I am a little stunned to have finished all the readings and posts for this course. In the end, I read each lesson at least twice, and feel I could go back and do it again, and still have more to learn.
As a bit of a perfectionist, I found this class to be overwhelming. Creating a digital library was a HUGE task, but it has drawn many kudos already. I enjoyed making it, and demonstrated to myself and others that finding, organizing and linking relevant online resources is an important job of the librarian.
Perhaps librarianship draws perfectionists or perhaps it draws us to drink as once into the depths of the course, I found more and more problems in the library system. When working with the DRC support, I asked her if anyone else had these issues and she said, "oh probably, but no one else has time to care." I can't imagine that other school also cannot find resources, but since I had to do a collection analysis for my other course, and in the light of this course, I was able to figure out the error in the system. I'd imagine that others don't know it's a problem?
Essential Understandings:
1. MARC. Before the course, I had no understanding of marc except that I downloaded them into my database. Now I understand the complexity, and am terrified that we may lose our support, in the budget cuts, for the creation of these records. At least now I have a greater understanding of the process and complexity so I can advocate for the help we need to make sure our records are functional.
2. Database: I understand a great deal more about how my database functions. Strangely, although this was only a minor piece of one of the last lessons, imagining each marc number as a folder of data really helped me to see how the data base works. If I search all NF, then I get all NF b/c they are in the NF folder. This explains why when I discovered yet another error, some FIC were in the NF, b/c they had been imported incorrectly somehow in the new L4U version. (We fixed it with a global change.) I think this knowledge will help me create the reports I want, as this has been an ongoing issue.
3. Digital World: Spending time with digital sites and resources helped me to understand that librarians need to help both students and staff find good quality online resources. A simple google search may not bring up the best sites for a particular topic. I also realized, that while I have better technology skills than most, that my understanding of the school technology is mediocre.
4. Digital World: Websites-- as I delved into creating my library's website, I became more and more aware that being perceived as not-knowing or not-understanding limits the conversations one can have with supervisors. I really feel that I need to focus on these skills to a greater extent.
In the end, I would like to become a librarian who is referred to as an expert. I would like my library website and our program to be used as exemplars for new librarians. I wonder how on earth this can happen with such limited time in the library and I honestly wonder if Valenza has a life outside of her library!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Lesson 13: Organizing and Maintaining the Collection
- In order to improve access to learning resources, how important are physical changes in your own school library?
My school library was renovated about 10 years ago. In this renovation a fiction section was added on, and new shelving was created for the fiction section and center of the non-fiction section. Furnishings were also replaced and a new office and checkout areas were built.
Any changes are really minor. For example, when asked recently, frequent comments from students were about three main areas: One was in regards to the lack of signs. They would like signs posted in the NonFic Section to show general topics instead of numbers. Another area to focus on is the easy readers which are crammed into spinning book holders and are not displayed nicely at all. Lastly, magazines are in slots with no organizational strategy either.
Little do the patrons know that there is more disorder in the audio book collection – and that would be because they don’t know we have an audio book collection! It is not in the data base and not displayed anywhere.
- If changes are necessary, how possible do you think these changes are? Will they require a large expenditure?
These changes are not expensive, but require time and energy.
Update:
Joanne (from our class) discarded some turning bookracks which were put up for grabs by the DRC staff before they went into storage, I said YES, and when I showed them to our metalwork teacher, and explained the size of the book problem, he immediately had students cut out the extra dividers that are between the books. It took a few days, but now the racks have no dividers, and the front covers of the books face out.
Interestingly, and I’m not sure it was Joanne, but a magazine rack also came up for discarding. Sometimes I think people have no idea how much other librarians have purchased these items for. I inherited a dusty, but almost new, magazine rack, and have seen the magazines improve circulation tremendously.
Audio books: Labels were placed on all books with audio support. The front and back covers of each book with an audio companion book was copied and glued onto a colored paper, which was then laminated. Now they will be attached to a ring, and students can search the books by cover and information, and know which ones are audio much easier than before.
Lesson 12: Organizing Online Resources - The School Library Homepage
"How essential is a school library homepage and can we do without one? Consider grade levels, the size of the school etc."
As a librarian in and 8-12 school, the website is an important starting point for students.
Last year I asked the principal to add Library as a tab on the school home page, hoping that he would work with me to develop the site. He takes the website on as part of his role, and updates it every day or so. I sent him a variety of links to put on, but they ended up on a student page list that was not organized in any way.
I have been teaching students how to search the database, and the link was on the student page, but they always went to the under-construction library page, and didn't even think to go to the student page. That makes me wonder if they ever use that page or the website in general.
The more a secondary libray has to offer on its' pages, the more students will see it as a place to go to find the help they need 24-7. My goal is to eventually have a website that other teachers and schools go to as an example of a great site. It will be a huge learning curve.
"Based on the sites that you reviewed, what are the most important elements of an attractive, useable school library homepage? Be very specific."
Clear organization seems to be the best thing I have noticed. I find Joyce Valenza's sites busy and so packed full of information, I get lost. Her sites make me feel like a failure, and I wish she listed how many tech staff she has that help her to maintain her many sites. I find her sites messy and visually distracting. While they may be held up as great examples, I think they would be difficult for visually impaired students and learning disabled students to navigate.
I find the Torquay Elementary Library site more doable, although I will need to show this to my principal, so he can understand that it can be managed through a district server. I like this site best because it's organization is clear and concise. The audience for it is also clear: students predominantly, with a small section for students.
"If you have been successful in developing a school library homepage, do you have any suggestions for others on how this was accomplished? Was the effort involved in developing the homepage worth it? "
My library site is under development and as yet I have no suggestions.
As a librarian in and 8-12 school, the website is an important starting point for students.
Last year I asked the principal to add Library as a tab on the school home page, hoping that he would work with me to develop the site. He takes the website on as part of his role, and updates it every day or so. I sent him a variety of links to put on, but they ended up on a student page list that was not organized in any way.
I have been teaching students how to search the database, and the link was on the student page, but they always went to the under-construction library page, and didn't even think to go to the student page. That makes me wonder if they ever use that page or the website in general.
The more a secondary libray has to offer on its' pages, the more students will see it as a place to go to find the help they need 24-7. My goal is to eventually have a website that other teachers and schools go to as an example of a great site. It will be a huge learning curve.
"Based on the sites that you reviewed, what are the most important elements of an attractive, useable school library homepage? Be very specific."
Clear organization seems to be the best thing I have noticed. I find Joyce Valenza's sites busy and so packed full of information, I get lost. Her sites make me feel like a failure, and I wish she listed how many tech staff she has that help her to maintain her many sites. I find her sites messy and visually distracting. While they may be held up as great examples, I think they would be difficult for visually impaired students and learning disabled students to navigate.
I find the Torquay Elementary Library site more doable, although I will need to show this to my principal, so he can understand that it can be managed through a district server. I like this site best because it's organization is clear and concise. The audience for it is also clear: students predominantly, with a small section for students.
"If you have been successful in developing a school library homepage, do you have any suggestions for others on how this was accomplished? Was the effort involved in developing the homepage worth it? "
My library site is under development and as yet I have no suggestions.
Lesson 11: The Library Catalogue
"The degree to which a library catalogue can be consulted easily by teachers and students is of great significance if teacher-librarians wish to encourage user-independence."
There have been a number of illuminating moments over the past 18 months which highlight this statement in action at my school. After taking over the library, I started to wonder why few teachers used the space, and why students (when looking for books) wandered the shelves looking at titles.
First, 80% of the teachers did not know that they could access the database from their classrooms, and few knew how to search for a book or topic using the data base. Worse, was many of the grade 12s had never, yes NEVER, checked out a book from the library. I discovered this horror when I took my grade 12 English class into the library to find a banned book of their choice. I was stunned.
Over the years, with staffing decline, and what might have been the disillusionment of the librarian who could no longer do the job to the level she had become used to doing, use of the library diminished and collaborative teaching and unit planning amounted to zero. The library had become a storage area for books, many of which had cobwebs and garbage behind them.
Over the years prior to retirement, sick leaves, surgeries, salary deferment, admin take a block of library type events occurred, and when I took over my first discovery was that 2000 books from 0-600's or so had been deleted from the data base. The previous librarian had left me a note to say that something was wrong with the database and she didn't know what. I found out before school started when I attempted inventory. (Nice start to my library job!) It appeared that the books had been deleted about three years prior, since new acquisitions were in the database going back a few years. How scary to think that none of those books were checked out in that time, or if they were no one questioned why the message... no record.. was coming up. Perhaps it was just too overwhelming of an error to deal with so close to retirement.
Other errors have popped up that are in the process of being dealt with:
1. MARCs that do not have subject details. In other words, if you search for cellular biology, nothing will come up, b/c you have to use Science as that was all that was put in when the record was created.
2. MARCs that have the correct call # ie DDS # and the first three letters of the author's name, yet on the book itself, the letters are the first three of the title. In other words, if you search for the book and get the call # from the data base, you will not find that call # on the shelves.
3. Authority control/subject heading errors: Because the subjects did not conform to Sears headings, many have been entered incorrectly. Thus science and Science, or biology, cells and cells, biology.
4. We had no cover art, even though this feature was allowed in our L4U
5. No websites or digital resources are linked in our records.
6. Multiple Audio books are piled all over with no records and no way for students to know we have them.
7. No picture searches for easy searching for common subjects such as castles.
In the end, the more I know, the more overwhelmed I feel, yet I have a clear sense of what needs to be done to make the system more user friendly. Whether teaching students one on one, or teaching them as a class, most now know how to search the data base. All teachers know through staff meeting demonstrations. Now the goal will be to develop the L4U in a way that makes it more user friendly and get those resources into students' and staffs' hands.
Lesson 10: Other Sources of Cataloguing and Processing and Preparing
The problem of the length of time it takes to process materials is an ongoing issue in our school district. Items have a nine week turn around. The question: "Should we be finding temporary ways to make these available? Or, is it more important that they are catalogued and processed properly? " has been discussed freqently at our library meetings.
I think temporary circulation would work IF one had a library clerk at school who could quickly grab need-to-be-processed materials as he/she had time. In our district we must send the materials to the DRC, so keeping them at school would only slow the process down further. If something is neededd quickly, we simply send a note with the box and an email to say it is coming. We usually get the material back the following week processed. We appreciate this occasional skip the line up process, so no one abuses the offer.
For my own sanity, I need to have materials catalogued and signed out correctly, as little notes and sticky reminders of who has what simply get lost, and if the item was lost, then there is no official record that it was borrowed.
"What strategies can you think of that would allow uncatalogued, newly acquired learning resources to circulate temporarily?"
In an urgent situation, I have wondered about copying the front/back/inside covers of books and sending those in. There is enough information there to create the marc record, and then I could add the bar codes when the marc records are available for downloading.
Or, would this result in more problems than it is worth? What is the situation at your school?
In the long run, for a few urgent items it is worth asking for skip-the-line service. If it is an entire set of materials, then hopefully the unit can be rescheduled/postponed. If not, then worst case scenario is a book or two gets misplaced. I suppose we could keep the books on a cart and count them afterwards, but in a highschool setting there are so many things going on, and so many lack of control variables, that I would probably forget. I would need to assign the counting task to a student helper!
In conclusion, cataloging is one of those jobs that must be done and must be done well. It seems to be a task that is little understood by both librarian students, administrators and trustees. Knowing that our DRC is on the budget cut list, once again, distresses me more this year knowing how complicated their jobs really are. I dread the thought of having to deal with this alone!
Purchasing Options:
Anywhere: Currently this is what I have. I can buy anything I want and send it in for processing. This has been handy for book sales or donations, as I do not even think about processing or its costs.
Follett's Titlewave: I really like the sales reps for Follett and I use Titlewave to analyse my database. They are fabulous to work with and help solve problems. I have yet to purchase anything from them, although I do have a group of potential science purchases saved. I found their huge amount of resources almost overwhelming, and I had 'spent' two years' of budget in a matter of minutes.
U.L.S. sales rep is also very helpful. He brings boxes and boxes of books to one of our meetings each year, as the cost of the ferry etc to Vancouver would not make sense to go there to shop for books. He will bring whatever content area you wish if you prerequest before the meeting. I have not seen any processing done by U.L.S.
CanLit for Kids: I like to use this company, based in Victoria. They are a group of retired librarians who read all the new reviews and create book packages three times a year. They just started offering marc records for free with a full purchase, BUT the DRC staff had to change them somewhat to get them to work in our system. The sales staff are great and will call that at truck is coming up island, if I have forgotten to place my order.
Smart Apple Media: I have used this company twice, but in the end found that their books have not been checked out much at all. They are hardback and great quality, but the content just doesn't seem to fit with my students. I find this sales rep to be too harassing. Perhaps I just need to say no, rather than putting her off month after month! The problem is I spent $1500 with them last year, so they know I will buy hardcover books.
I think temporary circulation would work IF one had a library clerk at school who could quickly grab need-to-be-processed materials as he/she had time. In our district we must send the materials to the DRC, so keeping them at school would only slow the process down further. If something is neededd quickly, we simply send a note with the box and an email to say it is coming. We usually get the material back the following week processed. We appreciate this occasional skip the line up process, so no one abuses the offer.
For my own sanity, I need to have materials catalogued and signed out correctly, as little notes and sticky reminders of who has what simply get lost, and if the item was lost, then there is no official record that it was borrowed.
"What strategies can you think of that would allow uncatalogued, newly acquired learning resources to circulate temporarily?"
In an urgent situation, I have wondered about copying the front/back/inside covers of books and sending those in. There is enough information there to create the marc record, and then I could add the bar codes when the marc records are available for downloading.
Or, would this result in more problems than it is worth? What is the situation at your school?
In the long run, for a few urgent items it is worth asking for skip-the-line service. If it is an entire set of materials, then hopefully the unit can be rescheduled/postponed. If not, then worst case scenario is a book or two gets misplaced. I suppose we could keep the books on a cart and count them afterwards, but in a highschool setting there are so many things going on, and so many lack of control variables, that I would probably forget. I would need to assign the counting task to a student helper!
In conclusion, cataloging is one of those jobs that must be done and must be done well. It seems to be a task that is little understood by both librarian students, administrators and trustees. Knowing that our DRC is on the budget cut list, once again, distresses me more this year knowing how complicated their jobs really are. I dread the thought of having to deal with this alone!
Purchasing Options:
Anywhere: Currently this is what I have. I can buy anything I want and send it in for processing. This has been handy for book sales or donations, as I do not even think about processing or its costs.
Follett's Titlewave: I really like the sales reps for Follett and I use Titlewave to analyse my database. They are fabulous to work with and help solve problems. I have yet to purchase anything from them, although I do have a group of potential science purchases saved. I found their huge amount of resources almost overwhelming, and I had 'spent' two years' of budget in a matter of minutes.
U.L.S. sales rep is also very helpful. He brings boxes and boxes of books to one of our meetings each year, as the cost of the ferry etc to Vancouver would not make sense to go there to shop for books. He will bring whatever content area you wish if you prerequest before the meeting. I have not seen any processing done by U.L.S.
CanLit for Kids: I like to use this company, based in Victoria. They are a group of retired librarians who read all the new reviews and create book packages three times a year. They just started offering marc records for free with a full purchase, BUT the DRC staff had to change them somewhat to get them to work in our system. The sales staff are great and will call that at truck is coming up island, if I have forgotten to place my order.
Smart Apple Media: I have used this company twice, but in the end found that their books have not been checked out much at all. They are hardback and great quality, but the content just doesn't seem to fit with my students. I find this sales rep to be too harassing. Perhaps I just need to say no, rather than putting her off month after month! The problem is I spent $1500 with them last year, so they know I will buy hardcover books.
Lesson 9: Copy Cataloguing
Yet more article links are broken!
When I read articles such as McCroskey's I shudder at the thought of really knowing this stuff thoroughly. I find the level of detail overwhelming, and sometimes think "wow their brains are full of miniscule details!" The article really showed me that I trust my cataloguing has been done correctly, and even with that said... I hope it has been done correctly, as I find many errors from the past that have not been fixed. The more I know about Dewey, MARC, and now CIP, the more errors I am able to find.
Just as the lesson states: "the primary reason for a sound knowledge of cataloguing standards is that you are able to recognize the difference between a good catalogue record and an inadequate or inaccurate one" which I have found to be TRUE!! Maybe ignorance is bliss!
Activity:
AMICUS No. 16132169
Monograph
NLC COPIES: Preserv - off site - PS8576 U575 A84 1997 fol. Juv - NO
ILL
Juv - PS8576 U575 A84 1997 fol. - Copy 2
NAME(S):*Munsch, Robert N., 1945-
Martchenko, Michael
TITLE(S): Alligator baby / Robert Munsch ; illustrated by Michael
Martchenko
PUBLISHER: Richmond Hill, Ont. : Scholastic Canada, 1997.
DESCRIPTION: [32] p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm.
NOTES: For children.
NUMBERS: Canadiana: 97930413X
ISBN: 0590123874 : $5.99
CLASSIFICATION: LC Class no.: PS8576*
LC Call no.: PS8576 U575 A84 1997a
Dewey: jC813/.54 21
Vancouver Island Regional Library
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
AMICUS http://amicus.collectionscanada.gc.ca/amicus-bin/self_register?l=0
McCroskey, Marilyn and Michelle R. Turvey. "Frequently Asked Questions on CIP." Knowledge Quest, March 2004, p. 39. retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=108&sid=c38ecdac-8892-47b9-a169-58ec78319034%40sessionmgr110&vid=9
When I read articles such as McCroskey's I shudder at the thought of really knowing this stuff thoroughly. I find the level of detail overwhelming, and sometimes think "wow their brains are full of miniscule details!" The article really showed me that I trust my cataloguing has been done correctly, and even with that said... I hope it has been done correctly, as I find many errors from the past that have not been fixed. The more I know about Dewey, MARC, and now CIP, the more errors I am able to find.
Just as the lesson states: "the primary reason for a sound knowledge of cataloguing standards is that you are able to recognize the difference between a good catalogue record and an inadequate or inaccurate one" which I have found to be TRUE!! Maybe ignorance is bliss!
Activity:
AMICUS No. 16132169
Monograph
NLC COPIES: Preserv - off site - PS8576 U575 A84 1997 fol. Juv - NO
ILL
Juv - PS8576 U575 A84 1997 fol. - Copy 2
NAME(S):*Munsch, Robert N., 1945-
Martchenko, Michael
TITLE(S): Alligator baby / Robert Munsch ; illustrated by Michael
Martchenko
PUBLISHER: Richmond Hill, Ont. : Scholastic Canada, 1997.
DESCRIPTION: [32] p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm.
NOTES: For children.
NUMBERS: Canadiana: 97930413X
ISBN: 0590123874 : $5.99
CLASSIFICATION: LC Class no.: PS8576*
LC Call no.: PS8576 U575 A84 1997a
Dewey: jC813/.54 21
Vancouver Island Regional Library
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
AMICUS http://amicus.collectionscanada.gc.ca/amicus-bin/self_register?l=0
McCroskey, Marilyn and Michelle R. Turvey. "Frequently Asked Questions on CIP." Knowledge Quest, March 2004, p. 39. retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=108&sid=c38ecdac-8892-47b9-a169-58ec78319034%40sessionmgr110&vid=9
Lesson 8: Dewey Decimal Classification
Wow. Yet another lesson with multiple links not working!
In any case, I was able to find the article with the incorrect link, as at least the library subscribes to that journal. The case for using, abbreviating, and teaching DDS in elementary schools is interesting, as recently on a tour of one of our feeder elementary schools (First Nations school on Penelekut Island), I noticed that the library has no organizational system and no way for students to check out books. Can you imagine that!
I realized that a group of students come to our school, and these students have never been allowed to take a schoolbook home, never mind know how to look up a book or find it in the library.
Another interesting connection was made with Stauffer's discussion of using an abbreviated DDS. This year I have a library helper parent who has always reshelved for one of the other feeder elementary schools. I couldn't figure out why she was putting the numbers so incoherently wrong, until I read this article. Sure enough, at the elementary school they only shelve by the first three numbers. The way she was putting them on the shelves made no sense to me at all, so now I had a student helper go through and check book order and fix the errors.
I felt really badly telling her she was doing it incorrectly, and she couldn't understand why our system is different than the elementaries. This points out yet another area to explain to new students.
It is also note worthy that in my library I have noticed the same books in two different locations, and just as the course readings state, sometimes they can fit into two locations. I do wonder why they are in two and not one, but the workings of the past librarians are still a mystery to me.
Here is my lesson idea for teaching DDS:
I've been toying with the idea of having a bunch of uncatalogued books, and doing a book sort, as you might a word sort. Then the kids would create their own system of organizing the materials and present it. This might prove to be too unwieldy.
The alternative would be to do a word/title sort, and the kids make up their own system of organizing the titles so they are easy to find. Then present it.
After we can watch this you tube video: Dewey cute....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHiUQb5xg7A
Then we'll do the scavenger hunt I have the grade 8's do. Usually we just do the scavenger hunt, but I think doing a word sort will help them to see that the system is needed, and Dewey just happened to come up with one that worked well.
Stauffer, S. (2008, Summer2008). Dewey-or Don't We-Classify? Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 6(2), 49-51. Retrieved March 10, 2011 from
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=108&sid=a3a840a3-d504-4613-9b1a-fffca204813d%40sessionmgr115&vid=3
Lesson 7: Subject Cataloguing
Perhaps I became a tad disillusioned this week. Frankly, we pay as much for these online courses as students do in an in class setting, yet courses are being reused and reused, and the developers do not even have the courtesy to add updated material:
Such as the 1997 cataloging manual from Manitoba, which refers to card catalogues, and in the future OPACs will be important. Outrageous that this is still in the course readings.
It is even more shocking that no one went through the course to find out that links do not work:
And that to get the article through the link one has to subscribe to the service:
And most ridiculous, the journal is not even carried by UBC in eformat for online learners to access:
So with that said... my library world was rocked the other day as I discovered that while I have 600 or so books in the 500's, only 260 actually come up when we search particular topics. When I questioned the tech department, she believes it may be from when they automated the library and they only created minimal marc records. Now really, what was the purpose of creating records or automating if it means that no one can find the darn book? Doesn't it make you wonder who thought that was a money saver!
As a result, I now have my library helpers and occasional substitutes using stickies to write down subject headings, and I will add them to the cataglogue. Currently the focus is on science, so I will start there. One can truely see the importance of subject headings when one's library doesn't have them! :)
The task this week is to look at delicious.com. I find this an interesting site, but it makes me wonder what will happen to library organizational systems when the folksonomies become more and more prevelant? It seems chaotic and random, but then that is the essence of the web. Yet, here we are now trying to catalogue websites and add them to our opacs. I also think delicious or any of these 'cloud' technologies will be interesting to watch. Will the service create a set of users, who become dependent, who then will eventually need to pay for this service (such as MobileMe now?).
I wonder if some new age Dewey will appear at create a new form of organization or labeling that we will all follow to bring us out of the chaos of folksonomies?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Lesson 5
I started my search with one of the new graphic novels.
Item #1: Mercury a graphic novel by Hope Larson (Vancouver Island Regional Library)
Area 1: Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st
Area 3: Material dependant information- Rating Ages 13+, number of copies 3, on hold 0, in circulation 3
Area 4: New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Tara is forced to move in with her cousins after her house burns down. She faces a difficult adjustment while her mother is away trying to earn money. Interwoven with this story is that of Tara's ancestors, who in 1859 were convinced by a mysterious stranger to put all their money into searching their property for gold.
Area 8: Standard Number- 9781416935858 (hc) :
9781416935889 (pbk.)
Item #2: Graphic Novel: Mercury by Hope Larson (Greater Victoria Public Library)
Area 1: Title and Statement of Responsibility- Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st ed
Area 3: Material dependant information- 012 & up, cataloguing in process
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning MG+ 2.6 1
Area 8: Standard Number-9781416935858 (hardcover), 1416935851 (hardcover), 9781416935889 (pbk.), 1416935886 (pbk.)
Item #3: Mercury a graphic novel by Hope Larson (Vancouver Island Regional Library)
Area 1: Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st ed
Area 3: Material dependant information- 012 & up,
Topics:
Cousins -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
Genealogy -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
Adjustment (Psychology) -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
Nova Scotia -- Comic books, strips, etc.
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Tara is forced to move in with her cousins after her house burns down. She faces a difficult adjustment while her mother is away trying to earn money. Interwoven with this story is that of Tara's ancestors, who in 1859 were convinced by a mysterious stranger to put all their money into searching their property for gold.
Area 8: Standard Number-9781416935858 (hardcover), 1416935851 (hardcover), 9781416935889 (pbk.), 1416935886 (pbk.)
Considering this is the same book, I was really surprised by the lack of detail in the Victoria Public Library catalogue. It was also interesting to note that the VIRL has the text from the back of the book listed under notes, yet Victoria has the Accelerated Reader level and no notes, which I could not find on my copy of the same book. All had pictures of the cover art. It would have been nice to see inside the books to sample the graphic novel nature of the text.
Just to compare, I decided to search the same book on the Vancouver Public Library site. What a pain in the neck it was to find. Considering typical access points, my search was very frustrating. First I tried Mercury under the title key word search. It came up with 813 titles, in comparison to VIRL which had 160 under a general topic search and as a title search it was hit #1. Under title browse it was 42nd at the Vancouver Public Library. I ended up actually finding it by searching the author. At the Victoria Public Library the novel was #1 hit on keyword generic search.
I was also surprised that Vancouver was the only library that had the book’s topics listed. Frequently, I use topic searches for novels, especially for students who want to read in certain areas, ie Baseball. I wondered how FIC would show up in a topic search. This also made me wonder if the topic search is predominant in L4U. For example, would this novel have popped up quicker with a comic book search, or a "cousins" search?
I was really shocked that each library’s search engines produced such different hit rates, and it made me wonder how they are set up to produce such different results. Ironically, I noticed that Vancouver Public Library uses iPAC2.0 which is L4U, so I wondered how frustrating my student’s searches are in comparison to other programs.
Also, I was surprised by the need to use author to find a book, as I don’t think many teens really remember author’s names, but do recall titles. I can’t imagine a student coming saying “Geoff just read a great book by Hope Lawson. Can you help me find it?” Instead they are more likely to say, “Geoff said the book Mercury is great!”
With nothing better to do I had a look to see if the public system had the DVD my daughter just watched: Wizards On Deck, with Hannah Montana. Victoria had five copies, with a four out of five star rating, but neither of the other two libraries have this DVD!! (This may either raise discussion on censorship or the lack of appreciation for quality preteen humor!)
Item #4: Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montanta DVD (Victoria Public Library)
Area 1: Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana [DVD video] / produced by Greg A. Hampson, Richard G. King ; written by Peter Murrieta ... [et al.] ; directed by Victor Gonzalez, Rich Correll.
Area 2: Edition- not stated
Area 3: Rated G (Canadian Home Video Rating). English dialogue, Spanish subtitles; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Title from disc surface. Full screen (1.33:1); Dolby Digital stereo.
Area 4: [United States] : Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment ; Burbank, CA : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2009.
Area 5: 1 videodisc (ca. 68 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
Area 6: series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Justin Russo wins an essay contest and a free cruise on the S.S. Tipton and tries to get a date with London Tipton. Max Russo challenges Zack Martin to some hilarious challenges, and Alex Russo tries to convince her parents to let her stay on board. Bailey Pickett tells Cody Martin that a famous person is coming onboard the ship, and that person is Hannah Montana. In an effort to impress Bailey and finally win her over, he tells her that he is great friends with Hannah Montana because she ate cake off his brother's shirt and promises Bailey that he can get them tickets to her concert in Hawaii. Hannah loses her lucky anklet given to her by her mother. She believes that the anklet has lucky powers, but when they find it, the clumsy London Tipton throws it overboard after Hannah tells her that the diamonds are fake. Everything goes wrong for Hannah after that and is finally uplifted by Robby Ray. Hannah does the Concert and everything turns out okay
Special features: Justin's award winning essay; Backstage Disney: It's a suite life having fun with Hannah & The Wizards, hilarious bloopers and backstage interviews with the stars.
Area 8: Standard Number- not listed
My last item was a CD left on my desk by my mother. I was able to find it at VIRL.
Item #5: CD Carmina Burana
Area 1: Title and Statement of Responsibility- Carmina Burana [cd music] / Carl Orff.
Area 2: Edition- not listed
Area 3: Material dependant information- by Orff, Carl, 1895-1982. Harding, Daniel. Bayerischer Rundfunk. Bayerischer Rundfunk. Orchester Chor. Tölzer Knabenchor
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- Hamburg, Germany : Deutsche Grammophon, p2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 1 sound disc : digital ; 4 3/4 in
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- non listed
Area 8: Standard Number-not listed
Considering this is a famous opera, I would have thought there would have been much more detail. No album cover work accompanied the information. The lack of detail made me wonder if they expect only those looking for this opera will search for it, rather than people searching for new material to listen to. I was also surprised that there was nothing to show the medieval nature of the opera such as a topic search.
Item #1: Mercury a graphic novel by Hope Larson (Vancouver Island Regional Library)
Area 1: Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st
Area 3: Material dependant information- Rating Ages 13+, number of copies 3, on hold 0, in circulation 3
Area 4: New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Tara is forced to move in with her cousins after her house burns down. She faces a difficult adjustment while her mother is away trying to earn money. Interwoven with this story is that of Tara's ancestors, who in 1859 were convinced by a mysterious stranger to put all their money into searching their property for gold.
Area 8: Standard Number- 9781416935858 (hc) :
9781416935889 (pbk.)
Item #2: Graphic Novel: Mercury by Hope Larson (Greater Victoria Public Library)
Area 1: Title and Statement of Responsibility- Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st ed
Area 3: Material dependant information- 012 & up, cataloguing in process
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning MG+ 2.6 1
Area 8: Standard Number-9781416935858 (hardcover), 1416935851 (hardcover), 9781416935889 (pbk.), 1416935886 (pbk.)
Item #3: Mercury a graphic novel by Hope Larson (Vancouver Island Regional Library)
Area 1: Mercury/Hope Larson
Area 2: Edition- 1st ed
Area 3: Material dependant information- 012 & up,
Topics:
Cousins -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
Genealogy -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
Adjustment (Psychology) -- Comic books, strips, etc.;
Nova Scotia -- Comic books, strips, etc.
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 234 p. : chiefly ill. ; 21 cm.
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Tara is forced to move in with her cousins after her house burns down. She faces a difficult adjustment while her mother is away trying to earn money. Interwoven with this story is that of Tara's ancestors, who in 1859 were convinced by a mysterious stranger to put all their money into searching their property for gold.
Area 8: Standard Number-9781416935858 (hardcover), 1416935851 (hardcover), 9781416935889 (pbk.), 1416935886 (pbk.)
Considering this is the same book, I was really surprised by the lack of detail in the Victoria Public Library catalogue. It was also interesting to note that the VIRL has the text from the back of the book listed under notes, yet Victoria has the Accelerated Reader level and no notes, which I could not find on my copy of the same book. All had pictures of the cover art. It would have been nice to see inside the books to sample the graphic novel nature of the text.
Just to compare, I decided to search the same book on the Vancouver Public Library site. What a pain in the neck it was to find. Considering typical access points, my search was very frustrating. First I tried Mercury under the title key word search. It came up with 813 titles, in comparison to VIRL which had 160 under a general topic search and as a title search it was hit #1. Under title browse it was 42nd at the Vancouver Public Library. I ended up actually finding it by searching the author. At the Victoria Public Library the novel was #1 hit on keyword generic search.
I was also surprised that Vancouver was the only library that had the book’s topics listed. Frequently, I use topic searches for novels, especially for students who want to read in certain areas, ie Baseball. I wondered how FIC would show up in a topic search. This also made me wonder if the topic search is predominant in L4U. For example, would this novel have popped up quicker with a comic book search, or a "cousins" search?
I was really shocked that each library’s search engines produced such different hit rates, and it made me wonder how they are set up to produce such different results. Ironically, I noticed that Vancouver Public Library uses iPAC2.0 which is L4U, so I wondered how frustrating my student’s searches are in comparison to other programs.
Also, I was surprised by the need to use author to find a book, as I don’t think many teens really remember author’s names, but do recall titles. I can’t imagine a student coming saying “Geoff just read a great book by Hope Lawson. Can you help me find it?” Instead they are more likely to say, “Geoff said the book Mercury is great!”
With nothing better to do I had a look to see if the public system had the DVD my daughter just watched: Wizards On Deck, with Hannah Montana. Victoria had five copies, with a four out of five star rating, but neither of the other two libraries have this DVD!! (This may either raise discussion on censorship or the lack of appreciation for quality preteen humor!)
Item #4: Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montanta DVD (Victoria Public Library)
Area 1: Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana [DVD video] / produced by Greg A. Hampson, Richard G. King ; written by Peter Murrieta ... [et al.] ; directed by Victor Gonzalez, Rich Correll.
Area 2: Edition- not stated
Area 3: Rated G (Canadian Home Video Rating). English dialogue, Spanish subtitles; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. Title from disc surface. Full screen (1.33:1); Dolby Digital stereo.
Area 4: [United States] : Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment ; Burbank, CA : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2009.
Area 5: 1 videodisc (ca. 68 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.
Area 6: series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- Justin Russo wins an essay contest and a free cruise on the S.S. Tipton and tries to get a date with London Tipton. Max Russo challenges Zack Martin to some hilarious challenges, and Alex Russo tries to convince her parents to let her stay on board. Bailey Pickett tells Cody Martin that a famous person is coming onboard the ship, and that person is Hannah Montana. In an effort to impress Bailey and finally win her over, he tells her that he is great friends with Hannah Montana because she ate cake off his brother's shirt and promises Bailey that he can get them tickets to her concert in Hawaii. Hannah loses her lucky anklet given to her by her mother. She believes that the anklet has lucky powers, but when they find it, the clumsy London Tipton throws it overboard after Hannah tells her that the diamonds are fake. Everything goes wrong for Hannah after that and is finally uplifted by Robby Ray. Hannah does the Concert and everything turns out okay
Special features: Justin's award winning essay; Backstage Disney: It's a suite life having fun with Hannah & The Wizards, hilarious bloopers and backstage interviews with the stars.
Area 8: Standard Number- not listed
My last item was a CD left on my desk by my mother. I was able to find it at VIRL.
Item #5: CD Carmina Burana
Area 1: Title and Statement of Responsibility- Carmina Burana [cd music] / Carl Orff.
Area 2: Edition- not listed
Area 3: Material dependant information- by Orff, Carl, 1895-1982. Harding, Daniel. Bayerischer Rundfunk. Bayerischer Rundfunk. Orchester Chor. Tölzer Knabenchor
Area 4: Publication and Distribution- Hamburg, Germany : Deutsche Grammophon, p2010.
Area 5: Physical Description- 1 sound disc : digital ; 4 3/4 in
Area 6: Series- none listed
Area 7: Notes- non listed
Area 8: Standard Number-not listed
Considering this is a famous opera, I would have thought there would have been much more detail. No album cover work accompanied the information. The lack of detail made me wonder if they expect only those looking for this opera will search for it, rather than people searching for new material to listen to. I was also surprised that there was nothing to show the medieval nature of the opera such as a topic search.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Lesson 4: Continued Access Points
Reflect on how students and teachers could access data about this particular book. What would be the most common ways?
It is interesting to look at one entry in detail.
For my consideration, I'm going to think about how I search.
I search usually by topic at school when helping students.
I have shown them to search for Baseball, even when looking up FIC books on baseball, as they can then decided if they want FIC or NONFIC. Students rarely search authors because they can just go and look easily alphabetically in the FIC stacks, and rarely would anyone search an author of a NONFIC book. I did a search today using Historical Fiction, and was quite concerned that not all book I knew were historical fiction turned up. I'm going to have to look into that one.
At home, when I search VIRL, I tend to use the author I am interested in reading, or I might search a particular title I want to find. Only once, when looking for some "teach your kid to read" type books, did I search VIRL for a topic.
It is interesting to look at one entry in detail.
For my consideration, I'm going to think about how I search.
I search usually by topic at school when helping students.
I have shown them to search for Baseball, even when looking up FIC books on baseball, as they can then decided if they want FIC or NONFIC. Students rarely search authors because they can just go and look easily alphabetically in the FIC stacks, and rarely would anyone search an author of a NONFIC book. I did a search today using Historical Fiction, and was quite concerned that not all book I knew were historical fiction turned up. I'm going to have to look into that one.
At home, when I search VIRL, I tend to use the author I am interested in reading, or I might search a particular title I want to find. Only once, when looking for some "teach your kid to read" type books, did I search VIRL for a topic.
Lesson 4: Terminology
The terminology is HUGE but it has given me a great source of JARGON for my senior English classes to enjoy. I think I'm going to give them the link and then challenge them to make short paragraphs that are totally incomprehensible if you haven't got the jargon to comprehend. (There were a few of these in week 5's readings!)
zine "Derived from "fanzine" (a contraction of "fan magazine"), pronounced "zeen." The term came into use during the 1980s to refer to a small, low-circulation magazine or newspaper, self-published out of passion for the subject rather than for personal gain, usually produced with the aid of desktop publishing software and high-quality photocopy machines.
Zines represent the convergence of amateur publishing hobbyists, high school underground newspapers, the literary small press, political radicalism, and do-it-yourself popular culture. They are usually not available by subscription, often appear irregularly or infrequently, and may have a lifetime of only one or two issues. Some are available online via the World Wide Web. Selected zines are evaluated in the reference serial Magazines for Libraries. To learn more, see The Book of Zines or the article "Your Zine Tool Kit" by Jenna Freedman in the June 15, 2006 issue of Library Journal."
I read this article a while ago and it's quite good. There is also an article in the anthology we use at our school, and the kids like making these snippit magazines.
Thought the archaic entries were cute:
Zip disk "A 3.5-inch removable magnetic disk cartridge developed by Iomega, capable of storing 100MB or more of data, much more than a standard floppy disk, at relatively low cost (see this example). A special Zip drive must be installed on a microcomputer to allow a Zip disk to be used."
ultrafiche "A card-shaped transparent microform with a reduction ratio considerably greater than that of standard microfiche or superfiche (up to 3,000 frames per 4 x 6 inch sheet). A special ultrafiche reader-printer machine is required to view and make hard copies of documents stored in this medium."
I didn't know this one wasn't just on a baby:
umbilicus "In Antiquity, a knobbed wooden rod attached to one end of a papyrus scroll around which the manuscript was rolled when not in use. A vellum tag was usually attached to one end, noting the title and/or contents. Click here to see an example used for an 8th-century Old Testament Book of Esther (Cary Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology)."
And if you thought you were photocopying onesided, think again. You are copying: UNBACKED
unbacked "Printed on only one side of a blank sheet of paper, as in a poster or art print. The side printed upon is considered the recto."
Source: http://lu.com/odlis/index.cfm Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science
Zines represent the convergence of amateur publishing hobbyists, high school underground newspapers, the literary small press, political radicalism, and do-it-yourself popular culture. They are usually not available by subscription, often appear irregularly or infrequently, and may have a lifetime of only one or two issues. Some are available online via the World Wide Web. Selected zines are evaluated in the reference serial Magazines for Libraries. To learn more, see The Book of Zines or the article "Your Zine Tool Kit" by Jenna Freedman in the June 15, 2006 issue of Library Journal."
I read this article a while ago and it's quite good. There is also an article in the anthology we use at our school, and the kids like making these snippit magazines.
Thought the archaic entries were cute:
Zip disk "A 3.5-inch removable magnetic disk cartridge developed by Iomega, capable of storing 100MB or more of data, much more than a standard floppy disk, at relatively low cost (see this example). A special Zip drive must be installed on a microcomputer to allow a Zip disk to be used."
ultrafiche "A card-shaped transparent microform with a reduction ratio considerably greater than that of standard microfiche or superfiche (up to 3,000 frames per 4 x 6 inch sheet). A special ultrafiche reader-printer machine is required to view and make hard copies of documents stored in this medium."
I didn't know this one wasn't just on a baby:
umbilicus "In Antiquity, a knobbed wooden rod attached to one end of a papyrus scroll around which the manuscript was rolled when not in use. A vellum tag was usually attached to one end, noting the title and/or contents. Click here to see an example used for an 8th-century Old Testament Book of Esther (Cary Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology)."
And if you thought you were photocopying onesided, think again. You are copying: UNBACKED
unbacked "Printed on only one side of a blank sheet of paper, as in a poster or art print. The side printed upon is considered the recto."
Source: http://lu.com/odlis/index.cfm Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)