This year my personal professional development centred around my involvement in the GSSD cohort of Powerful Learning Practice. The PLP has given me the opportunity to network with other professionals to gain insight and skills in digital literacy to assist me in answering the question:
How can we use Web 2.0 tools to help connect the school librarians in our 28 schools?
BACKGROUND: In the spring of 2009, the Good Spirit School Division implemented a major library software upgrade by transferring all 28 schools to a union library database. At the time five different software packages were being used in the division. A union catalogue did not exist making it difficult to arrange interlibrary loans and to share catalogue records. After two days of training, however, it became apparent that we were going to need a way to provide ongoing support to the librarians as we familiarized ourselves with the new product.
In the fall of 2008 as part of the literacy initiative, the position of school library consultant, later renamed as library learning coach, was created to help support literacy in the division by supporting school libraries. With 28 schools to work with, it was evident that a method was needed for networking.
Solutions:
GSSD Libraries Blog
Purpose:
- to list the most useful links for online research including the online databases and online encyclopedias to which the school division has subscribed
- to provide an archive of weekly newsletters to library personnel
- to provide a storehouse for Destiny Library Management (software system) support documents
- to house my Google calendar so that the librarians can locate me as I travel among the schools
- to provide an access point to the lessons and seminars I teach
- to provide an accessible space for posting information for school libraries in the following categories:
- Collection development
- Online tutorials
- Latest in school library research
GSSD Libraries Wiki
Purpose:
- to form the framework for our full day of inservice which will include the agenda and all links that will need to be accessed that day
- to provide a workspace for school librarians to work on our Collection Map where we can list the learning outcomes of the new curricula and then match them to content areas that should be present in library collections
- to provide a space for librarians to recommend materials to be added to school library collections
- to provide a discussion forum for topics such as fiction genre headings, materials for older students reading at a lower level
- to provide a place for librarians to post questions and answers regarding the new library software
- to provide a place for cataloguing support resources
Online Tutorials
Using Adobe ConnectPro, online tutorials can be created and posted for future reference. On December 10, 2010 I recorded an online tutorial with directions on how to use Discovery Education Streaming, an online video streaming product to which our school division subscribes. The tutorial can be accessed here.