Category Archives: Module Reflections

metadata management in public libraries

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Today was my first day on prac in a public library in regional NSW. I spent the day getting acquainted with the space and the staff involved. Today I mostly worked the circulation desk, doing tasks not unlike those I do everyday as a teacher librarian – running the front of house. Over the day, there were no reference or readers advisory enquires, but there were a great many “do you have…” and “How do I print?”. The LMS seems very unfriendly, antiquated and difficult to use. I did learn of a great tool: Fantastic Fiction – a selection and readers advisory tool that I think could be an extremely useful tool in a school library, though I think it will take some investigation to work out how to limit its suggestions to children’s literature. One of the goals I had right at the beginning of my studies was about how to recommend texts and undertake readers’ advisory, especially being unfamiliar with the collection and with adult fiction more broadly. Children’s fiction I am getting a better handle on, but adults are another beast altogether.

I had an interesting conversation with the library tech today. She was creating a lot of new catalogue records as the library is opening a new branch and all of the items have to be sourced, processed and catalogued. She was working from a purchase list and writing the catalogue records manually, using details found on the Libraries Australia website. Despite being able to download the MARC record using the z cataloging feature of the LMS, she insisted it was faster to do them manually as too many details would need to be deleted. Some of the things she would delete was all but one of the subject headings, any alternative titles and the series statement. I asked her why she deleted this metadata as it seemed it would make for an easier discovery process using the library catalogue. I still don’t understand why you would want to limit discoverability, especially the series statement in the fiction collection (or the non-fiction collection, come to that). I can understand why you would want to identify just one genre term that best describes the work, as it would allow you to label it with a genre sticker and make it easy for patrons to visually identify a book they might like to read. The library tech was quite insistent that the other data was unnecessary and would only make the catalogue more complicated than people could handle. Having spent a good amount of time recently doing searches of my own library’s catalogue in order to create some resource guides and class collections on specific topics, I have been very glad of having the level of detail available that I do from the SCIS records. I can see that not everyone would need to use all of the data all of the time, but it doesn’t hurt, surely? And it might help sometimes. I will broach this subject with her again in a few days to see whether I have misunderstood.  An example is that this same tech asked me to pull some resources for a display about winter. As each catalogue record had been deliberately limited to one subject heading for each resource in the fiction collection and two in the non-fiction, I was not able to run a complete search to find possible resources. The fiction collection mostly had the subject heading “Australian Fiction” which doesn’t really describe what the book is about at all. How does this help with resource discovery?

Learning Objects

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Learning objects are reusable items, often, though not essentially, digital, that support technology-enriched learning. Today I have viewed a number of learning objects available through ESA . The first thing I noticed was the number of resources that were unavailable, moved or no longer supported. Of the first 8 resources I attempted to look at, 7 were no longer available. This was very disappointing and served to underline the importance of keeping resources updated, checking the live status of links on a regular basis and ensuring that bookmarks are regularly reviewed. It would be easy for a school library patron to discredit the library as an out-of-date, irrelevant institution if resources promised can not be delivered on such a regular basis. Regular maintenance of such repositories would have a three pronged impact: ensuring links are current and active, locating and potentially adding (or removing) new titles to ensure all learning areas are addressed, and promoting teacher librarian familiarity with the digital catalogue, allowing them to assist members of the school community to identify and locate resources at point of need.

Despite my initial lack of success, I did not give up. I looked for resources to support areas of the HSIE curriculum, looking at the places strand in the geography syllabus. For Early stage 1, I found a unit of work from The State Library of NSW: People live in places. Important places – Homes which is a mini unit of work based around a collection of photographs of homes in Australia during different time periods. Students learn about features of homes and how they have changed and stayed the same over time and consider how we look after homes. The inclusion of teachers’ notes along with all resources needed makes this a simple but effective activity for Kindergarten. Teachers can direct students’ attention to the fact that the State Library is a reliable source and discuss the value of photographs as primary sources. The inclusion of metadata with each item allows both class teachers and teacher librarians to attribute ownership and show students why it is important to do so.

Next I looked at Aboriginal understandings of weather and seasons. This interactive map shows the various traditions and beliefs from different areas of Australia. This is an interesting resource for year 1 as it combines understandings from both the Science and Geography syllabuses and makes clear the differences between the First Nations peoples. However, it is quite text heavy and would require teacher assistance to be useful for this age group. It would be interesting to pair with a study of Cooee Mittigar by Jasmine Seymour and Leanne Mulgo Watson.

Following on that theme for stage 2, I searched for a learning object for stage 2 about significant places in Australia. This site, https://storyspheres.com/uluru/​ takes viewers on a virtual tour of Uluru. At each place of interest, a recording of Aboriginal elders explaining the significance of what can be seen is available. The site is quite graphics and sound heavy and so is a little slow to load, however, it is a rich source of information gathered from a primary source and is accessible to all students due to its highly visual and auditory nature. This site is useful from a digital literacy perspective because the options available to the user do not become apparent unless the look for them. They need to use the 3D interface to notice details and look over the whole landscape before choosing where to go or what to listen to. The provides opportunities for discussion around examining all parts of a source rather than jumping in a focusing only on the obvious.

The final learning object I found for stage 3 involves comparing how people live in various parts of the world. Dollar Street allows users to compare the daily lives and activities of families from all over the world in all income brackets. Students in stage 3 can learn about ways in which they are similar and different to people all over the world, but also identify poverty as a significant issue in the well-being of people. This could be a very good resource to use in the initial stages of an inquiry unit and presents opportunities to look at how the families were selected, who is represented and, importantly, who is not represented. This video (Ted, 2018, January), a Ted talk by the creator explains it very well.

Ted. (2018, January). Anna Rosling Ronnllund: See how the rest of the world lives, organized by income

. YouTube. https://youtu.be/u4L130DkdOw

Learning so far

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ETL501 has so far been a very interesting subject. I am, by now, used to the online learning model and I appreciate the advantages that it has over face-to-face learning. I can access the content at a time that suits my other commitments. I have all the content logically laid out and collected in one place. I can read the thoughts of others, including the instructor, on the content in the discussion forum, though, I can not easily or quickly get them to expand on, deepen or explain their ideas to explore further. On the other hand, the comments that are left are usually carefully considered and articulated clearly, the exploration taken up by those further down the thread.

I had not considered when I started this subject that the content would be so interrelated as it is. I expected that the physical environment and the online environment would be quite separate topics but in fact I have come to see the connecting threads: resources, whether physical or digital, must be fit for purpose. The purpose behind the resource/object/item/choice must be the driving factor. That is, that the teacher librarian must have an idea in mind of the learning they wish to take place and select the appropriate tool for the job. A physical library that looks amazing and colourful and exciting and innovative is of absolutely no use to anyone if the students can not learn there. If it is too noisy, too distracting, too uncomfortable, students will not engage. Group collaborations happen much more readily in informal seating arrangements than in rows in a lecture hall. Similarly, the teacher librarian must select digital tools to use that match the purpose and audience of the lesson. Students must be taught how to use and interact with the resources (physical or digital) to their advantage, develop their lifelong learning skills by learning to select the appropriate tool for the job.

The flipped classroom is a concept many teachers are becoming intimately acquainted with during home learning in 2021. Classes have been forced online and teachers and students both have had to learn quickly how to use the available tools. There have been some stumbling blocks that very few predicted in terms of equity of access even in affluent areas. Motivation in an online environment has been very difficult for some students (and some teachers, no doubt). A key feature of my own kids’ experience is that their lack of literacy (they are 4 and 6) prevents their accessing much of the content their teachers provide and so they have needed almost constant guidance and assistance. I have observed online classes in several grades and several different teachers in two different schools and a clear observation is that those teachers who have taken the time to teach the students how to use the tools and technology (both practically and in terms of etiquette) have had a more successful outcome. Presenting content in a 5 minute video and then following up in a Zoom class (a flipped classroom model as described by Teachings in Education (2017) and Earp (2016)) seems an effective strategy for these students. Yet there is still a group of students who do not engage at all. For some, time outside the classroom is not for school work. There are other commitments they attend to even in non-covid times. One of the considerations for implementing a flipped classroom that teachers and teacher librarians alike need to consider is whether it is likely the target student audience will or should engage outside of class time.

When thinking about providing library services, it seems to me that teacher librarians should keep the above in mind. Some students will want to engage in learning and need access to resources outside of when they are actually in the library. Some will not. Some will be able to read and learn from a screen. Others prefer print copies. Providing a mixture of both approaches allows the teacher librarian to meet the learning needs of students in both situations. Similarly, in order for students to be able to access resources and learning from the library program, teacher librarians must teach them how to access, use and apply the available tools.

Earp, J. (2016, February 3). Homework culture key to flipped learning success. Teacher. https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/homework-culture-key-to-flipped-learning-success

Teachings in Education. (2017, June 20). Flipped classroom model: Why, how and overview [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/BCIxikOq73Q

Blogs in the Library

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This week’s module task ask me to think how a blog could be used in the school library. There are the obvious ideas that spring immediately to mind: a journal of book recommendations and reviews, possibly of new titles into the library. Perhaps reflections on class activities, students could jointly construct posts about the target information literacy concept from the day’s lesson. Students could contribute content on reading recommendations, polls about whether the content on a particular site is reliable or suitable for academic work. Articles could promote upcoming events in the library or the school more widely. Posts about transferable academic skills, such debating, referencing, writing skills etc, could assist students and families at certain times but would need to be searchable and set in categories so students can find what they need asynchronously.

One of the ideas suggested by Morris (February 11, 2020) is to use the school blog as a way to engage families and the wider school community. Offering updates about programs running in the school, school events, tips to help at home, parenting information and so on, schools can encourage families to be involved in the life and education offered at the school. Morris goes on to suggest that a class blog can be used as an organisational agenda for the school day. I have used one in kindergarten in this way where, at the end of lessons, the students and I would jointly construct a report for parents about what we learned, incorporating the WALT statements and photographs or videos showing how they met the success criteria. This acted not only to engage the parents, but also to solidify and reflect on learning for the students. It does take time, but was a good way to teach students about interacting appropriately in an online environment.

 

An important consideration with any project being undertaken in the library or classroom is an analysis of the benefit against the amount of work involved in maintaining it. Creating an maintaining an online presence as described above is an important part of the role of the TL, but it is not without a time commitment. Students can be recruited to help, especially older students, but they need training and supervision also. This time needs to be factored in to the workflow of the library team.

 

Morris, K. ( 2020, February 11). The top 10 ways blogs and WordPress are used in schools. The Edublogger. https://www.theedublogger.com/blogs-wordpress-schools/ 

Selecting format: hardcopy or ebook

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Myrberg and Wiberg (2015) suggest that ebooks and print books both have advantages and disadvantages depending on the task, the preferences of the user and the technology used to access them. They suggest that readers who prefer print books, once they get used to ebooks, use them just as efficiently, but also suggest that ebooks that are born digital – ie were designed for electronic use and take advantage of the various tools such as integrated dictionaries, placing questions next to the relevant parts of the text etc, are superior to ebooks that have been converted from print to digital media with minimal changes or utilisation of the ereader’s facilities. Meanwhile, Du Temple (2020) suggests that some of the key advantages of ebooks are the anonymity of the reader – they can be accessed privately without peers or teachers knowing what has been selected – and their accessibility – they can be accessed at any time of the day or night and in almost any location. This, she argues means that teens, particularly, are more likely to explore and seek help for social-emotional or mental health issues they may be dealing with. Gray (2017) raises issues around equity of access – ebooks are only available to students whose families can afford to buy them an ereader or tablet/phone. He also discusses the problem of cross-platform access – some resources are only available on certain devices. This problem has largely been solved by apps such as Libby which allow readers to access materials from subscribed libraries regardless of the platform they use.  There are also issues around whether the library is spending its limited budget acquiring titles permanently in the collection, or just providing access for a time. What happens if that access is no longer able to be included in the annual budget?

What, then, are the implications for my primary school library? Currently my library does not provide access to any ebooks or audiobooks at all. Should they be added to the collection and in what form? I believe that both hard and softcopies are useful to different people in different ways and the ideal scenario would see all titles available in both formats. Of course, budgets do not allow for this. Perhaps this is an opportunity for student-led selection. I don’t believe that there will ever be an excuse to do away entirely with the print collection, however, I do think that ebooks could play an important part in areas of the collection that are quickly outdated such as technology, international politics and scientific advancements. Many reference materials might be included in the electronic collection, some, such as encyclopedias, in place of print copies and some, such as dictionaries and thesauruses, in addition to it. This is always assuming that the teacher librarian has included in the selection criteria for the digital materials the frequency of update available for the ebook and the pattern this takes. If a digital book automatically provides access to the most recent update when accessed by a student, this is ideal. If on the otherhand, a digital file must be checked regularly for updates and these downloaded individually, this needs to be factored in to the library staff workflow and is, from a practical perspective, unlikely to be possible.

One must consider whether it is necessary or desirable for fiction and non-fiction, and indeed junior fiction titles to be included in the digital collection. Many junior students at our school do not have the technology skills to access ebooks readily, but many older students seem much happier to read fiction than non-fiction in electronic format. I suspect that this is because linear reading styles typical of fiction books are more easily navigated on an ereader than the dip in and out style of non-fiction texts.

Another spanner in the works is the recent extraordinary times we find ourselves in. During lockdown for the Covid-19 pandemic, students are not able to access any of our library titles. If they were available in a digital collection, at least they could get some use out of them. As it is, though, the print collection sits on shelves in a deserted building, gathering dust.

 

Du Temple, T, (2020). The positive potential of ebooks within school libraries. SCIS Connections, (113). https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-113/the-positive-potential-of-ebooks-within-school-libraries
Gray, M. (2017). Ebooks: To subscribe, or not to subscribe? SCIS Connections (101). https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-101/ebooks-to-subscribe-or-not-to-subscribe
Myrberg, C., & Wiberg, N. (2015). Screen vs. paper: what is the difference for reading and learning?. Insights, 28(2), 49–54. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.236

Website evaluation tools

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Tonight I read a number of articles in Module 2.3 about teaching students and teachers the importance of and the skills of website evaluation. A number of models were presented, including Shrock’s (2009) 5Ws, Duke’s (2016) WWWDOT test, and the CRAP test, presented by Pru Mitchell (2017). I found the 5Ws to be a comprehensive guide that covers all the necessary elements, but I fear that the mnemonic may not be as memorable as one might wish in this context, after all who, what, where, when, how and why are used in other contexts too, possibly leading to confusion for younger students. The CRAP test I have found is quite memorable for my students. The WWWDOT method I had not read about before. I do not find this an easy model to use or mnemonic to remember. Duke (2016) relates that only a small percentage of students in her study were able to independently implement this test and I can see why.

The models presented above all cover roughly the same ground, just using slightly different language. It is up to the teacher librarian to select which model is most memorable and impactful for their particular cohort of students. Oddone (2016), on the other hand, presents some online tools that were completely new to me. These are tools I do not think are usually necessary for primary aged students, but would be very useful to high school and university students and the population at large. They are tools that I want to remember and return to at another time for further investigation and I highly recommend this article for other teacher librarians.

 

Duke, N. K. (2016). Evaluating websites as information sources. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/evaluating-websites-as-information-sources-nell-k-duke
Mitchell, P. (2017, January 15). Critical thinking tool – the CRAP test. Teacher. https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/critical-thinking-tools-the-crap-test
Oddone, K. (2016).  Information and critical literacy on the web. SCIS Connections, (96). https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-96/information-and-critical-literacy-on-the-web
Schrock. K. (2009). The 5W’s of website evaluation. http://www.schrockguide.net/uploads/3/9/2/2/392267/5ws.pdf

Website Evaluation Criteria

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Evaluating the quality of information presented on a website is a skill targeted by teacher librarians in their information literacy programs, starting from the early years. As students develop the ability to distinguish between fact and fiction, begin to be able to identify the purpose of an article and learn to find and use information, it becomes increasingly important that they learn to evaluate the content they encounter. In a primary school setting, teacher librarians need a model for evaluation of content that is simple enough for students to remember and implement, but also effective. Below are some thoughts on what such a model could look like.

 

C Current/complete Is the date of publication shown? (not just today’s date)
Is the date recent?
Have big changes happened since the article was written?
Does the article show the whole picture?
L Language Is there emotive language?
Is there exaggeration or sweeping statements?
Is technical language used to help or hinder?
A Author Is the author identified?
Is the publisher identified?
Is the sponsor identified?
Can you contact the author for clarification?
P Proof Are facts backed up with trusted sources?
Are claims supported by evidence?
Are other perspectives acknowledged?
Do other articles agree or disagree?
Are further readings linked?
Do other trusted sources link to this article?
Do links work?

 

Technical criteria

In addition to criteria considered by students in evaluating online content, there are technical considerations for teacher librarians looking to recommend online resources to the school community. Teacher librarians should consider accessibility requirements as well as layout, usability, relevance to the curriculum, reading and cognitive level, balance between text and images and appropriateness to the context.

However, some technical aspects such as downloading speed, avoidance of Flash, responsiveness, adaptability to different browsers, whether information is held behind paywalls or require user accounts to view, should be considered. Cumbrowski (2018) suggests many other issues for consideration, however, many of these aspects are beyond the needs of most teacher librarians and are more relevant for web developers looking to have their sites indexed more readily by search engines.

Cumbrowski, C. (2018, March 22). 50 questions to evaluate the quality of your website. Search Engine Journal. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/evaluate-website-quality/233555/#close

ETL501 – Module 2.1 – print vs digital reference materials

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In her article Why libraries should retain a core print reference collection (Lederer, 2016), Lederer makes several points regarding the value of print reference materials. Many of her points relate to convenience and the longevity of print reference resources. How to these points relate to the primary school context? In the usual course of events, there are very few primary students learning only online and needing access to online only resources (though during the current pandemic, this is different) and so they usually have access to the print collection as easily or more easily than the online collection. Primary students, especially in the junior years may have difficulty being able to log in to the computer at all, let alone navigate to and through an online environment.

The level of detail and currency required for curriculum activities is less demanding than in Lederer’s academic library context. Many primary students who are still developing literacy and computer skills may have a good deal of difficulty accessing digital reference materials independently. Often they cannot read the results they find, if they manage to find the articles, though if the source uses assistive technology such as immersive readers, audio and video content, they can access the information more readily. Primary students require more generalised resources with much lower reading levels and more reliance on visual content, yet they are still learning to interpret that visual content. Having the teacher librarian available to conduct regular lessons on how to access and use reference materials is vital.  Also, seeing the print resources on the shelf during lunchtime or independent reading times means many students choose to explore these texts by flipping through, not looking for specific information but becoming familiar with the form and composition of the text.

Digital resources are much more difficult to navigate and explore when the user doesn’t have a specific question in mind. Primary students may not have any basic understandings of topics they are asked to investigate, whereas students in a high school or academic library usually have at least some context or background knowledge around what they are investigating. Reference materials are perfect for users who need to gain a general understanding of the their topic.

Lederer, N. (2016). Why libraries should retain a core print reference collection. The Reference Librarian, 57(4), 307-322. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2016.1145093

WTL501 – Module 2.1 – Reference Materials

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Farmer (2014) provides a guide to the development of the reference collection in American schools. It is clear that the information is specifically targeted towards American schools, however it is still relevant to Australian school librarians. Farmer suggests that librarians should be careful to select materials that contain American spellings and measurements, which is also true of Australian librarians, though, of course, including English spellings and decimal measurements.
Farmer points out the necessity of keeping the collection current and the fact that many reference titles are quickly out-of-date. Many school libraries do not have the funds to be updating these volumes every year, if, in fact a print update is available. While it is important to provide current reference materials, this is not an indication that older versions are not useful in a school for purposes other than locating factual information. Primary school libraries provide materials used to teach students about textual features such as indexes, contents pages, bibliographies, directories etc and this does not always require up-to-the-minute accuracy and currency, though it would be an added bonus if this was also the case. This has to be balanced against the competing needs of other curriculum areas the budget must cover. Recently in my school library we attempted to purchase class sets of updated atlases of the world. The most up-to-date edition we could buy in print form was from 2009 and contains suggestions to readers that they consult the online version for updates. We decided to purchase them anyway as it is deemed important to provide class sets of print copies for the purpose of teaching map-reading skills as well as textual features of atlases and reference books more generally.
Farmer suggests that it is important to consider hardware and software requirements when selecting digital reference materials. While this is certainly a concern, it is one that needs to be addressed not only from the point of view of the library computers, but also the universal usage by library users at home who may be using any number of different operating systems, old or new hardware with varying amounts of processing oe display power. In recent times, many reference material publishers have made their products available on a number of platforms and in a variety of formats such as websites, mobile or responsive websites, apps, cloud-based streaming services etc, that do not necessarily rely on the user having the most up-to-date technology available. This is important for patrons accessing content remotely, but also means that these services are in direct competition for student attention with sites such as Wikipedia, meaning that the educational programs offered by the library need to be on point in this regard.
In addition to the resources listed by Farmer and Alderman (2014), Australian school libraries might consider providing syllabus documents and professional readings collections in the teachers’ reference collection and conversion charts of common measurements and spelling differences between traditional English and American English. They might consider language references for First Nations languages and cultural materials.
A thought occurs that, as print-based materials are out-dated so quickly, digital resources should have an advantage. Perhaps signage and advertisements for these digital materials should be displayed in the reference area of the library. Perhaps teacher librarians should be including specific lessons about how these materials can and should be used in the library program, especially in primary schools where more students are likely to experience regular contact with the library through the RFF program.
Farmer, L. S. J. (2014). Introduction to reference and information services in today’s school library. Rowman & Littlefield.
Alderman, J. (2014). What is a reference collection? LIS1001 Beginning Library Information Systems & Strategies. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=bliss

Leadership to build productive partnerships

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A noisy, disruptive class waiting outside the library for their teacher to speak to a colleague is not an unusual circumstance. Sometimes teachers need to bend the ear of their colleagues and with time pressures the way they are, sometimes it is necessary to grab the opportunity while it exists. Yet, the noise and jostling can be unsettling for both the waiting class and the class that is in the library at the time. The way I would deal with this circumstance depends largely on the nature of the teacher’s discussion. It is often possible to discern from a distance whether the interaction is of a social nature or concerning an important issue.

My first step would be to quickly get the students already in the library engaged in an activity such as browsing or recreational reading. I would then determine the nature of the need outside. If it is a social interaction that could wait, I simply walk over to the doorway, wave a friendly greeting to the teachers involved and close the door. This will often be enough of a hint to move it on. If, however, the interaction is of a more serious nature, I would gather the students’ attention using whatever recall strategy I use for that group in the library and remind them briefly of the etiquette involved in their situation. There should be enough settling, if only briefly, for me to ask the teachers if it would be helpful for the classes to come in and join the recreational reading happening in the library while the teachers use my office for their discussion. I can enlist another member of library staff to assist in supervision if required. This lets them know that I am aware they may need assistance and am prepared help. If the interaction can wait, this will prompt them to take the discussion elsewhere, feeling supported at the same time, and if it can’t wait, they have an opportunity to deal with whatever the situation is while I support them by supervising their students for a few minutes. Either way, the staff members feel that the library staff are there to help them and the students are supervised or moved on as needed. Providing an opportunity for the teachers and I to work collaboratively to solve an immediate problem while respecting and hopefully enhancing the interpersonal relationship between them and me accomplishes the objective needed (the class is no longer disruptive) and builds a collegial spirit simultaneously.