"Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs" (AASL, 2009) charges school librarians "to play a leading role in weaving such skills throughout the curriculum so that all members of the school community are effective users of ideas and information" (p. 46). Providing leadership in technology integration for…

The purpose of this study was to determine strategies that could be implemented into an online course in order to create and maintain a sense of social presence between students and their professor and students and each other. A mixed methods study utilizing interviews, document analysis, and a survey was used to conduct the research. The study…

No doubt most school librarians have heard of the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) new "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner." The four standards with their accompanying skills, dispositions, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies form a defining new vision for the direction of school library programs. AASL named the…

"Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (American Association of School Librarians, 2009) continues to support the four original roles of the school librarian identified in "Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning" (American Association of School Librarians/Association for Educational Communication and…

The release of AASL's "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" and "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs" has provided school library media specialists with the opportunity to "develop new visions for learning" (AASL 2009), and to rethink what their roles are, and what skills and characteristics are required of them to…

In inquiry environments, assessment is integral to the learning process. This means that students not only assess their own work, but they also help identify the criteria for assessment and design the tools for measuring the quality of the performance. One critical assessment tool, which is being used in countless classrooms, is the rubric.…

In this article, the author shares how she follows the policy developed by the Library Advisory Council (LAC) when she acquires new books for her school library. LAC is a group of fifty or so teaching librarians from all five New York City boroughs. They meet four times a year to help the Office of School Library Services focus on issues important…

In truth, many resources are removed from the collection because one parent complained, or in some cases, because it was feared that a parent would complain. It is, therefore, helpful when questions are raised about a resource to clarify the circumstances. In this article, the author discusses on what to do when resources are being questioned or…

A report by the Alabama Committee for the Preparation of Educational Media Personnel summarizes the related literature, defines the role of the media specialist, lists projected terminal and enroute competencies of media specialists, and makes recommendations aimed at improving the professional status of the media specialist. The history and…

As varied as the schools and the communities they serve, so too are the Web pages for the library media programs that serve them. This article provides guidelines for effective web design and the information that might be included, including reference resources, reference asistance, curriculum support, literacy advocacy, and dynamic material. An…

This handbook offers suggestions to guide students in the skills of using media to make a maximum contribution to their intellectual and personal development. The ideas presented can be useful for media specialists and teachers in any grade or subject area. The teacher has the responsbility to: (1) be acquainted with the media center's resources,…

The criteria needed for preparing proposals are outlined and several samples of successful ESEA Tile IV-C Mini-Grants are provided. School librarians are seen as the best persons to write such proposals because of their collection knowledge, and their ability to suggest solutions to educational problems. (Author/MBR)

Gives suggestions to media professionals for effectively providing for bilingual students, including a bilingual listening station, interest center, bulletin board display, and human resource file. Sources for the acquisition of foreign language materials are listed. (CMV)

This digest brings together the various views on curriculum-related roles for library media specialists. The first section considers reasons why a disparity between theory and practice exists in regard to the involvement of library media specialists as curriculum consultants. Several sources addressing this issue are reviewed in the second…