Module+3

=Module 3 - The Organizational Tools=

=**Lesson 10 - Other Sources of Cataloging and Processing and Preparing**=

1. Your responses to these sources and how valuable they may be;

United Library Services is a valuable source because it is local and promotes Canadian authors. Also, since it is a Canadian company based out of British Columbia and Alberta, they should have more resources that support the curriculum, special groups, and have Canadian content. Many librarians like to touch and physically take a look at the materials they purchase and this is possible because they have a location in Burnaby. Also, for books clubs based on Canadian or British Columbia Authors, this company would be the best option. I would assume that shipping costs would be lower and librarians or other educators could pick up the materials themselves.

Follett’s Titlewave is integrated with their Destiny Library catalogue system. As a result, any purchases made through Titlewave can be automatically updated. Follet has many more titles and products and services than the other sources. In addition, there is access to reviews for many of their materials. In addition, because of their large inventory, they don’t have as much need for special orders. One downside of all this integration is that once invested, it is difficult to switch systems. Unless your school is heavily involved in ebooks or audio books these services won’t mean much to a teacher-librarian. I think with e-books, we need to weigh the costs and benefits of the readers. Finally, because the destiny system is online, there needs to be Internet access to use all the features.

Jobbers offer a great service and can provide discounts and extras that other companies may not be able to match. The free gifts and ‘extras’ can be a nice way of saying ‘thank you’, but they usually come at a cost. I think with all the extras I get and how they are constantly negotiating on our behalf with many different sources, I might feel pressured to purchase materials or services that I really don’t require. Jobbers also require you to purchase a large quantity of books. Many schools are allocated a budget for purchasing books and do not order district wise. As a result, using a jobber might not be the most effective way of purchasing library materials. Also, a cataloguing system still needs to be implemented and because there are many different sources in which jobbers uses to obtain materials, the records may be formatted differently causing confusion among the students, teachers, and librarian.


 * 1) Whether your school uses or would consider using these sources and why.

The school district I work at uses the Destiny system. I have only had limited experience with the system, but it seems powerful and can be customized for individual school’s needs.

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 * 1) Check out the bibliographic utility OCLC (Online Computer Library Catalogue and WorldCat). [|__www.oclc.org__]

The are many different services offered by the OCLC. Many of the services are geared towards maximizing time and minimizing costs. It seems as if they have a service or product for every aspect of library management. At first glance, the amount of information is overwhelming. I’m sure with more experience and understanding of these products and services, I can know what services would benefit a school library.


 * 1) Go to the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science [|__http://lu.com/odlis/about.cfm__] and do a search under Z39.50

This function is helpful because it automatically retrieves the record for a given title. This is very useful because it removes the time needed to enter or search MARC records. These records have a certain amount of consistent formatting that can reduce the amount of errors made at the school level. One downside of this search is the MARC record may contain too little or too much information formatted in different ways. Uniformity of records are important and the additional tags provided by some publishers benefit your local situation.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think it is more important to get the items into students hands. We shouldn’t give them any excuse to become disinterested in reading and find temporary ways to make these available. On the other hand, the benefits of ensuring the materials are catalogued properly ensures proper tagging, entry points, and efficient access to these materials for future patrons. I would be more willing to release trade paperbacks and popular series quicker and ensure curriculum and non-fiction materials are catalogued correctly. Also, since these are usually more expensive materials, we need to ensure that they are processed properly with correct binding, covers to prolong their life. To allow materials to circulate temporarily, we can photocopy the cover and inside cover to ensure proper cataloguing at a near future date. In my experience, rushing usually does not have a positive long term outcome.The school I volunteer at holds the items until they are in the system. I am not sure about my new school district as I have only TOC’d in the library for a few times so far.

=**Lesson 11 - The Library Catalog**=

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In my limited experience, I have had the opportunity to work with with the Vancouver School Board OPAC system. They are using the Horizon Information Portal 3.21 Powered by SirsiDynix. This system is not being developed any further, but continues to offer support and new features.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a student, this catalogue is not very user friendly. It require that the exact correct spelling is entered and does not offer suggestions for alternative spellings. This is a problem for students who may make small errors in spelling. Many of the titles offer illustrations of the book covers along with a short summary. The homepage is not visually appealing or easy to use.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The administrative applications are accessed from the main cataloguing program and remotely requiring a separate login and password. From the main catalogue, the teacher-librarian and anyone else can check in or check out books, add or delete materials, and search by different methods including ISBN and Dewey location. Other reports, such as overdues, lost, circulated items, inventory, and new materials need to be done using another application that remotely connects to the District Office. Any specialized reports needs to be requested by the teacher-librarian to the District Office and hopefully they will understand what report you want generated and deliver it in a timely manner.

=**Lesson 12 - Organizing Online Resources: The School Library Homepage**=

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">School library homepages are essential and we must have one. The library media center, to be the hub of learning, needs to be accessible. Even if the website is used only a few times a year, just having a presence on the Web ensures accessibility to students, parents, teachers, administration and the larger community. How many times did you get home and forgot to check important information? Any webpage allows individuals to complete their tasks 24/7.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">An effective website is one that doesn’t overload you with information and allows you to find information quickly and easily. Instead of many submenus, a list of major subject heading and a search option on the Homepage is easier to navigate. If a patron requires more detailed information, he or she can explore deeper into the system.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Essential elements of an attractive and usable school library homepage <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Access to the OPAC <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- All the essential information is presented without having to scroll <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Keyword search that allows for invented spelling and offers suggestions <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Link to curriculum resources, online and print, organized by subject/grade <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Professional and parent resources <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Literacy based information such as book reviews, what’s hot, what’s new, wish list <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Professional looking and logically organized <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Opportunities for collaboration, feedback, and involvement <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- Up to date

=**Lesson 13 - Organizing and Maintaining the Collection**=

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I do not work in a school library at the moment, but I have volunteered in an elementary library in a public school in Vancouver since September. Based on the criteria, the library meets an acceptable standard.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This library’s main advantages is that it is centrally located, has many materials to support literacy, a large open space, and movable tables to facilitate different small and large group activities. It is a barrier-free learning environment that ensures access to a centrally organized collection of learning resources. There are several different entrances to the library in addition to the main entrance. In addition, this is also where the computer lab is located. In several other spaces, it encourages individuals and small and large groups to use them for research, browsing, listening, viewing and reading.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are some physical changes that are necessary to improve access to the learning resources, most notably aesthetic principles and sound ergonomics. In order to make it more inviting, new signage and book bins/tubs should be used to provide more colour to the space. Also, the old couches and chairs could be re-upholstered to make them more inviting to sit on. In addition, more warm and ambient lighting could be used to help create less of an institutional feel. The high ceiling and two levels open design does wonders for acoustics. The sound easily travels from one area to the other. Using a variety of movable dividers with sound absorbing materials and decorative cloth hanging from the ceilings can, in addition to being visually appealing, help with sound ergonomics. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There is no production area for the preparation of student and teacher media and multimedia projects. In order to accommodate a designated space, major restructuring and reorganization of the media center resources would need to occur.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Improvement of aesthetic principles and sound ergonomics could be at a low cost. New signs could be easily printed and laminated. Also, large pieces of fabric can be purchased at a low cost and additional supplies are minimal - dowels, string, needles, thread. The creation of a production room would require a large expenditure. It would require knocking out walls or building a new room.