My final subject begins and I am feeling quite overwhelmed! Learning about research appears to be a huge subject but I do think it will be interesting. Over the course of this degree, I have had to read many articles, so to look into how they are written and their purpose may give further insight and understanding.

As part of the discussion post we were asked to write our understanding of three words:

Research refers to the process of gathering information.

A paradigm is a collection of beliefs or perspectives on the world.

Methodology serves as the framework that directs the research.

There are so many new words that I have to get my head around, which is why it is so overwhelming! But the light is at the end of the tunnel as I near completion of my teacher librarianship degree and head to the book corner!

My Knowledge of Children’s Literature 

Children’s Literature comes in a range of topics and formats. 

• Picture Books like my favourite Pig the Pug. These may also include books with no words like Jennie Baker’s Window. 
• Novels from lower Primary to Senior Fiction. Ones like Billie B Brown, Hey Jack, Ella Diaries, Ella at Eden, The Baxters Kids by Karen Kingsbury, 39 Clues. Wish by Scholastic has some good fiction for tweens. 
• Graphic Novels like the Wings of Fire Series and there are certainly others that my youngest daughter has an interest in. 

Increasing my Professional Knowledge

• Looking up websites such as the CBCA for the latest books that have been nominated for awards. 
• Being more involved with the library and the standing orders that arrive for our perusal and purchase. 
• Using the Goodreads website

During this module, there appears to be resources available in order to ensure the library is organised and this in part is essential to the library running well. 

The process of cataloging was interesting. Many years ago, when I was working in the library I was shown and particularly enjoyed putting new books into the system. To now see the background information and the how and why we catalogue gives further understanding of the process. 

Investigating the website Trove, I was impressed with the presentation of the search results. I searched the topic ‘family’ and all the results are grouped into their categories, which in turn makes it easier to find what you might be looking for in comparison to Google, which just lists all the results in order. 

I would like to look further into how our school organises digital content. Our current TL only deals with the primary students but how do the secondary students and teachers use and organise this content. Are they left to their own devices, or does each cohort share and organise together? 

It is only Week 4 and I am certainly feeling a little overwhelmed and out of my comfort zone with regards to all this new information. Hopefully this will change and make more sense when I can put what I am learning into practice.