Library information services

This week we reflect on library information services

I think of a reference interview as a first contact with a librarian about information needs. But is this changing? In my youth the school librarian was often a feared figure, the keeper of knowledge, arbiter of noise, a disapproving eye. I can remember trawling through the handwritten catalogue cards rather than asking this figure asking for help finding information. Thankfully those days have passed and a large portion of the librarians role is actually making sense of the information needs of the library users - both physically and digitally (Janes, 2008).
The digital reference service is an interesting idea, I was told recently (by a friend doing the TAFE library diploma) that in places like the UK this is becoming one of the main services provided by some libraries and that if you submit your info request after library hours it gets forwarded to the US so that it can be returned within a short period of time!

In terms of providing information services in school i think the 5 key areas for teacher librarians are as follows:
- selecting resources that support teaching and learning needs (after all that's our main purpose in a school)
- assistance in developing information skills (so students can use these resources effectively)
- ensuring maximum access to resources (this would also encompass the organisational and cataloguing aspects of resources for without these how can you maximise access?)
- focal point for learning (because we need libraries to be this to ensure their survival, this naturally would include ITC access and providing appropriate environment)
- information tools and services (including community networks and resources)

We were also asked to reflect on School Community Profiles. The notion of the school community profile is consistent with Bishop (2007) and others who discuss the need for resources to match the characteristics and needs of the users. In particular Bishop advocates such a community profile as a way of understanding needs and characteristics as well as developing an understanding of community resources and networks. This kind of information allows TLs to tailor the resources to meet the information needs of the school community they service


As for web learning, this is an increasing part of the TL role and when done well websites and wikis can provide a great tool for students to access information and resources and interact and collaborate. As for the argument of wikis vs web - i'm all web! I think Valenza's (2010) arguments being pro-wiki, are outdated. All her arguments for wikis are equally applicable to websites. Web host and design providers such as weebly and webs (as mentioned by Herring) mean that all those capabilities mentioned by Valenza can be done on a website without having the need to understand or write code - and I think websites have greater design flexibility than wikis.

Bishop, K. (2007). Community analysis and needs assessment. In The collection program in schools : concepts, practices and information sources (4th ed.) (pp. 19-24). Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.

Janes, J. (2008). An Informal History (and Possible Future) of Digital Reference.

Valenza, J. (2010) Ten reasons why your next pathfinder should be a wiki.