The OLD Top Shelf

Getting Them Where They Live: Designing Virtual Library Sites for 21st Century Learners

What a ball of fire Joyce Valenza is! She is passionate about helping students learn by using the new tools of the web and truly models lifelong learning. I have been an admirer of her library web site for several years and was anxious to hear what she would have to say about designing a virtual library site and incorporating Web 2.0 tools. Needless to say, she did not disappoint!

Joyce started her presentation by talking about school library web sites in general. She said that since there aren’t really any models of best practice in this area, none of us are there yet. Her vision is for the library’s web site to be a knowledge management tool where all of the school’s information is collected. She sees the library site as another “door” into the library - there is a physical door and a virtual door. The library web site should allow the school library to be there anytime and anywhere a student or teacher needs information. It should be as ubiquitous as Google or Wikipedia and we should aspire to having just a tiny piece of real estate on the customized home page of all learners in the school. Joyce feels strongly about this and declares that in the shifting informational landscape, having a web presence is not optional anymore. If you don’t know how to create a web site, you web presence can be a blog or a moodle site, but you must have one!

Having done some research in this area with her own students, Joyce shared some things she has discovered that kids like and don’t like about library web sites. They LIKE to feel a sense of ownership for the site and they like graphical organization. They also LIKE for there to be mouse-over descriptions that pop up on the links to explain what things are. They DON’T LIKE it when the language and organization used on the site don’t make sense to them, e.g., calling databases by their vendor names and/or listing resources alphabetically instead of by subject. They also DON’T LIKE to have too many choices and having to remember lots of different passwords. They really recommend that we (librarians) stop using “library” terminology and start using everyday language to describe things on our sites. Joyce referenced a great site to help us with this: Library Terms That Users Understand.

In the next section of her presentation, Joyce gave lots of examples of things to consider including on a virtual library site, organized under the three components of a 21st century library as described in Information Power.

Under the umbrella of Program Administration you might want to have the following items:

• Mission statements
• Policies (materials selection, reconsideration, academic integrity, etc.)
•  Calendar for library sign-up
• Assignment planner form for teachers to complete and submit online
• Surveys can be posted periodically using online survey tools such as polldaddy.com
• A form for book purchase requests or a link to an Amazon.com wish list for your school library
• An ILL request form that can be submitted online
• A reading interest poll
• A learning survey to capture what students learned during library instruction
• PDFs of monthly newsletters and annual reports

The Information Power component of Information Access and Delivery is probably where librarians put most of their energy. These are some things that you might want to include on your site that addresses this area:

• A link to the library OPAC (although you DON’T want to call it that!)
  As a side note Joyce asks wouldn’t it be great if we could have ONE search box for all of our library resources? Here Joyce advocated lobbying the database vendors to cooperate with each other so that this can happen - and for FREE!
• Links to other library catalogs
• Links to lots of different search tools
• Links to some new search engines that use Web 2.0 technology to increase search result relevance
• Links to some blog search tools
• Links to subscription databases grouped by subject area
• Links to free e-books and audio-books (e.g., The Encyclopedia of Life, Lookybook, International Children’s Digital Library)
• Pathfinders for all research projects made on wikis - use del.icio.us to create lists of web resources for each project, create a customized library for a project using Google Book search, locate open content textbooks written by teachers on Wikijunior)
  Side note: Create a wiki pathfinder on educational research for faculty and campus administrators that includes links, images, documents, video, discussion, etc.
• Links/RSS feeds to news resources
• A way to connect to a librarian
• Links to copyright friendly images and sound, such as Flickr’s Creative Commons Pool
• Links to resources for royalty-free music and sound, such as Shambles and Podsafe Audio
• Links to other people’s curriculum, e.g., OER Commons

The third component of a library program according to Information Power is Learning and Teaching. These are some things that you might include in a virtual library to address this area:

• An online research guide that is interactive
• The research process
• Links to bibliographic helps, such as NoodleBib, BibMe, Citation Machine
• Links to sample papers
• Information on how to document sources
• Links to information about each teacher’s different projects
• Information for parents
• Research organizers and other documents to be downloaded
• Information about evaluating blogs and other online sources for research purposes
• Notetaking guidelines
• Powerpoint presentations developed for information skills lessons (You can also save these to Slideshare and link to them there)
• Organizers for note-taking and outlining
• Student work - create a gallery of student art work on Flickr, post leftover yearbook photos, post video projects
• Library orientation
• Book trailers
• Videos made to address learning gaps, e.g. Its vs. It’s
• Links to student blogs of their research process (allows for early intervention and can be used as an assessment tool; the teacher and librarian can make comments on student blog posts)
• Celebrate student life with links to book reviews trailers made by students, lots of photos, timelines, favorite web 2.0 tools, reading lists, literature circles
• Teach students to create their own information spaces with iGoogle or Pageflakes (require that they include a sticky note with a link to the Virtual Library)

Joyce ended the session by encouraging us to “lead from the center” and reminding us that “it’s ok to be beta.” She said that everything will not be perfect, but to try anyway.

She also encouraged us to take the work she has already done and link to it or use it in any way that we need. She has an amazing collection of resources on her Virtual Library site and on her Information Fluency wiki.

Wow - it’s been a while since I posted here. Things are really busy getting ready for TLA and the Strong Libraries Strong Scores conference, but that’s a topic for another day.

I have several blog postings, annoucements and resources that I’ve been wanting to share, so here goes:

In his blog 2¢ worth, David Warlick writes about 12 steps (a 12-step program?) we can take to become educators who are literate in the skills needed for the 21st century. I found it very interesting that several of his steps advocated the use of the web 2.0 tools that we used in our Learning Through Play program.

The Cool Cat Teacher summarizes a great podcast in her post, Envisioning the Future of Libraries, and posts a link to the original audio file. Doug Johnson and Joyce Valenza were the presenters. One of the most interesting things they discussed was the idea of the “invisible collection” which is the same idea we were all starting to kick around at our last librarians’ staff development. With the advent of this invisible collection, we are going to have to revamp our idea of what a “balanced” collection really is - especially at the secondary level. Give this podcast a listen! (BTW, Joyce Valenza will be presenting two programs at the TLA conference - you should try to go to at least one of them!)

Another post from 2¢ worth that I found fascinating is one in which David Warlick reports on a conference session he attended that was led by brain research guru, Patricia Wolfe. Pat points out that good teachers often do things intuitively without knowing why. While that’s great for the intuitive teacher’s students, the students in the non-intuitive teacher’s classroom don’t get the same level of instruction. Educators must start being aware of the educational research that is being done and using the findings to improve their teaching. In other words, teachers should know and be able to tell someone else why they are use the strategies they do. (Sounds like a TEKS student expectation, huh?)

Apparently we won’t have to worry anymore about whether we should still be ordering encyclopedias in print and feeling guilty when we find other ways to spend our money. The Blue Skunk Blog by Doug Johnson tells us that the New York Times has declared the traditional multi-volume encyclopedia to be the first casualty in the world of print. Read Doug’s post here.

Here’s another feed for your RSS reader: AASL has a new blog! The AASLBlog is intended to be a source of general AASL news, as well as a forum for important discussion on issues and concerns of school library media specialists. Recent topics include, for example, copyright issues and parent involvement in school library media program advocacy. Voice your concerns, share your experiences, and be a part of the broader AASL community on the new AASL blog! Visit the blog (and comment) at http://www.aasl.ala.org/aaslblog/.

April is School Library Media Month. Celebrate by giving your teachers a little “thank you” from the library, having a contest for students or hosting a special event. For other ideas, see the page on the AASL web site.

Julie Andrews, Academy Award recipient and honorary chair of National Library Week (April 13-19, 2008), shares her view on the value of libraries in a video available on YouTube. Library media specialists are encouraged to use the video on Web sites and blogs to promote National Library Week. Watch the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieUD9vCeXu0

Now that I’ve shared these little items with you, I can go home and watch American Idol with a clear conscience!

I’m a little slow getting this posted - there’s lots going on. Hope you enjoy these sites and find them useful. They were selected by Marylaine Block for her Neat New Stuff I Found This Week site at http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html.

 19th Century Schoolbooks

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/n/nietz/

Searchable full texts of 142 American textbooks of the 19th century offer insights into what 19th century American students were taught about history, arithmetic, art, geography, and other topics.

•  100 Things To Do with Google Maps Mashups - gmapsmania http://gmapsmania.googlepages.com/100thingstodowithgooglemapsmashups

I believe that the future of reference service lies not in finding information, but in helping people understand it through visualization.

These Google Maps mashups demonstrate things like finding wi-fi hotspots, a public toilet, world hostels, webcams, etc., and tracking packages or US or Canadian flights in real time.

•  Access Newspaper Archive Institutional Version http://access.newspaperarchive.com/InvalidIP.aspx

“a new program that gives public libraries and K-12 schools around the world FREE access to NewspaperARCHIVE.com’s historical newspaper database. Students and library patrons can browse tens of millions of newspaper pages in our archive for free through your institution. This free version of Access NewspaperARCHIVE will allow users to view, save and print full-page newspapers dating from 1759 to 1977.” For obvious reasons, I wasn’t able to try this out, but it certainly seems worth the effort for school media specialists to download the application form and send it in.

•  Ballot Box

http://governing.typepad.com/ballotbox/

If you can’t get enough political news and analysis, check out this new politics blog from the experts at Governing.com who routinely track federal, state and local government.

•  Build a Network, Not a Destination - Readership Institute http://www.readership.org/blog2/2007/04/build-network-not-destination.html

This advice for news media on building websites that attract and retain readers would apply equally well to libraries’ websites.

•  Butterfly Lab

http://www.naturemuseum.org/online/thebutterflylab/index.htm

Lots of information, pictures and diagrams on butterflies and their anatomy, life cycle, behavior, and interdependence. Browsable by species.

Includes an Ask the Expert feature and suggested activities.

•  Government Information Online - Ask a Librarian http://govtinfo.org/ Sometimes the answers you need are only available in hard-to-find government publications, so if you don’t have a government documents librarian right at hand, you can use this “free national online information service supported by nearly thirty public, academic, and state libraries throughout the United States. Participating librarians specialize in finding government information sources of all kinds, and will try to answer your questions through chat or email.”

•  Hairstylesdesign.com

http://www.hairstylesdesign.com/

The hairstyle galleries may help you find young men and women find a great hairdo before a visit to the stylist. Choose from men’s or women’s, short, medium, or long, formal or celebrity styles. Also check out galleries from Oscar and MTV award shows. There’s not much here for older customers, though.

•  The Industry Standard

http://www.thestandard.com/

If you were in on the early heady days of the world wide web, you were almost certainly reading The Industry Standard for the latest news. It folded as a print publication, but still exists online here, as a source of industry news and predictions.

•  Movie Toolbox: 85+ Tools and Resources for Movie Fans http://mashable.com/2007/09/16/movie-toolbox/

Includes online catalogs, recommendation engines, master indexes, encyclopedic sources, review sites, free streaming video sites, and more.

•  Online Collections from the Wisconsin Historical Museum http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/collections/online/

The online collections provide hundreds of images of Children’s Clothing, Needlework Samplers, Quilts, Moccasins, and Dolls.

•  Top 25 Web 2.0 Search Engines

http://oedb.org/library/features/top-25-web20-search-engines

Engines that use Web 2.0 technologies to improve relevance. “Some offer functionality that’s slowly making its way into traditional search engines. Others further the attempt to traverse the invisible Web and index other previously unsearchable research sources.”

Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2008.

A six-months archive is available on the web site.

The Library of Congress has put two of its photographic collections on Flickr, a public photo sharing site. This purpose of this pilot project is:

firstly give you a taste of the hidden treasures in the huge Library of Congress collection, and secondly to show how your input of a tag or two can make the collection even richer.

Flickr users are invited to help describe these 1500+ photos by adding tags and leaving comments. The collection is available at http://flickr.com/commons. Take a look and try adding a few tags.

The web sites below come from Neat New Stuff I Found This Week
Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2007.

60 Second Science - Scientific American
News, articles and daily 60-second podcasts from Scientific American.
Search or browse the archive by category. Recent podcasts have tackled issues like brain sex differences, false memories, the Dover “Scopes Trial,” “superdupernovas,” etc.

Christmas Traditions Around the World
An annotated guide to numerous sites detailing international Christmas traditions. Teachers and librarians may especially be inspired by an elementary school’s internet scavenger hunts.

List of Films Based on Poems - Wikipedia
And far more of them than you would ever guess. It’s not just Beowulf and Dr. Seuss books that have inspired moviemakers, but also Gunga Din, The Raven, Jabberwocky, The Cremation of Sam McGee and many others.

My Family Health Portrait
Construct your family medical history here and print it out whenever you go to a new doctor; it will save you the effort of trying to remember once again who in your extended family had what medical condition.

NPR Music
A new service that National Public Radio calls “a free, multi-genre, multimedia Web site that presents the best of public radio music.” Listen to or watch concerts, studio sessions, and interviews, and check out news and reviews.

Periodic Table of Comic Books
“Click on an element to see a list of comic book pages involving that element,” then click on thumbnails to see the whole strip. Another wonderfully sneaky way to interest kids in science.

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post! I promise to do better…

10 Questions
http://www.10questions.com/
Here’s the deal: You propose questions for the presidential candidates; you vote to choose the ten best questions; the candidates will post their video answers; you decide whether they actually answered the questions.

CDC - Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance
http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/
Explains the nature of the problem with resistant bacteria, particularly the scary one that’s been in the news lately, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The site also discusses diseases connected with those bacteria, prevention tools, and the CDC’s programs for dealing with the issue.

Positive Uses of Social Networking in Libraries http://www.leonline.com/yalsa/positive_uses.pdf
Young adult librarians respond to the challenge of YALSA’s “30 days of positive uses of social networking project. Every day throughout October three YALSA bloggers posted ideas and information about using social networking in the school and public library.”

web sites courtesy of:
Neat New Stuff I Found This Week
http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html
Copyright, Marylaine Block, 1999-2007.

Sci-Fi Lists gives us a statistical survey of the top 100 science fiction books of all time. Try posting this list and see what your science fiction readers have to say about it. This is a great discussion starter for a book club or blog.

(Found via Neat New Stuff)

Image citation:
Trev vG. “Alien.” Trev vG’s Photostream. 25 Oct 2005. 12 Sep 2007. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevorvangorp/55863412/>

Over on the Kids’ Wings web site, Suzy Red has some great links to go along with this year’s Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees.

Also, don’t forget about Tandem Library’s BookTalk site, where kids can read summaries of current Bluebonnet titles , get information about the authors, rate the books they have read, and get suggestions for read-alikes.

If you have other favorite Bluebonnet resources, please share in the Comments!

We’ve all run into situations where we want to use a picture or piece of music or other media in a project or presentation, but we’re just not sure if we can do it legally. In her Neverending Search blog on SLJ.com, Joyce Valenza writes about a wiki pathfinder she has created that lists lots of places where you can find stuff that is either copyright free or licensed under Creative Commons. (If you’re not sure what this means, watch this great video to learn more.) Kids know how to download video from YouTube, audio from iTunes, and pictures from Google Images - it’s our job to teach them that there are other, legal places from which they can acquire the media that they need.

Need to spice up your booktalks? Booktalking has moved into the realm of digital video. Publishers, universities and even public school students are now producing “book trailers.” These are similar to movie trailers, but are used instead to promote books. Here’s an example from University of Central Florida’s Digital Booktalk. Click Play to watch the trailer.

Download My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

In her Neverending Search blog on SLJ.com, Joyce Valenza highlights several sites where you can locate these “trailers” for use in your library program.

Can you think of other ways that these trailers could be used? Share your thoughts in the comments.