Candidates participate and collaborate as members of a social and
intellectual network of learners.
Reflection
“Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.” -William Pollard
When I first started the McDaniel program I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that needed to be processed and synthesized in order to be a successful librarian. There are policies, procedures and best practices that must be met in order to do the job. |
Artifacts
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One way that librarians tackle these best practices is by building a support network that will help them grow as professionals. This can be challenging in a world where librarians are often isolated from the rest of the staff due to location, schedule, and other hindering forces. It becomes the responsibility of the librarian to build her own network of learners that will help her grow. The structure of McDaniel's online classes created a social and intellectual network of learners that uses the collective group knowledge to create useful resources for our future libraries. With so much information it was great to collaborate with my classmates as we compared our school systems and policies to those of the national standards. Both the School Library Handbook Wiki and the Policy Handbook Wiki show the power and resourcefulness of true collaboration.
The School Library Handbook Wiki is an exploration of the basic skills and information we will need to run a library. For this assignment we were paired with students from other counties and asked to identify and define the best practices of librarians based on our school systems existing policies. Because this assignment required a high degree of collaboration and dependence on group discussion, we had to find creative ways to communicate at a distance. We used a discussion chat board to share major ideas. We also completed a session on Wimba that allowed us to talk through each page of our wiki to ensure that everyone was on the same page.
The Policy Handbook Wiki was very similar to the School Library Handbook assignment, particularly with its structure. The team of wiki contributors represented a variety of subject areas and grade levels which created a more diverse discussion and challenged us to think not only for our grade level but for those which we will be certified. For this assignment, we had to provide the policies from our respective counties and choose which of those policies we thought was the best. We used Wimba and Google chat to discuss each policy and choose our favorite. Then we were each in charge of a specific page when posting the information. I was responsible for the pages on Circulation Procedures and Ethical Use.
Both of the wikis taught me important lessons about sharing information and working together. I had always considered collaboration a face-to-face thing. Unfortunately, many librarians work alone and must build collaborative and cooperative relationships with librarians from other schools. The wiki format is great for this type of collaboration because it allowed us to work in our own time while still interacting and communicating with each other. It also created a lasting resource that can be referenced and updated over time. Before these assignments I was skeptical about the usage of wikis but I have come to understand that when used correctly they can be really powerful learning tools. I also learned about some of the great ways to communicate with others. I had never used Wimba or Google Chat. After playing around with them I can see some great uses both instructionally and collaboratively. Someday, when I get my own media center, I would like to use a county wikispace for policies and procedures. While I found the collaborative aspect of the assignments helpful, I know that I will be expected to meet the needs of my specific county regardless of whether I think it is the best policy in the area. It would be helpful to have it all in one place.
The School Library Handbook Wiki is an exploration of the basic skills and information we will need to run a library. For this assignment we were paired with students from other counties and asked to identify and define the best practices of librarians based on our school systems existing policies. Because this assignment required a high degree of collaboration and dependence on group discussion, we had to find creative ways to communicate at a distance. We used a discussion chat board to share major ideas. We also completed a session on Wimba that allowed us to talk through each page of our wiki to ensure that everyone was on the same page.
The Policy Handbook Wiki was very similar to the School Library Handbook assignment, particularly with its structure. The team of wiki contributors represented a variety of subject areas and grade levels which created a more diverse discussion and challenged us to think not only for our grade level but for those which we will be certified. For this assignment, we had to provide the policies from our respective counties and choose which of those policies we thought was the best. We used Wimba and Google chat to discuss each policy and choose our favorite. Then we were each in charge of a specific page when posting the information. I was responsible for the pages on Circulation Procedures and Ethical Use.
Both of the wikis taught me important lessons about sharing information and working together. I had always considered collaboration a face-to-face thing. Unfortunately, many librarians work alone and must build collaborative and cooperative relationships with librarians from other schools. The wiki format is great for this type of collaboration because it allowed us to work in our own time while still interacting and communicating with each other. It also created a lasting resource that can be referenced and updated over time. Before these assignments I was skeptical about the usage of wikis but I have come to understand that when used correctly they can be really powerful learning tools. I also learned about some of the great ways to communicate with others. I had never used Wimba or Google Chat. After playing around with them I can see some great uses both instructionally and collaboratively. Someday, when I get my own media center, I would like to use a county wikispace for policies and procedures. While I found the collaborative aspect of the assignments helpful, I know that I will be expected to meet the needs of my specific county regardless of whether I think it is the best policy in the area. It would be helpful to have it all in one place.
It all goes back to Pollard's statement "unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.” As technology, policies, procedures and best practices change, it is up to the educator to change with them. When we work together as a team of librarians we are able to use our collective strengths to support successful library programs.
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