…from the ground up.

Having assembled a team of “lay-teachers” to engage in a systematic review of our Main Library programs, collections, services, staffing, and, ultimately, facility, we decided we should provide members with a basic starting point. For our next meeting, all members are asked to read three pieces (listed below as well), and then each committee member will be assigned one of the following to read, annotate, and share understandings and insights from with the group at our next (half-day) meeting.

What “big-picture issues have we missed – understanding that we have not yet begun to get into the Nuts ‘n Bolts of what happens day by day in a contemporary school library – and what should happen there… rjr

ISB Main Library

Fa     Facilities Review – Internal Audit

R  Recommended Reading List: (NOT in approved MLA format, but note-referenced and numbered for reader referral. Downloadble free access (as of 16/10/08) websites listed)

A. Information Access/Use Trends and Technologies

3

1. The Horizon Report 2008 edition. A collaboration between New Media Consortium and Educause Learning Initiative.. http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2008-Horizon-Report.pdf

2. Harper, Meghan, and Jason Holmes. The Impact of Ubiquitous Computing on Library Facilities. ALA. http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/kqweb/kqarchives/volume35/353/353harperholmes.cfm

3. Stephens, Michael. Web 2.0 & Libraries, Part 2: Trends & Technologies. Library Technology Reports . ALA September–October 2007 . 2007 (PDF file obtained directly from the author. Request from R. Rubis at rubisr@isb.ac.th)

B. Social Networking Tools & Implications for Libraries

1. Aronson, Marc. Do Books Still Matter? School Library Journal. 4/1/2007. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6430154.html

2. Friese, Elizabeth E.G. Popular Culture in the School Library: Enhancing Literacies Traditional and New. Vol. 14, No. 2. School Libraries Worldwide. July, 2008. http://asselindoiron.pbwiki.com/SLE+14%3A2+Friese

3. Naslund, Jo-Anne & Dean Giustini. Towards School Library 2.0: An Overview of Social Software Tools for Teacher-Librarians. School Libraries Worldwide. July, 2007. http://asselindoiron.pbwiki.com/SLW+14%3A2+Nasland+and+Giustini

4. Stephens, Michael. Web2.0 & Libraries. Chapter 1. Exploring Web2.0 and Libraries. Library Technology Reports . ALA September–October 2007 (PDF file obtained directly from the author. Request from R. Rubis at rubisr@isb.ac.th)

C. Teaching/Learning Pedagogy and Standards

1. Standards for the 21^st Century Learner in Action. Draft 2. American Association of School Libraries Draft 2 (AASL) Sections available as individual downloads 2008.http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslproftools/standardsinaction/standardsinaction.cfm

2. Lewis, David W. A Strategy for Academic Libraries in the First Quarter oof the 21^st Century. College and Research Libraries. Sept. 2007.

3. Novotny, . I Don’t Think, I Click: a Protocol Analysis Study of the Use of a Library Online Catalog in the Internet Age. College & Research Libraries Nov. 2004. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crljournal/2004/november/Novotny.pdf

4. Valenza, Joyce Kasman. A Few New Things. Library Media Connection. blog post at; http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/760015876.html pdf; http://www.linworth.com/pdf/lmc/reviews_and_articles/featured_articles/Valenza_April_May2008.pdf

D. Facilities Design

1. Abilock, Debbie, ed. KQWeb. Facility Dreams. Knowledge Quest on the Web. ALA.. http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/kqweb/kqarchives/volume31/311Abilock.cfm

2. Johnson, Doug. Some design considerations. Originally published as “Questions to Ask When Building or Remodeling a New Media Center”) ERIC ED425609, Jan 1, 1998. http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/some-design-considerations.html

3. Myerberg, Henry. School Libraries: A Design Recipe for the Future. ALA http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/kqweb/kqarchives/volume31/311myerberg.cfm

4. Woodward, Jeannette. Human Error. When Good Intentions meet bad planning, library users pay the price. American Libraries, April 2007. http://windriverconsulting.com/files/0407_Feature_Woodward.pdf

For Further Reading:

ALA Annotated Bibliography on Building Libraries and Additions: http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=Library_Fact_Sheets&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=25417

ALA Information Literacy Links – http://www.lita.org/aasltemplate.cfm?section=aaslinfolit

School Libraries Worldwide., Volume 14, Number 2, July 2008 file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/rubisr/Desktop/LibReview%20Readings1008/Pair-Share/School%20Libraries%20WorldWide%20Volume%2014,%20Number%202%20-%20July%202008.htm

Library Blogs worth Browsing:

Blue Skunk Blog – Doug Johnson. Author Bio; Doug Johnson has been the Director of Media and Technology for the Mankato (MN) Public Schools since 1991 and has served as an adjunct faculty member of Minnesota State University since 1990. http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/

Infomancy – Christopher Harris – http://schoolof.info/infomancy/ Author Bio: Christopher Harris, leader of a School Library System in New York. Currently working on MLS… from a background in elementary teaching and instructional technology… These are my personal rambling thoughts from a different perspective on libraries, and do not reflect any position of my place of employment. I can be reached at infomancy@gmail.com.

NeverEndingSearch – Joyce Valenza – now hosted at School Library Journal. Author Bio: Joyce is the teacher-librarian at Springfield Township High School, a technology writer, and a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program at UNT’s School of Library and Information Science. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334.html

Tame the Web – Michael Stephens. Author Bio: Michael Stephens, Ph.D., is currently Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. http://tametheweb.com/

TeacherLibrarian Ning – (not a blog, but a social network created by Joyce Valenza to link librarians and explore Library2.0 issues. http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/

Sometimes (most of the time) I think my time would be better spent reading and trying to make sense of others’ thoughts rather than committing mine to paper, but then along comes a blog posting that lets me off the hook for not always getting it right. Will Richardson’s recent post  on the “Online Reading” article (and the subsequent corrections) reminded me that even the Founding Fathers probably screwed up once in a while. As many of his readers pointed out, it’s all part of being human.

If I’ve got it right, Will normally disagrees with Bauerline’s perspective, but in writing this piece, he found himself agreeing to a large extent with him. He writes,

“Bauerline argues that screen reading cannot provide those skills (to work with longer texts, to do sustained reading and thinking, to stick with complex narratives), and he argues it persuasively… This resonates. In fact, I’ve made myself take time over the last few months to read longer texts, and after plowing through three really, really engaging and challenging novels in the past month or so, I’m feeling like my brain is back in gear somehow. It’s getting closer to balance.”

I wonder whether Will agreed with Bauerline more because of the logic of his arguments, or because he thought the writer was Federman? Food for thought here, but I just love the fact that Will is also thinking about, and acting on, preserving “balance”   It reaffirms for me that I’m not completely out in left field when I obsess over what I see as a loss of this balance (Devil’s Advocate, Sept.14) as we try to find time in our ever-more packed days to keep up with both traditional (read “print) reading and digital (online) skimming.

I think traditional reading is getting short-shrift here; not because it is inherently less valuable than screen reading or digital literacy, but because it doesn’t have the snap and pizazz of on-screen wizardry. In  reading, the magic happens between your ears instead of in front of your eyes, and this requires real work to make it happen, and too many of us are getting either too lazy, or just to overloaded, to muster the effort it takes. It’s just too easy to pull up another TED talk on Youtube and let someone else do the talking – and thinking.

The comments to this post, from across the spectrum of opinion, are an added bonus. Real dialog, real dissent, and real thinking going on about : the very thing that Will laments for not happening when he says,

“What continues to concern me, though, is the paucity of conversation about any of this in our schools.”

Thanks, Will, and his many followers, for ensuring that this doesn’t continue to be the case.