When Your Library Goes Virtual: Promoting Research and Reading

1. When Your Library Goes Virtual: Promoting Research and Reading Audrey Church Tennessee Association of School Librarians November, 2006

2. Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning “The mission of the library media program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information.”

3. Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning The mission of the library media program is to ensure that students and staff are lifelong readers and effective users of ideas and information. Henrico County (VA) Public Schools

4. Goals for Your Library? • Promoting reading • Supporting research • …in a digital environment…

5. “87% of those between ages 12 and 17 are online…and half of them say they go online every day.” Pew Internet & American Life Project. (25 July 2005). Teens Forge Forward with the Internet and Other New Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/press_release.asp?r=109

6. Students prefer to use the Internet instead of traditional libraries because … • They consider it to be easier to use • They consider it more convenient • It is open 24/7 • They consider it to be full of more up-to-date material Pew Internet & American Life Project. (14 August 2002). The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet Savvy Students and Their Schools. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/67/report_display.asp

7. Virtually all middle and high school students use the Internet heavily to do research to help them write papers or complete class work or homework assignments…as virtual textbook and reference library…For the most part, students’ educational use of the Internet occurs outside of the school day, outside of the school building, outside the direction of their teachers… Pew Internet & American Life Project. (14 August 2002). The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet Savvy Students and Their Schools. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/67/report_display.asp

8. “The goal of a Web site should be to make the school library media center and its Web page the first choice of information by students and teachers. Do whatever it takes to make it happen.” Baumbach, D. (2005, January/February). “The school library media center web page: An opportunity too good to miss,” Knowledge Quest 33(3), 8-12.

9. Meet students where they are! • Provide services via your school library Web page! • 10 Ways to Promote Reading • 10 Ways to Support Research

10. PROMOTING READING… • Online Catalog • Make your online catalog available on your library Web page • Search by author, subject, award…from home • Sample site: Paideia School, Atlanta, GA http://www.paideiaschool.org/Library

11. PROMOTING READING… • Links to Author Web Sites • Connect students to authors’ life experiences • Sample author sites: • Jan Brett http://www.janbrett.com • Ben Mikaelsen http://www.benmikaelsen.com • Walter Dean Myers http://www.walterdeanmyersbooks.com

12. PROMOTING READING… • E-Books • Access to free or fee e-books • Sample sites: • International Children’s Digital Library http://www.icdlbooks.org/ • Project Gutenberg http://www.Gutenberg.org • University of Virginia Library’s Electronic Text Center http://etext.virginia.edu/ebooks

13. PROMOTING READING… • Online Games Based on Book Characters • Use children’s love of book characters not only to build skills but also to promote literature and reading • Sample sites: • Harper Collins http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/HarperChildrens/Kids/GamesAndContests • Clifford the Big Red Dog http://www.scholastic.com/Clifford • Dr. Seuss http://www.seussville.com

14. PROMOTING READING… • Reading Lists • Teacher or course reading lists, summer reading lists, state reading lists (ex. Virginia Young Readers, Battle of the Books) • Sample site: Joyce Kilmer Elementary School Media Center, Mahwah, NJ http://www.mahwah.k12.nj.us/jk/mediacenter/index.htm

15. PROMOTING READING… 6. Accelerated Reader/Reading Counts Test Lists • Lists of books for which your school has tests • Sample site: Indian Trail Middle School, Johnson City, TN http://www.jcschools.org/itms/LMC%20web%20pages/QuizInfo.htm

16. PROMOTING READING… 7. Book Recommendations and Reviews 1. Post student and teacher book reviews 2. Sample sites: • Western Albemarle High School, Crozet, VA http://www.k12albemarle.org/westernalbemarle/library/Pages/reading.html • Virtual Reading Room, Greece Athena Media Center, Rochester, NY http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/ath/library/reading_room/default.htm

17. PROMOTING READING… • Book Blogs • Students can interact with each other to discuss a particular book • Sample site: Reading Rants and Raves, Bookbreak! Berkley High School, Berkley, MI http://www.bookbreak.blogspot.com

18. PROMOTING READING… 9. PR for Reading Events • Publicize Book Fairs, author visits, Children’s Book Week, Teen Read Week, National Library Week • Sample site: Page Turners, Deep Run High School, Glen Allen, VA http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/deeprun/smith_c/Pageturners.html

19. PROMOTING READING… • Subscription Databases • Assists students in book choice when you are not physically available • Sample sites: • What Should I Read Next (Gale) http://www.gale.com/pdf/facts/wdirn.pdf • NoveList (EBSCO) http://www.epnet.com/uploads/thisTopic-dbTopic-484.pdf

20. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Subscription Databases • Provide links to databases to which your school, district, or state provides access • Sample sites: • Agnor-Hurt Elementary School, Charlottesville, VA http://schoolcenter.k12albemarle.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=31819&sc_id=1137527636 • Springfield Township Virtual Library, Erdenheim, PA http://mciu.org/%7Espjvweb/catalogs.html

21. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Curriculum-Related Web Sites • Provide access to top-notch, pre-evaluated Web sites • Sample sites: • Fee: • Nettrekker http://www.nettrekker.com • Web Feet http://www.gale.com/webfeet • Free: • Paideia School, Atlanta, GA http://www.paideiaschool.org/library/Recsites.htm#websites

22. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Pathfinders • Collaboratively create pathfinders with classroom teachers and post them on the school library Web site • Sample sites: • John Newbery Elementary School, Wenatchee, WA http://nb.wsd.wednet.edu/lmc/pathfinders/pathfinder.htm • Springfield Township High School, Erdenheim, PA http://mciu.org/%7Espjvweb/pathmenu.html

23. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Information Literacy Skills • Offer general information literacy instruction • Sample sites: • KidsClick! Worlds of Web Searching http://www.rcls.org/wows/ • 21st Century Literacies http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/21stcent/gradelevel.html

24. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Search Tools • Provide advice for choice and use of search tools • Sample sites: • Information Literacy Search Strategies: Choose the Best Search for Your Information Needhttp://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html • Online Search Techniques, M. W. Bell Library, Guilford Technical Community College http://webster.gtcc.cc.nc.us/library/searchtechniques.html

25. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Critical Evaluation of Web Sites • Provide guidance in how to critically evaluate sites found on the Web • Sample sites: • QUICK: Quality Information Checklisthttp://www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm • Loogootee Elementary West, Loogootee, IN http://www.siec.k12.in.us/%7Ewest/online/eval.htm

26. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Guidance Through the Research Process • Provide step-by-step guidance through the research process • Sample sites: • How To Do Research, Kentucky Virtual Library http://www.kyvl.org/html/tutorial/research/ • Walter Reed Middle School Library, North Hollywood, CA http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Reed_MS/Library/research/research.html • Road Map to Research, Thomas Dale High School, Chester, VA http://chesterfield.k12.va.us/Schools/Dale_HS/library/Virtlib/media.htm

27. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Citation Guidance • Provide assistance for students in citing sources • Sample sites: • Nauset Public Schools, Orleans, MA http://Nausetschools.org/research/works2.htm • Citation Style for Research Papers, B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library, Long Island University, NY http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citation.htm

28. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Connections to Other Libraries • Provide links to local public libraries, nearby college and university libraries, and your state library • Sample site: John Newbery Elementary School Library, Wenatchee, WA http://nb.wsd.wednet.edu/lmc/lmc_index.html

29. SUPPORTING RESEARCH… • Virtual Reference Service • Consider providing a link to virtual reference service • Sample sites: • Ask a Librarian, Greece Athena Media Center, Rochester, NY http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/ath/library/askalibrarian/default.htm • IM a Librarian, Alexandrian Public Library, Mt. Vernon, IN http://www.apl.lib.in.us/im.html

30. Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning The mission of the library media program is to ensure that students and staff are lifelong readers and effective users of ideas and information. Henrico County (VA) Public Schools

31. When your library goes virtual…use your school library Web page to promote reading and support research!

32. For more information, contact: • Audrey Church, Coordinator, School Library Media Program, Longwood University, 201 High Street, Hull 232, Farmville, VA 23909 • Phone: 434-395-2682 • Email: churchap@longwood.edu • Web page: http://www.longwood.edu/staff/achurch