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ETL503 Final reflection: so many books… so little time

 

“It does not matter how many books you may have, but whether they are good or not.”
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca (3 B.C.-65 A.D.), Epistolae Morale

Six months into a new position as a Teacher Librarian in a NSW DEC high school, writing a proposal for a Collection Development Policy has been an opportune and significant learning activity. While the second assignment required broad strokes utilising the topics covered in modules presented in the course, I found myself mentally applying the elements of the topics covered and the resulting proposal structure, to the specific circumstances and challenges of my new role. The narrow focus of the first assignment, resourcing for a specific topic, was a good introduction to the challenge involved in developing a collection to meet specific curriculum requirements (Hogg, 2015a). The second assignment widened the horizon to incorporate the Library Collection as a whole.

As the course has progressed, I have applied the learning to the collection I now manage, and find myself suitably impressed by the previous holder of my current position. She was known as a bit of a dragon… but her skills in Collection Development are revealed to me now in a way that can only be described as impressed. I inherit a solid collection that is meeting the current needs of the learning community of my school – my challenge is clear… the continuation of this legacy. The development of my own set of selection criteria, applicable to my school circumstance and its changing needs, has been well informed by the readings and discussions on the forums in this course. The process of selection and acquisition in a school with specific budget constraints has also led me to realise the benefits of a well established, local bookshop, and the long connection that the staff have with my library collection (Hogg, 2015b).

Weed

To weed…

The Australian Library and Information Association Schools considers that a Collection Development Policy is essential to a school library as it explains why the collection exists (ALIA Schools and VCTL, 2007). In considering the development of such a policy for my school, I have come to realise how important the four areas of analysis provided by the Collaborative Access Environment model are as posited by Hughes-Hassell in Collection management for youth : responding to the needs of learners (2005). In order to provide the service required by our Collection, as the Teacher Librarian I need to achieve a deep knowledge of my resources, a clear understanding of the learner characteristics of the students at my school, foster strong collaborative partnerships with other teaching staff, and gain access to and understanding of the teaching and learning programs being offered at my school. This is quite a challenge and forms only part of the role of the Teacher Librarian in a school library – but certainly provides clarity of purpose as I move forward and develop skills in this position.

Amongst the many other topics covered by the modules in this course, there are a number of challenging facets of the TL to be honed, one that particularly stands out for me is the process of weeding. Essentially, collection development means both adding to and subtracting from a library’s collection (Olin, 2012). Completing the CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding) (Larson, 2012) exercise was difficult – both in finding the time in a busy school timetable, and the torture of making decisions about the fate of individual books! Being a hoarder by nature is certainly not a useful attribute for a Teacher Librarian… and a focus for future personal growth in the role!

Lastly, planning a Collection is built on speculation (Anderson, 2011) and it is influenced by our inability to predict the impact of new technologies in education. Some aspects of our future in libraries seem predictable while others we will just have to wait and see.

 

References

ALIA Schools, and Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians, (2007). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. 1st ed. [ebook] Melbourne: ALIA Schools and VCTL. Available at: https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/events/policies.procedures.pdf

Anderson, R. (2011) Collections 2021: the future of the library collection is not a collection. in Serials, 24(3) Available at: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/67113024/collections-2021-future-library-collection-not-collection

Hogg, D. (2015a) Annotated resource list. Available at:  http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/04/03/etl503-assignment-1-annotated-resource-list/

Hogg, D. (2015b) Personal connections in the purchasing process.  Available at: http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/04/03/etl503-reflection-personal-connections-in-the-purchasing-process/

Hughes-Hassell, Sandra. & Mancall, Jacqueline C.  (2005).  Collection management for youth : responding to the needs of learners.  Chicago :  American Library Association

Larson, J. (2012). CREW: a weeding manual for modern libraries. Austin, Texas: Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Available at: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod12.pdf

Olin, J. (2012). Letters to a young librarian: weeding is where it’s at: deacquisitioning in a small, academic library. Available at: http://letterstoayounglibrarian.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/weeding-is-where-its-at.html

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ETL401 The Critical Synthesis challenge

BLaKC pic

Balmain Library and Knowledge Centre 2015

My challenge here is to achieve a “critical synthesis” and assess my progress in understanding the role of the Teacher Librarian in schools. To be perfectly frank, I don’t know that I am yet capable of fully realising that goal. This course has expanded my view of the role of the Teacher Librarian in schools, increased my knowledge of the expectations and details, but has also found me acquiring scepticism that the role will ever truly be appreciated in schools, and a realisation that the frustration levels involved may yet overwhelm me.

My career as a teacher has already spanned three decades and provided me with experiences in a wide variety of education systems and pedagogical approaches – yet I find myself under pressure to be able to fulfil the TL role. Achieving success at interview and being offered a placement as TL in a NSW DEC school was a significant challenge.  I bring to this role an acceptance of the change process, a deep love of literature and information literacy, expertise in the vast array of tools of the 21st Century educator, a background in database management, and training in school leadership… and yet I find myself in a school where the role of the Teacher Librarian has a long, dark shadow and significant baggage, and I wonder if I have sufficient resilience to meet the challenge of realising the potential of the TL role. Thankfully ETL401 has provided some clarity for me but TLs must work within the staffing structure of their school and I am yet to be convinced that it is possible to establish a shift in how other staff perceive the role, or accept a change that allows change.

Since first being offered, by a secondary Principal, an opportunity to act as Teacher Librarian in 2013, and another position in 2014, I have been fortunate indeed to connect and collaborate with a large group of Teacher Librarians serving in a wide range of schools – both in NSW and internationally. I have listened and read about the issues they face – the challenges of advocacy and accreditation, the importance of “Teacher” in TL, the treatment by school executives, the budget constraints, the push for change of usage and design of Library spaces and so on, and I began this course with what I realise now was a chaotic view of the Teacher Librarian profile in schools.

My description of the role as a “Project Manager’s nightmare” (Hogg, 2015a) was an accurate assessment of how I saw the role at the beginning of this semester. Thankfully some clarity has been achieved as the course has progressed, and especially through exposure to and discussion about some of the support literature that provides greater definition of the TL role. The ASLA website and materials have been significantly useful in this pursuit of clarity and their analysis of “What is a teacher librarian?” (Asla.org.au, 2014) has provided me with a framework as a foundation for the development of a Strategic Plan for my new role. What I described as the “ubiquitous and indispensable” (Hogg, 2015a) features of the TL role are in fact examples of critical and creative thinking – two important facets of what the Australian Curriculum describes as General Capabilities of the 21st century (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2014) and are a foundation for the role of TL in schools.

This course has also highlighted the importance of the role of the School Principal in achieving a shift in perception amongst teaching staff regarding the use of the Library and the role of the TL. The course forums gave many examples of how Principals and TLs interact in schools. As I noted in my blog post, the literature has shown me that “Supportive principals also communicate an understanding of the value of the library program and make Information Literacy an agenda item in school planning” (Hogg, 2015b) and I recognise that I have much more “collaboration homework” to do (Bush, 2003) in order to achieve a supportive relationship, and the resulting access to teaching staff that can be made available in the collaborative process.

Most importantly, though, I come away from this course with a much more detailed understanding of the importance of Information Literacy – what it looks like and how it can be explicitly taught in schools (Hogg, 2015c). In addition, through the Interact2 forums, completion of assignments, and connection and collaboration with other members of my MEd(TL) student cohort (especially through connecting via Facebook) – I have come to understand the importance of the Information Literacy models and the process of inquiry, and look forward to creating opportunities for students at my school to improve their Information Literacy and be better prepared for the challenges of lifelong learning in this information dense landscape of the 21st Century.

Information literate students, who are learning how to learn and using a 21st Century skill set, should be the focus of the TL role. Teacher Librarians have a pivotal role in teaching their students how to broaden their literacy horizons and love of literature, how to have a passion for learning and how to the acquire the metacognitive processes involved – constructivism in action. Essentially this means that TLs are teaching students to access, process, organise, create, and present their learning in meaningful, purposeful ways (Abilock, 2004). For me the fog has cleared and the challenge is revealed – I will continue to learn how to adapt and change as my participation in the role of Teacher Librarian focuses on the students of my school and the learning challenges they face, in a world where success, reading and Information Literacy are inexorably linked.

While I remain sceptical… I will face the hurdles with renewed vigour, now that the challenge has been well articulated.

Mindmap Role of TL

Role of TL

[click image to enlarge]

[Images in this post created by D.Hogg 2015]

References:

Abilock, D. (2004). Building Blocks of Research: Overview of Design, Process and Outcomes. Available at: http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html

ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014) Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum [online] Available at: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

Asla.org.au, (2014). What is a teacher librarian? Available at: http://www.asla.org.au/advocacy/what-is-a-teacher-librarian.aspx

Bush, G. (2003). Do your collaboration homework. Teacher Librarian, 31(1), 15-18.

Hogg, D. (2015a) ETL401 blog task 1 – trying to understand the TL role

[blog post] available at http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/03/22/etl401-blog-task-1-trying-to-understand-the-tl-role/

Hogg, D. (2015b) Principal support in a 21C library [blog post] Available at:

http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/05/02/principal-support-in-a-21c-library/

Hogg, D. (2015c) Am I information literate? Is information literacy more than a set of skills? [blog post] Available at:

http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/04/20/am-i-information-literate-is-information-literacy-more-than-a-set-of-skills/

 

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Principal support in a 21C library

The core business of a School Principal is to maximise the positive effect on student learning outcomes. To this end, the effective use of school resources – human, physical and technological – must combine to optimise the opportunities for students to engage and learn. Within this framework, the utilisation of the Teacher Librarian is key to the knowledge economy of the school.

Collaboration quoteFor a Teacher Librarian(TL) in a NSW DEC High School, both Head Teacher and Principal support are crucial to the efficient execution of the TL role. A supportive Principal will incorporate the Teacher Librarian’s participation in the School Plan; raise the profile and importance of the role of the TL and the library within the school; and model, support and enable collaboration between the TL and classroom teachers (Oberg, 2006). Without the support of the Senior School Executive, the library will be relegated to under-funded and ineffectual and have little impact on the learning outcomes of the school community.

This support from the Principal is manifested in a number of ways. It is important to recognise that the physical isolation of the library can be the Teacher Librarian’s biggest hurdle to overcome in terms of being a vital participant in the school’s learning community (Lamb, 2011, p14).  Lamb (2011) posits that such isolation can lead to “occupational invisibility” for the Teacher Librarian, and goes on to suggest that supportive principals will provide an outline of their expectations for library use and the classroom teachers’ participation in the library program (p. 14). TL’s have a vast arsenal of ICT tools that can be utilised to overcome these issues of isolation and build bridges to empower other teachers to utilise collaboration mechanisms. Supportive principals also communicate an understanding of the value of the library program and make information literacy an agenda item in school planning.

Support from the Principal becomes evident when they create the “context and structures” that enable the Classroom Teacher and the Teacher Librarian to work collaboratively, allowing some opportunities for flexible scheduling which ensures the library program is integrated into planning and evaluation structures. A supportive principal will also encourage the TL’s personal and professional development (Oberg, 2006, pp. 8 & 15).

An appropriate role for the TL in curriculum planning and development includes being a facilitator in ICT, educating staff on new technologies and programs, and resourcing the curriculum. Teacher librarians should collaborate with classroom teachers “to combine knowledge of the curriculum, knowledge of individual learners’ needs and competencies and knowledge of information sources, resources and technologies” (ASLA, 2009). Without the support of the principal of your school, none of this is possible.

Mattesich et al (2001) write that the arrangement between the Principal and the TL should “include(s) a commitment to mutual relationships and goals; a jointly developed structure and shared responsibility; mutual authority and accountability for success; and sharing of resources and rewards” (in Haycock, 2007). This is not going to be achieved quickly and easily, and requires effort from both the Principal and the Teacher Librarian to establish and maintain common goals for student learning outcomes in their school.

Lastly, Bush (2003) adds that professional satisfaction derives from collaboration with colleagues. This desire to practice a collaborative approach and insert the TL role as a support mechanism for classroom teachers, has the added benefit of developing the collaborative skill set of all involved… including the Principal.

References:

Bush, G. (2003). Do your collaboration homework. Teacher Librarian, 31(1), 15-18.

Haycock, K. (2007)  Collaboration: Critical success factors for student learning.  School Libraries Worldwide, Vol. 13, No. 1, p.26

Lamb, A. (2011).  Bursting with Potential:  Mixing a Media Specialist’s Palette.  TechTrends Vol 55: 4.

Oberg, D. (2006) Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18.

 

 

 

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Am I information literate? Is information literacy more than a set of skills?

Search survey capture

Search survey 19 April 2015

A simple survey – posted one evening in two closed groups on Facebook, and then also on NSW DEC (tafe) yammer. A straight forward, single question… “How do you search for information?”

Does it surprise anyone that out of a total of 48 participants, as of the moment that I am writing this blog post… 100% of respondents chose Google as their preferred research tool?! 

The added point of interest is that the two closed groups are MEd(TL) students and yammer is significantly populated with school teachers… and no-one chose the library as their go-to place for information.

So does being information literate these days equate to being able to use the Google search engine? Is it just a set of skills needed to find information using Google? Is Google the guaranteed way to finding the answer to any question posed? And does that mean the user is information literate? Is information literacy just a set of skills?

Tweet

Tweet from April 19 2015

There are certainly challenges involved in using Google efficiently. In the hands of a novice, the information tsunami can be just as devastating with Google’s help as without! If you don’t have the skills to use it then the information you are seeking will remain hidden… but being information literate requires something more than being able to use Google search efficiently.

In 2004, the Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy developed the Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework and published a set of standards. These standards provide a definition for the information literate person…

  1. The information literate person recognises the need for information and determines the nature and extent of the information needed
  2. The information literate person finds needed information effectively and efficiently
  3. The information literate person critically evaluates information and the information seeking process
  4. The information literate person manages information collected or generated
  5. The information literate person applies prior and new information to construct new concepts or create new understandings
  6. The information literate person uses information with understanding and acknowledges cultural, ethical, economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information

We begin to realise that information literacy is a framework for learning which not only includes a skill set but also includes ways of thinking and being.

On further exploration it is revealed that the meaning of Information Literacy (Herring, 2006; Thomas, Crow, & Franklin, 2011; Informationliteracy, 2015) hasn’t reached consensus and settled on a single, static definition. However, the concept is a constantly evolving idea and this reveals the current importance of the ability to seek, retrieve, record, analyse/evaluate and correctly use any information (Thomas, Crow, & Franklin, 2011; Informationliteracy, 2015). Being information literate has become a requirement for living and learning in our information dense world. When using information literacy as a framework it also allows for other skills to be integrated such as computer and technology skills (Eisenberg, 2008).

However, if we misinterpret information literacy and use it as just a framework to follow, and explore it no further, the Teacher Librarian loses an opportunity to provide their students with more than just a set of skills, it is, as Herring (2009) defines it… a way of thinking.

The Billion Dollar Gram

Information is beautiful

The advent of the Internet has had a significant impact on the access to and presentation of all manner of information. The modern learner has many challenges in accessing, understanding, synthesising and evaluating the information they require in both their studies and in daily life. The Teacher Librarian role should be utilised in schools to support the acquisition of the skills involved in Information Literacy… but also be expanded upon to realise that it requires more than just a skill set… it is an opportunity to address the thinking and understanding that is needed before a student can confidently identify themselves as information literate.

 

References:

Bundy (Ed), A. (2004). Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy Framework – principles, standards and practice. 2nd ed. [ebook] Adelaide: Australian and New Zealand Institute for Information Literacy (ANZIIL).  Available at: http://www.caul.edu.au/content/upload/files/info-literacy/InfoLiteracyFramework.pdf

Eisenberg, M. B. (2008). Information literacy: Essential skills for the Information Age. Journal of Library & Information Technology, 28(2), 39-47

Herring, J. (2006). A critical investigation of students’ and teachers’ views of the use of information literacy skills in school assignments. School Library Media Research, 9

Herring, J, (2009) A Grounded Analysis of Year 8 Students’ Reflections on Information Literacy Skills and Techniques,  School Libraries Worldwide, Vol 15, no. 1, pp. 1-13

Informationliteracy (2015). International definitions | Information Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.informationliteracy.org.uk/information-literacy-definitions/definitions-of-il/

Thomas, N. P., Crow, S. R., & Franklin, L. L. (2011). The Information Search Process: Kuhlthau’s legacy. In Information literacy and information skills instruction: Applying research to practice in the 21st century school library(3rd e.d.). Libraries Unlimited

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Copyright 4 Educators

Once again this year, the National Copyright Unit will be conducting the Copyright 4 Educators course via P2PU (www.p2pu.org). Having completed this online course last year – I highly recommended it for all educators… Beginning through to Highly Accomplished.

P2PUcourseThe course runs for seven weeks and covers a great deal of content regarding the complicated world of copyright, Creative Commons and Open Education Resources.

“The Copyright 4 Educators course is not taught; the course leaders facilitate it. The course is student participation focused. Students are divided into small groups in which they organise their online communications/discussions (via email, Google docs, Skype, tokbox etc) and jointly submit answers to each week’s task.” For communication in this course last year, my group and I set up a Google+ community so that we could share our learning and connect and collaborate about the materials and content involved in the course.

With this style of presentation, this course gives participants an opportunity to both learn the material and also apply new skills to achieve the learning, with a group of like minded educators. It is an excellent example of a 21st Century approach to skill acquisition in an important area of knowledge construction.

“Enrolments for the course will open on April 27 and will remain open for one week or until the course reaches 60 enrolments. In the last cycle of the course, enrolments filled in three days.”

For more information and to enrol in the course… Smartcopying.edu.au

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ETL503 Assignment 1 – Annotated resource list for curriculum topic

As a requirement of Part B of the first assignment in ETL503, the following is an annotated resource list for a Stage 5 (Years 9 and 10) English unit of study called…

“What/how does dystopian fiction teach us about social responsibility?”

There is also a livebinder to provide a curated format for digital artefacts and information.

ETL503 ASSIGNMENT 1 PART B:

As a sub-genre of Science Fiction, resources in dystopian fiction come in a vast array of choices. This resource list provides examples of each of the different types of resources that should be made available to teaching staff and students in order to fulfill the requirements of the syllabus outcomes to be achieved in this unit of work.

Resourcing the curriculum for this unit of work and for this target audience combines the facets of the Teacher Librarian’s role of both building the library collection and collaborating with faculties to fulfill curriculum requirements. Having a guiding question provides a framework around which the appropriateness of resource selection can be measured. Resources need to be provided that will support teachers as they plan and prepare learning experiences, supply students with resources that fulfill the full range of text type requirements, provide students with sufficient choices of text to complete assessment task items and cater to their learner characteristics (Hughes-Hassell, 2005 p. 43), build the library collection in order to sustain the learning beyond the completion of the unit of work and entice these students to engage in further recreational reading in this genre. In this way, this unit of work becomes the catalyst as the Teacher Librarian establishes a resource foundation that can be built upon by utilising the budget in an ongoing way as new items are released in this genre by Young Adult authors and publishers, and multi-modal text choices become available in an expanding market in this area and these can be added to the Library Management System for ease of access.

Additional criteria relating to the copyright requirements of some of these resources may need to be explained by the Teacher Librarian e.g. censorship classifications on DVD, downloading of digital artefacts etc.

Selection criteria:

The Stage 5 English Curriculum (Board of Studies, 2012) has specific expectations regarding the variety of texts that should be met by students.

Text​ Requirements:​​

  • spoken texts
  • print texts
  • visual texts
  • media, multimedia and digital texts.​​​

​Including:

  • texts which are widely regarded as quality literature
  • a wide range of literary texts from other countries and times, including prose fiction
  • texts written about intercultural experiences
  • a wide range of cultural, social and gender perspectives, popular and youth cultures
  • texts that include aspects of environmental and social sustainability
  • nonfiction, picture books, graphic novels
  • an appropriate range of digital texts, including film, media and multimedia.

General​ Capabilities and​ Cross​ Curriculum:​ ​

  • Ethical Understanding ​
  • Sustainability​
  • Literacy​
  • Critical and Creative Thinking​
  • Civics​ and​ Citizenship

Developing a set of selection criteria for choosing resources for this unit of work should also lie within the established school policy of Learning Resources Selection (Det.wa.edu.au, 2015; Education.qld.gov.au, 2015; Government of South Australia, 2004). In particular it should fulfill

  1. The resource is appropriate to the target audience – style, pace, point of view, etc.
  2. The resource is relevant to the curriculum and learning outcomes of this unit
  3. The resource meets the additional guided inquiry requirement of this unit and includes aspects of social responsibility that can be explored through class activities
  4. The resource is suitable to improve literacy outcomes for students – reading level, vocabulary, aspects of creative writing etc.

Selection Aids:

There are a wide variety of selection aids available for this unit of work. My preference is to include my Professional Learning Network (PLN) in this process and so I began by reaching out to connections who could provide unit plans and ideas as a framework to build a resource selection. This is an important resource for Teacher Librarians because we are not subject curriculum experts in all Key Learning Areas, so being able to ask experienced practitioners is an excellent means to value add to the Teacher Librarian role in our school. Gathering and maintaining a PLN and being able to tap into this expertise, is an important aspect of the resource selection process.

Other selection aids included publisher websites, genre blogs, library catalogues from a variety of school libraries, teacher owned and maintained websites, various LibGuides, GoodReads website, OCLC world catalogue.

 

Annotated Resource List:

  1. Introductory programming and short story writing support  

Screen Shot 2015-04-04 at 3.48.00 pmChase, J. (2015). Post-Apocalypse Writers’ Phrase Book: Essential Reference for All Authors of Apocalyptic, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Prepper, and Zombie Fiction. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

This resource caters to the specific target audience – both staff and students. It is available in both paperback and eBook (through Kindle) and is a brand new edition. It specifically targets writing support for this genre and would be an excellent addition to teacher reference materials in the school library. Purchasing current, relevant resources for the library collection supports student learning, invigorates teacher planning and builds collaboration opportunities between faculty and library staff.

 

  1. Novel study – Fiction compilation to be added to library collection

Screen Shot 2015-04-04 at 3.49.40 pmAdams, J. (2012). Brave new worlds. San Francisco, Calif.: Night Shade Books.

The library collection should already include a wide range of books in the dystopian genre which are suitable for student use in this unit of work. Famous older titles like George Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World will be mixed with more current best selling series like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Allie Condie’s Matched and Veronica Roth’s Divergent series.

This book, Brave New Worlds, is a collection of dystopian tales written by some of today’s most visionary writers, including Neil Gaiman, Paolo Bacigalupi, Orson Scott Card, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

It would make an excellent addition to the library collection both for student access to inform their creative writing, and for staff access as a lesson planning resource.

  1. Novel study – Fiction book to be added to library collection

Screen Shot 2015-04-04 at 8.27.59 pmAtwood, M. (1986). The handmaid’s tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

The dystopian fiction genre offers a plethora of novels to choose from. This particular choice from Margaret Atwood is one that I believe is a must to offer to a gifted and talented Stage 5 audience. Atwood’s story construction and theme coverage makes it approachable for the young adult reader while providing high quality narrative construction.

  1. Short story

Vonnegut, Kurt Jr. “Harrison Bergeron.”  1961.

With central themes of the danger of total equality and the power of television, this short story introduces some themes that could be utilised by students in their assessment writing task.

The structure of the short story gives an opportunity to analyse this text type and help students to scaffold their own writing task.

This short story is also considered a classic in both form and content and therefore fulfills the syllabus requirement of “quality literature”. There are many online resources available to support student analysis of this text, including Spark Notes (Sparknotes.com, 2015)

  1. Journal Article

Ames, M. (2013) Engaging “apolitical” adolescents: analysing the popularity and educational potential of dystopian literature post 9/11 in The High School Journal, Volume 97, Number 1, Fall 2013, pp. 3-20 (Article) http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hsj/summary/v097/97.1.ames.html

The journal article is selected for both its content and format. It provides an example of professional journal writing for Stage 5 students who are developing their essay writing skills. It specifically addresses the guided inquiry focus. In PDF format and used for educational purpose, this article can introduce students to style, context, form. Selecting these types of resources – requiring additional search skills to access them and provide them to staff to use with their students, value adds to the relationship between Teacher Librarian and faculty teaching staff.

  1. Trailers

Sites.google.com, (2015). Intro to Dystopia – {a shift in perspective} Mr. Celini’s Class Site. [online] Available at: https://sites.google.com/a/ccsd.edu/a-shift-in-perspective/struggles/units-2011-12/intro-to-dystopia

Film trailers, made available through the LMS, can be an excellent resource for teachers to utilise in lesson planning. Providing easy access to trailer resources – by downloading onto the school’s digital library website or other non-streaming resource placement, can provide quick easy access to enhance lessons and engage students.

  1. Posters

Burningbooks.org, (2015). BURNING BOOKS POSTERS. [online] Available at: http://www.burningbooks.org/posters-by-burning-books/category/6.html

Posters provide an opportunity to target visual literacy and enhance the learning outcomes of this unit of study. The library can produce these resources on site (subject to copyright requirements) and provide a selection to staff members to be used during the unit study. In this way, the library can develop a collection of additional forms of resources that enhance the service being provided to teaching staff.

  1. Animation

YouTube, (2015). Sci-Fi City – Future Dystopia 3D Animation. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3bFi7ooyfY

Short animation (1 minute), which can be made available through the LMS or via edmodo.

This type of resource adds an innovative element to resourcing this unit of work. It adds another form of literacy development and as an aid to creative writing through visualisation of dystopian society. Students may even have the skill set to create an animation as a means to explore this genre further.

  1. DVD

Screen Shot 2015-04-04 at 8.25.44 pmDeVito, D., et al (1998). Gattaca. [DVD] Columbia TriStar Home Video (Firm)

There are many movies available in this genre, which would be suitable to study in this unit. Many of them include themes of social responsibility, which would enhance the guided inquiry and inform the assessment task for this part of the unit. Purchasing DVDs provides multi-use resources in the library collection. Film studies are a required component of Stage 5 English.

Starring Ethan Hawke, this sci-fi thriller about a man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. Hawke’s role is as Vincent, an InValid, who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his personal goals. This storyline would be particularly advantageous for the themes of this unit of study and the guided inquiry focus.

  1. Graphic novels

Talbot, M. et al (2014) IDP: 2043: A Graphic Novel Freight Books

“In this recent graphic novel, the cream of British and European writers and artists have collaborated to explore life in Scotland thirty years into the future, with each paired writer and artist being given one chapter.” (Low, 2015)

This graphic novel explores what the UN calls Internal Displaced Persons – refugees who are still in their country of origin – after the currently predicted rise in sea level. The issues raised in this work would again reinforce the guided inquiry aims of this unit of study. This resource focuses on developing visual literacy for this unit of study and also makes an attractive addition to the library’s graphic novel collection.

 

Additional resources:

Curation of resources available in digital formats, can be provided to faculty staff using lots of different webtools available for this purpose. The following livebinder is an example of how this can be achieved and includes the resources displayed above in a format that is easily accessible to faculty members interested in utilising these resources.

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ETL503 reflection: Personal Connections in the Purchasing Process

As we cover ground in the ETL503 (Resourcing the Curriculum) modules on such topics as the importance of applying for budget funding (Debowski, 2001) through to issues of collection management (Kenny, 2006), I find myself reflecting on some of the realities of systems that have developed over many years, and that I have inherited in my new school library.

Brays books pic

Bray’s Books, Balmain

The issue of relationship with book suppliers is very important to me and how I manage the collection development role in my school’s library. Our school has a relationship of long-standing with a local, family-owned and run, bookshop… and I have come to realise the enormous benefits of having this type of connection to experts in the field of Young Adult book supply.

My initial questions, about whether to maintain this relationship, were to do with whether this arrangement would be cost effective – but those fears have certainly been allayed as I have done the research and verified that their prices are certainly competitive to other supply options. Once those concerns were put aside, the many benefits of having this connection have been revealed.

Firstly, the length of the relationship means that the staff of this bookshop know a great deal about the library collection of my school. They know the mix of genres that have been favoured over the years, and have a good understanding of the patterns of readers that have gone through the school. They know which series we are following and can be an invaluable source of information for notification of new additions to popular Young Adult fiction series, and new genre choices. They can help with the challenges of matching book to reader.

However, the outstanding benefit of this arrangement – the one that I wasn’t really prepared for and am most fortunate to be able to step into – is the community connection made available through using this supplier, and the immediate sense of relationship over a common interest and focus… that together we are building the School library collection in order to focus on the needs of the students at my school. This realisation harks back to another time – it even brings to mind one of my favourite books, 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff – when expertise in managing bookstores was respected and supporting local businesses was seen as important for all the right reasons.

So I will be counting myself as fortunate and looking forward to developing this connection between our library and our bookshop… for as long as is possible. It’s wonderful to be able to enjoy this dimension to the challenge of Collection Development and Management at our school.

Deb Hogg

Debowski, S. (2001). Collection management policies. In K. Dillon, J. Henri & J. McGregor (Eds.). Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.). (pp.126-136). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Kennedy, J. (2006). Collection management : A concise introduction. (Rev.ed.). Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.