Presents ideas for promoting high-school library media centers using technology, including cable television broadcasts; pathfinders to specific information needs; a World Wide Web home page; lunchtime inservice presentations for teachers; current contents from magazines for staff; senior citizen volunteers with specialized technology skills; and…

Describes the processes developed in the Sandia National Laboratories (a Department of Energy multiprogram national laboratory) Technical Library to provide and improve desktop access to Sandia-generated documents. Discusses procedures for cataloging these electronic reports, including identification of the bibliographic information and MARC tags…

Compares the following World Wide Web-based periodical databases, focusing on their usefulness in K-12 school libraries: EBSCO, Electric Library, Facts on File, SIRS, Wilson, and UMI. Search interfaces, display options, help screens, printing, home access, copyright restrictions, database administration, and making a decision are discussed. A…

Advocates the assessment of teachers' technology skills by school media and technology specialists who are involved in staff training. Discusses what should be assessed, including level of curricular integration and attitudes; assessment objectives; informal assessments; formal assessments; assessment tools; and administrators as role models for…

Describes a distance education online information literacy course developed at Ohio State University libraries that used interactive tutorials, Web-based tests, and practice-oriented worksheets. Discusses course management software; measures of success, including performance on assignments, final grades, and student attitudes; communication…

Students of biology must learn the scientific method for generating information in the field. Concurrently, they should learn how information is reported and accessed. We developed a progressive set of exercises for the undergraduate introductory biology laboratory that combine these objectives. Pre- and postassessments of approximately 100…

Kick into Reading (KiR) aims to support literacy work among families and professionals such as teachers, librarians and other community workers by using male role models from football clubs to nurture an interest in reading and storytelling. The main planned outcomes are to deliver 18 KiR projects based at football clubs, bringing high-quality…

In this article, the author discusses how her sixth-grade students gained writing skills and learned to "dream big dreams." She wanted to celebrate literacy, and also create something that could raise funds to support literacy projects, so she challenged her students to write to their favorite authors and ask each for a recipe. The end result of…

In an attempt to gauge the effectiveness of their information literacy program, librarians at Stephen F. Austin State University began comparing average course grades in course sections that receive IL instruction to grades in sections that do not. The results varied, revealing no clear benefit to information literacy instruction. We discuss…

Social technologies such as Weblogs, wikis, and social bookmarking are emerging both as information resources and as tools for research. This paper reflects on these technologies and suggests they may be well placed to build fluency in the higher-order thinking skills outlined in various information literacy frameworks, particularly in an…

Three years ago, the author was a newly minted library media specialist, a bit green, but excited, enthusiastic, and ready to educate her middle school students. Once she learned that four out of the twenty-five sixth grade classes she was required to teach were bilingual "Dual Language Classes," the author was determined to use her background in…

According to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (2006), "Accomplished library media specialists are instructional leaders who forge greater opportunities for learners" (55). As one of the few school personnel responsible for all students, the media specialist can serve as a coordinator and an advocate. They can ensure equitable…

This study examines international student information needs and whether education level, age, and gender affect their information use. An e-mail survey revealed that international students need information that supports their academic courses, and those with higher education levels use databases, remote access to library offerings, and e-journals…

It was a banner year for women in 2006. Their average annual starting salary finally cracked through the $40,000 glass barrier, increasing to $40,566 for all women and with a substantial gain of 11.3% for women in the Southwest. There was small, but solid, growth in salaries overall. Another surprise was the substantial leap in graduates reporting…

Since the first toy libraries opened in the 1960s and 1970s to support families of children with special educational needs, they have expanded to serve broader communities. Toy libraries do more than lend toys: they can provide family support services and specialist support to families with children with special educational needs, benefit…