A night at the museum

The information agency for this placement was Museum Victoria (MV) which comprises a number of sites including the Melbourne Museum (MM), the Immigration Museum (IM) and Scienceworks, but also runs distinctive stand-alone permanent exhibitions within the Melbourne Museum such as Bunjilaka, the Planetarium and Imax theatre. Each of these sites operates under a shared philosophy to enrich and inspire patrons in the areas of Humanities, the Natural Sciences, and History and Technology and each is uniquely supported through the MV library. The whole of Museum Victoria itself is an information agency; its collection includes everything in its vast assemblage both on exhibit and in storage, and its users are both its public patrons and the behind-the-scenes scientists, researchers and academics from across the world. Only one sixteenth of its collection is ever on exhibition yet its stored collection which includes everything from bones to live animals, and from millions of insects to a giant squid is used, and indeed loaned out for research, every day. Whilst this placement included an experience in every facet of the museum’s collection including the Melbourne Museum’s Discovery Centre (MMDC), the Immigration Museum’s Discovery Centre (IDC) and Museum Victoria’s main library, the focus of this report will be the MV library. The main users of the MV library are curatorial and research staff employed at MV, as well as other museum staff involved in day to day operations such as Customer Service Officers. More specifically, the users are characterised this way: Humanities staff: who regularly borrow monographs, purchase books and require cataloguing services, and require access to old and rare books. These are frequent users of the library loan service. Vertebrate Zoology staff: who most frequently utilise the Distributed Collection (DC) in their departmental library and regularly request book purchases and cataloguing. These are frequent users of journals for information purposes Invertebrate Zoology staff: who also most frequently utilise their DC and regularly request book purchases and cataloguing. They are also frequent users of journals and scientific periodicals for information purposes. Paleontology and Mineralology staff: who mostly utilise their departmental library and regularly request book purchases, journals and periodicals for information purposes. Museology staff: who mainly use the collection for reference purposes. They occasionally request reference lists on museology and design then make selections to peruse from this list. With some regularity, external patrons such as university lecturers, Masters students or PhD candidates, scientific researchers, or members of other museums locally or from abroad will request access to books in the MV collection. Although not a public library, this can be facilitated by a paid reciprocal interlibrary loan arrangement with that institution as per the MV loans policy. As the library’s holdings is accessible via Trove, there is a constant stream of requests from outsiders by external researchers. In general, members of the public to not have access to this interlibrary loan service Aspects of its collection has been made available for public use at the IDC and the MMDC to assist with public queries, however generally speaking, only a small portion of its collection of approximately 30,000 titles is accessible in this way and all are for reference use only. This library is distinguished by its comprehensive Natural History collection, its unique assortment of scientific journals dating back to the early nineteenth century, and by its collection of rare seminal texts in the natural sciences. However, unlike its public exhibits, the MV library is not just a collection for posterity and interest. Its main focus is for current daily use in the natural history, geology, paleontology, indigenous material, history, technology, and museology areas. The current scope of its collection includes over 28,000 monographs reflecting both the past and present interest of the museum and approximately 1400 periodical titles (mostly historical) with approximately 200 current subscriptions. Despite the majority of the collection being housed in compactuses in a warehouse type facility, the museum still has space issues which means that a large number of titles (both periodical and monograph) have had to be relocated to external storage facilities. This does not make them inaccessible but it does mean there are processes involved in accessing these titles and adds another dimension to the librarian’s role. There is also a limited range of microfiche, audio-cassette, video and DVD in the collection which are interfiled into the general collection. Interestingly, only a very small number of eBooks and eJournals featured in the museum’s current collection (approximately 75 while I was there). However the aim is to increase this size while exploring ways to facilitate accessibility and investigate the best platforms on which to deliver these. The MV collection also includes a collection of pamphlets that support current and future research projects, many of which are unique to MV. The Distributed Collection refers a collection that is housed outside of the main library. For example, hundreds of titles in the Vertebrate and Invertebrate Zoology sections are housed in those two departments to facilitate access to users. The collections for public reference at the MMDC and IDC include material aimed at helping staff and the public answer any questions pertinent to the services at each centre. Finally, its collection includes a very sizable and distinguished assortment of rare books dating back to the nineteenth century including historical ledgers, scientific expedition accounts and books which are of particular significance to the development of the city of Melbourne and the state of Victoria. The MV library’s objective is to ensure that the information needs of curators and researchers are met. Since the library is not set up for public access and the compactuses makes browsing a challenge (particularly when some titles are stored externally), an important aspect of the librarian’s job is to ensure that the catalogue is satisfactorily maintained and that online browse-ability is facilitated. The MV library uses Voyager as its OPAC which is linked and powered by the State Library of Victoria. Newly acquired titles are promoted online through the MV library webpage and weekly blogs, while a small display of new books is featured near the MV library office. However this office is not frequently visited by staff so this display has limited potential to promote new titles. Whilst some curators and researchers will indeed browse the actual shelves, I am told that typically users know what they want and simply request it via direct email to the library team. The title is then physically located on behalf of the borrower and sent to the user via the internal mail system. When outsiders request a title, this is facilitated using a reciprocal interlibrary loan system which staff can also use to borrow from common lenders outside MV. Another feature of the MV library is its Pop-up libraries in staffrooms at the MM and Science works, the objective being to promote the MV library given its limited public accessibility, and to support staff learning about exhibits, especially Customer Service Officers whose knowledge of the museum’s subject areas may be more limited. Technology featured at a rudimentary level at the MV library. In essence, technology is used to catalogue the collection using Voyager as their OPAC, and to facilitate interlibrary loans. Increasingly, however, technology is being introduced in a number of critical areas: to digitise their collection of old and rare books in order to preserve them and to increase their accessibility to outsiders, and, to address space and storage limitations by way of transitioning to eBooks and eJournals. At this point in time, I’m told that a freeze on State Government funding has impacted the museum’s ability to dedicate library staff to properly exploring which eResource platforms best suit the MV library, to changing a culture of reliance on print books, and to training MV library patrons on how to use eBooks from their desktop and mobile devices. Similarly, funding restrictions has meant that the digitisation of important and sought after old or rare collections depends on volunteers. By contrast to the resources offered at my school library, websites, online databases and Web 2.0 technologies were not part of the MV library information culture nor offered as part of a pathfinder via a lib-guide or similar. Insofar as the MV library’s role is to purchase, catalogue and provide access to titles that its users need, the library fulfills its role well. However, the current scope of the collection which consists predominately of printed materials limits accessibility and makes retrieving information slow and labor intensive. For example, many journals are now housed off site. Accessing a journal can take several days and does not allow for browsing content. The user must know exactly what they want including the month, volume and issue to order the material. Transitioning to eResources will address this in part. The MV library’s reticence to direct users to credible websites and online information sources, and to have the ability to organise and promote such resources on a lib-guide or equivalent seriously impedes its ability to provide currency in its repertoire of resources that it unnecessarily limited to print monographs. The MV library’s lack of a physical presence underpins need for an even stronger online presence. Also, in a school library, Teacher Librarians collaborate much more closely with teachers in order to source materials that support their curriculum. There is also an expectation that TLs understand the requirements of the Australian Curriculum and that they will proactively build their collection accordingly. The information agency at MV played a more passive role, responding to demand from experts rather than actively sourcing for the collection themselves. This placement involved three main areas of the museum; the Melbourne Museum’s Discovery Centre (MMDC), the Immigration Museum’s Discovery Centre (IDC) and Museum Victoria’s main library. Melbourne Museum Discovery Centre: Activities included orientation of the MMDC’s website and attending to emails from the public, the promotion of NAIDOC week through a book display in the MMDC’s distributed collection, assisting patrons with queries about the MMDC Collection both in person and online via the MV MMDC blog comments section, the creation of a new hands-on Indigenous topical display for MMDC patrons for NAIDOC week including aboriginal artefacts with corresponding information sheets, attending staff meetings and lectures by curators & research candidates, attending tours of the current exhibits, and attending tours of collections not accessible to the public such as the entomology collection, the marine biology collection and the exhibit preparations department where animals were taxidermied. Activities here included familiarisation of the IDC’s website and its links to external websites such as the public records office in order to assist visitors with their immigration and shipping enquiries, to familiarise myself with the MV library’s collection of migration monographs, to take a tour of the IM and become familiar with the exhibits, and finally to appraise and deselect titles from the IDC collection in order to address limited space issues. Activities included orientation with the MV library’s intranet on Musenet, learning about the processes involved in facilitating interlibrary loans, familiarisation with the MV library OPAC, attending to staff requests by searching the catalogue for titles, locating these in the compactuses and sending these to staff in the internal mail, shelving, checking in newly arrived journals onto the system, sourcing titles for, and developing an annotated bibliography for the Education and Activities team looking to rejuvenate the Children’s Gallery (see Appendix 1) and writing a blog on the Book of the Week for the MV Library Blog. The most involved of all these activities were the de-selection project at the IDC and the annotated bibliography at the MV library. The de-selection of titles from the IDC was prompted by the issues of space which is facing the MV library as a whole. In all, about 100 titles were weeded from the collection based on a set criteria and in accordance with the MV library’s collection policy. De-selecting titles from a collection whose inherent value is historical material was challenging. Most of the de-selected material was cross-checked on Trove to ascertain how prolific or rare the title was or whether the material was now digitally available online at another institution. Books in a very poor condition were de-selected on the basis that new editions could be purchased whilst others were retained despite their poor condition because they were otherwise unavailable. The compiling of the annotated bibliography for the Children’s Gallery at the MM involved firstly visiting the gallery space to gauge its purpose, and attending a lecture by MV curator Padmini Sebastian who had just returned from a tour of the award winning Children’s Museum at the National Museum in Copenhagen. The bibliography was to be a list of current MV monographs that could inform curators of ways to improve the space, increase patronage, and promote early learning. The list was extended to include websites and online scholarly articles on the latest research on children’s museum spaces and the impact of spaces on learning in children. It was very interesting to be in a library whose function was so different to my own library experiences, both professionally as a TL in a school library, but also as a masters student whose entire interaction with the library has been online. The most obvious differentiating features of the MV library compared to a school library was the unique nature of its clientele, its glaring lack of fiction, its confined accessibility and limited borrow-ability, and its method of warehousing its collection. Whilst the MV library appeared to effectively service the needs of its users, the very limited range of eResources and lack of headway for introducing them to users amounted to a real deficit in an otherwise brilliant institution. For an organisation that prides itself on being progressive, this was startling, and more so in light of the fact that MV is dealing with limited space issues. The digitisation of its collection and the embracing of eBooks and ePeriodicals is a matter of urgency for MV. The ability to utilise credible websites and online databases and digitised materials is a matter of priority for any 21st century information agency if it means to embrace new and emerging ways of collecting, disseminating and engaging with information, and I felt that the MV library needed to move in this direction. Otherwise, this was an inspiring and eternally fascinating information agency to be a part of. As an educator I found the MMDC’s hands-on learning opportunities in particular a really powerful way to arouse the curiosity of patrons of all ages. Where the library was closed, the Discovery Centre was open and engaged purposefully with the public. Curious patrons could engage with the exhibits, read books and magazines from the Distributed Collection, and have learning conversations with Discovery staff who were entomologists and palaeontologists among other things. I was also pleasantly surprised by the level of older museum goers who visited the Discovery Centre. Whilst many were accompanying parents who surprised themselves by becoming even more engaged in the exhibits than their kids, many older patrons came in especially, knowing that this was a point of contact with museum experts. In this sense, the MMDC became a place for dialogue between experts rather than just place for children to learn and discover. These kinds of interactions made the MV experience unique; the Discovery Centre gave the Museum a human face and, by way of its experts, offered patrons really valuable human resources. This was one aspect of the information agency that I felt I could take back to the school library and consider implementing. References: Museum Victoria. (2014). Retrieved from Museum Victoria: http://museumvictoria.com.au/ National Museum Copenhagan. (2014). Retrieved from The Children's Museum: http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/childrens-museum-at-the-national-museum-gdk443624  

Reflections on 505

Little to say, really. This subject was hard. I'm glad we have dedicated cataloguers who can deal with the RDA.

Crtical Reflection 504

I've had a lot of fun this semester surreptitiously measuring up anyone I know in a leadership position (past and present school principals, heads of department, political leaders) against the leadership principles I have come to understand are the best. I've even applied them to myself, both in a professional capacity and as a parent, and that’s been pretty interesting too. In doing so, I’ve realised that leadership is really just a term we use to describe the act of ‘taking charge’ during a time of change. The greater the change, the more imperative it is to have quality leadership. To say that education is in a state of change is a bit of an understatement. Like many other professions, teaching and learning has been impacted in unimaginable ways by the information and technology revolution, and the great news is, it promises to continue to do so. This is the time for a leadership style that can steer both educators and learners through an exciting metamorphosis in the education landscape.

So what key things have I learned in the process of studying ETL504? Let’s start with what good leadership isn’t:

Leaderships is not management

No matter how organised and efficient you are, you’re not leadership material until you have developed a capacity for vision and the ability to transform (Young, 2009). Managers are great making things happen on the ground, but they are not necessarily great visionaries who can see from above. Great leaders seem have the uncanny ability to keep one foot in the present while the other traverses into the future, envisioning what is needed, and organizing what needs to be done in the present to prepare for that place in 3 or 5 years’ time. Learning about that key distinction has been enlightening.

Good leadership is not authoritarian

Equally as illuminating has been learning about the elements that inhibit great leadership. Traditional understandings of leadership have long revered strong, autocratic leadership styles that micro-manage every detail and resist transparency. This kind of leadership is feudal. It looks powerful, it demands respect, but it stifles innovation (Aguilar, 2012), is intrinsically untrusting (Muzio, 2011) and typically, such leaders find it extraordinarily difficult to relinquish control and share responsibility (Hargraves, 2007). On the other hand, leaders who act in teams and share power are unafraid of healthy conflict (Brocker, 2012), tend to invite a range of ideas (Fullan, 1997) and therefore serve the greater community in ways that are called for and needed, rather than according to what a single leader presumes is desirable.

So, that’s what good leaders aren’t. This is what I have learned terrific leaders are:

Great leadership is open and transparent

Well, I can’t imagine that anyone who watched Don Tapscott’s 2012 TED talk on open leadership has remained unaffected by it. It seemed to trigger a paradigm shift. A culture of transparency and openness harvests incredible benefits. This comes as a result of the convergence of many knowledge sources, and demands that leaders relinquish the idea that knowledge is property that can be owned or rightfully withheld from others at their detriment (Tapscott, 2012). In a culture where knowledge is still sold as a commodity, his is a revolutionary idea. This notion also challenges the way we see information in the learning environment; currently intellectual data can be ‘owned’ and transacted like physical property. When I watched Tapscott's video, I realised that the democratisation of information had been going on of its own accord right under my nose, but I hadn't recognised it. The way Web 2.0 technologies are being used is a testament to this. Intellectual property is becoming universal property by virtue of the fact that it is becoming impossible to ‘contain’. This presents a unique philosophical challenge for libraries (both in terms of information literacy and the ethical attribution of intellectual sources in learning) but it is also, according to Tapscott (2012), a truly liberating notion for leadership, which will increasingly become characterised by a nuevo-transparency. Of course, this idea is inextricably linked to technology and the impact it is having on information access. Information cannot be kept back and controlled any more than can a tsunami, and Tapscott’s attitude is not to fight it, but to benefit from it, to use it. It will take a gutsy kind of leadership to negotiate this conundrum.

That every TL is a leader and has the potential to enact change in their school

Stop Press! All Teacher Librarians Are Skilled, Inspiring, and Professional Educational Leaders who Actively Promote Effective, Innovative Ways to Learn and Teach in their Schools!

Well, it ought not be news, but it was to me.

As a full-time English teacher, I can see now that there are certain drawbacks to learning about the role of the teacher librarian solely from a theoretical perspective. I can see that there would be advantages in being able to apply the learning in ETL504 to actual, rather than imagined scenarios. Nonetheless, I have discovered two things by observation have escaped my extensive readings for this subject:

1) that the existing skills of the TLs at many schools are lamentably under-promoted (otherwise I’d already know that the TLs at my school are pretty fantastic)

2) and that a lack of time, belief in the role, and funding for professional learning inhibits the true potential of the TL from being realised.

Part of my strategy for building the best possible future library in Assignment 2 included placing the TL at the center of all professional learning and teaching (Hargraves, 2009). In the past, we showed how much we revered libraries as the repositories of knowledge and the heart of all learning in the grandness of their architecture. Today, we must show how much we revere the same principles by investing not in buildings, but in people (Godin, 2010). As leaders of learning TLs have a most noble function, but this can be thwarted by what Sergiovanni (2005) refers to as a lack of trust and belief in the role. The TL must be empowered to positively influence the practices and thinking of others (Young, 2009). Not ‘investing’ in the TL by way of professional learning, especially in technology, effectively clips the wings of the TL, and the whole organisation suffers from an inability to take flight.

Abbey Library, St.Gallen, Switzerland

And this brings me to my final observation.

That a special kind of leadership is required for 21^stcentury learning

The way we seek and process information in the digital environment has revolutionised libraries and will surely continue to do so. The impact of technology is everywhere; it is the ubiquitous ‘given’ in every aspect of our lives, the least of which is the way we learn. We know that for a library to remain viable in the 21^st century it must adopt 21^stcentury practices, and this means that TLs must get with the times and skill up. I liked the cheeky way Hay (2010) put it when she said “shift happens”, the implication being that we may be uncomfortable with the pace of change, or nostalgic about the past, but our job isn’t to get sentimental; it’s about being proactive and dealing with it by putting the learning of our students first. The TL is beautifully positioned to lead schools holistically into the future of learning in the digital age. They are uniquely placed across the whole curriculum, they support both teachers and students, and their core business is lifelong independent learning ( (Kulhthau, C., Maniotis, L. & Kaspari, A., 2007). The challenge for them is to ensure that they become, and remain, proficient in the new universal democratic language of the digital age.

References

Aguilar, E. (2012, November 28). Effective Teams: The Key to Transforming Schools? Retrieved from Edutopia - What works in Education: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-teams-transform-schools-elena-aguilar

Brocker, B. (2012, March 22). Leadership Theory and Critical Skills. Bellevue University. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzAzhiEsZtY&feature=player_embedded

Fullan, M. (1997). Leadership for Change. In M. Fullan (Ed.),The Challenge of School Change (pp. 97-114). Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Godin, S. (2010). The future of the library. Retrieved from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/the-future-of-the-library.html

Hargreaves, A. (2007). Sustainable Leadership and Development in Education: creating the future, conserving the past. European Journal of Education, 42(2), 223-233.

Hay, L. (2010). Shift happens: It's time to re-think, rebuild and rebrand. Australian School Library Association, 24(4), 5-10. Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/publications/access/access-commentaries/shift-happens.aspx

Kulhthau, C., Maniotis, L. & Kaspari, A. (2007). Introduction to Guided Inquiry: what is it, what's new, why now? In Guided Inquiry - Learning in the 21st Century. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.

Muzio, E. (2011, June 8). 7 Step Problem Solving. Bnet. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXDGQSuF9I&feature=player_embedded#!

Sergiovanni, T. (2005). The Virtues of Leadership. The Educational Forum(69), 112-123.

Tapscott, D. (2012, June). Four principles for the open world. Edinburgh, Scotland: TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/don_tapscott_four_principles_for_the_open_world_1.html?awesm=on.ted.com_Tapscott&utm_campaign=&utm_content=awesm-publisher&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=direct-on.ted.com

Young, H. (2009). (Un)Critical times? Situating distributed leadership in the field. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 41(4), 377-389.



I am coming to the pointy end of this first assignment. I have been reflecting on the qualities required for good leadership according to our readings, and when combined, the criteria is staggering. And yet, not beyond reach.

I recognise these qualities in colleagues with whom I work and it is heartening to know that these are all achievable. Having worked under a very authoritative (albeit charismatic) leader, I also know which I prefer. Leadership which instils a sense of empowerment and fosters an eagerness for change and innovation is truly exciting.

In the spirit of presenting information diagrammatically, I collected the descriptors of what a good leader does from our readings and have presented them here:

I then trawled through the job-descriptions of TLs in leadership positions and discovered that their key contacts included the following (also presented diagrammatically):

When I combined the two to represent leadership style with actual role, this was the result:

It actually looks like a fireworks display. For those not daunted by the many facets of leadership, I guess there's a lot to celebrate. If there's one thing I've learned here, it's that that while leadership can be developed, it really can't be taught. Surely the desire to embrace the challenges and rewards that come with this life need to come from somewhere within.

Some observations:

Leadership is process not a person – this is why there are so many verbs in the first diagram connecting leadership to outcomes. Leadership does, not is.

The mark of good leadership is in the morale of its teams.

Good leadership actively grows rather than fears new leaders.

Transparency is a mark of confident leadership.

Change cannot be mandated; leaders create the right environment and change occurs.

Aguilar, E. (2012, November 28). Effective Teams: The Key to Transforming Schools? Retrieved from Edutopia - What works in Education: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-teams-transform-schools-elena-aguilar

Avolio, B., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. (2009). Leadership: Current Theories, Research, and Future Directions. Lincoln: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=managementfacpub

Belbin, M. (2010). Team Roles at Work (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK.

Brocker, B. (2012, March 22). Leadership Theory and Critical Skills. Bellevue University. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzAzhiEsZtY&feature=player_embedded

Fullan, M. (1997). Leadership for Change. In M. Fullan (Ed.), The Challenge of School Change (pp. 97-114). Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Hargreaves, A. (2007). Sustainable Leadership and Development in Education: creating the future, conserving the past. European Journal of Education, 42(2), 223-233.

Hough, M., & Paine, J. (1997). Collaborative Decision Making with Teams. In Creating quality learning communities (pp. 110-127). South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia.

Knapp, M., Copland, M., & Swinnerton, J. (2007). Understanding the Promise and Dynamics of Leadership. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Chapter 4 106(1), 74-104.

Kotter, J. (2012). Kotter International. Retrieved April 2013, from Innovate Strategy Implementation Professionals: http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps

Lambert, L. (1998). What is Leadership Capacity? In Building leadership capacity in schools (pp. 1-9). Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Law, S. & Glover, D. (2000). Leading effective teams. In Educational leadership and learning : practice, policy and research (pp. 71-86). Buckingham, England: Open University Press.

Marzano, R. Waters, T & McNulty, B. (2006). School Leadership that Works. Victoria, Australia: Hawker Brownlow.

Muzio, E. (2011, June 8). 7 Step Problem Solving. Bnet. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXDGQSuF9I&feature=player_embedded#!

Schifter, C. (2008). Infusing Technology into the classroom: Continuous Practice Improvement. New York: Information Science Publishing.

Sergiovanni, T. (1984, February). Leadership and Excellence in Schooling. Educational Leadership, 4-13.

Sergiovanni, T. (2005). The Virtues of Leadership. The Educational Forum(69), 112-123.

Tapscott, D. (2012, June). Four principles for the open world. Edinburgh, Scotland: TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/don_tapscott_four_principles_for_the_open_world_1.html?awesm=on.ted.com_Tapscott&utm_campaign=&utm_content=awesm-publisher&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=direct-on.ted.com

Townsend, T. (2011). School leadership in the twenty-first century: different approaches to common problems. School Leadership and Management, 31(2), 93-103. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/13632434.2011.572419 

Youngs, H. (2009). (Un)Critical times? Situating distributed leadership in the field. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 41(4), 377-389.

The TL as Leader

On the tactile love of books and a palpable spirit of OPENNESS

I love the physical open space of libraries and I love books. Not e-books. Not i-books. Actual books. Made of paper. Even though I can’t actually see you, I can tell you are frowning.  TLs of the future are supposed to embrace e-books but I can’t say I love them yet. I have my reasons.

Because I love books, I often go to where books live: bookshops and libraries. As a student, I often go to the university library to get actual copies of books and journals on the ETL reading list. I like seeing their shape and feeling their weight. I wonder about the design of the front cover and what it’s meant to convey. You can also tell a lot about a book’s integrity by how damaged it is: the more dog-eared and well-thumbed its pages, the better the content is sure to be. Well, that's my theory anyway; real books demonstrate a remarkably vivid and accurate tactile history that e-books just don't (beware the book in perfect condition!). I also enjoy the academic environment of the library. I like traversing isles, fingering shelves, mentally mapping dewy decimal numbers to find the book I’m after. When I find it, it feels like I've just won at orienteering.

But greatest thing about physically being in the library is that you’re bound to find interesting things you weren’t looking for. Relevant things. After all, they’re usually sitting along-side the things you were looking for because libraries are so orderly, so purposefully arranged. Anyway, it was exactly in this way that I came across a book called The Challenge of School Change edited by Michael Fullan. I admit it’s a little dated, but there’s an interesting section in it comparing today’s leadership values (in 1997) with those of the future (where we are now). How fascinating to read about what others’ have envisaged about the future, in the future.

Here are some of his key ideas on leading change in schools (paraphrased):

Value 1: openness to participation

Today’s value - employees do what the leader tells them

Tomorrow’s value - actively include participants in decisions which affect them

Value 2: Openness to diversity

Today’s value – employees fall into line with organisational direction

Tomorrow’s value - diversity of perspectives result in deep understanding and enriched decision making

Value 2: Openness to conflict

Today’s value - employees valued only when communicating in harmony with group

Tomorrow’s value - resolving healthy conflict results in a stronger organisation

Value 2: Openness to Reflection

Today’s value – decisions are made without looking back

Tomorrow’s value – organisations value reflecting on own and others’ thinking

Value 2: Openness to mistakes

Today’s value – don’t make them

Tomorrow’s value - learn from them

I’m glad we have moved past 1997 but can really we say we have successfully achieved that culture of openness? 

Fast forward to 2012. According to Don Tapscott, the world is opening up despite us, and the internet is driving it. We can either jump on board, or we can sink. As students of ETL504, we have all seen Tapscott’s powerful TED Talk on ‘The Four Principles of the Open World’ but I have included it here for you anyway. The last part of the video featuring the murmuration of the starlings is mesmerising.

For Tapscott, openness is about endless possibility.  For Fullan, it is a force for positive change. Both believe that collaboration is key to successfully executing change. I suppose if Fullan could have foreseen the power of social media, he probably would have agreed with Tapscott that it is a critical means of intellectual production. I agree. In an open market of qualified minds, ‘every person is a change agent’ p.103

Please see April 5 post for further reflections on leadership J

References

Fullan, M. (1997). Leadership for Change. In M. Fullan (Ed.), The Challenge of School Change (pp. 97-114). Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Tapscott, D. (2012, June). Four principles for the open world. Edinburgh, Scotland: TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/don_tapscott_four_principles_for_the_open_world_1.html?awesm=on.ted.com_Tapscott&utm_campaign=&utm_content=awesm-publisher&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=direct-on.ted.com

The Mule and the Piano - my view on how the role of the TL has expanded as a result of ETL401

TLs are collaborators

ETL401 has not merely expanded my understanding of the TL, it has actually defined it. Initially  I set out with my iPhone to record a series of interviews with teachers, TLs, Headsof Department,  Library Directors  and Directors of Curriculum and Learning, eager to plot their understanding against mine and exploit what Herring (2007) referred to as the human resource.  I found that each person’s understanding of the role stemmed from a history of collaboration. They used language like “they assist” and “help find information”. Subsequent readings by Haycock, (2007) Purcell (2010), Lamb & Johnson (2008), Herring (2007) and Kuhlthau (1995, 2004) reiterated the importance of this aspect of the role. I learned that the TL is highly relational and that ‘collaborating’ was even deemed a professional standard by ASLA (2002).

Teacher attitude can enable or inhibit the TL’s potential

Through my readings and some forum posts, I also learned that in some schools, collaboration is a one-way street. Lack of interest (Haycock, 2007), time constraints and role confusion (Kuhlthau, 1995), and a lack of understanding of the TL often got in the way of collaborating with TLs. This was a sentiment reinforced by many of my CSU colleagues, some of whom are already working as TLs. Sometimes it was, as Scott Rolfe acknowledged, that some teachers are “juggling so many other balls already that the thought of additional programs sees them turn off immediately”.  Ann-Maree lamented that she would have to “hassle teachers to get on board”. I would have justified my own lack of partnering up along these lines and it has been illuminating to view this situation from the TL's perspective. I found that Scott Rolfe’s observation that  “the wider community … have no clear understanding of what the role of the TL is” is probably true. The TL is underutilized when their role is unappreciated, and this in turn impedes other important aspects to the role such as teaching life-long IL skills (Herring 2011).

Literature, Literacy and Information Literacy

I had expected to learn more about “fostering a love of reading”.  Purcell’s (2010) diagrammatical representation of the ‘Media Specialist’ surprised me by not including anything about promoting a love of reading. At least ASLA’s (2002) standards stated that a TL should know “how to promote and foster reading" but I found it disconcerting that Herring (2007) expressed this aspect of the role as “Fiction and Non-Fiction advocate”. To me, literature seems to be competing for space theoretically, yet in practice, my school library has a disproportionate amount of floor space dedicated to literature, and TLs work tirelessly to promote a love of reading. It seems anomalous. However, my understanding of the TL has expanded to include other key features such as IL and ICT.

The online world is a TL role changer

I've come to appreciate that  the TL's role is inextricably linked to the ever evolving, terribly exciting but possibly scary online information landscape. The digitization of print material, virtual libraries and Google  means that TLs need to stay on the cutting-edge of emerging technologies (Kuhlthau, Maniotis & Caspari 2007, Herring, 2006). Libraries are no longer about books, and I have been challenged to question whether they ever were. The term ‘cybrarian’ (Carol Tonhauser, 2009 cited by Murry, J. 2000) has now become strangely appropriate to me, reiterating Kong (2007) who sees ICT as integral.  

IL is a survival skill 

I have learned that one of the most important aspects to our role is the teaching and implementation of IL skills.  Langford (1998) and Lupton’s (2002) many definitions both confused and enlightened me and but what powerfully remained was an understanding that IL was as important in today’s world as literacy itself.

Don Watson’s (2011) recent essay on education in The Monthly seems to sum up why we need both good teachers and good TLs in the 21^st century.  Like many others, he challenges the notion that access to information does not make us more informed.

“…the best mobile phones cannot do what a teacher can. It is dumb like a mule, and no more the master of information we download from it than a mule is master of the piano it carries on its back”  (p11)

I think most profound thing I have learned is that IL is not just a library skill. It is a life skill and a survival skill, and that the role of the TL in fostering this critical lifelong skill is more important than ever (Kuhlthau, Caspari & Maniotis, 2007).

References

ASLA. (2002). Standards of professional excellence for Teacher Librarians. http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm.

C. Kuhlthau, L. Maniotis & A. Kaspari. (2007). Chapter One - Introduction to Guided Inquiry: what is it, what's new, why now? In Guided Inquiry - Learning in the 21st Century. Westport, Connecticut, USA: Libraries Unlimited.

Haycock, K. (2007, January). Collaboration: Critical Success Factors for Student Learning. School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), 25-35.

Herring, J. (2006). A Critical Investogation of Students' and Teachers' Views of the Use of Information Literacy Skills in School Assignments. Retrieved January 1, 2012, from American Association of School Librarians: http://www.ala.org/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume9/informationliteracy

Herring, J. (2011, February). Assumptions, Information Literacy and Transfer in High Schools. Teacher Librarian, 38(3).

Herring, J. (2011, January). Year seven students, concept mapping and the issue of transfer. School Libraries Worldwide, 17(1), 11-23.

Herring, J. and Tarter, A. (2007a). Progress in developing information literacy in a secondary school using the PLUS model. School Libraries in View, 23, 23-27.

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher Librarians and the School Library. In S. Ferguson, Libraries in the twenty-first century: charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Jacobs, H. (2008, May). Perspectives on... Information Literacy and Reflective Pedagogical Praxis. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(3).

Kong, S. C. (2008, April 22). A curriculum framework for implementing information technology in school education to foster information literacy. ScienceDirect, 129-141.

Kuhlthau, C. (1995). The Process of Learning from Information. School Libraries Worldwide, 1(1), 1-12.

Kuhlthau, C. (2004). Seeking Meaning (2 ed.). Westport, Connecticut, USA: Libraries Unlimited.

Langford, L. (1998). Information Literacy: A Clarification. FNO.org From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal.

Lamb, A & Johnson, L. (2010). The School library Media Specialist. In Overview. http://eduscapes.com/sms/overview/collaboration.html.

Lupton, M. (2002, June). The getting of wisdom: reflections of a teaching librarian. (information literacy responsibilities of librarians). Australian Academic & Research Libraries.

Purcell, M. (2010, November/December). All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media Specialist. Library Media Connection, 29(3), pp. 30-33.

Watson, D. (2011, December). The Nation Reviewed. Comment: Education. The Monthly, 10-12.

Hyperlinks

Corney, A. (2011a, November 25). The Human Resource. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger:  http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2011/11/so-where-were-we-oh-yes-as-per.html   

Corney, A. (2011b, November 28). The role of the TL seems to be growing with every interview. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger: http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2011/11/role-of-tl-seems-to-be-growing-with.html

Corney, A. (2011c, November 28). Pathfinders and Pubs. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger: http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2011/11/pathfinders-and-pubs.html

Corney, A. (2011d, November 28). Technology is Scary. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger: http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2011/11/technology-is-scary.html

Corney, A. (2011e, December 2). The Cull. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger: http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2011/12/cull.html

Corney, A. (2012a, January 2). The Beach - Is it really an obstacle to Information Technology? Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger: http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2012/01/beach-is-it-really-obstacle-to.html

Corney, A. (2012b, January 10). No Plain Sailing. Retrieved January 29, 2012, from Information Scavenger:  http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2012/01/helloagain-followers-all-six-of-you-and.html    

Corney, A. (2012c, January 29). The Mule and The Piano. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from Information       Scavenger. Retrieved January 29, 2012 http://informationscavenger.blogspot.com/2012/01/donkey-and-piano.html

Hannon, A. (2011, December 30). Webmail has been discontinued [Online forum comment]. Retrieved         from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201190_W_D_Sub7_forum

Rolfe, S. (2011, December 23). Webmail has been discontinued [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201190_W_D_Sub4_forum&task=frameset