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Rationale and Discussion:

Science 10 was chosen for this project as it is a focus area for my library this year. I am working with the science department to revitalize the collection to specifically support Science 10 which is provincially examinable. Additionally, each science classroom has been fitted with a laptop and projector, and the digital resources can be accessed from the classrooms. The intended audience for this project is both teachers and students, and thus it was organized around the six curricular themes. Each image was used as a link to a new page in a hierarchical web site design.

The sites, videos, audio files etc were chosen to reflect a range of abilities and comprehension levels. Some are challenging and some are easy to understand. They were chosen based on their interesting appearance and content, and based on their connection to the curriculum. I wanted a range of material from the silly songs on the scientific process to the serious university lecture recording.

After a brief email in reply to a question about You Tube, I started to look more carefully at the HTML coding on the various websites, which gave a lot of information that could be used to recognize potential bias. It was also difficult to determine copyright dates as they often ranged from when the site was originated to when it was last edited (eg., 1994-2011). I chose to use Dewey Decimal System since that is how my library is already organized, although in retrospect, since the sites are available online, my database will link right to them. I think how to organize and catalogue digital resources will become more and more prevalent in the upcoming years. In the end, we have to look for the way that best serves our clients and makes it easy for them to find and use what we have found.

Discussion: Doiron and Asselin explain the “teaching potential of technology” (82), yet many teachers do not have the time or energy to fully utilize the materials available online free of charge. As the authors state, research has shown that “time”(82) is the greatest deterrent in teachers developing and using online materials. With the librarians help, this barrier can be overcome. Additionally, Kay Bishop asserts that the “selection of websites for assignments should be the media specialist’s responsibility, rather than having users rely solely on search tools” (103). Providing this service, from the library, would enhance the role of the librarian and the importance that teachers place on his/her support role in the school.

Doiron and Asselin state that a role of librarians in elementary schools is to assess the content of websites (82), but this is also important for secondary librarians. Often, vocabulary and content can be too difficult, especially in the science field. I found many items available, whose audience is university students, yet some of these resources, with review, are easily usable in high school. Additionally, while we must acknowledge lower functioning students, we must have materials that challenge strong students.

In doing this project, I was surprised at the extent to which I had to utilize Dorion’s five key points to evaluate websites: Authority, Accuracy, Bias, Currency, and Coverage (82). I noticed, especially when picking Sears Subject headings, that I did not know my exact science content well. I was able to pick out key words from the curriculum, but finding the actual DDS code was clearly dependent on content knowledge. The importance of these skills cannot be stressed enough, because if we, as librarians, do not possess confidence with these five areas, then how can we teach them to our students and staff.

The Canadian Association for School libraries has created a list of professional competencies for school librarians. Many of these competencies are demonstrated in the digital library project. Through the development of this library I have provided “leadership in collaborative program planning and teaching to ensure both physical and intellectual access to information” (1.2). The science teachers have already begun to use the library for their Science 10 courses, and have asked me to create similar sites for their other courses. Additionally, librarians at the other high schools have asked to share the resource and add to it.

The project demonstrates my knowledge of the “curriculum programs mandated by the province, district and school” (1.3) which has increased my credibility with the science teachers. It has also demonstrated my willingness to go beyond the library to support their work and our students.

Since many students prefer using online formats, and most have access from home, the digital library shows I recognize “students and their social, emotional, and intellectual needs” (1.4). They have also been excited to access the sites, and have commented that the You Tube videos, especially, have led them to some additional usable information sites. As a librarian, this digital library “has [demonstrated my] expert knowledge in evaluating learning resources in different formats and media, both on-site and remote, to support the instructional program” (1.5). It has shown staff the types of resources that are available, when we have time to search and preview. It also demonstrates the wealth of support material available, and confirms that we do not need to reinvent the wheel to teach well.

Many of the items in the library show that we can “develop… and promote… the effective use of informational and imaginative resources in all formats through cooperative professional activities” (1.6), and utilizing this resource effectively will require a bit of time to be spent with teachers. I would have preferred if they had given me their list of sites, but when I asked they said they did not have time. From now on though, if they find sites they like, they will email the link to me. Which demonstrates that an effective librarian “provides appropriate information, resources … to satisfy the needs of individuals and groups” (1.7). At a time when all staff are feeling overwhelmed, my time is well spent creating projects such as this to support their work and it clearly shows that I know how to “use… appropriate information technology to acquire, organize and disseminate information” (1.8).

While the creation of the website and searchable structure took an inordinate amount of time, in the end, if it is used, the project was worthwhile. Kay Bisop, in the Collection Program in Schools, lists a variety of advantages to using websites, but also lists the disadvantages. This project battles some of those problems. For example, she states that “searching for information takes place without the guidance of an index or classification scheme,” (103) which in this project has been created by the librarian based on the curriculum. The curriculum unit structure allows students to focus their study and review on the unit under study. Bishop also comments that some website content “may not be appropriate” (103) which has been alleviated by prior screening by the librarian. She comments that “when accessing numerous links” students “can easily get lost or lose focus” (103). While we cannot prevent students from going onto the next You Tube video, those concurrently listed are all related to the one linked, so rather than going on to irrelevant sites, their continued exploration may lead to deeper understanding.

In conclusion, I agree with Bishop’s assertions that the librarian can play a key role in finding online sources to support classroom learning, but I disagree that the “process is quick, cheap, and efficient” (102). I found creating the website itself used a great amount of my prior understanding of website development and wiki use, each site needed to be reviewed using Doiron’s criteria, and connections to the curriculum affirmed.

The creation of the MARC records was exhausting, and required an inordinate amount of learning to take place in a short amount of time. While the process of creating the records was informative, and did develop my understanding of the content of some of the numbered lines, in reality we download the data. The argument that we need to check the accuracy of records is not feasible, as in many public school libraries, with 130 minutes a day, I do not have time to check records unless mistakes are popping into my face. With that in mind, however, I now clearly understand the importance of the descriptors in the MARC records, as through my collection evaluation course, I determined that many of my NF and FIC books do not have descriptors, so do not show up when students use key curriculum vocabulary to search. I now understand why their searches come up empty, when we have books on those topics, and have set my helpers to doing book by book searches to add information to MARC records.

I enjoyed creating the website and links with the curriculum for Science, and have enjoyed seeing the appreciation from both students and staff. On a last note though, my tech support staff are perplexed as to why I would want non-permanent items (that I do not own) imported into my database. As the world continues to change and we integrate more and more technology, while the Internet expands to become even less manageable, the concept of digital libraries will surely become more important. We will need to be focusing our time on creating such support tools for students and staff, in order to save them the wading through link after link of advertising and junk that continues to infest our searches and distract our students.

Return to Alice's Digital Library

Sources:

aaa Bishop, Kay. (2007). //The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts, Practices, and Information Sources.// Libraries Unlimited: USA.

aaa Dorion, R. & Asselin, M. (2005). //Literacy, Libraries, and Learning: Using Books and Online Resources to Promote Reading, Writing, and Research//. Pembroke: Canada.

aaa Google Images: All images from Google images, or from the front page of the website or You Tube Video listed.

aaa Students' Information Literacy Needs in the 21st Century: Competencies for Teacher-Librarians. (Canadian Association for School Libraries) [|http://www.cla.ca/casl/literacyneeds.html] retrieved February 28, 2011.

__Other Help Sources: __

Hi Alice, Thanks for your e-mail. The best response I could give would be that the fields wouldn't differ all that much it really depends. Especially where youtube is concerned because it could be catalogued either as an electronic resource or a multimedia item. Electronic resources tend to focus on the operating system requirements (what it will take to make the item work). If the youtube is being catalogued as a multimedia item such as a sound recording you would probably be more interested in things such as performance date, producer, editor etc. Looking at your marc record and the website (which I got from the 856) I would say don't forget to look at the source code for the webpage for that's where the metadata will tell you the real title for the webpage. If that title is insufficient then I would consider using a 246 field for an alternate title.

In addition, according to the marc rules, there can be only one $h subfield for a 245 so you might have to make a choice as to which $h you would keep. I would personally choose the $h that points to the website although the preferred AACR2 term would be [electronic resource].

I hope that helps. If you have any other questions, please feel free to e-mail me.

Best, Max

Quoting Alice Barlow-Kedves :

> ?Hi Max, > I found your intro to the elective course on youtube while searching > for the differences between a marc for website and you tube. Can > you tell me how the fields would differ. > Thanks > Alice Kedves > > ps. Here is a marc I created for a website. It might not be totally > accurate as it's my first attempt. > > 010 $a 000002 (I created a pretend accession number). > 042 $a English. > 050 $a 502 SCI. > 082 $a 502. > 100 $a 10 Science Stuff Inc. > 245 $h Scientific Process Description > 245 $h Website. > 260 $a Science Stuff Inc. > 300 $a One free website. > 501 $a This webpage charts the scientific process. > 502 $a The website summaries will help students who are either > desigining a science fair project, or who are learning the process > for a science class. > 520 $a Scientific process > 600 $a Science. > 602 $a Science projects. > 603 $a Science - Experiments. > 604 $a Scientific Education. > 605 $a Science -- Study and teaching. > 606 $a Science -- Methodology. > 650 $#0 Web sites. > 800 $a Hypothesis, > 801 $a School Science. > 802 $a Handling Chemicals. > 803 $a Experiment. > 804 $a Conclusion. > 805 $a Scientific Process. > 852 $i SCI. > 852 $k DIG (Digital). > 856 [4 0] ID: [] > 856 {4 2} ak(viewed on February 19, 2011) > 919 $a akweal > -- Max Dionisio, MISt, Ph.D. Faculty of Information 45 Willcocks Street, Room 308 Toronto, ON M5S 1C7 max.dionisio@utoronto.ca

From my tech support help:

I think a Youtube video would be done along the same lines as a web site. Having said that, in my mind I can’t see creating a MARC record for a website or a youtube video; to me a MARC record is created for a tangible resource. A website or a youtube video should be a link attached to a resource…but that’s just my thinking and I know times are changing. Sharon

Hi Alice, Some of the fields I don’t use, so I’m not that familiar with them. I have a book that explains MARC records and some of the things that vary in your MARC record are: 010 – This is the Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) – not an accession number – we normally put the accession # in 852$p 042 – I don’t know what this number is. Language of cataloguing is normally put in 040$b 050 – This number is not mentioned in my book (my book could possibly be out of date, but I don’t know how much the numbers change) 100c – Richmond School District (I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a 100c) 245h – You have a typo here – Thackwary instead of Thackwray (You also have Thackwray in 100 a & 260 b)     245h – You have info in 245h twice, I think you can only have one. The title should be in 245a and the medium in 245h. 501a, 502a, 503a – My book doesn’t have these tags. You can have information in more than one 500a tag; I would be inclined to put these 3 in 3 separate 500a’s. Your 600 tags: 600a – You have put Science – but 600a is for a Personal Name – I think Science should be under 650a – and probably the same for all the rest of your 600’s. You can have multiple 650a’s I’m not familiar with 856 and 919.

The subfields are always preceded by the $ sign, I haven’t included it here in most cases. I hope this helps…I’m not an expert on this, but this is my understanding of it. Sharon