Information and technology (libr.job descr.)

[Michelle Larose-Kuzenko <mlarose@MINET.GOV.MB.CA>]

Hello LM_NET friends,

        About a year ago, there was a great big discussion on this listserv
about the proper title for our job.  No real consensus was reached because,
I think, different jurisdictions not only have different requirements for
the jobs, but different job descriptions, staffing procedures and more.
Again we are in the thick of the discussion, hoping for a broader
description that would encompass technology.

        This is a very important discussion.  With the rise of technology,
many of us are finding that schools are busy creating new jobs for
"technology specialists", or whatever the term is.  That worries me a great
deal because by and large, these jobs are being created parallel to ours.
I find that in far too many places, the librarian is still viewed as the
keeper of the books. Technology being such a new thing, the librarian can't
possibly handle it!  Hence, she / he is kept aside while someone NEW is
found.

        I am reading in the mail of the past few days that most librarians
are over-extended and adding technology to an already busy workload seems
suicidal.  Some of us are only able to do it because of support staff
(library technicians, clerks), and others because of the  great insight of
principals and superintendents who recognize that information is still
information (a rose by any other name...) and so information available on
any form of technology, be it CD-ROM, computer software or Internet still
need to be dealt with in a manner similar to that available in good old
books.  It would seem to me that teacher-librarians are best suited to deal
with information literacy, but such is not the case in practice. Not enough
school administrators realize that there are two components to technology:
the workings of computers AND the processing of information obtained.  I am
downright concerned that technology and libraries seem headed in two
different directions.

        We need to cooperate.  Teacher-librarians need to be involved in
the development of curricula involving technology and the Internet.  We
need to be involved also in selection of software resources, just as we are
for books.  And we need to be involved in the set up and the delivery of
professional development sessions regarding technology and information
literacy.  Whatever term we use to call ourselves, it is our ability to
ensure our involvement in ALL its aspects that matters.

Cheers,


Michelle Larose-Kuzenko         Teacher-librarian/
Sun Valley Elementary               Technology coordinator
125 Sun Valley Drive            Enseignante-bibliothecaire /
Winnipeg, Manitoba                  Coordinatrice de telematique
R2G 2W4

Phone: (204) 663-7664
E-mail:  mlarose@minet.gov.mb.ca

         "School Libraries are playgrounds for curiosity"