Innovation and Change

I've just finished reading the article by Hargreaves & Fink regarding sustainable leadership. What an interesting article. For innovations to be successful they need to have commitment from staff, contribute to the growth and good of those involved and draw upon resources and support at a rate that can be changed (2003, p. 3). The article also discusses the importance of the leadership style of the principal and how they can positively (or negatively) affect the implementing of the innovation.

To finish I have 2 quotes that the article starts and finishes with:
p. 1. Educational change is rarely easy to make, always hard to justify and almost impossible to sustain.

p. 18. Successful leadership is sustainable leadership; nothing simpler, nothing less.

TL as Leader

Im slowing making my way through this first module and am still finding the whole topic of leadership something that doesn't overly interest me. And having no internet for 3 days made studying rather difficult! Anyway here's my thought in regards to the first module TL as Leader.

As a person who doesn't like to be up the front and leading discussions, let alone anything of importance, I was pleased to read in the Donham article that an important role of the TL is to "Lead from the middle" (2005, p. 301). Im beginning to think that this is such as importance aspect of the TL as most TL don't enter the profession to become leaders, being a leader is a by product! 
Another aspect that I thought important for not only TL's but also for teachers and in fact anyone who wants to improve an area of their life is the importance of reflection and asking yourself on a  regular basis the following four questions:
1. What did I learn today?
2. Whom did I nurture?
3. What challenge did I confront today?
4. How did I make a positive difference today? (Donham, 2005, p. 303)

I'll finish with a couple of quotes that is food for thought:
“Even if I have a misfortune, I thank God, then determine how I can turn he disadvantage into an advantage.” Clement Stone. (Stretton, 2000, p. 18)

"No individual has all the skills–and certainly not the time–to carry out all the complex tasks of contemporary leadership." John Gardner, On Leadership  (Davidson, 2002).


References 

Davidson, J. (2002) Democratic Leadership in Coalition Schools: Why It's Necessary, How It Works

Donham, J. (2005), ‘Leadership’.

Streeton Primary School (2000), ‘The 12 quality principles’.

ETL 504 - TL as Leader

After thoroughly enjoying the last subject, I can't say that I very excited to be doing a subject on leadership.    I am not the up front type and really don't enjoy showing (or telling) other adults what to do. I am hoping that as I start this subject I will see the value of leadership to the TL and see ways that TLs can lead effectively within their school community and relate this to my journey as a potential TL.

ELT503 - Reflection

Have just received my marks for the second assignment and I passed:) So 2 subjects down and 6 to go.

Here are some thoughts on the subject and assignments that I have just completed.

• I have been challenged by the large extent of knowledge the teacher librarian needs to know (or have access to) to effectively assist their teaching colleagues and student body. I have seen the important of having a clear and concise policy that is used by all library staff to ensure that they best assist the library users. Bishop (2007, p. 34) stated that written policies have a multi faceted role by saving staff time, helping library users and staff “avoid confusion and provide guidance”. Through writing this assignment I have began to see how well written policy documents can be a teacher librarians (or teachers) best friend, especially in light of challenged materials. Kennedy (2006, p. 12) talks about how a policy document is like a planning document and through writing this assignment I have began to understand the importance of well written policy document to assist the teacher librarian plan their library collection development.

• I have been challenged by the importance of digital resources and how they, now and in the future, will be a major part of all library collections. I found this particularly hard to write in the policy as there appears to be such a large variety of ways digital resources are obtained and used and retained and I think that this is an area that will constantly develop and need reviewing as new resources become available.

• Of all the reading I have done for this subject, I found the chapter by Debowski (2001) on Collection Management Policies, not only useful but also very interesting. It is clearly stated in the chapter what should be included in a collection management policy and I found the chapter had many practical applications.

I most of this subject interesting, useful and practical for a potential teacher librarian and hope that the next subjects are as interesting.

Assignment 2 is handed in

Just submitted the second and final assignment for ETL503.... After surprising myself with  fairly decent mark in the first assignment, I am determined not to worry about this assignment now that it is submitted. I would like to think that I will pass...I thoroughly enjoyed writing the assignment. I found it practical, interesting and very pertinent to a potential teacher librarian. The assignment made me think about many things regarding collection management that I had not thought of before...budgets, weeding, evaluation...to name a few. Looking forward to a few weeks off before the beginning of the next semester. Here's to passing this subject - I hope:)

Thoughts of the Deselection Process

“Weeding is the process of removing resources from the school library collection when they are no longer relevant to the needs of the curriculum and users.” (CSU Interact Module: Deselection)

Kennedy

p. 117. Some may have been poor selections and some may have been good selections that no longer have a place in the collection.

I understand his analogy with weeding as weeds are never wanted…resources were at some stage. I think I prefer the term deselection to weeding as it implies a thought out process.

p. 119 Why deselect:

·      Improve appearance

·      Remove obsolete materials

·      Remove little used materials

·      Save staff time

p. 124. Kennedy suggests that deselection should be the domain of senior qualified staff… I see the value in this, as the community is more likely to accept a senior staff’s judgment, in line with the deselection policy, than a junior inexperienced staff.

Dillon, K., Henri, J., & McGregor, J., &…Providing more with less: Collection management for school libraries.

·      P. 243. I understand the importance of weeding, I also agree that if items are discarded then other items should replace.

·      P. 244. "The point is that weeding the collection has as much to do with the maintenance of a strong collection as does selection."

·      P.246 "It is essential that the school Librarian has policy and procedures in place to guide weeding decisions."

·      Before weeding the collection, establish a policy and procedure, including criteria. By doing this you can easily and quickly refer any complaints to this policy.

Less Is More . Baumbach, Donna J. & Miller, Linda L.

p. 10. A carefully developed weeding policy can not only guide you decision but alleviate some misunderstanding amongst the community about your work

p. 11. CREW Continuous review, Evaluation and weeding

p. 12. MUSTIE

M- misleading – factually inaccurate

U – ugly – worn beyond mending or rebinding

S – superseded by a newer edition or better book

T- trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific value

I – irrelevant to the needs and interest of the community

E – elsewhere – the material is easily obtained from another library

p. 12? General criteria for weeding

·      Age

·      Use

·      Physical condition

·      currency of content

·      duplication

·      curriculum integration

·      appropriation to the collection

·      bias

·      obsolete formats

With the introduction on the national curriculum selection and deselection will be very important tasks to ensure that the resources meet the changing needs within the curriculum.

http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_63/secret_library_business__part_2.html 

WRITTEN BY Renate Beilharz

"If in doubt about a subject area, weed with a teacher who has the expertise and an understanding of the purpose of weeding."

"All the advice, recommendations and information in this article are just as relevant to a DVD or Internet site as to a book."

Weeding library collections: A selected annotated bibliography http://www.ala.org/ala/professionalresources/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet15.cfm

I liked the SCIS website as it offered simple yet practical suggestions for the experienced or inexperienced TL to implement in regards to weeding the collection.

http://www.titlewave.com/intro/pdfs/news/grants-weeding.pdf 

The SUNLINK Weed of the Month program introduced a new weeding subject area each month from September 1997 to December 2005. The enclosed table shows the different topics covered by Weed of the Month by the primary Dewey® classification. http://www.sunlink.ucf.edu/weed/.

·      Although the link was not current I like the idea of a weed of the month as it gives the TL a focus each month in regards to deselection that is achievable to complete.

 Found this blog that gives fairly concise explanation of the deselection process. http://olcsmalllibraries.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/weeding-library-collections/

Do you feel the use of the term 'weeding' unconsciously denigrates this process and adversely influences perceptions of its importance? Would it be more professional and appropriate to use the term 'deselection'?

·      I do prefer the term deselection, as I feel it implies a more thought out and intelligent process. A professional process! I think using deselection shows the importance of the work the TL does.

Are there useful parallels between selection and weeding?

·      Careful selection process with help ensure that materials acquired are used in the Library and will help the TL clearly see what materials no longer fit the selection criteria and therefore need to be deselected.

Is weeding a less important process than selection and acquisition? Why?

·      Both are important, though selection and acquisition appears to be a much more interesting and fulfilling process. Through careful and planned deselection, the Library will function more effectively and provide better quality resources to its users.