[LM_NET] HIT: Student Benefits of Automation

[Ellen Nosal <enosal@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

Thanks to those who replied to my query about articulating student benefits of 
converting to an automated catalog/circ system:  
 
 
 
Students can become more independent library users.  The OPAC will not only tell 
them what resources the library has, it will tell them if the item is on the shelf 
or checked out, and usually also tells the date the item is due back so they can 
ask for a reserve.

Most OPACS will compile lists from searches that can be printed out, so students 
know if there is sufficient info available for a research topic.  Lists can be 
shown to teachers for approval.  lists sometimes give a brief summary of the 
contents of the items.  Students can take the list to the shelves to locate books 
themselves.
 
OPACS will often identify resources other than books when students perform a 
search, so they have a more comprehensive list of what is available.
 
If the school uses a reading program such as Accelerated Reader or Reading Counts, 
that info is a part of the OPAC entry, so students looking for those items can 
readily identify them.
___________________________________________________________________________
Can't give you the formal language, but one of the main benefits we  
noticed is that computer searching makes our collection so much more  
available, by being more searchable.  For example, with the old card  
catalog, unless something was listed as a subject heading, you  
couldn't find it, and most books had at most three tracings.  With the  
computer search, if anything is mentioned in the notes, it comes up on  
a search.  We had a kid who was fascinated with fiction books about  
dragons.  I had been able to find him three in the card catalog.  When  
we automated, and searched on dragons, we found them to be characters  
in 15 books in my collection, although none of these other books had  
it mentioned in the tracings.  This is why automation is important for  
even small libraries, or maybe even MORE important for small  
libraries.  It puts the collection so much more at your fingertips.   
Hope this is helpful.
_________________________________________________________________________
 
Faster and more accurate circulation procedures giving you more time for student 
related needs/activities.
Easier searching for students including keyword capabilities not possible in old 
style card catalog.  Easier, quicked maintenance of bibliographic records which 
again means more time available to work with students and teachers.
_________________________________________________________________________
 
Excerpted from a long response from Ohio;
Purpose of the project in relation to identified needs
Dr. Ross J. Todd, in his study Student Learning through Ohio School Libraries 
(2003), identifies “some essential … building blocks for effective school libraries 
in Ohio’s schools….”  One of the foundations of the Informational block is 
“Technological infrastructure: State-of-the-art technology to acquire, organize, 
produce, and disseminate information, and function as a gateway to information.”    
In addition, Guideline Four: Library-based Technology of the 2004 Academic Content 
Standards K-12 Guidelines: Library (Ohio Department of Education, 2004) includes 
among its benchmarks three which specifically speak to the value of up-to-date 
technology in the library.  Benchmark A states: “Provide, integrate and utilize 
online public access catalogs (OPACs) to locate and circulate school library 
materials;” Benchmark B: “Provide networked computers for staff and student use;” 
and Benchmark D: “Develop a virtual school library
 presence that students may access remotely.”

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