View the YouTube video called 'Building Academic Library 2.0'. This is part of a symposium sponsored by Librarians Association of the University of California, Berkeley Division in 2007. While this presentation is over one (1) hour in duration, there are a number of key points raised by a number of speakers, including the keynote speaker Meredith Farkas, that relate to any library or information agency that is trying to transform their library into a 2.0 Library.
Consider advice provided by one or more of the speakers in terms of a library and information agency that you know (as an employee or user). Select five (5) key pieces of advice from these speakers, and consider how these may be applied to your library to help it embrace a Library 2.0 ethos. Write up your findings as a post (of no more than 350 words in your OLJ).
I am not currently working in a school, however, I have selected my previous school to base this activity on. It is a secondary, systemic Catholic girls school in an inner-west suburb of Sydney. The following advice I selected from the symposium all comes from the keynote speaker, Meredith Farkas:
1. Blogs have made it easy to communicate in a less formal way.
Creating blogs to target the needs of different groups in the school may be a way of opening communication to students about services provided and resources available. Blogging is a more effective communication tool for students than posters around the grounds or announcements in meetings. Blogging is talking to the students in a way they want to be communicated with.
Having never worked as a TL before, my initial examples of blogs may be fairly limited but they include:
- Book Club blog,
- Premier's Reading Challenge blog
- HSC student blog.
2. Question everything. Dewey or Don't We.
Is the Dewey system the most effective way to catalogue the collection to meet the needs of students? Are the girls more familiar with searching through bookshops to find what they are looking for? Should the library shelves be reorganised to reflect the way girls 'shop' for a book? Should bookshop categories be applied to the collection?
Questioning the way things are done is an attribute of a Librarian 2.0. I like this idea of reorganising the library shelves. At my school setting it could be done on a small scale to begin with by creating a history section. I have seen this done at St. Ignatius' College Riverview Libray. Another example of moving away from Dewy is by a New York primary school. This school reorganised it's library away from Dewey to a more useable way for students in an attempt to increase readership (Harris, 2012).
3. Communication becomes more transparent.
Using wikis and blogs requires a certain level of trust in communication. The transparency of communication can help build community and partnerships. The library can be responsive in listening to the needs of users.
Many teachers set up wikis for student use in their own subject or use the school intranet page for classwork. Releasing a pathfinder for resources through the library collection on to the students' subject wiki or webpage would bring the library to the students. Scheduling the timing of this communication to the day the assignment is released will open the 'doors' to the library to students at just the right moment. Connecting with the students in this way shows the TL cares about the students' needs.
4. Build participation.
Creating wikis to share content can be tailored to specific groups of students. At this school setting HSC students by nature share resources and study 'together'. Why not set up wikis from the library as a study hub based on HSC subjects? Coming from the TL rather than the teacher the wiki can be a collaborative tool between the students, the TL and the library to share content.
5. The need for policies to govern acceptable use.
The nature of social networking tools can mean content is posted without being moderated. It is essential the school has a social networking policy outlining acceptable use for staff and students. It is also clear the policy is understood and enforced. The functionality for staff to delete unacceptable content should also exist. All contributors should take responsibility for the content they publish online.
Farkas, M. (2007, November 2). Building Academic Library 2.0 [Videofile]. Retrieved February 5, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_uOKFhoznI
Harris, C. (2012, August 9). Summer Project: Kill Dewey [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/08/k-12/summer-project-kill-dewey/
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