Here are the highlights from the latest issue of Connections, which is now available online.
The importance of school libraries in the Google Age
We continue to hear about the lack of trained library staff in schools, despite ongoing research indicating that the presence of teacher librarians lead to improved learning outcomes. Kay Oddone highlights the many benefits teacher librarians can bring to the wider school, and why their role is integral to the learning of both student and staff.
Celebrating Children’s Book Week with the CBCA
Jane O’Connell, an independent director at the Children’s Book Council of Australia, looks at how school library and teaching staff can get involved in Children’s Book Week, which will be running from 20–26 August in 2016.
Using social media to support school library services
Helen Stower and Margaret Donaghue, from Mt Alvernia College’s iCentre, write about their experiences using social media as a communication platform for their school’s library. They highlight the importance of libraries sharing their stories, and discuss the need to develop social media guidelines in order to minimise potential risks.
Student perspectives on ebook and audiobook usage
Tehani Wessely surveyed students in Marist College Canberra’s middle school to understand student perspectives on ebooks and audiobooks, while also monitoring usage statistics. Despite low results, Tehani believes that we are still in the early stages of ebook and audiobook adoption, and acceptance of the technologies will continue in time.
Libraries, languages and free resources
Jill Wilson shares an overview of the Language Learning Space, a free online platform providing access to challenges and resources for languages students, and professional learning tools for Chinese, Indonesian, and Japanese language teachers. Jill also mentions several personal learning networks (PLNs) that language teachers can join.
Why SCIS prefers to catalogue with item in hand
SCIS cataloguer Doreen Sullivan outlines why we have a preference to catalogue with items in hand, rather than cataloguing blindly. Doreen explains the challenges of determining subject headings from minimal information, and highlights the importance of metadata elements such pagination and publishers.
We’d love to hear any feedback you have about Connections – please send us an email at connections@esa.edu.au.
Happy reading!