Powering Achievement


Book Description

The Lance studies and other research in this presentation booklet show that, as a whole, library media specialists and the programs they create do make a difference.




Assessment Powered Teaching


Book Description

Knowledge is power, and this book puts assessment data and instruction together in a step-by-step format. Instead of dreading the time testing takes from teaching, you can harness its power to define learning targets, build standards-based assessments; gather and use test data in the classroom, and develop data-driven teaching strategies. Assessment expert Nancy W. Sindelar provides practical tools that help teachers: • Use formative and summative assessment results to enhance instruction • Motivate students by providing clear learning targets • Utilize technology to analyze students’ progress • Raise test scores Included are testimonials from teachers, numerous data analysis examples, rubrics, and a chapter on culturally diverse schools. Designed to be adaptable, this book is a powerful resource for teachers, teacher teams, and all educators dedicated to enhancing student learning.




The Value of Academic Libraries


Book Description

This report provides Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) leaders and the academic community with a clear view of the current state of the literature on value of libraries within an institutional context, suggestions for immediate "Next Steps" in the demonstration of academic library value, and a "Research Agenda" for articulating academic library value. Its focus is to help librarians understand, based on professional literature, the current answer to the question, "How does the library advance the missions of the institution?" This report is also of interest to higher educational professionals external to libraries, including senior leaders, administrators, faculty, and student affairs professionals.




Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management, Fourth Edition


Book Description

Technical Services Quarterly declared that the third edition “must now be considered the essential textbook for collection development and management … the first place to go for reliable and informative advice." For the fourth edition expert instructor and librarian Johnson has revised and freshened this resource to ensure its timeliness and continued excellence. Each chapter offers complete coverage of one aspect of collection development and management, including numerous suggestions for further reading and narrative case studies exploring the issues. Thorough consideration is given to traditional management topics such as organization of the collection, weeding, staffing, and policymaking;cooperative collection development and management;licenses, negotiation, contracts, maintaining productive relationships with vendors and publishers, and other important purchasing and budgeting topics;important issues such as the ways that changes in information delivery and access technologies continue to reshape the discipline, the evolving needs and expectations of library users, and new roles for subject specialists, all illustrated using updated examples and data; andmarketing, liaison activities, and outreach. As a comprehensive introduction for LIS students, a primer for experienced librarians with new collection development and management responsibilities, and a handy reference resource for practitioners as they go about their day-to-day work, the value and usefulness of this book remain unequaled.




Activism and the School Librarian


Book Description

This book provides practical strategies and step-by-step plans for developing advocacy initiatives for school libraries. School libraries provide an essential service to the community, but without proper funding few libraries stand a chance to maintain the resources they offer—or to survive at all. School librarians can play an instrumental role in the survival of their programs. This how-to book provides school librarians with effective advocacy and activism strategies for promoting and improving their library programs. Activism and the School Librarian: Tools for Advocacy and Survival offers straightforward, practical approaches for creating advocacy programs. This guidebook examines the characteristics for becoming an advocate, explores the meaning of advocacy/activism as an effort that is ongoing and proactive, and provides the steps required for initiating a successful program. The contributors address the various types of advocacy and activism, including legislative advocacy at the local, state, and national levels; school and district level programs; and community-based initiatives. The book includes expert advice from successful advocates and provides helpful reproducible tools.




Librarians and Educators Collaborating for Success


Book Description

The first in the IASL-Libraries Unlimited partnership series, this book features contributions written by authors from around the world about their effective collaboration experiences. Collaboration between teachers and school librarians is a topic that is often discussed in the quest for educational excellence, but the international perspective is something that is rarely explored. This text documents the collaboration endeavors in international school libraries and—drawing upon research and direct experience—demonstrates effective collaboration experiences in a range of countries. It also features selected brief case studies as well as several original essays on the topic of collaboration between teachers and teacher librarians in curriculum planning. The result of a joint effort between Libraries Unlimited and the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL), this book shows how collaboration with teachers looks in the international arena. It addresses topics such as collaborating for success with student searching, the roles of librarians and teachers in the research process, principal involvement, information literacy, inquiry-based learning, use of digital resources, models of collaboration for diversity, and evaluation of collaboration. Additionally, the current research findings presented will offer readers new insights into their profession.




Toward a 21st-Century School Library Media Program


Book Description

This collection of enlightening and stimulating articles, written by some of the most important figures in school librarianship, demonstrates how teacher-librarians, classroom teachers, and administrators can work together to create a 21st century school library media program. With topics that emphasize student success, leadership, partnerships, curriculum design, collaborative planning and teaching, literacy, 21st century skills, emerging technologies, and so much more, this compendium brings together the best of the best discussions. The practicing teacher-librarian, as well as the student seeking to expand his or her knowledge of the field, will find this compilation especially beneficial in providing an overview of the most critical issues related to the role the teacher-librarian plays in their school. The articles, previously published in the peer-reviewed Teacher Librarian: The Journal for School Library Professionals with several included from the magazine VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates, reveal how school libraries and teacher-librarians are moving forward to meet the challenges of this new century.




Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences


Book Description

The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, comprising of seven volumes, now in its fourth edition, compiles the contributions of major researchers and practitioners and explores the cultural institutions of more than 30 countries. This major reference presents over 550 entries extensively reviewed for accuracy in seven print volumes or online. The new fourth edition, which includes 55 new entires and 60 revised entries, continues to reflect the growing convergence among the disciplines that influence information and the cultural record, with coverage of the latest topics as well as classic articles of historical and theoretical importance.




Reaganism and the Death of Representative Democracy


Book Description

This is a reasoned but passionate look at how Reaganism—the political philosophy of Ronald Reagan—has severely damaged representative democracy as created by the nation's founders. According to Williams, Reagan and his foremost disciple George W. Bush have created a plutocracy where the United States is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people but is ruled by the wealthiest individuals and corporate America. Refreshingly unafraid to point out that Reaganism's anti-government fundamentalism stands on feet of clay, Walter Williams asks that Americans move from their political apathy to pay attention to the politicians and the corporations lurking behind the power curtain to see the dangers they represent to the true essential of the American way of life. Williams' most important contribution is his extended analysis of the central role the key institutions—the presidency, Congress, the federal agencies—must play for the U.S. government to be capable in both sustaining representative democracy and protecting the safety and economic security of the American people. A clear result of the weakened institutions has been the grossly inadequate homeland security effort following September 11, and the massive corporate fraud revealed by Enron and other large firms that robbed the nation of hundreds of billions of dollars in stock values and depleted the pension savings of millions of people. The initial destructive blow that damaged the institutions of governance can be traced to Ronald Reagan and his simplistic antigovernment philosophy that fostered rapacious business practices and personal greed. The book also takes the media to task, criticizing the dismal record of failing to investigate the political and corporate chicanery that has brought us to this pass. Keenly argued and scrupulously documented, Walter Williams has written a stinging wake-up call to the dangers of the demise of representative democracy and the rise of plutocracy that American citizens can ignore only at their peril.




The Collection's at the Core


Book Description

Common Core standards, OER, STEM, and collection development—where to begin? This book investigates these critical topics together to give you the power to transform your collection and practice and put your school library at the center of STEM. Curricula that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas of study aren't just important for furthering competency and careers in these fields; STEM helps ensure that future generations include inventive and critical thinkers. Digital resources offer a current, exciting direction to involve school librarians with their STEM teachers. With its specific focus on open digital multimedia learning resources, this book will enable school librarians to take advantage of this opportunity and evaluate, build, and maintain their STEM collections. The book comprises three sections: an overview of policy initiatives; a thorough exploration of STEM education policy, digital materials, and collection considerations; and detailed explanations of strategies for collection development and promotion. You'll learn how to perform a collection analysis to determine the age and extent of your STEM collections and make priorities for enriching them with appropriate digital multimedia resources as well as how to classify resources using Dewey and Sears and with regard to the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.