Reflection - The Future - ETL 505

As we move further into the digital age, with an ever increasing amount of digital resources to sift through and search engines to navigate, the need for organising information effectively and efficiently has become extremely important. As students rely more heavily on the Internet to find their information 24/7 we, as Teacher Librarians (TL's), need to be constantly mindful of the way we describe and organise our collections to ensure that they are easily accessible and user friendly. This accessibility relies, to a large extent on an effective, consistent Library catalogue. According to the Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians (ASLA, 2004), TL's must have a comprehensive understanding of national standards for information retrieval. We must be able to teach our students and colleagues how to access the information that they seek successfully and quickly, not just on the Internet but through our school's OPAC.

Metadata, according to Hider (2012, p. 6) supports the effective access to information resources by identifying resources, grouping resources together, and helping the user determine if that resource can and should be obtained. O'Connell (2013, p. 4) notes that Resource Description Access (RDA), the International cataloguing standard implemented in 2013, "is the new standard for metadata description of resources". She goes on to explain that the power of the RDA comes from the fact that it takes into account the Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records user tasks find, identify, select and obtain and the Functional Requirements for Authority Data user needs of find, identify, contextualise and justify. These models focus on the user and their needs as the starting points. For our students, we need to ensure that our metadata, its elements, values, format and transmission are managed with what works best for them. There are many questions surrounding RDA, its implementation and its future success. As more and more libraries begin to use it, it will be interesting to see the research that is carried out, especially in regards to Bibliographic control.

But how will metadata be used for information retrieval in the future?  What will description and organisation of resources look like in the future in school libraries? Are we heading down the track more towards digital libraries and what does that mean for our students? Budgets may be shrinking, library facilities may be changing but one thing is clear, information is a necessity in the school environment and so it is up to us, the TL to ensure that we provide our students with the skills they need to navigate, find, assess and use information responsibly. After all, providing the lifelong learner with information is what we do.
 


Australian School Library Association (2004). Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.aspx

Hider, P. (2012). Information Resource Description: Creating and managing metadata. London: Facet Publishing.

International Federation of Library Associations (1998). Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records. Retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/cataloguing/frbr/frbr_2008.pdf

O'Connell, J. (2013). RDA for school libraries: the next generation in cataloguing. Retrieved from http://heyjude.files.wordpress.com/2006/06/jocrdasept2103.pdf

Study visits

I am currently in the middle of my Professional placement. Whilst reviewing my notes from last week to fill in any gaps next week, I realised that I had not written about my Study visits yet. SIGH! Well, timing was not the best for the Study visits, Week 8, Term 3. Not much you can do about that so I wrote up teaching notes for the casual teacher and toodled off to Sydney for the 4 days. Traffic was shocking but I got to meet up with some of the names that I had 'met' through the various TL forums. Since I am short on time (1 Report, 1 assignment, finish off my Reflective portfolio, a teaching program to write, books to cover, finalise birthday plans for my daughter, 2 loads of washing and some ironing to do.......), I have copied an excerpt from my Reflective Portfolio to include here:
The study visits were inspirational and gave me lots of ideas. During the four days I only visited one school library as I thought that the whole idea was to have a look at different settings and different librarians. That visit in itself though was amazing. The Senior Librarian who, much like me is a reader first and loves to inspire those around her to read, gave practical ideas that you could use immediately. She was not big on displays but the displays that she had targeted the learners and readers. Her mantra is "build relationships first" and I could really relate to that. The other thing that I learned from her was about validity. I had learned about in some of the subjects but hearing how she uses statistics to validate her choices was important for me to hear. She is the epitome of a fabulous TL and I was so happy to have had the chance to learn from her.  I am now going back and documenting what has happened in the Library this year in regards to new books catalogued, morning visitors, books left on tables after lunch etc.  I have also looked at my Library system and worked out exactly how to compile some different statistics. I plan to use them in an infograph (like the one shown at TAFE-NSW - Ultimo) to take to the Principal to discuss the success of the Library this year. 

TL 505 - Hider text

I am feverishly working to finish my MedTL this year and have lots of juggling to do to say the least! Reading the Hider text is making me wonder if I am actually going to pass this subject (I am only in Module 1!) as I have had to read, re-read and then re-read my re-reading to make sense of it all. 

I will try to outline some of my understanding:
* Metadata (aka indexing, cataloguing or bibliographic data) has 4 aspects:
Elements - which describe attributes (author's name, title, subject etc.)
Values - words or numbers/content
Format - description needed to be compatible with the system you are working with
Transmission - the way it is linked to the metadata item
* In different information contexts, different elements, values and formats can come into play depending on environmental factors, characteristics of the users, technology and information resources.
* Haynes(2004) describes metadata as having 5 purposes - resource description, information retrieval, resource management, authenticity and ownership and interoperability

* Organising information resources to improve access to them involves; categorising, labelling and indexing

*  FRBR (Functional Requirements of Bibliographic Records) 4 User Tasks: 
Find - use attributes to FIND a record of this book
Identify - IDENTIFY the  predetermined resource
Select - used when a user doesn't know the particular resource they are looking for
Obtain - Use the location to find and borrow/buy the resource

Holidays - yay!

After a grueling 11 week term, school holidays are finally here. Hooray. Now it is time for me to buckle down and make sure that I have everything in order....
*Study visit organised and paperwork sent - check (but not going until early September)
*Placement organised and paperwork sent - check (but not going until late September/early October) - Problem #1 - Study visit and placement within weeks of each other
*Reflective portfolio underway - check (but just barely!)
Now to organise my Term 2 teaching program and assessments, Book Week activities and assembly, Premier's Reading Challenge bits and pieces, keep the kids amused, celebrate Easter, go away for a few relaxing days..........
Problem #2 -  There are only 2 weeks to do it all! Sigh.............

Busy, busy, busy

Last year I applied for an 8 week position as a Teacher Librarian in a local Primary school. I was offered the position and things really took off from there. It gave me the chance to use the knowledge that I had learned through my MedTL course and run with it. I enjoyed my time immensely and learned so much about staff dynamics, the need for advocacy of the TL position and the Destiny system and all it's pros and cons. The time went by too fast and in my last week I learned that the TL had decided to retire. The job was advertised as temporary part-time for 2014. Thankfully I got the position and am now doing something that I really love.

Thus the reason for few posts on my blog. I have now started the downhill run on my Masters with only two subjects left. For the next two semesters I  have both a job placement and a study visit that need to be completed and since I am a TL in a school, I am exempt from a school placement. I have decided to approach the University and see if I can work there. My problem, I must undertake this during school holiday time. :(  That means I have to push back my study visit until September. This is going to be one busy, busy year!

Children's literature and child development

Just coming up for air after handing in Assignment 1b and thought I'd post a few things I've learned so far in this unit with regards to children's literature and child development.
* Rosenblatt's theory of reader response is an excellent guide to how a child will respond to a book. There are two types of responses to a text-
1) efferent responses in which readers are reading for information, looking for answers within the literature, drawing conclusions and generating opinions from what they have read and                                        
2) aesthetic responses which are more emotionally based and ask the reader to communicate how they felt or what they experienced as they were reading a text.

* Erikson's 8 stages of development can help with book selection: (only looking at the first 5 stages)
1) Trust vs mistrust (birth- 1and1/2yrs.) - books about parents bonding with children
2) Autonomy vs shame (1 and 1/2 - 3yrs) - books about independence
3) Initiative vs guilt (3-5yrs) - books about mastering skills, demonstrating responsibility and sense of purpose, children and increasing initiative
4) Industry vs inferiority (5-12 yrs) - books about developing new relationships beyond the family, positive peer relationships, adventure and intrigue, world around them
5) Identity vs identity confusion (Adolescence) - books about coming of age, searching for own identity etc.

* Piaget's 4 stages of cognitive development:
1) Sensory motor
2) Pre-operational (2-7 yrs) - look for stories about relationships, constructive play, asking questions, following rules, make-believe
3) Concrete - operational (7-11 yrs) - stories about problem solving, combining ideas to solve problems, mentally retracing steps, how appearances can be deceiving
4) Formal - operational (11 -    ) - books with themes about abstract and logical thinking

Children's Literature - ETL402 - the beginning!

This week I started the subject that I have been most looking forward to in this entire course, Children's Literature. I have always had a love of picture books and sharing my favourite books with my own kids has been a lot of fun. We have all come to love The Jolly Postman series by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Surprisingly though, my love of the Hairy Maclary series (I love the rhyme, rhythm and illustrations) has stopped at me. My son, from early on has shown a love for Pamela Allen and will still occasionally bring home one even though he is nearly 9 and they aren't in his "section" of the school library. My daughter is more of a mystery when it comes to books. Early on she liked any character that she saw on tv that was on the cover of a book, now, at 5 and a half there is no one author in particular she just likes any book about fairies or princesses. 

Some of the readings for ETL 402 deal with the history of children's literature and this, which I thought was going to be quite boring and tiresome, turned out to be very interesting. 
Some highlights are:  
* Middle Ages - stories were passed down orally and acted out in plays
* 1440's - Gutenberg invented the printing press
* 1476 - Caxton introduced the printing press to England
* 1500's - Illustrations began to accompany text
* 1689 - 1800's - The New England Primer, that taught the alphabet and lesson in morality, became popular and is thought to have sold between 6 to 8 million copies
* 1697 - Charles Perrault published French fairy tales titled "Tales of Mother Goose" and children started to read for enjoyment
* Early 1770's - adventure books became popular with Robinson Crusoe (DeFoe, 1719) and Gulliver's Travels (Swift, 1726) being published
* 1744 - Newberry published "A Pretty Little Pocketbook", written and illustrated exclusively to entertain and teach children. Illustrations became coloured, not woodcut.
* 1812 - Grimm brothers published their book of fairy tales
* 1846 - Lear published the first book of limericks and humour, "The Book of Nonsense"
* From 1860's genres in children's literature began expanding with stories about , family (Little Women by Alcott in 1867); animals (The Jungle Book by Kipling in 1894); fantasy ( Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Carroll in 1865); science fiction (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Verne in 1870); and poetry ( A Child's Garden of Verse by Stevenson in 1885).
* 1860's - Evans mastered mutiblock wood engraving and colour printing became less expensive and picturebooks for children began being published
* 1906 - Anderson's original fairy tales were published
* Early 1900's - separate divisions for children's literature were created in publishing houses. Children's rooms were created in libraries
* 1920's - Book week was established
* Late 1920's - children's books cost aproximately $2 and were usually onlt bought as Christmas or birthday presents. Simon Shuster began publishing Golden books for 25c
* 1930's - the offset press which developed. This enabled books to be printed in colour, inexpensively and in large quantities
* 1934 - comic books were introduced and crossword puzzle books began to be published
* 1950's - information books flooded the market
* 1971 - Scholastic began to market book clubs to Australian schools
* 1980's - Children's books were linked with popular tv shows and videos and audio tapes were released 
* 1990's - digital books began to emerge

(Information from: Barone, D. M. (2011). A brief history of children's literature. Children's literature in the classroom : engaging lifelong readers (pp. 8-19). New York: Guilford Press and Madej, K. (2003). Towards digital narrative for children: from education to entertainment, a historical perspective. ACM Computers and Entertainment, Vol. 1, No. 1.)

Bogged down ...moving on

Unfortunately I got bogged down in EER500, the reading, the research question, the refining of the research question and the re-refining of the research question that I forgot to add to my blog. Whoops!! Now that Assignment 2 has been handed in I can reflect on my learning. I found it really hard to go through all the motions of the research but finishing it with no real end. For those of you who have done the subject you will know, you don't go through with the research you just write about it. It's a little frustrating and I must admit, I didn't do a thorough job as I should have. By the time I had written 2000 words I was exhausted. There is a lot of reading and justifying of why you would use a particular research method over another. My downfall, of course, the justifying. So by the time I got to the last 1000 words I was checking ever paragraph..am I there yet?? Not good.

I cannot rave enough about our lecturer though. Bev is the first lecturer who made me feel like an actual student and not just a name in the forum. She reached out and was concerned about your progress, she emailed you back straight away, she made herself available for any little query and for that I am very thankful. The topic was hard but the lecturer, the best! I am hoping that I run across her again at some stage but who knows, 5 subjects down now, 3 to go!!!!!!! :)

Research topic dramas

I am a big fan of Bev's policy, "Don't stew" but have found myself doing just that. Honing in on a research topic has been tricky. According to Cresswell (2012), to begin your research you need to identify an educational issue that needs to be resolved. Well, I have a few doozies to choose from. My main concern is that the Teacher Librarian will become a thing of the past, replaced by library technicians or teachers aides. Secondly I am concerned about the NSW government's idea, proposing that the Principal should be in charge of allocating funds at their school. But how to turn these issues into research questions has got me "stewing". With less than a week until this part is due to be handed in, I'm going to have to go with option 3..... to be continued...

The semester begins.....

After losing my study mojo last year, I am back and ready to go!
I must admit that this subject scares me - Introduction to Educational Research. After reading the subject outline, it seems extremely daunting. On the plus side though, the lecturer, Bev Moriarty seems fabulous! I am a big fan of her positive outlook and go-get 'em attitude. Quite refreshing really. This is something that I need to remember myself, when entering a classroom, that positive energy goes a long way towards a great day of learning.
 I am off to tackle Assessment 1 (Part A) due in 2 weeks.... yikes! Wish me luck!

Has anyone fed the fish while I've been on leave??

I received an email today requesting my subject choices for next year. Hmmm. After a leave of absence, am I ready to study again? The short answer is no. The longer answer is, I am still discouraged by the comments made by the lecturer in regards to my assignments for the last two subjects. As someone who wants to be a Teacher Librarian but is not affiliated with a library because I am a casual teacher, I am finding it hard to put myself into the roles of a TL and write about them in explicit detail. (While I am writing this I am being reminded of the second reason I took a leave of absence; "Mummy, I'm hungry." and my favourite, "Mummy, what can I do now?")

So, as someone who takes on challenges with a smile (most of the time) and finishes what they start, I have re-enrolled for study next year. Call me crazy..............oh, well, at least the fish will get fed!

Reflection - ETL504

This has been a long semester for me and after much contemplation I am going to have to take time off to get some things sorted out. This topic has been an interesting one but quite draining and frustrating at times. It is hard when you aren't in a library and you don't see the goings on to envision how things could be better. For me then, Assignment 2 about the vision statement, was quite generalised. I am sure my feedback will be, as was in the first, a good beginning but ..... I was quite disheartened by the grade in Assignment 1 and now, sadly,am just hoping for a pass for this unit. I feel that as a casual teacher with the dream of being a Teacher Librarian, it just isn't enough. Perhaps I should take the information that I have learned from these subjects and be pro-active. I need to volunteer my time in a library. Perhaps that is what I'll do in my 'time off'.

So, what else did I learn from Teacher Librarian as a leader? It all seems to come back to collaboration, having good people skills and showing initiative. The concept of leading from the middle was an interesting one. It taught me that just because others don't see you as a leader, doesn't mean that you aren't one. Being a leader isn't always about telling people how to do things but by showing through attitude, work ethic, flexibility and passion that your job is important and you can help others do their jobs more easily and efficiently. You can lead by example.

The Teacher Librarian is in such a unique position because they have contact with everyone at the school. They can put their own personal stamp on everyone they meet and advocate their roles at the same time. They can use change processes like the CBAM model to help teach others about new technologies and practices. They can work with challenging staff members because they know how to manage different personality types and leadership styles. They can make a difference at their school no matter what the obstacle.

The roles and responsibilities of the Teacher Librarian are many and varied but I can honestly say that I am looking forward to the challenges and the triumphs that await me.

Libraries of the future

Researching for assignment 2 and the vision statement for the library, I came across this blog titled, 10 Changes to Expect from the Libraries of the Future. http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/04/10-changes-to-expect-from-the-library-of-the-future) Instead of the doom and gloom of libraries and librarians becoming obsolete in the future, these writers talk about how the role of the librarian may change for the better. They discuss how libraries raise the bar by adapting to the changes of technology and always endeavour to adapt for their patrons. Long live the librarian!

Leadership styles

The first part of assignment one for ETL 504 focused on Daniel Goleman who conducted research through Hay/McBer and found 6 different types of Leadership styles that are related to components of Emotional Intelligence.
These styles are:
* Coercive (Commanding). These leaders demand immediate compliance.
* Authoritative (Visionary). These leaders move staff together towards a vision.
* Affiliative - These leaders create harmony in the workplace and develop emotional bonds among staff members.
* Democratic - These leaders use participation to build a consensus among staff.
* Pacesetting - These leaders expect excellence and self-direction.
* Coaching - These leaders help staff to identify their strengths and weaknesses and use those to the best of their ability.

These leadership styles have direct impact on the working atmosphere within a company. The results show that the best leaders don't rely on one leadership style but change their style according to the situation and the person/people that they are dealing with.

The Emotional Intelligence component is broken up into 4 dimensions:
* Self awareness - realising your own strengths and limitations; using your gut to guide decision making and having self- confidence.
* Self management - displaying honesty, integrity, flexibility and optimism; ability to act quickly and grab opportunities as they arise and the drive to improve your own work performance.
* Social awareness - showing empathy towards others and showing an interest in their concerns; recognising and meeting needs of the clients.
* Relationship management - ability to guide and motivate others; using co-operation and team building to initiate and lead staff in new directions; use guidance and feedback to help staff be the best that they can be.

By using positive emotions in the workplace, leaders can bring out the best in all of their staff members.

Thoughts on A School without a Principal

An interesting idea of shared leadership at a school with 450 students in California (back in 1998) written by Barnett, McKowen and Bloom. Not wanting to have one person as leader, a team of shared leaders was put in place. The ideas in this article struck a chord with me: the needs of the school must outweigh individual needs; there needs to be quality communication between staff and students as well as between staff members; the success of the shared leadership depends on openness and honesty and a commitment towards problem solving and reflection.

I could also really relate to the idea that there are 5 givens that must be conveyed through everything that is done at the school:
1. Community
2. Inclusion
3. Professionalism
4. Quality and
5. High expectations.

If only every school focussed on these 5 ideals, imagine what type of education our students would receive from each and every teacher.

Teacher Librarian as Leader

This week I started my 4th subject on my journey to become a Teacher Librarian. I have read quite a few things so far and it makes sense that the TL should be viewed as a leader within the school. Leaders are visionary, they manage budgets and staff and they want the best for their studentsso they try to be forward thinking in their programming and teaching strategies. So too, the TL.

As I wrote on the forum, I could really relate to the Streeton Primary School reading on The 12 Quality Principles. The examples are given in an educational context that helps to illustrate important points about teamwork within a school; quality leadership; meeting the needs of students; putting plans into action; fostering good relationships with those we work with and reflecting on needs and successes within a school so as to be able to improve upon what is happening in the school.

My son's school has been undergoing a lot of change - Principal retired in Week 6 of Term 4 last year and the 4 assistant Principals were in charge until the end of the year. This year they have a relief Principal for first term and then the 'real' Principal will be appointed starting next term. Due to this lack of leadership many teachers have taken the first term off, hoping to start the year afresh with the new Principal. Unfortunately, the students are suffering and the lack of vision and teamwork is clearly evident. For me, this illustrates the need for strong leadership (and quality principles!), support among staff to create a shared vision and the ability to provide sound, educational programs for students instead of fillers to make due until the 'real' Principal arrives. My son is bored with the worksheets but loves the games that they get to play with their new teacher. Come on new Principal - this school needs some vision, some direction and focus for the students. The dwindling numbers are telling the sad tale, ie. lack of leadership and vision = fewer students to teach.

Seeing a Teacher Librarian in action

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing a Teacher Librarian (TL) in action. I was the casual in a Year 3 class for the day and the Library lesson had been overlooked. Since no-one had set up another class for me to teach, I took this as my opportunity to sit in (and help where I could) on a library lesson. It was fabulous, though I must say, the time flew by. The TL began the Library lesson by reviewing the rules of the Library. She then took the students on a tour of the Library because, as graduates from Infants, they were now able to borrow from other sections in the Library. She then introduced them to the school OPAC and had them search for books that they might be interested in reading. After this they were allowed to select books and borrow. I walked around with a few students who weren't really sure about what they wanted to borrow. It was great to have the chance to talk to them about their interests and to find books that they were excited to take home and read. All too soon the bell rang and I was off to my recess duty.... It really was a great opportunity for me to see a TL in action.

Budgeting - yet another role of the Teacher Librarian

Another aspect of Teacher Librarianship that I gave little thought to was budgeting. Again, I am forced to look at the ever increasing roles of the Teacher Librarian and wonder how do they fit it all this stuff in???!!! How will I fit all this in? After many deep breaths, I started reading...

The Debowski (2001) chapter was long but extremely informative and helped me sort out the different facets of budgeting that a TL has to deal with in my own mind. Through the article many goals arose:
* build a funding base so financial support is easily achieved
* ensure that your collection reflects the needs of the users
* be visibly accountable by publishing outcomes
* hand in a budget submission every year
* maintain a record of the costs associated with providing
electronic services
* evaluate your collection using collection mapping to
identify needs and areas that are lacking.

Lamb and Johnson (2007) identified 3 roles of the TL as a good budget manager:
1) Collaborator - collaborate with members of the school community to secure and allocate money for the budget.
2) Steward - a leader who seeks input from others; bases choices on needs of the community; can account for all spending; implement and assess results and communicate these results to the community.
3) Thinker - search for ways to gain additional funding but also make the most of what you have.

The thing I related to most though was in the Marge Cox (2008) article when she stated, "Put on your own oxygen mask first". In her article she says this as a reminder that the TL should include items in the budget that will keep you up-to-date with what is going on in your profession. I read this and saw myself, hyperventilating on my first day as a TL ..... so many roles for one person.

Copyright

Very interesting reading of the copyright laws for schools and TAFE's. If you want to read more see: www.smartcopying.edu.au

Some of the more interesting things I found were:
* In Australia there is automatic protection of copyright.
* Schools can use DVD's and videos for non-educational purposes; eg. rainy days and on bus trips (if the school provides the movie) ONLY if schools have a Co-curricular licence. If the school does not have this license, permission must be gained from the movie's distributor to play the movie.
* Schools should not borrow DVD's from students or parents as they could be pirated. There are serious penalties for playing pirated movies in schools.
* The Teacher Librarian should not have to police copyrighting issues at the school - each teacher should be aware of the rules and the penalties involved if copyright is breached. (This involves website and internet copyright as well as print materials, electronic materials, dvd's etc.)

Creative commons:
Schools are able to use creative commons resources free of charge. This includes music, film clips and photos. A list of creative commons symbols can be found on the smartcopying website. This will help teachers identify resources that are protected under the creative commons licence.