Academic integrity – more than just plagiarism.

Academic integrity is often espoused and bandied about across educational institutions, especially in the first few weeks of every scholastic year.

La Trobe university describes it as shared values and behaviour that includes but is not exclusive to honesty, fairness and responsible practices. This concept of honesty in academia is a two way street. Educational institutions such as schools and universities are obliged to award credit and acknowledge honestly conducted work. Students are responsible for ensuring that their work meets the required standards mandated (LaTrobe, 2019). The onus of practices that promote academic honesty need to be equally addressed by students, staff, executive and organisations. It is not simply the role of a student to avoid plagiarism, but also the role of education to provide them with the skills and knowledge to do so. Additionally, society needs to realise that academic integrity does not start and finish with plagiarism. Plagiarism is just an aspect of authentic academia. Other practices include the creation of assessment tasks that limit the risk of dishonest practices and organisations to adequately address infringements in their policies with appropriate levels of censure that are age and stage appropriate. The role of teacher librarian is multifaceted when it comes to academic integrity. Due to their dynamic position, a TL is able to address academic honesty from a student and classroom teacher (CT) lens and from a department and school perspective.

Academic honesty starts with the classroom teacher. If teachers continuously utilise reputable sources in their teaching and learning, as well as consistently reference them correctly; then they are modeling good practice. Students (and teachers) need to be aware that academic honesty is not just for assessment tasks. Its for all tasks. Like all skills, good research behavioural practices such as using databases, encyclopaedias and journal articles are essential in formulating evidence based assertions. Using disreputable sources does not bode well for your postulations. W. Edwards Deming was quoted in Forbes (2016) that “without data you’re just a person with an opinion”. My experience as a scientist holds me in good authority in championing this point. In the fields of science and mathematics, opinions hold little value. It is the data from rigorously run experiments that define our thinking process. Poorly run experiments with inconclusive data have no value; as do opinions with no justification and evidence. Opinions are fine when limited to coffee preferences but not in academics.

The other aspect of academic integrity within the TL’s and or CT’s realms, is the explicit teaching of information literacy. Information literacy is defined by the ability to find, seek, use and create information and traditionally the domain of TL area of expertise (Kuhthau et al, 2012). IL needs to be taught and then subsequently assessed in order for students to reach proficiency (Jacobson et al. 2018; Qayyum & Smith, 2018, p257; McGrew et al. 2018). It is not passively acquired by the act of completing a research task – but rather, these skills need to be integrated into daily practice to boost competency (Kong, 2014). Part of these practices include the direct instruction of correct referencing techniques. As mentioned before, plagiarism is AN aspect of academic honesty, it is not the entirety.

Whilst it teaching information literacy and the finer points of referencing is essential, it is important to note that the assessment task itself can be a liability to honest practice. Introducing mandatory evidence of progress, drafts and log books are other useful methods in ensuring authenticity of work. Assessment tasks that are repeated at yearly intervals for indefinite periods of time are also very problematic. This is due to the fact that its simplistic to assume that students do not try to seek aid from older siblings and or cousins. Having a maximum time frame of 2 years allowed for a particular task reduces the likelihood of younger relatives plagiarising from older siblings. Another point to note is that nuances of language in assessment task construction can reduce the likelihood of plagiarism. Requesting students to analyse, justify and relate to their community requires higher order thinking skills and is harder to successfully pass off as own work due to the nature of the questions. TL can be of great assistance to teachers in the construction of assessment tasks. Ezard (2019) pointed out that co-creation and collective capacity is the fundamental basis of true collaborative practice (cited in Templeton, 2019). Collaboration between departments and the library can result in a positive sharing of expertise and knowledge resulting in tasks that elicit deep understanding and truly engage the student.

Departmental heads and school administrators have the last word on academic honesty in a school situation. The school policies are the framework in which the academic integrity of the staff and students is based upon. Therefore it is up to the executives to ensure the policies are current with contemporary practices which includes the rapid evolution of technology and the challenges that it brings. They are also responsible to clearly define what constitutes minor, moderate and major infringements and their appropriate consequences. Staff need to realise that a major infringement in middle school is not the same as a major infringement in senior school. A suggestion would be construct a hierarchy of violations that is clearly distributed to students and teachers. This transparency reduces the likelihood of students citing ignorance in their defence. An example of such a hierarchy from ANU, Canberra and Andrews University in Michigan are available for your perusal.

Much has been said so far about how teaching staff can do to promote academic honesty. But in all honesty, students need to also be aware of their role in this dual relationship. Students need to follow the referencing guidelines set by their institution. Whether it be APA, Harvard or MLA citation styles, students need to conform. They also need to refrain from reusing earlier work and badging it as new work. Many students feel that this cannot be plagiarism as its their own material. But what they are unaware of is that they can reference previous works. The most common ways in which students are academically dishonest is collusion and unequal group work. Collusion as Monash University (2019) points out is the “unauthorised collaboration on assessable work with other people”. Frequently unauthorised partners include parents, older siblings, tutors and friends. It is dishonest to present the collaborative efforts of multiple people off as individual work. Group work is a minefield where academic honesty is concerned. It is very common for one or two people in a group to carry the team. This unequal distribution of work is often due to a participant’s absenteeism and or disinterest. Unfortunately, there is no suggestion I can offer as I have been guilty of doing too much in past group assessments in order to pass/complete a task. In my opinion, (no facts), I believe that group tasks should not be used for summative assessments tasks due the inequitable nature of collaborative groups.

Academic honesty is not just for students to follow when submitting their assignments. Rather it is a mindset, a code of conduct, developed during schooling years and manifested in adulthood. As a code of conduct, infringements of this nature need to be treated similarly to infringements of other conduct related behaviour. Simply assigning punitive measures is not conducive to learning and reducing future occurrences. Instead, it is more productive to create a situation in which academic integrity is the norm and best practice for both students and teachers. Academic honesty is more than just plagiarism. Its is the authenticity of your work and the extension of self.

References

Ezard, T., (2019) Leading the Buzz in your school. ASLA 50th Conference. Canberra

Jacobsen, R., Halvorsen, A., Frasier, A., Schmitt, A., Crocco, M., and Segall, A. (2018). Thinking deeply, thinking emotionally; how high school students make sense of evidence. Theory & Research in Social Education. 46, 232-276. DOI 10.1080/00933104.2018.1425170

Jones, M. & Silberzahn, P. (2016) Without an opinion, you’re just another person with data. Forbes – Media and Entertainment. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/awsmediaandentertainment/2019/09/12/how-to-thrive-in-todays-disrupted-media-markets/#7862807770ed

Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L. & Caspari, A. (2012). Guided inquiry design: A framework for inquiry in your school. Libraries Unlimited. USA.

Kong, S. (2014). Developing information literacy and critical thinking skills through domain knowledge learning in digital classrooms: An experience of practicing flipped classroom strategy. Computers & Education. 78, pp.160-173, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.05.009

Latrobe University (2019). Academic Integrity. Student Administration. Retrieved from https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/admin/academic-integrity

Monash University (2019). Academic integrity, plagiarism and collusion. Student Administration. Retrieved from https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/admin/academic-integrity

McGrew, S., Breakstone, J., Ortega, T., Smith, M., and Wineburg, S. (2018). Can students evaluate online sources? Learning from assessments of civic online reasoning. Theory & Research in Social Education. 46, 165-193, DOI 10.1080/00933104.2017.1416320

Qayyum, M., & Smith, David. (2018). Changing research behaviours of university students with progression through a course. Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association. 67: 3 pp256-277 DOI: 10.1080/24750158.2018.1502243

Templeton, T. (2019). Co-existing or co-operating. Trish’s trek into bookspace [blog]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/trish/2019/04/18/co-existing-or-co-operating/

The good, the bad and the ugly of Roald Dahl

Authors are magicians.

pendleburyannette / Pixabay – Magician or Author

They capture your imagination with words and imagery.

Similar to a siren singing her tune, an author draws the reader in with stories of heroes, villains, mysteries and magic. There are several writers that come to mind when one thinks about perspicacity at understanding a developing mind. Enid Blyton comes to my thoughts immediately, as it was her books of Faraway trees, Wishing Chairs, Mallory Towers and the adventurous children that beguiled and transformed me into a certifiable bookworm. Other authors with these same mystical powers include Emily Rodda, A A Milne, Dr Seuss, C. S Lewis, Beatrix Potter, E.B White, Lewis Carrol, Eric Carle, Rick Riordan, J K Rowling and of course, Roald Dahl.

Dahl’s popularity has enthralled generations of children with his fantastical tales. Even 30 years after the publication of perspicacious Matilda, the lure is still strong according to Kelly (2019) who recently published an article in the Sunday Times just short of the author’s birthdate. Dahl’s books have inspired generations of children to read. His stories of redemption and resilience appeal to both children and adults. I found it particularly interesting that the books often seem to be narrated by the child protagonist. By doing so, Dahl places the reader in the central position and thus immediately engages their interest. The books often place the child in the role of an underdog and their eventual vanquishment of the bigger and older (usually an adult) enemy gives great satisfaction. Darby (2016) believes that this narrative style is appealing to children as it makes them feel like “someone is in their court”.

Studiolarsen / Pixabay – Victory at last

Some people assert that Dahl’s books are macabre and filled with violence, racial slurs, misogyny and vindictive behaviour. Anderson (2016) argues that the books caused great disturbance among adult readers when they first started being published in the late 60’s. Stories where witches turn children into mice, people are fed worms and or eaten by giants, and let us not forget principals that swing cute girls by their hair like a discus and push children into nail studded cupboards.

In fact, “James and the Giant Peach has been lambasted for its racism, profanity and sexual innuendo” Anderson (2016) states.

It appears Dahl was provoking everyone, as he offended numerous demographics in equal measure. But I am starting to believe that the provocation is what lured children to read and re-read his books. It was just that little bit naughty and disgusting. Just enough to make children feel superior and more wise than the character, but not too much as to disengage the reader. Arguably this is probably what explains Dahl’s longevity as an author. Nice clean stories such as Wilder’s Little House series has its staunch clientele but it does lacks the Dahl’s drawcard in that the majority of children do not identify with these characters. Kole (2018) suggests that it is when the reader can draw upon their own experience with the subject matter that engagement with the text occurs. This could be contended similar for L M Montgomery’s Anne or White’s Charlotte’s Web. All extremely well written and received books, but not as far reaching as Dahl. Whilst their stories do have points of personal travail, they simply are not dark enough.

KELLEPICS / Pixabay – Looking for the Bogeyman

This need for darkness is important for children’s literature

as Anderson (2016) and Kole (2018) further elucidate. One can only think of the popularity of the Grimm fairy tales, Rowling’s Harry Potter, Collins ’Hunger Games and Meyer’s Twilight to realise that the desire for grim has not changed in centuries. The adage about literature reflecting life is the underlying support for this need for fear and fright in children’s books. Stories of children overcoming great difficulty has the ability to build great resilience and empathy in the reader.

johnhain / Pixabay – Empathy on your mind?

We are all aware of how reading builds empathy. Readers identify with the characters in the story and thus the feelings from one are juxtaposition-ed on the other . But reading fictitious stories of giants, witches and wizards, whilst unrealistic, also gives children an important cathartic release according to Bettelheim (2010). Rochelle (1977) whilst dated, firmly believes that adults and children both require fantastical literature to interweave the complex strains of good and evil in humanity. Fantastical tales give children innate strength to overcome hurdles life throws at them, no matter how bizarre it is (Kole, 2018). Children are aware that these stories are unreal in the fantastical sense but the situation that the characters are facing are very real indeed (Rochelle, 1977). Wakefield (2014) agrees and points out that fairy tales are there to protect rather than terrify, as the protagonist is forced to seek inner strength to overcome the villain. The stories illustrate that these situations can be overcome, and in that, give hope and possibly a way out.

Fantastical tales are more than just entertainment. In their own way, they give children (and adults) the ability to fight demons in both the real world and in their dreams. After all, the lives of children are not always filled with rainbows and unicorns. Many children live in shadows. Reading stories such as Dahl’s encourage children (and adults) to go past their grim quagmire and find their inner strength.

So this Roald Dahl day on September 13, read a fantastical story… and at the same time, gain some humanity.

References.

Anderson, H. (2016) The dark side of Roald Dahl. BBC Culture. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160912-the-dark-side-of-roald-dahl

Bettelheim, B (2010) The uses of enchantment; the meaning and importance of fairy tales. New York: Vintage Books. Vintage Edition.

Darby, S. (2016). 15 Must read children’s authors. BNKIDS blog. [blog]. Retrieved from barnesandnoble.com/blog/kids/15-must-read-childrens-authors/

Kelly, L. (2019). Roald Dahl clan to share £6m dividend from licensing rights. Sunday Times. Retrived from https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/roald-dahl-clan-to-share-6m-dividend-from-licensing-rights-bdtdt6qfd

Grinstead, R. (2016) Happy Roald Dahl day. Medium.com [blog]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@rhysgrinstead/its-roald-dahl-day-here-s-how-he-influenced-me-844a4e75bc19

Kole, K. (2018). The role of fairy tales in affective learning: Enhancing adult literacy and learning in FE and community settings. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 58(3), 365-389. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/2250950746?accountid=10344

Rochelle, L. (1977). The search for meaning through fantasy. The English Journal. Vol. 66, No. 7, pp 54-55. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/814365

Wakefield, M. (2014). Why scary fairy stories are the best. The Spectator.

Breaking down the barriers

Break out boxes are a fabulous activity that engage and excite students of all ages. These boxes mirror how an escape room works in that students puzzle their way through to find the code that will unlock the box and obtain their prize!

These boxes were amazing all throughout book week!! My fabulous colleague Jordan is a whiz at creating activities that stimulate the brain, evoke critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication. Using the Critical and creative thinking continuum from the General capabilities, the puzzles were selected to address the various strands at the appropriate stage for each class. Our students were thoroughly engaged in the pursuit of a grand prize. TBH, the grand prizes were lollies as that was what the budget permitted.

The boxes were such a hit that we have been clamoured with requests to repeat them with other classes. The 2IC of RE has asked the boxes be available for Year 8 RE to sum up their World Religions unit at the end of next term as well as 7 RE for their unit on ‘Gospels, Parables and Miracles’. 9 History wants it for exam preparation in two weeks. 10 English want it next week to reinvigorate the flagging interest in ‘Lord of the flies’ that I have previously grumbled about. We even managed to get an elusive science class requesting it – 11 Biology is going to trial one to introduce the next unit of work.

So what does this mean for us as a TL?

Besides embedding the Gen Caps into the teaching and learning, breakout boxes draw in the skeptical teachers by breaking down barriers. We all know there are teachers in every school that have strong aversions to libraries and teacher librarians. There are ones that are not sure of what a TL can contribute to the classroom, and others that avoid the library like its a contagious disease. Some are not even sure why we are there at all!

We have found that breakout boxes are so captivating that its plainly obvious how it can work in the classroom teacher’s favour. But this indulgence comes at a cost… They need to book a TL to do this activity either in the library or their classroom. And maybe then they will see, we aren’t all that scary. And then… maybe then, they will come back, to borrow books, request teaching spaces and most importantly, collaborate together in planning units of work.

Maybe then they will understand what we do, and who we are.

Now who is feeling smug?

(my HOD… this whole concept wasnt my idea, but as my HOD and colleagues are not going to blog about it. I might as well)

Book Week – Making reading fun!

Book week.

Two simple words.

Two words that can excite little kid hearts, big teacher hearts and terrify parents who have to organise costumes for their kids’s parades. These are also two words that hold little excitement for those teen hearts.

Why?

Oh please, ask me why?

Never mind I will just tell you.

It may come as no great surprise to you – but teens don’t read…

Well they do not read as much as they used to and they certainly do not read the variety and depth of texts that their parents and grandparents read. To put it mildly, many teens do not read for recreational purposes. A modern teen is overwhelmed by the variety of recreational activities they could choose from including the persistent lure of technology and glitzy apps, which as we all know, hold far more appeal than stodgy texts. For a bibliophile like me and an emerging Teacher librarian, this dilemma has coined a phrase known as ‘reluctant readers’ which means people, both adults and children that do not read for pleasure.

Why does this occur? We are all aware of how important literacy and reading are in primary school. Students have readers that come home weekly and library visits as a class. Parents are constantly bombarded to read to their children by advocates from both the health and educational faculties. Reading is fun! Schools run literacy activities that boost skills as well as point out the pleasure in reading, such as the CBCA book week. Within this week, teachers and other educational providers seek to promote books and the love of reading to children of all ages. It is thrilling to see little children so excited by costumes and parades. Their faces light up when they hold up their favourite book against their outfit with happy eyes and grins to match. Primary schools across the country go through great lengths to set up parades. Teachers get dressed up in elaborate costumes and there is a general feeling of goodwill and happiness to all. But when does this joy with reading decline?

The answer sadly is high school.

The same attitude for recreational reading does not translate into the latter years of schooling. High school students are not encouraged to find pleasure in reading. There are multiple reasons for this decline. Arguably the primary reason is that teenagers are often plagued by compulsory texts that hold little appeal for them. Texts that have endured generations of disengaged students. I know from my own memory of high school two decades ago, and the apathy that quickly follows William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”. But yet the text’s presence in the curriculum continues. Yes, I agree that it has valuable social commentary. But I am sure that there are more engaging texts exist- “Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins is plausibly a good replacement for Goldings dry and dismal story. But forcing students to read books that they have no interest in only elicits anger and disgust for the text and its taint spreads to even the activity of reading.

Douglas (2013) prescribes that an ability to read for pleasure as a teen is an indication of an ability to thrive in social environments. He goes on to explain that children that derive intrinsic pleasure and joy from reading are also the ones who end up being life-long learners. This could simply be because those that find that inherent motivation to read are also the ones that have that immanent drive to succeed. Or it could be that those, even when cajoled, bribed and begged to read, with no innate motivation, are guided into the habit of reading, which over time could develop into something that brings great joy’ as Marie Kondo is often quoted. Either way, the importance of reading is no longer just an educational issue but rather a social issue

Douglas (2013) elucidates that the demise of recreational reading in teens is based upon gender, attitude and societal expectations. I can only tell you how many times I have rolled my eyes backwards when I hear parents and occasionally some teachers excuse reluctant readers with the banal phrase ‘boys will be boys’. In some circumstances, my eyes have rolled back so hard they have gotten stuck against the back of my head! But I digress!! This gender based preference for reading is societal in origin rather than biological as Wong (2018) points out, “the brain is a unisex organ”. But first world nations such as Britain, US and UK, the disparity in reading statistics between boys and girls is no longer just a fable, a myth. It is a disturbing statistic that affects half our student body. This inability to read translates to less dexterity in processing words, less sophistication in communication, and a consistent decline in educational outcomes. On the note of societal disparity – in developing countries, the gender gap is primarily based upon unequal access to education.

The other problem lies in that once a student is considered to be a competent reader in upper primary school, the focus changes from ‘learning to read’ to ‘read to learn’. Ill informed parents believe that their children can now read and after years of being forced to read “Where is the green sheep” (by Mem Fox), (#mylife!), they dance their way from having to read to their children. I must include myself with this charge. I too stopped reading to my eldest once she could read and have had only re-started after seeing the research. my Netflix time can wait a little longer.

As educators and as teacher librarians, we need to make reading FUN for our high school students. We need to remind them of when a book character could make you laugh, cry and fall in love. We need to show them how reading books is not just about school work and assignments, but rather reading can be the quickest escape from it all.

I am going all out for book week this year. I am going to make a complete idjit of myself and show my students that reading is FUN! That reading books you are interested in brings great joy! Most of all, I am going to show my colleagues that recreational reading is still important for teenagers. And I am going to show them that whilst looking FABULOUS!

Douglas, J. (2013) The importance of instilling a need to read. The Telegraph UK. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10035473/The-importance-of-instilling-a-need-to-read.html

Wong, A. (2018) Boys don’t read enough. The Atlantic- Education. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/09/why-girls-are-better-reading-boys/571429/

Choice matters.

I just read a fabulous article on Facebook that was shared by another TL about how much choice matters in recreational reading. Korbey in her Edutopia article “The reading wars; choice vs canon” presents various perspectives to this scholastic issue.

qimono / Pixabay – which will you choose?

The problem lies in that if students are forced to read particular texts, then there can naturally be a resentment towards the task, the book and the activity of reading. But if a student only ever reads what they want to read then their minds will never be broadened by wider concepts and or cognition stretched. Korbey goes on to elaborate that leaving all texts to student choice poses challenges. The obvious challenge is that students are less able to ascertain which reading material is best suited to their abilities. They often return to old childhood favourites rather than allow their reading material to grow with them.

But what is the happy medium? In this article Korbey talks about teacher lead explicit instruction and the impact it is having on students. The answer seems elusive.

One idea is for teachers to select a general theme and or moral objective and then find books that address that theme in a variety of genres and text types. This way student choice is addressed as well as the need to expand and challenge their growing minds.

This is a definite change in direction but I do think that George Orwell can work with Suzanne Collins; Mark Zusack with John Boyne and Jackie French. But that also calls on English teachers to be brave and well supported by their colleagues.

Is your school brave?

Where was that green sheep (cake)?

Getting the word about Book week out. We have asked the kids to bring in food that has a book theme. They will be judged and then prizes awarded before selling them to raise money for the Pajama Foundation. We had a lovely student bring in some a few days early to drum up support. So far we have had 40 students agree to bring in something delectable for next week.

stay tuned …

Out of the Box!

How do you teach students about the context behind texts such as Jackie French’s Hitler’s daughter or William Golding’s Lord of the flies to very disinterested teens?

I am not sure about you but I found both those books dull, dry and depressing as a teen; and I will say they have not improved with age!

Our graduate English teachers were struggling with the rampant disengagement with those two novels. The indifference was causing the teachers great distress as they were concerned how the students were going to submit their essay assessment task if they would not engage with the book. More experienced teachers were able to forge through the disengagement but our newest recruits were finding teaching the text challenging.

It then occurred to me that memorial boxes could be the answer!

I had discovered that the Australian War Memorial had a whole host of educational resources available for loan to schools in the form of memorial boxes. These boxes contain genuine artifacts from various military events in Australian history. I had requested a box for our 10 History classes earlier this semester as a ‘hook’ factor to engage and elicit interest at the commencement of their World War 2 unit.

My cognitive connection between our great English dilemma and the memorial box was very much delayed! It wasn’t until I was unpacking the resources in our library seminar room that it occurred to me that the same artifacts that were engaging our Year 10 history students could also stimulate our year 7 and 10 English students.

I had an epiphany of sorts!

I was so happy my HOD agreed with my madcap proposal about using the memorial box as a stimulus for English. The scheme was simple. The students would come to our ‘library museum’ and view the various artifacts displayed within. Then in pairs, the students would interview each other to create a podcast with an accompanying transcript. A very clever English teacher quickly whipped up a worksheet and then, just like that… our immersive experience had begun.

Now I would love to tell you it was all a huge success, but I would be lying.

The memorial boxes were a great triumph with our 10 History students but success was variable with our English classes. This lackluster response could be attributed to the inadequate time for the students to complete the activity. The classes that visited the library twice had more success than ones that came just once.

What we did discover was that students were stirred out of the apathetic stance towards the books because they began to understand the context surrounding it. The memorial box activity connected the students to the mileu of the books and engaged them in the character’s turmoil. As the worksheets were collected at the end of the session, the teachers were able to use those responses to formatively assess student literacy and other learning goals.

The focus of a school library has changed in the past decade from archivist and curator of information to being an active facilitator of knowledge both physical and digital. This means that teacher librarian may need to think out side the box for some more out of the box thinking!

The in class essays are all occurring this week for year 7 and next week for year 10. I would be very intrigued to know if the memorial boxes assisted in increasing student engagement with the books and the outcome of the assessments. I would also like to analyse the results of the English classes that declined to attend our library museum and compare them to the classes that did come. If there is a significant difference, then I would have sufficient evidence to run this activity for more teachers and students.

I await reporting time with great avidity.

50 shades of Mr Darcy

I fell in love with Mr Darcy as a teenager.

Colin Firth as Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy in 1995 BBC’s Pride and prejudice TV series. Courtesy of Jane Austen Centre, Bath. http://www.janeausten.co.uk

Not the Austen version of Mr Darcy, but Colin Firth version in the BBC mini-series of Pride and prejudice. His smouldering eyes, broad shoulders and clipped accent was enough to make this girl blush and we all know I am too brown to blush!

With that started the greatest love affair I’ve ever had.

I INHALED the TV series, read the book, devoured any adaptation,version and variation I could find. I looked for sequels, hunted for parodies and searched for spin offs. I realised that my infatuation had gone beyond just the Austen version. I watched and read anything that remotely was associated with this book including ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ and the Bollywood adaptation of ‘Bride and Prejudice”.

But this new subject of mine made me ponder how the various versions and adaptations would be organised. Then I came across an acronym – FRBR that boggled my mind.

FRBR – Functional requirements of bibliographic records is a conceptual model of thinking about resources that are similar (Hider, 2018). The model seeks to separate resources on different levels depending on their relationship to the original version. As a theoretical model rather than a standard, FRBR forces the cataloger to identify the line in which a new work differs enough from its original form.

In perfect truth, this whole concept was so puzzling to me at first. I struggled to understand how the pieces all connected together. Then whilst on my winter break I started to read another adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ but from Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy’s point of view. I thought that if I placed all the versions in a table, I would maybe understand it all a bit better.

IT WORKED!

Equivalent	Derivative			Descriptive
Original	Same work	Catalogued as new work
Original	Variations or Versions	Adaptations	Change of Genre	Reviews, criticisms, evaluations, commentaries
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, 1813.	Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Arawa Edition, 2016 Oxford University Press, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Penguin English Library, UK Edition, ebook	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame Smith and Jane Austen Emoji pride & prejudice by Katherine Furman, Chuck Gonzales and Jane Austen Darcy swipes left by Courtney Carbone and Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice, BBC TV mini series 1995 Pride and Prejudice, film, 2005	Death comes to Pemberley by P.D. James The Independence of Mary Bennett By Colleen McCollough Bride and Prejudice, film, 2004 Bridget Jones Diary, film, 2001	A study guide for Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice by Cengage Learning Gale, 2017. Pride and Prejudice SparkNotes Literature Guide by SparkNotes, 2014.

It made sense to me, that line between original work and versions be organised under the original author’s name but adaptations, parodies and commentaries need to be catalogued with citation to the creator that did the ‘new work’. But this is where tagging comes in use. Cataloging needs to be precise and organised so that the source can be easily identified and found. Tagging/Subject headings, when indexed, allows the user to search for similar items even though the author and or titles may vary. For example, on the right side of this webpage, you can see the tags that are linked to various blogs on this site. The tag allows the user to search up all related posts to that tag. It is less specific than a title and or author search in finding a resource.

I broke down three resources further to illustrate how the metadata varies between them. You can see that the tags “women in England – fiction”as well as some others would be useful in finding Austen adaptations.

Title	Pride and Prejudice	Emoji pride & prejudice: Epic tales told in tiny texts	Darcy swipes left
author	Jane Austen	Furman, Katherine. Gonzales, Chuck. Austen, Jane.	Jane Austen Courtney Carbone
SCIS no	1534030	1838651	1838656
ISBN	9780198329961	9781631063244	9781101940532
Publisher	Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010	New York, New York, Race Point Publishing, 2016	New York, Random House Children’s Books, 2016
Publication date	2010	2016	2016
series	Rollercoasters	Condensed classics	OMG classics!
Edition		Hardback edition.	1st edition
Subject tags	Women in england – fiction Social classes – fiction Family relations – fiction Dating (social) – fiction Brothers and sisters – fiction England social life and customs – 19th century – fiction	Women in England – fiction Austen, jane – adaptations Austen, jane – parodies Women in england – fiction Brothers and sisters – fiction Social classes – fiction Family relations – fiction England social life and customs – 19th century – fiction	Austen, Jane – adaptations Austen, jane – parodies Women in england – fiction Brothers and sisters – fiction Social classes – fiction Family relations – fiction E-books, England -social life and customs – 19th century – fiction

This whole exercise has been very useful for me to understand this task and subject. It also has helped me find some other versions of Mr Darcy. I am not yet quite up to the 50 shades of Fitzwilliam Darcy, but I am definitely getting closer!

Hider, P. (2018). Information resource description: Creating and managing metadata (2nd ed.). London: Facet.

Are Classroom libraries a real option?

It would come as no surprise to any of you that education budgets are constantly being stretched.

The slow erosion of funding has led many schools to debate the value of their resources to determine which ones need to be cut in order to survive fiscally. Unfortunately, school libraries are the department that is being most adversely affected. This adverse effect can be seen either by the absence of a qualified teacher librarian and or the complete absence of a school library. Cook (2018) suggests that libraries are robbed of their funding because they are deemed useless in this internet age. I have spoken previously about the importance of a teacher librarian so this post is not about that. But some schools, overburdened by numbers, convert their library spaces into additional classrooms. When this occurs, most often than not, these schools sometimes set up classroom libraries to combat the loss of a school library.

According to Cook (2018), libraries are essential to a school’s success.

But are classroom libraries the same as having a school library with a qualified teacher librarian? We are all aware that exposure to books is positively correlated to improved literacy (Neuman, n.d.). We are also know that not all households have the same bibliophilic tendencies. This means that there are a proportion of students who are not exposed to books in the home. Neuman (n.d.) elucidates that it is the presence of books in close proximity that correlate directly to increased literacy.

Schools historically are known for exposing young minds to the wonderful world of imagination and literature via the school library. But with no school library, is the alternative a classroom library? But what if the classroom library is poorly executed? By executed, I mean poorly stocked and unable to meet the needs of the students. This can lead to limited student engagement with the classroom materials and if there is no school library, then there is no safety net for these disengaged readers. Implementing an assortment of books in a box is not equivalent to the presence of a qualified professional. After all, teachers are not trained in information management and resourcing, and it seems foolhardy to leave the resource management to at the hands of an already overburdened classroom teacher.

One suggestion is that the classes each have their own classroom library but they are managed by a teacher librarian.

So rather that rather than a random assortment of materials, the books are carefully curated by the teacher librarian to meet the evolving needs of the students. An example of this would be a box of books are rotated in regular intervals and that the reading levels within are appropriately aligned to the needs of the students (Sacks, 2018). But whilst in theory is outstanding, the practicality is far more complicated. Sacks (2018) surmised that consistency and equity are the largest issues with classroom libraries as the titles will vary between classes. The primary problem is that schools would need to almost double their collection for them to adequately service the needs of all their classrooms. This would incur extra costs for the school. There would also be greater difficulty in tracking the books and ensuring that they are maintained.

The downside of having a teacher librarian manage physical classroom collections is that they are then limited in their ability to create, manage and implement information literacy programs.

Lance & Kachel (2018) indicate that the research is clear about the correlation between high quality library programs and increased student achievement. Frierson & Virtue (2013) believe that it library programs that need to be embedded into classroom practice. They go on to illustrate that this improvement is not just for affluent schools but for all schools. In fact, arguably the lack of a school library is discriminatory to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, that do in desperate fact, require regular access to libraries, their programs and books in order to engage equitably with educational practices.

There are currently teacher librarians in Australia that are creating LibGuides that are specifically relevant to units of work and use the school’s learning management systems to reach their audience.

This method also means that students that are away from school due to ill health or other personal reasons are still able to engage with their learning off site. An example of this would be the class novel study with appropriate supporting materials and related works. So with our Year 7’s currently studying the Jackie French novel “Hitler’s Daughter”, the LibGuide contains the ebook version as well as; study notes, worksheets, supporting extracts from other similar novels such as “Boy in a wooden box” by Jim Boyne, “Book Thief” by Mark Zusack and “Dollmaker of Krakow”by R M Romero. I have also created an online museum with images relating to the book where students can view artefacts and watch short video-clips.

All of this take time. Time that I have because I am not curating classroom library boxes. But if I was not there, or if the position of teacher librarian was not there, then students would not have access to these resources. Yes, there are teachers who do have the time and energy to go beyond the normal to create amazing learning experiences for their students. But with 50% of teachers leaving the profession within 5 years, and nearly ⅓ of employed teachers suffering from a mental illness and or addiction, overburdening them further is foolish.

If prisons have mandated librarians to ensure that their collections are servicing the needs for their community, then I think our children can have the same access. Removing school libraries to minimise costs is short sighted. It is not beneficial for the teachers, the students and society.

Cook, H., (2018) Extending the shelf life of the school library in the internet age. SMH. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/education/extending-the-shelf-life-of-the-school-library-in-the-internet-age-20181016-p50a0l.html

Frierson, E., & Virtue, A. (2013) Integrating academic library services directly into classroom instruction through discovery tools; Bringing library resources into the online classroom. Infotoday.com. Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-345277685/integrating-academic-library-services-directly-into

Lance, K., & Kachel, D. (2018) Why school librarians matter: what years of research tell us. Phi Delta Kappan. Retrieved from https://www.kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/

Neuman, S. (n.d.) The Importance of a classroom library. Scholastic Teacher Resource. Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/paperbacks/downloads/library.pdf

Sacks, A. (2018) Why school librarians are the literacy leaders we need. Teaching the whole story [blog]. Retrieved from https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/whole_story/2018/05/why_school_librarians_are_lite.html

Dewey this…

My closet is a veritable rainbow of pretty dresses, skirts, tops and cardigans. Each item is lovingly washed, ironed and replaced in its place with care. Starting from the right, the dresses start as formal, and work their way to day dresses, before moving on to skirts, tops, cardigans and jumpers. In each subsection they are further organised by colour. At a glance, I can see what I have hanging up and locate an item with ease.

Then my husband comes along to ‘help’. He ‘helps’ by putting away my carefully washed and ironed dresses by shoving them into the wardrobe in whatever spot seems available. Needless to say this causes me mild panic when I cannot find my ‘Florelle’ (orange cotton dress) which should be in between ‘Neroli’ (yellow print dress) and ‘Melody Rose’ (orange print dress). Instead ‘Florelle’ been shoved between ‘Cascade’ and ‘wish upon a star’ (both black and white patterns).

I was horrified. How on earth was I supposed to find my precious dress buried in the wrong spot???

My husband was miffed. Here he is helping me by putting away my clothing all I am doing is complaining.

Apparently my wardrobe organisation is too complicated to understand, and I have too many dresses that look exactly the same.

Now I was miffed. I certainly do not. There are nuances between them and I definitely do not have too many clothes. (note that picture of my wardrobe was from January 2019 and I can honestly say I have added a few (maybe more than a few) to that collection since then.

But I digress.

This blog post is not about my dress acquisition nor my marital disagreements about my wardrobe organisation or Imelda Marcos tendencies.

Instead, this post is a prelude to the subject that I will commence tomorrow morning. ETL 505 will open my mind to how resources are cataloged. I will learn how the records are created and use that information to benefit the users within my community. This knowledge will also help me with giving constructive feedback to metadata specialists as part of my role as a TL.

Last semester in ETL 401 I learned about what the role of a TL encompasses as a whole. In ETL 503 I learned how important it was to correlate the resources within the library to the curriculum. This is simply because the point of a school library is to address the needs of the curriculum. This semester, it appears my learning is aimed more at the librarian aspect of a TL than the teacher component. As an information specialist and information services manager, my role involves ensuring that the collection is easily accessible by the student population using the information management system available.

To sum it up succinctly. I need to learn how a library is organised so that the kiddos can use it successfully.

The point of organisation is to easily find and locate an item when you wish to use it. How it is organised depends on who is doing the work, but the underlying point is ACCESS! If the item cannot be found and used when it is needed, then the system is broken. The resource is underutilised and the monies wasted. In school libraries this is a travesty when budgets are often stretched and funds scant.

Libraries are famous for their organisation.

Neenuvimalkumar – Pre computerised Library management system

Dear ole Mr Dewey revolutionised the information world with his Dewey Decimal System. Known famously as the ultimate in organisation and classification, DDS organises the information within a library into groups and then further divisions for specifics areas (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018). Due to its comprehensive and adaptive nature, the system is universally used across the world (OCLC, 2019). A bibliophile in New York city can find a book about Bonnie Prince Charlie in the same location as they would in a suburban library in Melbourne’s suburbs.

But information isn’t so simple in this modern day. Gone are the days where libraries only stocked books and maps. A modern day library will have shelving of books, but will also have access to other formats such as videos, audiobooks, eReaders and images. All of these resources need to be catalogued and organised so that they can be accessed by the user. They also need to be differentiated within the catalogue records so that the user can easily identify that their request for ‘The Odyssey’ includes versions of the epic tale, even if the creator and format differs.

So as the last day of my uni holidays draws to a close I ponder the knowledge I will gain from this subject. I am a bit apprehensive as the assessment tasks are not essays but rather more practically based tasks. I am far better at blathering out epochs than being useful. So this may be a steep learning curve for me. Also, I burnt out a bit last semester so I am just doing the one subject now.

Bring on Session 2, 2019.

References

Encyclopaedia Britannica (2018). Dewey Decimal System. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/Dewey-Decimal-Classification

OCLC (2019) How one library pioneer profoundly influenced modern librarianship. Retrieved from https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey/resources/biography.html