Candidates facilitate access to information in print, non-print, and digital formats.
Reflection
Entrepreneur and inventor, Bill Gates once said that "we are in the throes of a transition where every publication has to think of their digital strategy." This statement has never been more true than in the 21st century library. Today's students are growing up in a world dominated by digital tools and social media. Student's use digital tools to read books, to recommend books to each other, and to share information. Even students' access to our library's print resources often start with a digital tool. Access to print, non-print, and digital resources have changed in the 21st century and it is the media specialist's job to ensure that all students can find and use the information they need.
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Artifacts
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One of the ways I can ensure access is to have a presence in the digital world by maintaining a media center website. With careful planning, a media center website can open a whole world of information to students by creating a hub of information that is easily accessed. As a user, I usually visit the library website first before I set foot in the physical space. When I created my own library website I started by considering the things that I look for as a user. The first things you see when you look at my website are the hours of operation and my contact information. This is to ensure that students know where they can get face to face help if they do not find what they are looking for online. The second thing you see when you look at my homepage is the "Today's Work" section. This is a place for teachers to put handouts and links for their students to use while in the library. This allows teachers to provide custom digital content to meet the needs of their students. It also allows students to reference back to the day's lesson outside of school. You can also access the school's collection catalog by clicking on the "Find books and Materials" page link. This link will allow students to see all print and visual resources we have within the library. The page also connects the student to the Howard County Public Library webpage and the Maryland Digital elibrary Consortium giving students access to a variety of non-print and digital resources. Students who struggle to use the OPAC collection catalog can reference the poster discussed in standard 3.1. If students are looking for a place to start research the link "Online Databases and Research Resources" will direct them to a list of databases that the school subscribes to. Each database has a quick note that indicates what it is best for. This will help students quickly identify where to look.
Another way that I can help facilitate access to information is to ensure that students know how to use the resources we have. The Dewey favorites handout can be blown up into a poster to hang in the library or printed out and given to individual students. The poster highlights the most popular print resources in the library and whether they are popular for academic or personal reading. My Dewey Favorites Handout is geared towards elementary students. I would like to create one for the secondary level also.
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In addition to posters and signage around the media center I can also ensure my students know how to access information by providing them instructions on how to use the online databases. These databases often hold a wealth of visual, written, and audio resources but go unused because students are intimidated. I included step-by-step instructions for two databases in my information resources website. Eventually, I would like to include instructions for all of the databases that our school subscribes to.
The McDaniel courses have forced me to take a look at the best practices of librarians around the world and adapt their successful strategies to meet my future media needs. I now find myself looking more closely at other media specialist's websites and resources. As a result I have a running list of things I would change to make my media center more accessible. For example, I would like to add a Parents section with links to homework help and writing resources on my webpage. I would add a map of my library with a quick synopsis of what happens in each space. This map could tie in with an updated Dewey Favorites poster to help students locate the information they need quickly. I also think it would be nice to add a section for clubs and groups to post announcements and to create a library twitter account that could tweet articles and announcements to the community. I would also like to create a space within my library where students can post their own reviews of books that they have read and gain ideas about what they could read next. The secret is to help students find the information they need. Whether it be print, non-print, or digital I will ensure that they have the access they need to be successful.
The McDaniel courses have forced me to take a look at the best practices of librarians around the world and adapt their successful strategies to meet my future media needs. I now find myself looking more closely at other media specialist's websites and resources. As a result I have a running list of things I would change to make my media center more accessible. For example, I would like to add a Parents section with links to homework help and writing resources on my webpage. I would add a map of my library with a quick synopsis of what happens in each space. This map could tie in with an updated Dewey Favorites poster to help students locate the information they need quickly. I also think it would be nice to add a section for clubs and groups to post announcements and to create a library twitter account that could tweet articles and announcements to the community. I would also like to create a space within my library where students can post their own reviews of books that they have read and gain ideas about what they could read next. The secret is to help students find the information they need. Whether it be print, non-print, or digital I will ensure that they have the access they need to be successful.