Research Models

            Having just completed LLED 469 I have had the opportunity to read about the many different Research Models available to us.

I have found that the 4 different models that we were to read about seem to follow the same basic process. The wording and the explanations of each of the steps are different in each model but they still follow the same principles. All 4 models also include the elements "Information, Student, and Answer." (Riedling p. 5)

I prefer "The Research Quest" as it is written in a way that is easy for the students to read and understand. I found that the other 3 models are written in a language that is more teacher friendly rather than student friendly. I like the fact that it provides the students with many different examples of what could be done in each of the five steps. The five headings are also written in student friendly language.

Being a Grade 1 teacher, I have not had the opportunity to work as a Teacher Librarian and try any of these research models. In LLED 469 I had the opportunity to use "The Points of Inquiry" to develop a resource based learning project on Frogs. I found this model to be very useful as it is written with specific ideas and outcomes for each of the grade levels.

Before I start working on any research project with my Grade 1 students I introduce the students to the many non-fiction text features that they will encounter in non-fiction books. I get my ideas and lessons from Adrienne Gear's "Non-Fiction Reading Powers" book. I feel that it is important for the students to be able to identify the many different features and be taught how to use these features to gain important information about their research topic. The primary teachers at my school all use this book to first introduce the children to the features before they start their research projects.

After reading through comments on the research models, I also agree that the students are impatient and want answers immediately.  They do not really seem to want to work for their answers.  I like the idea presented that students should use 5 or 6 different types of resources to find their information.  I also like the idea of teaching note taking as it is something that is not really taught.  In grade one and two we teach the children to locate and identify key words.  They are asked to write down five or six keys words on the area that they are researching.  They then use these key words to formulate sentences about their topics.  They actually do a pretty good job in writing up what they have learned with their key words keeping them on track.

The Interview Process

            After reading Riedling’s chapter on The Interview Process, it seems to me that this process plays an extremely important role in a student’s learning.  It teaches the student to communicate, as clearly as possible, what they are after and what they need in order to complete their task.  I have to honestly say that in all of my years of teaching I have never seen any of our Teacher Librarians conduct any form of reference interview.  Yes they have asked the students a few questions about what they are looking for and then proceeded from there.  Many of the students at my school often choose to do their own research, in the computer lab, rather than going down to the library and using the Teacher Librarian and his knowledge of appropriate resources.  We do however have a few teachers who choose to use the library and the Teacher Librarian when working on resource based learning projects.

            First and foremost, I must say that I believe that it is extremely important for the Teacher Librarian to have a great rapport with the students.  The students need to trust the Teacher Librarian and feel that they can ask him/her anything and not feel embarrassed or stupid when the question/s are asked.  The Teacher Librarian needs to establish the library as a warm and welcoming place where the students enjoying going.  Once this rapport and atmosphere have been established, I believe that the Teacher Librarian will experience a great deal of success with students approaching him/her for help with reports, research or even just the simple task of locating a great book to read.

            Until reading this chapter, I never realized that I would have to become an interview specialist.  I understand the necessity of these interviews.  They play an important part in helping the students choose and refine their topics and to find the necessary resources to complete their projects.  When I take on the position of a Teacher Librarian, the role of an interviewer is one that I will have to work on and refine.

            With a Teacher Librarian’s position decreasing in time, almost yearly, I would find this a difficult task to complete with the many different students in the school.  I would also find it difficult to get to know all of the students really well being that the library is only open fifty per cent of the time.  I think I would prefer to discuss, with the classroom teacher, what will be expected from the students prior to the interviews as this would give me some insight into what will be expected from the students.  Secondly, I would be able to access print copies and find appropriate sites on the web to aid the students with their research.  I believe this would help me with the interviews and I would have a better idea of what is available so that I may better assist the students.

Selection, Evaluation and Maintenance of the Reference Collection

            As I am getting ready to start Assignment 2, I have been taking a good look at our present library situation when trying to decide which area of our school library needs the most work.  Over the past three years we have had 5 different Teacher Librarians working in our library, none of which have actually done any of the Teacher Librarianship course work.  When talking with our present Teacher Librarian, we came to the conclusion that the whole library needs to be evaluated.  We also decided that the primary fiction section of the library was in the most need of weeding and new resources being purchased.  Riedling’s book provides a great list of resources to use when searching for books to purchase for the library.

            Riedling states that “A good reference source is one that serves to answer questions and a bad reference source is one that fails to answer questions.” (Riedling, page 19)  I whole heartedly agree with this statement and believe that it is an important consideration when purchasing resources for the library.  I found Riedling’s Evaluation Process to be very informative.  I like the fact that it is broken down into six different sections to be used for consideration when purchasing new resources.  These sections are extremely helpful to me since I have never had to opportunity to have worked in a library and have gone through the process.

            Content Scope provides a good outline of what to look for when looking at potential resources.  It suggests some very important things to consider such as reflection on the purpose of the source and its audience, currency of the materials and has the author accomplished what he/she has intended to?

            The section on Accuracy, Authority, and Bias also provides a great list of questions to consider when looking at resources.

            I believe that the arrangement and presentation plays a very important part when considering which resources to purchase for a collection.  Presentation or the layout of the resource is especially important.  I feel that a book needs to be laid out in a way that will be physically attractive and easy to use by the students.  If it is difficult to navigate through and physically unattractive I believe that the book will sit unused on the shelf.  I believe that the same thing applies to on-line resources.  If they are easy to use and navigate through they will likely be used a great deal more by students than ones that are difficult to use.

            Timeliness and permanence are also important factors to be considered when weeding out resources and purchasing new ones.  With the ever changing advances in technology and information on the web, I feel that it is important to try and stay as up to date as possible with on-line resources.  This however is very time consuming and with Teacher Librarian’s time being continually decreased this makes for a near impossible task.

            The Teacher Librarian is presented with a yearly budget which almost always falls well below what is needed.  He/she is left to try and keep the library current with his/her limited budget.  Resources need to be carefully considered.  Is this the best resource?  Is there something out there that is cheaper and will do the same job?  What do the other staff members want to see purchased for use in the library?  Is software a better option than a print resource?

            When considering purchasing resources for the school library media center, there are many factors that need to be considered. It is not an easy job and the school staff should participate, in some way, in this process and not leave it all up to the TL.  

Introduction to My Journey in Learning

Hi my name is Sue and I am a grade 1/2 teacher in Vancouver.  I have never worked in a school library in my life but hope to one day.  After looking through the content to be covered in this course, I have come to the conclusion that I know very little about selecting resources for a school library. 

After working through lesson one and reading Riedling's list of definitions I came to the conclusion that I was unaware of many of the terms used in reference sources.  For example, like many people in our class, the term "Gazetteer" was a new word. I had never heard it before.  I am familiar with the basic terms such as Almanac, Bibliography, Big6 Problem Solving Model, CD-Roms, databases, dictionary, directory, DVD, Encyclopedia, Thesaurus, and weeding. 

Since I have had no experience with most of these definitions I don't find any of them to be surprising. The ones that I would like some discussion on would be the On Line resources since I am unfamiliar with them and have no idea how to even go about accessing them (OCLC, OPAC, RLIN)

Working through LLED 469 Project Based Learning introduced me to many of learning resource based models available to use with the children.  I particularly like BC's The Points of Inquiry as it breaks up the research model into grade specific objectives and provides examples of what can be done at each grade level.  I like the fact that it teaches the children to locate and search out appropriate information rather than just copying and pasting information found on the web.  This goes well with Jody's comment about plagiarism.  The children need to be informed that merely copying someone else's work is unacceptable

Blog 2 Learning Resources

As I read through Riedling’s book I am slowly acquiring a large wealth of information.  After reading through chapters 3 to 8 I was amazed to learn about the vast assortment of resources available to us.  After reading through the chapter on Bibliographies I was pleasantly surprised to find that bibliographies are written as databases for use by the Teacher Librarian when searching for resources.  My understanding was that bibliographies are what are written at the end of a paper or research project.

            Secondly, I never realized that there were so many different kinds of dictionaries available for student use.  I was aware that we had your basic English Language dictionaries as well as dictionaries available for translation between one language and another.  I was also aware of the Thesaurus.  I was very interested to find out that there are so many different kinds available.  I guess teaching in an elementary school limits the types of resources that are available to us since we would not really have the same need as at a middle or high school.

            Chapters 3 to 8 also provided me with a better understanding of the terms that we read about in the glossary in lesson one.  Throughout these chapters Riedling provided us with clear, concise information for evaluating and selecting resources.  Having never worked in a library, her criteria provides me with a starting point in my reference selection and evaluation.

            I am also grateful to her for providing the many on-line resources, at the end of each of the chapters, most of which I had never heard of before.  Now that I know about these on-line resources, I will be able to provide my Grade 11 and first year university children an abundance of resources that they may use in their future endeavours.