LBS 850 

WEEK 12 

Catalog it! Part Two

...the saga continues...

All I can say after the past two weeks reading this book (Catalog It! Catalog It!: A Guide to Cataloging School Library Materials by Kaplan) is thank God for technology. Having to memorize anything from this book would be torture. It was like trying to read a math book in another language. Most of cataloging today is automated and done with a click of the mouse.


Two sticking points gained through discussions with classmates these past weeks are as follows:


SIGNAGE! and lots of it. Signage on shelves as well as book spines. Because we use the DDC system in our library I need to order stickers for the spines delineating horror, mystery, romance, etc.. I think this will be a big help. I am also creating resource lists on Destiny to help students find genres they love.


SEARCHING: I have spent the last two weeks showing grade 6 students how to use Destiny and the difference between searching by title, keyword and author. They use Destiny a lot, however, I noticed that the 7th and 8th graders quickly forgot about the benefits of Destiny. Today I made a tutorial on how to access and navigate Destiny that I plan to post on the 18 Google classrooms I manage. I will also send it to teachers. Link the to the video here

LBS 850

WEEK 11

Catalog it!

This week we focused on the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) System and read the text "Catalog it!" by Allison G. Kaplan. There are many pros and cons to the DCC system and I have outlined them below.


PROS: 😀


*Many are familiar and comfortable with this system


*It can be found in most libraries/world's most widely used way to organize library collections.


*It breaks down into structured and ordered disciplines, divisions, and sections


*The DDC allows for the close classification (longer numbers for specific subjects) or broad classification (shorter numbers with fewer details).


*Easy transition from the school library to the public library with ease



CONS:😟


*There is a widespread bias towards Protestant/American aspects most seen in both the history and religion disciplines.


*Many books cover more than one subject area, how do you decide where to shelve it?


*The length and complexity of call numbers may discourage some users and makes shelving tedious


*Melvil Dewey was a problematic dude, to say the least. His reputation was one of antisemitism, racism and sexual harassment.


Is it a good idea to “genre-fy” your collection? Has the Dewey Decimal Classification system run its course? Like most things in life, there are advantages and disadvantages that can be found. Do the benefits of Dewey outweigh the disadvantages?

This week's readings:


Adams, Cecil. “What’s So Great About the Dewey Decimal System?” The Straight Dope. January 31, 2006. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2238/whats-so-great-about-the-dewey-decimal-system


Lynch, Sarah N. and Eugene Mulero. “Dewey? At This Library With a Very Different Outlook, They Don’t.” New York Times, July 14, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/us/14dewey.html


Marrocolla, Elisabeth Gattullo. "The Trouble with Dewey." SLJ, October, 2019 .https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=The-Trouble-with-Dewey-libraries (Links to an external site.)


Whelen, Debra Lau. “Librarians Weigh in on Arizona’s Dewey-Less Library.” School Library Journal, June 6, 2007.http://www.slj.com/2007/06/public-libraries/librarians-weigh-in-on-arizonas-dewey-less-library/

LBS 850
WEEK 10

Teaching Teachers

This week I created a powerpoint slide show (slide thumbnails show below) to present to parents and students at our district's Fall Parent Academy. My goal is to involve parents in their students learning. By understanding databases they can support their student when they are struggling with research projects. Also, by understanding the Destiny catalog and encourage reading and share ideas of titles that sound appealing. As of 2017, the school committee realized it necessary to have 1 full-time librarian at each middle and high school in the district. We are grateful they identified this need. It is our hope to see the same for our eleven elementary schools which currently do not have an LMS in their libraries. My next step is to create a screencast of this PowerPoint presentation and post it on the library website as well as my students Google Classroom. Below the PowerPoint thumbnails and my script for each slide.

Parent Academy for Grades 5-8: Supporting Your Student in the Digital World, Monday, November 18

PowerPoint Notes

Slide #1: Welcome

Welcome everyone, thanks for taking time out of your busy lives to be here tonight.  My name is Joanne Collins and I am the library media specialist at BMMS

Slide #2: Introduction of Middle School Librarians 

We so lucky to have full time librarians at each of the 5 middle schools. 

Slide #3: Destiny and Gale logos

Tonight I am going to show you a few things that will enable you to help your students achieve academic success.  

The first is using the Destiny Catalog and then how to access and navigate the databases

Slide #4: What is Destiny?

What is destiny anyways? Quincy Public Schools uses a library management system that allows librarians to keep thorough, real-time track of our library's inventory and gives students an easy and fun way of discovery and reading.  With Destiny, students can see which books we have available on our shelves. Librarians can put books on hold if they are already checked out and we can request books from other middle schools.  

Slide #5 How do I get to Destiny?

Going directly to destiny.quincypublicschools.com is quickest,  however you can always access through the QPS main website so I will show you both ways

Slide #6  QPS Main Page Screen Shot

Once on the QPS main page, click on Middle School Library Websites on the panel on the right

Slide #7 School Library main page for Middle Schools

Then click on QPS library catalog.  IF you are interested in checking out each school’s own library page you can do that by clicking on the individual school name up here

Slide #8 Choose Your School

Then you arrive at this page.  If you were to log directly onto the destiny.quincypublicschools.com it would bring you directly to this page.  From here, you want to click on your students school. Collections can vary school to school so it is important that you choose your school. If your book isn’t available we can put it on hold for you or we can get it from another middle school if they have it 

Slide #9 Click on catalog

Click on the word catalog at the top left side of the page

Slide #10 Enter TITLE, AUTHOR, or KEYWORD

From here students can search for books by title, author or keyword. I typed in the search: supreme court

Slide #11 Titles on the Supreme Court in our Library

This page shows the titles available, the call number, publication date as well if the title is available for checkout.  

Slide #12 Any Questions? 

Book can be checked out for 2 weeks and can always be renewed after that.  Students are allowed to bring books home with them and are responsible for keeping track of them and treating them with care. There are no fees for overdue books.  Please encourage your children to take advantage of all the library has to offer

Slide #13 Gale Online Databases

A database provides online materials -It deal only with published information; information that originally appeared in print: magazines,  journal articles, newspapers, books, etc. They are more stable than the web and allow you to find information not freely available on the internet.

Slide #14 Reliable and unreliable sources - who can you trust?

Anyone can create a website on any subject whether they are an authority or not. No one is policing the web. This makes it hard to know if the information you are getting is credible. Also, search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, can give you millions of results where databases narrow your search by subject.   When you use library databases, you can be sure that you will find the kind of reliable information that teachers want you to use. Today I am going to show you some basic features of the databases, how to access them and how to use them for school projects.

Slide #15 Locating the Databases

Remember this page?  Now instead of catalog, click on Gale Databases

Slide #16 Database Main Page

This is the database page. each category is organized in alphabetical order.  I like to describe this as the mall. In this mall there are stores. You wouldnt go to the shoe store to buy an ice cream, so be sure to choose the correct “store” for your research purposes

Slide #17 Focus on Four 

There are many topics to choose from but for today I am going to focus on these 4: Britannica school, Kids Info bits, Middle School, and Science

Slide #18 Britannica School

Click hyperlink - Put in “solar system” under middle school. Show on left the panel of choices (articles, images, videos, etc)  Explain the different levels (1, 2 and 3) Click on the first link and show what a page looks like.. You can also change font size, cite, listen and translate the text.  

Slide #19 Kids Infobits 

Although it is an elementary level database that I find helpful for grade 5 and 6 as well as students who need more academic support because it is very visual and intuitive.

• Choose geography - show all the different choices
• Choose Geo and map terms- 
• Show search bar or browse topics 
• Search from list “glaciers”
• Click on content key level to show the different levels of articles 
• Choose first book and show article
• Click on listen and show it read aloud
• Click on gear to change speed it is read- you can choose to have just the word or just the sentence to be highlighted while being read and other options and features
• Show send to google drive
• Show share to classroom (green sq at top of page)

• Organize article excerpts and record your thoughts with Highlights and Notes
• Translate to the language of your choice
• Increase or decrease the font to your comfort level
• Print the article
• Send the article to your Google Drive folder

Slide #20 Middle School

• The information here is geared specifically for middle schoolers
• Show search bar or browse topics 
• Choose Choose US History
• Choose Boston Massacre
• Review main page- 4 audio, 1 videos, etc...
• Choose main article
• Show green dot: basic middle school level
• Click on words in blue found  in article brings you to other articles on these topics
• Point out words to know box

Slide #21 Science in Context

Here again you can use the search bar at the top, or simply scroll down to browse science sub topics such as biology, chemistry, etc. 

• Choose Physics and astronomy
• choose weathering

 Give overview of the page’s features. Choose first article and display page features.  Review citation tool

Slide #22 Recap: Why Use a Database/Any Questions?

Bottom line: If you are looking for credible, scholarly information that is carefully organized and easily accessible, use an appropriate database.

Slide #23: Thank you!

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LBS 850 BLOG POST

WEEK 9

Student Technology Promotion Project

My top five tools if I had to narrow it down would be:

1. Google Suites.  Although not perfect, I especially love Google Classroom.  I am able to leave notes for my students - class-wide or individually.  I can pre-prepare quizzes, surveys and lessons and have the results sent to me in a spreadsheet fashion.  I do prefer Microsoft Word to Google Docs but do love the collaborative nature of Google Docs.  

2. My Simple Show.  Write your script or upload a PowerPoint to mysimpleshow.com and the tool will auto-magically create your explainer video. You can use their images (called scribbles) or upload your own images.   It is a quick, fun, and a great way to enhance your presentations and explain any topic in a simple way.  The free version is very generous which isn't always the case for many tools.  The only drawback is that the scribbles of people are all white with no diversity.

3. Padlet.  Although I just learned about Padlet for this course, I love it!  Again, it's free and there are so many ways to use it; brainstorming a topic, statement, project or idea. I am thinking of ways of how to incorporate some of my lessons to utilize it.  

4. Flipgrid. This is another app I learned how to use from this class.  I like that it is very user-friendly and thus can be used with multiple grade levels.  It is versatile in that it can be used on any device and the best part is that is it completely free. This tool is also a great alternative to written responses and can engage students with fine motor issues and writing challenges. By having everyone in the room interact on Flipgrip, students with special needs are not singled out for accommodation but participate in the same modality as their peers, Read about 15 ways to use Flipgrid in the classroom here. 

5. Kahoot. I adore using Kahoot in the classroom as much as the students enjoy playing it. Kahoot is a platform where you can create quizzes, discussions, and surveys. The Kahoot is displayed via a TV or projector, and participants enter the game pin to play.  It's great for formative assessments, when kids need a brain break, and students can also make quizzes for each other.