Evaluation plan to improve reference services

For Assignment 3: Evaluation plan to improve reference services, I created a plan that aims to provide strategies to improve the reference services available to staff and students in an elementary school library. Presently, the bulk of the reference collection consists of out-dated encyclopedias that largely go unused. The quality of resources no longer support student needs, therefore this plan suggests an approach to revamp this area to improve reference services.

Laying foundational information literacy skills

Theme 3: Reference Materials

Theme 3: Reference Materials, has been an interesting exploration of various types of reference materials (presented in both print and digital formats) and I have learned a lot about considering their style, format, currency, and scope when selecting and evaluating resources for a school library learning commons.

In reflecting on each lessons readings, my take-away is that although information changes rapidly, providing a range of well-selected reference materials remains the priority of a well-rounded reference section whether physical or digital.

Throughout this final theme I have been thinking about past observations (mostly in elementary schools library learning commons, but also in high schools) and experiences when working as a teacher-librarian and as a classroom teacher bringing classes into the library for projects.  I have found that generally, reference collections tend to be dusty and underutilized, and I feel unsure why exactly that is the case; I am left with more questions than answers.
Are they dated and forgotten? Are students being shown how to use them? Do students have easy access to digital formats? Are teachers weaving them into the required resources? Are teacher-librarians able to have the time to teach students information literacy skills and search methods? Are teacher-librarians and classroom teachers having the opportunity to collaborate and make reference materials a stronger piece of research projects? Are students having the opportunity to learn and practice using general and specialized reference materials with support as they develop into independent learners?

This leads me to think that in my own practices I will focus on teaching students the foundational skills required in the process of using reference materials.
A library learning commons could spend a lot of money to invest in the best quality, current and well-selected reference collection, but if teachers and students do not have the foundational skills required to use these resources, it is worthless. Perhaps I could collaborate with a like-minded colleague as a pilot project to see how to best teach the necessary skills, where we focus more on the process than the end-product and feedback from the students is listened to and considered. For example, many students struggle with alphabetical order when using a dictionary and often give up quickly or ask an adult “help” (to do it for them, really). Additionally, I believe the skill of understanding mapping coordinates remains important, despite the popularity of Google Maps. Recognizing how something is organized, and then how to navigate it is a practical skill to learn and practice, whether using print or digital formats, because sometimes search functions on digital platforms are not as helpful as one would want or do not pinpoint your desired information for you.


References

gfycat. (2019). Dust Bunnies GIFs [GIF file]. Retrieved from https://gfycat.com/gifs/search/dust+bunnies

Smithsonian Institution. (2019). Legos Go Sustainable, and Everything (Really) is Awesome [JPEG file]. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/legos-go-sustainable-everything-really-is-awesome-180955874/

Theadless, lxromero. (2019). Where Am I? [JPEG file]. Retrieved from https://www.threadless.com/designs/where-am-i-5

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. (2019). Educational Resources [JPEG file]. Retrieved from https://orc.uams.edu/compliance-education-program/educational-resources/

Collaborate with a teacher and evolve their practice

For Assignment2: Collaborate with a teacher and evolve their practice, I identified a situation where reference and resource materials were not being used properly during a research assignment, and students were not correctly referencing sources used. Using the CBAM model of change theory, I offer some possible changes and pre-teaching that could help create a more collaborate working environment with this colleague and others moving forward.

Relinquishing the keys as “gatekeeper”


Theme 2: Managing and Evaluating Reference Services

Throughout Theme 2, I began to think more critically about how to deliver and evaluate strong information services, and how to find time to progressively include better reference interviews. 
As a teacher-librarian, an area of expertise is the school library reference collection, where teacher-librarians can provide bibliographic instruction to strengthen students’ information literacy skills by teaching “students how to locate and use information in the library, as well as sources that exist beyond the physical boundaries of the school library” (Riedling et al., 2013, p. 5). Another important task that teacher-librarians often take directive on during collaborative projects is the ethical use of content and teaching research methods that prevent plagiarism (Weisburg & Toor, 2012, p. 186). 
With all of this in mind, I felt my head nodding in agreement when reading: “Often, the perception is that teacher-librarians are ‘guardians of the collection’ or ‘gatekeepers to resources’ ” (Mueller, 2019) – something I have experienced in school libraries in varying degrees. So how do we open the gate and build a reference collection that is well-used and make seeking-out these resources first a naturally routine part of student learning?
Looking back, throughout Theme 1: The Foundation of Reference Services, I gathered what I hope to be useful tools and advice to use in the future. Practicing the evaluation process in assignment 1 was a valuable experience and I learned that building a reference collection, both print and non-print, that supports all school library users takes a large portion of a teacher-librarians budget. If done properly, the amount of time put into the selection and evaluation process will build a reference collection that can be well-used. I feel this is one thing to consider when co-planning – if a large amount of money has been invested in reference resources then it is important to use them! 
One of the steps towards higher usage and circulation is to invest time in teaching students (and colleagues) how to best use reference resources in their learning. This notion continues into our assignment 2, and while working on it I was reminded of a “collaborative” teaching experience that went sideways and left me as “gatekeeper”. Applying a change-model, like the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (National Academies, 2005), helped me to better recognize how to create a more productive co-planned project that better integrates information literacy skills, and consider strategies to facilitate change to increase the independent use of the reference collection.




References
AIT Library. (2017). Asian Institute of Technology [JPEG file]. Retrieved from
http://library.ait.ac.th/pages/refcollection.htm

Mueller, A. (2019). Lesson 7: Evaluating Reference Services, course modules LIBE 467 63C: University of British Columbia Vancouver, online. Retrieved from Canvas learning platform.


National Academies. (2005). The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM): A Model for Change in Individuals. Retrieved from http://www.nationalacademies.org/rise/backg4a.htm

National Incarceration Association. (2018). Op-Ed re: Books Behind Bars [JPEG file]. Retrieved from https://joinnia.com/op-ed-re-books-behind-bars/


100%Open. (2019). Open Innovation Tools [JPEG file]. Retrieved from 
https://www.100open.com/toolkit/

123RF. (2019). Monopoly Money Stock Photos and Images [JPEG file]. Retrieved from
https://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/monopoly_money.html?sti=n2uzn4nhvqdgs953vc|

Riedling, A. M., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013) Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth.

Weisburg, H. K., & Toor, R. (2012). New on the job: A school library media specialist’s guide to success. 2nd edition. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.



Evaluation of a Reference Work

For assignment 1, I wrote a technical essay (view here) evaluating the encyclopedias in a school reference collection. World Book sets can cost upwards of $1000, therefore in my replacement strategy I suggest purchasing subject area encyclopedias more specific to the BC Curriculum. A list and rough price guide begins on page 3. On page 7 there is a rubric that I designed that I used in my evaluation, and it could help others assess the encyclopedias at your school.

Learning to ride a bike while in the Tour de France...


Theme 1: The Foundation of Reference Services

In personal experience within the public library system and public school library learning commons, I have always been working from the side of already created reference sections, both physical and virtual. My role has been the director to resources and recommending sources that I am familiar with either through my own use or observance of others using them successfully. Being completely honest, the notion of being the person to build the reference collection and evaluate resources is daunting!

Throughout Theme 1: The Foundation of Reference Services, I have gathered what I hope to be useful tools and advice to use in the future. Practicing the evaluation process in assignment 1 is going to be a valuable experience.

During lesson two, I started to think that no matter what model is followed (Points of Inquiry, Research Quest, Big 6, Five Basic Steps), with student-centered learning and an inquiry approach to learning, the importance of research skills and information literacy become a student’s first important building block to being an independent library user. As mentioned in lesson four, “[o]ur role is to provide the skills that students require to select the best information” (Mueller, 2019), and I feel that often not enough time and attention is paid to this – evaluating content is often glossed over, especially with younger students. In past collaborative research projects I have observed students copy content not understanding it at all. When questioned why they chose it as a resource, they sort of mumble an “I don’t know, it says it so I copied it, and the teacher says we have to hurry up because the project is due soon.”

The project is due soon.





Here lies one of the issues of how project-based research is often set-up. The timeline is often unrealistic, and I have often thought that it is unfair to students to expect them to simultaneously successfully learn new skills (hopefully), and achieve a good mark on their big term project (which often makes student unwilling to take risks). It would be like learning to ride a bike while IN the Tour de France.



Readings throughout this theme reminded me that a T-L has to encourage colleagues to have their classes spend time in the library to learn and practice information literacy skills in a fun and meaningful way before applying them to graded assignments. I also started to think about how a T-L could continue to assist students throughout the learning process when the T-L is not available or the student is outside of the school library. I found this video, How to Search Databases published on Youtube by Stanford University Libraries (2016).


It looks like a student or possibly a librarian created this video guide about accessing school databases. I wonder if creating a video library with short “how to” guides would be beneficial for students who want to look up reminders on how to access stronger resources. This might be a modern addition to a T-Ls reference collection?



References

Feuerman, A. J. (2018). Picard-Facepalm-2_0  [JPEG file]. Retrieved from http://ajfeuerman.com/not-the-worst-pitch-ive-ever-gotten-but-maybe-the-most-irresponsible/picard-facepalm-2_0/

Gynne, E. (2013). Bought a bike but soon realized I have not been on one for 6 years [GIF file]. Retrieved from http://recognizingstupidity.tumblr.com/post/64627149215/bought-a-bike-but-soon-realized-i-have-not-been-on

Mueller, A. (2019). Lesson 4: Print and/or Electronic Reference Materials, course modules LIBE 467 63C: University of British Columbia Vancouver, online. Retrieved from Canvas learning platform. 

Riedling, A. M., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013) Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips (3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth.

Stanford University Libraries. (2016, April 7). How to Search Databases [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8bXA9JC6tQ

Vision of the Future – This is it! Time to share!



Video tour of my final project:

(Fletcher, L., 2017)

During this course, I stumbled upon a lot of helpful information regarding copyright, selecting quality resources, privacy online, cloud computing, etc. - much of which I wish I had known about at the start of my career. Since September, I had the reoccurring thought - how do you know you need to know?
I found that all of this important information felt scattered all over the place. Some websites I explored because of this course and others, or stumbled upon through links for further reading. As a library-minded person, I did not like how disorderly this was and this is how I landed on my idea for the “Vision of the Future” project.

In my future, I envision this helpful and important information to be in one place. Therefore, I created a digital resource that addresses key aspects of copyright, ownership, digital literacy, and safety. The intended audience is teachers on-call and new teachers (with a focus on content for staff in district 39), because we often miss a lot, like start-of-year processes when protocol and procedures regarding this type of information are discussed.

As more and more of our teaching day in online and uses online resources, I feel it is extremely important for educators to understand our duty to ensure our students are safe online. We are responsible for what we show and share in our classrooms, and we have to model and teach students how to be safe and accountable online, and how to cite other’s work in a responsible way.
Using OneNote, I am sharing information and links on what I have learned regarding digital literacy. I have included material on FOIPPA regulations, AUPs, copyright, ERAC, VSB IT support, CommonSense Media, Media Smarts, digital resources, library databases, and other content. In each section there are helpful links and brief information as to what that resource is and how I found it useful. 
This experience in this course was informative and provided the learning opportunity to work through some technological speedbumps of OneNote. Previously, I thought I could directly upload a video file, but after much testing, I found the file would not open. Sharing a web-link became the only option for sharing a video within OneNote, so if you create your own video, you would have to have a sharing platform (like YouTube or Vimeo) to upload videos publically.

As mentioned in previous blogs, sharing OneNote notebooks with non-Microsoft users has some challenges and sometimes information shared through a web link gets distorted or is missing information. I also learned that formatting will be altered depending on the screen size someone views the document, this really mangled my References page as the hanging indents keep shifting and active links cannot be split without breaking the connection. I searched help sites, and could not find a solution to this issue.

I also tried to add a watermark, like you can in PowerPoint or other Microsoft Products, however, you can only change the page colour on OneNote, you cannot upload your own watermarked background. Inserting a watermark .png file did not properly overlap the text, and again distorted all of my applied formatting. I also learned some interesting features of OneNote, like having it read the page to you, that may prove useful in other unintended avenues of using this tool in an educational setting.
Going forward, after receiving a final grade and feedback from peers as to any alterations to make to the artifact, I may look into gaining a wider audience, such as the BC Teachers’ Federation – Vancouver Elementary School Teachers’ Association (VESTA) and the BC Early Career Teachers Association, perhaps even the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association to share this information with others in my professional community.


References
BCECTA. (2017). The B.C. Early Career Teachers Association. Retrieved from https://bcecta.wordpress.com/

BCTF. (2017). British Columbia Teachers' Federation. Retrieved from https://www.bctf.ca/

BCTLA. (2017). British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association. Retrieved from http://bctf.ca/bctla/info/about.html

Fletcher, L. (2017). Video capture of project using Screencast-O-Matic.
Microsoft. (2017). OneNote [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.onenote.com/

Final "Vision of the Future" Project: Technology + Who

The “final vision” project is coming together and the weekend proved successful – I was able to type out my full rough copy of the project. As mentioned last week, I decided to use the Office 365 version of OneNote as provided within my district. OneNote has the benefit of tabs, which allow for a very organized presentation of information and enables me to categorize ideas. 


Here is a quick video glimpse into what the project will look like:
                         (Fletcher, 2017)
At first, I was worried that a web link version of my notebook would not share any changes made over time, thus making the project stagnant. Through some testing, and a lot of logging-in and back out and back in again, I realized that my changes do  seem to automatically get updated through the link for the most part. This is beneficial because I want to make the notebook accessible to those without the OneNote program on their computer, or if they use Mac. Speaking of Mac users, I also investigated if there are other ways for Mac users to import Microsoft files. I found these helpful links from Ask Difference and Question-Defense which give some step-by-step assistance for opening OneNote on Macs.
In terms of strategies, I broke the content I wanted to share into various sections. My project consists of the following:

Introduction

·         Welcome Colleague

·         Table of Contents

Privacy and Protection

·         Privacy Commissioner
·         FOIPPA


·         VSB Policy

·         AUP

·         Cloud Computing

·         ERAC

·         MediaSmarts

·         Common Sense Media

·         Articles & Extras Worth Reading

Copyright

·         Copyright Modernization Act

·         Copyright Law

·         Copyright Decisions

·         BCTF

·         Creative Commons

·         Citing Sources

VSB IT

·         VSB IT Support

·         Logging-in & Wifi

·         Office365

·         Library Databases

·         Search Engines & Dictionary

References


In each section there are helpful links and brief information as to what that resource is, and how I found it useful. I also tried to embed a video, which works, but in my opinion does not show up as nicely as it does on a website. In terms of formatting, so far it has been going relatively smoothly aside from a few funny glitches that I will have to figure out – such as image content shifting down into text, even though that is not what I see when working in the program itself!
Exhibit A

My OneNote when I have the program opened on my desktop...
When I open the same page through my OneNote link... same content but shifted image...



Helpful OneNote Tips!
 I realized AFTER I typed everything into OneNote that you should set your default font and size FIRST as it will then apply it to every page. I did not think of this, and then realized it is not as easy as in Word where you can mass-highlight everything and make a change to the entire document.


That part of formatting afterwards was a bit annoying… but I put on some good music to get me past the frustration as I worked through  “click >> highlight >> edit font >> edit size” repeat x too many…
Also, try to name your notebook correctly the first time (when you first start it), as it can be a bit tricky to rename it once it is in use. If you have the OneNote program installed on your computer, it can be easier as you can rename it in the file folder where it is saved. If you are using the cloud version, you have to find the file in your OneDrive folder, which takes multiple steps and logging in with your Microsoft account. It was a bit difficult and not obvious to figure out if you are like me, and you are used to clicking on a real "save as" button. I found that online "how to" forums helped me to figure out what to do -- after a few tense moments...

In the next week I will be editing my rough copy and attempting to make my writing style quick and easy to read. At this time, I feel good about how this has come together and I look forward to sharing the final version with everyone; it still needs a better name, though!

References

Question-Defense. (2016). How to Open OneNote Files Without OneNote Being Installed: Open .one Files. Retrieved from https://www.question-defense.com/2009/04/29/how-to-open-onenote-files-without-onenote-being-installed-open-one-files
Sono Acida. (2017). We heart it - Sono Acida via Tumbler [Image]. Retrieved from https://weheartit.com/entry/65000728

Stack Exchange Inc. (2017). Ask Different - Answers for your Apple Questions. Retrieved from https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/129283/how-to-import-from-onenote-on-windows-to-the-mac-edition-of-onenote

Final "Vision of the Future" Project: Rational + Why

As mentioned last week, I am designing a digital resource that addresses copyright, ownership, digital literacy, safety, and information technology resources that I wish I knew about when hired as a teacher on-call. The intended audience of this project is my peers who are TOCs and new teachers, because we often miss staff meetings or start-of-year setups when protocol and procedures regarding this type of information is discussed.

I plan to share information and links on what I have learned regarding digital literacy. I plan to include material on FIPA regulations, AUPs, copyright, ERAC, VSB IT support, Common Sense Media, Media Smarts, digital resources, library databases, and possibly other content. As more and more of our teaching day in online and uses online resources, I feel it is extremely important for educators to understand our duty to ensure our students are safe online. We are responsible for what we show and share in our classrooms, and we have to model and teach students how to be safe and accountable online, and how to cite other’s work in a responsible way.


When considering platforms to use I contemplated if I wanted to create a website, add to my blog, create a PDF, but then I started thinking about Office365, which my district offers to all teachers. I decided to use OneNote to create my digital resource.

I used OneNote in 2011 for a class project, but have not used it since; the cloud computing version is new to me and offered through my work e-mail. Our version is hosted in Canada, which compliments the content I am pulling together for this artifact.

I think a benefit of using OneNote is the tabs allow for a very organized presentation of information and enables me to categorize ideas. This program also enables me to update or change things in the future, so it acts as a living document. One thing I have considered though is how to share it with colleagues who do not have OneNote installed. There is a way to make a website-type link to my notebook, so it can be shared this way. 

While exploring the functions, I noticed an interesting feature of a “checkmarkable” task list. At first I thought this would be great to use in a table of contents, because then readers could checkmark sections as they read and come back to the resource at a later time.

However, while playing around with the features of OneNote, I learned that another reader has to have editing privileges to use the checkmarks. Another minor set-back is that video content does not display as nicely as it does on a website. So, although OneNote provides most of the features I am looking for, there are a few things that I will have to rethink to make my vision and the final presentation compatible. This experience also helped me to learn more about OneNote, and so I feel I could more confidently use it with students. A feature I found which is helpful for proofreading when your mind is tired is the read aloud! The voice is a little funny, but I can see the potential benefit for EAL students if a teacher shared OneNote notebooks with their students with various content. I found this feature under View >> Immersive Reader (book with sound symbol far right of navigation ribbon). 

I think once completed, this resource will be useful for TOCs and new teachers (I am using this audience as my motivation for completing this project) and I can envision myself referring back to it, too!



References

Common Sense Media. (2017). Common Sense Media. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium (ERAC). (2017). BC Digital Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.bcerac.ca/about/background-info.aspx

Media Smarts. (2017). Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/

Microsoft. (2017). OneNote [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.onenote.com/

Vancouver School Board i3 Learning Technologies. (2016). Learning Technologies. Retrieved from http://go.vsb.bc.ca/schools/ltm/Pages/default.aspx

Final "Vision of the Future" Project: Scope + Design


For the “Vision of the Future” project, I plan to revisit ideas that caught my interest at the beginning of this course. During this learning opportunity, I have stumbled upon a lot of information regarding copyright, selecting quality resources, privacy online, cloud computing and its use in the educational setting. It caught my attention as I am someone who likes to follow rules and guidelines. 
I wish that I had known about these things at the start of my career, and throughout this course I have had the reoccurring thought - how do you know you need to know? 

While learning about the above mentioned, I found that all of this important information is in many different places. Some websites I explored because of this course, or stumbled upon, and sometimes I found information from articles I read for another class. Everything just felt scattered all over the place. 


As a library-minded person, I did not like how disorderly this was and this is how I landed on my idea for the “Vision of the Future” project.




In my future, I envision all of the helpful and important resources I have learned about to be in one place. I am designing a digital resource that addresses copyright, ownership, digital literacy and safety. The intended audience of this project is teachers on-call and new teachers, because we often miss staff meetings, or start-of-year procedures when protocol and procedures regarding this type of information are discussed.

Perhaps this is too simple? Maybe I am not expanding my ideas enough?

Since I am still at the beginning of my career, this seems like a good idea. It feels like a resource I wish I had when starting out. I will share it with classmates, and I will look into contacting the B.C. Early Career Teachers’ Associations, and possibly my own local of BCTF to see if the final product is something that would help other new teachers. If I work in a library setting, I could share it with future colleagues or link it to a library website if I create one. I spoke with one colleague who is brand new to teaching this September, and they said they did not know many of the things I was talking about and would be interested in reading my resource when it is completed.

So I have one audience member so far.
That’s a start.

Now to sit-down, concentrate, and create my “Vision”…


References
Aparajit, S. (2014). You don't concentrate, do you? [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140715134444-23597044-you-don-t-concentrate-do-you
BCECTA. (2017). The B.C. Early Career Teachers Association. Retrieved from https://bcecta.wordpress.com/
BCTF. (2017). British Columbia Teachers' Federation. Retrieved from https://www.bctf.ca/https://www.bctf.ca/
Damon, M. (2013). Putting Some Order In My Life [Image]. Retrieved from http://martywdamon.blogspot.ca/2013/12/putting-some-order-in-my-life.html
FreeImages. (2017). Free Stock Photo 5431 Blank folder dividers with tabs [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.freeimageslive.co.uk/free_stock_image/tab-folder-background-jpg 
Gfycat. (2016). ImprobableBeneficialAoudad [Image]. Retrieved from https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/improbablebeneficialaoudad