ALTHOUGH THE TRADITIONAL SERVICES described in chapter 2 still comprise the heart of most public library pro- grams for children, there are new approaches and trends that may signal sig- nificant shifts in direction. These trends include Internet access and patron training, homework assistance, service to homeschoolers, service to infants and toddlers, and services for parents. Many of them have their roots in ear- lier children’s services, yet they all represent new priorities, new competen- cies for staff, new practices, and perhaps a new ideology. These new trends in library service to children are interrelated, but I will discuss each of them separately.
computers. They have to teach people how to use this new tool to access information effectively.
People assume that children use new information technologies more readily than adults do. Children, after all, are not afraid of the computer. Yet many researchers have found that although most children do indeed approach computers more confidently than adults do, they do not necessarily use them effectively for information retrieval. The ubiquitous on-line library catalog is a good example. One interesting study done when many school and public libraries were converting from manual to on-line catalogs showed that some children had devised effective, if unconventional, strategies for finding mate- rials in a printed card catalog. Persistence was sometimes rewarded; they could, for example, just keep thumbing through the cards until they found something that looked good (Edmonds et al. 1990). On-line catalogs don’t provide the same opportunity for browsing, and spelling errors can sabotage an otherwise sound search.
A four-year study conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) compared the performance of children using traditional elec- tronic library catalogs to those using an experimental Science Library Catalog designed by the project team. The Science Library Catalog, which ran on low- end Macintosh computers, featured a graphical interface to the Dewey-based hierarchy of classification numbers using a visual bookshelf metaphor. This was intended to correspond to children’s mental model of a library catalog.
Children did, in fact, find it easy to browse the experimental catalog by mov- ing through successive levels of the classification hierarchy that was repre- sented by images of cascading bookshelves.
Among the interesting findings from the UCLA study was that children tended to abandon searches in traditional on-line catalogs more readily than in the open-ended Science Library Catalog. If their searches were unsuccess- ful in conventional on-line catalogs, they often assumed that the library had no books on those topics. It did not occur to them that their search strategy might be ineffective. Poor keyboarding and spelling skills, a limited vocabu- lary, and difficulty in formulating Boolean searches all make it difficult for children to use most electronic library catalogs. It is not surprising, then, that most children would rather not use a catalog as a finding tool at all. Their first choice in locating a book is to browse the shelves where they have found books in the past; their second choice is to ask a librarian for help (Borgman et al. 1995; Walter et al. 1996). In her continuing work with the Science Library Catalog, Sandra Hirsh (1997) confirmed that the complexity of the
search task and the amount of knowledge a child has about a topic also affect his or her ability to find information in a catalog.
The skills needed to find information in a text-based on-line library cat- alog might be difficult for some children to master, but at least they are con- crete. They are definable skills that adults can pass on to children. The World Wide Web presents a whole new set of skills for children to learn, including the more broadly defined competencies assumed under the rubric of informa- tion literacy.
A simple definition of information literacy is the ability to access, evalu- ate, and use information from a variety of sources. An information literate person:
recognizes that accurate and complete information is the basis for intelligent decision making
recognizes the need for information
formulates questions based on information needs identifies potential sources of information develops successful search strategies
accesses sources of information, including computer-based and other technologies
evaluates information
organizes information for practical application
integrates new information into an existing body of knowledge uses information in critical thinking and problem solving
(Doyle 1994, 3)
Obviously, information literacy is an inclusive term that incorporates many elements of critical thinking, problem solving, and research. Most pub- lic librarians would not feel qualified to teach the entire package to their library patrons, who are not the “captive audience” that school children are.
Not surprisingly, school library media specialists and university librarians have developed the most inclusive approaches to teaching information liter- acy. The 1998 edition of Information Power, prepared by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, presents nine standards for student learn- ing in the area of information literacy and suggests ways that school library
media specialists and teachers can work together to incorporate information literacy into the curriculum.
Some public librarians are beginning to take responsibility for educating their patrons in the higher skills associated with information literacy. Charles Curran (1990) points out that there is nothing new about the concepts asso- ciated with information literacy. What is new is the abundance of information that is available, the variety of formats in which it exists, and its importance to people’s lives. Public librarians find they must adopt a more educational role in order to guide people to the wealth of information in cyberspace.
Some libraries successfully counter the pressure to use filtering software by giving children a basic foundation in information literacy and guidance in using the World Wide Web. By offering Internet classes to the public, a library signals its willingness to take some responsibility for teaching children to use the Web safely and effectively (Walter 1997). There are several innovative models for teaching children and parents how to use the World Wide Web and other digital resources. Most incorporate basic elements of information literacy.
Let’s look at a few of them.
Since the mid-1990s, at-risk children in Baltimore have been introduced to the World Wide Web through the Whole New World program, an eight- week session that gives young people the confidence and the competence to use e-mail, chat, library catalogs, and the World Wide Web. When they com- plete their training, with the help of trained volunteers, they are “licensed to drive” (Mondowney 1996).
Carroll Davey, a children’s librarian in Jefferson County, Colorado, devel- oped a more streamlined one-session introduction to Internet safety and search strategies for children and parents. In a program presented at the Association for Library Services to Children’s 1998 annual conference Davey showed how she distilled this complex topic down to basic and comprehen- sible guidelines that could be absorbed in one sitting.
In 1999, the Santa Monica Public Library created a position for a digital resources children’s librarian who guides the library’s policies and practices for children in the digital arena. The main library has a computer training room where the digital resources children’s librarian offers Internet classes for children and parents.
The San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) has a well-endowed Electronic Discovery Center in its main children’s room and six branches, with plans to expand to all twenty-six branches. With major funding from the National Science Foundation Digital Library project and many corporate and commu-
nity partners, the center has incorporated a number of training elements into its service operation. Volunteers are trained to work one on one with children in the Electronic Discovery Center, and short introductory classes are offered to parents. Weeklong summer institutes train teachers and school librarians to use the library’s electronic resources (SFPL 1999).
Another project that targets parents is ParenTech, the result of a partner- ship between Ameritech, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, and the Association for Library Service to Children. The ParenTech kit, dis- tributed to schools and libraries, includes three parent guides, an interactive CD-ROM, and a Web site (www.parentech.org). These resources introduce parents of middle-school children to current issues involving technology and suggest activities that highlight the educational potential of digital media. The kit gives parents a good foundation for guiding their children to the most effective uses of the new information technologies.