Competency #9 - Internet

Just as the classroom teacher follows curriculum guidelines in developing instruction, many states are now implementing such standards for school librarians. In Texas, teachers follow state standards as outlined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). The TEA website below, demonstrates the guidelines for implementing effective instruction through the school library media center. These are an essential part of the school librarian's instruction in Texas.

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/libraries/

Competency #8 - Multimedia

The above diagram was developed by Dr. Ross Todd of the Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) at http://www.oelma.org/studentlearning.htm. In a study called "Student Learning through Ohio School Libraries: The Ohio Research Study", Dr. Todd found the school library and the library media specialist to have a significant impact on student growth and achievement. The diagram demonstrates this position by showing specific components of a school library program and their academic impact on student learning.

Competency #7 - Social Networking - MySpace

I searched MySpace in an attempt to try to find an entry appropriate to my blog topic. While I was not able to find one that dealt specifically with an elementary school library, I did find a site that discussed current events and issues of the American Library Association. Some of the topics address legislation relative to school libraries.

http://blog.myspace.com/atyourlibrary

Competency #6 - Databases - Dialog

The following screen is one result from the Dialog database that discusses the relationship between teachers and librarians and its effectiveness in achieving student success. The search terms used were "school libraries" and "achievement".

Competency #6 - Databases - LexisNexis, Successive Fractions

A Successive Fractions search begins with the broadest facet. The broadest term in my search of the LexisNexis database was "library", which yielded the following screen stating that my search had been stopped because it retrieved more than 3,000 results.

Having already completed a quick test for specific facet, I proceeded to a Successive Fractions search in order to narrow the search.

• Broadest facet - s1 (library) = >3,000
• s2 (library and elementary school) = >3,000
• s3 (library and elementary school and academic achievement) = 207

The final search resulted in a retrieval of 207 items.

Competency #6 - Databases - Library Literature, Specific Facet First

I started this search by conducting a general search for "academic achievement in elementary school library. This resulted in only 1 hit as shown in the screen below.

In order to obtain a more productive search, I proceeded with a Specific Facet First search. A quick test of the query terms produced the following results:

• academic achievement = 61 hits
• elementary school = 1903 hits
• library = 156,143 hits
  

The fewest hits were obtained with "academic achievement" as shown in the screen below.

Competency #6 - Databases - ERIC FirstSearch, Building Block and Citation Pearl

I started a Citation Pearl Growing search by beginning with an initial Successive Fractions search. Investigating the results of that search, I found an article entitled "The Library Media Specialist: A Vital Link" by Jami L. Jones. I then modified my search to looking for other articles by the same author. By using the Citation Pearl Growing approach, I was led to an additional article written by Jones, entitled "Promoting Resilience: Ways Library Media Specialists Strengthen Children", as shown in the screen below.

An initial keyword search of "library academic achievement" in ERIC FirstSearch produced a total of 539 hits and is shown in the above screen capture. The screen capture below shows the final result of a Building Block search of the same database using the following query terms:

• academic achievement = s1 (produced 33,369 hits)
  


• s1 and elementary school = s2 (produced 8,683 hits)
  


• s2 and library = s3 (produced 85 hits)

Competency #5 - Tagging

The following resource was chosen because it plays an essential role in achieving academic success - reading comprehension. The use of literature circles may be used through collaboration between the classroom teacher and school librarian to boost reading comprehension skills in all academic areas.

elementary school(1) language arts(1) Readers Workshop(1)
http://www.librarything.com/work/3263858

Competency #3 - Podcast

For completion of Competency #3, I used Yahoo Podcasts to search for a podcast relevant to my blog topic - academic achievement in the library. I selected the audio podcast titled "Libraries Supporting Learners" because it discusses the link between achievement in the classroom through library support of the teachers and curriculum.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/sett/previousconferences/2005/seminarsandkeynotes/seminars/librariessupportinglearners.asp

Competency #2 - Librain Blog

Librain, located at http://librain.edublogs.org/ is a blog based in the UK that focuses on many of the issues facing school librarians today, including how to incorporate technology in effective student learning through library curriculum. I found it using BlogSearch. Below is a short quote from the author of Librain that demonstrates this:

"We must not let new opportunities slip through our fingers, but make time to learn about new technologies and ideas and think about how we can use them in the curriculum."

Competency #1 - Academic Achievement in the Elementary School Library

The development of this blog is to demonstrate and relay an understanding of various aspects of information storage and retrieval through the various competencies of ISAR 5013. With a background as an elementary school educator, my primary focus will address changes in the role of the library and librarian in the elementary school library and how this can affect student achievement.