Currents+Project

For this assignment, I want you to continue your exploration of the sheer diversity of materials that you need to be familiar with in order to help students and staff to be productive and to help yourself keep current in the library field. For this project, you will formalize your findings in ways different that we have been doing in this class. Below is a listing of “current” topics that you can choose from for this assignment.

The structure of the paper for this project will be a research project. You will be graded on the thoughtfulness of your essay, how well your topic is supported by the information you have researched, and how well you document your information. Be sure to brush up on in-text citation using the MLA format. (Remember, all works cited entries from the free Web must have include the URL.) All of your resources should be on the topic you have chosen and all should expand on the knowledge base about the topic. Your final project should be 10-15 pages long including your works cited information.


 * In order to ensure that you get very current material set up Google alerts on your topic. If you are unfamiliar with Google alerts, this video tells you everything you need to know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9stASQvhOs
 * Three journal or magazine articles from subscription sources such as the JCKL databases
 * At least one blog entry from the Web.
 * //LISZEN// is a great place to find a blog entry on your topic, []
 * At least one podcast from the Web.
 * Go to http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/Audio+%26+Podcasting
 * search under “Finding Podcasts”
 * Other places to look for podcasts include iTunes and iTunesU
 * Podcast Directory for Educators, School, and Colleges http://recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/
 * A terrific posting that gives all kinds of ideas on how to find podcasts: Technophilia: Find Great Podcasts http://lifehacker.com/183411/technophilia-find-great-podcasts
 * NPR Podcast Directory http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php
 * At least one video that address the topic.
 * Here is a discussion of video search engines []
 * Also the old standbys have a lot of information as well:
 * //YouTube// [|http://youtube.com]
 * //Video Google// []
 * //TeacherTube// []
 * //Yahoo Video// []
 * //Blip.tv [|http://blip.tv] [|/]//
 * Five postings from the LM_NET archive, []
 * One posting from a ning. Two examples:
 * //TeacherLibrarianNing// []
 * //Library 2.0// []
 * One posting from a wiki. Examples:
 * //Library Success: A Best Practices// Wiki []
 * New Tools http://sdst.libguides.com/content.php?pid=192765&sid=1616356
 * //Bookleads// http://bookleads.wikispaces.com/
 * //TL Center// https://tlcenter.wikispaces.com/
 * Digital Research Tools Wiki https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/w/page/17801672/FrontPage
 * //School L:ibrary Websites: Examples of Effective Practice// http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/
 * One Twitter or Facebook posting
 * Hashtags you might follow are #edchat, #tlchat, #library, #yalitchat
 * Hashtags you might follow are #edchat, #tlchat, #library, #yalitchat


 * IMPORTANT POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND**
 * Be sure to use the Hacker document as a guide for citing sources if you don't have the current edition of MLA.
 * Do not cite //Wikipedia// as your wiki source. This site is never acceptable as an authoritative source. (Absolutely use it as a jumping off point but any information that comes from this site as to be verified from an authoritative source.)
 * Since I will be checking that you used the variety of sources required above, be sure that I can tell that your source in your works cited is from a podcast, ning, wiki, etc. If it isn't clear in your citation, be sure that you let me know the origin of the information in the signal phrase in your document, e.g. "in the podcast, the students discuss," etc.
 * Note that podcasts should be indicated in your citation as being an MP3 file, RM file, etc. if known. This will help in identifying the kind of source you are citing.
 * “Documenting Sources: A Hacker Handbooks Supplement: Guides lines Based on the //MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing//, Third Edition (2008).” Bedford/St. Martins. 2008. PDF. 1 June 2009. <[]>.

75 points: Content: 50 In-text and works cited documentation: 15 Sources selection and comprehensiveness: 10


 * SUGGESTED CURRENT TOPICS**


 * 1) The role of the LMC in teaching 2.0
 * 2) Political advocacy or the lack of it by LMSs
 * 3) Bringing new teachers on board with using the LMC
 * 4) How to deal with copyright issues in student projects
 * 5) Should the focus of library education be on the library aspect or the teacher aspect?
 * 6) Censorship vs. selection – how do we decide?
 * 7) Flexible scheduling versus fixed scheduling. Each has its own negatives and positives.
 * 8) What does the physical structure of the library of the future look like?
 * 9) What does the collection in the school library of the future look like?
 * 10) What’s good and bad about our current automation systems? How can they be better?
 * 11) Why do I have to advocate for library media services when the math teacher doesn’t?
 * 12) Isn’t there a better way to do library orientations for classes? Their eyes glaze over as soon as they sit down and I start talking.
 * 13) My administrator doesn’t support me or the services of the library media center. What can I do to turn this around?
 * 14) My teachers don’t want to collaborate. I get the feeling over and over that they just want to be left alone to do their thing but I feel that the LMC can offer services they are not using. Suggestions?
 * 15) Find out about the Spokane Moms and what they were able to do for school library media centers in Spokane. Are there any lessons that we can extrapolate from their experience that we can apply to a local situation?
 * 16) How might the media specialist use evidence-based practice?
 * 17) How do the LMS and the LMC fit into the current high-stakes testing that dominates education currently?
 * 18) What is the LMS’s role in information literacy?
 * 19) Maybe no child will be left behind but the librarian seems to have been. What’s going on with this?
 * 20) What kind of reading are teenagers doing at the current time and how will it impact education?