Dear Randall
I think being proactive means anticipating needs before they actually arise,
and it is something that is probably more easily done in a smaller school,
but not impossible in a larger one.
Firstly, you need to determine what the needs are - I called it an
Information Needs Audit. Inspired by the requirements of a uni assignment I
have just done this, and it has been the most useful tool as it showed staff
the sorts of services I can / do offer; demonstrated to me those that they
thought were the most important, rather than what I thought they needed;
offered suggestions for what else I could do and provided a pathway to
develop the effectiveness of the Resource Centre.
These were the needs I listed and which were prioritised by each individual
staff member on a 1 -5 basis
1. provision of resources suitable for teacher use in a variety of formats
to support the delivery of the curriculum
2. selection, circulation and delivery of these on request
3. provision of resources suitable for student use in a variety of formats
to support the delivery of the curriculum
4. selection, circulation and delivery of these on request
5. provision of resources in a variety of formats to support your
professional development
6. provision of resources in a variety of formats to support your personal
interests
7. provision of fiction to support personal reading
8. provision of fiction to support students' instructional-level reading
9. provision of fiction to support students' independent level of reading
10. provision of non-fiction resources at both student and adult level
11. provision of reference materials such as encyclopaedias, atlases,
almanacs, dictionaries
12. collaborative planning and preparation of key topics in your proposed
program
13. suggestions for the integration of ICT into your program
14. suggestions for the integration of Information Literacy into your
program
15. suggestions for community contacts to support your program
16. instruction in the independent use of the Resource Centre for yourself
17. instruction in the independent use of the resource Centre for your
students
18. instructions in the use of applications software such as MS Office,
Keebooks, Inspiration, KidPix
19. instruction in the use of our computer network
20, instruction in the use of inDECS; Activated and other departmental
websites
21. instruction in the effective use of the Internet as a teaching tool
22. instruction in the participation/ development of ICT-based projects such
as webpages, book raps, email exchanges and so forth
23. alerts for participation in online learning projects
24. continued development of the PDPS website to support professional needs
25. continued development of the PDPS website to support student needs
26. access to the world's key teacher-librarian networks for resource
suggestions on request
27. alerts about appropriate resources or discussion threads from these
links as they arise
28. alerts for interesting items in the Bulletin
29. alerts for Professional Development opportunities
30. alerts for professional reading materials from NEWED or CCed
31. alerts of new acquisitions in the Teacher reference area
I also asked staff for the format and frequency that they would like the
services (including everything from email to casual conversation); the
preferred format of resources; those types of resources and content areas
that we need to build up; and the current service standards. In each
section I also asked them for suggestions for services that could be
provided and those that were listed that needed urgent attention.
Although it took a fair whack of time to put together (and I have just saved
you that time) and I have not analysed all the responses yet, a cursory
glance shows that there are some interesting areas that I need to develop
(and thus give myself new challenges in service delivery) and that I am
going to be able to deliver a more personalised service to each staff
member.
I was also encouraged because most of them rated the current services as
excellent, but that could mean they have nothing to compare it with!
But what I would like from LM list members, are suggestions for services
that YOU offer that are not on my list so that I can consider whether these
are appropriate for my library too. What else can I do to make the huge
financial commitment to our Resource Centre more cost-effective?
Kia ora
Barbara
Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
Palmerston District Primary School
PALMERSTON ACT 2913
AUSTRALIA
T. 02 6205 7241
F. 02 6205 7242
E. barbara@austarmetro.com.au
W. http://www.palmdps.act.edu.au
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