Students arrive in our classrooms with the latest technology in the form of laptops, phones, and tablets. Our assumption is that they will know how to use these tools to organize themselves, conduct research and learn. That is definitely not the case – leveraging apps, programs, calendars, documents, and websites all need to be taught if our students are to make the most of the technology tools that are available to them. Certainly, secondary students require these skills when they advance into tertiary education. Students may not get the instruction they need at University as it can be assumed that they arrive having had experiences of high-level research tasks in their last years of secondary school. Teachers in secondary school can also assume that students learn these skills in the middle school years when there is ‘more time’ and less content pressure. None of these assumptions are realistic and they always rely on someone else to teach the skills and tools required. In a workshop at IASL (International Association of School Librarianship) conference in 2018 Jamshid Beheshti from McGill University in Canada, gave some scary information about the research strategies of first-year students – they went straight to Google or their friends to find information (Bond). The conclusion of the study was to call for high school students to be better prepared for academic research, – using databases, evaluating websites, using citation tools with understanding (Bond).
Schools must make the time to teach their High School students the tools and strategies of sound academic research and allow them time to practice those skills with feedback and guidance. Simply showing students how to use a database, how to take notes from a source, how to use a citation generator once is not enough. Guided practice is more helpful. At Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone, New Jersey students were started with Guided Inquiry from grade 7 and each year revisited the process on a major unit of Inquiry (Oatman 58). In this school, the teachers and the Teacher Librarians (TLs)worked together to design the inquiry, deliver it and guide the students through the process (Oatman 58). The key to the student’s successful development of academic research school was the partnership between TL and teachers and the fact that the students do not do this once and are then expected to remember it. They revisit the skills and tools systematically throughout their secondary schooling and build their skills while being guided by their teachers and TL.
In a study conducted by Ryan Rafferty with first-year medical students, he found that instruction about library resources and giving students guidelines on research methods had the biggest impact on the quality of cited materials in the work the students produced (213). The instruction those students received related directly to their actual assignment and the works cited lists produced were analyzed to see the impact of the instruction and make any necessary improvements for next time (Rafferty 213). This kind of work involves the academic librarians of the University and the Teacher Librarians in schools can give the same high-level guidance and instruction. In fact, some schools are setting up partnerships with tertiary libraries to create and deliver a syllabus that explicitly teaches the research skills necessary for college-level inquiry (Oakleaf and Owen). IN their study on the value and impact of librarian’s interventions on student skills development Sue Shreeve and Jacqueline Chelin found that every time academic librarians actively assisted with student research the students completed the work with much more confidence in conducting searches (204)
Effective partnerships between TLs and teachers and TLs and students must be formed if we are to send our students to College with adequate skills in academic research that are expected and required. This takes time and energy, commitment for school leadership and staff who are experts at collaborating for the sake of student success.
Works Cited
Bond, Amanda. “3 steps before Google – research support.” Wondering at work, 8 May 2018, abond.edublogs.org/2018/05/08/3-steps-before-google-research-support/. Accessed 17 Apr. 2019.
Oakleaf, Megan, and Patricia L. Owen. “Closing the 12 – 13 Gap Together: School and College Librarians Supporting 21st Century Learners.” Teacher Librarian, vol. 37, no. 4, Apr. 2010, pp. 52–58. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=50300767&site=ehost-live. Accessed 18 Apr. 2019.
Oatman, Eric. “Overwhelming Evidence: Now, There’s a Surefire Way to Show How Libraries Make a Big Difference in Student’s Lives.” School Library Journal, vol. 52, no. 1, Jan. 2006. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ755123&site=ehost-live. Accessed 18 Apr. 2019.
Rafferty, Ryan S. “The Impact of Library Instruction: Do First-Year Medical Students Use Library Resources Specifically Highlighted during Instructional Sessions?” Journal of the Medical Library Association, vol. 101, no. 3, July 2013, p. 213. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3163/1536-5050.101.3.011. Accessed 18 Apr. 2019.
Shreeve, Sue, and Jacqueline Chelin. “Value and Impact of Librarians’ Interventions on Student Skills Development.” New Review of Academic Librarianship, vol. 20, no. 2, 2014, pp. 204-32. EBSCOhost, web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=c6483402-bd6f-44a4-a83e-3dc2fec43a57%40sessionmgr120. Accessed 7 Mar. 2019.
Over the past four years we have taken our grade 11 – 12 students to a University Library for a one day field trip. Over the last three years we have gone to Koç University.
The students start their day with a tour of the campus and then spend 20 minutes in a seminar room in the library with one of the University Librarians. In the seminar the librarian opens the wifi to our students and shows them how to search the University catalog and databases. We then spend the next four hours researching the academic essay DP students have to write known as “The Extended Essay”. Every student has their own particular topic. They also have appointments to meet with the College counselor
One of the main reasons we go on this field trip is to introduce the students to University Campus life. Koç University is a large private University in our city and when we visit it is being actively used by the students on campus. Admittedly we try to visit during exam weeks or in between semesters so there are fewer students, but our students still get to see University students at work in the library.
These visits are usually welcomed by the University libraries as they get a chance to show off their campus and facilities to prospective students (Jung- Matthews). We do have a special relationship with Koç University built up over the years and with our own school librarians attending their Erasmus conference last year.
The teachers who attend the day with the students are there to guide them with developing research questions that will help their information search. As the Teacher Librarian I have a very busy day helping students to cite their sources, find resources and develop questions and key words to help with the search.
Koç University has its own agreements with databases and ebook subscription services and not all of their collection is open to us. Students may only use the print and electronic resources on the day so it is important to get the citations correctly recorded in order for the student to take good notes. Some of the resources our students found as ebooks while not available to them on the day they did find them on our school ebook Central subscription service. Knowing this ahead of time meant students could use their time in the library wisely (Ury).
We want to thank Koç University for their generosity in using their resources, their study rooms and the second floor of their library and to Vasia Mole the academic librarian who give her time each year for our orientation lecture.
It is always a great day.
Our dedicated students and teachers
Works Cited
Jung-Mathews, Anne. “Why (and How) to Set Up a College Library Visit for Middle Schoolers.” School Library Journal, 4 Jan. 2016, www.slj.com/?detailStory=why-and-how-to-set-up-a-college-library-visit-for-middle-schoolers. Accessed 25 Mar. 2019.
Ury, Connie J. “Value Added: High School Research Projects in an Academic Library.” Clearing House, vol. 69, no. 5, May 1996, p. 313. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00098655.1996.10114328. Accessed 25 Mar. 2019.
Last year we resurrected our student librarian internship programme. It had died off due to the numerous changes in the CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service, part of the core of the IB Diploma) programme about five years ago. With new CAS programme leaders and a renewed focus which allowed for in school service we decided, we would bring it back – with great success.
The hardest place to serve is in your own school.
What makes for a successful student librarian programme? Well apart from the enthusiastic students there are some key elements that we have discovered and research also confirms.
Ask students to apply (Braxton, McGown, Sproul). We have an application form which includes questions about why the student has applied and what they feel they can bring to the role.
Give a job description and make your expectations of the students very clear (Braxton, McGown, Sproul). Our job description is very generic but now I have read the articles cited below I have decided to add the need of commitment, reliability, cooperation, responsibility, trust and work ethic (Braxton).
Provide training (Braxton, McGown, Sproul). We have a 90 minute training session after school. We did try on the job training but it was very ad hoc and not as effective as training the students. Braxton suggests having levels of achievement within a training and student librarianship programme and have the students track their own progress.
Change up the tasks the students are required to do each week. We have four key roles and the students rotate through those roles.
Have experienced students lead team and help to train the new students (Braxton, Sproul)
Celebrate the successes and show appreciation for their efforts (Sproul). We find actually closing the library and ‘breaking’ the rules of no food with a pizza lunch or coffee and cake are all much appreciated by our student librarians.
Below are some helpful articles and websites I have found. Some of them are about adult volunteers as well.
Works Cited
Barack, Lauren. “Are There Any Volunteers?: A Pain-Free Approach to Getting the Very Best out of Parents.” School Library Journal, vol. 56, no. 12, Dec. 2010, pp. 40–43. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ922995&site=ehost-live.
Braxton, Barbara. “Make Your Load Lighter with STARS.” Teacher Librarian, vol. 32, no. 5, June 2005. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ728077&site=ehost-live.
Lincoln, Margaret. “Information Literacy: An Online Course for Student Library Assistants.” School Library Media Activities Monthly, vol. 25, no. 10, June 2009, pp. 29–30. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ840834&site=ehost-live.
McGown, Sue W. “Valuable Volunteers: How to Find, Use, and Keep Them.” Library Media Connection, vol. 26, no. 2, Oct. 2007, pp. 10–13. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ776631&site=ehost-live.
Snyder, Beth. “Recruiting Library Volunteers.” Library Media Connection, vol. 28, no. 1, Jan. 2009, pp. 22–23. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ857455&site=ehost-live.
Sproul, Betty. “Implementing a Library Helper Program Is Easy, Economical, and Energizing.” Library Media Connection, vol. 24, no. 7, Jan. 2006, p. 44. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ762332&site=ehost-live.
“Student librarians.” National Library of New Zealand, natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/leading-and-managing/managing-your-school-library-staff/student-librarians. Accessed 18 Feb. 2019.
This week I had the pleasure of seeing a student who was making a documentary go through the process of determining whether permission was needed to use some film clips from two published films (in one case no and in the other case – hmm not so sure). She decided to ask permission from the filmmaker but wasn’t sure if they would reply before her deadline to complete the film. We discussed a plan B – to use the information in the film and cite it but use voice-over or text over her own filmed footage at a Museum. It was not ideal and certainly would not have had the same impact. We discussed how to cite other people’s work in her film credits and in her write up. The very next day she came into the library with a brilliant smile – the filmmakers had given her permission to use their film. What a great outcome for her and what a delight for me to see a student being encouraged by professional filmmakers.
Students often do not understand or even consider copyright when using content (text, images, video) created by other people. Admittedly it is more difficult in an international setting but almost all countries have some sort of copyright protections and ignorance of the law of the land is no defense.
There is the idea of “Fair Use”. Richard Stim in his blog post for Stanford University Libraries explains Fair Use this way: ” fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an infringement.” Stim goes on to explain that actually, the word “transformative” is open to different interpretations. There have been times when people thinking they have adapted someone else’s work have been prosecuted for copyright infringement.
I always advise that when in doubt ask permission. Stim, has also written a blog post advising on the basics of getting permission which outlines 6 steps for students to follow. The first two are to see if you need permission and then find out who to ask.
I hope that more students follow this student’s example and experience encouragement from academics, researchers and professionals as they seek to do the right thing.
Works Cited
Stim, R. “The basics of getting permission.” Stanford University Libraries, fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/introduction/getting-permission/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
—. “What is fair use?” Stanford University Libraries, fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
This year for reading week our theme is “The world is my book.” We will be adding book covers to our world map as we read them. Follow our progress as we document where we have been traveling through the books we read.
