Organization: control and consistency resulting in access

Whilst reading other classmates’ posts this week, I see that the general topic is organization of spaces around themselves (i.e. school library, classroom, and home). “Organization,” as a concept, is intriguing in that it doesn’t always produce the same result. Two rooms can be classified as “organized,” yet operate under two completely different sets of standards.

One small interesting phenomenon that I have noticed as a TOC is that most classrooms are organized in a fairly similar fashion; however, certainly not ALL classrooms as there are ALWAYS those rare disorganized classrooms. It amazes me that I can enter into a classroom and within 10 minutes just “know” where the teacher would have put certain objects. Part of this set of “organization rules” is common sense (e.g. pencils, pens, and paper clips are found in the centre drawer of the teacher’s desk), but part of this set also, I would argue, has to do with the “educational needs” of a classroom environment (e.g. art supply paper and paint is often found in a cabinet near the sink, teacher’s manuals are found on the bookcase near the teacher’s desk, a class schedule is often taped up near the classroom door or on the front whiteboard, and the list continues…). 

Now, I am confident that there is no manual out there that requires individual teachers to organize their classrooms in accordance to a particular set of standards, thus it leads me to believe that there is an implicit set of “organizational rules” governing the concept of access to educational tools in the classroom.

Furthermore, I think that it is this same implicit quality in organization for "educational needs," which makes accessing catalogues in school libraries standardized, logical, and therefore, possible.

"Google it"

Over the past week, I have been working my way through the course readings on "metadata" and "search engines." I found myself reading, and re-reading the documents in order to make some sense of the topic. Well, my brain felt overloaded with information, and at the beginning, I could not put all the pieces of the puzzle together. However, now that I have looked at the different types of search engines and seen the varying results they deliver, I feel that I am starting to understand how the various internet search engines work and the significance of these differences.

One eye-opening experience for me was to learn that Google is but one type of search engine out there to assist in navigation of the world wide web. I have Google as the homepage on my computer, so for me, every internet experience is influenced by Google. I feel moronic stating this, but I did not actually know that there was another way to access information on the web other than through the "portal" of Google. Now, I see Google as the "tool" that it is, a highly sophisticated and complex tool, but a tool nonetheless.

In order to really understand how Google worked, I watched a video on youtube called "How does google search work?" and I found it to be very informative. Like many other search engines, Google sends out "spiders" to "crawl" the web, and then using a complicated set of algorithms, it creates a index of the results. PageRank is a tool that Google uses to determine the relevancy of websites (or usefulness to the user) and then places those websites higher on the index. Relevancy is determined by many factors, one such factor is: a high number of other sites linking to the original website.

Before this lesson, I had never considered the different "brands" of search engines, and the fact that they would each have a different slant on searching and indexing information from the internet. When I tried a test search on Google and Yahoo.ca, I got two completely different lists of results (other than Wikipedia, which was at the top for both of them). I found that Google offered a lot more variety of mediums to access the information (e.g. images, youtube video links, and then reputable websites (in my opinion)). Whereas Yahoo.ca had a series of "Sponsored websites" (i.e. advertisements), followed by a strange melange of websites. But, perhaps, I am a bit biased to Google and its result format because of my extensive and exclusive use of it for so long. Nevertheless, I can see the potential benefit of using multiple search engines when researching information. As a teacher-librarian, I think it is of the utmost importance to teach not only the "how to's" when it comes to searching (or researching) on the web, but also to answer the "why" questions as well.

I have not yet mentioned my findings about the Open Directory. This is partially because I have been fascinated by the information I have learned about search engines, and partially because it feels like a completely different entity. The Open Directory runs upon a completely different philosophy and system. "Net-citizens" review websites and promote their inclusion on the directory. All websites are pre-categorized and accessed via a series of hierarchical lists. On the one hand, when one already knows a little bit about a subject, I can see the use of this system. On the other hand, when one does not know the first thing about the topic they are looking for, it can be a challenging process to locate the right information. However, as a result of the peer-reviewing processes, it seems that the quality and appropriateness of the included websites are high, and thus making these websites more likely to be useful in an educational context. But, like many of my classmates (as I have read on the class discussions pages), I found the Open Directory to be a bit challenging to navigate, and a bit "old-school" on the visual side. I think a majority of this stems from the fact that we are used to a search engine doing the work for us; we have been trained into search complacency.

Overall, I feel that I have learned a lot this week about the internet, search engines, and information retrieval science, and their relevancies regarding information literacy skills. As a teacher-librarian, the better I understand how these processes and systems work, the better I will be able to help and to guide students in their research, and to promote the cultivation of their own information literacy skills.

Give me an "A!" Give me a "C!" Give me a "C-E-S-S!" And what does that spell?! ACCESS!!

On par with every illustrious superhero, I think the following motto applies to teacher-librarians as well: "with great power comes great responsibility."

From what I've learned this week, it appears that absolutely EVERY decision that a teacher-librarian makes in the school library will have a ripple effect on student access to information and resources. Both what we do and what we don't do similarly carry the same amount of impact; therefore, it is extremely important for teacher-librarians to be aware of the influence they hold over student access and consequently, student learning.

While intellectual access (i.e. is this book appropriate for this age group?), and physical access (i.e. is the library open after school or at lunch?) have always been major factors in affecting student access to resources, we are currently entering into an uncharted territory where digital access (i.e. do students know how to log in to subscribed databases on remote home computers?) has become a critical concern.

Now, digital media and the Internet are "hot topics" when it comes to education and school libraries. The big question of how to navigate these uncharted waters is continuously pondered and re-pondered. So many factors are involved: maintaining adequate equipment and gadgets, safeguards and limitations on Internet searches, equal time and access to digital tools (computers, iPads, etc.), and the list goes on...

I do think that the future of school libraries will be largely comprised of digital collections (if not have a complete monopoly). Our generation of teacher-librarians are on the wave of transition; the seas will be the roughest for us as we grapple with establishing digital access philosophies and "best practices." Don't get me wrong, I am a LOVER of physical books and I think there will always be a place for them in some respect. But, rather than resist the technologies of a new emerging generation, we must embrace the good, mitigate the bad, and have fun in the process.

On the positive side: Learning and the Pursuit of Knowledge are still at the core, it's just the outer shell that is changing.

In closing, I have written an acrostic poem, which I will use to remind myself of my commitment to ACCESS:

Accountable for
Connecting
Children to
Exemplary resources.
Seven days a week, all
School year long.

Dewey and I have a few things in common: An Introduction of sorts

Dear blog readers,

Welcome to my journey of becoming a teacher-librarian. My name is Dorothea, and I am a Teacher-On-Call in Victoria, BC. I have always loved books, and knowledge, and I am truly a learner at heart. Right now, I am completing the final year of my Master of Arts in Children's Literature at UBC. Then, I plan to tackle the Teacher-Librarianship Diploma! To me, the position of teacher-librarian is ideal because it combines two of my favourite things: books and education!

First of all, let me get a few things off my chest: before completing the readings last week, I did not know that the "Dewey Decimal System" was named after a man named Melvil Dewey. And what a unique man he was! After reading Sarah Prescott's article, "Melvil Dewey, the father of modern librarianship, was one strange guy. But his classification system is still used in most of the world," I was fascinated about the intensity of his dedication and entrepreneurship with regards to library organization.

Just like Melvil Dewey, I am a lover of words. Prescott reports that Dewey's "most essential book" was an unabridged dictionary, and that he consulted said book on a daily basis. Well, same here. Except mine is a 3-inch thick copy of "The New Penguin English Dictionary," which I was given to me on one of my previous birthdays. Best birthday present yet (and I'm not even joking!).

Not that knowing or not knowing of the man behind the system is necessary, but I think that now having a little bit of an understanding about who Melvil Dewey is will help me to understand and to teach the Dewey Decimal System in a school library.

Furthermore, another characteristic that I share with Dewey (or "Dui" as he would have preferred!) is that I love analyzing, classifying, and organizing. I am new to Teacher-Librarianship so I have much to learn with regards to the actual practical procedures when it comes to library organization. I'm positive that this course (LIBE 465) will answer all my questions and ask me in return even more than I had originally wondered.

Let the learning begin!