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= = =My Journey through...= =LIBE 467 - Information Services I=

Lesson #1 - Information Literacy and Reference Sevices in Schools
What I know and wonder...Technology allows students to access a wealth of information, but how much of that information is legitimate? Too much information can be overwhelming and difficult to narrow down. Learning how to properly evaluate information is important in order to minimize time and overall frustration.

Riedling, A. Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips, 2nd Edition. (2005). Linworth Publishing Inc.
 * Textbook:**

The definitions from Riedling's book that were difficult for me were Bibliographic Control, Bibliographic Instruction, OCLC and RLIN. First of all, I am not very good with acronyms and will constantly need to remind myself what they stand for, hence why I am creating a list to help me. Also, I have a hard time grasping what the definitions of some these terms are meaning. Perhaps the more time I spend reading about these terms, the more I will understand them.

Acronyms... LIS - Library Information Services OCLC - Online Computer Library Centre OPAC - Online Public Access Catalog RLIN - Research Libraries Information Network RLG - Research Libraries Group TL - Teacher Librarian

Today I went to a training session on how to use Mandarin M3. It was very informative. I now know how to do basic circulation stuff, such as, loans, returns, renewing and reserving. Also, I now know how to use the OPAC to create booklists that teachers may request. As well, one of the most important things that I got out of training was how to catalogue new books. Cataloguing a new book is a very time consuming process, however our instructor taught us how to import information more quickly...all you need to do is go to the **Library of Congress website** and look up the book that you are adding to your catalogue and download that information and import it into the cataloguing system. This will save you tons of time especially when you have a box full of new books to enter. The faster the books go out into circulation the sooner students can have them in their hands!

Does authority reside in the person or the position? Are teachers even aware of what a TL does? I believe that the authority resides in the person not the position. From my experiences, I have worked in both a middle school and an elementary school where the teacher-librarians took on completely different roles. The TL in the middle school was less of an authoritative person, keeping to himself and not reaching out to the teachers, therefore the library became underutilized. Whereas in the elementary school, the TL was very effective in providing librarian services because she marketed herself to the teachers showing what a TL can do for them. When I worked in the middle school I honestly had no idea what a TL did, but then I went into the elementary school and was amazed by the amount of work the TL did and provided...she is the inspiration for my desire to become a TL.

Check out this site...it is so helpful for a new TL: http://elementarylibraryroutines.wikispaces.com/

Lesson #2 - The Reference Process & Information Skills
Some things I learned from the text (p.3-14)...

Reference Service is the ability of the TL to answer questions and to communicate effectively. The TL must have the ability to translate questions from students doing into terms that can be understood by aligning them with the proper resources (p.3)

A successful reference service for Teacher-Librarians must consist of 1) knowledge of collection 2) effective communication 3) competence in selecting resources (p.4)

Problem Solving Models 1) Kuhlthau's six stage model of Information Seeking 2) Eisenberg & Berkowitz Big6 Information Problem Solving 3) Stripling & Pitts Research Process (p.8-9)

Even with technology and information at hand, reference services are still needed to determine amoung the tons of information which will be the most useful information. Teacher-Librarians need to assist students in learning how to access, organize, evaluate and use the information they come across (p.12). Also, technology has increased the need for this service as there is an infinite amount of information out there. Therefore, Teacher-Librarians can use one of the problem-solving methods to help students work their way through all the information. It is important to note that "Information Literacy" is defined as the ability to access, comprehend, use and evaluate information (p.12)

I recently read an article that outlined various models of information literacy. It included the 3 models I indicated above from the text, but it also included various other models to consider. In particular, one model that was not mentioned in the text that I thought was good to mention was the "I-Search Process" by Ken Macororie. This model is designed to promote interest in research and allows students to describe their search process in first person. It is especially appropriate for students who have learning difficulties and are stressed about the research process (p.21). Another model to consider is the "Infoquest Interchange" by Peggy Milam, also known as Infoquest S.T.A.I.R.S (Steps To Achieving Independent Research Skills). The Infoquest outlines four steps which are, 1) Inquiring 2) Searching 3) Organizing and 4) Sharing. I really liked this model of information literacy because it can be easily adapted to primary grades (p.23) Milam, P. (2004). Destination Information: A Road Map for the Journey. Library Media Connection, 22(7), 20-23
 * Article Cited:**

Lesson #3 - Building a Reference Collection for your School Library: Selection and Evaluation of Reference Materials
I have always wondered how reference materials are selected. There is so much information out there that it becomes difficult to narrow everything down. Riedling does a great job of outlining an effective way of selecting and evaluating reference material (p.19-21). Also, with so much information available on the internet, are reference books even being used? This is something that I have been wondering about lately.

In my opinion, most reference books, such as encyclopedias, are becoming obsolete because it is easier to "google" the information you are looking for. Unless students are required to use a reference book by their teacher, they probably will never open one up. Is it even worth having these books in a school library? This is something that I have been thinking about. I will have to ask some teacher-librarians about this.

One must also think about the use of internet for research purposes. Because of so much information on the internet, it becomes difficult to narrow down the most accurate information. When doing research online, you have to ask yourself, is this website a valid website? Who created the website? Is the author of the site educated and experienced? Is the information provided biased? There are so many things to consider when it comes to the internet. Considering all of these things, would a reference book be better than using the internet? I think that a reference book would eliminate a lot of frustration in searching for information because in a library you would not have hundreds of different reference materials to choose from. Also, it is important to teach students about evaluating a website to lesson the frustration online or even provide students with only a limited amount of websites to search.

Another thing that I have always wondered is how do you select material to weed. The following is a great mneomic device to help remember what to weed. I got this from the Surrey teacher-librarian handbook: [] What to Weed **(MUSTIE):** **M**isleading and/or factually inaccurate, **U**gly (worn out beyond mending or rebinding), **S**uperseded by a new edition or a better source, **T**rivial (of no discernible literary or scientific merit), **I**rrelevant to the needs and interests of your community, **E**lsewhere (the material may be easily borrowed from another source).

My other thought is, what happens to books that are weeded? I know that some can be given to other libraries or used elsewhere, but do we really just throw away these books? I have a great love and appreciation for all books and I would really have a difficult time with this. I am not a teacher-librarian as of yet, but hope to be one day. The thought of having to throw books out seems wasteful to me. However, as I learn more about weeding and what books to weed, I hope that this process will become easier for me.

Lesson # 4 - Print and/or Electronic Reference Materials
"The day of seeking answers has not ended; only the process has changed" (Riedling, p.109)

This quote from Riedling is so true in today's schools, even with the ease of access of information on the web, we are still seeking answers, but in a whole new process. Thus the teacher-librarian is needed more than ever to help students sort through all the information effectively and efficiently. Teacher-librarians are here to create information literate students...Hooray!

Thinking back to my university days, I realized that I spent a lot of my time doing research in the library rather than on the internet. The reason for this was because I knew the library had reliable sources and it was what the professor preferred. So, print reference materials are important to have in a library. Students should not be relying only on internet searches. However, T-L have to be aware that students **will** use the internet and use "Google" searches whether we would like them to or not. Therefore, we must teach students to evaluate websites and find sites that have reliable, unbiased information.

Great website with tips on evaluating a site and what to look out for... []

Remember that a "good" reference source answers the questions!

One thing that I had not considered before was that Teacher-Librarians should not add their opinions or bias towards or against any particular reference source. It is our job to teach students how to effectively evaluate references that will allow them to make informed decisions on the selection process. Teacher-Librarians should help students determine which reference source will be the most effective in which to answer their questions and not which reference source the T-L prefers to use.

Lesson #5 - The Reference Interview & Cooperative Program Planning and Teaching
Reference Interview is the process of determining what students want or need.

I found that reading Chapter 9 of Riedling was not very helpful. A lot of the information in Chapter 9 was on how to communicate with students. As a teacher, I feel that I communicate well with students. I don't need guidance in how to respond to students. For example, Riedling states "talk to students as if they are important" (p. 102). I already do this and shouldn't all teachers be doing this? Anyways, I think that the reference interview process is straight forward and I am not too worried about this.

My only concern is collaborating with teachers. Teacher-Librarians must promote themselves to Teachers and get them excited about collaborating. Also, it is important for Teachers to see Teacher-Librarians as equal partners in the planning process. The first article that I summarized (see page on left column titled "Article Summary 1") has some great insight on collaboration.

Great website on teacher collaboration...[] This site also includes a collaboration sheet to use when setting up a lesson with a classroom teacher.

This lesson's discussion question asked who should be included in the reference interview...I agree with most of the responses that both the teacher and the students should be involved in the process. In particular, the reference interview should begin with the teacher to understand the premise behind the research project and then followed up by the students to ensure the students' needs and wants are met. Anne's example of middle school teachers creating a country research project in which students only used print material as sources definitely reiterated the importance of having the initial reference interview with the teachers in order to ease the frustration for both the students and the teacher-librarian.

Lesson #6 - General & Specialized Encyclopedias
The main question that comes to mind with this lesson is, are print encyclopedias worth buying? Information is constantly changing and encyclopedias aren't cheap. Should Teacher-Librarians purchase print encyclopedias even though they are considered out of date right after they are printed? Also, how often are print encyclopedias even used? In my opinion, Teacher-Librarians should only be purchasing access to online encyclopedias, as these are continually updated and allows for use by many students at one time, as opposed to one set of print encyclopedias for the whole school. Of course, it is also important to evaluate both print and online encyclopedias for suitability. Some things to be aware of when choosing encyclopedias are scope, emphasis, reading entries, authority, style, recency, viewpoint and objectivity, arrangement and entry, index, format, writing style, and the largest factor to consider is cost due to a limited budget.

Reflection: What is your opinion about established vs. free citizen built encyclopedias such as Wikipedia?

I think that Wikipedia, even though it is a free citizen built encyclopedia is very useful. In fact, I use Wikipedia quite often for quick, general searches and it has always helped me find the information that I was looking for. Wikipedia often gets bad reviews because anyone can add their "two bits" to the encyclopedia, but after reading the article by Berinstein, I have learned that Wikipedia is constantly being monitored and if something is added that is inappropriate or incorrect, it is taken off immediately. This is somewhat reasuring as students will most often refer to Wikipedia at home and even at school when doing research. However, this is where the Teacher-Librarian must teach students how to properly use Wikipedia, in that it should only be used as a starting point for research and not as a reference. Also, it is important to teach students how to verify whether the information is valid and unbiased. Ultimately, Teacher-Librarians also need to teach students how to take proper notes instead of cutting and pasting information.

From the class discussions, Sylvia wrote: "I agree with Harris when he claims that we need to teach students how to use Wikipedia, rather than forbid them from using it." I too agree with Harris that we need to teach students how to use Wikipedia. Students will use Wikipedia whether we like it or not. So instead of forbidding the use of Wikipedia, make sure students know how to use it. In particular we should be teaching students to not use Wikipedia as a reference source, but just as an initial information source.

Articles: Berinstein, P. (2006). Wikipedia and Britannica: The Kid's All Right (And So's the Old Man) //Searcher 14//(3), 16-26. Harris, C. (2007). Can we make peace with Wikipedia? //School Library Journal, 53//(6), 26.

Lesson #7 - Dictionaries and Thesauri; Almanacs, Yearbooks and Handbooks
Dictionaries are used for verifying spelling and defining words. There are two types, one being a reference resource containing words, the second being a reference source of terms or names relating to a particular subject or activity. Dictionaries are either descriptive (how language is actually used) or prescriptive (how it ought to be used). Things to consider when evaluating and selecting dictionaries are authority, format, currency and accuarcy. There are two categories of dictionaries, unabridged and abridged. Unabridged dictionaries contain all of the words in the language and abridged dictionaries are compiled to meet different needs. For example, abridged dictionaries include historical, geographical, slang and dialect, etc. (Riedling, 57-58). Almanacs are similar to encyclopedias, but with less in-depth information, an example is World Almanac and Book of Facts. Yearbooks cover various subjects are intended "to record the year's activities by country, subject or specialization area" (Katz, 286). Handbooks cover specific information in-depth, such as, MLA Handbook for Writers.

The following list of dictionaries were suggested by Brenda from our online class. I really thought this list was great and would never have considered them before even though they make total sense to have in a school. - a dictionary of ASL (American Sign Language) -a rhyming dictionary (such as Oxford Rhyming dictionary). - a dictionary of Literary Terms (such like the Oxford dictionary of literary terms) - an important tool for teaching aspects of language - a dictionary of idioms and expressions (such as Collins) - this is so important for English Language Learners because there are so many idioms and expressions we use on a daily basis and we cannot assume that students understand them.

Some important things I learned from this lesson: 1. It is important to evaluate dictionaries, thesauri, allmanacs, yearbooks and handbooks to ensure it is suitable for your library. 2. Consider links when evaluating an online source. Make sure students aren't accessing links that are not useful or inappropriate.

Question...are CD-ROMs even used anymore?

Lesson #8 - Indexes, Abstracts and full-text databases
What I learned...how do you know which index to choose? Most index titles reflect their content and most libraries arrange databases by subject and provide information about the purpose to the index. Search journal titles in an automated catalog such as EBSCO. Consider how often the index is updated, price and whether it is user-friendly or not. Common and popular periodical indexes are EBSCO / Novelist K-8 and Thomson Gale. The selection of indexes for a school library depends on the needs of the students. Some of the online periodical indexes that I found to be most interesting and that I may use when I become a teacher-librarian are "ProQuest KidQuest" which provides access to more than 100 periodicals, charts, photos, drawings, graphics and is kid-friendly covering topics such as health, sports, people, plants and animals, and cultural issues [] "SIRS Discoverer" is an interactive database because it includes curriculum topics making it easily integrated into classroom activities and it also strengthens research skills []. "EBSCO Primary and Elementary Searchasaurus" indexes more than 50 magazines appropriate for the age level.[] Remember: the average school library will typically not require more than one general index due to cost and repetition and overlap amoung indexes (94).

I would subscibe to our local pape,r as well ,I really liked Paige Wood's suggestion from class discussions: Paige "values how the Globe has a program for teachers to use." She signed up a year ago and every month she gets an email that allows her to login to the Online Classroom Edition of the Globe and Mail. Once you log in, there are six subjects you can choose from: a. The Economy b. Business and Entrepreneurship c. Social Studies and Current Events d. Money, Financial Planning, and Investing e. The Environment f. Careers "From these themes, you can click and be led to many different relevant articles. There are also lesson plans accompanying each article that outline the lesson outcomes, strategies to use, as well as extension activities and suggested relevant links.On the main page, you can also search for previous editions, find links to other resources, and go to a teacher’s corner, which has everything from student competitions, to professional development opportunities and workshops for teachers."
 * Which Newspaper would you subscribe to for your library?**

Lesson # 9 - Maps, Atlases and other Geographical Sources
I really enjoyed reading chapter 7 in Riedlings book because I have a minor in geography and it brought back my love for geography. Some important points that I got from this lesson were that in evaluating these resources you need to consider the reputation of the publisher, the different scales with the atlas, issue of currency, format and how effective and useful the index is. Also, I like the idea of purchasing one new print atlas each year to keep up to date with changes. I learned that a five-year-old atlas is considered to be historical already.

[|www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/index.html]

I was searching around online for other useful geography sites and these are some that I found to be useful:

[] Canadian Council for Geography Education [] The WWW Virtual Library - General Reference - Geographical Sources [] Atlases, Maps & More [] CIA – The World Factbook [] Country at a Glance [] Culture Quest [] World Mountain Encyclopedia [] Geography for kids [] Information for kids [] EcoKids environmental education site for kids and teachers [] Map skills lesson plan

Lesson # 10 - Bibliographies & Biographies and Directories
Here is what I learned about biographies. Biographies provide information about a person and can be located through encyclopedias, indexes, or directories. When evaluating biographical sources consider cost, accuracy, comprehensiveness, currency and ease of use. Most importantly, accuracy needs to be evaluated as this can be compromised because not all biographies are official or authorized. Therefore, it is important to know sources of information for pulications because not all the information may be accurate or included. Remember that some may only include what they want the public to see.

Bibliographies organize the chaos of information published. Subject bibliographies: example - A to Zoo: Subject access to children's picture books Trade bibliographies: cover materials publised within a certain country

An index is an analysis of a document and good indexes provide enough access points to enable the uster to locate information quickly and easily. Evaluation of indexes consider well known publishers such as H.W. Wilson Company, EBSCO, UMI and Information Access Company. Also, look at the depth of indexing, how current and how often is it published, format: online, easy to use.

"The Reader's Guide" is recommended if only one general index can be purchased for a library.

Lesson # 11 - Grey Literature & the World Wide Web
Some interesting things I learned from this lesson are:

"Invisible web" is also known as the "Deep Web" The" visible web" is what you can find using general web search engines, such as google. The "invisible web" is what you can not find using a general search engine.

"Grey literature" includes any documentary material that is not commercially published, which includes things like technical reports, working papers, business documents and conference proceedings. A blog or wiki is an example of grey literature. This wiki page is an example of grey literature!

Listservs: example LM-NET LM-NET is very overwhelming at first due to the number of emails you can recieve. Be sure to get the digest version, in which you receive only the summaries of all the emailed topics. Also, if you don't want to deal with any emails at all, you could always just go to the LM-NET archives page and search for a topic of interest and see what you can find. I have done this several times and usually find something interesting or something that I am looking for.

See the page titled "Useful Websites" (on the left side of this page) for more information and websites.

Lesson # 12 - Managing the Reference Collection
Things to consider when managing the reference collection in one's school library are the role of the teacher-librarian, the cost of providing reference materials, organizing reference materials and collection development.

First, the role of the teacher-librarian is one of many things. The teacher-librarian collaborates with teachers to address learning outcomes, promotes reading, instructs on inforation literacy and technology skills, selects, acquires, processes and circulates resources, manages policies and procedures, staff and volunteers, takes on a leadership role in resource-based learning, promotes the library program, etc., etc., etc...the list goes on and on. Teacher-librarians are valuable to an effective school library program and within all of this is the managing and organizing of reference materials.

Some things that teacher-librarians must constantly deal with is how to spend the budget effectively as possible. With a set budget it is very important that teacher-librarians evaluate and select all resources carefully. How much of the budget should be allocated to reference materials? Teacher-librarians also have to consider online databases vs. print resources and finding a balance between the two. Making such decisions is a challenge for teacher-librarians. The value of print reference collections vary in schools for example from the Vancouver School Board Library Collection the value of reference collections in elementary is $3000-7000 and for secondary is $75000-100000. Also, the cost of non-fiction resource books range from $20-25, which is substantially cheaper than a print reference book that ranges from $50-100. Therefore, one has to consider if print references are essential to the school library and whether non-fiction books can answer the same questions that can be found in a reference book or if they support the curriculum.

The following is a chart of approximate costs of a variety of school library reference materials. I thought that this was important to include on this page because as a beginning teacher-librarian I was unaware of the cost of such resources and this is very important for me to know in order to manage a school library budget:
 * ~ **Reference Materials** ||~ **Approximate Costs** ||
 * Acronyms, initialisms & abbreviations dictionary || $65.00 ||
 * Collins Robert unabridged : [French-English English-French dictionary] || $80.00 ||
 * Encyclopedia of family health, 3rd edition [18 vol.] || $740.00 ||
 * Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era || $485.00 ||
 * Europa World Year Book || $1200.00 ||
 * Exploring Ancient Civilizations || $350.00 ||
 * Facts on File dictionary of twentieth-century allusions : from atom bomb to Ziegfeld girls / Sylvia Cole, Abraham H. Lass. || $40.00 ||
 * Great World Writers of the Twentieth Century || $715.00 ||
 * Grolier library of environmental concepts and issues. || $225.00 ||
 * Guinness Book of World Records || $25.00 ||
 * History of World War II || $400.00 ||
 * Larousse world mythology / edited by Pierre Grimal. || $50.00 ||
 * McGraw-Hill Science and Technology Encyclopedia || $3992.00 ||
 * Myths and Legends $275.00 ||  ||
 * National Geographic atlas of the world. || $175.00 ||
 * New Book of Popular Science || $370.00 ||
 * Statesman's Year Book 2006 || $200 ||
 * The Columbia Granger's index to poetry. || $175.00 ||
 * Webster's Third new international dictionary of the English language unabridged. || $175.00 ||
 * World Book || $1088.00 ||
 * World Book Student Discovery || $469.00 ||

It is the teacher-librarian's responsibiity to ensure that resources are used and used well. Using the budget effectively includes ensuring that the entire collection is used on a regular basis. The organization of rhte collection should support the use of the library. Should reference materials be located in a separate location or integrated with the regular non-fiction books? References are often used more when they are located amoung the regular collection that is used regulary by students. However, there are other things to consider and the big issue is access. Are the reference materials easily accessed?

Collection management includes the following stages: 1. analyzing the collection, 2. inventory, 3. weeding, and 4. circulation. All of these stages are essential and should be carried out on a regular basis. Some other stages of colleciton development to consider are: (adapted from: Doiron, Ray. School Libraries in Canada, 2002. Vol. 21, No. 4 and Ministry of Education materials) 1. analysis of existing collection 2. identification of needs 3. determining budget available 4. identification of sources for purchasing 5. selection of new resources 6. acquiring of new resources 7. handling and processing new materials 8. promoting the new resources 9. ongoing maintenance of resources 10. collection renewal (weeding)

Lesson # 13 - Evaluating Reference Materials
This lesson covers reasons and strategies for evaluating reference services and what constitues success. The following is what I thought were some of the most important points from this lesson: Some things that may be covered in an evaluation of reference services are: - statistical evaluation of use of reference materials - evaluation of satisfaction levels of students and teachers - comparisons to accepted standards - an evaluation of the teacher-librarian's role - peer evaluation (teacher-librarian to teacher-librarian) - administrative evaluation - self evaluation Collecting data for evaluations can be formal or informal.

What role do reference resources play in our school library and what goals do we have for our school library's reference services? - It is important to have a written statemtent outlining these goals. Premise: It is essential that the entire school library collection be organized, managed and promoted so that students and teachers can have effective access to the collection. The main rationale for this is to support the development of student information skills. Theme: To determine how we can evaluate specific areas so we can provide reference resources in the most effective ways possible.

Areas of evaluation: 1. policies, practices and school library facilites in terms of ensuring these provide the best access to resources. 2. our own attitudes and biases about the various media formats in our school libraries. 3. school library collections to determine whether they are meeting the informational needs of students, teachers and the curriculum

Providing the best access through policies, practices and facilites... ...teacher-librarians are seen as being 'managers' of resources and not 'promoters' of resources. It is important for teacher-librarians to promote the library and the teacher-librarian servies to minimize being seen this way. In terms of access to the library, we must include intellectual access, physical access and digital access.

Evaluation of reference services based on standards... ...standards are below standard, acceptable, and exemplary from A.I.L. (Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada). Pages 26-27 in A.I.L. goes over what is below standard, acceptable and exemplary when it comes to reference resources. It is important to note that these are guidelines only and that they provide some "targets" to aim for.

What constitues success?... ..."It's not necessarily what you've got, but what you do with what you've got that's important" Use what you have as effectively as possible. I think that this is important for all things in life.

Resource-based learning... "Resource-based learning actively involves students, teachers and teacher-librarians in the effective use of a wide range of print, non print and human resources. Resource-based learning fosters the development of individual students by accommodating their varied interests, experiences, learning styles, needs and ability levels. Students who use a wide range of resources in various mediums for learning have the opportunity to approach a theme, issue or topic of study in ways which allow for a range of learning styles and access to the theme or topic via cognitive or affective appeals." []

My Final Thoughts
I have to say that I am a little sad that this course is over. It was a challenge and I learned so many new things about the library that I had no idea about before. Creating this wiki and journaling my way through the course has been so helpful. This wiki is something that, as I continue through my learning experiences in becoming a teacher-librarian, I can reflect back on and use as a helpful resource. Thank you so much to our instructor, Anne for making this journey through LIBE 467 a wonderful learning experience...and thank you to everyone's contributions to the class discussions, so many different experiences brings forth so much knowledge and I am so glad we got to share our knowlege and experiences with each other.