Assignment #3 reflection
I've started my assignment but I don't know how it will end. Before I can implement the changes that I'd like, I will have to meet with the Head Librarian of the Branch. She's lovely and we get along quite well but she is serving a different patron than I am. My library is spotless and really well run, but the sad fact is that I currently don't have a say in how it is set up. I will have to 'battle' for new signs and I have a feeling they will have to conform to VPL standards. I may also have problems with the high school librarian who might not want signs up for her students--she might want them learning how to look their resources up on the web catalogue. It will be interesting to see how it goes in Sept.
Comment: Class Participation
I have tried and tried but still I have struggled with the pace of this course. I am fully aware that many people have more demands on their time than I do and, frankly, I don't know how they do it. In my defense, this was my first year in a library position and I was living/breathing inventory during the last month of school. Regardless, I know that many of my submissions for the Activities were tardy (but I did them!). Throughout the course, I endeavored to keep up with the reading and with the comments of my classmates and I did pretty well. Overall, I would give myself a 7.5/10 in participation.
Activity #6: Circulation Procedures: Fines!
In point #5 of the section Principles of a Circulation System it reads that BC students are not fined for overdue books. That's not the case in Rockridge Secondary in West Vancouver. They fine their students .10/day for overdues and (but they are also willing to take only partial payment). The money they earn goes into maintenance of the photocopier (students use it) and to fund more purchases. They (students) also have to pay .10/page for photocopies and were charged .10/page for printing (the first 2 pages were free but after that, the student have to pay).
I worked at Rockridge for six weeks while their Librarian had a broken arm. Initially I was surprised that they fined their students but I got used to it. They also had a full time assistant who was happy to enforce the rules and frowned on any leniency (she would, however, renew the book if the student came to speak with her). The funny thing was, no one complained. The students were all aware of the rule and no one put up a fuss. Teachers were exempt from the system but everyone,including the admin, was aware of it. Maybe it is because the school is in an affluent area that no one complained--they all took it as a matter of course.
I would never fine elementary students in Vancouver for overdues but I don't think it would be possible to fine secondary students in Vancouver either. There are simply too many socio-economic backgrounds at every school. I guess the only recourse is to suspend their card? That seems cruel and kind of counter-productive. It certainly won't foster any love of the library. Perhaps a fine/work system: if they have outstanding debt, they will have to 'volunteer' in the library to work it off.
Depending on the student, I suppose, I feel that if a student is going to steal a book--is that desperate to read, let them have it. However, if it becomes a chronic problem, then re-evaluate the situation.
I worked at Rockridge for six weeks while their Librarian had a broken arm. Initially I was surprised that they fined their students but I got used to it. They also had a full time assistant who was happy to enforce the rules and frowned on any leniency (she would, however, renew the book if the student came to speak with her). The funny thing was, no one complained. The students were all aware of the rule and no one put up a fuss. Teachers were exempt from the system but everyone,including the admin, was aware of it. Maybe it is because the school is in an affluent area that no one complained--they all took it as a matter of course.
I would never fine elementary students in Vancouver for overdues but I don't think it would be possible to fine secondary students in Vancouver either. There are simply too many socio-economic backgrounds at every school. I guess the only recourse is to suspend their card? That seems cruel and kind of counter-productive. It certainly won't foster any love of the library. Perhaps a fine/work system: if they have outstanding debt, they will have to 'volunteer' in the library to work it off.
Depending on the student, I suppose, I feel that if a student is going to steal a book--is that desperate to read, let them have it. However, if it becomes a chronic problem, then re-evaluate the situation.
Activity #5: some challenges we face
There are many challenges that face the modern school library:
1. Not enough staff
2. Not enough funding
3. Computer management/maintenance
4. Not enough support from administration
5. Skill development (i.e. chronically having to play catch-up with new technology)
BUT!
Bigger than all these issues, I believe, is people's preconceived notions of what a library is. This is a large factor that keeps us from becoming the most important room in the school and the most important building in the community.
I believe that the majority of the public believe that a school should have a library and a librarian--everyone would agree that libraries are a 'good thing'. But, if it comes down to extra support for a large ESL population or a Library? I'm not sure what the general public would choose. Many people still believe that the library is the 'book room'. They don't realize how our facilities have evolved to include the latest technology and that we can teach this to their children/our students.
Most people, I think, would rank the library as being a trusted source of information (probably ahead of the internet), but it seems that more people are bypassing the library in favour of doing their research at home through the Wikipedia and Google. This is certainly my experience with my students.
How can we change these notions? We need to become more dynamic in the school and take on a leadership role for social change and activism. Librarians can no longer be seen as being "book minders" but we need to become more visible in the spaces that we work in.
When I started at Britannia, I was talking to the VSB librarian consultant and she was explaining how different my position was at my school compared to the role that other teacher librarians get to play in their school. I said to her, "I just want to be a teacher-librarian, I don't want to partake in all these politics". She said to me, "If you want to be a Teacher Librarian, you've got to be political and be advocate for yourself." I know there's a lot of advocacy among my colleagues, but how many people do we reach? We need to be more visible to the public and colleagues or we will lose our place.
1. Not enough staff
2. Not enough funding
3. Computer management/maintenance
4. Not enough support from administration
5. Skill development (i.e. chronically having to play catch-up with new technology)
BUT!
Bigger than all these issues, I believe, is people's preconceived notions of what a library is. This is a large factor that keeps us from becoming the most important room in the school and the most important building in the community.
I believe that the majority of the public believe that a school should have a library and a librarian--everyone would agree that libraries are a 'good thing'. But, if it comes down to extra support for a large ESL population or a Library? I'm not sure what the general public would choose. Many people still believe that the library is the 'book room'. They don't realize how our facilities have evolved to include the latest technology and that we can teach this to their children/our students.
Most people, I think, would rank the library as being a trusted source of information (probably ahead of the internet), but it seems that more people are bypassing the library in favour of doing their research at home through the Wikipedia and Google. This is certainly my experience with my students.
How can we change these notions? We need to become more dynamic in the school and take on a leadership role for social change and activism. Librarians can no longer be seen as being "book minders" but we need to become more visible in the spaces that we work in.
When I started at Britannia, I was talking to the VSB librarian consultant and she was explaining how different my position was at my school compared to the role that other teacher librarians get to play in their school. I said to her, "I just want to be a teacher-librarian, I don't want to partake in all these politics". She said to me, "If you want to be a Teacher Librarian, you've got to be political and be advocate for yourself." I know there's a lot of advocacy among my colleagues, but how many people do we reach? We need to be more visible to the public and colleagues or we will lose our place.
Reflection: Activity #4: School websites.
This is an area that my administrator is keen on me taking over in the fall. He can barely start a computer and the woman who did it last year left. Somehow this responsibility has fallen to me--which would be great if I knew what to do. Our page through the VSB is in severe need of updating but I do know that I am not capable of continuing the page in the same vein. She used a multi-layered system to set up the page. It would be impossible for me to pick up where she left off (even she couldn't figure it out when she tried to show me how).
I think the best thing for me to do would be to start from scratch. I've spoken with the helpdesk at the board and (apparently) they are setting up pages for each school that would be a similar format to this blog so you wouldn't have to write a code. This is supposed to start for September. If this doesn't pan out (which is likely), there are options through google to set up a school page and the only thing you would have to do is link the page from the "official" school website. But it's far easier to use and set up.
I would like to model my school's website after the Scotch school but, as I mentioned in my post, it is a little daunting to aim so high when I consider how little experience I have with creating webpages. They also seem to have a lot of people on staff in the Library and I'm sure it's something to school takes pride in.
I think the best thing for me to do would be to start from scratch. I've spoken with the helpdesk at the board and (apparently) they are setting up pages for each school that would be a similar format to this blog so you wouldn't have to write a code. This is supposed to start for September. If this doesn't pan out (which is likely), there are options through google to set up a school page and the only thing you would have to do is link the page from the "official" school website. But it's far easier to use and set up.
I would like to model my school's website after the Scotch school but, as I mentioned in my post, it is a little daunting to aim so high when I consider how little experience I have with creating webpages. They also seem to have a lot of people on staff in the Library and I'm sure it's something to school takes pride in.
Reflection: Assignment #2
I know that MARC records are vital but because of this assignment I am actually considering running off to join the Luddites. I wonder if they're taking applications?
The assignment is not too difficult but it is painstaking and it is time consuming and it is precise. It took me awhile to figure out that most of the MARC records could be found at the LOC but nevertheless, finding the correct fields, copying them properly, and editing them properly takes some time. And then there is field 350--I've since found out that the field is obsolete but there was some serious time spent on the internet researching it.
Then there were the books that didn't seem to have any records anywhere--I had to find the online article in some obscure library in Alaska but there was no MARC record for it. I hope I did that one right too.
And how are MARC properly organized? They seem to jump around (numerically) a fair bit. For example, while the 500s are grouped together, sometimes the first tag is 538 and then the next is 500. Same with the 600s. For my assignment, I'm going to put them in numerical order and hope that it's ok.
Part B of the assignment is pretty straightforward after the MARC records are found. I couldn't find Yu Gi Oh! for the longest time.
I am becoming very familiar with MARC fields through this exercise which is the point, I believe. And, according to some of my colleagues I've emailed, I think I'm on the right tack.
That said, I'm finding time management to be a challenge for me since this is the kind of activity that I could spend months on and has been a bit of a 'black hole' with regards to time with me already. School is wrapping up and, like Christmas, this is the time of many obligations. I have three retirement dinners to attend and each evening at these functions is one less that I can spend on my work. This course is really testing my ability to manage my time efficiently.
The assignment is not too difficult but it is painstaking and it is time consuming and it is precise. It took me awhile to figure out that most of the MARC records could be found at the LOC but nevertheless, finding the correct fields, copying them properly, and editing them properly takes some time. And then there is field 350--I've since found out that the field is obsolete but there was some serious time spent on the internet researching it.
Then there were the books that didn't seem to have any records anywhere--I had to find the online article in some obscure library in Alaska but there was no MARC record for it. I hope I did that one right too.
And how are MARC properly organized? They seem to jump around (numerically) a fair bit. For example, while the 500s are grouped together, sometimes the first tag is 538 and then the next is 500. Same with the 600s. For my assignment, I'm going to put them in numerical order and hope that it's ok.
Part B of the assignment is pretty straightforward after the MARC records are found. I couldn't find Yu Gi Oh! for the longest time.
I am becoming very familiar with MARC fields through this exercise which is the point, I believe. And, according to some of my colleagues I've emailed, I think I'm on the right tack.
That said, I'm finding time management to be a challenge for me since this is the kind of activity that I could spend months on and has been a bit of a 'black hole' with regards to time with me already. School is wrapping up and, like Christmas, this is the time of many obligations. I have three retirement dinners to attend and each evening at these functions is one less that I can spend on my work. This course is really testing my ability to manage my time efficiently.
Reflection: Activity #3 DC vs. LC
Again, The Straight Dope article does a good job of outlining the difference between the two systems. They write, "DDC uses fewer categories and sub-classifications and is consistent across disciplines, while LCC is more highly subdivided with no consistency between disciplines. It's understandable, therefore, that DDC has proven more useful to libraries catering to a wide range of needs such as public libraries and schools, while LCC is more widely used in libraries focused more on technical areas like colleges, universities, and government." Good summary, no?
I found this Activity very interesting simply because, prior to it, I didn't realize how creative and individual a process cataloguing could be. The person who catalogues a book must make sure that those who need it can find it, but it's not as simple as that. For example, what if a work of fiction is written to be historically accurate of the time? Where would a person classify it? Now that catalogues are stored on computers, it's much easier to find resources across disciplines but I never thought about how cataloguing could potentially influence readership.
I found this Activity very interesting simply because, prior to it, I didn't realize how creative and individual a process cataloguing could be. The person who catalogues a book must make sure that those who need it can find it, but it's not as simple as that. For example, what if a work of fiction is written to be historically accurate of the time? Where would a person classify it? Now that catalogues are stored on computers, it's much easier to find resources across disciplines but I never thought about how cataloguing could potentially influence readership.
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