Annette Becomes a Teacher Librarian!

Photo Credit: Trevor McKenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt  Throughout the discussions and reading during Theme Two, I kept returning to the idea of a Teacher Librarian as an Information Specialist. An information specialist does the following: Provide up to date print, nonprint and digital resources to serve the academic, recreational, and informational needs of the users Organize and manage the collection so that it is easily accessed by all Collaborate with teachers to support information literacy skills as it relates to units of inquiry Conduct reference interviews with students to support their inquiries Be a technology specialist that can support access to digital databases Teach information literacy skills to enable students to be critically aware and independent Promote the collection to students and staff to ensure they are regularly used The issue with this however is the school, district, and ministry perception of this role and its value (Lo et al. 317). In many schools, ...

A reflection question in one of the modules of my LIBE 467 class asked, “Does the fact that it is considered "reference" make it distinct from how we deal with other instructional materials that are supported by the school library?” and throughout Theme One: The Foundation of Reference Services I continued to question what is a reference? (Oxley 2023). Is it the same as calling it non-fiction? Does it have to be in a separate section of the library? Does it have to be materials that must stay in the library? I found solace in the definition of a reference source as “materials, from book to computer to periodical to photograph that can be found anywhere in the library or online” (Riedling and Houston 15). The American Library Association suggested in the Guide to Reference Sources that “you know one when you see one” (Oxley 2023). I think the term reference has evolved in the digital age and rather than focus on what is and is not a reference source, what I think is more impo...