Fifth Reference Librarian Observation

Well, I was lucky enough to hit one more homerun in my last observation. I listened in as the school librarian, on November 9th, conducted a class on RADCAB. This, at first, seemed new to me, until I heard what it was. Lo and behold, it was almost exactly what we have been talking about as criteria for selecting web pages (or databases for that matter) for scholarly use. I had not heard this little “catch-phrase” before, so if you have not either, it stands forR= RelevancyA= AppropriatenessD= DetailC= CurrencyA= AuthorityB= BiasIn this class, the librarian started off only discussing three of them- Relevancy, Appropriateness, and Authority. She began with two methods that we have discussed in class- discussing the objectives for the day, and the use of a handout. The handout had questions that the students were to fill out while class was being conducted, and they were collected at the end of class as an assessment. For each of the three topics, the librarian began with asking the students for a definition. I noticed that for some reason (and this had not normally been the case) the students were lethargic and not eager to participate (perhaps a pre-lunch sugar low!). She would not go on, asking the same question, and in a very fun way, egged them into participating. Once the ball was going, participation picked right up. I think they may know she is not going to cave in and just move on!For each of the three topics, the librarian had two questions associated with each. For Relevancy, the questions were 1. Does this apply to what I need to know for my research? 2. Will it help answer my questions? For Appropriateness, the questions were 1. Can I understand everything without it being too easy? 2. Is there information that makes me or teachers uncomfortable? For Authority, the questions were 1. Who is the author? 2. Is the author an expert?She had, before class, prepared websites that the students went to in order to answer the questions for each topic. For each site, they students were given a few moments to click around, absorb the information on the site, and write down their answers to the two questions. This time, the answers were not discussed, and I believe this is because she was using the handout as an assessment tool, and not as a means of discussion, or take-away information. Again, she never sat down, but floated amongst the students, making sure everyone was on the same page (literally) and that they understood the information.The librarian wrapped up with questions. Correct answers received stickers for her “Thinker’s Board.” I am surprised at how eager junior high students are to get on the Thinker’s Board. Of course, they act as though it is a silly thing, but everyone who got a sticker made sure to put it on the board, and no sticker questions went unanswered. As usual, I felt this was a really great learning experience, and am quite sad that it was the last one. I contacted this particular librarian on a cold call, a pretty risky thing, and ended up with a fantastic observation project. I had such a tough time deciding which projects to look in on! She is extremely active in her collaboration with teachers, and always conducts herself and her class in a textbook perfect manner. I could not have asked for a better experience.

Fourth Reference Observation

My fourth session on November 3 with the school reference librarian was spent observing during a classroom instruction involving sexting. This classroom work was done in conjunction with the health class. About a quarter of the students take health at a time, so by the end of the year, all students in the school will have participated. Apparently, this is a big issue within the school (junior high, I may add!).The assignment involved creating a public service announcement about sexting. In true information literacy interest, Lindsay started by taking time with the students to evaluate what makes a successful PSA, including knowing the audience, knowing the goal, using “real” language, making it relatable, and emotional.For the assignment, the students were given many choices about the direction they could go. They could work alone, or in groups of two or three. They could create a poster, or an MP3 announcement. The poster could be done by hand or on the computer. All posters were to be hung in the school, and the best MP3 would be played on daily announcements.They were given a Rubrik to clearly show how to get a good grade. They were also given a handout that had room for their brainstorming, which had to be handed in as part of the project. The class also listened to a sample PSA a couple of times and discussed what elements it contained that they had discussed. The librarian applied the Think, Pair, Share method to get the students thinking and involved. All of these factors have come up as topics in our IST605 class. From allowing for different learning types to setting clear objectives, as well as getting the students interacting, the students were given an excellent chance to be both successful at their work, and to learn a valuable cultural lesson also. Much of the remainder of the class was spent working with the students on how to use Microsoft Publisher, Flickr and/or Audacity, depending on which type of PSA they chose. During this time, Lindsay also was clear about using Creative Commons, their own photos or clip-art to avoid copyright issues. Overall, this project served a dual purpose in both information literacy and the issues of sexting. By developing the project in the way that she did, Lindsay was able to really help develop the students in their information literacy, an important goal of the reference librarian of a school.Eisenburg and Brown are quoted “The IL individual recognizes a need for information, engages in information seeking behavior, explores, accesses and locates material, interacts with the information to formulate hypotheses, synthesizes, interprets and organizes the information, and finally evaluates the results. “ (from our Media Library in IST 605). I feel that the librarian provided a fantastic opportunity for her students to develop these goals.