Information+Specialist

8/30/10 I spent about an hour in the media center today talking with the MS about Alexandria and putting books back on the shelves. She was telling me that Alexandria is a little more expensive than other systems, but it is made specifically for mac, making it ideal for our computers since we're a mac school. The maintenance fee was a little steep (I think she said $400/year?), but worth the investment. The people at Alexandria intend for it to be a web-based application, however it can be loaded onto individual computers. This is not a bad idea in the event that the network goes down, which has happened on more than one occasion. I shelved several fiction titles and watched a new ESOL student come in with his teacher to look for something on his reading level. The student spoke English quite well with a little bit of an accent and is reading on third grade reading level. She suggested several books and he found one that she thought he might like. She said that sometimes they have to try a few and then she can find a book that they are interested in and that in middle school the focus should be on interest level more so that reading level for finding a book a student may respond to. Makes sense to me! (1 hour) 9/12/10 I weeded the history/sociology section and found some interesting and unexpected titles. The Foxfire series was represented although in very poor condition. There was another book on technological developments which was accurate, but not current. There was also a book about incest, which the Media Specialist immediately removed from the collection. We had a good discussion about what to keep and what to weed. The conclusion that we came to was that many reference books, especially with history, cannot become outdated that easily if the book is written in such a way as to focus on the time period and not date itself by referring to anything "current." Another factor to consider especially in a Title 1 school is how funding is limited and if a majority of the collection is outdated and in need of weeding, then the shelves would be empty. This was a very practical lesson to learn. It also made me realize the significance of funding and advocating for the development of the collection as part of a budget. (1.5 hours)
 * __Media Specialist as Information Specialist:__**

1/25/11 The adventures in inventory began today with the reference section. Basically what I did was scan the books in order. A scanner hooked into the laptop running inventory in Alexandria, made this an easy process. Granted, the reference section didn't have any major gaps or books out of order so far. As I would scan a book, it would register in the computer with a pleasant tone. If the scanned book was shelved in the wrong place, a not-so-nice tone would sound to alert me to check it out. So I would look at the call numbers and make adjustments accordingly. Usually, taking inventory of the fiction section doesn't get underway until April. Since the reference books cannot be checked, this was a good place to begin. A good experience so far. I'm sure it will get more tedious when I get to the fiction section later in the semester. (1 hour)

1/31/11 I began the discussion about original cataloging and processing new books with the media specialist. She was extremely helpful in explaining the difference between cataloging fiction vs. professional titles. She also showed me how Alexandria gives you many options for cataloging and viewing cataloging information. I'm going to try MARC for a variety of our new titles, including a title for our professional section. She said this would be more challenging and I certainly wanted to take on that challenge. Very complete lists of titles already entered into the system could be brought up on command. Because our library is on two different campuses, the 6th Grade Academy and the Main Campus, for 7th and 8th grade. She has developed her own system for keeping the serial numbers straight, since all cataloging is done at our main campus and there is potential for confusion if books move between libraries. This doesn't happen often, but the potential is there especially if the two campuses ever merge, which is supposed to happen in the near future. I look forward to getting out my collection development textbooks and reviewing some MARC lingo :) (45 min)

2/7/11 I continued inventory in the reference section. It was really eye opening to come across titles that I didn't even know we had in the collection. We also have a collection of National Geographic Magazines that go back quite a ways. I know these are available on disc, but the archivist in me loved seeing the old dusty national geographic magazines. There were some books that were older, but still relevant as well as other titles which looked well used. Sometimes the series were organized by call number, and other times in series, making them seem out of order to the system. (1 hour)

2/15/11 Today was the final day of inventorying the reference section of the media center. The media specialist said that it was a great help, but I think I'm the one she helped by giving me the opportunity to see some the great titles in our reference collection that I wasn't aware of. The were all kinds of different science and history books. Being a social studies teacher the books about local history were an especially nice surprise to come across. On another note, the media specialist had me look at a few books that she was recataloging. She had recently weeded the professional section and came across a social studies book of lists and another book on environmental issues. She felt like both books should not be in the professional section and was wondering where I thought they should go. She handed me the Sears List of Subject Headings. It was interesting to see all the possible ways that a single book could be catalogued depending on the type of book. We agreed that the book of lists should go in the history section and the environment, with science instruction. (1 hour)

3/28-3/29 I finished inventorying the professional section, with the last part consisting of picture books that can are aligned with the curriculum. Even in middle school, students love to be read to even if it is from a picture book. I saw many titles that I have read to my son and others that I would like to read to him. After finishing the professional section I moved on to start inventorying the nonfiction section beginning with biographies. (1 hour)

4/11-4/15 This week was began by continuing to inventory the nonfiction section, working through biographies and on into the history and social science section. The student "clerks" do a pretty good job of shelving with the occasional book out of place. While scanning books, if a book is out of place instead of beeping a different sound alerts the user that a book is out of order. The Media Specialist spent another day showing me how to cover new books and repair old ones using the tools of the trade which included various book covers, a "bone," book repair glue, and small pieces of wood for applying the glue. Some of the books needed the binding repaired, while another older book had 10-15 pages that had come out together. The MS said that it wouldn't fix the problem forever with some of the books, but might make it possible to check out a few more times. Students can be really hard on books by handling them roughly or spilling things on them. I helped students checkout and renew books at the circulation desk. (3 hours)