Re: Library Tech Dilemna

[JCONSTANT@UMASSD.EDU]

On April 13, 1994, Joan Brown wrote:

-Hi fellow netters,
-You've helped me before and now I am a real dilemma and am calling on
-your past experiences for advice.
-Our district jumped into technology several years ago with a grant given by
-Apple to our former Industrial Arts teachers,now turned Tech teachers.
-Our district has four libraries.  The only library that is automated for
-mangement and information technology is my place of operation, the middle
-school. I jumped into technology with assistance of monies from the PTA and
-book fair profits.  Now as I begin purchasing cd's, I find Tech has already
-purchased and is using the cd's that I assumed would be library materials.

-For example; our tech lab has the encyclopedia, both Groliers and
-Encarta, Time almanac, Mayo health clinic, and many others.  My problem with
-all this is basically what are the guidelines for tech and library.
-Obviously, I feel the librarians job is to teach information skills and how
-to utilize the found information.  Kids have to be taught brainstorming,
-keyword, skimming, etc. in order to use information.  In tech. they
-freely use all the materials with no guidance except for a given "research"
-topic?

-Has anyone had a similar problem..I see the possiblility of elimenating
-the library media people and turning the whole information access position
-over to Tech.   HELP
- Joan Brown ny00141@mail.nyser.net


REPLY TO JOAN:

Dear Joan Brown,

     Yes, there are others who have had the same experience as you describe.
It is an insidious thing.  The tech people have not had training in research
skills, censorship issues, copryright, integration of the information
retrieval and processing skills into the curriculum, etc. They fail to
realize that there are many tools that can be used to provide for the
information needs of students of different abilities and reading levels.
They don't realize that they are undermining our efforts. Although it may not
be intentional on their part, they are throwing obstacles in our way and
undermining our attempts to coordinate techonology with Goals 2000. It is
especially difficult in states where there has been no real support for
library media programs, because we are already understaffed and underfunded.
It is taking most of our energy to survive, much less fend off such attacks.
     In 1988, I participated in a Chapter 188 Tech Grant in which 10 school
districts collaborated in tech projects. At my school the two participants
were the Data Processing teacher and the Reference Librarian. The Data
Processing teacher saw nothing wrong with his suggestion that his students
should offer to teach online searching to students at the school. I did not
know that he had included this brilliant idea in the final report (which he
got to print and edit) until I had read it. I was mortified, to say the
least, but it was too late, because the damage had been done.

     Our state is now holding public hearings for a statewide tech plan.
I have heard from people who have attended the first hearing that the
proposals include the following:
     -Librarians should be converted to "compute facilitators"
     -IF there are no librarians at a school, then aides will do
     (Since my comments are censored, I have omitted them.)

     In my district, there is a new trend. Elementary school libraries are
staffed by reading teachers. This has now progressed to the middle school,
where we have "computer/resource" teachers. One of them, an excellent Social
Studies teacher  who happens to be a friend, recently sent me a message
asking what one should do about overdue books.(My immediate response would
have been to tell him to take courses in School Library Management, etc.. I
couldn't do this, because it was not his fault. He was placed in this
situation by an adminstrator who obviously has no understanding of
the importance of a real library media program. The district is poor, and
such programs are considered an unaffordable luxury.)

     It does get discouraging at times. Still, one has to fight back. So,
I'll drag my 55 year old body to the public hearings and make a little noise.
I'll also go to the curriculum frameworks meetings and stress the importance
of integrating the information skills into the curriculum. (It's they only
way that students will get these skills in my district, since we really don't
have a k-12 plan for teaching these skills.) Speaking  our minds about these
things may sometimes give us the appearance of being obstuctionists. This is
not the case at all. Many of us are trying to keep up with technology and
many of us are sharing this information with our teachers. Many of us are
also tired of being undercut by tech people who have no conception of what we
are trying to do. When it comes to technology planning at the district or
statewide levels, the library media community is usually left out. We have to
make a lot of noise to even be considered as an after thought!

     So, MAKE NOISE!!!!!   and wish me luck!

                                             Best wishes,
                                             jconstant@umassd.edu




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