LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Thanks to all of you who responded to my request for ideas about saving
time/finding time. I recieved some neat ideas and some of them will find
their way to an article.
Here's a compilation of the suggetiions with some editing just to make this
shorter.
THANKS AGAIN!! (be sure to read the last suggestion)
Mary Alice Anderson, Winona MN Middle School
________________
Sometimes I hear administrators say they don't have enough time. One thing
they can do is decide what they need to do, then place it on their
schedule, just like a meeting. That then prevents the time from being used
in another way.
I just did a slide show, was working on a tight deadline and had 3 people
contribute parts to it, i.e. a chart, some graphs and Quicktake pictures.
In this case it was adults, but students could take pictures or do
something for you to free up time.
Define what matters most? Kids? Shelf lists? Caring climate? Sate and
district mandates? What your community wants? Your principal? Efficacy?
Higher level thinking...the list goes on. Who can do what is most
important? If you focus on things that don't matter much you will put your
job in jeopardy.
Use kids in an engaged manner whenever possible (don't just give them the
drudge work, but something they care about and engage them).
Technology is fun, but it may be as effective and take less time to use low
end technology like a transparency rather than a slide show. Make your tech
time count.
_
I don't know if this is cool or creative. When I first started at the high
school level we would do a three day orientation with sophomores. (We now
have freshmen as well.)
We would go over resources, rules, etc., and by the time they came in with
a class they didn't remember anything. We now do "just in time" orientation
with teachers who request it and just introduce this best resources for the
assignment. A good bit of our work is done one on one with students. This
has freed up a chunk of time!!
I also have been showing students how to put paper in the printer!!! I
think they think there is some mystery to it.
We automated so we no longer file cards---that really is a great time
saver!! (but that is pretty silly.)
___
Hi! WHen I was in a school library lst year, I was a one man bandwagon. I
didn't have time to check-in, checkout, shelve books, daily maitenance of
files, etc. and help students. My solution was to put books on display on the
tables, ends of shelves, the top row of shelves, and on top of my ficiton
stacks. This cut down immensely on the need to shelve. Students and teachers
likes the results.
______
We have stopped stamping the date on date due cards to put into our books
as kids check them out. It was just too much of a hassle to have students
do it correctly and took up needed time for my clerk to do it. I always
felt that since we are automated, the kids get constant reminders as to the
status of their books.
_______
To save time (and my frustration level), I tell the kids their books are
due in 2 weeks, but the computer has a 30 day date. I got tired of having
to override the notices
onscreen. I send class lists of overdue materials at the end of each
marking period, individual notes at semester end, and parent letters only
for the last few missing itmes at year's end. One could drive oneself
loony otherwise, and it is a little compulsive.
Since my aide was eliminated, and when parents can't come in, I
shelve by
the "chunk" method. If it's on the right shelf, it's in the right place.
Picture books are shelved by color tape (A&B in one section, neon red,
etc.). After all the kids don't often search for those by author.
I just bought self-inking stamps for book stamping and was delighted to
read that others have felt stamping the "special page" was too
time-consuming. I've changed my ways already.
I'm going to buy a laser pointer to indicate the shelf where a book
can be
found. I try to honor teacher requests ASAP (before I forget, basically).
__________
Although I love the creative effort that goes into
bulletin boards and displays, I can't afford that kind of time. So I've
been designing boards that stay up for a really long time. With a little
forethought, this is a real timesaver.
________
With the advent of technology, we no longer have things like typing &
filing catalog cards and making/pasting book pockets and cards -- thank
goodness! We don't use date due slips any more -- just write the due date
on a dry-erase board at the circulation desk each day. We haven't found
that it made any difference in how many books were overdue -- we decided
kids never looked at the date due slips anyway!
We have gotten a lot less fussy about shelf order. Our basic philosophy is,
"If it's on the right shelf, they'll find it". We try to keep the shelves
as straight as possible, but the minute some kids get to the books, the
order is destroyed -- and our shelves are used constantly!!!! We decided it
just wasn't worth spending hours reading shelves to put everything
precisely in order.
We have color-coded our Easy section by letter (red spine labels for E/A,
lime for E/B, etc.). Now we can tell at a glance if an Easy book is in the
wrong section -- and the kids can put books back accurately. Highsmith
sells 23 colors of tape -- for a couple of letters we used combinations.
___
With the advent of technology, we no longer have things like typing &
filing catalog cards and making/pasting book pockets and cards -- thank
goodness! We don't use date due slips any more -- just write the due date
on a dry-erase board at the circulation desk each day. We haven't found
that it made any difference in how many books were overdue -- we decided
kids never looked at the date due slips anyway!
Our kids check out their own books once they get to second semester of 1st
grade. They know to come get us if the computer does anything odd. (Our
system makes a distinctive noise and puts a message in the middle of the
screen if there is an overdue, a lost book, etc.) The kids do wonderfully
-- and we don't have to sit behind the desk. New kids are "trained" by
older ones, and we have a graphic set of directions taped to the desk
showing the 3 steps in checking out a book.
I'm sure there's more that we do to cut time, but my brain is wearing down
at this time of the day!
I don't have time to save and catalog my magazines -- they are checked out
by the kids themselves and I try to keep three months current. Back issues
are given away.
I don't maintain a vertical file -- but I think few do anymore.
The thing I did differently last year than ever before is not to put date
due slips in the books. Odd, isn't it? I would never have thought of this
on my own, but I opened a new school last year (K-5) with 11,000 books. The
county ordered the opening collection and didn't order datedue slips as
part of the processing. They said that nobody looked at these except the
media specialist anyway, which I recognize as a truth. And in an elementary
school, all classes come every week. So, we no longer insert slips, remove
slips, stamp slips, etc. Before this last year, I was in upper grade
schools, and I think you would have to keep up with doing due dates there.
But K-5, it's no big deal.
I catalog my paperbacks with title and author only (no keywords or other info).
I'm 4/5 (four days a week) and still teach 20 classes a week with no assist
other than parent volunteers so I do what is most important ....
Oh, I don't maintain a shelf list other than what the computer will generate.
This isn't cool or creative, but I've had to give up on the vertical file,
the school store (located in the library), and library club
meetings/outings. The addition of 6 computers, the increase of ILL,
training a new library aide and the process of automating the library will
be taking up all my extra(?) time. In exchange, I hope to recruit the
library club members and their parents as volunteers to do some of the
basic jobs in the library, shelving, books & magazines. The students are an
endless resource. One just has to fins out what their individual strengths
are. Maybe even paint the library over a weekend. Time will tell. I don't
start back until 9/8. And do you know that with all the extra tasks set
before me this year, my principal has suggested to me (when I popped in for
a visit 2 weeks ago) that "we" (me) get involved with more video taping and
local TV broadcasting. Yeah right! She doesn't have a clue, as to the
amount of work it will take to get the library automated. I requested
summer hours, and of course was denied. I look forward to your article for
more ideas!
I don't know what should be minimized or given up, but the one thing that
should not be given up is LM_NET. LM_NET is the best resource for
controlling the big picture and is nearly instant help when you need it.
I've found it takes about 10-30 minutes to scan the day's entries. While
I'm not in the schools now, I know that LM_NET was the resource I knew was
lurking somewhere when I was.
Mary Alice Anderson, Media Specialist
& Editorial Consultant, _Technology Connection_
Winona Middle School 166 West Broadway
Winona MN 55987 Ph: 507-454-9439
home: 507-452-1180
School web site: http://wms.luminet.net
Personal home page: http://wms.luminet.net/teachers/manderso.html
Media tech page: http://wms.luminet.net/wmstechnology/index.html
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