Access to Information
provide school community open and equiptable physical/intellecutal access to information/ideas
Choice of Evidence:
MARC Records
Automation Comparison
Ethical Case Study
Evidence:
I chose the MARC records because they demonstrate my ability to catalog. If materials are not cataloged correctly, patrons will not be able to find the information they require. I chose my automation comparison for similar reasons; library patrons need to be able to use an intuitive technological system rather than one that needs to be explained by an employee. My comparison shows that I have looked at least at two such systems. Finally, an ethical case study shows that I have thought about giving equal technical access to those patrons who are differently abled.
Learning Reflection:
Libraries should cater to the demographics of the patrons they serve--whoever they are. This means that books and other materials should be easy to navigate, and information easily found by patrons. Sometimes the standard method of cataloging and shelving to better enable library use by, for example, a younger demographic.
I am reminded of when a student came to me, asking for more of "those diary books." At first I didn't understand what he meant, but then I realized he was talking about the Dear America series. Each Dear America book is written by a different author, and so was cataloged and shelved by author rather than together as a set. Because of that student's question, I re-cataloged, and thus reshelved, all Dear America books, and they now have their own section in my library. Due to this change, I have seen an increase of books from this series checked out, and have successfully repeated the same with other series. The point is to look at patrons and figure out what their needs are, so that the library can meet them.
MARC Records
Automation Comparison
Ethical Case Study
Evidence:
I chose the MARC records because they demonstrate my ability to catalog. If materials are not cataloged correctly, patrons will not be able to find the information they require. I chose my automation comparison for similar reasons; library patrons need to be able to use an intuitive technological system rather than one that needs to be explained by an employee. My comparison shows that I have looked at least at two such systems. Finally, an ethical case study shows that I have thought about giving equal technical access to those patrons who are differently abled.
Learning Reflection:
Libraries should cater to the demographics of the patrons they serve--whoever they are. This means that books and other materials should be easy to navigate, and information easily found by patrons. Sometimes the standard method of cataloging and shelving to better enable library use by, for example, a younger demographic.
I am reminded of when a student came to me, asking for more of "those diary books." At first I didn't understand what he meant, but then I realized he was talking about the Dear America series. Each Dear America book is written by a different author, and so was cataloged and shelved by author rather than together as a set. Because of that student's question, I re-cataloged, and thus reshelved, all Dear America books, and they now have their own section in my library. Due to this change, I have seen an increase of books from this series checked out, and have successfully repeated the same with other series. The point is to look at patrons and figure out what their needs are, so that the library can meet them.