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Monday, October 17, 2016

October 2016 TL Announcements




What to Know@BVSD this Month!

Thanks to all of you that attended the 10.10.16 professional learning day at SparkFun. 
We enjoyed a day of discussion, reflection, exploration, and making.

 To access resources from the day's activities please login into Schoology, Access Code: 9GKQ5-W8CFT. Check out Take Away discussion posts and Resources & Funding pages. 

Click the image below to watch highlights from our day.






Do you have teachers in your buildings that would like to be a part of the 21st Century Cohort 4.0? Applications are open now through October, 23, 2016! Click here to review participation details and pass along to your teachers.



 The 2016 Colorado Summit Featuring Google for Education is BACK in Boulder Valley School District at Monarch High School on November 5th and 6th!


Click here to access schedule and review session titles, descriptions, resources and other fun events happening throughout the Summit.

BVSD Employees can register at anytime to receive the same host rate of $229 -- use the special BVSD only promo code! 

Rae and I are coordinating a Pop up Makerspace on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10 AM-12:30 PM during the GAFE Summit. Do you know students that would like to come and play, demonstrate, and or present in our makerspace? If so, please pass along this form to the students and or parents of students that want to join us. 


Insignia has provided us with test environment so we can put Insignia Version 8.0 (supports HTML 5) through its paces. Rae needs a few teacher librarians to test functionality of this new release. Specifically, you will be required to login to the test environment from the Chrome browser and conduct day-to-day tasks and let us know what you think. Contact Rae directly if you want to be a tester. Testing will conclude by end of November--we will be sharing test feedback with Insignia. Insignia Version 8.0 is scheduled for release in January 2017. 
OverDrive's Teacher Lounge Professional Development collection is now available for all BVSD educators. Additionally, all BVSD educators can access the 1,184 titles in the student OverDrive collection. Please help spread the word among your staff members that these resources are available to them. 


Guest Blogger

Rebecca (Becky) Vancura, Teacher Librarian Boulder High School


My Journey to Genrefication
“The process has made it easier for students to browse a prefered genre when looking for a book to read.”



Events | Resources

Bi-Monthly Workshops

Sign up for Workshops and LIBinars via MyPassport. 
MyPassport Code: 16312

November 9, Whittier Elementary (yes, not on a Tuesday)
  • Tour of space and Q&A with Loran Lattes
  • Insignia HTML 5 update
  • Customer Service Tip  (Host & attendees)
  • Amazing Race - Arlene Gregerson
  • Seesaw- Sara Weatherly

 January 10, Southern Hills Middle School 
March 14, Sanchez Elementary
May 9, Ed Center (End-of-Year Celebration)


LIBinars

Access links to join the live stream will be provided closer to broadcast dates. 
  • Wednesday, Oct.26 - 3:30 -4:30 PM
HESL 2016 Update
Tammy Langeberg will talk update us on changes to HESL, how HESL tracks to TL Content Connections, and take questions. 
  • Thursday, Dec. 1 - 3:30-4:30 PM
First Come-First Serve Making
Denise Von Minden, TL @ Flagstaff Academy will discuss her journey to bring making to her K-8 library.







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My Journey to Genrefication 2016




My Journey to Genrefication


 Becky Vancura-Teacher-Librarian Boulder High School
I had been contemplating organizing the fiction collection by genre for several years. The altruistic statement for why do this would be, “To make the collection more browser friendly, thereby making it simpler for students to locate a title they are interested in reading”. But in the spirit of full disclosure, I was tired of the being asked, “Where are the scary books?” “Where are the sports books?” “Where are more books like 13 Reasons Why?”

The biggest obstacle to getting this done was time. Where would I find the time to sort through the collection book by book? The answer to my dilemma came in an email I received early in the fall of 2014. The gist of the email was, my son will be a freshmen at Boulder High. We’ve just relocated from the Washington D.C. area. I am a retired Library of Congress Librarian. I would like to volunteer in your library. At first the thought of a Library of Congress Librarian as a volunteer was rather intimidating. I could not ask her to just dust shelves and cover books. Then it dawned on me - I could charge her with the genrefication of fiction! Once every year or so I have a really brilliant idea. She was an incredible source of information and a great sounding board.


Getting Started 

The first step was deciding which genres to use. After some discussion we settled on the following:

  • General Fiction
  • Historical Fiction
  • Issues & Relationships
  • Mysteries & Suspense
  • Horror, Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Sports
Your collection may have other genres by which you would like to sort. Next decision, how will you identify the different genres on the shelf? To avoid reprinting spine labels and re labeling every book, we decided to color code the different genres. We used Demco transparent colored spine label protectors, a different color for each genre. We did consider the DEMCO genre stickers but decided most of them were a bit juvenile for a high school library.


Cataloging & Logistics

Rather than completely uprooting the entire collection, I would recommend starting with one or two of the smaller genres. We started with sports. After my parent volunteer had gone through the collection and pulled a specific genre, we checked in cataloging on the ILS under the “MARC Expert” tab in the Copy Information for a specific title to be sure the correct genre was listed in the 650 code box. Books may have multiple genres listed. If the genre needed to be added, we sent an email to our district cataloger (Rae C.) asking that the genre be added to the copies’ information. The correct color label protectors were added to the books and the books were reshelved together.

 The one exception to adding additional genres to the copy information was Historical Fiction. If the genre of Historical Fiction was not already designated in the MARC record we did not add it. In most cases the book would end up in General Fiction. We decided on this as we puzzled where to put Dickens and Austin. We might have created a Classic Fiction genre but we didn’t feel it was necessary for our collection.

 To make inventory a little easier, Michael Serrano, BHS Media Tech, created new circ types to correspond with the color coded genre. We changed the circ type to the new genre for all the books in that section. For example,  Fiction - Green is the circ type for Sports Fiction. For specifics on how to do this please direct your questions to Michael Serrano, my amazing Media Tech. This change also made it easy to change the designated location for an entire collection in the catalog. I was able to batch process the change in location rather than needing to scan every individual book. Now when we search for a fiction title in the catalog it will list the correct genre under location.


Mixing Fiction and Nonfiction and Dewey

I support the idea of making libraries more browser friendly similar to the model used in bookstores. However, I believe there is still value to having the collections divided into Fiction and Nonfiction. I think Barnes & Noble still separates these two. In addition, it is still important to have some standardization between libraries to allow students to transfer their library skills to other libraries.

I also believe there is still a place for the Dewey Decimal System in the school library. The system, like any system is not perfect, but it does a reasonable job of sorting books into categories. Where the individual librarian might consider tinkering, to make the collection more browser friendly, is in clearly labeling bookcases and shelves. Large signs could be used for labelling sections. For example, use large signage for main subject categories, Philosophy, Religion, Mythology, and smaller, shelf talker labels can be used to further narrow the browser's search, for example Christianity, Islam, Greek Myths, Roman Myths, etc.


Outcomes

In addition to separating the genres, the process of genrefication presented an excellent opportunity to weed the collection as every book is literally pulled and examined. Another positive side effect of the process was it identified genres in the collection that might benefit from additional books being added to the collection. I discovered the collection needed more sports fiction.

 The process has made it easier for students to browse a prefered genre when looking for a book to read. Also, when looking for a specific book, given the call number, I think the likelihood for success of the student to find the book independently increases when they have fewer books to search.
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Friday, September 23, 2016

September 2016 TL Announcements




“I’d like my colleagues to consider that there is not one right way to do library. There really is no box. It’s not brain surgery. No patient will die if we try something new... our libraries can be spaces where it’s okay to celebrate new ideas and take a few risks–as long as we are helping students and faculty think, create, share and grow.” 
--Joyce Kasman Valenza - excerpt from TYSL blog post 

Library anxiety is real. The phenomenon, which involves feeling intimidated, embarrassed, and overwhelmed by libraries and librarians, was first identified by Constance A. Mellon in 1986. Her paper, "Library Anxiety: A Grounded Theory and Its Development," reported that college students in particular are prone to library anxiety because they believe their research skills are inadequate, which makes them feel ashamed and unwilling to talk to the very librarians who might be able to ease their worries.


Consider the following questions as you read this article and post reflections to the Comments section below. 
  • Is library anxiety something only freshman college students experience? 
  • What specific things have you done to reduce patron (including staff) library anxiety? 
The first TL to post answers to both of these questions in the Comment section below, will win a FREE GAFE Summit registration ($229 value).


What to Know @BVSD this Month!

Be sure and bookmark bvsdpl.org for quick access to BVSD’s Professional Learning Department educator resources, help, and information about MyPassport, BVSD’s new online system that gathers staff evaluations and professional development resources in one place.


Ed Tech is excited to offer, Online Collaboration and Connected Learning (OCCL), a new blended learning professional development opportunity for all K-12 classroom teachers. Participants in this blended course will continue to develop expertise in the utilization of digital tools and best 21st century instructional practices for integrating these tools in their classroom, and earn a 1.0 salary credit. 

Click here to learn more about the class objective and Educator Effectiveness Standards addressed. Register for this class via MyPassport and search on course code 20554. 


Colorado Association of School Libraries (CAL) annual conference will happen October 20-22 in Loveland, CO. Click here to register. 

An excellent local opportunity to grow your personal learning network, learn from experts, and get vendor face time. I am particularly excited to hear Nina Simon speak, Day 1 keynote speaker. Simon’s book The Participatory Museum is incredibly enlightening and has got me thinking about ways to leverage her strategies for creating participatory museum experiences to create participatory library experiences. 


The 2016 Colorado Summit Featuring Google for Education is BACK in Boulder Valley School District at Monarch High School on November 5th and 6th!

We encourage you to present and share your expertise and ideas with attendees. Click here to submit your presentation idea(s). And yes, attendees want to hear from teacher librarians, you are leaders and have much to share. Remember, presenters attend for FREE. 

BVSD Employees can register at anytime to receive the same host rate of $229 - use the special BVSD only promo code! 

Like last year, BVSD Ed Tech is offering a buy one (BOGO), get one free registration. If your principal funds one teacher, Ed Tech will pay for an additional teacher from your building! A communication about this offer was sent out to all principals.

TL Workshops & LIBinars

MyPassport Code: 16312
  • October 10 - TL PD @ SparkFun (more info coming soon)
    • HS TLs 8:00-11:30 AM
    • Elem TLs 12:30-4 PM
  • October 19, Highly Effective School Librarian (HESL) update from Tammy Langeberg, CDE HESL Coordinator
  • November 9, Whittier Elementary (yes, not on a Tuesday)
  • January 10, Southern Hills Middle
  • March 14, Sanchez Elementary
  • May 9, Ed Center (End-of-Year Celebration)


Insignia| Tips & Tricks


  • Do a Hold Print so you can send barcodes to the Ricoh when you are at your computer, then print them when you are at the printer; no more madly running to the printer to load labels!
  • Mackin and Follett Titlewave have run a collection analysis for all school libraries.  Please take a moment to review and align your collection development goals for this year.


News| Events | Resources

  • FREE Classic titles:
    • Patrons with iPads or iOS devices, iBookstore, via iTunes, offers 19 classics (all public domain titles). 
    • For all patrons (not device specific) checkout the 457 titles in the Insignia catalog from Project Gutenberg, search under Subject = Project Gutenberg
  • Boulder Public Library (BPL) will host a Research Rendezvous, Saturday Dec. 3. If you are supporting teachers involved with National History Day be sure to tell them about Boulder Public Library’s (BPL) Research Rendezvous on Saturday Dec. 3 --click here for details. 



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