IASL2006

The 2006 IASL Conference

Lisbon, Portugal, 3-7 July

Speaker Topics and Abstracts

Thursday 6th July 2006

10.30 to 11.45 -- Research and Professional Papers

P.E.01 -- Peter Warning, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Lau Po Shan Susana, Teacher Librarian, Y.O.T. T.K.P. Primary School (Hong Kong)
Lai Yi Man, Teacher Librarian, H. B. Primary School (Hong Kong)
Law Ming Ha Jenny, Teacher Librarian, Holy Angels Canossian School (Hong Kong)

“Don’t ask me. Ask the horse”: evaluating resource-based learning
Abstract:
This study focuses on a resource-based learning unit, the ‘Chinese Idioms Cocktail’ and the results of its evaluation at a primary school in Hong Kong. The ‘Chinese Idioms Cocktail’ unit utilises a self-designed PowerPoint presentation with the “True or False” game, cartoon film show, worksheets, 80 thematic printed materials on Chinese idioms, an idioms dictionary and encyclopaedia and 10 related websites. The unit was carried out in the library. The authors argue that all library programs should be routinely evaluated to assess their effectiveness and to identify areas that can be improved. The results indicated that all of the resources contributed to the successful completion of the unit, although there were some areas that could be improved.

Conference Programme

P.E.02 -- Eric M. Meyers, Doctoral Student, The Information School - University of Washington (U.S.A.)
Eric M. Meyers is a doctoral student at the University of Washington, where he studies youth information behavior and information fluency in formal and informal contexts. He holds Masters Degrees in Information and Education from the University of Michigan and Stanford University respectively. Formerly a teacher, school librarian, and technologist, he consults with school professionals on information services, library spaces, and technology curriculum.

School Libraries in Evolving Education Systems: an Activity-Theoretical Approach
Abstract:
Changes in educational policy and practice demand that we examine school library programs from a new perspective. As a model that takes a developmental view of minds in context, activity theory is particularly well suited to the study of school libraries and the learning that occurs therein. This paper presents an activity-theoretic model of the school library and delineates its elements and relationships. Case examples drawn from an ongoing study of libraries in the midst of school reform demonstrate the application of this framework and suggest how it may be employed to guide research and the development of library services and practices.

Conference Programme

R.E.03 -- Wilma Kurvink, College Head Library and Information Services, Wesley College (Australia)
College Head of Library and Information Services at Wesley College in Melbourne Australia. She was a teacher and curriculum leader of many years experience in disadvantaged school settings, before qualifying in librarianship. Wilma has been an active member of School Library Association of Victoria for 9 years, sharing organisational practice and methodology with the profession. While working at Wesley College, and leading the library service across three campuses, she completed a Masters degree in organisational development. Wilma has a passion for life long learning; and is committed to creating learning opportunities for students and for staff.

Marie Turnbull, Technical Services Librarian and Projects Developer, Wesley College, Australia
Librarian working in Melbourne, Australia. Her career has embraced both the school and public library sectors. Her skills range from cataloguing to storytelling, from designing reading programs to statistical analysis and reporting. As Technical Services Librarian for Wesley College she has been involved in implementing structural and cultural change. Marie holds a B.Sc and a Graduate Diploma in Librarianship.

Running with the question : action research and evaluative practice in developing an adolescent reading program
Abstract:
This paper describes how Action Research methodology developed the wider reading programs for children from 9-13 years at Wesley College over a 5-year period. The central question revolved around how the library team could engage every child in years 5 to 7 in wider reading. Strategies used in the program were: Engaging interactive online components, Highly responsive collection development approaches, Hard data collection on usage, and Qualitative measures undertaken by the team in adopting evaluative practice. Interesting and unexpected results began to inform decision making for the team highlighting gender issues in adolescent reading, and a need to re-examine some basic assumptions about the ways students select books for personal reading. The paper chronicles how the team learned from experience to bring about new defined cycles of development and improvement to the program, which has evolved and expanded far beyond the initial concepts

Conference Programme

P.E.04 -- Joanne Silverstein, Assistant Research Professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University (U.S.A.)
Joanne Silverstein is an Assistant Research Professor at the School of Information Studies and Director of Research and Development, Information Institute of Syracuse (both of Syracuse University).

Sarah M. Webb, Doctoral Student, School of Information Studies - Syracuse University (U.S.A.)
Sarah M. Webb is a doctoral student at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University.

Just curious: children’s informal learning questions of digital reference services
Abstract
Libraries want to support children in learning outside of school. In order to do so, we need to know more about what sort of learning children do informally, what they are motivated to learn on their own. Joanne Silverstein, Assistant Research Professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, has been investigating how children use formal digital reference services to pursue informal learning, and to ask self-generated questions. The children are trained to use the digital reference services to support curriculum-related learning, and must indicate how they will use the information. Only those questions marked, “Just Curious” (rather than “Homework”, “Report”, “Research”, etc.) were gathered, and, once analyzed, helped identify what children want to learn outside of school. Digital reference allows us to easily record and keep track of the questions children ask. Silverstein looked through the first year of data and found some interesting trends including:

  1. Over the years during grades K-12, students’ informal information seeking may shift in focus from a world perspective to a personal perspective.
  2. The use of children’s digital reference services is high in elementary school, peaks in middle school.
  3. During the elementary school years, students’ intrinsic curiosity is more deeply influenced by school curricula than it will be in later years.
  4. During the middle school years, use of digital reference services for informal learning about science is at a peak.
  5. High school students do not make great use of digital reference services.

Another year of questions has been tracked and will be used to see if this new data shows the same trends, and if new trends have emerged. We hope that by understanding these trends we can help librarians plan collections and reference services to support informal learning.

Conference Programme

R.E.05 -- Ana Novo, Doctoral student, DCTI, ISCTE, Lisboa (Portugal)
Ana Novo, PhD student at DCTI, ISCTE, Lisbon, Portugal. Has a Post-Graduated Diploma in Library and Information Studies and an MA in Library and Information Studies both from The Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Has served as a Librarian in The British Council, Library and Information Services, Lisbon and in UIED - Unidade de Investigação Educação e Desenvolvimento, FCT-UNL

José António Calixto, Director, Biblioteca Pública de Évora (Portugal)
Doctor in Information Sciences (University of Sheffield, England), librarian, university professor and researcher, he is actually the director of the Public Library of Évora. His main research interests are centred in the social importance of libraries and their relevance for education. He’s often invited to seminars and conferences in Portugal and abroad, having several works published in scientific and professional journals. He’s author of “The School Library and the Information Society”, published in 1996. By invitation of the Ministry of Culture, he was a member of the committee that studied and proposed the development of a School Libraries Network in Portugal.

Impact Study of the Teacher Librarian Specific Training on Educational Achievement: Current Situation at Integrated Elementary Schools (EBIs)
Estudo de impacto da formação específica do professor bibliotecário no sucesso educativo: situação actual nas Escolas Básicas Integradas (EBIs)
Abstract:
This paper deals with the impact that the specific training of the teacher librarian can have on educational achievement, mainly at Portuguese public “Integrated Elementary Schools (EBIs).
Studies done in other countries, like the USA and the UK, suggest that students achieve higher levels of literacy, learning and problem solving, when their teacher librarians have specific training to perform school library tasks.
The preliminary analysis of data gathered from a questionnaire sent to the Portuguese public EBIs, which in 2005 were already in the Portuguese School Libraries Net, shows that 32.4% of the teacher librarians do not have any specific training for performing their duties. This analysis also reveals that the area and length of training of the remaining teacher librarians are varied, being “Continuous Training” (Formação Contínua) between 50 and 150 hours on “Libraries and Documentation Management” the predominant one.
This questionnaire is the first phase of a Doctoral program research work. The data analysis allows for a clear and detailed current situation at the EBIs’ school libraries, in what refers to its human resources and equipment, and is the basis for the selection of the ones where a more in depth research, with interviews to teacher librarians, direct observation and document analysis will take place.
The aims of this research are to investigate the possibility of relating educational achievement and a teacher librarian with specific training to perform its duties and tasks, to examine students’ marks, to try to establish positive relationships, statistically meaningful, which cannot be explained only due to school size, budget and number of teachers and to define what could be considered as an educational achievement factor, studying the mission, objectives, equipment and human resources of the Portuguese EBIs.

Resumo:
Esta comunicação aborda o impacto que a formação específica do professor bibliotecário pode ter no sucesso educativo, em especial nas Escolas Básicas Integradas do ensino público Português.
Estudos extensivos feitos noutros países, como os EUA e o Reino Unido sugerem que os alunos atingem níveis mais elevados de literacia, de aprendizagem e de resolução de problemas quando os professores bibliotecários possuem formação específica para exercício de funções na biblioteca escolar.
A análise preliminar dos dados obtidos através de um questionário, enviado para as Escolas Básicas Integradas (EBIs) do ensino público Português que em 2005 estavam integradas na Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, indica que 32.4% dos professores bibliotecários não têm qualquer formação específica para desempenho de funções. Esta análise revela também que o domínio, tipo e número de horas da formação dos restantes professores bibliotecários é bastante variado, sendo predominante a “Formação Contínua” entre as 50 e as 150h em “Organização de Bibliotecas/Documentação”. Este questionário corresponde à primeira fase de um trabalho de investigação no âmbito de um programa de Doutoramento. A análise dos dados assim obtidos permite uma visão mais clara e pormenorizada sobre a situação nestas 34 BE/CREs de EBIs, no que se refere aos recursos humanos e equipamento, e serve de base à selecção daquelas onde será levada a cabo uma investigação mais exaustiva, com entrevistas aos professores bibliotecários, observação directa da actividade e análise documental.
Esta investigação tem como objectivos averiguar a possibilidade de relacionar o sucesso escolar com a existência de um professor bibliotecário com formação específica para desempenho do cargo, investigar as classificações dos alunos, tentar estabelecer relações positivas, estatisticamente significativas e que não poderão ser explicadas somente com base em diferenças de tamanho da escola, financiamento e número de professores e definir o que pode ser considerado como factor de sucesso escolar, a missão, funções, objectivos, meios, equipamentos e pessoal das bibliotecas escolares das Escolas Básicas Integradas Portuguesas.

Conference Programme

P.E.06 -- Lucia Cedeira Serantes, Librarian, Young Adult Library and Research Center, International Center of Children's and Young Adults' Literature. Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation, Salamanca (Spain)
Lucia Cedeira Serantes is a librarian at the International Center for Children's and Young Adults' Books (Salamanca, Spain), working both at the Children´s and Young Adults' Literature Research Center and the Young Adult Library. After earning her BA in LIS from the University of Salamanca, she spent two years at the University of Pittsburgh (Penn.) to complete her MLIS and work for the university library system. Her research interests are focused on the relation between young adults and libraries, especially on issues like information literacy, reading habits, and the use of non-traditional materials at the library setting.

Children + Young Adults + Information Literacy = Cooperation between school libraries and public libraries
Abstract:
The presentation focuses on the importance of establishing a regular and sysThemetic collaboration between public libraries and school libraries in order to develop and maintain successful information literacy programs.
The Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez has recently carried out a study about the state of school libraries in Spain. The study shows that Spanish school libraries focus mainly on reading promotion and pleasure reading and not on teaching and learning support. This situation calls for the inclusion of reading and the use of the school library among the main objectives of all school department curriculums. The new curriculum changes will increase library use for both teachers and students. Public libraries can collaborate with school libraries to reinforce this new direction and to promote specific techniques that support a needed methodological change.
An example of this kind of collaboration is the program developed by the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, “Biblioteca-Escuela” [Library-School]. Through this program, the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez works regularly with schools from the city and province of Salamanca to encourage and promote the projects that support teacher’s work and information literacy.
The program has two levels of action:

  1. Library visits: these visits are planned as activities that introduce the potential user to the library, the activities, and the resources that are available.
  2. User instruction: the programs are developed over 5 to 9 sessions that introduce the students to the skills and resources they need to find, evaluate, and use information effectively.

Conference Programme

11.45 to 12.30 -- Research and Professional Papers

P.E.07 -- Maria José Vitorino Gonçalves, Teacher and Librarian, Basic School Dr. Vasco Moniz (Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal)
Maria José Vitorino is a teacher at Portuguese Basic Schools since 1976 and a librarian since 1990. She is an IASL individual member. 1978: University Degree in History. 1990: Librarianship degree. 2004: Postgraduation in Education Sciences-Education and Reading. Since 2006 she is working at Basic School Dr. Vasco Moniz (Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal) as a teacher as well as a librarian, at SL. She coordinates the BAD School Documentation and Information Working Group. She is a member of THEKA’s (a Teacher’s Training and SL Development Project) coordinating group.

School Libraries for Literacy Growing - more than a matter of just luck
Bibliotecas escolares: mais do que uma questão de sorte para o crescimento da literacia
Abstract
Depending on how we think free access as a tool for literacy improving in our present generation of masters as well as for next generations of citizens, we should allow school libraries to be born, organized and grow.
School libraries let us know a lot about the education system's and the school culture's predominant ethic and aesthetic options. School libraries must be recognised as an important clue of educational and cultural networks, connecting with other knowledge frames, inside or outside school, like public libraries, museums, or others.
These resources management requires considerable flexibility skills, and brings professional's qualification to the problem's, and it's solution’s, heart. That's why we need more and more commitment and projects in a great variety of staff qualification trends, in order to build professional networks, improving contexts for professional cultures, multiples as well as open to research and sharing.
From 3 narratives of real cases of qualified professionals on its passage of formation to the long one of the life and the career, I intend to analyse some emergent standards of skills and training contents - technological, pedagogical, technician, philosophical - as well as of training models to criticize and innovate, valuing the professional passage self-managed, the modalities interpares and with cooperation with research centers, including the development of contexts of e-learning.

Resumo:
Conforme valorizarmos o livre acesso a bibliotecas como um meio de promoção da literacia na nossa geração presente de mestres, como nas próximas gerações de cidadãos, assim permitiremos que as bibliotecas escolares se criem, organizem e desenvolvam.
Constituindo um sinal da ética e da estética predominantes nos sistemas educativos e nas culturas de estabelecimento educativo, as bibliotecas escolares deverão ser consideradas como nexo fulcral de redes educativas e culturais, articulando-se com outras estruturas dedicadas ao conhecimento, na escola ou fora dela, tais como bibliotecas públicas, museus ou outras.
Exige-se grande versatilidade na gestão destes recursos, o que coloca a qualificação dos profissionais no coração do problema, e da sua solução. Por isso, é preciso cada vez mais investimento em modalidades de qualificação dos recursos humanos das Bibliotecas Escolares, fomentando redes entre professores, bibliotecários e outros, que inovem na produção de culturas profissionais, diferenciadas e abertas à investigação e à partilha.
A partir de 3 narrativas de casos reais de profissionais qualificados sobre o seu percurso de formação ao longo da vida e da carreira, analisam-se alguns padrões emergentes de competências e conteúdos de formação a privilegiar – tecnológicos, pedagógicos, técnicos, filosóficos – bem como de modelos de formação a criticar e inovar, valorizando o percurso profissional auto-gerido e as modalidades interpares e de colaboração com centros de investigação, incluindo o desenvolvimento de contextos de e-learning.

Conference Programme

R.E.08 -- Sandy Zinn, Lecturer, University of the Western Cape (South Africa)
Sandy Zinn is a lecturer in the Department of Library & Information Science, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Her career has taken her from public librarian, to school librarian, to curriculum advisor: information literacy skills and finally to university lecturer. Sandy co-ordinates and teaches courses in the programmes Short Courses in Teacher-Librarianship and the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Librarianship. Her research interests are information literacy and ICT literacy at the school level, teacher-librarian education and e-learning. She has published several papers, edited conference proceedings and spoken at local and international conferences.

Are trained teacher-librarians making a difference for school libraries in South Africa?
Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to trace former UWC students who trained as teacher-librarians between 1976 and 2000 in order to ascertain how influential they have been in their school’s library and reading programmes. The study revealed that although most respondents had progressed in rank at schools, their role in the library programme was minimal. Most schools had either no library or defunct library programmes. Respondents were much more active in formal reading programmes. Computers with Internet access were evident at most schools but teachers were using computers mostly for managing marks and setting exams.

Conference Programme

R.E.09 -- Artur Filipe Morgado Dagge (1965), Teacher, Escola Básica 2,3 D. Miguel de Almeida, Abrantes (Portugal)
Graduated in Modern Languages and Literature by the Lisbon Classical University; Master in Documentation Sciences and Librarianship by the University of Évora; Teacher of Portuguese Language; School Library Coordinator at the Basic School of Sousel, from 1995 to 2004 and of the Basic School of Abrantes since 2005.

Bibliotecários escolares: a precária identidade no desencanto da realidade / School librarians: an uncertain identity or the disenchantment with reality
Abstract:
School librarians are considered to play a decisive role in all aspects concerning the performance and dynamics of school libraries: their existence in every school, their contribution to creating reading habits and promoting literacy; their importance in implementing more active educational methodologies focused on the students; in short, their qualities as a library within the school.
In Portugal, legally speaking, there are no school librarians. So, school libraries have always been run by teachers who have little or no specific education in librarianship but great enthusiasm, generally speaking. It is undeniable that it is not possible to separate the personal “self” from the professional “self”, especially when we are dealing with a task which is full of values and ideas and is greatly demanding as far as commitment and human relationships are concerned. When talking about school librarians, we may even say that it is particularly demanding in what concerns commitment and human relationships because they deal not only with the great majority of the students and teachers in the school, but also, preferably, with the helping staff, parents and other elements from the community. Moreover, school librarians also have to deal with the leading staff and, outside the school, with some local institutions: the public library, teachers’ associations, parents’ associations…
So, the main question we have to ask is whether school librarians have a specific professional identity or not and, then, to know what the characteristics of that professional identity are. Among those characteristics we may refer the contribution of the social role of school librarians in the teaching career, their professional status, how they feel about being part of a specific professional group, the context in which their activity takes place, their personal interests and expectations. That’s why we should try to understand the relationship between the process of their professional training and the process of their personal education in a trajectory determined by experience.
The uncertainty that marks school librarians’ identity in Portugal is greatly determined by what they feel about being teachers and librarians. They started by being “just” teachers but, in a particular moment, they decided to become librarians too. However, the threats upon school libraries, the way they work, the difficulties they have to overcome and their own existence don’t allow school librarians to assume themselves completely as such. What we have then is an undefined professional identity and, therefore, an uncertain one: they consider themselves teachers but the option they made as to become school librarians is a decision they have to make every year because it cannot be definitive.
School librarians’ disenchantment is clear in their consciousness of the reality that dominates school libraries and their own role: they know perfectly how important school libraries are, they are aware of their personal investment, they try to enhance the significance of both school libraries and their role as school librarians, they know they are filling up a hole in the educational system but they feel very pessimistic about the future of school libraries in Portugal. So, there is no longer place for illusions and what we have left is a strong disenchantment with reality.

Resumo
Aos bibliotecários escolares é reconhecido um papel determinante em todos os aspectos relativos ao desempenho e à dinâmica das bibliotecas escolares: a sua afirmação no seio de cada estabelecimento de ensino; o seu contributo para a criação de hábitos de leitura e para a promoção da literacia; a sua importância na aplicação de metodologias educativas mais activas e centradas no aluno; resumindo, a sua qualidade como centro documental dentro da escola.
Não estando, ainda, instituída a carreira de bibliotecário escolar, as funções de coordenação sempre foram desempenhadas por professores. É, actualmente, consensual a ideia de que “não é possível separar o eu pessoal do eu profissional, sobretudo numa profissão fortemente impregnada de valores e ideias e muito exigente do ponto de vista do empenhamento e da relação humana” (Nóvoa, António, org. (2000) – Vidas de professores. Porto: Porto Editora, p 9). Poder-se-á dizer que, no caso dos professores bibliotecários, é particularmente exigente no que ao empenhamento e relações humanas diz respeito atendendo à necessidade de, desejavelmente, interagir com a globalidade dos alunos e professores da escola, para além, naturalmente, dos auxiliares de acção educativa, pais e encarregados de educação e outros elementos da comunidade educativa. Às relações humanas de carácter pessoal junta-se o relacionamento institucional: internamente, com os órgãos superiores e intermédios de gestão e administração – Conselho Executivo, Assembleia, Departamentos Curriculares, Directores de Turma – e, externamente, com instituições locais – Autarquia, Biblioteca Pública, Centro de Formação de Professores, Associação de Pais.
A questão central que se coloca é, em primeiro lugar, saber se, no caso dos bibliotecários escolares, há uma identidade profissional própria; em segundo lugar, verificar quais são os aspectos que enformam essa identidade. De entre esses aspectos poderão aventar-se os contributos da função social do bibliotecário escolar no seio da profissão docente, do seu estatuto profissional, do sentimento de pertença a um grupo profissional, do contexto em que a actividade tem lugar, do interesse e expectativas pessoais. Interessa, pois, compreender as interacções entre o processo de formação profissional e o processo de formação pessoal, num percurso marcado pela experiência.

Conference Programme

P.E.10 --Chang, Hsinshi, Director of the Library. The Affiliated High School of National Chengchi University (Taiwan)
Lee, Chenfu.English Teacher. The Affiliated High School of National Chengchi University (Taiwan)

The whole campus in the library: a four-entrance management strategy of a library
Abstract
Discarding the traditional one-entrance design, the AHS library provides four entrances for readers. This multi-entry design brings challenges to the library management. However, with the school rationale and vision, freedom, autonomy, creativity, and energy, this new design tries to promote the use rate, to meet the demand of multi-learning, and to prepare all the students for further study.
With the promotion of moral education and the trust on the students’ self-discipline, the AHS library insists no security be set by the entrance; thus the library becomes the field of learning how to behave themselves. To promote the use rate, AHS library adopts a strategy to extend the territory by employing digital and non-digital devices. The establishment of wireless network and MOD system enables the teachers and students to access the needed information at every corner; the classroom shelves and reading groups erect a library branch in each space. Therefore, the conflicts of hybrid environments are reduced and the four entrances stand not only for the concrete entry but for the multiple accesses to the library.

Conference Programme

12.30 to 13.15 -- Research and Professional Papers

R.E.11 -- Jacqueline Duarte, Teacher, Escola Básica 2, 3 da Venda do Pinheiro (Portugal)
Jacqueline Duarte is a teacher of Portuguese Language. She is a member of the Library coordinating team of the resource centre (school library) of the elementary School Poet José Fanha.

Reading practices and school library for an integrated educational project
As práticas de leitura e a biblioteca escolar. Para um projecto educativo integrado
Abstract:
The increase of available information due to the development of new information and communication technologies in the last quarter of the 20th century has stressed the importance of the school library in educational context as a privileged facility for the access to information. This is confirmed by the issue of the School Library Manifesto under the patronage of both UNESCO and the IFLA in 1976. In Portugal, this acknowledgment translates into the creation of a School Libraries Network in 1966 by the Ministry of Education. In this study, bibliography assessment focused on theorizing about how school pedagogy, domestic and foreign, has been aware and embodied reading and the library itself in school practices. The empiric survey focused on checking how a whole of seventy schools, members of the School Libraries Network incorporated their school library and its activity into a document meant to ascertain educational guidelines and be instrumental in each school, or schools group’s autonomy – the school’s mission statement. Apart from individual procedures, we intended to comprehend the status held by the school library within the school’s official presentation, as such reveals the role the former is supposed to play in the pedagogic models which the latter intends to implement. It amounted to a study of a qualitative nature, based upon analysis of contents of the afore-said documents.
From data gathering and processing, signs have shown up of school libraries not having significant projection into the discourse essentialness, as we established a low ratio of explicitly related references. The overall picture is complemented with the existence of “silences” deriving from lack of clarification about relevant principles, such as the concept and role such a structure should play. In view of these structural and institutional irregularities, this study allowed us to make suggestions towards some changes.

Resumo
O aumento da informação disponível, nomeadamente com a dinamização das novas tecnologias da informação e comunicação no último quartel do século XX, sublinhou a importância da biblioteca escolar, no contexto educativo, como local privilegiado no acesso à informação. Comprovam-no a elaboração do Manifesto das Bibliotecas Escolares, sob a égide da UNESCO e da International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), em 1976. Em Portugal este reconhecimento repercute-se na criação de uma Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, em 1996, da responsabilidade do Ministério da Educação. A revisão da bibliografia levada a cabo no presente estudo centrou-se na teorização acerca do modo como a pedagogia escolar, portuguesa e estrangeira, esteve atenta e incorporou a leitura e a biblioteca nas práticas escolares.
A investigação empírica incidiu sobre a verificação da forma como um universo de 70 escolas, todas pertencentes à Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, integrou a biblioteca escolar e a sua acção num documento tido como de orientação educativa e construtor da autonomia de cada escola ou agrupamento de escolas – o projecto educativo de escola. Independentemente das práticas, intentou-se apreender o estatuto que a biblioteca escolar detém na representação oficial da escola, porquanto isso reflectirá qual o papel que àquela está reservado nos modelos pedagógicos que se propõe implementar. Constituiu-se como um trabalho de natureza qualitativa, assente na análise de conteúdo do referido documento.
Da recolha e tratamento de dados emergiram indícios de que a biblioteca escolar não detém uma projecção significativa no interior do discurso, pois verificámos um baixo índice de referências directamente relacionadas com a mesma. A situação é complementada p ela constatação de “silêncios” decorrentes da ausência de clarificação de alguns princípios relevantes, como qual o conceito e estatuto preconizados para este órgão. Face a estas irregularidades estruturais e conjunturais, o nosso estudo permitiu-nos apresentar algumas sugestões de mudanças.

Conference Programme

P.E.12 -- Ester Omella i Claparols, Responsible of the Planning and Programme Section, Provincial Government of Barcelona (Spain)
Ester Omella i Claparols (1965) has a BA in Librarianship and Documentation Sciences (University of Barcelona, 1985), and is graduated in Political Sciences and Sociology (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 1990). She has a Master in Economy (1992). She worked as a librarian at the “Biblioteca Santa Creu i Centre de Documentació del Libre Infantil, Barcelona”, was the executive coordinator of the IFLA Conference, held in 1993 in Barcelona, and was responsible for the Cultural Information System of the Provincial Government of Barcelona (1994-2001). Since 2001, she works at the Library Service of the same institution, as Planning and Creation of new libraries technique and, since April 2005, as responsible of its Planning and Programme Section. She published several works about local information policies, local information services, regional and local planning of public libraries, etc. She is associated professor at the University of Barcelona, where she teaches “Public Libraries” and “Information Policies”.

Jordi Permanyer i Bastardas, Director of the Library Service, Provincial government of Barcelona (Spain)
Jordi Permanyer i Bastardas is Director of the Library Service at the Provincial government of Barcelona. He has a BA in Librarianship and Documentation Sciences, is graduated in Philosophical and Language Studies (University of Barcelona) and post-graduated in Libraries Management and Planning (University P Pompeu Fabra). He was chief librarian at the Cerdanyola Public Library and responsible of the Planning and Programme Section of the Provincial Government of Barcelona (1987-2003). He is consultant for library planning in other Spanish regions and abroad, and has several published works on libray planning and library services evaluation.

Cooperation between public library and school library: lines of action and protocols
Abstract:
In 2005, the Deputation of Barcelona promoted the development of a “School Library – Public Library” Lab in order to support the collaboration between public and school libraries, in a special moment of political and professional will of school library programmes in Spain. When the first edition of the Lab was concluded, the organisations evolved in the public and school library services immediately promoted a second edition, which is in course at this moment.
This paper presents the contents and results of the two Labs, where the cooperation between public and school libraries was reflected, discussed and analyzed, mainly regarding the following themes: the model and the functions of the school library, in the context of the school educational programme, and regarding the elements and resources necessary for the development of such functions; the cooperation between public and school libraries, regarding the services and activities which can be developed conjointly; the design of guidelines that will help their cooperative work regarding the creation of a reading society, competent in the use of information. In the second edition of the Lab, the aim is to concretize the themes discussed during the first edition, creating a work protocol and guidelines that will establish the ways and plans of cooperation between the two types of libraries, which is meant to be permanent.

Conference Programme

P.E.13 -- Susan Richardson, Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education, Central Queensland University – Noosa Hub, Queensland Australia
Susan Richardson has been a primary classroom teacher within the state education system in Queensland, Australia for twenty-five years, and within the primary school context, has been at the forefront of curriculum development and professional inservice for staff at her local school. She has been an educational consultant with the Queensland Mining Council, lecturing to students in both primary and secondary schools. For the past five years, Susan has worked in the Arts, Humanities and Education Faculty of Central Queensland University, (Noosa Hub) where she works with pre-service teachers, lecturing within education course content. Susan is passionate about “nurturing” professionals for the future who believe in their ability to effect “positive change within our practice;” who believe they can make a difference in the lives of the students with whom they work.

Product or Process: using explicit instructional design in Literacy for the primary school to enhance reading, knowing and doing
Abstract:
This paper provides a commentary of issues that concern the development of effective literacy skills of researching (information literacy) in the primary school setting and examines new approaches to explicit instructional design that could be incorporated into the work being done by classroom teachers and teacher-librarians in collaboration with each other.
This explicit instructional design is seen as a supplement, rather than a replacement to the work being done by these stakeholders; an opportunity to enhance student learning and to engage students with knowledge at meaningful and purposeful levels.
The students of today and tomorrow, the digital natives, interface confidently with the technological demands of the multi-literate world. The “face” of literacy is “text”; the “changing face” is the availability of these “texts” and the way that “texts” can be used to enhance learning experiences for our students. Drawing on this availability of “texts” then, do our students know what to do with, how to organize and how to use the information that seems so readily available to them? Is this interaction with “text” set within a learning context that challenges the student; a context that embraces intellectual rigour?
The underlying proposition of this paper is that the emphasis is placed on the final product resulting from research, without due consideration of the explicit task scaffolding required, nor of the learning opportunities presented at each stage of the information literacy process. The “product” however, is not necessarily the evidence of the learning, of the knowledge acquired, nor of the skills learned. This paper maintains that the true learning and the empowerment for students, comes with the knowledge of how to do.

Conference Programme

P.E.14 -- Marian Koren, Head of Research and International Affairs, Netherlands Public Library Association, The Hague (Netherlands)
Marian Koren, Ph.D., is Head of Research and International Affairs for the Netherlands Public Library Association in The Hague, Netherlands. She works on innovative concepts and library strategies: www.debibliotheken.nl/english. Marian Koren studied Dutch and international law; and studied Swedish with a focus on children’s literature and culture. She received her Ph.D. cum laude from the University of Amsterdam for the study: “Tell Me! The Right of the Child to Information”, relating to human rights of children and the right to information, with its implications for libraries. She writes and lectures internationally on these topics, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Marian Koren was member (2001-2005) of the Professional Committee and Governing Board of the International Library Association, IFLA, and interim director for EBLIDA in 2006.

Serving the child: a human rights approach to literacy and learning
Abstract:
The paper addresses the role of the school library in the knowledge-based society, with special attention for the support and development of multi-literacies in the educational system. It points to the literacy development of school librarians themselves, as a prerequisite for serving children and young people in attractive learning environments.
School libraries have an excellent position to contribute to the development of skills of children, young people and teachers and educational staff to access sources for information and learning. Even if resources are limited, an active school librarian is an indispensable link between different parts of the whole school community.
Such types of school library services are not a luxury, or only for the happy few but a consequence of applying human rights of children in the educational context of today. Their right to information, to have access to materials, to education, to values as human beings, as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), require equal access to literacy services and social inclusion. A human rights approach can also be applied in hybrid library environments and be helpful in closing the digital divide.
Reference is given to a number of new tools in school library services developed in the Netherlands, including digital school library services, a reading and information literacy curriculum etc. These tools are aimed at including people (young and old) of all walks of life, to be able to participate in society and take responsibility for their own (learning) lives.
Human rights are a global framework and international point of reference for all political decision making. In this sense, IASL could partner with other international organisations and institutions, which work for equal rights and basic skills and services for children and young people.

Conference Programme

11.45 to 13.15 -- Workshops

W.E.15 -- Blanche Woolls, Professor Emerita, University of Pittsburgh and San Jose State University (U.S.A.)

Understanding the multiple faces of literacy: librarian as reading innovator and developer of thinking skills
Abstract:
Historically, school librarians have promoted reading as a major task. In the 21st century, a new role is evolving, that of the teacher and librarian collaborating to guide students to become information literate as well as lifelong readers and also to develop critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills are essential. They provide students with the ability to sift through the information available to them, analyze it in relation to their past learning, and create new knowledge. To be ready for their place in a global community, students must be able to read, to know, and to do.

Conference Programme

W.E.16 --Pat Burn, Upper School Librarian, International School of Luxembourg, (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)

The reading year: a discussion-based workshop
Abstract:
Much of current research indicates that reading is on the decline among middle and high school students. Many librarians are determined to halt this trend and to work with teachers, students and parents to establish a reading culture and create communities of readers. Librarians are looking for practical solutions to the question of how to promote reading for pleasure in their schools.
Throughout the 2005-6 school year the workshop presenter has kept a daily log of initiatives and activities which she uses to promote reading in an international school library. The very act of keeping this journal has maintained reading promotion at the forefront of her everyday work. The journal includes initiatives and ideas in support of school-wide reading, young adult fiction recommendations from middle school students who attend weekly Book Forum meetings, ideas used to promote new books to faculty members, preparations for and details of a successful author visit, reading recommendations from teachers etc.
The journal is packed with practical ideas and advice which fellow professionals who attend the workshop can take back and use in their own schools.
The workshop will take the form of a “conversation” based on the journal with practical hints and advice on what worked in one international school library this academic year. Those who attend will be encouraged to participate and share with the group positive examples of their own best practice. A bibliography of books recommended by students for students will be provided as will a tip sheet of reading promotion activities that work.

Conference Programme

15.45 to 16.30 -- Research and Professional Papers

R.F.01 -- Dianne Oberg, Professor and Chair, Department of Elementary Education, University of Alberta (Canada)
Dianne Oberg is a Professor in teacher-librarianship in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta in Canada. Before coming to the University, Dianne worked as a classroom teacher and teacher-librarian in the public school system. Her research focuses on teacher-librarianship education and on the implementation and evaluation of school library programs. Dianne is the editor of an international journal, School Libraries Worldwide, and an active member of school library associations at local, national, and international levels.

Canadian books in Canadian schools: the need for teacher/teacher-librarian collaboration in reading, knowing and doing
Abstract:
This Canadian research which explored elementary teachers’ use of, and beliefs about, Canadian children’s books in the classroom, has implications for teacher-librarians and other educators in many countries faced with the impact of the homogenization and “Disney-fication” of children’s books and other media. The research builds on previous studies which identified some of the supports that facilitate elementary teachers’ use of children’s books in their teaching (e.g., access to teacher-librarians, funding for materials, and opportunities for professional development). The case study school district was committed to supporting the work of teachers through the school library and had these supports in place. The study participants had clear ideas about what it meant to them to be Canadian and about the values that were important to them as Canadians. They believed it was important to incorporate Canadian books into classroom activities. However, they often felt a need to justify their use of Canadian books, whereas they unquestioningly used American books in their teaching across the curriculum. Overall, they were more knowledgeable about Canadian books and Canadian authors and illustrators than teachers in earlier studies. The teachers relied on the recommendations of the teacher-librarians about books, but they rarely collaborated with teacher-librarians in selecting and using Canadian books with their students. The research report concludes with questions about lost potential in terms of the power of books to enhance children’s sense of national identity and their sense of social cohesion.

Conference Programme

P.F.02 -- Helen Schutz, Co-ordinator of Library Services, Santa Sabina College, Strathfield (Australia)
Helen Schutz was previously Head of Information Services at Loreto Normanhurst and is currently  co-ordinator of Library Services at Santa Sabina College. She is committed to developing an information literate school community of engaged and self directed learners and enjoys working co-operatively with teachers in planning and teaching. In 2003 Helen received the ASLA-Pledger Consulting NSW Teacher Librarian of the Year Award for her contribution to the profession.

Alison Pick, Head of Library & Information Services, Wenona School, Sydney (Australia)
Alison Pick has been a teacher librarian for over 17 years and is currently Head of Library and Information Services at Wenona School, North Sydney. Alison is particularly interested in the co-operative planning and teaching of information skills along with the integration of new technologies into the teaching of information literacy.

Gina Knox, Teacher-Librarian, Loreto College, Normanhurst (Australia)
Gina Knox was previously teacher librarian at Loreto Normanhurst and is currently teacher librarian at Pymble Ladies College. Gina uses her enthusiasm for learning and her creativity in teaching to develop her students as life long learners. She thrives on team teaching with subject specialists and has an  innovative approach to the development of information literacy.

Building information literacy: an action research approach
Abstract
This paper will report upon the outcomes of an action research project undertaken by three Sydney Teacher-Librarians at three secondary schools. It argues that in the current school climate of outcomes and accountability, action research at this micro level is a valuable tool that can be used by Teacher-Librarians to improve learning outcomes in information literacy and to provide evidence of the effectiveness of intervention techniques. The paper will discuss the four phases of the project – diagnosis; analysis; intervention and evaluation. The project is based upon the Australian, NSW information skills model (similar to Eisenberg’s Big Six). It investigates ways to assess students’ current level of achievement in information skills and also the effectiveness of teaching strategies used by the Teacher-Librarian.
The first two phases of the project (diagnosis and analysis) were the research components carried out by the Teacher-Librarian. These involved the administration of a diagnostic tool, the analysis of results and the identification of the areas of weakness. Intervention, the third step, involved a collaborative partnership between the Teacher Librarian and the classroom teacher where specific strategies were co-operatively planned and implemented. The final phase of the project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. This evaluation is to be carried out formally through a post-test and more informally through student observation and consultation with the classroom teacher.

Conference Programme

P.F.03 -- Ana Lúcia Silva Terra, Lecturer, Escola Superior de Estudos Industriais e de Gestão do Instituto Politécnico do Porto Vila do Conde, Portugal
University lecturer. Doctoral student in Information Science, at the University of Coimbra. Graduated in History and Master in Modern History by the University of Coimbra, she has also a specialization in Information Science at the same institution.

Salvina Arminda Gonçalves de Sá, Librarian, Biblioteca Municipal "José Régio", Vila do Conde, Portugal
Librarian. Co-responsible of the School Libraries Support Service of the Public Library of Vila do Conde, Portugal. Graduated in Modern Literature and Languages and Portuguese Studies by the University of Oporto and post-graduated in Librarianship and Information Science, by the Portucalense University (Oporto).Construir sobre a rocha ou construir sobre a areia: o desafio da literacia da informação na biblioteca escolar
Building on a rock or on sand: the challenge of information literacy in the school library
Abstract:
Starting with a rereading of the information literacy theories, we characterized the development of this concept, distinguish it and relate it with associated terms as the case of information needs, information use, library literacy, user’s instruction or informational behaviour and contextualise it in the information science field.
After this theoretical framing, we focused the role of the information literacy in solving the info-exclusion problems, referring some examples of experiences related with the development of information skills in the school context.
We present our study based in the analyses of information behaviour, reading habits and information practices of students in Vila do Conde municipal area, using the school library collections and technological resources, considering also the location, access and use of information.
We do a brief general view over this group of school libraries in this municipal area, but we focused our analysis of the research universe in three schools of 1st level, one E.B. 2,3 and another secondary school, using an inquiry by a questionnaire. To better contextualise our study we also make the characterization and framing of each school library in its surroundings (city, rural and piscatorial) in order to allow a comparative analysis of the results.

Resumo:
Construir sobre a rocha ou construir sobre a areia: o desafio da literacia da informação na Biblioteca Escolar
A partir de uma releitura das teorias sobre literacia da informação, caracterizamos o desenvolvimento deste conceito, distinguindo-o e relacionando-o com termos associados, como é o caso de necessidades de informação, uso de informação, literacia documental, formação de utilizadores ou comportamento informacional, e contextualizando-o no âmbito da Ciência da Informação.
Depois deste enquadramento teórico, focamos o papel da literacia da informação para a resolução dos problemas da info-exclusão, referindo alguns exemplos de experiências ligadas ao desenvolvimento de competências informacionais em contexto escolar.
Apresentamos o nosso estudo de caso centrado na análise das atitudes, dos hábitos de leitura e das práticas informacionais dos alunos do concelho de Vila de Conde, com base na utilização das colecções disponíveis no espaço da biblioteca escolar e dos recursos tecnológicos, nomeadamente as formas de localização e utilização dos documentos em acesso livre bem como a pesquisa de informação.
Fazemos uma breve caracterização geral desta rede municipal de bibliotecas escolares mas centramos a análise do universo de pesquisa em três escolas do1º ciclo, uma E.B 2,3 e uma Secundária, com a aplicação de um inquérito por questionário.
Para melhor contextualizarmos o nosso estudo fazemos, também, a caracterização e enquadramento de cada biblioteca escolar no meio em que se insere (citadino, rural e piscatório) a fim de realizar uma análise comparativa dos resultados.

Conference Programme

R.F.04 -- Hao-Yen Wu, Director of Library, National Tuku Vocational High School in Taiwan

Marketing Strategies of Tuku Vocational High School’s (TKVS) Library in Taiwan
Abstract:
Traditionally, rather than using books in the library, a typical Asian student preferred reading and studying from textbooks in order to pass the college entrance examination. Likewise, this trend was the same in the small suburban town in Taiwan like Tuku with the area is 46 square kilometer, its population of 32,000 people, and 70% of its population is farmers. Due to its agriculture background, there are only two libraries to service its residents. One is the public high school’s library that belongs to Tuku Vocational High School that has approximately about 28 classes and 1000 students while the other is Tuku’s public library. Owing to the textbooks edition from one to many, the exam content has changed a lot from the past to the present. In order to master the examination, multiple facets of literacy should be mastered. Because of this, library should be gaining popularity than before. In contrary, this was not the case. Library books were seldom checked out according to the electronic tracking system for library books. From three years ago, the average of books checked out was below 15 per day. That average has steady climbing to about 120 with the maximum around 370. Recently, by conducting an open-end questionnaires and chatting with its students, it was found that some marketing strategies are needed to educate them the importance of utilizing the books in the library as the primary source of mastering multi-facets of literacy instead of textbooks. For a remote area like Tuku, the purpose of this paper will show the measures will be taken to promote more library book check out.

Conference Programme

17.00 17.45 -- Research and Professional Papers

P.F.05 -- Heather Voskuyl, Head of Library, Queenwood School for Girls (Australia)
Heather Voskuyl has had a long interest in YA literature. She has almost completed her PhD at the University of Technology, Sydney under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr Rosemary Johnston. She is interested in the paradox of adult control of a genre that is intended to empower the adolescent reader

YA novels: adolescent needs, adult responsibilities
Abstract:
Are there definable boundaries between a children’s novel, a YA novel and an adult novel? This paper suggests that combining two approaches to literary criticism, Reader Theory and Narratology, can create a practical framework for teacher librarians to use in assessing whether a novel meets the needs, interests and literacy skills of their students.

Conference Programme

P.F.07 -- Carlos Pinheiro, School Library Coordinator, Escola EB 2,3 Padre Alberto Neto, Rio de Mouro (Portugal)
Born in 1965. Graduated in History of Art (University of Oporto, 1988). History teacher in Basic and Secondary Schools since 1989. With several training in school libraries organization, he is a certified teacher for teachers training in the field of Information and Communication Technologies and has coordinated projects for the Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technologies. He is pedagogical Advisor of the Sintra’s Schools Association Graduation Centre.

From information to knowledge in a changing society
Da Informação ao Conhecimento numa Sociedade em Mudança
Abstract:
We live in an information society and, thanks to the information technology and digital networks, the potential of knowledge has grown exponentially. Internet is actually the greatest information repository, as it receives 10 to 20 million of new documents in a daily basis, with over one trillion documents already published. More than 90% of that information is publicly accessible, but it is as well offered without context: most times, we’re talking about mass information, directed to everybody and no one in particular.
Is it possible to turn the quantitative growth of information into qualitative information? Can technology generate knowledge?
In the Ancient times, Socrates, in its Dialogues (Plato, Fedro), using the myth of Toth (Egyptian god, inventor of writing), tried to demonstrate haw the first information technology – writing (presented by its inventor as a tool that would make men wiser) – only contributed, on the contrary, “to generate oblivion, as man will stop exercising memory, trusting only upon what is written”. What would Socrates if he could see haw today even the graphic signs of writing are being substituted by multimedia, that each time is less necessary to remember, for you just have to go and search on Google?
In the making of this way from information to knowledge, within a new context of multiplication and diversification of media, technology and access means, social interaction becomes mandatory – that’s the main challenge that school libraries have to face as knowledge mediators and managers.
In this context, the school library should promote:

  • Access to information in its different supports;
  • Competencies in the selection and organization of information, and
  • Its use in context.
User’s training is therefore mandatory within the new pedagogical paradigm – centred in the act of learning more than in the one of teaching – imposed to schools by the social and technological dynamics, but also because many of the traditional practices are becoming obsolete, mainly due to the new means for storage and dissemination of information.

Resumo:
Vivemos na sociedade da informação, e, graças aos computadores e às redes digitais, o potencial de conhecimento multiplicou-se exponencialmente. A Internet é actualmente o maior repositório de informação, recebendo 10-20 milhões de novos documentos diariamente, ultrapassando já um trilião de documentos publicados. Mais de 90% dessa informação é publicamente acessível, mas é-nos oferecida sem qualquer contextualização, é apenas informação massificada, dirigida a todos e a ninguém em particular.
Poderá o aumento quantitativo da informação propiciar a sua transformação qualitatitiva? Poderá a técnica gerar conhecimento? Já na Antiguidade, Sócrates, nos seus Diálogos (Platão, Fedro), servindo-se do mito de Toth (deus egípcio inventor da escrita) pretendeu demonstrar como a primeira tecnologia de informação – a escrita (apresentada pelo seu inventor como um instrumento que tornaria os homens mais sábios) – apenas contribuía, pelo contrário, “para engendrar esquecimento, pois o homem deixará de exercitar a memória, confiando apenas no que está escrito.”
Que diria Sócrates se visse que hoje até os próprios símbolos gráficos são cada vez mais substituídos pelo multimédia, que cada vez menos é necessário lembrar, bastando ir ao Google?
Passar da informação ao conhecimento, neste novo contexto de multiplicação e diversificação de meios, tecnologias e formas de acesso, exige interacção social, e é este o grande desafio que se coloca às bibliotecas escolares, no âmbito da sua função de mediação e organização do conhecimento.
Assim, a Biblioteca Escolar deverá promover:

  • Acesso à informação nos seus diferentes meios
  • Competências de selecção e organização da informação e
  • a sua utilização contextualizada
A formação de utilizadores é um imperativo quer do novo paradigma pedagógico – mais centrado no acto de aprender do que no de ensinar – imposto à escola pela dinâmica social e tecnológica, quer pelo facto de muitas das práticas anteriores se terem tornado obsoletas face aos novos meios de armazenamento e difusão da informação.

Conference Programme

P.F.08 -- Margaret Spillman, Teacher-Librarian, Mackay West State School (Australia)
Margaret Spillman is Teacher-librarian at Mackay West State School, Queensland, Australia and has presented Productive Partnerships at both local and state school and public library conferences. Productive Partnerships won the IASL Softlink Excellence Award for 2005. It has also been included in the 2006 ASLA (Australian School Library Association) online Visions of Learning Conference in the section called Powerful Practices. Margaret has been a Teacher-Librarian for more than 10 years. Her major interest lies in promoting the educational benefits, especially Literacy, which stem from collaborative relationships with public libraries.

Productive partnerships: learning for life
Abstract:
Our collaborative relationship with Mackay Libraries began informally when we undertook a work shadowing program with our Public Library counterparts. The professional discussions which followed, and an examination of the available literature on the topic of school and public library cooperation, indicated that we had much in common. More importantly, we realized that cooperation could be beneficial for our respective communities. Allan Bundy’s excellent article, ‘Essential Connections School and Public Libraries for Lifelong Learning’ provided a wonderful historical perspective and also investigated attitudes of those involved in both library sectors. It was a challenging article and gave us the encouragement to believe that we could make a difference in our respective communities.
Thus was born Productive Partnerships – Public and School Libraries Promoting Lifelong Learning. Productive Partnerships ultimately came to embrace four main elements:

  1. Work shadowing
  2. GOAL (Grade Ones At the Library)
  3. Library Monitor Program
  4. School Website
NB. Year 7 Public Library Orientation has been added as a fifth element as of October 2005.
As early as 1966, it was noted in a 1966 report titled ‘School and Children’s Libraries in Australia’ that “cooperation between public and school libraries was the best way of providing maximum service for children” (M Ninon, 2003 page 15). Clearly, Mackay West School Library and Mackay Libraries aim to serve a common group of young people and share common goals such as improved literacy. Perhaps, Maureen Ninon best summed up our philosophy when she said that ‘commonality of purpose ensures that each library group can learn from the experiences of others and that a sharing of resources and effort will be mutually beneficial” (M. Ninon, 2003 Pg 1). That has certainly been our experiences at Mackay West. We strongly believe that our Productive Partnership Program has indeed been very productive as evidenced by the outcomes achieved.

Conference Programme

P.F.09 -- Elisabete Carvalho, Teacher, Ministry of Education - School Districts of Aveiro e Viseu, (Portugal)
Graduated in History by the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa "Luís de Camões", she is a master student in the area of “Information and School Libraries Management” (Universidade Aberta de Lisboa). Teacher since 1989, she has been involved in several School Library teams and coordinated the Project "The Library as recreation space and growth”. Credited teacher in the areas of School Libraries and History, she is actually assisting the Portuguese School Libraries Network Office within the technical support to the school libraries of the Aveiro and Viseu districts.

Márcia Cruz, Librarian, Public Library of Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal)
Graduated in History of the Arts at the University of Oporto and post-graduated in Documental Sciences at the same University. Certified teacher in the area of the school libraries. Librarian, since 1987, at the Public Library of Santa Maria da Feira, where she is responsible for the School Libraries Support Service.

Local Network libraries: an imperative challenge
Redes locais de Bibliotecas: um desafio imperativo
Abstract:
Presentation of a practical example of institutional cooperation for the creation of a Council of School Libraries Network, among the different intervening namely the Gabinete da Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares (Cabinet of the School Libraries Network), the Schools (Groupings and Secondary) the Executive Council, Teachers, Coordinators of the School Libraries, Students, Parents Associations, Manpower Centres, Council and Municipal Library.
Description of the work developed for the SABE – Serviço de Apoio às Bibliotecas Escolares (Support Service of the Scholar Libraries) about the Municipal Library of Santa Maria da Feira and its context in the guide lines of the School Libraries Network, through the active participation ot the teacher's highlighted by the Cabinet of the School Libraries Network for support and accompaniment of the school libraries of the districts of Aveiro and Viseu belonging to the DREN- Direcção Regional de Educação do Norte (Direction of Education of the North), namely:

  • the creation and development of the Council of School Libraries Network
  • the dynamization of monthly meetings with the coordinator teachers of school libraries
  • the development of the site of the Council School Libraries Network
  • the coordinating teachers integration in the elaboration and implementation of the project of promotion of the reading “A arte de contra histórias” ( The art of telling histories)
  • the annual informal formation for coordinating teachers' of the school libraries

Resumo:
Apresentação de um exemplo prático de cooperação institucional para a criação de uma Rede Concelhia de Bibliotecas Escolares, entre os diferentes intervenientes designadamente o Gabinete da Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, as Escolas (Agrupamentos e Secundárias) os Conselhos Executivos, Professores, Coordenadores das Bibliotecas Escolares, Alunos, Associações de Pais, Centros de Formação, Autarquia e Biblioteca Municipal.
Descrição do trabalho desenvolvido pelo SABE da Biblioteca Municipal de Santa Maria da Feira e sua contextualização nas linhas orientadoras da Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, através da participação activa da professora destacada pelo Gabinete da Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares para apoio e acompanhamento das bibliotecas escolares dos distritos de Aveiro e Viseu afectas à Direcção Regional de Educação do Norte, nomeadamente:

  • a criação e desenvolvimento da Rede Concelhia de Bibliotecas Escolares
  • a dinamização de professores coordenadores de bibliotecas escolares através de reuniões mensais
  • o desenvolvimento do site da Rede Concelhia das Bibliotecas Escolares
  • a integração de professores coordenadores na elaboração e implementação do projecto de promoção da leitura “A Arte de Contar Histórias “
  • a formação informal anual de professores coordenadores das bibliotecas escolares

Conference Programme

15.45 to 17.15 -- Workshops

W.F.10 -- Marlene Asselin, PhD, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Marlene Asselin began her career as an early childhood teacher and was Head Teacher at the University of British Columbia Child Study Centre from 1983 – 1987. The critical place of rich resources for children’s literacy development was the focus of her classroom. Marlene is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests are in literacy education, information literacy, and school librarianship. She teaches literacy courses in the teacher education program where she introduces new teachers to the wonderful world of children’s literature, and the important partnerships they need to make with teacher-librarians. She also teaches graduate courses in literacy and teacher-librarianship. Her strong conviction about the role of school libraries in classroom literacy programs led her to serve in the Canadian Association for School Libraries, where she is currently Co-President.

Ray Doiron, PhD, University of Prince Edward Island (Canada)
Ray Doiron worked as a primary teacher for fourteen years teaching Grades 1 and 2. Children’s literature, as well as multimedia resources formed the foundation of his literacy program,. Motivating children to before lifelong readers has been a passion for Ray who is deeply convinced that information books hold great interest for many disengaged readers. He worked for six years as a teacher-librarian where he collaborated with elementary teachers to build students’ literacy achievement and their love for reading. He is currently a professor at the University of Prince Edward Island where he helps prepare new early literacy teachers for the classroom. He also teaches courses in school librarianship while actively pursuing research in the connections between literacy and libraries.

Elizabeth Lee, PhD, Queen’s University (Canada)
Elizabeth A. Lee is an assistant professor of language and literacy in the Faculty of Education, Queen's University, Canada. She taught elementary school in Winnipeg for twenty years before becoming a professor. Her research interests are instruction in reading, information literacy and adolescent literacy. She teaches graduate and teacher education courses in cognition, reading and language arts.

Margot Filipenko, PhD, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Before becoming a faculty member in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Margot Filipenko taught young children for 15 years. During her years as a teacher she developed an interest in young children’s developing literacy skills. Her research interests focus on young children’s information literacy development.

Keith McPherson, University of British Columbia (Canada)
Since 1983, Keith McPherson has been a teacher and teacher librarian in private and public schools, in both rural and urban British Columbia settings. Currently he is the Director of the Department of Language and Literacy Education Research Centre, where he runs professional development programs for preservice and inservice teachers wishing to learn how to integrate technologies and information literacy into language arts classrooms and school libraries.

New Libraries and New Literacies for the Information Generation
Abstract:
This workshop will tackle the challenges school libraries face in educating the information generation for the information age. The presentation is framed around three challenges: a) understanding today’s learners; b) exploring the literacies needed by today’s learners; and c) identifying pedagogical implications.
Participants will first examine the foundations for connecting the “new” literacies associated with information technologies to a renewed call for school libraries to respond to these challenges with innovative literacy strategies. Participants will then explore ideas for teaching critical literacy, online reading comprehension and the use of children’s literature to teach and promote literacy.

Conference Programme

W.F.11 -- Kristin Fontichiaro, Media Specialist and free-lance arts education consultant, Beverly Elementary School, Beverly Hills (U.S.A.)
Kristin Fontichiaro, MLIS, is an arts education consultant and a media specialist with the Birmingham (Michigan, USA) Public Schools. In addition, she is a consultant with the Institute for Education and the Arts in Washington, DC. Previously, she was Youth Education Manager for the University Musical Society of the University of Michigan and a member of the Board of Directors for Concerts International in Memphis, Tennessee. She leads frequent workshops and professional development sessions for educators in the US and abroad and is a lecturer with the American Professional Partnership for Lithuanian Education. Kristin is currently writing a book for Libraries Unlimited on using the performing arts to bolster academic achievement.

Using Drama in the Media Center to Promote Literacy Skills in Early Elementary Students
Abstract:
This workshop describes simple techniques for using drama with students in grades K – 2 (ages 5 – 8). Using warmup exercises, an exploratory storytime reading of a work of literature (fiction or non-fiction), and simple techniques for drama in the round, learn to harness young students’ natural kinesthetic energy for a deeper and more meaningful exploration of literature. Learn how students across the developmental spectrum can benefit from drama’s ability to focus and motivate young learners. Literacy and pre-literacy skills such as prediction, sequencing, and cause and effect can all be explored in this natural and gentle approach to learning. This workshop will use the Ukranian folk tale The Mitten as its core text.

Conference Programme

Last Updated 11 June 2006 (KSB)