Lesson 2 - The Reference Process and Information Skills

In the reading for this lesson, it indicates:

 

"successful reference services" consist of three components:

1. knowledge of the library media collection
2. effective conversational skills (communication)
3. competence in selecting, acquiring and evaluating resources to meet students' needs.

. . . we should add a few other qualities that a teacher-librarian should possess in order to support successful reference services:

4. understanding of the research process and the affective qualities that are inherent in research.
5. patience with the frustrations that often accompany reference services and an ability to stay positive despite these
6. knowledge of and an eagerness to apply information skills, where applicable, to all levels of student research.

 Given my time in the library (0.3) these expectations are a bit steep.  At this point, very little "research" is occurring in the library.  Every class comes to the library once a week for 45 minutes (kindies are only 30 minutes) - that gives time for a brief lesson and a book exchange.  Teaching the research process requires me to start something with a class and then for the teacher to follow through with the rest of the project.  Therefore, "research" and the reference service of the library aren't always happening together.

Having said that, looking at the six components listed above, I can still analyze what is currently happening in the library and where things can be improved.

• knowledge of the library media collection - I have a very good knowledge of the hard copy books that are in the library.  I have less knowledge of the other, on-line resources that students may access.  Our district has a subscription to World Book On-Line, but other than that, students need to rely on other free information services.  I have bookmarked many of these for the students.  An added challenge is the fact that my school is a French Immersion school and finding those on-line sources in French (at an appropriate reading level) is more difficult.
• effective conversational skills - I believe that I am a very good communicator, however, given that the school is a French Immersion school and I am not fluent in French, communication is sometimes more difficult.  I am very capable at French (have spent the past two years learning it) and speak in French all day at school.  However, I may be lacking in some of the technical jargon and subject specific terms.
• competence in selecting, acquiring and evaluating resources to meet students' needs - Again, I believe I am doing a good job of this.  Being French Immersion, the task of finding books with an appropriate content at an appropriate reading level becomes difficult.  This makes it necessary for me to physically see (and read) each book before purchasing it to ensure the level is suitable.  Likewise, finding those on-line resources is also difficult.
• understanding of the research process and the affective qualities that are inherent in research - I have more to learn in this area.  I am experienced in conducting research myself, but found I was unaware of the current models being utilized in education.  Becoming more familiar with these models will enable me to better teach the research process to my students
• patience with the frustrations that often accompany reference services and an ability to stay positive despite these - I think, in general, I am a very patient and positive person.  Having said that, very young students learning in their second language can very easily become frustrated when they can not find what they are looking for or can not understand it.  A better understanding of the research process will help me in this area.
• knowledge of and an eagerness to apply information skills, where applicable, to all levels of student research - I believe I have a good knowledge of information skills and am very eager to apply them to student research.  One of the things I am looking to for next year is a way to put some "flex-time" into the library schedule so I can do more in the way of research with students.