I would like marc records and an automated catalog that would search/do the following:

1.  The traditional standard subject areas
2.  The table of contents
3.  The index of the book
4.  The full text of the book
5.  Allow students to comment & rate the books they read (the ubiquitous 5 star and reader-reviews we see on Amazon et al)
6.  Allow students to view & print chapters online.  I know… even Google & Amazon (Googlezon?) do not allow folks to print.  But if a library owns the books, and if the chapters are only printable by entering a library card – then why not?

I would want to be able to expand or contract the search according to my needs.  For instance, if I am searching for information on Renaissance artists – a standard subject heading search would do.  If I am searching for Albrecht Durer, I would want to be able to do a table of contents search and perhaps an index search so I could find out which art encyclopedias have information.  And finally, if I want to find the effects of violent media on children, I might want to search the full text of the books our library owns.

If Google Book Search and Amazon can do it – why not our library catalogs?  For those of us who might not want features 3-6 – they could be turned off.  Personally, I would KILL for those abilities.

Yes – I know folks can search Googlezon or World Cat, locate a book and then see what libraries own it.  Why should they have to do that?  There is a big advantage for our students to search our own library collections which have been carefully assembled and weeded to meet their unique needs.

Please tell me that the promised land is in sight!!

One practical suggestion to avoid this downside to mobile labs……?  Volunteer to be in charge of scheduling the labs.  I do not have mobile labs – but we might have them in the future.  I plan to handle that situation the same way I handled computer labs when they were added.  Volunteer to take over the scheduling duties.

Right now, the teachers come to me to schedule the stationary labs.  If they are doing an online lab etc.,  I simply schedule their classes into a lab.  However, if they are doing research, I schedule the computer lab AND myself, AND the library (or at least a cart of books).  I have a form that references information literacy standards, so it is immediately obvious that there is a curriculum requirement that needs to be met.

When/if we have mobile computer labs, they will also be scheduled via the library department.  I am hoping to have one mobile lab that stays here (for the most part) to add to the current 15 library computers.  This will allow students to work with books and laptops at tables, providing a more seamless research experience.  The other mobile lab will be reserved for classroom use.  BUT – mobile labs will have to be scheduled by us, and returned to us for recharging.  Yes … I know….that will be a lot of work.  I am blessed to have an assistant.  Not every one is so fortunate.  I also know that many schools schedule lab use via a lab assistant.  If that is the case, then the librarian can check the schedule regularly and make teacher contacts where appropriate.

It is a matter of a small shift in mind-set – research and libraries are no longer bound by library walls.  Research means information literacy, and information literacy should automatically involve librarians.  Furthermore, the library and the librarian are NOT synonymous.  The librarian is as mobile as any mobile lab – and a whole lot smarter! He/she can, should and does travel to where the need is – whether in the library, in a stationary lab, or in the classroom with a mobile lab.  Teachers and librarians have worked together with students in the library for years.  Teachers and librarians can work together just as easily in the classroom.

This might be a big paradigm shift for some teachers – but it isn’t a big leap for us.  We are used to being flexible …… not to mention mobile!

It is how we both want to teach.  What’s holding us back?  The content filter, aka “Bess the Barking Dog”.  I’d actually like to use a synonym that would add some satisfying alliteration to that phrase.  Oh well.  Keep it PG.

Yes – it is frustrating.  But it is not totally insurmountable.  To quote & paraphrase from my reply to his email

We CAN’T throw up our hands and say “if I can’t use Delicious (Wikispaces, Blogger etc etc), then I am taking my toys and going home.”  We HAVE to make compromises to get a little of what we want – and hopefully get a little more another day.

Student Accountability – We do not do nearly enough with holding kids accountable.  We simply block things to make  our lives easier.  As teachers in charge of such a project, we would have to craft a realy tight “acceptable use policy” for collaborative projects.  There would need to be specific, swift and significant consequences to violation of the policy.  We would have to do memorable teaching about the ramifications of signing such a contract and what all the parts of it mean.  Then – “violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Probably blocked by BESS, our beloved filter.  Incredibly well worth watching – at home if you have to.

My favorite part:

“This is what we need….  If you want to see what kids have learned – give them a project.  Dare them to show you what they can do with the work of their own “head, heart and hands”. That’s when you’ll get kids engaged.  That’s when you’ll get kids learning, and that’s when you’ll get kids who can change the world.

…and Technology needs to be like oxygen – ubiquitous, necessary & invisible.  We need to not think about it – it just needs to be there.”

The Schools We Need – Video

The Schools We Need – Slide Show

Oliver was a student who struggled in a school where every student was expected to be above average…. Where every student was expected to finish with a Regents diploma…. Where every student was expected to go on to college.  School discouraged him.  But somehow he soldiered on so he would meet our above average graduation requirements.  At several points in his career, I really thought he would lose hope and give up altogether.   I tried to be a cheerleader for Oliver over the years.  And yet – every time I saw him, he seemed a little more discouraged.

Let me tell you – meeting Oliver today was truly a joy.  Not only am I thrilled that he got that diploma – but I realize that he has found his niche.  He greeted me with great enthusiasm and told me how much he loves his job.  He is now working full time in a retail store.  He told me how the time just flies by and he never feels exhausted like he did in school.  He is already in line for promotion, and it is no wonder given the enthusiasm he has for his work.  Way to go Oliver!

I can’t help but wish we had been able to do more for him at school.  Why was school an almost insurmountable hurdle for him to get over?  A meaningless exercise…  Surely we could design a curriculum for the Olivers of the world.  A curriculum that would provide some practical math, business communication, basic science, etc.   New York used to have a curriculum that was supposed to meet those needs.  It was called Non-Regents.  Nothing like being defined by what you are not

Hey, I’ve got a news flash.  Not everyone should go to college.  Why don’t we value other career paths?   Why are we such educational snobs?  Why can’t we recognize that the happiest people are those who get to work at something they love.  Surely we can find a way to provide an education that will fit many different career paths!

Anyway – I am so happy for Oliver.  I hope he bears us all no ill will.  We really intended to help him…..

“Education is not about filling a pail, it’s about lighting a fire.”
William Butler

I ran across an article today: Serendipity casts a very wide net by Bill Thompson. The author writes about some who feel that the internet has killed opportunities for the chance encounter – and then goes on to make the case for the other side. I have thought about the topic and wrote about it 2 years ago in this post: Serendipity.

The book “The Dumbest Generation” by Bauerlein touches on the idea as well. Being too immersed with only the social groups and ideas that interest us at the moment can limit our vision.

I understand the concerns raised …. to an extent. I just don’t see it happening to myself – or to my husband. Maybe it is because we have always been intellectually curious. Yes – my main interest for the past few years has been library issues – but following up that interest has opened up many other areas to pursue and new connections to make .

My husband is an avid photographer & this passion continually expands his thinking. His mind amazes me. Hillary Clinton once said “Bill and I started a conversation in the spring of 1971, and more than 30 years later we’re still talking.” I feel that way about my husband. He has a very serendipitous mind that leaps from one idea to another and then picks one to study in detail. His interests are wide-open and he keeps serendipity alive and well for me. Recently he took a photo on a portion of beach on Lake Ontario. In the picture was an interesting formation of mud and sand. Most people (if they noticed it at all) would pause for a moment and go on, never thinking of it again. Not my hubby. He began to think about what caused that particular lump of sand to form that particular shape. He was not satisfied with creating a beautiful abstract picture. He had to know what caused it so he could give the picture an accurate title and satisfy his intellectual curiosity. So – he emailed the photo to a professor of geology at a university 100 or so miles away. He included all the circumstances of the day – weather, lighting etc. The professor was intrigued and passed the email on to a colleague in another state. My husband, at home in a small rural village, had a conversation with 2 geology professors in different parts of the country and all 3 of them were able to add to their knowledge in their different areas of interest.

Yes – this COULD have happened prior to the internet – but this kind of serendipity was just not as likely pre-internet. Scholars were more isolated. People were more isolated. The internet has opened the world for both the scholar and the passionate amateur. This free exchange of information helps everyone.

“A rising tide raises all boats.”

What are the implications for education? I believe that educators need to teach students to be open to serendipity – to follow their passions and interests through a hyperlinked world. Bill Thomson says:

The real dangers to serendipity is not the technology we use but our attitude towards it and the opportunities it offers. If all our searches at school are guided and the range of answers we are open to are limited by a prescriptive curriculum, then we will learn to ignore the interesting sidebar and the unexpected link.

Of course I was disappointed that Thompson mentioned libraries only in a rather disparaging way. Another instance of the general public not recognizing our role in a changing information landscape. Librarians have more of an opportunity than ever in this type of world. Our new standards are not prescriptive. Our standards encourage divergent thinking. Here is an excerpt from the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner:

Learners use skills, resources & tools to:

Use both divergent and convergent thinking to formulate alternative conclusions and test them against the evidence (2:2:2)

Now – just how do we go about teaching these “dispositions in action”? The “habits of mind” that lead to serendipitous finds?

…. Serendipity that brings meaning to life ….. or a cure for cancer.

I would be very grateful for links to any articles or blog posts that
you could recommend. I will add the suggested articles and discussion threads below. Thanks for your help!

Suggested so far ….

• The Knowledge Worker Redux
  A paper written for the 2005 National Library Board of Singapore conference “Celebrating Knowledge”
• A Whole New Mind
  Doug Johnson
• Revisiting Pink and “Conceptual Age” Skills
  Doug Johnson
• Why the World Is Flat
  The playing field is being leveled, says globalization guru Thomas Friedman – from Shanghai to Silicon Valley, from al Qaeda to Wal-Mart.
  By Daniel H. Pink
• NPR – For Workers, ‘The World Is Flat’
  Fresh Air from WHYY, April 14, 2005 · New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman’s new book, The World is Flat, explores the effects of outsourcing and globalization. The book, subtitled “a brief history of the 21st century,” connects recent business trends with social issues.
• The Dawning Age of the Right Brain Aired: Monday, March 28, 2005 8-9PM ET
  You will have to scroll past the program about Iraq to listen to this interview with Daniel Pink, author of “A Whole New Mind”.
• Reader’s Guide from the Publishers of The World Is Flat”
• Reinventing Ourselves in 2006
  A post from Will Richardson.
• Great Web 2.0
• The Digitally Re-Shifted School Library: A Conversation with Christopher Harris
• Flat Libraries 1
• Flat Libraries 2

ARTICLES FROM GANANDA’S RESEARCH DATABASES
(Please contact the library for the passwords you will need to access these articles)

• Mann, Catherine L. Racing to the top. Issues in Science & Technology; Winter2006:p88-91 (3p)
• Education Next Wntr 2006 v6 i1 p72(2)
  If the World Is Flat: why does American education go in circles? (Book Review) Petrilli, Michael J.
• Newsweek July 25, 2005 p49
  The World Is Still Round; Yes, some engineering jobs and data centers have moved to India and China. More will go. But the process isn’t endless and can be exaggerated. Samuelson, Robert J.
• The Progressive July 2005 v69 i7 p45(4)
  The pundit and the money tree. (The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century)(Book Review) Pal, Amitabh
• Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada) April 30, 2005 pD14
  Flatism will get you everywhere. (Book Review)(IDEAS)(Book Review)
• The New York Times April 30, 2005 pB18(L)
  Global Playing Field: More Level, but It Still Has Bumps. (The Arts/Cultural Desk)(BOOKS OF THE TIMES – The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century)(Book Review) Stiglitz, Joseph E.