LIBE 467 Theme One Reflection: Reference Services in a Digital World

 

Theme One Reflection             Reference Services in a Digital World

Teacher Librarian as a Reference Service

    I am not currently in a teacher librarian role, but going through the diploma coursework content has shown me that a teacher librarian has a multitude of roles.

    They need to be dynamic in this role and be able to adapt to changing student and staff needs, as well as have the ability to navigate resources both in print and digitally. A teacher librarian supports teachers as they work through the curriculum providing new and engaging ways of teaching the information. They guide students to the right information and show them how to critically engage with resources so that they can be life-long learners. I really thought that the mission statement for Dr. Charles Best Secondary School Library was fitting,

‘to promote and support the teaching of information literacy whereby students develop skills and attitudes necessary to access, evaluate and utilize information effectively and ethically in order to become independent lifelong learners.’

    In order to best support learners to connect with information that meets their needs smoothly (Riedling, 2000), a TL ensures that resources are researched, weeded regularly in order to make room for current and requested items, while also creating a budget to add new resources. Without knowledge of their collection, effective communication and the ability to select, acquire and evaluate resources, a TL could not effectively fulfil their role as a reference service (pg. 4). Though the role and all it entails seems overwhelming, I am excited to work with students and staff and learn the best ways of procuring resources that will be readily used for knowledge.

Reference Process

When a student comes into the library looking perplexed, perhaps with a question in mind or a problem to solve, the teacher librarian is there to guide the student towards the information they need. Over the last 16 years of my teaching career I have primarily taught in the primary years. When a student comes to me with a question, it’s usually a ready-reference question (a term I did not know of until reading the glossary from our text) that can be answered easily. In the intermediate grades research projects are probably more abundant and there needs to be some sort of guide to help students with this process. I learned that the entire transaction from the need of information to evaluation of whether the need has been met is the reference process. The reference process consists of three elements, the information, the student and the answer (pg. 5). There are five steps to the problem solving process, but although the process follows the same steps, it is important to remember that as every student is unique, so are their questions and so will their process (5).

Research Models:

Information Seeking  Kuhlthau

Big 6 Eisenberg and Berkowitz

The Research Process  Stripling andPitts

Research Quest  BCTLA

Points of Inquiry  BCTLA

It is important to understand these different research models because just as students may find their unique path to the answers, teachers in my school may be using different models with their students (Beaudry, 2023).

    A reference service must aim for information literacy which is the ability to teach students how to locate and use information themselves, to be able to critically assess information and decide which best answers their questions, for both print and digital material (Riedling, 2000). There are a number of problem-solving processes that are used by TL’s to guide students to the answers they are looking for. Teacher librarians must lead and guide students to the information, not give them the answers. By teaching students skills to be able to ‘access, comprehend, evaluate and use information’ (5) allows them to be information literate and be effective lifelong learners.

“Inquiry places students at the heart of learning by empowering them to follow their sense of wonder into new discoveries and insights about the way the world works.” — Barbara Stripling, 2003 (BCTLA, p.13)

Reference Sources

    In my elementary years (late 80’s, early 90’s) as a student I recall going to the library and using encyclopedias to locate information about a pamphlet I was working on about Osaka, Japan. Dial up internet was rarely used and Google was non-existent at the time. I remember receiving explicit instructions from my teachers on how to go about using the encyclopedias and ways to uncover information from different volumes. I remember my parents purchasing a set of Collier’s Encyclopedias from a door-to-door salesman and how the shelf in our study started to bow down from the weight of them. We used those encyclopedias quite often in the beginning, for school projects, for pictures, just for the fun of browsing or a game my brother and I played where we would pick a volume, and open it randomly to see what topic we landed on. The frequency of use dwindled as the years went by as more up to date versions could be found in the public or school library and with the advent of the internet and then Google.

    As a primary teacher, I have rarely relied on reference materials for classroom activities. I realize now, after visiting my own school library in search of the print reference section, and finding that there was not one anymore, how reference materials are probably not used like they used to be. I was a little perplexed that my school library did not have a reference section, however Beaudry (2023) shared some interesting facts that helped me realize why. 

Encyclopedias are:

● bulky, heavy in size
● expensive
● not as easily searchable as digital encyclopedias

    There are no print encyclopedias in his library commons. Beaudry (2023) explains that most publishing companies are ending the production of print copies and that most reference materials being used are digital. He cautions that it is important to not weed all reference materials but instead observe what is being used and be cognisant of the library budget.

Electronic Reference Material

    Despite increased internet usage for research material through Google searches, Wikipedia, websites or electronic resources retrieved through library portals, it is the responsibility of educators to teach students how to recognize information that is fake, biased or lacks credibility.

    There are a number of visual reminders that can be posted in and around a classroom or LLC to help students remember to use the skills they have learned to retrieve information that has credibility.

 The MediaSmarts website is also a resource teachers can use to guide their learners to navigate the internet. The following videos from the site can be an engaging way to help students understand the idea of critical thinking and the internet.

  

    I tend to shy away from using technology, laptops or Ipads, in the classroom usually because administration takes so much time. Recently my teaching partner brought in the Ipads for students to research facts about the Canadian provinces and found some lewd keywords in the search box. Although this is a scary scenario to encounter in the primary grades, it is also a prompt to have those important discussions and teach appropriate internet usage (Beaudry, 2023).

References

BC Teacher-Librarians' Association (BCTLA), (2011). The Points of Inquiry: A Framework for Information Literacy and the 21st-Century Learner. https://bctladotca.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/the-points-of-inquiry.pdf

Beaudry, Richard (2023).Theme 1: The foundation of reference service. Retrieved on January 23 from https://canvas.ubc.ca/groups/498663/discussion_topics/1705948?module_item_id=5 310085

Dr. Charles Best secondary school library. Dr. Charles Best Secondary School Library. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://www.bestlibrary.org/

MediaSmarts. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://mediasmarts.ca/

Riedling, Ann, Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.