Reflective Blog

Lesson one

"Trying to stay on track" 

I am waiting for my "Eureka" that marries Dewey and all of the other needs in my library. Organization is important and in September I taught all the kids the Dewey system by having the students create their own posters by organizing subject pictures I gave them under the Dewey headings. What I find frustrating is that I have all of these picture books in the collection that strongly support the non fiction collection but they are catalogues in E. For example, I have all several Haida/ West Coast aboriginal stories blended in the picture book section but when I have to pull the Early Canada/Aboriginal books for a grade 4 class I can never find all the titles through my catalogue. I also wonder why fairytales are included in Dewey's system when I feel they belong with the other picture books:)


Lesson 2: Access


Regardless of which aspect (Physical, Intellectual or Digital) of access we are considering, part of having effective "access" means organization and maintenance must be completed on the collection in order to promote effective circulation. Physical access leads me to think about the environment, I dream of working in a children's' library as described in lesson two which has organized the physical collection around a beautiful space to inspire imagination. Digital access leads me to think about the possibilities for students to obtain information and create. Intellectual access reminds me how me must scaffold digital tool boxes to navigate the sea of information. In the course discussion the idea of selection and censorship was addressed and the role of internet filters in censoring information. The TL has a large role in both of these topics as additional online resources are added to our schools.


 I embrace the digital revolution and truly believe one of my roles is to promote digital literacy. However, I can not sacrifice nurturing a love of reading and connecting children with good literature in order to promote digital literacy for the sake of time.


My analogy, children can be given book but if they are not taught the language they will never be able to grow and expand their skills.

The Learning Commons is an interesting "paradigm" flip as we move from library- user relationship to community relationship and creating increased digital and physical access towards the community. My thoughts on the the Google/Microsoft mindset is yes, I agree we need to do a lot less structuring of libraries but I think more than ever students need the skills to navigate the internet and trained teacher librarians can assist with this in collaboration with the teacher. 


Lesson 3- Metadata- We are swaddled in our own cocoon of metadata when searching

It is still a bit of a mystery how “results” emerge on various search engines but I have learned many new things during this lesson that will help me explain to my students how files are added to Google and Yahoo (spiders that are crawling the web) and how geographic location impacts a search. I understand the need for metadata schemes (structured data which describes characteristics/elements  of a resource) and I am going to ask our cataloguers what rules they follow Dublin or AARC2. 

My son all swaddled reminds me of an internet searcher- you see only what is available to you given your location and the defining elements.

Lesson 4- Cataloging 

These basic terms are all starting to make sense  and as a new TL I think it is critical to maintain the integrity of library organization but to also keep up with the  changes digital information literacy brings. AARC2, Classification scheme, Dewey Decimal Classification and Machine Readable Cataloguing are the terms that actually "clicked" for me in this lesson. 

AARC2- Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd ed., revised. (American Library Association, the Library Association (U.K.) and the Canadian Library Association, 1988-). A detailed set of standardized rules for cataloging various types of library materials. Divided into two parts: rules for creating the bibliogrpahic description and rules governing the choice and form of entry of headings (access points) in the catalog.

Classification scheme: A scheme, usually consisting of numbers or alphanumericor other notation that categorizes or subdivides a subject area or collection of materials. Most classification schemes were originally intended to organize physical items on the shelf. The result was a unique shelving location (call number) for each item that facilitated browsing of material by subject or author.

Dewey Decimal Classification: http://www.oclc.org/dewey. A system of classifying library and archival materials, particularly in small and medium size libraries. An all-numeric systems, with new numbers added by decimal expansion.

MAchine Readable Cataloging (Library of Congress): http://www.loc.gov/marc/marc.html. A series of detailed standards for the structuring or tagging of data to facilitate the interchange of records between databases or files. The principal format is teh MARC 21 Format for Bibliographic Data, used for descriptions of library and archival materials. There are also formats for Authority (for controlled vocabularies, or established lists of preferred terms with cross references, Holdings, Classification, and Community Information. First developed in the 1960s.

http://gondolin.rutgers.edu/MIC/text/how/catalog_glossary.htm

Starting to figure out how the exersaucer (in my case catalogue)  works cause (you look)  and effect (you find)  created action (based on predetermined factors) !

Lesson 5

After reading through Lesson 5  (and assigned readings) the universal way that information about library materials is organized and various access point options is starting to make sense. In AARC2 the ISBD 8 areas of description give a process for recording information and the comparison activity of resource/record was practical. I gravitate towards the idea of moving towards a more “collocated” cataloguing system, it makes sense that subjects are strung together much like the spiders used in metadata schemas. The term future knowledge organization” resonated with me used in the Serial Librarian reading for many reasons. We are not simply housing physical items, we live in a digital world with many electronic resources which require a level of organization that is not available with main entry organization. 

Things are starting to "click"

Lesson 6

The wind and the sail work together just like AACR and Marc 

"AACR tells us what bibliographic information to include and Marc tells us how to code it" (article from course package lesson 6) is something that resonated with me. From sections we move into tags and fields.  Learning  how to create a Marc record has been interesting.  I am pleased that I can look at a record, tell if it is "over sized",  read a summary, look at the awards, find out if it is a series etc. 
As I was reading the Marc record descriptions “data signposts” makes me think about the change from video to CD to DVD to Blueray- and how the endless software updates required to search for the description is limitless. In a world that is changing so fast I can understand the need to maintain consistency in libraries. I found the various activities (looking at a cover and then comparing the Marc record and making my own Marc record) a good learning experience. My "aha" was VPL records don’t use delimiter symbols $a symbols, their records are “symboless” they don’t use indictor codes (a,b,c) but our course readings does.... My analogy is learning Marc record code is like being a new mom- hard:) 

 Lesson 7: Copy Cataloguing 

The possibilities

Working on my mini collection/website is dovetailing with the lessons quite nicely. I found the section on enhancing in the 5XX Marc section very useful for creating additional notes that will help the users find out more information about the book.  for example, many online resources do not have descriptions so I was able to include a quote from the introduction section of the document to give the reader a clear sense of the contents. Especially as we turn into a more electronic  society flexibility with some sections allows libraries to move forward.


Re read Fritz's chapter and a few points stood out for me again:

AARC 

• Part one tells us how to describe the materials we collect
• Part 2 tells us how to add searchable terms  (access points)’
• Subject headings we use Sears and call numbers is Dewey
• Format integration ( all the different kinds of materials- maps, globes, visuals, etc.) occured as MARCs evolved

When making a MARC begin with general descriptive rules and then change to the specialized chapter for the specific resource.

Two resources I found interested on the OLLC site were: Worldcat (global library) and Cat express (purchase from World library) and you can catalogue records in their template

Worldcat is a global library and gives users access to a wider range of resources- it is truly amazing that all of that cataloguing information can be housed in one area. I searched “early Learning framework” one of my documents and it was #2 in the search results.

Amimcus is wonderful for our French Immersion schools. Often educators have a harder time finding resources to support the curriculum and end up using English resources to illustrate a concept or explain a diagram. Having worked in a French Immersion school I can understand the teachers’ dilemma, curriculum calls but so does the mandate for 100% French until grade 4 .

Lesson 8: Subject Cataloguing

-       As I read this weeks readings, I found the statement that children need to understand underlying structure of an index: keyword vs subject (cars vs automobiles) very helpful. Often as I try to help children find books I wonder if I truly understand the difference. That is why I loved the resource library thing- the natural language tags. 

-       Subject headings- Sears/Congress “controlled headings” vs  User generated  (on delicious) marks the main difference between library cataloguing and online searching 

-       Lack of precision with tagging systems

-       LC produces a list for children

-       Folksonomy – “tags" not standard or uniform but more natural language

-       Assigning multiple headings is a good thing- more access to the collection

-      This is an interesting way to find information about a topic. It is a bit like Wikipedia, or it reminds me of it, random websites pop up and through bookmarking you can start to adjust your search terms depending on what comes up. For example, I started with "early learning" as my search term and then after a handful of sites came up related to early learning and then started referring to early risers I switched my searching to earlychildhood and found a few more. I like the idea that you can save a bunch of sites in one place and come back to it to really go through them all. Much easier than doing a google search and printing off the first page so I will remember the link like I usually do, or copy/paste into work. This is my social bookmarking sites I collected:
   

       http://www.delicious.com/kyorke

This picture reminds me of a resource without the appropriate subject terms so users can find it. It will just sit on a shelf or in cyber space until the "magic" term can unlock it:)

Lesson 9: Dewey Decimal Classification

Finding the right spot makes all the difference

Three main types of classification systems

1.     Enumerative- alphabetical listing of subject headings, number s are assigned to each heading

2.     Hierarchical – divides subjects from most general to most specific

3.     Faceted – divides subjects into mutually orthogonal facets

DDC and LCC

·      What do we assign electronic documents?

·      We use the abridged edition but the abridged Web Dewey would be useful

·      “ Library of Congress subject headings (LCHS) that have been intellectually mapped to Dewey headings by DDC editors, including many from the forest Press publication Subject Headings for children

Classification Rules

-       Always put a book where it will get the maximum usage

-       Bend the rules to suit your local needs

Activity

I found a website  http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/Dewey+Decimal+System
that had little bingo pictures of many different Dewey numbers. To open the document you need to have publisher on you computer but the card pics are wonderful.  


 I had the kids create posters by starting with the 9 main classes written in felt pen and then cut and glue the little pictures under the different headings. Then the kids had to sort a pile of books using their poster as a guideline. We made the sorting timed and the kids had a bell to ring when they were finishedJ

Lesson 10: Other sources of Cataloguing 

Of the 7 sources of obtaining or creating cataloguing records listed:

1.     District centralized cataloguing

2.     Purchasing records

3.     Freelance cataloguers

4.     Bibliographic utilities and CD-Rom products

5.     Copied cataloguing

6.     Exchange of records

7.     Cataloguing in Publication

Our district is large enough to support District Library Services and we have centralized cataloguing with an option to access the union catalogue and attach books to our personal locations. I am sure each source has it’s strength and weakness but one strength I can see is that funding DLS in our district creates a uniform standard and some consistency about how resources appear online and in each library. Although the cataloguing department can amend the record “for local needs” the records are consistent when the item is attached to each collection.

Looking at what Follet, ULS, Jobbers and OCLC offer is overwhelming. The following quotes are what each service offers:

According to the Follett site “Follett offers complete cataloging data as specified by the Library of Congress in MARC21 (formerly called USMARC) and MicroLIF formats for all titles. Both formats are enhanced with complete annotations, either Library of Congress or Sears Subject Headings, or both, and shelflist information including reading level (if applicable), interest level, and review sources.”

According to the guest site ULS “ceased to use commercial sources for cataloguing and created an in-house "Value Added Services" department. ULS also incorporated major changes in its computer system to accommodate the growing needs for electronic methods.”

“Become a part of WorldCat, and your library adds its holdings to the world's largest and most comprehensive catalog. With 247 million bibliographic records that represent more than 1 billion individual items held by participating institutions, patrons and Web users find what they're looking for and your staff enjoys high hit rates in their cataloging and resource-sharing activities.”

After reading through the four sites I have so many unanswered questions. We all do individual purchasing. I am motivated to purchase from Kidsbooks because of the service they provide and guidance. As a new librarian I do not have time to read every new fiction/non fiction book, I barely have time to print the book lists! So I rely on the experts and I have my students test the new materials. Sometime parents too! However, my hunch is that our district does all their own cataloguing so it is not an issue to purchase “follet bound” or use “added value services” from ULS. I am sure the district must consult WorldCat (OCLC) for some of their cataloguing questions but I suspect they work from CIP.

So I posed the question, "Where do you get your cataloguing information from?" and this was my response:

Hi, Kristi.  We do not purchase cataloguing -- it typically isn't of high quality as it is generic and not tailored for our collections.  We also never rely on CIP as it changes too much from the pre-pub information to the finished product.  We subscribe to Alliance+ through Follett and we use Z 39.50 links to find records, which we then edit.  We also do a lot of original cataloguing when we can't find a good record, especially for British and Australian materials, using the book in hand.  

Cindy John

Librarian-Cataloguer II

Burnaby School Board

Phone: 604 664-8283

After reading her  on her response, I was happy to see my thoughts dovetailed with what is good practice. I had written " my thoughts are that access to the gateway of library catalogues could save a lot of time for cataloguers in our district who are trying to find the correct information to insert into the fields. A good link to book mark!
 http://www.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html " and indeed I was correct. 

I do have a question that I posed on the discussion site, I wrote " I searched Goodnight Moon (something from my digital collection) and clicked on the record, it had all the information but for the Dewey number is said Dewey  No.:     [E] 21, however I put E WIS (Easy: First three letters of the last name). Anyone know why it would be E 21? " 

and the responses xxxxxxx. 

1.     

Directed Reflection: 

Originally when I started my position this year I was horrified at the 3 boxes of uncatalogued resources that were left for me and teachers and students were asking for items. So I lent them out and I wrote their names on a manual take out sheet. It was a band aid, the teacher and students were happy at the time but the picture book covers got a little bit rumpled, the books were not added to the collection so at a few book sales I ended up buying doubles and even a triple- so I will not do that again. However, I will make sure to time my buying (if I can) around inventory times in the library so that I can send everything out without the guilt of having it sit somewhere. The ability to attach books already in the union catalogue will alleviate some of the time lapse that occurs but I need some destiny training on how to do that. The farther I progress in this course the more inclined I am to begin an electronic book collection, however the logistics of it in our school are just not suitable at this time. I am going to set up a listening station and try to get all students to bring their library cards and access Tumblewood books from BPL so they can start to have increased access to electronic resources available in our district. 

Sometimes you have to "explore" the situation before coming up with a process:)

Lesson 11: The Library Catalogue

In Lesson 11 notes, there is a great summary of the importance of online catalogues and why they are so important for school libraries.

"Automated library management systems can support resource-based learning and teaching and student information literacy by:

•   Providing access to all learning resources in the system.

•   Allowing students and staff to use a variety of search strategies to find appropriate resources

•   Promoting effective circulation of resources and resource sharing.

•   Encouraging staff and students to access a broad range of age/grade appropriate print, non-print, electronic and digital resources from a variety of sources

•   Providing an effective option for identifying and booking or reserving learning resources from other parts of the school or from home."

(Cited in Lesson 11 notes, Excerpted from: Achieving Information Literacy)

As I was working through the lesson This point about effective circulation procedures made me wonder what is the alternative to no fines, full access  and the ethical/practical implications of limiting access. In theory it is good to say we forgive fines but in reality we have such a small budget, shouldn't we find ways to protect it even if it means limiting physical access? 

•   “A consistent approach to overdue loan issues is essential. Overdue policies should assist with access to learning resources not apply unnecessary restrictions. Fines are not usually applied in BC schools. Other measures should be applied consistently.” (course notes, lesson 11)

My comments about exploring the Destiny system at my school. 

I have been using the Destiny system in my .6 TL job for several months (since Sept. ) and find it very challenging to use without a lot of training. The reports are easy enough to figure out but setting them up in the system perm. Requires some training and the little practical things like clearing patron’s fines etc. tend to be finicky. I wish the calendars were set up for the whole district to remind me when breaks are… just a little complaint.

Reading about overdues- I need to set it one week for primaries, the teachers always ask who still has books out and unless it beeps at me I never know. I love how I can set up reports to run automatically for overdues. Holds are a pain, we don’t do them. I have volunteers constantly helping with check in and sometimes classes return all the items right when I start to read the story so there is not time to write out all the holds.

Blog activity/post:

Please post your thoughts in your blog about the following**: The degree to which a library catalogue can be consulted easily by teachers and students is of great significance if teacher-librarians wish to encourage user-independence. A flexible catalogue will allow broader use of the school library.

I do agree that a catalogue needs to be easily accessible by students and teachers. Like anything students and teachers need practice using it, they need tasks that require them to use the catalogue or to become comfortable and confident with the process for them to start using it independently. In my opinion children and teachers need to memorize their computer access codes or always bring them to the library or even better have them on their library card- although this could be a confidentiality issue…. So much of using anything on a computer is having the time to explore and practice!

I have gone room to room and showed staff how to book things on the DLRC (District Library Resource Center site) but in my opinion it should be touch based like MACS. Teachers want to touch the screen and then see the object or book, touch for a summary, see collocated ideas for a topic/grade of study. This would be so beneficial for our students as well! Collocating would help new teachers (and new TLs) start to see the kinds of resources available from the centralized DLRC and within our own libraries. One complaint from teachers is that it takes too long to go through all the resources available and if you forgot to print the list of things you ordered last time for “Ancient Egypt” then it is lost forever. Saving each teacher’s “requests” under their user id login would be so beneficial. Maybe there are some of these features and I just don’t know how to use them?

A system is only as good as those who know how to follow it: 

My system for time management, their system for fun !

Lesson 12: Organizing Online Resources- The School Library Home Page

This comment fuels my desire to update our webpage and create a set of links that will improve access for students. "Providing access to online digital learning resources can present ideal opportunities through which teacher-librarians can support resource-based learning and teaching and promote student enquiry. Digital resources can supplement textbooks, library books and other school-based learning resources (Course notes, module 11)". I also think it is important to purchase media enhanced resources to increase access. 

As Joyce Valenza's webquest outlines that taxonomy of a website as including and promoting: Information Access and Delivery, Teaching and Learning, Supporting Books and Reading and lastly Program Administration, I realise I have to update my school website/homepage. In this course for assignment 3 I have focused on improving access in two of the areas:  supporting books and reading and information access and delivery but not teaching and learning and program administration. 

In our course notes, I love the comment “Your library homepage is your second front door” in some ways it may be the front door for working families. 

My discussion responses: 

•   How essential is a school library homepage and can we do without one? Consider grade levels, the size of the school etc.

I looked at the WIKI at  http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/

and found it overwhelming, I couldn’t find the proper link to a website web quest and found it terribly unorganized. Key headings, and sub headings should be mandatory. However, our course notes were extremely helpful and looking at several of the best sites I formed some opinions. 

 I think a school library homepage is essential if we are TL’s in the 21^st century teaching information and literacy skills and embracing our communities through supporting them in their quest of information literacy. I am not sure the topic “curriculum” connections are essential because information is always changing and sites pop up every day however at a minimum I do believe we need to provide links to services (such as read a louds) and to databases and online resources that our district pays for. Blogs are a wonderful way to  communicate with the community, connecting parents with the library blog is something that could happen over parent teacher interviews and through that current information could be circulated.

 Based on the sites that you reviewed, what are the most important elements of an attractive, useable school library homepage? Be very specific.

The site I liked the most was the Prince of Whales

http://pw.vsb.bc.ca/library/index.htm home page (slightly different URL than the one in our course notes (reference desk)). There were graphics, headings, then subheadings, colour, different sizes of font and text. However, I did not see a blog and I think that is a shame because a blog really keeps the library connected with the staff and students/community if it is read. I would love to see a “if you want to be added to this blog or website click here” button on many of the sites I reviewed, it would be nice to have updates when new content is added instead of creating a list of bookmarks and revisiting them when I have time. 

 If you have been successful in developing a school library homepage, do you have any suggestions for others on how this was accomplished? Was the effort involved in developing the homepage worth it?

I have just started updating my homepage with research links (assignment 3) and it is great to know I have made the information available and increased access for the school. However, I sent an email to staff and have not had much response. “OK great” was the common feedback but no one has asked me for the World book codes again…. I think I will have to come up with some kind of interactive way to get students and staff using the site.

As I read the “reflection” question I am happy to report that I am already thinking of how I can reach students and not teachers, not why should I reach them online…. J

The components of a good day at the park: weather, play equipment, snacks, wipes/diapers and family!

Lesson 13- Organizing Learning Resources

I read over this module/section with confidence. At my school we recently weeded 84 boxes, the library had not been updated in 25 years (meaning resources removed). We had awkward tall shelving lining the middle of the non fiction section and fiction section leaving no "carpet" space for story time. There is still a lot to do with regards to signage, it is my spring job to create graphic signs for the dewey topics (most popular) and to highlight author series that the kids like (Wimpy Kid etc. ) and the picture book and graphic novel sections. I laughed at the library warrior signs, especially the ones referring to smoke breaks-what a disgusting thoughts. I still have so many questions about organzing digital resources and creating virtual filing cabinets but that is for another day. I have formed the framework to see why it is important, create access and move my teaching and learning approach within the library to more of a commons approach. 

Activity to post: 

In order to improve access to learning resources, how important are physical changes in your own school library?If changes are necessary, how possible do you think these changes are? Will they require a large expenditure?

- creating a collection that is attractive and accessible is critical to encouraging users to browse the shelves and look for something that grabs their attention. Over crowded shelves are frustrating for students and librarians. So are too many shelves at incorrect heights. This is an ongoing project for me, I have weeded 84 boxes and removed several shelving units that were lining the middle of the room. I have lowered the books to reachable levels and used the higher shelves against the wall to "highlight" books. We would like to purchase round tables to support collaborative work, lower wood shelves to replace the high metal (and rusting in areas) shelves and I would love to see proper display shelves installed. However, with little to no money I have drastically changed the library simply by moving materials around in a more accessible manner and weeding.

This picture is a perfect example of what you can find if you just look at the natural environment and work with it:) 

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