International Association of School Librarianship Conference Proceedings
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Confronting the ‘Crisis of Significance’ in 21st Century School Libraries
No full textThe demands of life in the 21st century have evolved dramatically, giving rise to the need for a complex set of interrelated and interdependent skills in order to cope with this complexity and to achieve success in life. Unfortunately, there is a widening gap between the world experienced and created by youth outside of school and their in-school experiences leading to what Michael Wesch has called a “crisis of significance” (2009) facing teachers and schools today. Many would suggest school libraries today are also struggling to find their place and regain their significance in the learning lives of students. How should schools and school libraries respond to this „crisis‟ and change the learning landscape to better match 21st century realities? This paper explores these issues and clarifies the characteristics of 21st century learners and learning, and provides ideas for re-visioning schoollibraries to meet the expectations for 21st century learning
School Library Advocacy Literature in the United States : A Content Analysis
No full textDespite evidence of school librarians’ impact on student achievement and multiple advocacy efforts, position eliminations and budget reductions continue across the United States. The researchers conducted a preliminary conceptual content analysis of the scholarly and practitioner literature about school library advocacy in the United States from 2001-2011 to determine methods of and rationales for advocacy. The most frequent advocacy method was distributing literature or information about school libraries. The most frequent reason cited in the literature for engaging in advocacy activities was in response to a potential funding or position reduction or elimination. Advocacy is highly contextualized and different situations may warrant different approaches. Viewing school library advocacy through an organizational evolution framework may frame the context. School library researchers should address the dearth of empirical and theoretical work on both the practice and impact of advocacy on the profession
Digital Citizenship and Distance Education
No full textThis chapter describes the role of digital citizenship, particularly as it relates to school librarianship in online learning environments. It discusses the need for digital citizenship, its curriculum and standards, its place in school librarianship program preparation, distance education issues, learning resources, and implementation for the school community. Emerging issues are also noted
Ontological Model of School Librarianship Based on Collaboration
No full textConsidering the definition of ontology as a common vocabulary for researchers (practitioners) who need to share information in a domain, we have established a set of concepts concerned with identifying, analyzing, describing and representing shared conceptualization in Croatian school librarianship. We have given a survey of research areas in the last 24 years. Approaching the problem of ontology, we applied it in the sense of information science, i.e., modeling language based on a common vocabulary and understanding when and how the modern concept of librarianship like media and information literacy, information needs, curriculum integration, e-learning etc. were introduced into Croatian school librarianship practice. The next step could be to dentify and to evaluate the strength of the various semantic links between found concepts. The key issue of school library ontology modeling is the answer to the question: how well the Croatian school librarian community is prepared to participate in building 21st century learning environments
Issues in Teen Technology Use to Find Health Information
No full textTeens need and want information about health issues. Even though teens tend to prefer asking people for help, increasingly they access digital resources because of the Internet’s availability, affordability, and anonymity. Teen health information interests vary by age, gender, social situation, and motivation. This paper discusses several issues about how teens access and seek that information, how teens use technology for seeking health information, and offers recommendations to insure optimal library services to address health information needs of all teens
Supporting the Personal and Interpersonal Skills of Global Citizens Through Fiction
No full textHow can Teacher-Librarians collaborate with teachers, school counselors and parents to support and teach values, coping skills and the management of interpersonal relationships? What tools can Teacher-Librarians use to inform the school community about the range of resources available? This practical presentation introduces a variety of texts that can be used with Primary and Middle school students and suggests how they might fit into a school setting. The selected texts will be predominantly picture books written in English and sourced from a range of countries and cultures. Teacher-Librarians are often approached to suggest books that will assist the school community to develop confident, empathetic global citizens. They must ensure that these books are easily accessible. They should promote them and suggest how and when they may be used with individuals and/or in a classroom setting. Participants will be invited to add their own suggestions to the list of books provided
Developing Online Master\u27s Programs for Teacher-Librarians: A Focus on 21st Century Digital Learning Environments
No full textA multi-disciplinary degree program in education and information studies can uniquely facilitate educators to develop or enhance their capacity to be responsive to the demands of a digitally connected world. Charles Sturt University’s new Master of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation) aims to develop agile leaders in new cultures of digital formal and informal learning, with expertise in navigating diverse information pathways, creative learning environments, and socially connected global networks. By examining key features and influences of global connectedness, information organization, communication and participatory cultures of learning, students are provided with the opportunity to reflect on their professional practice in a networked learning community, to improve learning and teaching in digital environments
Professional Education for School Librarianship: The Rutgers University Experience
No full textThis paper addresses the processes in place to help Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) students at Rutgers University meet the education requirements for being a school librarian in New Jersey. It outlines both curriculum and certification structures and processes, and identifies a range of support initiatives in place at Rutgers to enable the journey from student to professional
\u27Don\u27t ask me, ask the horse\u27: Evaluating resource-based learning
No full textThis study focuses on a resource-based learning unit, the ‘Chinese Idioms Cocktail’ and the results of its evaluation at a primary school in Hong Kong. The ‘Chinese Idioms Cocktail’ unit utilises a self-designed PowerPoint presentation with the “True or False” game, cartoon film show, worksheets, 80 thematic printed materials on Chinese idioms, an idioms dictionary and encyclopedia and 10 related websites. The unit was carried out in the library. The authors argue that all library programs should be routinely evaluated to assess their effectiveness and to identify areas that can be improved. The results indicated that all of the resources contributed to the successful completion of the unit, although there were some areas that could be improved
“Running with the Question” - Action Research and Evaluative Practice in developing an Adolescent Reading Program
No full textThis paper describes how Action Research methodology developed the wider reading programs for children from 9-13 years at Wesley College over a 5-year period. The central question revolved around how the library team could engage every child in years 5 to 7 in wider reading. Strategies used in the program were: Engaging interactive online components, Highly responsive collection development approaches, Hard data collection on usage, and Qualitative measures undertaken by the team in adopting evaluative practice. Interesting and unexpected results began to inform decision making for the team highlighting gender issues in adolescent reading, and a need to re-examine some basic assumptions about the ways students select books for personal reading. The paper chronicles how the team learned from experience to bring about new defined cycles of development and improvement to the program, which has evolved and expanded far beyond the initial concepts