Schultz jones2010 through the lens of new school librarians

THROUGH THE LENS OF NEW SCHOOL LIBRARIANS

The application of standards to delivering excellence to the profession

Barbara Schultz-Jones, PhDToby FaberJan Reed

IASL & SLAQ, Brisbane QLD Australia

Agenda

Background Method Results Discussion Implications Questions

IASL & SLAQ, Brisbane QLD Australia 2

Background

School library certification program online Students from Texas, other states, other

countries Program focuses on practitioner skills and

orientation to standards (AASL, state, etc.)

Examining the perceptions of graduating professionals

Perceptions of professional priorities as they consider the application of professional standards to the role of school librarian


Method

Electronic copies of 2 written assessments

39 graduating school librarians Summer and fall semesters of 2009

1st assessment Research paper discussing the top 3 trends or

issues, from their perspective, facing school librarians today as they apply school library standards

2nd assessment Track the postings of LM_Net listserv and

identify the top 3 issues of concern posted by contributing school librarians.


Method Student identification removed from the

papers Assignments were coded according to the

semester and the assignment LM01-LM23 TRSUM01 – TRSUM16 TRFAL01 - TRFAL14

3 coders examined each, individually Unit of analysis: issue Coding an iterative process among the coders Nvivo content analysis software Final list of 16 issuesIASL & SLAQ, Brisbane QLD

Australia

Results1. Advocacy2. Classification (organizing by genre)3. Collaboration (with teachers & administrators)4. Copyright5. Diversity of multicultural literature collection6. International Baccalaureate (IB) program7. Inquiry based learning8. Intellectual freedom (censorship/filtering)9. Information literacy10. Funding or budget 11. Library management12. Reading recommendations13. Role of the school librarian14. Scheduling (fixed or flexible)15. Space usage in the library16. Technology, including web 2.0


(alphabetically)

Results1. Technology, including web 2.02. Funding3. Copyright4. Information literacy5. Role of the school librarian6. Advocacy7. Collaboration8. Intellectual freedom (censorship/filtering)9. Classification of resources10. Reading recommendations 11. Multicultural literature collection12. Scheduling13. Space usage14. Inquiry based learning15. Library management16. International Baccalaureate (IB) program


(Ranked, all sources)

Results

1. Technology, including web 2.02. Funding3. Information literacy4. Collaboration5. Advocacy6. Intellectual freedom (censorship/filtering)7. Role of the school librarian8. Multicultural literature collection9. Copyright10. Library management11. Reading recommendations12. Scheduling


(Ranked, summer 2009)

Results

1. Technology, including web 2.02. Funding3. Advocacy4. Role of the school librarian5. Scheduling6. Intellectual freedom (censorship/filtering)7. Information literacy8. Inquiry based learning9. Multicultural literature10. Space11. Copyright12. International Baccalaureate program


(Ranked, fall 2009)

Results

1. Technology, including web 2.02. Copyright3. Classification of resources4. Information literacy5. Reading recommendations6. Role of the school librarian7. Collaboration8. Funding9. Space10. Multicultural literature11. Library management12. Scheduling


(Ranked, listserv)

Results Advocacy Classifying fiction

Collaboration Copyright Diverse collection IB program Inquiry

Intellectual freedom

Information literacy

Funding Library management Reading

Role Scheduling Space

Technology


ResultsDominant themes: Meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing information landscape

Sense of urgency Leadership role inherent in the shifting dynamics of

the school environment Student learning

Implications for learning using inquiry process Meeting the needs of students and teachers Where are the standards??!!

Issues were discussed in relation to standards (AASL)IASL & SLAQ, Brisbane QLD

Australia

Discussion Technology dominates Web 2.0 Expanding instructional skills Need to stay up-to-date Familiarity and comfort level Which ones to purchase Availability to students Assisting teachers with tools Recognition that a technology rich

environment is conducive to learningIASL & SLAQ, Brisbane QLD

Australia

Discussion

“What library services will suffer because money is spent on technology?”


Discussion Funding: “there are two factors that influence how

school library programs are run – budgets and standards”

“when librarians are filling a fundraising role it takes away time to devote to students”


Discussion

Information Literacy: Recurring issue: Acquiring and using the

skills to access and evaluate resources Missing: the ways to do so Issue identified for students Not a skill issue for librarians


Discussion

Inquiry based learning:

“Todd Effect” Ross Todd fall 2009 Stirring call to action

Impact: significant


Implications

“the advent of new technologies has made the job of librarians more relevant and essential than ever” Multiplicity of responsibilities Creativity challenge LIS education challenge


Implications

Listserv Encourage conversations Practitioner focus Research infrequent Lacking as a vehicle for research interaction Ongoing professional development


Future FocusIASL & SLAQ, Brisbane QLD

Australia


??Questions??

Contact Information

Barbara A. Schultz-Jones, Ph.D.Assistant Professor, Director, School Library ProgramDepartment of Library and Information SciencesCollege of Information, University of North Texas1155 Union Circle 311068, Denton, Texas 76203-5017Office: 940-369-8081Fax: [email protected]

Education

Schultz jones2010 through the lens of new school librarians