Group Meeting 10/27/10

      These are the various statuses (or stati) of our group's projects. Next week, I'm meeting with Ms. Eddens and we will going over the finer details of what I will being including on the new and improved library website for our school. Mary is scheduled for a staff development meeting November 9th and is in the process of beginning her tutorial. Sara has launched her blog, success! Denise has created her wiki and is currently adding information to said wiki, and the librarian approves greatly! Katie's project is already in use and will likely be completed on Monday - Wednesday latest. This is where we all stand, don't knock us down, fate. 

Delicious - no longer just for food.

  As I embarked on this new form of pickin' and shortin', I was wondering just what the benefits of this new (well, new to me anyway) social network organization tool would be. At first, the entire experience seemed a bit tedious, what with it's primarily text-heavy appearance and a general aura of "we're-gonna-totally-mess-with-your-bookmarks", however I suppose there are useful aspects to this system. First off, it does allow one to search out quality websites for information, via other users especially. It seems to me that the more individuals who seem to be linking to and tagging a certain site, the likelihood is higher that said website will be of valuable use for that particular subject. Plus, del.icio.us offers a new and interactive way to search the web for research information. The tags help others outside of your own profile to seek out sites that may be of interest to them. The basic tagging and saving of a website is quite simple as well, one needs merely to enter the URL address and fill in the brief profile box for any site. So, will it revolutionize research online? I doubt it, but it will surely make finding sites on specific subjects a little more manageable.  

Fending Off Digital Decay, Bit by Bit (aka Saving Salman)

  So as I sat reading this interesting article, my eyes kept trailing across my cluttered room to my over-stuffed book case where my copy of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses sat (or more accurately where it was wedged). I kept thinking of the tragedy that could have been had that misunderstood Rushdie book been lost forever. At one time it was indeed a near possibility, and Rushdie himself was very nearly lost with it. Oh well, that's another literary lesson. What alarmed me about this article was the realization that not all things saved by technology are forever. I don't know why this notion didn't strike me sooner, it seems rather obvious in retrospect that if technology should be constantly moving forward to the bigger and better, that the lesser and the weaker would be lost as it became outdated. Indeed as this article reveals, there is information and literary works being lost through the cracks as technology evolves, and that's not just in books alone. Even worse, as the article highlights, the people with the skills to revive and save such things as floppy disks, older PCs, and word processors are becoming fewer and fewer. So what's the answer then? Personally, I would say hit the panic button and salvage everything to more current databases and systems ASAP. If we've learned anything from this course thus far it's that technology stops for no man, or no man's work.

A World Without Trees...

 So I was driving up 421 the other day, cigarette in hand and music in speakers, trying to think of the perfect illustration for why our world still needed it's books and other such tangible artifacts. Sure, I felt in my heart of hearts that it was a necessity, but how do you convince a generation that is being brought up online that tangible items are still a must for education? I drove past a stand of dead oak trees, and lightning struck. Lightning striking may have also been the issue for the dead oaks, but that's beside the point.

Imagine, if you will, a future generation growing up on an Earth without trees. Sounds like a soil and water conservation ad right? Well, I promise I'm going somewhere with this. In the future smog or some other force has killed every tree on the Earth, all of which have now fallen to the ground and decayed into mere memory for the older generation. Now, the children growing up in this bleak world have all the technology they could ever desire. They have computers-galore, social networking, viral everything, all the knowledge of humankind at a pressing of their finger tips. These children have never known the existence of a tree. Sure they can read all about the extinct life form via their technology. They can see photographs, know the science behind trees, and perhaps even see the products of said trees, but it's all 2D. What they lack is interaction. They can never know the scent of wet leaves, the texture of bark, and the joy of climbing in wind-blown branches. Sure, they've got tree information coming out of their ears, but that doesn't mean these future children truly know the experience of being in the presence of a tree.

Anyway, the silly melodrama of my illustration aside, education isn't just in information alone. There's knowledge in experience and interaction. Merely reading text or observing imagery won't tell you everything there is to know in creation. The tangible artifacts of libraries, museums, zoos etc. are an essential part of truly learning about our world. Technology simply can't replace all there is. Go books.

Meeting with Principal and Ms. Eddens

Recently I met with Ramona Hemrick (my school's principal) and Ann Eddens (our librarian) about my using the school website as the basis of my project. Essentially my pitch was "beefing" up the school's site, to provide much more thorough and useful information for the students and faculty alike. Though in recent days it has dawned on me that it would be far more practical to place my focus upon the teachers. You see, the vast majority of my school's student body come from low-income homes, so access to the internet outside of school isn't easy for most. In addition, considering that half of the student body has language barrier issues, I came to the conclusion that one would be better off to direct the improvements toward the teachers.

Anyway, both Mrs. Hemrick and Ms. Eddens were quite enthusiastic about the proposal and the meeting only took a mere few minutes. The two seemed to take the idea and run with it quite well! Now if everything else in this process will go as smoothly as this meeting, we might just have a merry Christmas kids...

Group meeting 09/15

 Productive group meeting today. My project went through some major evolutions. At first I was going to do a catalog returns promotion study but I kept encountering issues with being able to tie technology into the thesis. Then I went the route of building a blog to help teachers better understand and work with new technologies, only to run into the issue of exactly how to tie that into the library. However after a visit to my school's website I discovered that they are in dire need of an overhaul for the library page. The page literally consists of a single page with a paragraph on it and little little little information about anything, including the school's new librarian this term. I decided this is an issue that is in need of attention so I decided to run with the idea of buffing up the library site! This way I can include more features (educational links, information about the new librarian, book reviews, book fair info, suggestion boxes, surveys, contact info, images etc.) to truly put the media center online and make it useful to teacher and student patrons alike. Plus this would be good experience for myself as I've never created a webpage before!

Librarian Interview

I met with Ann Eddens, the new librarian at Moravian Falls Elementary School, yesterday afternoon for my interview. I came into the library noticing instant improvements since I had done my interim there last Spring. Miss Eddens had weeded out all the haggard texts, re-organized the circulation desk, and even painted over the former hideous green motif of the south wall of the library. While this was Miss Eddens’ first term at this particular school she has been a practicing librarian for three and a half years after obtaining her masters degree through ASU. It was clear from the immensely improved setup of the media center that she knew her craft well and even found enjoyment in it. My first tech question for her was what technologies were utilized in the library. She provided this list:

Follett Circulation Catalog
1 - Smart Board
1 - Inventory Scanner
1 - Checkout Scanner
1 - LCD Projector
1 - Document Camera
4 - Student Computers

Granted, Moravian Falls is a small school, but I next asked if she felt this technology was adequate enough for the students needs. Miss Eddens said she felt that it wasn’t quite enough. She would prefer that there be at least ten more student computers, along with space in which to place them. Miss Eddens told me that much of the student body was made up of bi-lingual students and that the library catalog contained a large selection of Spanish and bi-lingual books for the students. I asked if the students ever had difficulty working with the media center computers. According to her, only around three out of every five students had enough knowledge to work comfortably with the computers. Among these skilled students, most were upper grade children in the fourth and fifth grade levels. For the Kindergarten through third grade levels she said that she used a visual OPAC with images to help them with the catalog system. Miss Eddens said it was her opinion that technology was extremely important to libraries and that she often kept up with the advancement of new technology through monthly district media meetings, professional literature, and word of mouth. It’s also her opinion that self checkout is a myth, my sentiments exactly! Thinking back to our weekly reading I asked her if she thought that librarians were in danger of becoming obsolete. Her quick answer was no, someone will always be needed to teach new technology to learners.