I can't imagine having limited space in the library as some of the people mentioned in their discussion posts. I would not have been able to make as many changes as I have this year with limited space. Tomorrow, I am ordering 30 brand new work stations to replace the 30 computers I have in my compuetr lab. I also need to order more cameras. Teachers and students are needing to borrow a lot of tech equipment for their assignments. I just bar coded two more Gateway Tablets for teacher signout today and two Sea Note laptops which include Kurzweil and Dragon Speak for our 1701 students. I have four LCD carts with VHS/DVD players that go out every day even though almost every teacher in our school has an LCD player in their room. I get called to classrooms to help set up or trouble shoot if needed. The two mobile labs also get signed out for every block.Furthermore, at least two and three classes sign up for the library each block. We have student drop-ins; our fiction and non-fiction has a high circulation rate. A library which has limited space just would not do for this amount of traffic.
Weeding
I have weeded over 1100 books this year. Last year, I went to the four closing Junior Secondary schools and selected resources for my library. Most of the selection included grade 8 material because we did not have any resources for that grade. I did choose a lot of material for the research projects that I remembered for thw grade 9 and 10s. Any doubles of the year 2000 and better, I sent to a secondary school in MacKenzie because they do not have a very big budget. I discarded a lot of books depending on the year of publication, such as dating, teen pregnancy, and surrogate motherhood--very outdated and which probably includes misinformation now. Books that were stained and in poor shape were discarded. Once the items are taken from the shelves, I do a double check to make sure that they are not getting used. I do this for books that will most likely be used for the history/ social studies' lessons. I do not get rid of that much literature either. I have not discarded very much fiction at all. We can call the DRC and get them to run a list of books that have not been signed out in the last five years (that will happen when I get time). One mistake I made at the beginning of the year was to discard videos from the 1980s and 1990s. The reason I say this was a mistake is because the teachers say that it is better to have something rather than nothing and even though the styles are outdated on the characters, the concepts are still the same. This is the next area that I will be working on to improve. I need to order more up-to-date DVDs for enhanced learning. I have also learned that teachers want to keep books around in case they want to use them, so it is not always entirely a good idea to ask for their input. Also, I know that it is important to have a replacement book before depleting a resource. For example, I was going to discard two very old books about beavers; however, I know that that topic is on the Environmental Education project, so I can't discard until I get something new.
I also like the way the library looks after a good weeding--all shiny and new.
Note about the course: I appreciated reading all the posts. I learned so much and I have many valuable Internet links. I wished I had taken this course sooner to help me with the organizational learning curve I went through last year. The activities were so relevant; I used the ideas as fast as I was learning them. Thank you Cathie for all your input in extending our knowledge. I enjoyed this class very much!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Lesson 12 - Organizing Online Resources - The School Library Homepage
A school library homepage is essential at our grade 8 - 12 secondary school. I use the library homepage to show students how to access the catalogue and the databases. I have links to the College of New Caledonia, the University of Northern BC, the Prince George public library, the BC Virtual Library, and the District Resource Centre. I have links to BibMe and Knight Cite, Copy Right Matters, and Plagiarism tutorials. These are all lessons that I use at various stages of the students' research. I also have links to YALSA, Teen Reads, Teen Space, and other teen sites. I also have a list of MUST Reads. After looking at a number of library web pages, I would like to add some book trailers, some teaching You Tube videos, and photos. I don't know how to add photographs yet. My web page is very simple; it is not cluttered. I added a little to it last year because it only had a few very basic links. I added more to it this year, but it is very time-consuming. It takes me awhile to remember how to add links and make changes. Our district has to follow a certain web page template. I don't think it is that interesting, but it is consistent for the whole district. Another area in which my library web page needs improvement is to provide the means for students who have a visual impairment or other challenges to use the web site.
The most important elements of an attractive, usable school library homepage is:
-simple, keeping the audience in mind
-few images as a lot of students have dial-up in the outlying area surrounding our school and do not want to wait for the images to download
-audio for print and visually impaired students
-do not rely on colour alone for students who are colour blind
-consistent design and navigation
-include photographs of events happening in the library
-consistent structure
-welcome page, library hours of operation, personnel, and mission statement
-OPAC link
-links to databases
-links to teaching and learning resources
-new resources
Reflection:
When students come to the library to do a research project, I have arranged a pattern with most teachers that the students will use books on the first day of research, databases on the second day, and the Internet on the third day. This works out well because I can show students how to use the basic skills that they need for research. The students access a variety of resources and develop their critical analysis skills. Students are taught about scholarly papers and web site evaluation, and suffixes of certain good web sites. Students are also taught to check the references on Wikipedia and back up the information they find on Wikipedia with other scholarly resources as Wikipedia is the first place most students go to when they begin their research. As one can see from my Assignment #2, digital access was a challenge when I started because we did not have the means to run many digital lessons. Since adding more computers to the lab, I can run more lessons, get more students and teachers into the labs providing access to many more students in the school. Since Blogging, Tweeting, Wikis, are becoming more popular, it would be fun to design lessons that incorporate the students expertise with social media and combine these lessons with researching digital resources.
One thing I find frustrating is when I show the students how to search the databases and then they cannot find their topic. Today, a student tried to use the Biography database to fine Mathew Bailie Begbie; he searched in EBSCO, as well. Luckily, I had some information photocopied and in folders from Canadian Biographies web site.
Another health related issue is coming up with setting up WiFi in the school. There are many articles saying that it is a health risk. This creates a dilemma because the students really want access to the computers, but at what cost?
The most important elements of an attractive, usable school library homepage is:
-simple, keeping the audience in mind
-few images as a lot of students have dial-up in the outlying area surrounding our school and do not want to wait for the images to download
-audio for print and visually impaired students
-do not rely on colour alone for students who are colour blind
-consistent design and navigation
-include photographs of events happening in the library
-consistent structure
-welcome page, library hours of operation, personnel, and mission statement
-OPAC link
-links to databases
-links to teaching and learning resources
-new resources
Reflection:
When students come to the library to do a research project, I have arranged a pattern with most teachers that the students will use books on the first day of research, databases on the second day, and the Internet on the third day. This works out well because I can show students how to use the basic skills that they need for research. The students access a variety of resources and develop their critical analysis skills. Students are taught about scholarly papers and web site evaluation, and suffixes of certain good web sites. Students are also taught to check the references on Wikipedia and back up the information they find on Wikipedia with other scholarly resources as Wikipedia is the first place most students go to when they begin their research. As one can see from my Assignment #2, digital access was a challenge when I started because we did not have the means to run many digital lessons. Since adding more computers to the lab, I can run more lessons, get more students and teachers into the labs providing access to many more students in the school. Since Blogging, Tweeting, Wikis, are becoming more popular, it would be fun to design lessons that incorporate the students expertise with social media and combine these lessons with researching digital resources.
One thing I find frustrating is when I show the students how to search the databases and then they cannot find their topic. Today, a student tried to use the Biography database to fine Mathew Bailie Begbie; he searched in EBSCO, as well. Luckily, I had some information photocopied and in folders from Canadian Biographies web site.
Another health related issue is coming up with setting up WiFi in the school. There are many articles saying that it is a health risk. This creates a dilemma because the students really want access to the computers, but at what cost?
Lesson 11 - The Library Catalogue
I find it amazing that the computerized cataloguing system has only been in effect for the last 10 - 20 years. In September, I gave the new grade 8 and grade 9 students a library orientation about how to access the library catalogue when they are doing research or looking for a certain book. I showed them the basic search; however, when the students come into the library throughout the semester for a research assignment, I remind students how to use the catalogue, and I also show them how to do a Power search (Boolean Logic). I explain the "F", "DVD", and Call numbers and then I show them with an example how to find the book on the shelf. The students can also see if the book is checked out or not. Students can click on View to see more of a description about a book. The catalogue system is very user friendly for students and teachers.
The Sirsi Dynix Work Flows system is more complicated. The teacher-librarian can see all the topics associated with a search, the publication dates, the authors, the Call numbers. The TL can click on the description tab to see if that particular book is applicable or not and can see if the book is checked out and who has it. The teacher-librarian can also check for a resource by author, subject, title, or for a particular resource, such as DVD for Kelly Road, and also for other schools in the district. When I first started in the library last year, I needed a little guidance to use this program for searching, signing out books, and discharging books. There is so much a TL can do with this program besides searching, signing out books, and returns. I do not know the full extent of everything I can do, but I am still learning.
I am amazed at how much information is in the Bellingham Public Schools Manual. The first year I started in the library at Kelly Road, there wasn't a policy manual or any written manual about how to run the library. This year, the library clerk brought one from her previous school and then, the other TL and I adapted it and changed it up to suit our library. Most of our policies, tasks, and information is included in there, so that if someone had to suddenly take over, they could. This binder worked well when our library clerk went on holidays for two weeks. Everything was explained clearly in this binder. I would like to further enhance this binder by putting it online and making it even more thorough like the manual for Bellingham. The area that needs the most up-dating for Kelly Road would be the curriculum connections. I am familiar with the research projects that come into the library each semester, such as the Planning 10 Health Research and Social Studies essay questions. One activity that I did differently as a result of taking this course is that I also made spreadsheets for each research topic and teacher with all the available sources for each assignment on it. A huge task at first, but it will save a lot of time in the long run. I love the Selection Sources page (Managing Our Library Collections for Information Power, page 27, 28, and 29 of 58) with a little description and the web site address; I will find this very helpful in selecting resources.
At Kelly Road, students may sign out as many books as they can carry in their packsack. We do not sign out Reference books overnight, but the student may take the book to the office and get a page photocopied (I tried to get a photocopier in the library this year, but it was not approved). Overdues seem to be a problem at our school, so I needed to find a way to reduce them. When a student comes to sign out a book or textbook, and they have an overdue, I ask them to go to their locker and get the overdue book before I will sign out another book. If the book is an overdue text, I will still give the student a novel, but not a text; if the overdue book is a novel, they may have a text, but not a novel. Students are issued bills at Term Reporting periods. Students either return the item or pay for the lost resource. If the resource turns up, the student is reimbursed. There are some exceptions if a parent complains because technically, we cannot withhold texts from students. However, we get a lot of returns this way and it teaches the students to be responsible for their books. I am setting up a draw with a gift certificate to the Mall as an incentive for students to hand in their books. The grade 12 prize will be more as once they leave the school, they do not normally come back to return books.
The Sirsi Dynix Work Flows system is more complicated. The teacher-librarian can see all the topics associated with a search, the publication dates, the authors, the Call numbers. The TL can click on the description tab to see if that particular book is applicable or not and can see if the book is checked out and who has it. The teacher-librarian can also check for a resource by author, subject, title, or for a particular resource, such as DVD for Kelly Road, and also for other schools in the district. When I first started in the library last year, I needed a little guidance to use this program for searching, signing out books, and discharging books. There is so much a TL can do with this program besides searching, signing out books, and returns. I do not know the full extent of everything I can do, but I am still learning.
I am amazed at how much information is in the Bellingham Public Schools Manual. The first year I started in the library at Kelly Road, there wasn't a policy manual or any written manual about how to run the library. This year, the library clerk brought one from her previous school and then, the other TL and I adapted it and changed it up to suit our library. Most of our policies, tasks, and information is included in there, so that if someone had to suddenly take over, they could. This binder worked well when our library clerk went on holidays for two weeks. Everything was explained clearly in this binder. I would like to further enhance this binder by putting it online and making it even more thorough like the manual for Bellingham. The area that needs the most up-dating for Kelly Road would be the curriculum connections. I am familiar with the research projects that come into the library each semester, such as the Planning 10 Health Research and Social Studies essay questions. One activity that I did differently as a result of taking this course is that I also made spreadsheets for each research topic and teacher with all the available sources for each assignment on it. A huge task at first, but it will save a lot of time in the long run. I love the Selection Sources page (Managing Our Library Collections for Information Power, page 27, 28, and 29 of 58) with a little description and the web site address; I will find this very helpful in selecting resources.
At Kelly Road, students may sign out as many books as they can carry in their packsack. We do not sign out Reference books overnight, but the student may take the book to the office and get a page photocopied (I tried to get a photocopier in the library this year, but it was not approved). Overdues seem to be a problem at our school, so I needed to find a way to reduce them. When a student comes to sign out a book or textbook, and they have an overdue, I ask them to go to their locker and get the overdue book before I will sign out another book. If the book is an overdue text, I will still give the student a novel, but not a text; if the overdue book is a novel, they may have a text, but not a novel. Students are issued bills at Term Reporting periods. Students either return the item or pay for the lost resource. If the resource turns up, the student is reimbursed. There are some exceptions if a parent complains because technically, we cannot withhold texts from students. However, we get a lot of returns this way and it teaches the students to be responsible for their books. I am setting up a draw with a gift certificate to the Mall as an incentive for students to hand in their books. The grade 12 prize will be more as once they leave the school, they do not normally come back to return books.
Lesson 10 - Other Sources of Cataloguing and Processing and Preparing
I am very appreciative to have a District Resource Centre that does all the cataloguing for us. The chapter 10 activity is an important one to show the teacher-librarian the time-consuming and detailed process that the DRC must go through to catalogue all material for the library. As I read the posts to the forum, I was also surprised how many districts do not have a DRC. I cannot imagine having to do this job as well as everything else a teacher-librarian must do. Since the DRC faces getting cut every year because of tight economic pressures, I am glad that I know how to get the information I need to catalogue resources and that it is important to provide as detailed and accurate record as possible using as much information and access points as one can. Also, I learned that cost versus time, which is also inadvertently cost through wages, to process resources. I have used Follet and United Library Services for purchases, but I have not had to obtain cataloguing information. If I had to do my own cataloguing, I would copy catalogue--check out the Vancouver or Prince George public libraries for records; if I couldn't find the record there, then I would use AMICUS, and Library of Congress. I would also add additional information pertaining to my school. Although this sounds very idealistic in theory for saving cost, from reading the posts, I see that it is actually very unrealistic to copy all of your own records.
My philosophy is to use the best and most efficient practise, so if I had to purchase some records, I would, but I would not purchase all of the records because it would be too costly.
OCLC offers a massive amount of services. I checked out a lot of links. I will definitely search through this site when I have a lot more time as it offers a lot of very useful information for new teacher-librarians in running a library programme.
Online Dictionary for Library and Inforamtion Science explains all the terms and access points that the teacher-librarian must use to catalogue resources. Every term is explained in full detail and offers more links. Any questions a teacher-librarian may have about running a library will be answered in this very thorough resource.
All repairs are done by the library clerk in my library; special tape and glue are used to get the most use out of a resource. If books are missing pages or too far gone, they are Discarded. Books that are still suitable to use and their covers are loose are sent to the Bindery in June.
We recently received a huge box of donated books. I have not had the time to check to see if they are all suitable for grades 8 - 12 yet. I started looking through them and noticed some adult material, so I need to check reviews and such. This is very time-consuming and I am not sure whether the effort and time will be worth it. The books are in good shape though, so if I get some time I will look at them--probably the last task I would take on.
I select sources from a variety of places. Our DRC wants us to use Baker and Taylor; however, I also buy from a local book store, Super Store, Costco, Chapters, and Shopper's Drug mart. I try to get the best possible price. Jobbers, such as Smart Apple Media and Copper Beach, phone me on a regular basis. I like to look at the book so I usually accept a box or two, check to see what we have in out selection, and check on the currency of our selection to see if it needs up-dating. Mostly, I find a lot of USA material, not entirely relevant to Canada; this is something you will not get in a review. Our DRC invites jobbers to provides a take-away sale where Smart Apple Media brings their books and sets them up at one location for all the schools to browse. One mistake I made is that I was not aware of this when I first started working in the library and I accepted two books of books to look at. There is a discount if you buy so many of the books; however, the display at the DRC offers a 25% discount, so it is better to go to the take-away display. The only problem I find with the take-away sale is that I cannot always remember if I ordered that book already or not. One solution is to write down the books that you are interested in, then, check on a computer to see what you have on the topic already and then come back and purchase the books.
When resources arrive at my library, they already have the accession number, bar code, Dewey Decimal number, and taping of the spine and/or jacket covers. Then, the library clerk checks the item off on a list as received, stamps the book with a Kelly Road Library stamp, and puts in the security strip. When I get the book, I check the resource in the catalogue for genre, I read the first few pages, a few middle pages, and the last couple of pages. I put the genre label on the book and if it is an award-winning book, I put an additional label on the book. Other additional labels I include are an aboriginal wheel, Canadian, Short Stories, and Holocaust. Once books are ready, we add the books to the New Books display which students see just after they enter the library. Once books have been on the display table for a while, then they are moved to the shelf, but are displayed front-facing on the shelf on a stand for an additional period of time. TOC volunteers, who offer their help during a Prep, move new books to the display table or front-face the books on the shelf. There is a lot that goes into the selection of a book until the book is actually in a student's hands.
As Diana Liao pointed out after reading School Library Journal that she has not always received the best deal for her money, I have made a few mistakes in that area myself. Again, another time-consuming task. After reading all the posts, I guess I will have to renew my Costco membership!
My philosophy is to use the best and most efficient practise, so if I had to purchase some records, I would, but I would not purchase all of the records because it would be too costly.
OCLC offers a massive amount of services. I checked out a lot of links. I will definitely search through this site when I have a lot more time as it offers a lot of very useful information for new teacher-librarians in running a library programme.
Online Dictionary for Library and Inforamtion Science explains all the terms and access points that the teacher-librarian must use to catalogue resources. Every term is explained in full detail and offers more links. Any questions a teacher-librarian may have about running a library will be answered in this very thorough resource.
All repairs are done by the library clerk in my library; special tape and glue are used to get the most use out of a resource. If books are missing pages or too far gone, they are Discarded. Books that are still suitable to use and their covers are loose are sent to the Bindery in June.
We recently received a huge box of donated books. I have not had the time to check to see if they are all suitable for grades 8 - 12 yet. I started looking through them and noticed some adult material, so I need to check reviews and such. This is very time-consuming and I am not sure whether the effort and time will be worth it. The books are in good shape though, so if I get some time I will look at them--probably the last task I would take on.
I select sources from a variety of places. Our DRC wants us to use Baker and Taylor; however, I also buy from a local book store, Super Store, Costco, Chapters, and Shopper's Drug mart. I try to get the best possible price. Jobbers, such as Smart Apple Media and Copper Beach, phone me on a regular basis. I like to look at the book so I usually accept a box or two, check to see what we have in out selection, and check on the currency of our selection to see if it needs up-dating. Mostly, I find a lot of USA material, not entirely relevant to Canada; this is something you will not get in a review. Our DRC invites jobbers to provides a take-away sale where Smart Apple Media brings their books and sets them up at one location for all the schools to browse. One mistake I made is that I was not aware of this when I first started working in the library and I accepted two books of books to look at. There is a discount if you buy so many of the books; however, the display at the DRC offers a 25% discount, so it is better to go to the take-away display. The only problem I find with the take-away sale is that I cannot always remember if I ordered that book already or not. One solution is to write down the books that you are interested in, then, check on a computer to see what you have on the topic already and then come back and purchase the books.
When resources arrive at my library, they already have the accession number, bar code, Dewey Decimal number, and taping of the spine and/or jacket covers. Then, the library clerk checks the item off on a list as received, stamps the book with a Kelly Road Library stamp, and puts in the security strip. When I get the book, I check the resource in the catalogue for genre, I read the first few pages, a few middle pages, and the last couple of pages. I put the genre label on the book and if it is an award-winning book, I put an additional label on the book. Other additional labels I include are an aboriginal wheel, Canadian, Short Stories, and Holocaust. Once books are ready, we add the books to the New Books display which students see just after they enter the library. Once books have been on the display table for a while, then they are moved to the shelf, but are displayed front-facing on the shelf on a stand for an additional period of time. TOC volunteers, who offer their help during a Prep, move new books to the display table or front-face the books on the shelf. There is a lot that goes into the selection of a book until the book is actually in a student's hands.
As Diana Liao pointed out after reading School Library Journal that she has not always received the best deal for her money, I have made a few mistakes in that area myself. Again, another time-consuming task. After reading all the posts, I guess I will have to renew my Costco membership!
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