategies, and implementing ISTE standards for the 21st century learners.
Study the effect of technology on instruction and administration of the school library.
Study the relationships between the school library and the campus, district, and community.
Recognize important issues that are currently affecting school library media centers.
Overall, I believe that this course allowed me to visualize and prepare for the backend that is often not necessarily seen by outsiders of the library. I enjoyed learning about the administration and management aspect of my future career.
Throughout the class, I learned many things that will be helpful to me not only as a future librarian, but as an educator, or educational technologist. Some of the things I learned in-depth about throughout this course include:
Blogs
YouTube
Social Bookmarking
Throughout this course we explored a long-standing debate that I had never heard of previously. The debate of Clark vs. Kozma about the necessity of technology within the classroom. Their ideologies seemed to span and come into play multiple times throughout the course. Additionally, we learned about:
Emerging Technologies: (hardware/software)
Educational Technology: (media selection)
Educational Technology: (media incorporation)
Teachers as instructional designers
Universal Design
Using the web for teaching and learning
We had several major assignments throughout this course. My group had a project over Vygotsky and covered in-depth the learning philosophy's of Vygotsky and constructivism.
We completed several Article reviews, and our final project tied together the learning philosophies with the emerging technologies we had been learning about.
This course really allowed me to explore the idea of technology in the classroom from a board or policy maker perspective. We utilized Cuban's book Oversold and Underused to explore how campuses continue to not use the technology in a meaningful way even though they have been provided the tools. I also enjoyed the emphasis on grant writing. We completed a purpose statement, proposal brief, and multimedia presentation over a grant topic of our choice.
This course was a very quick deep dive into the world of research. We learned about:
Qualitative and quantitative data
Purpose Statements
Formatting of Research Proposals
Evaluating Research Proposals
APA Formatting
One thing I really struggled with in this course was the switch over to APA formatting. Most of what we have done in all of my other courses utilized a different format approach. I was able to successfully utilize online style guides to complete my project evaluating the effectiveness of the "Bereavement and Leave Policy" research.