What we teach and do

Yesterday I joined OZTL_NET and I received my first digest today. The readings that captured my eye were concerning two posts. One from a Classroom teacher that was appointed to Teacher Librarian 15 years ago in Australia and the other a Head of Information Studies in Hamilton, New Zealand.

What we Teach and Do

OZTL_NET Digest Vol 63 Issue 74

The first was defending her ability to teach in the TL role even though she had no "paper qualifications" and the second was reiterating the importance of teaching Information Literacy and emphasing the unique role of the Teacher Librarian and the "credentials" that the TL should have.

There were some good points in both posts so I have identified them:

Post 1 -
* Classroom teachers only see a fraction of what the role of the TL entails.
* Training and Development in TL is crucial.
* IT Skills are necessary.
* Joining Hub groups is also essential for continued growth and understanding of the TL role.
* Passion and a thirst for knowledge are important characteristics for a TL.

Post 2 -
* Instruction in Information Literacy during training is very important for the TL.
* Whilst classroom teachers who are placed in the TL role without formal qualifications may be literate in the sense of being able to word process or make powerpoint presentations, etc they do not have the expertise in the use of Boolean Strategies for effective searching databases suitable for school students or actually teaching students a research framework or note taking skills or different forms of reading (skim, scan, close) required for researching and much more.
* Library Staff "fill very distinct as well as integrated niches in education but this does not seem to be understood by some. "
* Emphasised that there is a lot of evidence that qualified TLs make a difference.

Another TL post which reponded to these posts added to the importance in the use of Boolean Strategies and suggested a great way to show Boolean searching is through the use of

www.boolify.org .

I will need to find out what this is today.

Librarian - Cyber Nanny Article

Today I read another informative article on the role of the Teacher LIbrarian that was all- encompassing. It focused on public libriarians but could very well extend to School Teacher Librarians.

The Librarian as Cyber-Nanny
Elizabeth Beales

".....A librarian is to be available in the shelves recommending a good read, providing research assistance, helping with Internet queries, tracking down a book from a very vague recollection of
details; keeping the library technologically updated and sophisticated without
spending too much money, and maintaining the collection full of the latest
bestsellers and up to date information while not losing its old world charm and
“throwing away” classic or popular stories.

The groups that control libraries – eg. government, schools – see the librarian as something different again. Their librarian is to be first of all a manager, supervising staff and ensuring budgets are adhered to,accountable, judicious and wise.

Librarians of today are all that and more. They are proud to serve their
community..... They keep up to date and
are well read, subscribing to e-lists, newsletters, journals and more. They are
usually involved in their communities in some way, whether personally or on
behalf of their workplace.
Today’s librarian needs to be a public speaker, a counsellor, a public service
worker, adaptable to work with all ages and stages of life, flexible enough to
confidently deal with all levels of the hierarchy in their hometown and the world.

They need marketing skills, research skills, retail, IT, business management
and human resource management abilities. Add to this the programming,
networking, planning, evaluating and surveying which librarians need to
administer and monitor, and basically there’s not a lot a librarian can’t do....

There is, however, one area which some parts of the community feel is the
librarian’s responsibility, particularly in the public library sector, and there have
been media reports and parental anecdotes supporting this. And what is it? It’s
the issue of the access to pornographic material on the public Internet terminals
by minors. It’s the role of the librarian as “child minder”.

Ypulse and the Digital Age Article

SLJ's Summit Explores the Future of Content

By Rocco Staino School Library Journal 24.11.2008.

This article talks about a recent summit of more than 200 Librarians, technology leaders, publishers, authors and editors who explored where content is headed and how librarians can take advantage of its evolution to fully engage students and teachers : Remixing Library Collections for Digital Youth.

The keynote speaker was Anastasia Goldstein, founder of teen marketing firm Ypulse and author of Totally Wired: What teens and tweens are really doing online. She advocated the use of social networking sites as a way to connect with students.

A media specialist at Springfield High School in Erdenheim, PA, led a discussion on how Web 2.0 tools improve the delivery of content to learners.

Other technology that was discussed included Twitter, wiki, ning, video broadcasts, instant video and photo uploads.

Nonfiction authors Vicki Cobb and Marc Aronson discussed how they incorporate print with digital content.

The role of gaming in education was discussed by Scott Taylor, the Ceo and founder of 360KID, a company that creates games and social media for many organisations such as Disney and National Geographic.

Very Interesting......

What is a Learning Commons?

MA School Library Transforms into New Learning Commons

Article by Debra Lau Whelan School Library Journal 12.10.2008

An article was published in school library journal which caught my eye. It it was concerning a Teacher Librarian who transformed her Library at Chelmsford High School in Massachusetts. It was a run down library but....the kids kept coming back. The Librarian Valerie Diggs, as the High School Media Specialist, knew a thing or two about the value of a good library.

Even though the library looked like a prison (it had iron bars) , the teachers still visited with their classes and kids took advantage of its listening lunches, coffee gatherings and other great programs.

Now the library is even better due to a major makeover and has been transformed into a Learning Commons, a true virtual and physical 21st Century learning space.

Diggs received $150,000 from her town to refurbish her 6000square foot library complete with a Java Room coffee bar, 38 new desktop computers, a 58" flat panel TV, new furniture, flooring and paint.

A Learning Commons according to David Loertscher, a professor at San Jose State Uni and coauthor of The New Learning Commons Where Learners Win:Reinventing School Libraries and Computer Labs, 2008, states that it is "a collaborative space created by users that turns the library into the 'centre, the network, of social, cultural and learning in the school."

On returning from a visit to this Library Loertscher commented that this library has "achieved
much of the open commons idea.....................the parade of good things, the culture of student productions in its listening lunches, its popularity as both a social and an intellectual space is evident."

Circulation has risen by 20% since the new library opened its doors.

Wow!!!!

Times Article

Read the full article in the Timesonline and have included key points:


The Times
April 23, 2009

Shh, this is a digital library
The modern librarian is an online facilitator with an MA


"Once upon a time a love of books and reading was considered a key requirement for an aspiring librarian. Today, with the advent of digitalisation and moves towards the virtual library, such an interest is no longer enough. Librarians must master sophisticated IT and information management skills as well as the traditional techniques.....

Even Oxford University's venerable Bodleian Library is moving into the 21st century with plans to allow more online access to materials and electronic document delivery. And a significant proportion of Oxford's 19th-century out-of-copyright holdings, including Jane Austen's Emma and the first edition of Charles Darwin's On The Origin Of Species, have been digitalised to allow online access......

So what does it take to be a librarian in the digital age? Well, you can start work in a library with GCSEs, A levels or a first degree in information sciences. However, a postgraduate qualification - an MA or MSc - is necessary in certain sectors where there is a bar to promotion for anyone without a professional qualification. This is the case in schools, colleges and universities, and government and local authorities.


What kind of qualities does a librarian need? Vanda Broughton, MA programme director for library and information studies at University College London, cites an interest in information, curiosity and, for those going into the technical areas of IT or cataloguing, an interest in detail and a methodical approach.

For librarians dealing with readers, people skills are important in helping users to find information, use databases and negotiate online resources.

Traditional librarianship skills of managing information, compiling collections, selecting and organising material and making it available to readers are still important but they are exercised in an increasingly digital context.

Bibliographic databases have replaced print-based services. Scholarly journals are now delivered electronically. E-text books are increasingly prevalent and rare texts such as the Gutenberg Bible and the Beowulf manuscript have been digitalised to allow public access."

The TL Role from The Hub

Found some great reading today to assist me in defining the role of the TL.


"Teacher librarianship isn’t a simple job to explain. It’s about encouraging a love of reading by matching the right books to readers, but it’s also about providing access to a wealth of information, and teaching our students HOW to define what it is they want to find out, and the best way to discover the answers. We don’t feed students, we teach them to fish." 6.4.2008. Behind the Blog. The Hub: Campaign for Quality School Libraries in Australia. http://hubinfo.wordpress.com/tag/tl-role/

"A little known fact about having a teacher librarian in your school is that she/he is more than one person. A great teacher librarian is networked with TLs throughout Australia online and involved in regular local gatherings. So when your school employs a teacher librarian, they are really tapping into the collective knowledge and experience of hundreds of school library professionals, who have amply demonstrated over the years the strength and loyalty of their collegiality, born in the pre-internet days of inter-library loans. It’s kind of like the Borg*, but with more comfortable shoes, and much less evil intent." 8.1.2001 Secret Library Business. The Hub: Campaign for Quality School Libraries in Australia. http://hubinfo.wordpress.com/tag/tl-role/

Helpful Resource

Today I was asked by a friend to find some helpful resources so that she could teach Romeo and Juliet to her Stage 5 English Learning Support Group. I thought I would apply some of the things I had learned from this course so far in particularly the use of technologies. I came across an excellent resource that can be used for any English Unit From Read, Write, Think:

Modern-Day Interpretation Projects

1. Headline News Story Choose a modern-day event that mirrors an event that occurred in the text. Create a headline news Web page and two or three related links based on the event for a Web-based news site. To get an idea of length, format, and the kinds of links typically included in such stories, visit news sites on the Web.

2. Instant Messages or Text Messages Rewrite a dialogue between two characters from the text in modern-day format as if it took place online through instant messages or on cell phones or another tool using text messages.

3. Blogging Rewrite a monologue from the text (e.g., the speech of one person) as a blog entry or a series of blog entries. Include appropriate links to other Web pages, and comments that other characters from the text might leave on the blog entries.

4. Podcasting Rewrite a monologue or dialogue from the text as a podcast (a self-published, syndicated "radio shows"). Record your project as an audio file or create the transcript of the show that you might post online with the audio file. Be sure to include details on background sounds and music if you write a transcript for your project.

5. What if? Find a scene in the text that you believe would have been radically different given the existence of a certain piece of advanced high-tech equipment. Name the item and describe how and why the scene would have been different, and how it would have affected the outcome of the play.

6. Digital Artifacts Imagine that you find portable disk next to the computer of one of the characters from the play. It might be a floppy disk, Zip disk, USB keychain disk, or another device. This storage disk contains personal documents—letters, “to do” lists, data, and poems written by the character for his or her eyes only. Decide on four or five documents, recreate them, invent file names for each, and create a (fake) printout of the disk directory. Put all these together in a packet about the character.

7. Playlist Choose one of the characters from the text and create a playlist that that character would have on his or her iPod or MP3 player. Invent the name for the playlist, and create a list of the names of the songs, artists, the albums the songs came from, and other relevant details in your word processor. Alternately, if you have the resources available, you can burn a CD of the character’s playlist and create a CD label with the appropriate details.

8. Reality TV Show Imagine that the characters from the text are part of a reality TV show. Rewrite a scene from the text as it would have been caught from the surveillance cameras of the show. Film your scene using a video camera, or write a transcript of the scene (including details on background sounds, setting, and props).

9. Technology Product Endorsement Have a character in the text endorse a technology product—design a letter or short narrative where the character tells readers why they should purchase or support the product.

10. PowerPoint Presentation Rewrite a monologue from the text as a PowerPoint presentation. Imagine that the character is presenting the information to a modern audience using text, images, and other features available in PowerPoint (or another online presentation tool).Create the PowerPoint presentation that the character would use.