If I did it all over again, I would have started with cataloguing as one of my first courses. After two years of blindly muddling my way through MARC records that meant nothing more to me than symbols with words, the time was ripe for me to learn the core of library organization!
Learning Reflection...
Blog: I believe my blog represents the clearest window to my learning and participation in this course. I established it straightaway, posting its link to Vista and inviting others to “join the conversation”. I have strived to create weekly blog entries that are thorough, thoughtful and— although sometimes tongue-in-cheek—careful reflections of my readings, course interactions, gleanings through assignments and interactions with others in the course. Each of my blog entries incorporates reflective practice, as I related my reading and learning to my current teacher-librarian situation. I linked others’ blogs to mine as several students chose to make theirs public, reading their updates and occasionally posting comments. I found several of my colleagues’ blogs to be particularly helpful in how they “individualized their readings” and shared their responses to the course. For example, while I was working on assignment #2, I greatly benefitted from Nancy Marion’s blog entry that posted responses from her district cataloguer. And I was so appreciative when Emma Breeze carefully compiled all of our cataloguing tools and authority standards websites from Activity #2 into her blog for her own and others’ reference. Reading others’ blogs gave me a sense of “shared experience” within the course. As I encountered useful articles and websites related to the course, I also linked these to my blog. As a result, I now have a careful documentation of my learning, as well as links to useful resources for future reference.
Questions/Comments/Chats: Reading every posting, commenting frequently, and posing occasional questions to my colleagues, I believe I had a strong presence on Vista. I particularly enjoyed the recent postings on the topic of circulation; it’s been helpful to glean from others’ in-library experiences, observations and good ideas. I requested an online chat session (which resulted in two Meebo sessions, thank-you Sandra!) desiring “live” contact with an instructor and course colleagues. I sensed that others may have similar questions as we worked through our first major cataloguing assignment. Through my participation in Meebo I gained the confidence I needed to successfully complete the first assignment. It also enabled me to receive timely responses to my urgent questions. Reading my colleagues’ questions was also helpful and insightful. The Meebo chat helped several key cataloguing pieces to “fall into place” and created an excellent reference for the Marc records assignment.
Activities:
Questions/Comments/Chats: Reading every posting, commenting frequently, and posing occasional questions to my colleagues, I believe I had a strong presence on Vista. I particularly enjoyed the recent postings on the topic of circulation; it’s been helpful to glean from others’ in-library experiences, observations and good ideas. I requested an online chat session (which resulted in two Meebo sessions, thank-you Sandra!) desiring “live” contact with an instructor and course colleagues. I sensed that others may have similar questions as we worked through our first major cataloguing assignment. Through my participation in Meebo I gained the confidence I needed to successfully complete the first assignment. It also enabled me to receive timely responses to my urgent questions. Reading my colleagues’ questions was also helpful and insightful. The Meebo chat helped several key cataloguing pieces to “fall into place” and created an excellent reference for the Marc records assignment.
Activities:
Activity One became a useful reference. I used it remind myself of who’s who, where each of my colleagues was located (geographically and district/private school-wise) and to appreciate the variety of experience, interests, and background each person brought to the course. I was also keen to learn just how many library automation systems exist within B.C., as I’ve only had experience with Follett and now Destiny. Furthermore, it illustrated for me some primary differences between public and private schools in terms of how cataloguing occurs and the availability (or not!) of district resources and personnel.
Activity Two opened my eyes to the sheer volume of online resources that are available to librarians and cataloguers. Cataloguing manuals, tutorials, blogs, wikis, videos—even YouTube clips are readily available (and easily bookmarked!) for future reference. My favourite resources are those like the Cataloguer’s Toolbox, or the Internet Library for Librarians—literal storehouses of information and links to other useful reference sites!
I now feel I have a good introductory grasp on DDC and LC subject headings through the lengthy, but worthwhile completion of Activity Three. For me, a significant outcome of this activity was realizing that many of my students are clueless about the DDC and that it’s my job to teach them! (I’d assumed they had learned about Dewey in elementary school). Furthermore, I’m determined to present an introductory session on the Library of Congress system to my grade 12’s next year, thus preparing them for the change they’ll encounter in post-secondary institutions! Through comparing two different libraries’ catalogue records, I observed how librarians can customize Dewey to suit their library needs ie) adding “j” for junior books or “REF” for reference volumes. I also learned the value of good subject headings and their impact on patron access!
Activity Four was an excellent exercise to familiarize myself with differing standards for library websites and to discern how library access can be much improved and encouraged through website design. Moreover, a good website can promote information literacy and literature promotion by being well-organized, attractive, carefully updated, user-friendly and by allowing student input. However, if we want our students to master information literacy skills, we need to teach them the critical thinking skills to use our OPAC and accompanying resources like databases and other online resources!
Activity Five was a valuable exploration of current issues in cataloguing. I chose articles that addressed areas I still questioned such as issues of quality control in outsourcing cataloguing, how to catalogue and shelve graphic novels, the future (and current) impact of Google on our library OPAC use and students’ research habits, and the use of blogs and wikis for disseminating library information. I appreciated the exposure to others’ article reviews. In particular, Nancy’s article on user-friendly libraries and its tips on organizing the physical aspects of the library to increase patron access and Melissa’s article by Eisenburg on information literacy.
Lastly, Assignment #2 felt like completing a marathon! It required a lot of prior training (reading and rereading the text and course notes, poring over all 46 pages of “Understanding MARC Bibliographic, parts 1-6”, even borrowing older MARC booklets from another teacher-librarian), it demanded rigorous attention and endurance, and it induced euphoria once I completed it. My learning curve was huge. I learned to love resources like Webcat, Amicus, the Library of Congress and the NYPL (to name a few...) for their invaluable helps with cataloguing. I even learned how to be a better library user myself with my local library's OPAC...feeling like I had the inside scoop, once I could read and recreate MARC records!
I invite you to glance through the remainder of my blog. I enjoyed creating it and will benefit from revisiting it. Thank you.
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