Media Center Web Pages- Keeping Your Patrons Informed

Bethany McCaghren

Jurkowski states in his book Technology and the School Library, “rather than asking whether the library should or should have a site or not (as was the case a decade ago), the questions today are about how to organize the existing sites, what features to include, and how to keep it updated, considering all of the other important tasks the average librarian must handle daily.”  Keeping an updated media center website is another component that has been added to the job description of the school library media specialist.  One of the most important things to consider when creating or revamping your media center website is who will be using and accessing the site.  We have to keep our patrons informed and offer links and information that they will find useful.  Jurkowski offers the advice of sketching out the design of your website before you sit down to create it so you do not have to go back later and make major changes.  He also brings up the point of remembering the Americans with Disabilities Act by using alternate text, clear colors, and closed captioning if you use video or sound clips.

One excellent example of a media center website comes from North Elementary in Noblesville, Indiana.  This school won the National School Library Media Program Award in 2007.  This school uses Schoolwires as its host.  Schoolwires designs and hosts websites specifically for K-12 schools.  North Elementary has a virtual library on their web site that is open 24/7 for teachers and students access online resources.  The media specialists name is Mr. Harvey and he has included grade level resources, library catalogs, and databases that can be accessed through his school’s media center website.  Milton Middle School is also a great example of a media center website.  I believe that this website was created and is maintained directly by the media specialist, Miss Zweifel.  She has listed her media center policies, web resources, and links to choosing books that might interest readers, among other things.  The third example of a media center website is right here in Georgia at Creekview High School.  I was able to hear two of their media specialists present at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference.  They do a great job of incorporating LibGuides.  LibGuides create online guides on any topic or subject. 

I would want to put information on the media center website such as, the Reading Bowl, links to the Georgia, Caldecott, and Newbery book award winners and nominees and when the book fair was going to take place.  It is also a nice touch to have pictures on your website of projects that students have created that have been displayed in the media center.  I would also like to include a “May I Recommend” section and have pictures of students and teachers with books they would recommend to others to read.  You should also include links that students and teachers could access from home.  I would include links to databases for research or study sites to get students ready for standardized testing.  Your hours of operation, media center calendar, and policies and procedures should also be on your website.  I would check and update my site once a week or every two weeks because nothing frustrates me more than an out of date website or links that no longer work.

 

Jurkowski, Odin L. Technology and the school library : A comprehensive guide for media specialists and other educators. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2010. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Retreived from Web February 22, 2014.

North Elementary School Media Center Website http://www.noblesvilleschools.org/domain/491=

Milton Middle School Media Center Website http://www.milton.k12.wi.us/schools/mms/website/library/MMS_LMC/Welcome.html

Creekview High School Media Center Website https://sites.google.com/site/theunquietlibrary/home

 

 

 

Wikis

According to Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching, a wiki is “a collaborative tool that allows students to contribute and modify one or more pages of course related materials.”

I’ve only been familiar with wikis since entering into this program. Looking back I now notice different schools and clubs that utilized them early only, but I’ve never had any real hands on experience. 

Viewing the Cobb County Library Media Wiki, I was amazed at how thorough and organized the wiki was. For media specialist, it’s vital to not only stay organized but to also have common information easily available to patrons. On their site I simply look to the right and see “Reading Promotion Programs”, “Volunteer Information”, and Common Core information. For this school, their wiki provides a great deal of information that parents or students would have needed to search or call for.

Taking into account my personal group experience and reading the other articles, the collaborative aspect of wikis makes them a powerful tool in the media center. For one of my group projects last semester we used a wiki among four people and found it very successful for collaborating. Among our group members, any information seen that was incorrect or needed to be edited was easily corrected by another group member. If someone didn’t have access to the wiki, you could quickly send your information to another team member and they would post it. These are all very basic examples, but at its core wikis are one of the best collaborative tools available to us.

Speaking of collaboration, we learn so much about the importance of collaboration and how difficult it can be for media specialist to get feedback. I had no idea going into this program how hard a media specialist has it when trying to get on one accord with teachers and faculty.

To quote “7 things you should know about…Wikis”:

“…wikis allow faculty and students to engage in collaborative activities that might not be possible in a classroom. Their flexibility will encourage broader adoption-by both students and faculty.”

In the same breath, one set back I find with wikis is in giving access to multiple people and having the risk of untrue information being published to the public. Look no further than one of the most known and read wikis…Wikipedia!

A teacher told our class during undergraduate that if you want to use Wikipedia as source you might as well ask 10 random people off the street. Everyone has access to this information, and with that has the access to change the information. While I do think that Wikipedia can offer a great starting point for some topics, it also shows how poorly information can be managed.

I believe keeping wikis heavily monitored and updated weekly (if necessary) will keep it from becoming a storage locker of information. Someone should definitely be put in place to monitor all wiki activity. I imagine that someone being in charge of keeping the information accurate and cut down on the useless information that may be present.

- http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/wikis/
- http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf
- https://cobbk12-org.campuspack.net/Groups/CI_Library_Media_Education_-_Spinks/Cobb_Library_Media_Wiki

Wiki wiki wikis!

Anyone who has done a search on the internet has surely encountered Wikipedia. Even the youngest of students are familiar with Wikipedia, yet most have been warned by their teachers that the information found in Wikipedia may or may not be accurate. At one time, it was a scary thought to realize that anyone, yes anyone, could get on Wikipedia, and alter the information found there. However, the longer Wikipedia has been around, the more we realize that its information is often accurate. In fact, I would be presumptuous enough to say that it is rare to find misinformation within its parameters. How can this be? I believe that the answer is simple. So many people visit Wikipedia, that even if someone did enter faulty information into its database, it would not be long before someone came along and corrected or updated that information.

Wikipedia was created back in 2001, so it has been available for about thirteen years. Though certainly the most well-known wiki in existence, it is definitely not the only wiki floating around in cyberspace for us to discover and even edit. So what exactly is a wiki?

The concept of a wiki is simple, yet very effective.  A wiki is a place where people can collaborate online at different times, or simultaneously. They are relatively simple to use, and can be accessed anywhere that there is an internet connection. I like the definition that Educause Learning Initiative gives wikis in its article, 7 Things You Should Know About Wikis. They state that a wiki is “a database created by a group rather than an individual”, which is a great way to look at one.

Many schools and universities are using wikis as creative ways for students to build community within a class, encourage cooperative learning, and allow students to use higher order thinking skills. Many media centers are using wikis to keep their patrons “in the know” about what is going on in their school, community, and the world, as well as to where and how to find information about a variety of topics.

I have two concerns about wikis. First, it does appear that many wikis are simply storehouses of information, which was not really the original intent of the wiki. Second, when first created, wikis were touted for their “user friendliness” and simplicity. However, since 2001, technology has exploded, and web 2.0 tools seem to appear on a daily basis. There are so many venues for creating websites collaboratively, that I think wikis are almost outdated. Many other tools seem easier to manipulate than wikis, and there are several tools that are much more graphic and design friendly. Weeblys, for instance, can be created individually, or collaboratively, and are very user friendly, and are much more appealing, in my opinion.

While I do not think that anything will come close to rivaling Wikipedia anytime soon, I do fear that wikis are going to be left by the wayside as we embrace new tools for working collaboratively and sharing information. Yes, keeping up is a challenge, but isn’t it exhilarating to be a part of the exploding world of technology? 

Great Things come in Podcasts!

I never really gave a thought to podcasts and how they work until I started my media specialist journey.  There are so many wonderful uses for podcasts in the classroom and school setting.  The article by media specialist Kristin Fontichiaro, opened a whole new world of ideas for me to share with my peers and students at school.  Besides being fun to produce, podcasts can build a child's oral fluency, which in turn carries over to building a stronger writing voice.  I don't think I have ever found a student who doesn't enjoy hearing their own voice recorded and to have the opportunity to create something fantastic with added sounds and music is only a plus. 

Another great aspect of using podcasts is that the software is virtually free for most computer users.  There are some adjustments for mac users, such as different software and microphones but they have a great software call Garage band that has its own set of cool features for the user.  There is even a free site called Gabcast, that offers help to those with limited computer access and want to record a podcast.  A quick phone call is all it takes to turn your voice into a link that can be posted in a blog or other space for everyone to hear.

The uses are limitless!  Some of my favorite ideas were creating audio tours for a bookfair to highlight new and exciting books or a tour for a new visitor to your school.  You could save your podcast and use it on an MP3 player for the students or visitor to listen to.  The school news is one of my responsibilities as the media specialist but think how cool it would be to have the kids to record a "live at the scene" segment for their peers to enjoy or interview special guests on career day to share later with classes.  Adding a podcast to the school's website is a also great way to highlight different events and gives the kids a great sense of ownership in what they are accomplishing.

Follow the link to read more from media specialist Kristin Fontichiaro on podcasts in the classroom
http://ts.isil.westga.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=24038030&site=ehost-live

Podcasting

Bethany McCaghren

Podcasts are a useful and creative way to deliver information in school classrooms and media centers.  I have never made a podcast to use at the school I work at but after reading Kristin Fontichiaro’s article Podcasting 101, I am convinced that this is something my students could do at school.  The elementary school I work at hosts 3^rd-5^th grades and I listened to many podcasts made by students as young as kindergarten on Willowdale Elementary School’s Radio WillowWeb web page.  (The web address to this wonderful resource is listed at the end.)  The students at this elementary school made podcasts covering everything from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to The Constitution.  They had also added background music and sound effects that made their podcasts attention grabbing. 

Podcasting 101 pointed out how cost efficient it is to create and use podcasts in schools.  All you need to create your own podcast is a microphone/headphone set and free software, such as Audacity or if you are a Mac user you can use Apple’s GarageBand.  The first use for podcasting that came to my mind as I was researching and reviewing my resources took me back to the time when I was a classroom teacher.  It never failed that when I was in the middle of explaining a lesson or giving instructions I would be interrupted by the intercom for school announcements.  One great way to use podcasts in your school would be to have a group of students come to the media center in the morning and pre-record the announcements and email the podcast out to teachers so they could play the announcements at a time that was convenient for them. 

Another useful way to incorporate podcasts in the media center would be through book talks.  As a media specialist, you could do a podcast of book talks to get your students interested in reading certain books.  You could also allow your students to choose a book and record a book talk podcast that they could share with other students to get them excited about a book they found interesting.  Often times students will choose to read a book based off of peer reviews.  You could also use podcasts in the media center to do author studies or literature circles and share them with other students or teachers.  Podcast 101 also brought up the suggestion of using a podcast to do an audio tour to walk students through a book fair by pointing out the highlights of the fair that could be uploaded onto mP3 players or iPods. 

Podcasts are a great tool that you should definitely look into if you find yourself tiring of the same old way that information is being presented to your students.  It allows the students to become involved in the learning process and helps them become more technologically savvy as they work with the software and add their own personal touches.

Willowdale Elementary School’s WillowWeb can be accessed at this address:

http://mps.wes.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=cc17faa3b4b3cc4b4356056651b975f8&pageid=115312&sessionid=cc17faa3b4b3cc4b4356056651b975f8