Argues that current technologies offer unique possibilities for instructional improvement and identifies probable obstacles to exploitation of these opportunities for all students, including female, handicapped, inner-city and rural, minority, disadvantaged, and average learners. A 2-tiered model is presented for the media specialist addressing…

Focuses on the planning process described in the new guidelines for school library media programs developed cooperatively by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Topics discussed include the rationale for planning, benefits and risks, and steps in the planning process. (10…

Discusses the collaborative role of school library media specialists as instructional consultants to help teachers plan curriculum and develop instructional activities. Topics addressed include the nature of instructional planning; how teachers plan; and strategies for planning in partnership with teachers, including planning styles, planning…

Presents a model for the evaluation and selection of instructional software packages for microcomputers by school librarians and media specialists. Types of educational applications for microcomputers, the analysis of printed documentation decribing instructional software, content analysis, default analysis, operant analysis, and access time are…

Guide to instructional design consultation by school library media specialist proposes four levels of activity--action education, reaction, passive participation, no involvement--to be used in assessing degree of involvement in instructional design consultation process. An eight-step model of instructional design and assessment chart are provided.…

Discusses ways in which schools, libraries, and other cultural institutions can help students develop their own thoughts and foster a desire for lifelong learning. Schools and cultural institutions are compared, libraries are described as places for critical thinking, and a model for school information service is presented that stresses…

Presents a model of the information search process as a complex series of stages involving thoughts and feelings as well as actions. A study that sought to verify the model using high school seniors from three different achievement levels is described, and the implications for library instruction are discussed. (five references) (CLB)

Summarizes a series of five studies on students' perspectives of information seeking in response to a research assignment. Feelings, thoughts, and actions commonly experienced in the information search process are described in six stages. Implications of the findings for further research and their impact on school library media programs are…

Describes 10 key elements of generic teaching strategies for developing student thinking and provides a rationale for the participation of school library media specialists in developing student thinking skills. The role of media specialists within the school and the importance of information-based decision making in a free society are discussed.…

Explains the concept of diagnosing information needs as part of the role of the school library media specialist. Topics discussed include the diagnostic process, i.e., the reference interview; information psychology; theories of information transfer; a model for diagnosing information needs; and implications for practitioners and for research. (19…

This third and final part of a study focusing on the consultation and teaching roles of elementary school library media specialists examines relationships among scheduling methods, consultation activity, information skills instruction, and the planning process, culminating in a model for collaboration between media specialists and classroom…