Internet

The website I chose is the Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries. The Laura Bush Foundation awards grant money to school libraries to purchase more books to help grow a library. The site offers up to date information on money that is being awarded. The website also offers information on how to apply for a grant. I chose this website because it offers valuable information for someone who is wanting more funding for their school library. I found this website using the google sear engine. I thought this was a helpful website with useful information. The website is:

http://www.laurabushfoundation.org/

Multimedia

http://connect.ala.org/aasl

National Library Advocacy day was held on June 29th. I received the image from the American Association for School Libraries. I chose this image because it should remind us to always be an advocate for our school libraries. When funding is in question the librarian needs to be the library's biggest advocate.

Database Searching

This competency assignment had me choose 4 different databases and choose 4 searching approaches to use, one in each database. The question that I will be searching for is, How can a public school increase their library budget or funding?

Database #1-The first database searching approach will be successive fraction. The successive fraction approach starts with a broad topic, and then the search is narrowed by using limiting techniques. The limiting techniques I will be using are the Boolean terms.

S1- public schools or library or budget=174,203 hits

S2- public school and library and budget=66 hits

S3- public school not library and budget=10 hits

One hit from the search

Peterson, JW. "Stretch Your Budget! How to Select Web-Based Subscription Resources." ALA Washington News 23.2 (February 2003): 20-24. LibLit. Web. 25 July 2010.

Reflection-Successive fraction is a good approach when searching because it places limiters on the search and narrows the search down.

Database #2-The next database approach is the building block approach. The building block approach starts with a single concept and builds upon that one concept. The database I will be using for this approach will be the database titled ERIC.

S1- school library= 8,059 hits

S2- school library and funding= 413 hits

S3- school library and funding and increase= 20 hits

One hit from the search

Krause, Robin. "PAWs for Reading." Illinois Libraries 82.1 (2000): 57-69. Eric. Web 25 July 2010.

Reflection- The building block approach allows the searcher to narrow down their search by building upon what they are looking for.

Database #3- The next database approach is the browsing approach. Browsing is seeking and selecting information by skimming and scanning. For the specific approach I will use the database titled Project Muse.

S1- school and funding=6,495 hits

S2-school library and funding= 3,329 hits

S3-school library and increase funding=1,656 hits

One hit from the search

Welsch, David. "Government Expenditures on Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Education."The Journal of Developing Areas. 42.2 (Spring 2009): 129-156. Project Muse. Web 25 July 2010.

Reflection- By using the browsing technique search results can be random and not point to exactly the results the searcher is looking for.

Database #4-The last database approach is the citation pearl-growing approach also known as the snowballing approach. The approach starts with a simple search and then grows as the search progresses. The database I am using for this approach is titled World Cat.

S1-increase school library funding=22 hits

The hit I chose to look at the advanced options was a book.

Jordan, Mary Jayne. Bottom Line, Libraries Lead to Learning. Cheyenne, Wyoming: Wyoming Library Association, 1996.

The advanced options suggested I choose to add school libraries to assistant my search. By adding the word school libraries the hits total was 14,231.

One hit from the final search

Bacon, Pamela. "100 Library Lifesavers a Survival Guide for School Library Media Specialist." Libraries Unlimited. 969 (2000): 317. WorldCat. Web. 25 July 2010.

Reflection- If a searcher is having a hard time coming up with enough hits from a search then the snowball approach is a good approach for increasing the hit results.

Overall Reflection- I have always used the browsing approach when conducting a search. After completing this assignment I have learned and feel that browsing is not always the best way. After conducting the 4 different approaches I feel either the building block approach or the successive fraction approach is the best when conducting a search.

Competency-Tagging

I chose the book titled Grants for Library Schools for my tagging competency. I hope to be a school librarian one day, and I thought this book would come in handy, giving tips and resources on how to obtain grant money to fund the school library.

shandra's books 025.1 du mlis grant writing grants libraries lis management mlis textbook office professional read reference school library textbook wishlist

http://www.librarything.com/work/1431835/book/62441424

Competency-RSS Feed

The rss feed I chose is from a website called Squidoo. Squidoo is a website full of school library resources. Resources that can be found on the website are blogs, newsletters, book vendors, web 2.0 tools, and internet resources. I one day plan on being a school librarian, and I found this rss feed to be very helpful in my area of interest.

Decisions

Many times we find ourselves at a school board meeting, and a budget decision has to be made. Should we put money towards a new football field or should we use the money to purchase more books and materials for our public school library? Many times the new football field wins. I searched podcast by using the google search engine, and I found one interview that was incredibility inspiring. The interview is with Laura Beltchenko, who is an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for a school district in Illinois. After the reorganizing of different grade levels, Laura felt that it was extremely important for the school libraries to receive new materials. She did not let the football field win. She has won the advocate of the year award. Some suggestions she made for more funding is trying to obtain grant money, and to really determine the needs for new collections. Another great idea she had was their public library and their school libraries are very much connected. All libraries in the community work together and support each other. The libraries often hold meetings together to try to find ways to promote literacy in the community. I found this podcast to be encouraging and inspiring in knowing that there are school professions who think the library is a key element in school success. Here is the link to listen to the podcast.

http://www.librarybeat.org/longshots/play/154

Strength in Numbers

Here is a great article that was posted on a blog called Third Coast Digest about a group of students that came together to save their library and their librarian. I found the article by using the google blog search engine. (http://blogsearch.google.com) After much debate on trying to cut funding for the library, the students rallied around their librarian and formed a group called Rescue our Librarians Club or RLC. The students started a petition and even had a parent set up a website to save their library. After a presentation to the school board the library was saved. They are now trying to lobby an amendment for more federal funding. What a great tip!

"Even though Negron’s job is safe for the next school year, the RLC is not stopping in their quest to build awareness for libraries and librarians. They have lobbied Moore, who is developing an amendment to the No Child Left Behind bill which would provide federal funding for librarians and art, music and gym teachers. They have met with Alberto Retana, the U.S. Department of Education’s Director of Community Outreach, presenting him with copies of their petitions to save librarians. The students are also continuing their petition drive with an online form for adults and printable forms students can circulate among their peers at school. So far they have collected over 800 student signatures in their mission to save libraries and librarians."

Here is the address of the article on the blog.

http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2010/06/why-do-the-students-get-it/