January 2019 – Services for Children and Youth

January 28, 2019January 24, 2022

Speaking to a Librarian About Diversity in Children Programs

Description

For this post, I interviewed Lindy Allan the Library Service and Collection Coordinator, who is currently in charge of children services at Macquarie Regional Library in NSW. Through virtual correspondence, Lindy discussed current children programs, steps they take to include diversity as well as problems they face due to lack of funding and limited staff.

What did you learn?

Due to a lack of resources and limited staff, regional libraries have difficulties meeting the needs of the culturally diverse backgrounds and specials needs of their communities (L. Allan, personal communication, January 13, 2019). Regional libraries only offer a small number of non-English, resources and having little or no equipment on site for special needs. Larger libraries such as the State Libraries are aware of the difficulties regional libraries face and offer assistance when possible (State Library of NSW, 2017, pp. 8-14). This means that the libraries have to rely on the larger libraries, school libraries and community help centres to borrow resources and equipment when the need arise which leaves clients having to wait (L. Allan, personal communication, January 13, 2019). Unfortunately, along with the lack of resources, none of the current children programs encouraged or targeted those with culturally diverse backgrounds or with special needs (Macquarie Regional Library, 2018). State Library of NSW released a report which highlighted the significance of having targeted promotions and service aimed at those of diverse background and needs (State Library of NSW, 2017, p. 7).

https://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-talk-to-your-child-about-race-ages-5-to-8_3657097.bc

How was the activity relevant to your professional practice working with children and/or young adults?

It is the role of a public library “to provide free membership and free access to its range of services and resources which are provided to all members of the community” (Australian Library and Information Association, 2012). This included any children with special needs and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and it is the role of the librarian provide support and assistance to ensure they can access the information and resource provided. By working closely with the community, council and other libraries, to prioritise resources, with immediate purchases and resource that can be borrowed from other institutes on a need basis. Having understood the communities needs and resource available allows librarians to provide the best possible assistance when need to all clients.

What gaps in your knowledge were revealed and how might you fill those gaps?

I was not aware of the growing large number of diverse backgrounds in Dubbo, with India, Philippines and Nepal being the three largest of the non-English countries of migrant (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Through researching the last couple of Dubbo census (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016) and local newspapers (Rayner, 2017), I was able to see the increase in diversity in Dubbo’s population with a large percentage of migrants moving to Dubbo being families. I was surprised to find that Macquarie Regional Library also suffered from a lack of data being collected regarding their children programs and diversity in the library, with Lindy only able to give me her rough estimates, with no record currently being recorded (personal communication, January 13, 2019). Without proper data, it becomes difficult to identify an issue and to create a plan to deal with it. This means a section of the regional community is not able to access the information they need or aware of services provided for them.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1078280/Children-s-library-books-vanishing-from-shelves

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). 2016 census quickstats. Retrieved from
http://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SED10026

Australian Library and Information Association. (2012). Standards and guidelines for
Australian public libraries. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/advocacy/PLSG_ALIA_2012.pdf

Macquarie Regional Library. (2018). Something for kids. Retrieved from
http://www.mrl.nsw.gov.au/programs-and-events/something-for-kids

Rayner, M. (2017, June 28). Dubbo becoming more culturally diverse according to ABS
statistics. Daily Liberal. Retrieved from https://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/4758631/city-has-a-more-diverse-culture/

State Library of NSW. (2017). Multicultural library services in NSW public libraries 2017.
Retrieved from http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/multiculturallibraryservices_nsw_2017.pdf

January 28, 2019

Leanring How to Create a Blog

https://neilpatel.com/blog/lessons-learned-popular-blogs/

Description

To create the blog posts needed for INF330 I needed to learn how to use the tool, CSU Thinkspace. I first began looking at others blog post this included popular ones found in google, local libraries and other students. Looking for patterns and similarity, while also comparing the difference between new and professional bloggers. Once I had a theme and design in mind, I then visited the How To page of CSU Thinkspace and followed the tutorials and tips and created my blog INF330.

What did you learn?

Blogs began in the mid-1990’s with the term blog making its first appearance in 1995 (Wilde, 2007, pp. 401-403). With blogs being the first movement of average web users creating their own content, which makes blogs the first step to social media today (Wilde, 2007, p. 401). As an only occasional Facebook user, blogging was utterly new to me, but with the easy to follow Thinkspace tutorials I was able to create a basic blog. These tutorials guided me through the whole process of learning the settings, to choosing a theme and adding visuals (CSU Thinkspace, n.d.). I also watched Judy O’Connell’s (2014) YouTube video which taught me the importance of organising a blog and how to use categories and tags. An organised blog will make it easier in the future to locate a previous post.

How was the activity relevant to your professional practice working with children and/or young adults?

In today’s technology-driven world, social media and online tools are the primary way to collaborate and communicate (Salim & Mohammed, 2017, p. 22). Blogs can be a powerful tool for libraries to be used in marketing, to establish a flow of information and to connect to their patrons (Oguz & Holt, 2010, p. 174). Blogs allow librarians to engage in discussion with their user, but also allow users to engage with each other (Oguz & Holt, 2010, p. 174). Blogs are also a popular tool in school libraries, being used by teachers and student in class and assessments (Salim & Mohammed, 2017, p. 22). Blogs provide a different way to deliver information and feedback to students, while also creating a digital achieve of information that students can update or build on continually and access in the future (Salim & Mohammed, 2017, p. 35).

http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/

What gaps in your knowledge were revealed and how might you fill those gaps?

While learning how to create a blog, I also researched how a library measures a blog success find one of the main ways being comment and discussions. With commenting and discussion being a vital part of a blog’s success, spam comments can be highly damaging (Oguz & Holt, 2010, pp. 174-175). Spam comments usually provide links to websites or unrelated text, with contents usually considered offensive (Oguz & Holt, 2010, pp. 174). The main target for blogs is teens aged 12-17 yrs, making spam comments dangerous and damaging to a library reputation (Oguz & Holt, 2010, pp. 175). Though I was aware that spam existed as an adult, I know what to look out for and how best to avoid it, a child or teen lacks the same knowledge and experience needed to properly avoid spam. There are many options to help prevent spam, these options generally in some way affect patron comments and using these prevention methods may discourage user to comments (Oguz & Holt, 2010, pp. 175-176). The battle to protect young blog user from offensive spam is a continuing battle, to understand more of this battle I also research some of the prevention methods (Oguz & Holt, 2010, pp. 175-177).

https://thenextweb.com/insider/2018/02/06/the-worst-idea-of-2018-so-far-is-this-email-spam-as-a-service-company/

References

CSU Thinkspace. (n.d.). Getting started. Retrieved from http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/getting-started/

O’Connell, J. (2014, March 15). Managing your subjects in csu thinkspace (video file). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sslCiaLfoA

Oguz, F., & Holt, M. (2011). Library blogs and user participation: A survey about comment spam in library blogs. Library Hi Tech, 29(1), 173-188. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1108/07378831111116994

Salim Said, A. K., & Mohammed, N. A. (2017). Utilizing blogs within library and information science curriculum: A case study of the department of information studies, oman. International Research : Journal of Library and Information Science, 7(1) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1923720004?accountid=10344

Wilde, E. (2008). Deconstructing blogs. Online Information Review, 32(3), 401-414.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1108/14684520810889691

January 28, 2019January 28, 2019

Self-Censorship and Censorship in Libraries

selfcensorshipandlibraryhistory.weebly.com/self-censorship.html

Description

This post is about censorship in libraries and the librarian’s role in partaking or preventing it. This is explored through analyse of Libraries, censors and self-censorship by Cora Moelledick a peer-reviewed journal article. The article begins by providing background with the history of censorship in public libraries in America, before going on to explain librarian role in censorship throughout history and how that changes to adapt with the times and public opinions. Moelledick showcases the views and reasoning of those affected by censorship on both sides, this includes authors, journalist, publishers, librarians and pro-organisations. Summarising that censorship is driven by fear and in the end, everyone is doing what they believe to be right to protect the children and the libraries.

What did you learn?

While reading this article, I was surprised to learn how much the fear of public opinion dictated a library, its collection and what role a librarian played in censorship. In the 18th to early 20th century when reading was considered frivolous and public libraries a waste of resources, librarians were leaders in censorships removing any books they fear harmful to young minds (Moelledick, 2009, p. 69). After WWI public views on the freedom of speech and censorship changed with librarians taking on the role of protecting the people’s right to information, with documents like the Library Bill of Rights supporting them (Moelledick, 2009, pp. 69-70). Though librarians should still be in the role of protecting against censorship, due to fear from the public made easier through social media and the internet there has been a rise in self-censorship (Moelledick, 2009, p. 72). Self-censorship is defined by “libraries and librarians attempting to avoid censorship battles with the general public or with organisations wishing to control what reading materials are available (O’Donnell, n.d.)

https://www.ladailypost.com/content/true-stories-library-censorship-battles

How was the activity relevant to your professional practice working with children and/or young adults?

Censorship has always been a major issue in public libraries and is mostly targeted at children and youth. Censorship in libraries is closely linked to intellectual freedoms attacks from parents or concerned citizens (American Library Association, 2017). They believe that they are protecting children; however, ALA believes in ensuring censorship does not occur is protecting children and their rights (American Library Association, 2017). Self-censorship is most common in school libraries and is difficult to fight because it can be an unconscious bias and be invisible in nature (O’Donnell, n.d.). It is crucial that a librarian is always aware of self-censorship and not to influence by fear of public opinion. ALA offers self-censorship guidelines and checklist that can be used when making material selections to help limit unconscious censorships (American Library Association, 2017). Librarians were once head censors, with the support of organisations like ALA and freedom document, they then became leaders in protecting against censorship, now with boards, organisations and social media librarian are slipping back into censorship roles (Moelledick, 2009, p. 73). Librarians must continually stay self-aware so to not show bias, but also support each other and be aware that their organisation like ALA provide guidance and support.

What gaps in your knowledge were revealed and how might you fill those gaps?

Before reading the article, I was not aware that self-censorship existed and how proficient it is today. Self-censorship can include allocating books meant for younger readers to the adult’s section, showing bias or placing a book out of direct view of the public e.g. behind the desk (O’Donnell, n.d.) American Library Association also considered labelling as a type of censorship (Antell & Strothmann, 2012, p. 90). It can also be difficult to tell what self-censorship is and what is simply selection, I did find that there were areas were lines became blurred especially because the librarians themselves might be unconsciously censoring materials. Through further investigation I built a more clear understanding of self-censorship and being aware that it is there is part of the battle, I hope by being aware and having access to documents to assist me that I do not partake in self-censorship.

Reference

American Library Association. (2017). First amendment and censorship. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship

Antell, K. & Stothmann, M. (2012). Does labelling children’s book constitute censorship.
Reference & User Quarterly, 52(2), 90-92. doi: 10.5860/rusq.52n2.90

Moellendick, C. M. (2009). Libraries, censors and self-censorship. PNLA Quarterly, 73(4),
68-76. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=43256203&site=ehost-live

O’Donnell, S. (n.d.). Self-censorship. Retrieved from
http://selfcensorshipandlibraryhistory.weebly.com/self-censorship.html