Reflective+Self+Assessment

Learning Reflection for Activities and Participation in an Online Class

The organization of learning resources can be broadly categorized into three main areas: theory and practice, technical aspects, and tools. We have all walked into a library, or any other space, and either marvel or complain at how well the physical space meets the needs of its patrons. For many of us, we take it for granted that when we walk into any space that we will be able to find what we need quickly and easily. Also, once the product or service is secured, it is also important to be able to efficiently and effectively use or gain possession of our ‘purchase’.

As I worked through this course, I realized that efficient and effective management procedures that is firmly founded in theory and practice are necessary for the organization of learning resources in a school library. I have gained an appreciation for all the behind the scenes work of the teacher-librarian. Checking in and out materials, shelving and purchasing materials, recommending and helping students find resources, and the purchase and weeding or resources is only a small part of their job. A well-organized collection of resources requires an in-depth knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of different media, organizational systems such as the Dewey Decimal system, components of bibliographic control, interior design, metadata and tagging, cataloging and MARC records, online and print resources, and how to organize and maintain the collection. This will ensure that the library will be the hub of learning for the students, teachers, administrators, and the larger community.

Knowledge of the Dewey Decimal system will ensure the teacher-librarian will be able to direct students into the correct area of the non-fiction resources. It will also help the teacher-librarian to know where subjects are located on the shelf and make decisions where to catalog new resources that meet the specific needs of the users and curriculum. Finally, knowing about the Dewey Decimal system will help us to explain the history of this system.

Bibliographic control is important to ensure the most useful and effective entry points for a given resource. I didn’t realize that there were rules to follow, and several at that, regarding subject headings and spelling. These criteria make sense in order to allow users, no matter where they may live, to have equal access to the same materials. Even though it may seem unfair, the use of ‘American’ spelling provides uniformity with subject, keyword, and other searches.

There are sites that allow for personal subject cataloging. I started to explore using the site and tagging some sites using Delicious. I didn’t get that far and quit after a few minutes because it was quite time consuming for something that I feel that isn't very useful. In reality, how many people are really going to use your site? Why reinvent the wheel when you can probably find another Folksonomy site that does the exact same thing, but probably better. As we move forward, these sites will become more useful as the amount of information continues to grow. Already we are suffering from information overload and personalized lists will need to be used to help sift through the sea of data. I can see myself using this site in the future as I find the need to build more and more lists for more and more things. Such as personal resources, book lists for kids such as similar genres, subjects resource lists for curriculum, and other things that I can't think of now.

MARC records are time consuming to create. To the naked eye, it looks like a bunch of letters and numbers randomly put together for no apparent reason. Of course this is not true and provides a consistent description and standardization so that computers process and display information consistently. Like bibliographic control, this ensures that librarians and other users are speaking the same language across different cataloguing systems and procedures. In addition, a teacher-librarian who is familiar with MARC records will be able to have access to more information regarding the material.

Digital access is continuing to become more and more important as technology becomes prevalent in the lives of our students. Converting to the digital world is not as easy as it sounds. I started to create a class webpage that contained the newsletters, homework, and other information about the class on Weebly. I began putting all my planning documents on Google Docs allowing me access at home and at work without lugging binders back and forth. I began to use Youtube to supplement limited resources as a result of teaching at International schools. Finally, I decided to go paperless for homework with the students. This was all good until China and Turkey decided to block these websites and denied access. A lesson learned, the cloud is a wonderful place along with technology, but can also be a hindrance and annoyance if the connection is too slow or blocked by the school, district, or countries firewalls.

This experience has shown me that maintaining a webpage is time consuming and will add on extra responsibilities to your duties, even if you have someone to help you with the site. Ultimately, the teacher librarian will be responsible for the content. Although this is the case, it is necessary because it ensures a barrier-free learning environment that allows access to a centrally organized collection of learning resources.

I believe I am committed to the concept of access to the Media Center for activities other than reading and research. At this time, I will give the benefit of the doubt that, with education and creating the correct environment, the community can act in a respectful and responsible manner. If I ever start working as a TL in my own Media Center, these dreams and aspirations may just become that. But with perseverance and dedication, anything is possible right?