O
Organize and as sim i late the in for ma tion into your body of work
G
Gauge the qual ity of your work, eval u ate what you learned and what you cre ated, and re turn to for mer steps if nec es sary
Fig ure 8.22. Adapt any word to de velop an ac ro nym.
Com pare the “BULLDOG” ex am ple to the “URSULA” ac ro nym and no tice how easy it is to change verbs and ter mi nol ogy to suit your needs.
Pro ject Pages
Many of you al ready cre ate sites that bring to gether the most ap pro pri ate re sources and sources for a spe cific as sign ment or pro ject. Li brar i ans have al ways cre ated bib li og ra - phies, and this takes the idea a step fur ther by in clud ing links to your li brary’s elec tronic cat a log, the best da ta bases for a spe cific re search pro ject, the teacher’s as sign ment page, Web sites that you or the teacher have de ter mined to be use ful, and per haps a Web site eval u a tion form or cit ing for mats. If the teacher has re serve ma te ri als, it’s a per fect lo ca tion to in clude them. Post the pro ject page as a Web site so that stu dents and par ents have ac - cess 24/7. Ask the teacher for time to walk stu dents through the page and in di vid ual re - sources (it’s a good chance for re view) and make cer tain that ev ery one is sent away with re mote ac cess usernames and pass words for all re sources that re quire them. The fol low ing ex am ples (Fig ures 8.23 and 8.24) show the pro ject and as sign ment Web pages and links to the sources that stu dents will need for chem is try and clas sics pro jects. You can of fer descriptions
of Web pages or da ta bases on the sec ond ary pages along with the spe cific links to each source. And even of fer sug gested search strat e gies or search terms to re mind stu dents how to best search for the in for ma tion they need.
Fig ure 8.23. Sam ple chem is try pro ject page.
Other Use ful Tools and Sam ples / 95
Fig ure 8.24. Sam ple Ro man em per ors pro ject page.
Par ents’ Night in the Li brary
Stu dents are not the only pa trons and stake holders in our schools. Build ing re la tion - ships with teach ers and staff is of ob vi ous im por tance, but what is n’t so ob vi ous is the im - por tance of con nect ing with your stu dents’ par ents. Par ents are valu able stake holders for both the li brary and the school, and it never hurts to give the li brary and your self a lit tle pos i tive pub lic ity. Pro vide spe cial events just for them. For ex am ple, send e-mail, print fly - ers, and an nounce ments in news let ters or other pub li ca tions in vit ing them to at tend a Par - ents’ Night in the Li brary. Busy par ents of ten lag be hind their chil dren in tech nol ogy skills and are very ea ger to get help us ing com put ers, soft ware, and in for ma tion re sources. An in for mal and ed u ca tional so cial event will al low new par ents a chance to take a closer look at their child’s learn ing en vi ron ment and to in ter act with one or more of their ed u ca tors. If the ses sion has space for more par tic i pants, in vite teach ers and staff to en sure a good mix of par tic i pants. Par ents will take away much more than tech nol ogy and re search skills af ter in ter act ing with you and other teach ers.
If you hold your ses sion in the early eve ning, many par ents will be ar riv ing di rectly from work with out din ner. Pro vide light re fresh ments and give each par ent a folder with a hand out of the PowerPoint pre sen ta tion, a pen cil, pa per, and a copy of your usernames and pass words sheet. Ask for re search top ics of in ter est or have sev eral that will in ter est them; top ics that should in ter est par ents are travel, health, or parenting. Cover the in for - ma tion sources in your li brary and their pub lic li brary, dem on strate sim ple search strat e - gies, and dis cuss how to de ter mine good and cred i ble in for ma tion. And, per haps most im por tant, in form them about what you teach their chil dren about in for ma tion lit er acy.
Cre ate a short PowerPoint pre sen ta tion to be gin the event and help to fo cus par tic i pants.
Have fun with the event, in ter act with your par ents and let your skills and in ter est in in for - ma tion lit er acy im press them. Fig ures 8.25 through 8.27 of fer a few ideas.