SIG School Library Research

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Comment by Anu Ojaranta on November 9, 2009 at 8:32pm

Greetings everyone! Am a school librarian from Finland and I have just started my thesis project. Would really like to hear what kind of problems are central in the school library world (international perspective), library usage, librarian/teacher responsibility sahring/cooperation, etc.? Last mentioned will most likely be my research topic...
Feel free to email me!!

Comment by Vicki Laity on October 28, 2009 at 9:39am

Hello everyone
Pleased to be a member.
I am from Queensland Australia.

Comment by Karen Bonanno on December 7, 2008 at 8:46am

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Check out the styles at StyleEase Software.

Comment by chris gibson on November 6, 2008 at 2:41am

Gaming on the school library's computers is not permitted. Students use the computers for instructional, reading, and research only.

Comment by Elizabeth Friese on November 5, 2008 at 1:00pm

Hi Pat and all.

That quote about losing the ability to question by 5th grade was from an article by Stephanie Harvey: Nonfiction Inquiry: Using real reading and real writing to explore the world. Language Arts, 80(1), 12-22. One of my little missions (this applies to children's lit too) is to get students and teachers and teacher librarians more excited about informational literature and its potential for inquiry learning. Its not research per se, but I would not be surprised if she had done some research to back it up. It was an article I read with my class. They agreed, by and large, that the testing culture seems to gear students more for answering than questioning, and the answering is generally multiple choice.

I'd like to hear about your research, Pat. And on these last comments about computer screens, just wondering if gaming is taking hold in your libraries the way it seems to be catching on where I am...

Beth

Comment by chris gibson on October 30, 2008 at 12:22am

Hi Pat,
Yes, I agree with your observation that there seems to be a lot of "passivity", esp. when it comes to watching the computer screen. This is especially true when a research topic is imposed on students (i.e., an assignment). Students show more interest and motivation when they can generate their own research topic.

Comment by Patricia Carmichael on October 29, 2008 at 8:26pm

Yes, I read this and included it in my last paper. I am not sure how solid his research base is regarding this but I would love to get hold of papers on this topic. I believe passivity is the cause of many of the problems in schools. This being a result of watching TV, watching the computer screen, watching and observing life but not actually being part of the action of life. This has serious impact on how students approach learning. This is just my observation and result of discussions with other teachers.
Pat
Pat

Comment by chris gibson on October 28, 2008 at 9:54pm

Hello, I have been following an article by Nicholas Carr, who writes that "Google is making us stupid?". It has implications for librarians who teach students research skills.
Check it out at http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=55598

Comment by Elizabeth Friese on October 11, 2008 at 9:57am

Hi Pat and Naaz.
Ah, the innate why. I just love that. Hows that dissertation, Pat? :)
I was reading something last week that talked about how, in US classrooms, by 5th grade students have learned (passively and actively) that their personal questions are not important. What is important in schools is what the curriculum developers, politicians, and teachers decide is important. There is no room for students to be curious. I think there are many exceptions, but still, too often, the "whys" students bring don't seem to matter. They unlearn how to ask that question. Then they get to high school, university, and so on, and they have to relearn how to question.

It may be true that students keep that innate questioning, they just pursue it outside of school. Another case of disconnect between what happens inside schools and out? Seems to me that teaching info literacy in the context of an authentic personally developed question is really the optimal situation, as many others have said. I remember doing my first "I-Search" in my library certification program, and it took me a very long time simply to come up with a personally meaningful question to work on.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a question that would please the teacher, but in the end choosing my own allowed me to practice IL skills that were meaningful, relevant, durable, and contextually applied. And the result of my research actually made a personal difference in my life. So I guess I found my innate why again, after many years.

Is the innate why dangerous? Or just difficult?

Beth

Comment by Patricia Carmichael on October 11, 2008 at 8:48am

Hi Naaz,
Well, I agree that it appears that way, But i believe that all children are born with the "innate why". It is a survival behaviour surely? school itself through the process of trying to develop and create thinkers, and this occurs through many avenues, also manages to kill the natural curiosity and creativity of children. So my quest is, how do we in the school library cultivate that "innate why" that is a natural behaviour?
Pat

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