Module 12: Cataloging, Part II

Performing Searches & Library Organization

 This week I had the pleasure of subbing for one of our elementary library paraprofessionals. This was fun because I got to read books to classes and actually see students who were still excited by books, unlike those way too cool high schoolers who won't admit to liking to read even if they still do. But in addition to the fun, it was instructive because it gave me the chance to not only see another library in our district but to see how it really works, i.e., to root around its organizational system. We get used to how our own system works but when you go to a new place and have to find your way around-- that is the real test of how good it is.

First, because the para had been out for 1 1/2 weeks before I showed up, I needed to check in all the books that had piled up and then I needed to shelve them.  Checking in was the easy part. Finding where everything went in the library not so much. Sure, I knew that PIC (author) went in the picture books section, but some picture books series were put in bins and there was nothing on the spine or in Destiny to tell me that and the signs on the bins were small and hard to read. It was similar with the Early Readers--there were a lot of bins on but some were alphabetical on the shelf and some were over with the pictures books! Not wanting to mis-shelve them, I left many of them on the cart for the para when she gets back.  There was a section called Non-fiction picture books that were clearly marked in the catalog and on the label, which was good, but their location, far away from the picture books and at the end of the regular non-fiction section, left a lot to be desired.  Also, some non-fiction books that were clearly early readers were nonetheless just listed with the DDS number, thus placing them with the regular non-fiction--a mistake in my opinion. Also, there were some short stories with SC on the spine, but no SC location--perhaps they are simply integrated into the fiction section as we do at the high school and the spine labels hadn't been changed yet.  In the end, I had to leave about 25 books on the shelving cart because I didn't want to put them back in the wrong location.  This strikes me as a problem because the organization wasn't good for either a librarian or a student.  

I'm not sure if the older students use the online catalog, as I only saw K-3 classes, and of these students only one tried to look something up but was confused about the difference between Destiny and Google.  When I figured out what he wanted it took us a while to find it.  Several students asked me if I knew where certain books were and I had to guess, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.  So, I think the problem was two-fold: first, the spine label was supposed to reflect what section the book could be found it, but did not always do that well, and second, the signage was inadequate to help anyone who didn't know the library well to find a book easily.  At the high school, we have a sublocation in Desinty that screams "Go to the XXXX section to find this book!" and while our signs could be bigger, they are pretty clear.  The elementary library fell down on both counts and I fear was more confusing to the students than it should be.

Week 11:  Cataloging, Part I

I entered this week's reading reading with a medium to strong bias against the Dewey Decimal System.  From what I could see in my library, the number assigned to a particular book often meant that it would be separated from like topics, often in offensive ways.  Native American religions were sometimes in religions, sometimes in myths and sometimes in fairy tales.  Ancient civilizations have their own place, separate from their modern counterpart, unless they are Asian in which case they are lumped together. Granted, many of our non-fiction books are so old that I could blame previous librarians for their placement--many of the books don't have the DDS number on the title leaf and they certainly didn't have an OPAC to suggest a number for them. But even so, I find that too often books on a certain topic are scattered throughout several categories.  This makes browsing hard and looking up books by the call number confusing.  No wonder our nonfiction barely moves! 

Is there a better way? I learned the basics of the DDS as a kid and the logical structure always appealed to me. Even now, I like the logical nesting structure and finding the place for a book feels like finding where a jigsaw puzzle piece goes.  But if the goal is to group like items together to make them easier to find, I think it needs work. I am intrigued by the METIS system, but a it doesn't seem to have caught on widely and I think it is too basic for high school.  The bookstore model also shows promise, but I rethought that after reading a scholarly article which notes that bookstores are different from libraries because their goal is to make money, not spread information.  So I guess I've come back around to Dewey-Lite!

Which brings me to using the catalog to find books. I was quite interested in the subject heading v. keywords because when I students comes to me and tells me they are looking for a books about "X", I show them how to do a search in Destiny (which, I'm sorry to say, most do not know how to do).  I tell them to do the keyword search not the subject heading because it is more likely to come up with hits, which they can then narrow down.  For example, students in one of our ELA classes do research about the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression before reading Of Mice and Men.  If they do a subject search for "dust bowl" they get no hits, but a key word search turns up one item.  Given that there are certainly other books that contain at least some information about the Dust Bowl, I also see the limits of relying on the surrogate record. If I happen to know of a book that I should be in there and isn't, I can go in and add "Dust Bowl" to the record.  I'm going to try that and see what happens!

Week 10:  Teaching Teachers (and Others)

I admit it: I'm terrified of teaching teachers!  Talk about a judgy crowd, especially if they don't want to be there and if they don't think you know anything about their subject. But it does seem unavoidable so what is the best way to go about it? I found the tips on this website helpful, especially the parts about asking teachers what they want to learn and about personalizing the learning process.  And I've come up with my own loose plan: first, show teachers what the technology can do for them, then a quick how to with some examples, then let them try it for themselves.  Ask them what they would like to be able to use it for and help them get there.  Connect with them after the training to if they have questions or if they have a chance to try it out in the classroom.  Ask for feedback. Offer to work cooperatively. Just like students, teachers are more likely to want to learn if you can show them the purpose and take an interest in their achieving results.

Of course, teaching doesn't just have to happen during professional development days--we can have tutorials available to watch at teachers' convenience.  I hadn't done a screencast before though I have seen a lot of them; I have to say I was amazed at how easy it was to do. I tried Screen-cast-o-matic first but it wouldn't let me create an account so I quickly moved on to Screencastify which was terrific. Some of my classmates mentioned Loom as another option so I will take a look at that some time.  I suppose the more screencasts you do the better you get at it but it took me probably 40 takes till I was sort of satisfied.  I tried it with a script but that sounded too forced, I tried winging it but kept messing up.  In the end I used a rough outline of where I wanted to go with some main points that I didn't want to forget.  When we actually do roll out our library website I would like to send the teachers a link to a screencast (probably not the one I just did!) although I'm sure many wouldn't watch and then will later say that they didn't know we had a website. But I also like the idea of putting up screencasts on the website in our "How Do I" section showing how to use the catalog, the databases or borrow and ebook or audiobook from the public library. The possibilities are endless!