Competency #9: Internet
I found the following website related to my topic: The Literacy Project
The link for this site : http://www.google.com/literacy/booksearch.html
The search engine use: Google
Description & Rationale:
I chose this site because it is an excellent resource for anyone interested in promoting literacy. This site provides the end-user guidance when searching for information regarding literacy promotion. It gives key words on how to use Google Book Search for searching books on this topic as well as the following topics related to literacy: scholarly articles, literacy videos, innovative projects, a literacy map, books and literacy blogs, book clubs and groups, and literacy search. I am looking forward to exploring this site further.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Competency #8: Research Visual/Multimedia
I chose the image entitled: “What is Balanced Literacy?”
Description & Rationale for Choice:
This image is good for a school librarian to understand the whole picture of what a child’s literacy should be. Each area is important, and the librarian can partner with the teachers to help promote literacy for students. The areas on the chart where the librarian can play a role and partner with the teachers would be the following: the “Read Aloud/Modeled Reading,” “Shared Reading,” “Interactive Reading,” “Guided Reading,” and “Independent Reading.”
Copyright Link:
James-Shuler, J. (2005). What is balanced literacy? Retrieved August 10, 2009, from
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pirate.shu.edu/~jamesjan/JAS/images/BalancedLiteracy.png&imgrefurl=http://pirate.shu.edu/~jamesjan/literacy.htm&usg=__R8t5gI5dqCc0F_-f9-fEteA5mDE=&h=570&w=602&sz=256&hl=en&start=14&tbnid=pDCjlNaAEE_AaM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dliteracy%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
I chose the image entitled: “What is Balanced Literacy?”
Description & Rationale for Choice:
This image is good for a school librarian to understand the whole picture of what a child’s literacy should be. Each area is important, and the librarian can partner with the teachers to help promote literacy for students. The areas on the chart where the librarian can play a role and partner with the teachers would be the following: the “Read Aloud/Modeled Reading,” “Shared Reading,” “Interactive Reading,” “Guided Reading,” and “Independent Reading.”
Copyright Link:
James-Shuler, J. (2005). What is balanced literacy? Retrieved August 10, 2009, from
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pirate.shu.edu/~jamesjan/JAS/images/BalancedLiteracy.png&imgrefurl=http://pirate.shu.edu/~jamesjan/literacy.htm&usg=__R8t5gI5dqCc0F_-f9-fEteA5mDE=&h=570&w=602&sz=256&hl=en&start=14&tbnid=pDCjlNaAEE_AaM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dliteracy%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den
Competency #7: Image
I chose this image because it shows young kids enjoying a book together. I located this image through Google through an image search. This picture made me smile because you have a group of young boys enjoying a book. It is important for librarians, teachers, and parents to do all that they can to foster a love for reading. Reading fun books and in groups is one way to do that.
Copyright Link:
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Competency #6d: ERIC & Specific Facet Search Strategy
Before beginning my search, I thought about the various search facets of library type and area of interest.
Facet 1: elementary school library
Facet 2: reading or literacy
Facet 3: programs
Of the three facets, I believe that Facet 1: elementary school library is the most specific facet, so I will search ERIC using that search query term first. I plugged in facet 1, but I received 5,567 results (see Figure 1.1). Since the results are numerous and many do not address literacy promotion in conjunction with school libraries, I added Facet 2 to my search (see Figure 1.2). Adding facet 2 reduced my results to 1,734 (see Figure 1.3). This is better than the previous results, but it is still too large of a list, so I am going to refine my results with limiters. I chose the following limiters:
Year: 2007-2009
Language Phrase: English
Full Text: selected yes
Rank by: selected “relevance”
Doing this produced no results. Therefore, I removed all my limiters except for “Full Text” and my new results list pulled up 705 records (see Figure 1.4). I was not happy with the results, so I chose to refine my search by selecting a Subject Heading to limit my results (see Figure 1.5). This time, my search yielded only 330 results (see Figure 1.6). The record that I found that interested me was “Improving School Libraries and Independent Reading: 1997-2002 Impact Evaluation of the K-12 School Library Printed Materials Grant” (see Figure 1.7).
Reflection:
This search strategy took me a long time to find decent results. I was continuously having to revise my search in order to get manageable results and a relevant hit. This is not my first choice for a search strategy.
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.5
Before beginning my search, I thought about the various search facets of library type and area of interest.
Facet 1: elementary school library
Facet 2: reading or literacy
Facet 3: programs
Of the three facets, I believe that Facet 1: elementary school library is the most specific facet, so I will search ERIC using that search query term first. I plugged in facet 1, but I received 5,567 results (see Figure 1.1). Since the results are numerous and many do not address literacy promotion in conjunction with school libraries, I added Facet 2 to my search (see Figure 1.2). Adding facet 2 reduced my results to 1,734 (see Figure 1.3). This is better than the previous results, but it is still too large of a list, so I am going to refine my results with limiters. I chose the following limiters:
Year: 2007-2009
Language Phrase: English
Full Text: selected yes
Rank by: selected “relevance”
Doing this produced no results. Therefore, I removed all my limiters except for “Full Text” and my new results list pulled up 705 records (see Figure 1.4). I was not happy with the results, so I chose to refine my search by selecting a Subject Heading to limit my results (see Figure 1.5). This time, my search yielded only 330 results (see Figure 1.6). The record that I found that interested me was “Improving School Libraries and Independent Reading: 1997-2002 Impact Evaluation of the K-12 School Library Printed Materials Grant” (see Figure 1.7).
Reflection:
This search strategy took me a long time to find decent results. I was continuously having to revise my search in order to get manageable results and a relevant hit. This is not my first choice for a search strategy.
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.3
Figure 1.4
Figure 1.4
Figure 1.5
Figure 1.6
Figure 1.7
Figure 1.7
Competency #6c: Academic Search Complete Database & Citation Pearl Search Strategy
My initial search query for the Citation Pearl Search Strategy was elementary library. I received 42 results from using this term (see Figure 1.1). I then examined the results to find other relevant terms to add to my revised search. Of the 42 results, only one of the article’s titles provided me with a descriptor that I felt was suitable. The article title was “Leveling the Reading Field.” I decided to pull out the term reading and add that term to my new query. This was clearly not the best way to revise my search because it only yielded 5 results (see Figure 1.2), and the Citation Pearl Search Strategy should increase results.
I reviewed those 5 results and found the article “Graphic Novels for Elementary School Audience.” The term graphic novels caught my eye because kids really like them, and I know that they are a good resource for enticing reluctant readers to read. Therefore, I revised my search query again to the following: library AND graphic novels. The results for this search yielded 1176 results (see Figure 1.3). The very first result in this list was an article that I believe is relevant to my interest as a future school librarian who promotes literacy. It is called “Graphic Novels in Libraries Supporting Teacher Education and Librarianship Programs” (see Figure 1.4).
Reflection:
Initially, I did not feel that this search strategy was doing what it was suppose to do, which is increase the amount of results in a search since my first search query revision only yielded 5 results. However, I was pleased that my second revision had better success with 1176 results, and I found a relevant article for my library type and interest in the first citation listed. I am pleased with this search strategy and will use it again because it gave me an idea to search for graphic novels in connection with libraries, and it would have never occurred to me to do this if I hadn’t used this strategy.
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.3
Figure 1.4
My initial search query for the Citation Pearl Search Strategy was elementary library. I received 42 results from using this term (see Figure 1.1). I then examined the results to find other relevant terms to add to my revised search. Of the 42 results, only one of the article’s titles provided me with a descriptor that I felt was suitable. The article title was “Leveling the Reading Field.” I decided to pull out the term reading and add that term to my new query. This was clearly not the best way to revise my search because it only yielded 5 results (see Figure 1.2), and the Citation Pearl Search Strategy should increase results.
I reviewed those 5 results and found the article “Graphic Novels for Elementary School Audience.” The term graphic novels caught my eye because kids really like them, and I know that they are a good resource for enticing reluctant readers to read. Therefore, I revised my search query again to the following: library AND graphic novels. The results for this search yielded 1176 results (see Figure 1.3). The very first result in this list was an article that I believe is relevant to my interest as a future school librarian who promotes literacy. It is called “Graphic Novels in Libraries Supporting Teacher Education and Librarianship Programs” (see Figure 1.4).
Reflection:
Initially, I did not feel that this search strategy was doing what it was suppose to do, which is increase the amount of results in a search since my first search query revision only yielded 5 results. However, I was pleased that my second revision had better success with 1176 results, and I found a relevant article for my library type and interest in the first citation listed. I am pleased with this search strategy and will use it again because it gave me an idea to search for graphic novels in connection with libraries, and it would have never occurred to me to do this if I hadn’t used this strategy.
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2
Figure 1.3
Figure 1.4
Competency #6b: Books in Print and Browsing Search Strategy
Reflection: (see images below the reflection)_
I searched Books in Print using the Browsing Search Strategy. I chose to “Browse by Index.” Under the “Browse by Index” feature, I chose to do a “Subject (ALL)” search (see Figure 1). I specifically chose the term “literacy” to enter into the search box. From there, I was given a list of multiple items that I could select to search further. This option allowed me to select multiple items, but I only chose “Literacy Programs.” This result led me to 297 records, which were sorted by date in descending order. I then chose to revise my search terms and add the term “librar*” to the search and limited the search by the English language (see Figure 2). This new revised search brought me to 120 results, but I did not need to look further because the second result is the article I am interested in entitled “Creating a Culture of Literacy: Programming Ideas for Elementary School Librarians” by Anne E. Ruefle (see Figures 3 & 4).
Reflection:
I like using the Browsing Search Strategy with this site because I did not have one particular source in mind to look for, and I could just explore it for records related to my blog competency subject. Theoretically, this type of search could take longer than others, but with the Books in Print browsing features, I found that my browsing was guided and helped keep my search relatively short.
Reflection: (see images below the reflection)_
I searched Books in Print using the Browsing Search Strategy. I chose to “Browse by Index.” Under the “Browse by Index” feature, I chose to do a “Subject (ALL)” search (see Figure 1). I specifically chose the term “literacy” to enter into the search box. From there, I was given a list of multiple items that I could select to search further. This option allowed me to select multiple items, but I only chose “Literacy Programs.” This result led me to 297 records, which were sorted by date in descending order. I then chose to revise my search terms and add the term “librar*” to the search and limited the search by the English language (see Figure 2). This new revised search brought me to 120 results, but I did not need to look further because the second result is the article I am interested in entitled “Creating a Culture of Literacy: Programming Ideas for Elementary School Librarians” by Anne E. Ruefle (see Figures 3 & 4).
Reflection:
I like using the Browsing Search Strategy with this site because I did not have one particular source in mind to look for, and I could just explore it for records related to my blog competency subject. Theoretically, this type of search could take longer than others, but with the Books in Print browsing features, I found that my browsing was guided and helped keep my search relatively short.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Competency #6a: Library Literature & Building Block Search Strategy
(Note: Below is a description of my Building Block Search Strategy. I have described each step; however, due to difficulties in moving images around in this blog site, I have only posted three of the pictures that represent the steps I took. You will only get see pictures of the combined search, the results of that, and the record that I found.)
I began by identifying my search facets:
S1=children or elementary or student*
S2=literacy or reading
S3=improvement or growth
S2=literacy or reading
S3=improvement or growth
Now, I am ready to conduct search 1 using the Advanced Search option.
Search 1: children or elementary or student* using “All Smart Search” yielded 32,575 records.
Search 2: literacy or reading yielded 14,714 records
Search 2: literacy or reading yielded 14,714 records
Search 3: improvement or growth yielded 2,099 records
S1 + S2 + S3 yielded 53 records (see figure 1.1 and 1.2)
- See Figure 1.3 for an image of an article (i.e., record) that I found that fits my topic of interest.
Reflection: The positive side of doing Building Block search is that it makes you clearly think out your facets and the synonyms to those facets. However, I think it wasted time to go through and search each facet individually before putting them all together. In the future, I would definitely do the combined search but not the search for facet 1, then facet 2, then facet 3. I also found that quite a few of the 53 final results were not relevant.
Figure 1.1
Figure 1.2
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Competency #5: Tagging/Indexing/Cataloging
Resource: Reading Magic: Why Reading to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox
Tags:
2004 acq.(1) 649(1) 2001(1) adult nonfiction(1) Australian(2) bibliophilia(2) books(1) books about books(3) Books and Reading(3) child development(1) children(4) children and reading(1) Children's literacy(1) children's literature(4) communication(1) Early reading(1) education(9) Family(1) foxes(1) Harvest (Harcourt)(1) home(1) homeschool(4) jan08(1) literacy(2) non-fiction(10) parenthood(1) Parenting(7) parents(1) power of read aloud(1) Pritchard's(1) pro reading message(1) read aloud(2) read aloud & storytelling(1) Read in 2006(1) reading(13) reading aloud(1) Reading aloud to children(1) Reading; Humor(1) reference(2) Signed(1) stories(1) Storytelling(2) unread(1) wishlist(1) Work(1)
Tag URL: http://www.librarything.com/work/361027
Description of Resource:
I chose this book because I am interested in being a children's librarian and in promoting literacy among children. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox looks like a good resource for anyone interested in promoting reading. As an elementary librarian, I need to learn effective ways to read aloud to children and to promote story hour with the teachers and the school. Two aspects of this book caught my eye: 1) Mem Fox discusses three secrets to reading (I am curious about what they are), and 2), she provides tips on finding good books to read aloud.
Resource: Reading Magic: Why Reading to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox
Tags:
2004 acq.(1) 649(1) 2001(1) adult nonfiction(1) Australian(2) bibliophilia(2) books(1) books about books(3) Books and Reading(3) child development(1) children(4) children and reading(1) Children's literacy(1) children's literature(4) communication(1) Early reading(1) education(9) Family(1) foxes(1) Harvest (Harcourt)(1) home(1) homeschool(4) jan08(1) literacy(2) non-fiction(10) parenthood(1) Parenting(7) parents(1) power of read aloud(1) Pritchard's(1) pro reading message(1) read aloud(2) read aloud & storytelling(1) Read in 2006(1) reading(13) reading aloud(1) Reading aloud to children(1) Reading; Humor(1) reference(2) Signed(1) stories(1) Storytelling(2) unread(1) wishlist(1) Work(1)
Tag URL: http://www.librarything.com/work/361027
Description of Resource:
I chose this book because I am interested in being a children's librarian and in promoting literacy among children. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox looks like a good resource for anyone interested in promoting reading. As an elementary librarian, I need to learn effective ways to read aloud to children and to promote story hour with the teachers and the school. Two aspects of this book caught my eye: 1) Mem Fox discusses three secrets to reading (I am curious about what they are), and 2), she provides tips on finding good books to read aloud.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Competency #4: RSS Feed
Name: Share a Story--Shape a Future (Building a community of readers, one person at a time.
RSS Feed Link: http://shareastory-shapeafuture.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Blog Link: http://shareastory-shapeafuture.blogspot.com/
Rationale: This blog feed contains valuable information about the topic of children's literacy and how to bring up readers. The site is for librarians, parents, teachers, writers, and avid readers. It even has a link to Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, which was the related blog that I featured in Competency #2. Included in this blog are recommended reading lists for young children to young adults. Other features in this site include the following: "Literacy Resource Sites," "Read Aloud Resources," "Share a Story 2009: The Complete Index," "News," "Creative Literacy Resources," and more. This is a useful resource for those interested in promoting literacy and in becoming a children's to young adult librarian--and in my case, an elementary school librarian.
Name: Share a Story--Shape a Future (Building a community of readers, one person at a time.
RSS Feed Link: http://shareastory-shapeafuture.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
Blog Link: http://shareastory-shapeafuture.blogspot.com/
Rationale: This blog feed contains valuable information about the topic of children's literacy and how to bring up readers. The site is for librarians, parents, teachers, writers, and avid readers. It even has a link to Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, which was the related blog that I featured in Competency #2. Included in this blog are recommended reading lists for young children to young adults. Other features in this site include the following: "Literacy Resource Sites," "Read Aloud Resources," "Share a Story 2009: The Complete Index," "News," "Creative Literacy Resources," and more. This is a useful resource for those interested in promoting literacy and in becoming a children's to young adult librarian--and in my case, an elementary school librarian.
Competency #3: Podcast
Name of Podcast:
Link to Podcast: http://www.readingrockets.org/podcasts/authors
(Note: I found this site through ITUNES, so if you have an ITUNES account you can access many of these audio interviews, but I am including the actual website, which will have video podcasts in addition to the audio.)
Description: This is a podcast that interviews the crème de la crème of children’s book authors and illustrators. The podcast is geared not just towards children but towards adults as well. The interviews can be accessed as audio or video, and you can also find transcripts on the interviews. The following list is just a taste of some of the authors interviewed: Laurie Halse Anderson, Mem Fox, Avi, Janet Wong, Nikki Giovanni, R.L. Stine, Jon Scieszka, Laurence Yep and many more. (Caveat: The actual website provides you with links to access the video podcasts through Google or videostreaming and most of the audio podcasts through ITUNES. However, I found that I could not access all of the videostreaming links, but I had no problems with the Google links.)
Rationale for Inclusion: I chose this podcast because it meets my library type and topic. I am interested in Elementary School Libraries and/or specialized Children’s Libraries, and the topic I am interested in is promoting literacy. I think this is a great resource for librarians and educators because it uses media in an interesting way and can generate an interest in children to read new authors and encourage them to keep reading the authors who are already their favorites. I also chose this podcast because the customer ratings on ITUNES gave it five stars, which is the top rating.
Search Engine Used: ITUNES
Monday, June 15, 2009
Competency #2: Related Blogs
Name of Blog & Link:
I found a great blog for promoting literacy among children. When I did my search, I found this site under the name "Children's Literacy and Reading News Roundup," but when you go to the website, the title is "The Reading Tub," and the link is http://childrens-literacy.com/
Description (copied and pasted from the blogsite):
About
The Reading Tub is a nonprofit that promotes literacy by encouraging families to read together. This blog is our way of enjoying and engaging in the conversation about raising readers.
If you’d like to chat about books or literacy, please send an email to thereadingtub [at] gmail [dot] com.
If you’re interested in a book review, check out the Book Review Policy page or visit our website to read our book review policy.
Rationale (and My Description) of the Blog:
I chose this blog because it is professional and engages in the topic of raising readers and promoting literacy, which is something that I want to learn more about. It has a lot of great features, such as a Weekly News section, links to author blogs, links to booklists, book networking, librarian and teacher blogs, etc. I like the layout of this website and the content and look forward to exploring it because it appears to have a wealth of information on the subject of children's literacy.
Search Engine Used:
GoogleBlog
http://blogsearch.google.com/
Name of Blog & Link:
I found a great blog for promoting literacy among children. When I did my search, I found this site under the name "Children's Literacy and Reading News Roundup," but when you go to the website, the title is "The Reading Tub," and the link is http://childrens-literacy.com/
Description (copied and pasted from the blogsite):
About
The Reading Tub is a nonprofit that promotes literacy by encouraging families to read together. This blog is our way of enjoying and engaging in the conversation about raising readers.
If you’d like to chat about books or literacy, please send an email to thereadingtub [at] gmail [dot] com.
If you’re interested in a book review, check out the Book Review Policy page or visit our website to read our book review policy.
Rationale (and My Description) of the Blog:
I chose this blog because it is professional and engages in the topic of raising readers and promoting literacy, which is something that I want to learn more about. It has a lot of great features, such as a Weekly News section, links to author blogs, links to booklists, book networking, librarian and teacher blogs, etc. I like the layout of this website and the content and look forward to exploring it because it appears to have a wealth of information on the subject of children's literacy.
Search Engine Used:
GoogleBlog
http://blogsearch.google.com/
Sunday, June 14, 2009
ISAR Competencies (LS 5013-22)
Competency #1: Blog's Purpose
The purpose of this blog is to meet competency requirements for my Information Storage and Retrieval course (LS 5013-22). The library types that I am interested in are Elementary School Libraries or specialized Children's libraries. The topic area I am most interested in at this point is the promotion of literacy for emerging, struggling, and/or reluctant readers.
The purpose of this blog is to meet competency requirements for my Information Storage and Retrieval course (LS 5013-22). The library types that I am interested in are Elementary School Libraries or specialized Children's libraries. The topic area I am most interested in at this point is the promotion of literacy for emerging, struggling, and/or reluctant readers.
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