bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Culture of Inquiry in School Libraries
Authors: Gordon Carol
Published: March 2022

A culture of inquiry is emerging from research-based information literacy instruction that takes place in school libraries. An ethnographic approach views the culture of inquiry through two lenses: (1) cultural anthropology and an emerging theory of evidence-based information literacy instruction, and (2) Tylor's anthropological definition of culture which serves as a framework to examine the knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, and customs of instruction. An emerging theory of information literacy instruction unique to school libraries identifies constructivist learning theory as the knowledge source and evidence-based practice as the underlying belief.
Further Understanding of Collaboration: A Case Study of How It Works with Teachers and Librarians
Authors: Montiel-Overall Patricia
Published: March 2022

Collaboration between teachers and librarians is considered an essential element of school librarians' work. This case study examined a collaborative effort between teachers and librarians from diverse areas of expertise who collaborated in designing professional development workshops for a group of elementary school teachers and librarians. The purpose of the study was tofurther understand the process of teacher and librarian collaboration, and to evaluate the collaborative process using a proposed model of teacher and librarian collaboration.
Leopards on the Move: School Libraries in Europe
Authors: Marquardt Luisa
Published: March 2022

The purpose of this paper is to give a general and up-to-date overview of the situation of school libraries and the school librarianship in Europe, focussing particularly but not exclusively, on those countries currently forming the European Union. The report is based mainly on existing literature, but also on information gathered from library organisation and association representatives and from their websites. Some case histories, best practices and projects are reported, organized according to the school library elements presented in the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto.
Issues for the Next Decade
Authors: Oberg Dianne
Published: March 2022

This is my farewell issue, my final issue, as Editor of School Libraries Worldwide. I begin by welcoming most enthusiastically the two new Editors, Dr. Marcia Mardis and Dr. Nancy Everhart, both faculty members at the Florida State University's College of Information. Both Dr. Mardis and Dr. Everhart are familiar to SLW readers, and, coincidentally, each had an article published in the last hard copy issue of the journal, four years ago, in July 2006. I am confident that, under their leadership, School Libraries Worldwide will go places that I could never have taken the journal, and I look forward to seeing their new directions unfold for the journal and its readers.
The Potential and Possibilities for Utilizing Geographic Information Systems to Inform School Library as Place
Authors: Johnston Melissa , Bishop Bradley
Published: March 2022

Teacher librarians often consider their students and the internal school environment in planning programs and services but ignore the larger community from which learners originate. The purpose of this study was to provide a review of the ongoing discussions related to the school library in the community context and provide implications for utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) to inform the idea of the "school library as place." This preliminary exploration, a thematic literature review, indicated multiple possibilities for implementing GIS in school libraries that may enable teacher librarians to better facilitate students' development of a sense of place, support their learning needs, and ensure that the community is reflected in the library collection and programs.
What is the impact of the school library on pupils' personal development? A case study of a secondary school in Northern Ireland
Authors: Fodale Francesca , Bates Jessica
Published: March 2022

What is the perceived impact of the school library on pupils' personal development? This paper reports on a case study of a secondary school (all girls, 11-18 years) in a disadvantaged area in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The study explores the impact of the school library in terms of personal development, and seeks to answer the question of how best to evaluate impact in this regard. Interviews and postal questionnaires are used to collect data from both school staff and parents. Data collected from the interviews with school staff show that staff regarded the school library as having a positive impact on pupils' motivation to learn, and on their self-esteem and personal confidence during both formal learning activities in the library and periods of free access. The results of the survey of parents show that parents perceived that the activities of the school library contributed positively to pupils' attitudes towards reading and the development of literacy skills.
Notes from the noodle factory: 21st-Century librarianship in search of new paradigms
Authors: Turner Ralph
Published: March 2022

n his 1976 dedication of the Connecticut College library, Kurt Vonnegut compared a library to a noodle factory, noting that in a society where many people do not really enjoy reading,"Noodles are okay. Libraries are okay. They are rather neutral good news." It was an indifference, however, that could be tolerated three decades ago when libraries still maintained primacy as central repositories of information. In contrast, in this era of existential crisis and as libraries scramble for "relevance," in face of a crisis of definition and mission, the urgent question then arises: What new paradigms must be formulated to define the mission of the 21st-century library and delineate how that mission can better support both education and culture?
Designing the Research Commons: Classical Models for School Libraries
Authors: Buchanan Sarah
Published: March 2022

School libraries and media centers today are embracing the idea of the "learning commons," an approach to learning which makes use of the facility's physical openness and group meeting places to facilitate current shifts towards computer-based resource sharing and collaborative student projects. How can libraries yet to make this transition reverse a prior,

mid-twentieth-century architectural bent toward segmentation of school library resources from the surrounding institution, and implement a more inclusive school library design?
The Digital Lives of U.S. Teachers: A Research Synthesis and Trends to Watch
Authors: Mardis Marcia , Elbasri Teralee , Norton Sylvia , Newsum Janice
Published: March 2022

The United States Department of Education's 2010 National Educational Technology Plan called for educators to transform learning and teaching with digital resources and tools. However, classroom teachers are especially challenged by information seeking, use, and management as well as by increased pressure to provide accountability data and serve diverse learners. In response to these challenges, the digital library community, spurred to improve science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) education, is developing solutions that include metadata and paradata schema; highly curated, centralized collections; and integrated planning, management, and assessment tools. Still, local and external factors can hinder change and must be considered in design and implementation. In this paper, we integrate an extensive collection of research relating to educators' digital "lives," or processes; provide an overview of very recent developments in digital library technology that pose possible solutions; and illustrate essential facilitating conditions, including the vital role of the teacher librarian.
Seeing the Clouds: Teacher Librarian as Broker in Collaborative Planning with Teachers
Authors: Kimmel Sue
Published: March 2022

Teachers engaged in sustained collaboration with a teacher librarian were interviewed about the meaning of that collaboration. The findings suggest that the teachers recognized important contributions of the librarian to instructional planning and classroom instruction including knowledge, legwork, and support. In particular, they understood her role as a broker both to resources and to ideas for using those resources in instruction. While these resources were essential, they were not sufficient; they required a knowledgeable peer who also understood their application to the curriculum and what students were expected to learn. They required a librarian.
Learning Resources Centers in Kuwait: Prospects for the Future
Authors: AlQudsi-Ghabra Taghreed , Safar Ammar , Qabazard Nedaa
Published: March 2022

Many countries have documented the impact of school learning resources centers (LRCs), serving students aged 6-18 years and pre-school, on the educational process and on student learning (Lonsdale, 2003), and have found that both human and material resources are essential to effective LRC operation. Kuwait has been blessed with an early educational public school system, which has been establishing a library in each school for over a course of more than seventy years. However, this early system has failed to keep pace with the latest advancement in the school library arena in terms of personnel, resource, and services that serve students, teachers and school administrators alike. Studying the current situation of school libraries in Kuwait is an important prerequisite to evaluating the situation in preparation for any reform. This paper is an analytical description of the current state of public school libraries in Kuwait, and it offers some suggestions for their reform.
Digital Natives, 21st Century School Libraries, and 21st Century Preparation Programs: An Informal Affirmation of Branch and deGroot
Authors: Huston Cynthia
Published: March 2022

The presentations from the 2011 IASL conference theme School Libraries: Empowering the 21st Century Learner offered much to think about for graduate programs preparing future teacher librarians. Research indicates that school librarians are not actively integrating Web 2.0 tools into their programs, but students are regularly using these tools outside of school for accessing and sharing information. Professional preparation programs must help future librarians master these tools so they can be school leaders on the Web 2.0 technology frontier. This paper discusses issues related to Web 2.0 integration in online graduate programs in school librarianship and offers examples of Web 2.0 activities that can be used in graduate courses.
Editorial: Connecting is at the Core of Teacher Librarianship
Authors: Mardis Marcia
Published: March 2022

This issue of School Libraries Worldwide is centered on the theme of "Connections: Teacherlibrarians linking learning, leadership, technology, and society."
Editorial - International perspectives on school library education: From face-to-face to distance
Authors: Dickinson Gail , Kaplan Allison
Published: March 2022

School Libraries Worldwide last focused on education for school librarians in 2000 (see volume 6, number 2) In the interceding years, much has happened in the world of school library education and school libraries themselves. Thus, we are happy to present this issue on the education of school librarians with the perspectives from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and to North America, which makes this issue a truly international presentation with an emphasis on the impact of distance education.
The Insider: School Librarians as Part of a Blended Professional Learning Community for Student Teacher Development in Technology Integration
Authors: Hunt Rebecca , Luetkehans Lara
Published: March 2022

In the last decade, state professional teaching standards and federal mandates have required teachers to enter the field proficient with technology integration skills. Concurrently, the American Association of School Librarians urges collaboration between teachers and school librarians. Based on previous research recommending teacher-school librarian collaboration begin as early as student teaching, this study looks at the contributions of school librarians as members of a blended professional learning community established to mentor student teachers as they prepare for a technology integrated lesson.
The Role of University of Maribor Library in Library Information Literacy Training of High School Students
Authors: Srot Kristina , Cagran Branks , Grmek Milena
Published: March 2022

This article discusses the role of the University of Maribor Library in the process of library information literacy training for high school students of Maribor, Slovenia. Based on the annual education plan Library Information Literacy Training for High School Students at the University of Maribor Library (UKM) in the 2009/2010 academic year, in this paper, we describe that development and content of education modules offered to high school students by the University of Maribor Library. We then present the students' evaluation of the quality of the modules and the level of fulfilled expectations of the students.
Comparison of Private and Public School Library Services in Kuwait: A Case Study
Authors: AlQudsi-ghabra Taghreed , Safar Ammar , Qabazard Nedaa
Published: March 2022

This study is a comparison between public and private school learning resource centres (LRCs) and their services in Kuwait, exploring related job descriptions, training, qualifications, services, resources, policies, and facilities, in addition to the time allocated to inventory in the private and public school systems. The elements studied make a strong case for private LRCs. The private school Learning Resources Specialists (LMSs) all share their views and convictions, to varying degrees, about their roles and about how to improve the LRC services, facilities, and collection resources.
Investigating an International Exchange of Best Practices Between German and American Teacher Librarians
Authors: Johnston Melissa
Published: March 2022

In efforts to enhance school library programs in Germany, two teacher librarians from Germany visited the United States in the fall of 2010 through the Goethe Institute's Librarian in Residence program to learn from U.S. teacher librarians. The German teacher librarians spent three weeks observing best practices in school libraries in the state of Florida in conjunction with researchers from the Florida State University. The purpose of this research was to investigate this international exchange of best practices, through documenting and analyzing the German teacher librarians' learning experiences, and observing, documenting, and analyzing the resulting implementation of the best practices in multiple school situations in Germany.
An Exploration of the Benefits of an Indigenous Community Learning Center's Mini-school library
Authors: Cabanilla Gianina
Published: March 2022

The purpose of this study was to discuss the benefits of the "lumad" (self-ascription and collective identity of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao, Philippines) school mini library. Additionally, the results of this study will aid the further research of indigenous people's (IP) perspective at the primary school (first six grades) in achieving higher self-esteem levels and increased literacy through the community learning centers' mini-school library.
School Library eBook Providers and Spanish Language Equity: An Analysis of eBook Collections Available to School Libraries
Authors: Paganelli Andrea , Houston Cynthia
Published: March 2022

The goal of this study was to examine the collections of eBooks in Spanish provided by vendors of library resources to school libraries to determine if there are equitable offerings of eBooks in Spanish relative to the Spanish-speaking school population in the United States. The results of the study indicated that the top vendors do provide eBooks in Spanish, but the titles comprised a small percentage of their total collections and do not mirror national demographics.
Stone Soup: A story about using story for research
Authors: Kimmel Sue
Published: March 2022

As librarians serving youth, we have an advantage when it comes to creating and communicating the meaning of our work and research: our knowledge of traditional and contemporary literature. Folklore often provides the shared framework for a culture to understand and guide behavior. The story of Stone Soup offered a culturally shared framework that informed my theories about what was going on in collaboration and communicated those theories to others in my research. This paper explores the use of three variants of this folktale as a conceptual framework for research into the collaboration of a school librarian with a team of second grade teachers.
Illustrating the Narrative Process through Career Stories
Authors: Jones Stephanie
Published: March 2022

This article illustrates the methodology used in a qualitative research study that employed narrative analysis to examine the occupational choice of school librarians. The primary data collection method was through life story interviews.
Effect of Mobile Phone Use on Reading Habits of Private Secondary School Students in Oyo State, Nigeria
Authors: Oyewusi Fadekemi , Ayanlola Alirat
Published: March 2022

The study reported survey results that revealed that reading for fun; reading in the library; and reading books with color and illustrations were among factors that affect ed reading habit among students. The survey also showed that students were not favorably disposed to reading at home and that some of them were forced to read by their parents. The study further revealed that almost all the respondents owned a mobile phone. The researchers recommend that software applications and teaching materials be harnessed for use on mobile phones such that Nigerian students would be able to read and learn using this equipment.
Great Piles of Stuff or Piles of Great Stuff? Entrepreneurial Curation and the School Librarian
Authors: Mardis Marcia
Published: March 2022

The theme of this issue, "Curation: Building the Learning Resource Base through Selection, Management, and Promotion of School Library Collections,"was prompted by the fact that K-12 instructional planning is changing -- and continues to change very quickly. Whereas teachers were once left to their own devices, and hopefully to their school librarians, to identify and integrate high quality learning resources, the recent past of federal educational initiatives has transformed instructional materials selection from one based on "pull" (i.e., resources gained from colleagues, search engines, and specialized digital libraries) to one based on "push"(e.g., resources presented to teachers in the context of a standards and assessment linked student data systems or a digital library).
Electronic portfolios to support the growth of digital identity in the school library
Authors: Cooper Linda
Published: March 2022

This paper examines the concepts of identity and digital identity -- their similarities and differences -- and ways to support their development in youth. Specifically, the use of electronic portfolios, or eportfolios, is discussed as a means of personal expression within the control of a young person. Constructing an electronic portfolio empowers one to create and recreate a changing identity and allows the author to observe and reflect on his or her growth and direction.
Global Perspectives: Exploring School-Based Brazilian Librarianship Through Institutional Ethnography
Authors: Green Lucy , Johnston Mellissa
Published: March 2022

Exploring the practices of school-based librarians in other countries fosters new knowledge, contributing to global communities of practice. In 2013, researchers conducted an institutional ethnography study of school-based Brazilian librarianship in South Brazil. Themes identified were: collaboration, literacy, instruction, technology integration, and the learning environment. Themes reflect common challenges faced by Brazilian school libraries such as institutional barriers to collaboration, division of instructional duties, access to materials, and staffing . Themes also speak to distinct ways in which Brazilian school libraries reflect the social and economic disparity between private schools and government-funded public schools, as well as Brazilian society at large.
Information and Digital Literacy in a High-Poverty Urban School: An I-LEARN Project
Authors: Newman Delia , Grant Allen , Lee Vera , DeCarlo Mary
Published: March 2022

Two teachers and 49 students aged 5 to 8 completed an inquiry-based project formulated around Neuman's I-LEARN model, a learning model that builds on and expands traditional information-seeking models specifically to address the processes and outcomes of learning with information. The study's results indicated that the model is a useful tool for helping young urban children understand and complete research projects.
Gender, Educational Technologies, and the School Library
Authors: Agosto Denise
Published: March 2022

Educational technologies (ET), as a subset of information and communication technology, are an ever-increasing presence in schools and school libraries. Neuman's (2003) review of the school library media research suggested that the question of how students learn with electronic information sources is one of the field's key research questions for the coming decade. Although large bodies of gender and ET research exist in the fields of education and gender studies there has been relatively little related research in library and information science and even less in school library settings. Agosto reviews some of the major literature in the area and explain why this issue is relevant to school library media service.
Gender, ICT-Related Student Skills, and the Role of a School Library in an Icelandic School
Authors: Jakobsdóttir Sólveig , Jónsdóttir Bára Mjöll , Hjartarson Torfi
Published: March 2022

This article focuses on gender and age differences in information and communications (ICT) skills, attitudes, and computer use in an Icelandic school in 1998 (62 students) and 2002 (63 students). Computer culture is described with regard to the school library media center. ICT skills of students increased from 1998 to 2002 for the primary-level group, particularly the girls. Computer use at the primary level tended to increase, whereas the opposite was true for higher grades. Computer classes and improved Internet access may have enhanced ICT skills among students, although computer access and activity in regular classes have declined.
Control of Dialogue in Asynchronous Forums for Teachers: Implications for School Library Media Specialists
Authors: Scheckler Rebecca K
Published: March 2022

This study adds to the information on online educational sites by examining the deployment of power and status in an online professional development Web site for preservice and inservice math and science teachers. Initiation and continuation of threads in asynchronous discussion forums is viewed as a powerful activity and parallel to the control of discussion in face-to-face classrooms as an issue of control. Studies of two discussion forums on the same topic, one comprising mainly inservice teachers and the other comprising mainly preservice teachers, showed a significant difference in the number of threads initiated by men and by women, with men dominating. In addition, the threads initiated by men were much more likely to receive responses that continued the discussion, whereas those initiated by women were likely to end with that single post. Other features of educational forums such as flaming did not occur. I conclude that the more subtle features of power and control in online spaces are just as important as overt features in encouraging people to participate and discouraging people from participating in these forums.
Information Literacy and the Education of School Librarians
Authors: Campello Bernadete , Furst Gonçalves Abreu Vera Lúcia
Published: March 2022

The aim of this article is to gain a better understanding of information literacy as it is put into practice by library science students in Brazil. It shows how library science students accomplish tasks assigned by their professors and is based on Kuhlthau's studies on the process of information-seeking. An attempt was made to identify skills, attitudes, and knowledge related to the development of the various stages of the process. In addition, aspects that did not fit into these patterns were observed. Responses were analyzed to identify patterns of feelings, attitudes, and actions described by the respondents, and results were compared with Kuhlthau's model.
Questions, Concepts, Understandings: New Research in School Librarianship
Authors: Oberg Dianne
Published: March 2022

This issue of School Libraries Worldwide provides access to new research in school librarianship-research that invites us to consider new ways of thinking about important aspects of our field. The research comes from around the world-Norway, Canada, Brazil, and the Unites States - and it addresses a wide range of questions that I found challenging and interesting.
Librarians and Teachers as Research Partners: Reshaping Practices Based on Assessment and Reflection
Authors: Harada Violet H
Published: March 2022

As critical partners in shaping quality learning experiences, school library media specialists have a major stake in examining their teaching practices through the lens of actual student behaviors. Empowerment results when they collaborate with fellow teachers in implementing strategics, reflecting on the results, and sharing them with the professional community. This article focuses on the transformative nature of practitioner research. It describes a multi-year project to identify key components of effective teaching in collaborative elementary school classroom-library settings, and to translate this knowledge into practitioner-facilitated professional development alternatives. A summary of this article was presented at the International Research Symposium sponsored by the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries, Rutgers University, convened in New York, April 28-29, 2005. The Symposium was funded by a grant from the US Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Information Literacy and Education Policy: A Canadian Case Study
Authors: Russell Pia
Published: March 2022

This Canadian research explored a single education jurisdiction's information literacy curriculum policy development. Using the province of Ontario's Ministry of Education as a case study, a rhetorical analysis of relevant policy documents and semistructured, open-ended interviews with 12 policy contributors constituted the methodological framework of the study. This research found that the teacher-librarian community's advocacy network, the diminished state of school libraries in Canada, and the Ministry's emphasis on traditional literacy priorities have had significant effects on the development of information literacy policy.
An Inquiry-Based Approach to Library Instruction
Authors: Wray David
Published: March 2022

The work described in this article was founded on a philosophy that foregrounds the importance of students developing own inquiry questions as an essential precursor to learning the complete skills of accessing, reading, and writing information texts. In the article, I outline how such an inquiry question was used to focus the work of 6-year old students, involving them in the use and development of a variety of library resources and study skills.
Australia's Professional Excellence Policy: Empowering School Libraries
Authors: Mitchell Pru
Published: March 2022

All sectors of Australian education are currently seeking to define and promote quality teaching and are developing policies on teacher quality and educational leadership. The national Framework for Professional Standards for Teaching sets out agreed foundational elements and dimensions of effective teaching and provides an architecture in which generic, specialist, and subject-area-specific professional standards can be developed. In 2005, the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) released the joint publication Standards of Professional Excellence for Teacher Librarians, a document that helps teacher librarians find their place in the professional teaching standards agenda. This article outlines the policy framework underpinning the ALIA-ASLA document and shows how the project seeks to empower school libraries by helping teacher librarians evaluate their professional practice.
School Libraries Worldwide Going Online!
Authors: Oberg Dianne
Published: March 2022

The article announces that the periodical "School Libraries Worldwide" is going online. Karen Bonnano has taken over the technical support role for the website. Anne Clyde originally designed the website for the online school libraries but unfortunately passed away on September 18, 2005. Bonnano will be helping the executives and editor of the journal to move forward on the online initiative. The journal will be published in two formats: a hard copy and an online electronic copy mounted on the website of IASL's School Libraries Online.
The Principal's Support of Classroom Teacher-Media Specialist Collaboration
Authors: Morris Betty , Packard Abbot
Published: March 2022

This project was designed to determine how well the principal supports collaboration in exemplary media program schools in Georgia from the viewpoints of media specialists, classroom teachers, and principals. A pilot study was conducted to develop a survey instrument that could be used as the foundation for the exemplary school media program study. Collaboration is well covered in the literature, but information about principals and their influence on collaboration is eginning to be a discussion of concern. The purpose of the descriptive survey study was to determine the existing situation regarding how supportive principals are for collaboration to occur between classroom teachers and media specialists in chools where the media programs are considered exemplary. A questionnaire was mailed to principals, teachers, and media specialists in 12 schools designated as having exemplary school library media programs in Georgia by the State Department of Education. The findings for the study supported the researchers' expectations that media specialists and classroom teachers in exemplary school library media program schools receive support from the principal for collaboration. The assumption of the study was that principals in schools that are considered to have exemplary media programs provide support for collaboration for classroom teachers and media specialists.
Change is the Only Constant
Authors: Oberg Dianne
Published: March 2022

Over a year ago, I announced in this column the upcoming change in format for School Libraries Worldwide. Many have said "Change is the only constant," but the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (540-480 BC) may have said it first when e declared "Nothing endures but change."
Principal Support for Collaboration
Authors: Morris Betty
Published: March 2022

Principal support is the key to successful collaboration between classroom teachers and media specialists. The principal olds the power either to make or break collaborative efforts. Collaboration must be an expectation that is supported both ocally and administratively by the principal who wants collaboration to be a commonplace occurrence in schools. ommunication and visibility are crucial to the process. The principal who wishes collaboration to occur must be seen and eard discussing collaboration in the school and throughout the community. Teachers must hear that collaboration with the media specialist is a top priority and that it is expected on a regular basis. The principal needs to know about the research on collaboration and increased student achievement and to be its strongest advocate in the school.
Taking the Library Out of the Library into the School
Authors: Oberg Dianne
Published: March 2022

A theme that resonates for me as I read the articles in this issue of School Libraries Worldwide is that of "taking the library out of the library into the school." By this, I mean thinking about the library as being within the school, visible throughout the school, and integral to the mission and work of the school.
Knowledge Management in Schools and for Schools
Authors: Alqudsi-ghabra Taghreed
Published: March 2022

Knowledge management (KM) is an interdisciplinary approach employed to assure leadership and competence by ngaging strategies for the efficient, effective, and speedy use of information. KM techniques harness a variety of technologies in rder to maximize the use of resources in the school and in surrounding schools. In other words, the creative use of echnology and the creative act of sharing these experiences are paramount to knowledge-sharing and its management. onsequently, capturing knowledge and working collaboratively with the aid of technology is a condition that promotes rowth in teachers and students alike.
Of Special Interest: Attitudes of Preservice and Inservice Teachers Toward Working With School Librarians
Authors: Getz Irith
Published: March 2022

This research focused on how preservice teachers and inservice teachers relate to working cooperatively with school librarians in that instructional process. They study involved 98 preservice teachers who were enrolled in the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh, and 96 inservice teachers who had graduated from the same school and similar programs three to five years earlier. The data were collected using questionnaires. No significant differences were found between the attitudes of preservice and inservice teachers. The size of the school was found to be a significant factor in teachers' attitudes toward cooperative work. Significant but weak relationships were found between teachers' attitudes and some variables related to teachers' knowledge about school librarians and to library education that the teachers were engaged in.
Censorproofing School Library Collections: The Fallacy and Futility
Authors: Schrader Alvin M.
Published: March 2022

Discusses why challenges to materials in school libraries cannot be avoided. Demonstrates how reader response theory, the multiple readings of text, makes self-censorship difficult. Explains how "censorproofing" by title, author/artist, and subject ignores reader unpredictability and maturity levels. Finds all school libraries vulnerable to criticism, censorproofing is in opposition to professional responsibility, and suggests alternatives.
An International Forum: The History of the International Association of School Librarianship
Authors: Knuth Rebecca
Published: March 2022

The International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) is a professional association that promotes a specialization in library service -- school librarianship -- on an international level. IASL has existed for 25 years, originating from the Word Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) and growing to its present position in word literacy efforts. This history of the organization, based on interviews and scrutiny of documents in the IASL archives including letters, reports, minutes, and publications, traces its evaluation from a young organization, struggling to create and define itself while promoting international school librarianship, to a formalized organization centred around the professional aspects of school librarianship and achievement of articulated objectives.
Teacher and Librarian Partnering to Integrate Computer Technology in the Classroom
Authors: Gibson Susan E.
Published: March 2022

This article examines the role of computer technology in developing information literacy skills in elementary and secondary classrooms. Four essential stages of the research process are highlighted, including choosing a topic, accessing information, thinking critically about information, and presenting research findings. For each of these stages, the opportunities afforded through the use of computer technology are explored, as are some concerns arising from computer use. Suggestions for increasing the benefits of computer technology for both teachers and librarians are provided. By planning together and supporting each other, teachers and librarians can more affectively assist students to use the computer technology beneficially for enhancing the research process and learning important information literacy schools.
Teacher-Librarians Claiming their Territory in Cyberspace: The 1996 ITEC Virtual Conference
Authors: Henri James , Hay Lyn , Hughes Sandra
Published: March 2022

The first international Virtual Conference (VC) for teacher-librarians was held during June 1996 as part of their Schooling and the Information Highway Conference organized by the Information Technology Education Connection (ITEC). Twelve topic strands were included in the VC but the strand entitled "The Internet and the Teacher-Librarian's Role in the School: Possible, Probable and Preferred Futures" was dominant in the conference dialogue. The conference worked well as a professional forum and opportunity for professional development. Changes in the timing and timelines for the 1997 VC are suggested.
Some Reflections on the Nature of Educational Action Research
Authors: Ghaye Tony
Published: March 2022

Based on the author's presentation to a research seminar at the 1995 IASL conference in Worcester, England, this article reflects on the nature of action research and discusses some issues associated with action research in education. In particular, it addresses four qualities or characteristics that "tend to give action research its particular character and style". These are concern for values; action that is workplace oriented; the role of reflection in the process; and concern for the nature of the improvement or change that occurs as a result of the action research. In the context of school librarianship, action research is presented as a practical, principled, and systematic way to improve professional thinking about school librarianship, professional practice, and the library environment.
Using Student Surveys to Build and Evaluate an Information Skills Program
Authors: Howe Eleanor B.
Published: March 2022

A local area network provides the technical ability to teach a class the efficient use of its resources. The problem is to design instruction to fit the needs of the students. Action research, as a tool for gathering information to describe situations and solve problems in context, was used to determine current level of high school students' electronic search skills so that the course could be designed that would move them to the desired level of proficiency. A student survey revealed self-assessed knowledge and use of information technologies and identified deficiencies In desired skills that would be addressed in instruction.
Sources of Information and Research
Authors: Clyde Laurel A.
Published: March 2022

This list of sources of information about action search is divided into three sections: books and articles about action research and the methods of action research; reports of action research projects; and Internet resources related to action research. The emphasis is on sources that are likely to be useful to school librarians and other people involved in library and information services in schools.
Adoption of a District-Level School Library Policy: A Case Study in Change
Authors: Oberg Dianne
Published: March 2022

A case study approach what's used to examine the processes in a small school district in Alberta, Canada that led to a district policy adopting a cooperative integrated school library program model. The model adopted by the district was that recommended by the Alberta Ministry of Education in the document, Focus on Learning. The adoption process was facilitated by the innovation capacity of The District, by the active leadership of the Superintendent and the Board of Trustees, by the existence of a provincial policy and program model, and by access to new funding. Evaluation of libraries in The District played a key role in changing the understanding of the nature of the school library, from that of the facility and a collection isolated from the curriculum and operating under the responsibility of support personnel, to that of an instructional program integral to the curriculum and directed by teachers. Four propositions about the nature of the adoption process emerged from the case study, related to the time involved, a problem-solving orientation, understanding the innovation, and school board leadership.
Information Literacy at the Grassroots in New Zealand
Authors: Gawith Gwen
Published: March 2022

Information literacy papers and qualifications have been available to New Zealand teachers since 1986. Centrally coordinated and moderated accredited diploma papers for practicing teachers are now delivered as intensive, 175-hour, Applied school-based papers, completed by groups of 10-20 teachers at school sites anywhere in New Zealand. Because there are no positions for teacher-librarians, only a small proportion (200) have continued to complete full specialist information resource teacher qualifications (Dip. Teacher-Librarianship, Dip. Information Studies, Dip. Information Technology) . However, the schoolwide level of information literacy resulting from these intensive grassroots courses for classroom teachers is significant and may well be unique. Principals usually participate in the course alongside teachers, helping to ensure that information literacy is integrated into schoolwide curriculum policy and programs and staff information resources and technology development initiatives.
School Libraries in Ghana: A State-of-the-Art Report
Authors: Alemna A. A.
Published: March 2022

This article provides a review of the school library development in Ghana against the background of a new educational system that was put in place a decade ago. Although the government and the Ministry of Education have for a long time recognized the role of school libraries in education, little has been done to ensure that facilities are properly put in place for libraries to play this role.
School Libraries in the South Pacific Island Nations: An Update Report
Authors: Jones Paula
Published: March 2022

The Pacific Island countries face many similar problems in the provision of adequate and appropriate school library services. Education in these countries is still developing, and school libraries are not viewed as integral components of learning. Funding is insufficient, if at all, and there is it general lack of support library services. This article updates Joe Hallein's 1991 report on Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. Niue Is included for the first time.
The Schole Lybrarie: Images from Our Past
Authors: Clyde Laurel
Published: March 2022

A review of the literature shows that not only is there no comprehensive published history of school libraries, but that school libraries are inadequately covered in the general histories of education and librarianship. Those writers who do discuss the history of school libraries tend to assume that they are a more recent phenomenon than they actually are; indeed, some assume they are a 20th-century development. This article discusses school libraries as they existed in four different times and places: in the educational foundations of medieval England; in the English grammar schools of the 16th and 17th centuries; in the schools of 19th-century Britain; and in the 19th-century common schools of the United States. These four "snapshots" of school libraries in the past show that school libraries have existed in schools since at least the 8th century. These early school libraries would have been very different from school libraries today, just as schools now are very different from their predecessors of earlier centuries.
Shirabe-Gakushu: A Japanese Trial of Resource-Based Teaching in Large Classes
Authors: Nagakura Mieko
Published: March 2022

Shirabe-Gakushu, a Japanese version of information skills instruction through resourcebased teaching, is introduced as an effective and economical teaching method to establish habits of free voluntary reading, independent study, and critical thinking among schoolchildren in large classes. The theory, planning methods, procedures, and actual practices are explained in detail. Also described in the article is a successful case of Shirabe-Gakushu implemented as an experimental project at Seishin Primary School in Sagamihara City, Japan.
Kay Wilson, Network Librarian, Alford, United Kingdom: A Day in Her Life
Authors: Kay Wilson
Published: March 2022

Kay Wilson is a network librarian at Alford Academy, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She has been in her post for a little over a year. Previous to this she was a school librarian, research assistant, and lecturer at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
John Free, Teacher-Librarian, Sydney, Australia: A Day in His Life
Authors: John Free
Published: March 2022

John Free is the teacher librarian of Holroyd High School, a state school situated in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia.
Community Junoir Secondary School Libraries in Botswana: A Case Study of Their Programs and Needs for Teacher-Librarian Training
Authors: Tallman Julie I. , Metzger Andrew J. B. , Jorosi Boemo N.
Published: March 2022

The authors report on the status of the school library and its place in the curriculum in 13 Botswana community junior secondary schools located in northern and northeastern Botswana. During November 1999, the study took place during site visits to the schools that had a teacher-library intern receiving training through the School Library Certificate Program in the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University of Botswana. The authors used semistructured interviews, observations, and journals to provide the data for the descriptive qualitative study. This article is a report of the findings and the recommendations to the Department for changes in the school library curriculum.
Community Junoir Secondary School Libraries in Botswana
Authors: Metzger Andrew J. B.
Published: March 2022

A school library program needs to have certain basic elements if it is to function effectively. These elements are: the facility to house the information sources or instructional materials; a wide range of information sources to support the school's education program; adequate furniture and equipment for the use of the information sources; adequate finance to support the operations and services of the library; and adequate staffing to permit the facilities and information sources to be used to the maximum degree of effectiveness. This article presents a summary of the major findings and recommendations of a study of the library facilities in community junior secondary schools (CJSS) in Botswana.
Preparing Personnel to Staff School Libraries in Botswana: The National Library's Input
Authors: Baffour-Awuah Margaret
Published: March 2022

The development of school libraries in Botswana is the responsibility of the Educational Libraries Division of the Botswana National Library Service (BNLS). The Division carries out its school library development mandate primarily through workshops for school library personnel. Usually four days in length, the workshops are often held at one of the 14 education centres located across the country. Workshops focus on topics such as how to set up a school library, basics of library classification, maintenance of the card catalogue, development of library manuals and guides, development of circulation policies, and library budgeting.
Evaluating Information on the Internet
Authors: Ware Merran
Published: March 2022

The Internet as a source of information is vast, disorganized, and continually in a state of flux between updating and stagnating. Students must develop strategies to cope with these problems. The Internet itself provides many opportunities for students to be taught the skills of evaluation: appraisal, criticism, discrimination, comparison, ranking, and verification. It can provide the modeling of strategies for using search engines, how to distinguish between good and poor sites, and detecting misinformation.