Librarian+Interview

Standard Addressed
 * 4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility (a,b,c) **

Librarian Interview My school doesn’t have a librarian and the different school librarians in the school district don’t have anything thing to do with our school. So we have to rely on ourselves for helping the students in the library. Our school doesn’t subscribe to any online resources for our students to use for resources. We rely on free websites like Discovery Streaming, and Scholastic for example. We used to have a subscription to netTrekker but the government quite paying for it, so we no longer have it. Our public library does offer access to the Access Pa Power Library. With Access PA the students have access to a lot of safe and approved research information. This is a site that I haven't visited in a while and seems that I can't access right now so I will have to check into this before school starts. We do also have a computerized book checkout system. This also helps our students access books easier for research. As for checking reliability, we work very hard as teachers to make sure that the students use reliable internet resources, no Wikipedia. I also encourage them to use library resources like encyclopedias and other reference books. This is how we as a school try to make up for lack of funding and lack of an official librarian.

A few years back I did do an interview with the High School librarian Mrs. Sidelinger at our local public school and she told me few things like:

With the introduction of the internet libraries have expanded their collections by thousands. Libraries can now save money and space by allowing students to research using the unlimited resources that the internet has to offer. The internet has been very helpful to school libraries, but it has also hurt libraries as well. School libraries have to be very careful because students are not using the resources that the library offers as much as they use the internet and this is resulting in a lack of understanding of basic research skills. The internet has also made plagiarizing much easier and now educators have to check the papers with a fine tooth comb. The internet also allows for any individual to post information and students lack the knowledge to tell what is right and what is wrong. Mrs. Sidelinger believes that Subscription Databases are an important trend for libraries because of the funding and space available to librarians. Through the use of these databases students have access to credible resources with the click of a button. The students can now write reports that are much more accurate than using encyclopedias. Encyclopedias are a very valuable resource, but they take up a great deal of room and are usually out of date. Subscription databases take up no physical space and are very current.