1. A Very Collaborative Virtual Learning Community
Presented By
Connie Williams & Anna Koval
CLA & CSLA 2010 Annual Conference
2. What we're going to talk about...
How two high school librarians
teamed up to create a virtual library
for the teens and 'tweens in their town
and saved their schools and district
and public library lots of money!
14. "How might we create a website of data
that helps students find information
that applies to a variety of assignments,
is comprehensive enough to be complete,
but is not overwhelming?"
24. ...we need to give students
assistance and instruction...
25.
26.
27. We've all watched aghast
as our students for years
have googled right past
our teacher project pages
to do their teachers' bird
reports...
28. We know that there's no
quality control at Google,
but as Palfrey and Gasser point out,
students don't know that!
29. Students "use search engines
as a crutch [and think]
whatever comes up first
in Google must be accurate."
John Palfrey and Urs Gasser, Born Digital, 2008, p. 179.
32. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* Not too many links...
* Not too many words...
* Less is more...
* Fewer clicks to find stuff...
33. Our power is in our ability
not only to teach
internet savvyness,
but to model it, too.
34. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* Make it useful...
* Make it fun...
* Social networking!
35. With PetaData, they're using the website
as a tool to teach themselves. Rather than us
talking about social networking, they're using
Delicious links to learn about Delicious.
Because that's what they do in real life.
36.
37. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* The social sites we're using:
* Delicious
* Meebo
* Facebook
38. Joyce Valenza says...
"If we are going to prepare
students to be effective
adult information seekers
and users, then we need
comprehensive
understandings
of how [young] learners
connect with information
[now]."
From "They Might Be Gurus," April 2006
(qtd. in Rosenfeld and Loertscher 226).
39. David Loertscher says...
"The Internet ... has created a fabulous
competitor for libraries of all types.
Search engines ... are so easy and
immediate that many young people,
faced with a research assignment,
just "google" their way through
the Internet rather than struggle [in] ... a
more traditional library environment.
Teacher-librarians need to realize that
to stay relevant, they must embrace
the information needs of children and
young people on their own terms,
not those of well-meaning adults."
From "The Digital School Library: A Worldwide
Development and a Fascinating Challenge," June 2003
(qtd. in Rosenfeld and Loertscher 108).
40. On social and recreational new media use as a site of learning:
"Contrary to adult perceptions, while hanging out online,
youth are picking up basic social and technological skills
they need to fully participate in contemporary society.
Erecting barriers to participation deprives teens of access
to these forms of learning. Participation in the digital age
means more than being able to access “serious” online information
and culture. Youth could benefit from educators being more open
to forms of experimentation and social exploration that are
generally not characteristic of educational institutions...
[because n]ew media allow for a degree of freedom and autonomy for youth
that is less apparent in a [traditional] classroom setting."
From The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning,
"Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project," November 2008
(Ito et al.).
43. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* We wanted to make the site a one-stop shop...
* 2 libraries, 2 websites, but only 1
to memorize...
* We didn't want students to have to keep
moving between sites for one assignment...
46. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
We wanted to include as many as possible
within our reach:
* 2 comprehensive high schools
* 4 continuation high schools
* Administration, Faculty, Staff, Parents
49. Collaboration like this isn't easy...
Our vendors told us some horror stories of
district endeavors like ours that went way bad...
Teacher-librarians at each others' throats!
We didn't let petty things get in our way...
We kept our focus on our kids...
not on our selves!
50. We also gave each other permission
to say, "what a crappy idea!"
51.
52. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* We gave each other permission to say critique
and criticize without fear of hurting feelings.
* We didn't have to explain why we didn't like an
idea unless we thought it would help us figure
out where to go.
53. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
In the beginning, our approach was to...
* Decide on a name...
* Create a website...
* Determine the focus...
* Begin search for content...
* Set up a sandbox...
54. We used a wiki
for conversation
and collaboration...
60. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
Most importantly...
* Work with your vendor reps...
* Talk with them...
* Be nice to them...
* Be up front...
* Negotiate...
* Trial honestly...
63. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* Databases are just the beginning...
* Be judicious about selecting websites...
* Bookmark general links...
* "Friend" and "follow" each other on all shared
social networks...
67. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* Advocacy includes direct instruction...
* Promote use via every means imaginable...
* Orientations with classes
* Teacher project pages
* Bookmarks
* Bulletin Boards
* Announcements
* Websites
68. The Nuts & Bolts of PetaData...
* Professional development opportunities are PR
opportunities!
* Inform and instruct the staff at your site
* Train each other's teachers (be a new voice)
* Faculty meetings
* PD days
* "Tech Time"
* Newsletters
75. Our Plans for PetaData...
* Blog...
* Podcast...
* Video demos...
* Screencasts...
* Cross-Town Teen 2.0...
76. Our Plans for PetaData...
* More collaboration with community partners:
the public library and the junior college...
* More pushing of information out to users and
less pulling (or dragging, sometimes kicking and
screaming) of users to the site...
* More user input regarding content and format...
* A site usability study a la George and Krug...
77.
78.
79. Afterall,
it's not our job
to re-catalog the web.
The above is a paraphrase of Miranda Doyle, author of 101+ Great Ideas for Teen Library Web Sites (Neal-Schuman, 2007).
She actually just said, "don't catalog the web."
80. We're just giving kids access points
to the web that they can't get by
Googling on their own so that they
can figure out how and what to do
with it themselves.
81. Dr. Loertscher says library websites
seem to say to young people: ''You
need to use this information space
as we have designed it for you."
from In Command, Hi-Willow, 2007, p. 1.
82. We want to move away from that
mentality and adopt an attitude of:
"If they build it,
they will use it."
83. As we move forward,
we must consider
some big questions...
84.
85. The Big Questions...
* What makes PetaData more than just a parking lot?
* What does PetaData do for our libraries that our
websites don't?
86. The Big Questions...
Is it our librarian role to give kids links/info/data?
If yes, then:
* what links?
* where do we start / stop?
* is a website the best way to convey that info?
If no, then:
* what does "data" in petadata mean?
87. "We are not facing an either-the-library-or-the-
Internet dichotomy, a future in which the choices
either belong to the Luddites or the technonerds..."
"...The Internet is now in the library
and the library is in the Internet."
88. Dr. Loertscher says library websites
seem to say to young people: ''You
need to use this information space
as we have designed it for you."
from In Command, Hi-Willow, 2007, p. 1.
89.
90. And, now with PetaData,
that's the case more than ever!
92. Bibliography...
Doyle, Miranda. 101 Great Ideas for Teen Library Web Sites. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2007. Print.
George, Carole A. User-Centered Library Websites: Usability Evaluation Methods. Oxford: Chandos, 2008. Print.
Harris, Frances Jacobson. I Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online. Chicago: American Library Association, 2005. Print.
Ito, Mizuko, Heather Horst, Matteo Bittanti, Danah Boyd, Becky Herr-Stephenson, Patricia G. Lange, C.J. Pascoe, and Laura Robinson.
Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project. Rep. The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning, Nov. 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://www.macfound.org>.
Krug, Steve. Don't Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. Berkeley, Calif: New Riders Pub., 2006. Print.
Palfrey, John G., and Urs Gasser. Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic, 2008. Print.
Rosenfeld, Esther, and David V. Loertscher. Toward a 21st-century School Library Media Program. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2007. Print.
Williams, Robin T., and David V. Loertscher. In Command!: Kids and Teens Build and Manage Their Own Information Spaces, And--
Learning to Manage Themselves in Those Spaces. Salt Lake City, UT: Hi Willow Research & Pub., 2008. Print.
94. About the Presenters...
Connie Williams is the teacher-librarian at Petaluma
High School in Sonoma County, California. She is
National Board Certified and has been a teacher-
librarian for 22 years. She’s the co-developer of several
CSLA 2.0 tutorials and the co-producer of "Circulate
This! Stories from the School Library." She is past
president of CSLA, an author for CSLA and AASL, and
a blogger for Follett Software.
Anna Koval is the teacher-librarian at Casa Grande
High School in Sonoma County, California. She is an
ALA/YALSA Emerging Leader and a Walt Disney
Teacher of the Year Nominee. She is the webmaster
of the School Library Journal-honored website
BigHouseLibrary.com and the author of articles for
CSLA and AASL on technology and librarianship. She
is a CSLA Northern Section Board Member (on hiatus).
95. About the Presenters...
Connie's Dog Lucy Anna's Dogs Jack + Charlie
Just in case you couldn't tell,
Connie and Anna are animal lovers!