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SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORLDWIDE

Volume 11, Number 2, July 2005

An Analysis of Information Literacy Education Worldwide
Penny Moore
This paper was prepared for UNESCO, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the Information Literacy Meeting of Experts, Prague, The Czech Republic. The author explores some of the factors facilitating and hindering the drive towards information literacy around the world, as reflected in publications of the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) between 1998 and 2002. Initiatives taken in the compulsory schooling sector are illustrated with reference to the degree of existing literacy and technological infrastructure in particular countries, together with differing understandings of information literacy. The transition from literacy to information literacy and school library programs, promising practices in addressing students' learning needs and those of their teachers are explored. Promising government initiatives are outlined and recommendations for future progress are made.

A Theoretical Understanding of Teacher and Librarian Collaboration
Patricia Montiel Overall
Teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC) is considered essential to support the changing population of students, complexity of educational issues, and increased information. However, collaboration has yet to be clearly defined for teachers and librarians. This paper discusses four models of teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC) previously proposed by the author (Model A: Coordination, Model B: Cooperation, Model C: Integrated Instruction and Model D: Integrated Curriculum), and identifies five constructs within the models that can be used to evaluate the effect of each model on student academic achievement. This paper argues that high levels of the five constructs a) interest, b) level of involvement, c) improved learning, d) innovation, and e) integration in TLC may have the most impact on student academic achievement.

Librarians and Teachers as Research Partners: Reshaping Practices Based on Assessment and Reflection
Violet H. Harada
As critical partners in shaping quality learning experiences, school library media specialists have a major stake in examining their teaching practices through the lens of actual student behaviors. Empowerment results when they collaborate with fellow teachers in implementing strategies, reflecting on the results, and sharing them with the professional community. This article focuses on the transformative nature of practitioner research. It describes a multi-year project to identify key components of effective teaching in collaborative elementary school classroom-library settings, and to translate this knowledge into practitioner-facilitated professional development alternatives. A summary of this paper was presented at the International Research Symposium sponsored by the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries, Rutgers University, convened in New York, April 28-29, 2005. The Symposium was funded by a grant of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Research as Part of the Web Site Development Process: The Case of School Libraries Online
Laurel A. Clyde
IASL's Webmaster discusses the part that research has played in the ongoing development of IASL's web site, School Libraries Online. Established in 1995, the web site was ten years old at the time this article was written; a brief history of the site is provided. Work on the site has been guided by a strategic planning process within the context of which research results have informed decision making. Desk research provided background information that was important in the establishment of the web site. This desk research included an "internal environment" scan that focused on developing an understanding of the Association and its members, and an "external environment" scan that focused on Internet trends and developments. With the site well established, ongoing environment scanning has continued to inform development. User needs have been monitored on an ongoing basis through two main strategies: analysis of the weekly and monthly reports from the web site search engine, and analysis of the statistical information provided by a user tracking service. User satisfaction with the web site has been monitored through strategies such as analysis of responses to a web-based survey form, and comments recorded in an online guestbook. The results of this ongoing formative evaluation will also feed into a major project, commenced in 2005 with a literature review, to evaluate School Libraries Online after a decade in operation. The article concludes with some comments about the place of evaluation in the web site development cycle and the need for this major evaluation after ten years of operation.

Information Literacy and Education Policy: A Canadian Case Study of Information Literacy Curriculum Development by the Ontario Ministry of Education
Pia Russell
This Canadian research explored a single education jurisdiction's information literacy curriculum policy development. Using the province of Ontario's Ministry of Education as a case study, a rhetorical analysis of relevant policy documents and semi-structured open-ended interviews with twelve policy contributors constituted the study's methodological framework. This research found that the teacher-librarian community's advocacy network, the diminished state of school libraries in Canada, and the Ministry's emphasis on traditional literacy priorities have had significant impacts on information literacy policy development.

School Libraries in Bhutan: Birth of a Reading Culture
Felicity Shaw
Modernisation of Bhutan began in 1961, with the launching of the country's first five-year development plan. In 1963 the government invited a Canadian Jesuit educationist, Father William Mackey, to come to Bhutan to help establish a secular school system. This article briefly sketches the development of a modern education system and early attempts at library provision, and then studies in detail the ongoing School Library Development Project which is being implemented with funding support from donor agencies and through World Bank-funded (but Education sector-inspired) development projects. Significant achievements in library development and reading promotion activities are being brought about through the vision and commitment of career Education officers, working closely with sympathetic donor agency counterparts towards realisation of longstanding goals.

Informational Empowerment: Using Informational Books to Connect the Library Media Center with Sheltered Instruction
Jamie Campbell Naidoo
Sheltered instruction (SI) is a teaching strategy that allows the school library media specialist to collaborate with the English as a second language (ESL) program to help English language learner (ELL) students integrate second language acquisition skills with content area instruction. By aligning ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students with Information Power standards, a powerful collaborative effort is formed between the school library media specialist and ESL teachers. These two U.S. standards for education allow ESL teachers to learn selection criteria and teaching strategies for using informational trade books with ELL students while providing an opportunity for the school library media specialist to learn how to better assist ELL students with information acquisition. Read-alouds, puppetry, book talks, storytelling, author studies, and listening centers are useful approaches for incorporating the various genres of informational books into sheltered instruction.

Last Updated 14 September 2005 (LAC)