Assignment+4

 0. Hot Topics Staino, Rocco. “California DOE Calls for Public Comment on First School Library Standards” //School Library Journal//: November 2009 http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6704854.html?industryid=47062 Summary: Library standards have certainly been an issue for the country, especially since every state has their own standards. Additionally, standards are consistently changing at the state level and now at the federal level. However, California is making ground-breaking progress by developing school library standards for the entire state. This is the first time California has done so in order to emphasize library media skills. The state’s superintendent of public instruction states that there needs to be written standard for information literacy. California has faced large budget cuts in education and many believe that having these standards will improve student achievement. Hopefully the standards will be approved, which will create a uniform system of teaching information literacy. Rationale: This article should be included because lately, more than ever, standards are consistently talked about in the library media center. States have standards for curriculum, yet library media is often forgotten about. These standards will allow information literacy to be taught in the library media setting, allowing students to benefit from learning these essential research skills.

1. Policy development/changing policies. Kroski, Ellyssa. “Should your Library have a School Media Policy?” //School Library Journal//: Issue 10 (October 2009) [] Summary: Social media has taken the world by storm, whether it’s the heavy usage of Facebook or Twitter, students are using these technologies more often, even in the School Media Center. Libraries are considering possibly changing library policies when it comes to social media sites in order to use them for academic purposes. Some librarians around the country are interested in teaching students and faculty how to create blogs and use social media sites that would benefit the community. However, most current library policies ban such sites as Facebook and Twitter. Kroski believes that a general set of guidelines for social media sites should be established for libraries and the academic community.

Rationale: This article deserves inclusion because technology is incredibly important when one considers policy development and possibly changing policies. More and more students and faculty members use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Therefore, the school media specialist needs to be aware of this new technology and how to show students and faculty how to use it appropriately. This concept of social media definitely brings up the question of, how are we going to deal with this? Many social media sites are blocked because of district policy so it would definitely be a challenge to overturn policies.

4. Personnel Church, Audrey P. “The Principal Factor.” //Library Media Connection// 27:6 (May/June 2009): 40-41. http://www.linworth.com/pdf/lmc/reviews_and_articles/featured_articles/Church_May_June2009.pdf Summary: Library personnel does no longer include only the Library Media Specialist and the Library Clerk. Today, the school principal is a vital part of the School Media Center and needs to be well aware of the mission, vision and activities that occur in the library. Principals want School Media Specialists to be well aware of the state curriculum and work with the curriculum to educate students. As the School Media Specialist it’s incredibly important to have a great relationship with the principal of the school. According to the article, the principal can be one of the most important personnel in the library and can really contribute to the library. Rationale: The reason why this article deserves inclusion is because as future Library Media Specialists we must know who we are working with and what they expect from us. Knowing what the principal of the school expects is very important. This makes us aware of the fact that the library is not a secluded place, but a position that requires collaboration from all kinds of personnel in the building and district. 

5. Resource Organization/Collection Issues Barack, Lauren. “PA Cuts Endanger Library Sites.” //School Library Journal// (2009) http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699594.html?industryid=47057

Summary: Pennsylvania is currently facing budget issues which will effect the School Media Center and the collections in which they possess. The collections that face the most danger are research databases that are available at a variety of the K-12 schools. These databases also benefit students who conduct research in public libraries. The schools use POWER Library databases, which according to the article include a variety of reference sources used by the students. Pennsylvania media specialists and public librarians are not yet sure whether or not the budget will be cut or if they will be able to offer this online service as part of the library’s collection. As of right now many media specialists in Pennsylvania hope that the budget will not be cut too drastically but are preparing for the worst-case scenario.

====Rationale: This article deserves inclusion because collections no longer include only books. Collections encompass a variety of media that fall under the budget, which is something that school media specialists need to think about. It’s an important aspect of the job to think about when developing a collection and the kinds of problems associated with this technology.====

9. Technology Barack, Lauren. “Baltimore Debuts Virtual Lab: High School Facility Blends 3-D virtualization with traditional research skills.” //School Library Journal//, October 2009 [] Summary: The school librarian used to be solely responsible for reading a story to students and assisting the students who took out books every week. However, with today’s latest technology, this is no longer the case. The librarian is now a library media specialist in which they must know all about a variety of technology, such as the new technology used at Chesapeake High School in Baltimore, Maryland. The students now have a virtual lab in the high school, run by the library media specialist, in which students will be able to learn in 3-D. Some believe that the library media specialist ties in perfectly with this new lab and will be able to educate students about this kind of technology. Additionally, students will be able to use this new technology for video conferences and mentoring time. Although the school is not considered the first to use some sort of virtual lab/virtual class, it is a new technology for these particular high school students to be using. Rationale: This article should be included because it mentions a new technology that none of us have probably ever used before in high school – a virtual lab/3-D learning. The library media specialists’ role is constantly changing, which is why future library media specialists must be fully aware of the changes. Additionally, technology is constantly changing and updating, which is why library media specialists must be up to date with the world of technology.