Survival of the Species...

When I tell people that I am getting my Master’s in Library and Information Science to become a school librarian, I usually get one of three responses. Some people (sadly a minority, it seems) are enthusiastic because of their own love of libraries, books, or a particular librarian. However, the two most common responses are first to state with amazement, “I didn’t know you needed a Master’s to do that!,” and then to question whether it is a field worth going into at this point in time (“Aren’t libraries becoming obsolete?”). The first misconception about the degree requirement is just a sign that people really have no idea of all that librarians do—which is why they think that libraries are becoming obsolete. Rarely do I have the opportunity to respond to these folks in the way that I would really like—I just smile and say something polite, like, “I hope not.”  

However, after enough people raise this question, should I begin to question it myself? After years of searching for my ideal career, now that I think I have found it, in the words of the Grail knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, did I choose poorly? I do not think so. We have disproven this question of obsolescence repeatedly this semester. Libraries and librarians in general still have much to offer patrons and communities in terms of free access to technology and information. Teacher librarians are perhaps even more important in that they are helping to mold the next generation of learners—the students of the 21^st century, who will need to know and understand more about technology over the course of their lives than any previous generation. The teacher librarian is the guide to information and technology not only for the students, but also the other teachers in the school. In addition to this, the readings about the Learning Commons this week offer another way that libraries are evolving to remain a central part of the school learning environment by offering a new viable space for collaborative and creative learning to take place.

Perhaps I am being overly optimistic, but I do not think libraries will become obsolete as long as librarians remain willing to constantly reinvent themselves and their libraries in order to adapt. 

A Mind Distracted...

I struggled as I tried to think of topics for my blog this week, which has not been a problem all semester. In general, something in the readings or in the discussion has sparked another thought and I have been able to write out my thoughts very quickly and easily. This week, however, I am distracted. Part of this is I have been focusing most of my school-related energy on completing my presentation before Sunday night. And part of my distraction is that I am scheduled to deliver my second child via c-section on Monday morning. Truly, I have had trouble thinking of much besides this for the past couple of weeks. Anyway, since this is where my mind is, I figured I would go with it, and hope to get back on track with a more appropriate topic in my next blog.
So much has changed about education since I was a high school and even a college student myself. The Internet was a "new" thing when I entered college in the nineties--the dorms at my school had only been wired for Internet use in every room in the previous year or two before I arrived. And yes, there were still wires then. How quickly everything changed and continues to change. Even some of the information in the articles about podcasting that we read this week already seemed "old" compared to the way things are today.
Since I am thinking so much about my new baby and how life will change for me, my husband, and my daughter right now, it has me pondering how much more education is going to change and grow while my children themselves are changing and growing.
It is exciting to think of all the "new" technologies we already have the opportunity to share with our students, and exciting to look ahead and wonder what else is coming.

Copyright Revisited

The article we read this week by Doug Johnson, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bag [Copyright]?" was interesting to me as another opinion about how to handle the teaching of copyright and fair use in schools. We have now read a number of articles about this for class and it seems to me they each fall into one of two categories: either the articles recommend that teachers err on the side of caution, or they recommend that teachers assume a use is legal, unless there are explicit rules stating otherwise. In other words, these articles all seem to represent two extremes. Go for it! or Don't go for it! The Johnson article is certainly a member of the "Go for it!" camp. In fact, he states that it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

A lot of what he says makes sense to me, though there are other points he makes that I find less impressive. For example, he basically says that many definitely illegal uses of media (showing movies as rewards, etc) are so common that if librarians try and stop them it just makes the librarians look like martinets. This may be true, and no one wants to become unpopular as a "tattler," but it seems like a slippery-slope to me. The more things that we overlook, the more boundaries will be pushed. Also, if we willfully overlook certain misuses, how can we enforce misuses by students, or accurately teach them the law? His point about the importance of increasing student understanding of copyright was one of the ideas I definitely agreed with--especially that students need to be able to articulate why a use is fair if a copyrighted work is used in a project or paper. However, we cannot tell students one thing and then turn around and do something else ourselves (especially right in front of them) or we are sending a very mixed message.

Again, as with most articles I have read about copyright laws in schools, I am left with a feeling that of the two extreme viewpoints, neither is wholly right. Johnson says that comfort level should be the deciding factor, and on some level I am agreeing with him. As an information specialist, I am most comfortable when I am well-armed with knowledge. I think the real issue is that there needs to be more education about the law as early as possible, so that teachers do not have to "blindly" decide if a use is okay or not, but are able to make a truly informed decision.