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About Us
George R. Austin Intermediate School
Library Media Center
Freetown-Lakeville School District
Our mission is to create a media center environment that will foster a lifelong love of reading and learning among our student population. Special programs in the media center will support and enhance this endeavor by encouraging students to read for both pleasure and knowledge. Further, we will provide the faculty and staff with the resources they need to achieve curriculum goals, while encouraging collaboration for the betterment of our teaching.
Our vision is to have the media center become an integral part of the curriculum by providing services that will meet a variety of needs for both students and faculty. The media center will become an important part of our community where people can come together to share ideas and information in a collegiate and collaborative manner.
General Rules:
1. Students are expected to adhere to the general rules of school behavior as they apply to the decorum of a school library media center.
2. Students will engage in "accountable talk" while visiting the media center, keeping in mind that we are in a learning environment.
3. Students must have a "flex pass" to be in the media center without their classroom teacher.
4. Computers will be used for searching OPAC, research and word processing.
5. Students will ask permission before printing from the computer.
Check out procedures:
1. Upon entering the media center, all materials being returned should be put in the "book drop."
2. Students may have up to 5 books checked out at a time, provided they do not have any overdue or missing books.
3. Shelf markers will be used when browsing the collection to help keep the shelves in an orderly manner for our community of learners.
4. Books from the general collection may be borrowed for 12 "school days" (i.e. 2-six day rotations)
5. Students will renew or return items by the due date. Items for renewal must be brought into the media center so that a new due date may be stamped on the "date due"
slip.
6. Overdue notices will be delivered to homeroom teachers for distribution.
7. You will be billed for lost and/or damaged books so that they may be replaced for others to enjoy.
8. Students who habitually have overdue books or are otherwise irresponsible with library materials will be restricted to a limit of two books.
The Big6™ Skills
The Big6 is a process model for solving an information problem.
Using the Big6 process for solving information problems helps students to become independent learners. Using practical skills to navigate the research process makes learning more interesting for the students as they begin to appreciate the joys of discovering information independently.
1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed (to solve the information problem)
What is my current task?
What are some topics or questions I need to answer?
What information will I need?
2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine all possible sources (brainstorm)
2.2 Select the best sources
What are all the possible sources to check?
What are the best sources of information for this task?
3. Location and Access
3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically)
3.2 Find information within sources
Where can I find these sources?
Where can I find the information in the source?
4. Use of Information
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
4.2 Extract relevant information
What information do I expect to find in this source?
What information from the source is useful?
5. Synthesis
5.1 Organize from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information
How will I organize my information?
How should I present my information?
6. Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)
Did I do what was required?
Did I complete each of the Big6 Stages efficiently?
The "Big6™" is copyright © (1987) Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz.
For more information, visit: www.big6.com
Information Literacy Standards
Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning
The Nine Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning
Information Literacy
Standard 1: The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
Standard 2: The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.
Standard 3: The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively.
Independent Learning
Standard 4: The student who is an independent learner is information literate and pursues information related to personal interests.
Standard 5: The student who is an independent learner is information literate and appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information.
Standard 6: The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.
Social Responsibility
Standard 7: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society.
Standard 8: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and practices ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology.
Standard 9: The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.
Excerpted from Chapter 2, "Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning," of Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. Copyright © 1998 American Library Association and Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
Four Roles and Responsibilities of the School Library Media Specialist
- Teacher
As teacher, the library media specialist collaborates with students and other members of the learning community to analyze learning and information needs, to locate and use resources that will meet those needs, and to understand and communicate the information the resources provide. An effective instructor of students, the library media specialist is knowledgeable about current research on teaching and learning and skilled in applying its findings to a variety of situation--particularly those that call upon students to access, evaluate, and use information from multiple sources in order to learn, to think, and to create and apply new knowledge. A curricular leader and a full participant on the instructional team, the library media specialist constantly updates personal skills and knowledge in order to work effectively with teachers, administrators, and other staff--both to expand their general understanding of information issues and to provide them with specific opportunities to develop sophisticated skills in information literacy, including the uses of information technology.
- Instructional Partner
As instructional partner, the library media specialist joins with teachers and others to identify links across student information needs, curricular content, learning outcomes, and a wide variety of print, nonprint, and electronic information resources. Working with the entire school community, the library media specialist takes a leading role in developing policies, practices, and curricula that guide students to develop the full range of information and communication abilities. Committed to the process of collaboration, the library media specialist works closely with individual teachers in the critical areas of designing authentic learning tasks and assessments and integrating the information and communication abilities required to meet subject matter standards.
- Informational Specialist
As information specialist, the library media specialist provides leadership and expertise in acquiring and evaluating information resources in all formats; in bringing an awareness of information issues into collaborative relationships with teachers, administrators, students, and others; and in modeling for students and others strategies for locating, accessing, and evaluating information within and beyond the library media center. Working in an environment that has been profoundly affected by technology, the library media specialist both masters sophisticated electronic resources and maintains a constant focus on the nature, quality, and ethical use of information available in these and in more traditional tools.
- Program Administrator
As program administrator, the library media specialist works collaboratively with members of the learning community to define the policies of the library media program and to guide and direct all activities related to it. Confident of the importance of the effective use of information and information technology to students' personal and economic success in their future lives, the library media specialist is an advocate for the library media program and provides the knowledge, vision, and leadership to steer it creatively and energetically in the twenty-first century. Proficient in the management of staff, budgets, equipment, and facilities, the library media specialist plans, executes, and evaluates the program to ensure its quality both at a general level and on a day-to-day basis.
Excerpted from Chapter 1, "The Vision," of Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning . Copyright © 1998
