Stretched by a new idea

What one thing can I do today...

2013-01-20T03:59:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about productivity...about busy versus calm...about multi versus single tasking. As an advocate for reading I've been examining what is really behind the statement "I just don't have time to read." I'm noticing a shift in my beliefs and actions. I used to think that juggling many balls was the best way to work, but this was leading to increased stress and the feeling of never having accomplished anything well enough. Possibly even more significant was the loss of enjoyment I was feeling arising from not living firmly, solidly and calmly in each moment.

Tim Kreider talks about being busy as a boast disguised as a complaint. When he delves behind the real reasons we can begin to see people who are always busy with some compassion.

"Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness;obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day"

This does explain the choice of busyness in spite of all the research that has found it to be counter-productive. It also highlights the place that confidence plays in standing up for a calmer way of working, especially in environments where busy is the organisational norm. I love this line in Sheila Heti's book How Should A Person Be?

"One good thing about being a woman is we haven't too many examples yet of what a genius looks like."

OK, so I can hear you complaining that there are lots of genius women out there, but I think there is something noteworthy in her sentiment about role models and being open to more conscious ways of working.

Cynthia Occelli talks about being OK with not knowing all the answers, being OK with making mistakes and most importantly being OK with not getting things done that don't advance your goals. She places a huge emphasis on prioritising the work which will be most beneficial for advancing your goals; in order to do that we have to have the confidence to set boundaries and say no. We also have to persevere and endure by calmly and purposefully taking an action each and every day to get us closer to the goal that we want to achieve. The concept of small stones for the workplace.

So what one thing will you do today to move yourself closer towards your goal?

Social Media: The New Disruption

2011-08-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

No Man is an Island by neotint

Social media is all about shifting power relationships. With new channels of communication opening up and old certainties changing some may react with fear. None of us are quite sure how things are going to evolve but there is obviously as much potential for good, collaboration, co-operation and transparency, as for bad. It will depend on attention and intention.

The risks and rewards of social media obviously extend to professional development.

The reward of a wide and varied Personal Learning Network is balanced against the risk of being poorer in terms of time.
The reward of overcoming the barriers of cost and geography are balanced against the risk of decreased physical contact.
The reward of instant, quick information against the risk of shallow, transitory links which fall short of knowledge.

I guess as I progress with my use of social media I need to ensure that I keep assessing how to get the best from the tools in terms of connectivity, efficiency and knowledge sharing.

I feel strongly that social media helps to foster a sense of community. I guess community covers things like satisfaction, loyalty and contribution; feeling at home, interest in what is going on within the community, and similar values and beliefs. Virtual or online communites can provide all of these things. Seems to boil down to the quality of interactions and relationships. Also depends on need and what an individual wants out of the experience. I don't see " lurking" in a negative light if that is what an individual wants to do, could be a really valuable learning experience.

Bradley Kreit's encouraging post highlights the emphasis that we should be putting on creating "trusting and connected societies" because being connected greatly increases our wellbeing. So lets use social media for the good.

Mentor: n. an experienced and trusted advisor

2011-08-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Image by ky_olsen

It's been really useful and timely to read and think about mentoring as I'm just about to embark on a new mentoring relationship at work.

Having read a couple of blog posts from fellow 23 Thingers who talk about the scariness of asking someone if they will mentor you, and whilst not wanting to diminish the very real courage that this can take, I know that I was flattered to be asked to mentor a colleague who is just about to take on new responsibilities. The asking is like an acknowledgement of competency and experience in the people skills that we all want to feel we are OK at.

Particularly pertinent for me, from the article Developing Workplace Coaching Skills by Jennifer Osborn, was the ability to ask good questions.

How frustrating is it when somebody tries to solve your problems for you from their perspective? Nobody can have the insight that you yourself have about any given situation. That's not to say that a fresh perspective isn't helpful but it is not usually the solution chosen. So a slightly different approach is needed in order to ask
questions that elicit the right answers from the coachee.

Natalie's point about the impact of the tough economic climate and the time available to take part in mentoring was interesting. I would love to know how other school librarians felt about this one. I certainly feel that the school environment, being very teacher-centric, creates additional challenges for me as far as professional development is concerned.

All this has got me thinking...what skills do I need to acquire next... and who might I possibly ask?

Education Rethink - The Flipped Classroom or the Khan Academy phenomenon

2011-08-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Image by lululemon athletica

This summer as I've been thinking about current developments in teaching I've come across the concept of reverse instruction. This seems like a really important development and one, by increasing a students' independence and self-direction by flipping the responsibility for learning onto the student, which is analogous with library aims. Here is what I've found.

A useful introduction to the concept and discussion by leading thinkers in the field here. (65 minutes long)

There are lots of questions being asked, especially in America. I would love to know if teachers in the UK are using, or planning to use, this concept. More explanation in this presentation by Jackie Gerstein

Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture

View more presentations from Jackie Gerstein

Seems like some are having real success

When I moved to school librarianship I was greatly surprised, in fact pretty appalled, by the lack of traditional book based learning skills and independence: the kids just couldn't or wouldn't engage with and extract information from books. They were very passive and non-curious learners in lesson time and yet out of lesson time, on getting to know each individual, each had there own passions and enthusiasms. If content delivery by video as homework can free up teacher time to provide meaningful and engaging interactions at school then teachers will be constructively using their professional skills.

So initially, it seems to me, that the flipped classroom, by offering more inquiry and exploration based learning, might offer some solutions to these problems. Certainly seems to be another useful tool in the teachers' toolkit.

What do you think?

My experiences as a Librarian so far...or how I will carefully try to avoid revealing my age!

2011-08-08T02:33:00.000-07:00

Image by Feathered Tar

I remember thinking about librarianship and discounting it as too boring (sorry! this was totally down to my misconceptions!!) when I was in the sixth form at school.

I guess I had some other more pressing experiences that I needed to pursue before finding my way to a Library Assistants' role at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge, post motherhood and post an incredibly stimulating and empowering Masters in Education.

The study and research that I did for this, along with being the mother of a son with a physical disability, meant that I was passionate about education and choices and chances in education and how these impact on lives according to gender and difference. Needless to say I have always love reading and storytelling and also the physicality of books (I was an offset litho printer for some time which I loved) But I'm also fervent about the mind expanding, life enhancing power of knowledge and about allowing equal and open access to information.

Skip forward to today and I find myself four years into my post as Librarian at an Independent school, still learning and progressing and evolving as an informational professional.

My training started with funding for the City and Guilds Library and Information Services Award, I wanted to make sure that this was the way forward for me, and went on to a self-funded Post-Graduate Diploma by distance learning.

I didn't choose librarianship as a career straight out of University so I don't have the luxury of such a long career in one profession. On the other hand I know that the experience acquired pre-librarianship has given me a unique set of skills and competencies and that the possibilities for the future are exciting.

Evernote - how I learned to stop worrying about remembering and love the elephant

2011-08-08T01:34:00.000-07:00

Elephant Skin by Meredith G.

Thanks to 23Things I now LOVE Evernote.

I signed up for Evernote in October 2010 but, as with many tools, got little further than the sign up!

Then came Thing 9 and guess what... I 've been using it non stop since I took the time to actually realise what a great tool this is for efficiency and organisation. I can see that home and work are, thanks to Evernote, becoming increasingly paperless and increasingly less cluttered!

This has got me thinking, in a wider way, about the adoption of new tools and technologies.

I guess for something to stick there has to be a tangible advantage to using the new thing in my life, in whatever capacity. The thing also has to be easy to learn how to use and preferably free. Seeing examples of good practice and ways that others are using it also helps me to make the connection between the thing and my life. But also just having timely reminders about the thing helps me make the time to give it a go. If habits take 28 days to become fully incorporated into our lives then I have a couple of weeks to go with Evernote.

Transferring what I have learnt personally about this experience to the work setting will help me in the way that I suggest new tools to teachers.

I think it is fair to say that, for whatever reasons, the school where I work is fairly slow to adopt new technologies.

This learning experience, and the quality of the tool for transforming working efficiency, has given me some ideas and enthusiasm for spreading the word.

Six Reasons Why I, Irrationally, Prefer p Over e

2011-08-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

Happy November! by emilyonasunday

"...the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubborn persistent illusion.” Albert Einstein

Google calendar seems to me a perfectly good organisational tool. Easy for me to access as I use GMail for work. Great for collaborating with others and for accessing at home. Simple and functional. But I must admit that the only time I used it was when waiting for my new Staff Planner at work last year. This Thing has got me thinking why I am strangely resistant to change in this area. Below are my justifications

1. In the same way that I like the physicality of books I enjoy the physicality of diaries and calendars. I have a gorgeous Gwen Raverat Desk Calendar this year at home. Diaries and calendars are more than functional tools to me, they are also aesthetic objects to which I can attach bits of paper, stickers, doodle on the days.

2. This is one of the few times that I physically write with pen and paper during the day. I need to keep doing this to preserve some sort of legible handwriting!

3. We get a nice big Staff Planner/Diary each year at work which expands as the year progresses with agendas, to do lists, contact details etc. I can have this open on my desk at work as an easy reminder of that day's activities.

4. I can be totally mobile without the worry of computer/internet access. Quite important in our school environment.

5. I get a break from looking at a computer screen.

6. I like the sense of a new academic year and New Year that the new paper items represent.

Influences Along the Way

2011-08-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

Thing 7 requires us to think about face-to-face networks, our experiences with professional organisations, how our careers have been affected and what we have learnt. So, after false starts and long ponderings, here are my experiences.

Signpost by JMC Photos

My involvement with professional organizations has ebbed and flowed according to the development of my library career. I have been a member of CILIP for about six years. As a new member in the profession I found the information and publications invaluable and the special interest groups good for introducing me to other people in the library world. At this time, working within the wonderfully supportive network of Cambridge University librarians, I met many different library workers and observed the individuality of the various academic libraries. I was in awe of the size of the stacks at the University Library and took every opportunity I could to tour within Cambridge and further afield. This was a time of steep learning and I absorbed everything with an eye to planning where I wanted to end up.

Having qualified and begun working as a school librarian ( a real culture shock to go from the University sector with a large number of library professionals to being the sole worker in a school) I attended an incredibly energising and inspiring weekend by the School Library Association in Glasgow. It was refreshing to be amongst so many other librarians who, despite all working in very different schools, understood the nature of the job. I also joined ISLEC (Independent School Librarians Eastern Counties) to make local contacts and visit other school libraries. I still dip into events by the Cambridge Library Group and take advantage of the diverse topics covered by the Arcadia seminars which explore the role of academic libraries in the digital age.

More recently I've been able, on an informal basis, to share my knowledge to newer professionals, with those who are thinking about joining the profession and those who have been deciding whether or not to take LIS qualifications. Somewhere along the line I have gone from being the newbie to someone who can guide and inform. But I can't finish this post without mentioning a few people who have influenced me along my way.

Firstly Chris RobertsLewis whom I worked with at Sidney Sussex College, a good mix of boss and friend, supported my aspirations and went out of her way to enable me to progress. She also had a wicked way of incentivising staff by supplying chocolate and almond croissants!

Next John Crawford. He opened my eyes to the history of librarianship by enabling me to attend a seminar on library automation and see my name in print in the Library History journal. An enriching opportunity to meet real experts in the field with such collective wisdom.

Lastly Jane Henfrey, an almost scarily insightful and open person who helps me to understand the psychology of teachers and of myself. A progressive voice who believes in putting the heart into education and a great lover of books.

Best Free Reference Websites of 2011

2011-07-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

Chrisharvey/StockFreeImages.com

The American Library Association produces an annual list of 25 noteworthy and open access sources of information (obviously with an American-centric bias). These four sites stood out as being particularly useful to schools:

1. Worldometers for statistics, geography, citizenship, sociology, general studies, PSHE and economics.

2. Photography in 10 lessons for 16+ photography

3. Current value of old money especially

Cost of living during WWII for history and english
Cost of living in Jane Austen's England for history and english

4. Pros and cons of controversial issues (currently 42 issues covered) for critical thinking, citizenship, PSHE

Plugged, unplugged

2011-07-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

Image by SocialGrow

The two current online learning courses that I'm participating in are becoming mutually beneficial.
Thing 6 of 23 Things for CPD is online networks. Week 3 of EduMooc 2011 is Online Learning Technologies. Some overlap here, although from very different angles, so I've been researching and giving quite a bit of thought to online networks.

I've seen the latest statistics on the Social Media Revolution. I've learnt that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) encourage Bethany Bovard to run amok. I now know 7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn, including using status updates and getting recommendations. For the LinkedIn neophyte I found Viveka von Rosen's 12 Most Useful Tips I've Found to Use LinkedIn Effectively. I've listened to leading gurus in networking and relationships at the Global Networking Council. In a similar vein to Helen's post I know which Winnie the Pooh character I'm most like and just to stop that inflated sense of ego, that all this networking might engender, I discovered that Some Grey Bloke believes Twitter to be an insignificance awareness engine!

Here, in no particular order, are my experiences with some of the networks:

Facebook-not really a contender for me as the school where I work advises against using it.

LinkedIn - joined sometime ago and this " thing" did make me feel guilty enough to revisit, which I am grateful for. Can see its value for job hunting. Also think the groups are good for professional discussions BUT I need to put more effort in. Must try harder!

LIS New Professionals Network - joined sometime ago and this " thing" did make me feel guilty enough to revisit!! Was rather embarrassed to see that I had a new friend request from January (SO sorry Lisa) I'm dropping out of this one.

Google+ - just getting started. If she works hard she should get some good results.

School Librarian Network Yahoo Group - this has been invaluable to me for encouragement, inspiration and practical ideas.

I think the potential of online networks is huge. It's still a learning curve for me which means that I will try some things and move on to others. More and more I'm appreciating the way that online negates the barriers of time and space and choosing it as my preferred way of learning.

Thing 5 - Who's counting?

2011-07-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

It can be hard to stay motivated when you meet with barriers. This weblog by Seth Godin "Which of the four are getting in the way" has recently informed my reflective working practices. The idea of work as play is one I am trying to live up to! I don't think that you can be an effective reflective practitioner without time. One strategy that I find useful is The Double D2 Strategy which advocates splitting your time between development, diversification, discovery and divestment. The most important, and the hardest to achieve, being the divestment part or the stopping of the things which don't add enough value in order to make space for new things. I believe that perspective comes with distance, I love the Google 20% rule and Stefan Sagmeisters' one year in seven sabbaticals.

To all term time school librarians out there have a great summer holiday!

I'm with Grace - killing Twitter is my only real chance of leaving.

2011-07-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

Image by wonderferret

In my opinion Twitter is by far the most useful of the three tools. Been using it for about a year and find it fast, easy to use and just a little bit addictive! So easy to follow and unfollow, so quick to find new, inspiring people. Great for archiving things to return to and check out later. Not that I'm an expert and I certainly have more to learn, especially about the terminology of twitchforks and twestivals.

I did try Google Reader but I just didn't open it very often and when I did somehow the information had found me some other way. Robert Scoble back in October 2009 gave several reasons why he wasn't using Google Reader anymore. For me it's about productivity, twitter allows me to stay current more quickly and more easily. And because it's all about time Pushnote is just one more tool that I won't be adopting - unless at some point it begins to solve a real need.

Oh well, time to get back to Grace's new book!

The Presentation of Self in Online Life

2011-06-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

Image on flickr by kxande2

I was amazed at how quickly many 23 CPD Thingers posted when Thing 3 was published. This one, for me, is taking some time to work through. The problem lies in how to weigh up the presentation of the polished, professional librarian self and how far to go with the human, haphazard, complex, multi-faceted me. What happens if I change my profession? Something of my online profile will die and need to mutate.

Integral to my brand is the "why" behind my online activities. This is primarily about a PLN to support me as a lifelong learner. Interestingly, the Arcadia lecture this week, by Richard Harper, was about this very subject. He talked about the bonds of work and play, the bonds beyond time and place and communication channels as cultural practice. He discussed the development of mobile phones that enabled others to glance or look at what the phone owner was doing to see whether they were open to communication or not. Research discovered that people glanced as a way of getting the person being glanced to glance back and thus we have the new social practice of "glancing".

Erving Goffman talks about "expressive responsibility" in order to avoid unplanned and inappropriate impressions. He sets the individual's performance or brand firmly in the context of social encounters and societal structures; here we get into the psychology of groups and the way that a social community offers place and support as a protection from doubt, but also as a way of self-deception.

So this brand business is complex! I guess for me it's OK to have an evolving online persona dependent to some extent on on my competency with the tools and my understanding of digital literacy. Watch my evolving digital wisdom.

23 Things 2 Looking around and saying hello

2011-06-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Image of Indianapolis Central Library by Serge Melki

I started by finding another school librarian's blog to investigate
Wise Owl Librarian

Then I was attracted to London library girl as this must be an amazing place to work.

Then on to The Padded Envelope

and finally a school librarian in the U.S. Library Wanderings

There are some really creatively named blogs out there and some great posts...I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed!!

CPD 23 Things 1... Oops we've started already!

2011-06-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hi there
I've been working in libraries for just short of 8 years now, first in two different academic libraries and currently in a school. Whilst school librarianship is incredibly creative, challenging and rewarding I feel that the future for me might involve a sideways move somehow into museums/art galleries. (No one told me how similar to social work the role of a school librarian could be!)

After starting to blog last year- many of us school librarians get a wonderfully long summer break- I kinda lost the habit when work got in the way. I took on a temporary additional library job Sept to Dec 2010 and when I went back to doing just the one job I had sort of got out of the habit of blogging.

I've dabbled with quite a few of the 23 things and even started to include some of them in my working role, but feel that more practice and getting inspiration from others will be really beneficial to me.

My First Prezi!

2011-05-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Discover the First World War on Prezi

Gaming is the new reading!

2010-08-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

Image by Robin Hutton

I really like the research conducted by The Reading Agency about gaming and its relationship to literacy. Although the report is looking at engaging adults with low literacy in reading for pleasure the concept could easily transfer to support gaming within the educational context. This is timely and important and has forced me to think about whether this is a service I should be offering in a school library.

The round table discussion on the report is below:

America seems to be ahead of the UK in research about gaming in libraries. Nicholson found that most US public libraries support gaming, but his definition of gaming was inclusive of old and new technology, from scrabble to console games. The primary reason given for supplying games was to provide entertainment for users and as a promotional activity it was seen to increase the profile and widen the use of the library.

Information is being gathered by Sarah McNichol on the state of gaming and UK libraries. In order for school libraries to embrace this we need sound evidence of the way gaming contributes to literacy. Not being a game player I find it hard to judge how much reading goes on within games. What I do know is that it is reading volume which contributes to good vocabularies and general knowledge and cognitive skills. Anything which helps to create avid readers is good for the development of literacy and a wide range of cognitive skills. Anything which widens the perception of what reading is and contributes to enjoyable reading experiences has got to be good.

Take a look at Inanimate Alice described as a new media fiction.

An example of a less high tech reading game from The Library of Congress is The Exquisite Corpse Adventure. The history behind this is explained here:

Looks like an interesting resource, with audio, which could be used in many ways.

Book review - Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century

2010-08-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Image by michaelgarrettrae23

Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction by Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath 2nd edition published by Facet Publishing, London, 2009.

In 2005 research by Bradford, Costello and Lenholt showed that print sources are used by librarians less than 10% of the time for answering users enquiries. Despite this finding it feels as though this book concentrates primarily on print resources with online as an addition. Having said that the book is a very thorough review of reference and information work in public libraries, albeit from an American point of view.

The layout is easy to follow with sections on resources for answering different types of questions. The sections are as follows:

Bibliographic resources for questions about books, magazines and newspapers

Encyclopedias for anything and everything

Ready reference for supplying quick facts

Dictionaries for queries about words

Databases and Indexes

Health, Law and Business resources

Geographical resources

Biographical resources

Government data and statistics

Each chapter has a convenient list of the top ten resources in the area. Sadly for school librarians many of the resources quoted are too expensive but the recommended free web sites are very useful. The chapter on Web 2.0 is a concise introduction to many of the newer technologies and cites collaboration or cooperative content creation, social networking, customization and seamlessness as defining features. The short chapter on the future of information services contained a useful model of nine different types of Reference Service ranging from the traditional desk, a roving service, a virtual service, outreach or at the most extreme no reference desk at all.

The authors give a pertinent list 11 key competencies of the 21st century librarian as follows:

Ability to provide information using Reference 2.0 technologies

Knowledge of how to select electronic resources

Online searching expertise

Desire to share knowledge through teaching

Reader's advisory skills

Knowledge of how to develop an effective web presence

Appreciation of importance of marketing

Familiarity with research on assessment and evaluation

Interpersonal skills

Ability to adapt to change

Enthusiasm for continued professional learning

I feel that my Library and Information Studies Post Graduate Diploma gave me a really good grounding in evaluation of resources and searching techniques. I feel that it was less comprehensive in equipping me with competency in conducting reference interviews and lacking in teaching about teaching. I also felt less than confident after qualifying about the depth of my knowledge of resources in different subject areas.

Reading this book at a time when I was updating sixth form induction information helped me to identify and promote some possible alternatives to Wikipedia that I wasn't aware of before. But as I tried out each one in turn I was struck by how the alternatives, despite having more scholarly and authoritative provenence, were not as easy, satisfying or pleasant to use as Wikipedia. The school where I work has banned the use of Wikipedia but like the ubiquitous supermarket most of us use it because it is a fast one stop shop, extremely good at supplying what we need.

This book certainly is a good introduction but at over 400 pages it is not a quick read. I got the most out of this book when I revisited it on several occasions and took the time to investigate the online resources further. Even the parts that I felt I had a good grasp of caused me to reflect on my current practice and how this fitted into the bigger picture of user needs and service efficiency. I would certainly recommend it to any librarian undertaking chartership.

References

Bradford, J.T., Costello, B. and Lenholt, R. 2005. "Reference Services in the Digital Age: An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference Questions". Journal of Academic Librarianship 31 (3), 263-272.

Have you heard of Howard Rheingold?

2010-08-12T06:51:00.001-07:00

Image by Jacob Bøtter

I'm just planning some information for the sixth form induction for September, trying to highlight the importance of the library to them now that they are supposed to be independent learners reading widely and motivated to research beyond set texts. etc.etc. I know that I have to work harder to keep sixth formers using the library to really support their studies.

This year, for the first time, I'm going to conduct individual sessions with students starting in the sixth form as a tailored introduction to library services. Difficult to know where to pitch this as I expect levels of familiarity with libraries and information literacy skills will vary widely. This was the reasoning behind the personalised interview format. With a dedicated time slot I should be able to get to know the student and point them in the direction of a few tailored resources. I'll report back on how successful this was later!

So trawling the web to find ways to speak to them about what they need to know I found this video of Howard Rheingold from the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) 2010 Conference called Crap Detection 101: Educator Call to Action.

I hadn't heard of him before. He talks about the critical consumption of information, how we can teach this to students and is involved with a developing wiki for teaching critical thinking and internet literacies. A really important point that stood out for me from his talk was the importance of having Personal Learning Networks whether online or otherwise, personal networks where we learn from other informed people about the things that interest us. (OK so another reason why I really should be using Twitter!)

Looked like there were several other good presentations from ISTE 2010 including Google: 25 Things You Didn't Know It Could Do by Howie DiBlasi.

Also useful Critical Thinking in the Classroom e-book from Microsoft and visual literacy teaching tips by Jamie McKenzie

Visiting London Libraries

2010-08-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Image of Thomas Carlyle, the inspiration for the founding of The London Library, by steeljam

This week I've visited two very different libraries.

First off was The Law Society Library in Chancery Lane serving solicitors in England and Wales. This was my first visit to a law library, although there had been a well stocked Law Reading Room when I worked at Sidney Sussex College Library in Cambridge. The Law Society Library is a reference library which opened in 1832, with some 45,000 volumes, in a Grade II listed building. Their enquiry service is geared towards speed and efficiency with highly qualified and experienced law librarians.

The Library Online resource is run in partnership with LexisNexis and includes access to a Queries and Enquiries Database with over 4000 past questions answered by the library. This digital service, requiring a large amount of staff time, was seen as a crucial and constantly developing part of the library and a service which made the library relevant to solicitors regardless of geographical location. There was, however, a strong feeling that printed material was certainly still alive and kicking within the field of law. The reasons for this seemed to stem from the secure sense of ownership and preservation of their book holdings in contrast to their digital formats. It could well be that the switch from print to digital is taking slightly longer in this sector due to the demographics and search preferences of practising solicitors. The library had considered becoming a lending library but this had been rejected because of the cost involved (obviously as a reference library only one copy of each book is needed.) We were also told about the in-house classification system and the reasoning behind this, including the rejection of the Moys classification system.

The visit was very useful in terms of networking with librarians from the Cataloguing and Indexing group and for giving me an insight into the work of a law librarian.

Second visit of the week was to the independent London Library, St James's Square, Piccadilly. Watch the video below to see why I and many other people are in love with this library!

The London Library from Jeremy Riggall on Vimeo.

Feeling much more at home in a humanities based library we were told the delightful history of the institution, including the story of the charismatic Librarian Charles Theodore Hayberg Wright, whose influence is still felt in the library today. I was greatly impressed by the knowledgeable staff we met and took away a real sense of a traditional library (with a collection now exceeding one million books, as no books were ever thrown away) which was forward looking and successful in fundraising and planning for the future. The library had embraced the need for promotion and acknowledged that there was more they could do, for example publicizing the wealth of collections in over 50 languages.

At £395 for membership per year the library is not an option open to all, but as a charity they are keen to allow access to as wide a range of members as possible and there were various concessionary rates available. Any other school librarians reading this might like to read why Patrick Ness uses the library. This was a wonderful opportunity, organised by the Career Development Group, to soak up the increasingly rare experience of being surrounded by history and literary riches.

Reading Skills Fall for Second Year in a Row

2010-08-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Image by Karenwithak

This was the headline from The London Evening Standard on the 3rd August 2010. To put this into context this referred to the results from The Department for Education Sats reading tests for 11 year olds. Figures from the last three years for Level 4 attainment (the standard expected for this age) show that in 2008 87% of pupils reached the expected level, compared to 86% in 2009 and 84% this year.

The Standard article attributed this decline to doubts over the effectiveness of using the "back-to-basics" phonics method of teaching children to read. The Government, it seems, has no qualms about phonics as an effective method. They foreground teaching, with no reference to school libraries or the importance of instilling a love of reading. I can hear Michael Rosen, a long time advocate for whole books and not reducing reading to literacy, shouting "I told you so."

What should we be doing, as school librarians, to respond to this?

What’s in a name?

2010-07-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Image by Jo Peattie

Looking at job vacancies in the education sector it seems that a rough generalisation can be made about nomenclature as follows:

Schools tend to favour library

Sixth form colleges and further education favour Learning Resources Centre

Universities favour Library and Information Services, with the occasional Information Commons.

I have also seen Learning Information Centre (LIC) at a Community College and Library and Learning Spaces, where different zones cater for silent study, group study and phone use.

I am wondering why, as knowledge migrated from print to digital, the word/image of library no longer appeared fit for purpose? I guess many feel that library equates too strongly to books and as such appears outdated and not reflective of the current service provision. The word library does after all come from the Latin liber, meaning the thin rind between the solid wood and the bark of certain trees which was used for writing on, before the invention of paper. But why did the word library fail to evolve?

Susan Beatty and Peggy White in the Journal of eLiteracy (Vol 2, 2005) believe that Information Commons offer innovative space and services to facilitate student learning and by doing so can show an increased relevance to organisational goals.

If one was cynical this could suggest a need to rebrand, market and justify expenditure on the part of the organisation. The need to be inclusive and student centred is imperative and it is certainly easier to rename in a way that appeals to today’s students than try to battle with negative user perceptions. Sheffield University describes its Information Commons with the tag line “more than a library, more than a study space, more than an IT centre.” This succinctly explains the function to include books and space and computers.

Perhaps I am one of the lucky ones because I have such wonderful memories of using a library as a child and adolescent, both public and school libraries. I’m wondering if calling it something other than library is an attempt to combat “library anxiety,” the phenomenon studied by Mellon in 1986, which found that many students believed that other students were more competent at using the library and so suffered from feelings of inferiority.

Whatever the reasoning, and terminology always has meaning behind it, the important thing is that supporting students remains at the heart of good responsive educational libraries.

Sentenced to read : literature versus prison

2010-07-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Image by elycefeliz

For me the belief that technology should be fully integrated into education is not at odds with my belief in the power of books and stories. Having said this I continually feel under pressure to argue the case for the medium of the dead tree so I was delighted to find this article in The Guardian about the transformative power of literature and reading groups .

Changing Lives Through Literature (CLTL) is an American programme which began in Massachusetts in 1991 advocating reading groups as an alternative to custodial sentences. Based on the Socratic dictum that the unexamined life is not worth living the programme has shown considerably decreased recidivism rates from 45% to less than 20%.

Findings from the programme on how literature transforms people:

By allowing people to investigate and explore aspects of themselves
By encouraging the listening to and appreciation of other perspectives
By increasing the individual's ability to communicate ideas and feelings
By facilitating dialogue where all contributions are equally valid
By the realisation that situations and feelings that are being experienced have been encountered by others

"I believe that stories can save us from the chaos of our lives, perhaps from

death itself. When we experience the unfolding of a good story, we experience

the unfolding of our own selves. We journey through language and discover our identity reflected there as if in a mirror. I am convinced that through these discussions we have all learned to carry stories and characters around with

us as we create that mythic place that brings us together. We have learned

in the process that our lives are stories that we can create and shape. "

Robert P Waxler

Powerful stuff that could be transferred to schools. We need to collect evidence about how engaging with carefully selected texts through reading groups can help children experiencing problems.

The Wow Factor - Architects see Libraries as Cultural Hubs

2010-07-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Photo showing new build possibilities by advertisingelyse

Whilst planning a visit to the Royal Academy of Arts' 2010 Summer exhibition I stumbled across one of their podcasts by the architect Morten Schmidt about what modern libraries mean to him. Having worked on several new build library projects with the Danish firm Schmidt, Hammer, Lassen he really seems to have a clear vision of libraries promoting learning and knowledge. This is really positive and positions libraries firmly in their local communities. He talks about libraries as places to be inspired and surprised - something that library lovers have known all along! Also about the transition from collection to connection, a change that must be combined with the core values of democracy, comtemplation and free access to knowledge.

This video shows the inspirational new library designed for the University of Aberdeen.

The event was one of three on the theme of library architecture, at the Royal Academy, the other two being:

Designing the Inner World: Amsterdam Public Library (see more wonderful photos) and Public Library Enric Miralles, Spain.

Acts of reading

2010-07-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

Image from Penningtron on Flickr

After reading the chapter "Reading in a Digital Age" by Anouk Lang from this book I've been thinking about reading groups and book talk in the online context. At the school where I work I've taken part in many face-to-face book groups from Year 7s to sixth formers but have not tried anything online yet. There were interesting points made about the need to carefully structure the discussion about a book so that the solitary activity of posting comments on an online discussion board became an interactive process allowing for discussion, arguement and dialogue. So, whilst there might be considerable benefits to an online learning medium for those less confident at speaking in a group, there is still a central need for a facilitator to mediate the learning process required to make appropriate and collaborative book talk.

It seems to me that if the internet is indeed rewiring our brains, and making slow reading more difficult for us, then perhaps mediated online book discussions could go some way to redressing the balance and making the internet a place where we can also go to ponder and consider an idea for long enough to actually understand better and comprehend more deeply.