From jrathbun@OregonVOS.net Sat Mar  6 14:47:26 1999
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 18:59:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Joni J Rathbun 
To: ednet@dhcp-srv2.oit.umass.edu
Subject: Re: A Library or the Internet? What ever do you mean?"Buildings , Books, and Bytes"




>With the onset of the digital age, many library leaders say libraries must
>expand beyond the confines of the traditional library building. Because of the
>electronic revolution, libraries now can embrace government archives, business
>databases, and electronic sound and film collections that previously were not
>considered part of the libraries' own collections. 
>Some carry this notion one step further. They say libraries need to evolve
>into entirely new organizational forms that take into account the digital
>library-without-walls and that acknowledge that information today can be
>gathered, disseminated, and created at any time in any place. The digital
>library reduces -- even eliminates -- geographic and temporal barriers.
>Libraries, which traditionally have provided links to additional information
>through connections to other branches and library systems, will now be
>providing links through cyberspace. 
>Your computer is a library, say those who carry this concept the furthest. It
>is outside library walls, but it can take you deep into library and other
>information collections. 


I've spent a lot of time thinking about this issue because libraries
and librarians are disappearing rapidly from our public schools,
many times being traded for a bank of computers and an internet
connection. And one of the reasons is that administrators and
other decision-makers believe, mistakenly, that the internet
itself is like a library. 

I can embrace the vision of libraries without walls. Information
available without barriers as we have known them (time, place)
can be a good thing. And as Bonnie says, technology is giving libraries
new ways to bring focus and order to today's overwhelming
supply of information. But the internet, in and of itself, is
not the library and we need to educate our decision-makers of this
important fact.

For example, a real library (physical or virtual, doesn't matter) provides
resources that are classified and organized in a logical and systemic
manner making the search process both time efficient and easily
cross-referenced. A real library provides resources that have been
pre-selected as to accuracy, currency, reliability, credibility, and so on.
In a school library, resources are also selected to meet
specific curricular needs, unique patron interests, and educational and
learning needs (e.g. reading levels, specific learning abilities and
disabilities). A real school library also provides guidance in information
literacy -- moving beyond simple access to information to include
analysis, application, and communication -- the skills required to
transform information into knowledge. 

To make a long story short, the internet in and of itself provides
none of the above. 

Physical libraries also play a vital role in reading literacy that I'm
not sure a virtual library can replace, at least not for a very
long time. Some examples:

The National Center for Education Statistics 1993-94 study revealed that
states with above average reading scores (213 or higher) on the NAEP have
schools where students:

     %  have greater access to library media specialists
     %  visit school library media centers frequently
     %  borrow more books and other materials

In 1997, a Colorado study showed that students in schools with
well-staffed library media programs averaged reading scores five to ten
points higher than those without such staffing. They learned that students
are likely to earn those higher reading scores if:

     %  their schools have state-endorsed library media specialistists
     %  their school library media specialists are supported by aides
     %  their library media specialists play a vital instructional
          role, complementing the work of classroom teachers.

>From A Teacher's Guide to Standardized Reading Tests:  Knowledge is
Power by Lucy Calkins (1998)

Elley (1994, 1996) compared reading scores, home environment, and school
and public library data from  several countries and came to the conclusion
that access to print was the most powerful correlate of reading
achievement. Controlling for differences in economic conditions among the
participating countries, Elley (1996) found that the size of the school
library was the number one factor distinguishing the reading scores of
nine-year-olds between the high and low scoring nations, with an
impressive effect size of .82.  Frequent silent reading time was the next
most important variable. 


We may eventually transition to digital text for infants, toddlers,
preschoolers, elementary... children... and up. But there are so
many learning and process factors to consider here that I continue
to believe that we are a long way from coloring in that picture. So
what do we do in the meantime as we allow our libraries to 
deteriorate and fade in favor of a bank of computers? 

It would be one thing if schools were developing digital
libraries with trained librarians and including guidance for
information literacy (etc) but many are just making an
empty trade. And I'm not convinced they even know it. I
haven't worked with an administrator yet who is intimate
with the internet. But I have worked with those willing to
stop funding libraries. 



--
|| Joni Rathbun, North Area Regional Media Specialist: jrathbun@orednet.org
|| Lincoln City, Oregon -- Lincoln County School District
|| Online Library: http://lincolncity.org/naims
|| If you need a vacation, you should see the state I'm in!