A Stage 3 classroom teacher entered the library the other week, wanting to borrow a few junior non-fiction texts for a low-ability student. The class was conducting online research for a writing task and the teacher was complaining that the student “couldn’t even do a simple Google search” and thus, the books were the alternative. […]
Discussion Forum Posts
Discussion Forum Module 2.3 Activity – Concept Mapping of Principal and TL Leadership
For this concept mapping task, I felt the most appropriate leadership style for the principal to adopt would be distributed leadership. This style is about empowering other staff to lead for the benefit of the organisation. This is made possible by recognising the expertise of others (in this case, the teacher librarian) and by providing […]
Discussion Forum 2.2 – Critical Website Evaluation for Teachers
It is interesting to pause and reflect on the learnings from Module 2, in light of how I have previously evaluated websites and their usage for teaching and learning. I had been made aware of readability tools back in the Resourcing the Curriculum unit, to check appropriateness of websites for inclusion in the curation of […]
Discussion Forum Module 1 Activity – Finding a Resource Considering FRBR Five ‘User Tasks’
The purpose of this learning activity, I considered the goal of locating the prescribed subject textbook. This is a resource that I would be intending to keep and therefore be requiring to purchase as a physical copy. In attempting to find the textbook resource, I would utilise the (shortened) title (Information Resource Description) and author […]
Discussion Forum 1 – What Does Trust Look Like in a School?
The article I chose from the Diigo Teacher Librarian as Leader group that resonated with me was: What does Trust Look Like in a School? by Michelle Blanchet. Blanchet outlines 8 ways to show trust. They are: 1. Recognise excellence 2. Give meaningful challenges 3. Encourage autonomy 4. Let teachers pursue their passions 5. […]
Discussion Forum 1 – Dynamic Learning Spaces
Last year in my very first year as teacher librarian, I had the pretty unique opportunity to set up a library at a brand-new school – I did a blog post on my Thinkspace blog with before and after pictures and also some reflections on the process. The bulk of the furniture had already been […]
Discussion Forum 1 – The Need to Organise Information
Rowe (2022) specifies that an information resource is “something that contains information”, where information resource description is “the art of describing a resource” (Module 1). In the context of a school, resources include a whole range of physical items such as books and DVDs and also digital items such as ebooks or websites, for example. […]
Discussion Forum 7.1 – The Future of School Library Collections
The reality is that no one can predict what the future holds. Consequently, one must consider current and emerging trends to offer a degree of insight as to what the nature of school library collections might look like in the future. Reports which keep atop of latest trends and research include the EDUCAUSE New Horizon […]
Discussion Forum 6.2 – Censorship
There were many key takeaways from the readings on censorship in Module 6.2. What provided the deepest reflection were those on self-censorship. Self-censorship is where resources are not chosen for a collection, mostly predominantly due to the teacher librarian’s own personal bias and preference for exclusion, and/or for fear of the item being challenged (Dawkins, […]
Discussion Forum 6.1 – Next Step: Collection Development Policy
Creating a collection development policy (CDP) is next on the agenda for my new school library. Having been a part of the library’s creation and having an integral role in collection development right from the beginning, I can see how it is necessary to put the big ideas to paper. Whilst a CDP was a […]
Discussion Forum 5.1 – Methods of Collection Analysis
Johnson (2018) identifies a number of quantitative and qualitative methods that are useful for collection analysis, some of which I have undertaken my own primary school context. Others I have considered but have not had the opportunity to incorporate yet and a few more suggested would be useful to add to my repertoire. Simple resource […]
Discussion Forum 4.2 – Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a way for work to be licensed, whereby copyright ownership of material/work is maintained. Specification is given as to what attribution is required and how the material may be utilised. The following two examples have different requirements, which are indicated by the licence which is attached. The image below is licensed under […]
Discussion Forum 4.1 – Smartcopying
The Smartcopying website is a one-stop-shop when it comes to understanding copyright issues that are pertinent to schools. Schools are unable to ‘plead ignorance’ when it comes to breeches of copyright and must have a good understanding of guidelines across the board. Below is a common teacher and student question that often arises in my […]
Discussion Forum 3.2 – Preferred Suppliers
For me, choice of preferred suppliers comes down to cost and convenience. With particular reference to physical resources, I believe that having a few solid suppliers is ideal. For me, whilst I would prefer it to be the cheapest (so my budget will stretch further), it more so has to be price competitive. Because my […]
Discussion Forum 3.1 – Output Measures for Purchasing
Basing library budgets on output measures (such as borrowing statistics) is a strategy that has its flaws. Such data that is gleaned is only quantitative in measure and doesn’t offer any depth of analysis. For example, a book borrowed and taken home may not actually be read. Alternatively, a book may be read individually by […]
Discussion Forum 2.4(b) – Thoughts on Goodreads as a Selection Aid
I think that all review sites need to be taken with a grain of salt… Goodreads for example, is one such site that definitely has its value, but relying on it alone as a selection aid has its limitations. For my consideration, I looked at the reviews for Superworm, by Julia Donaldson. It is currently […]
Discussion Forum 2.4(a) – Trove as a Selection Aid
I used Trove as a selection aid to search for Stage 1 resources, for a unit of work on minibeasts. I found that it was largely unsuccessful, with a few unfitting newspaper articles and images that were unavailable. Changing my key word search in this instance to insects proved only slightly more successful. But once […]
Discussion Forum 2.2 – Standing Order Services
Regarding the productive use of a Standing Order service for new book acquisition depends on a number of factors specific to the school library. For example, it my own brand-new school library (6 months old), with a new book count of approximately 2,300 books (aiming to reach upwards of 17k within the next few years), […]
Discussion Forum 1 – IFLA Definition
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in their IFLA School Library Guidelines (2015) prescribes that school libraries need to provide a wide and varied range of resources, both physical and digital in nature, which is suitable for and reflective of the demographics of the school community. They advise that collections be regularly […]
Discussion Forum 6.1 – Influential Teachers and Self-Reflection
Influential teachers have developed good relationships with other members of staff. This is often established through meaningful and genuine conversations, shows of respect towards others, willingness to offer help and support, as well as refined leadership skills that seek to allow others to grow and flourish in their own right, without themselves feeling ‘threatened’. These […]