Term 1 2024 Reflections

Term 1 for 2024 has wrapped up, so it’s a good time to pause and reflect on my practice so far this year.

Supporting Teaching and Learning

Supporting teaching and learning across the school is a vital aspect of the teacher-librarian’s role and helps us showcase our value to our colleagues. During Term 1 I was able to display this in four key ways: first, through supporting the NAPLAN testing running in the library; second, through supporting the ongoing programming, implementation, and resourcing of the new 7-10 English syllabus; third, through the provision of one-on-one senior mentoring and assessment assistance; and fourth, through the expansion of the Teacher Reference collection.

However, reflecting on my practice in this area reveals that there’s more I could be doing to support teaching and learning across other curriculum areas, especially if I wish to raise the library’s profile amongst the teaching staff. I have recently conducted a significant weeding of our non-fiction resources, so could restock this collection with more relevant, updated texts to support current teaching units across the school. At the moment my information literacy and research skill lessons are one-off bookings, so I could also approach different faculties to embed these skills into their assessment tasks, or create pathfinders to support staff as they guide students through the research process.

I’ve previously put out surveys to my colleagues asking for feedback on what they teach and what resources they’d like to see from me, as well as asked staff to send me their assessment notifications so I can support their faculties with informative displays and assessment help. However, staff responses are always limited, revealing that when teachers are under the pump and feeling the pressure of heavy workloads they’re unlikely to prioritise such surveys even if they see their value. It therefore might be more effective to visit different staffrooms in person, either by attending different faculty meetings or by booking in time with each Head Teacher to see how best I can support the teaching and learning in their specific curriculum areas. I could also use this time to promote our Teacher Reference section, which isn’t getting much love from our time-poor staff.

Action moving forward: Speak with Head Teachers in person to determine how I can support teaching and learning in their faculties.

Developing a Whole-School Reading Culture

As I’ve discussed previously, some of my colleagues and I are in the early stages of planning a new whole-school reading culture initiative. We’ve made some small progress in this space over the last term and have begun putting together a strategic proposal (inspired by the work I completed during my degree) which we plan to eventually present to the Senior Executives at our school. One of the teachers has also taken the initiative to create a ‘Current Reads’ poster for the English staffroom windows which has already launched several conversations with students about reading for pleasure.

Action moving forward: Collaboratively develop the reading culture initiative proposal.

On my end, I’ve been working on developing a culture of pleasure reading in a number of different ways. This term I’ve been working on developing the Wide Reading Program for years 7 and 8, with all classes bar one participating. As always seems to be the case, these lessons experienced significant interruptions in Term 1, with 51% of lessons needing to be cancelled because of other programs using the library space, staff illness, public holidays, and other whole-school events. As a result, four of the ten participating classes have less than 50% program attendance, with two of those classes having had only one lesson to access the library and its resources.

To ameliorate the impacts of my absences when I was sick, I supported the classroom teachers in running the program themselves by providing the lesson materials. However, staff feedback suggests that the program runs best when I’m at the helm, reinforcing the value of a trained teacher-librarian’s expertise and skill in spreading a passion for reading!

Student feedback so far this term has also been positive. I’ve placed a significant emphasis on trying to build excitement around reading and on highlighting different reading behaviours in an attempt to get students to self-identify as readers. As such, we’ve played a variety of games such as Never Have I Ever and an adapted mad-libs game inspired by Cards Against Humanity which I’m calling Books Against Humanity. In this game students must obtain a variety of quotes from the book they’re reading and in small teams choose the best quote to complete the prompt I give them. There were a lot of laughs at this one, and it was great to see even reluctant readers engage with the task!

In large part due to the Wide Reading Program, our loans stats are strong so far this term. While this is not a hard and fast indication of reading culture, it does give some indication regarding the number of books ending up in student (and staff) hands. During Term 1 we loaned out 1140 resources from our physical and digital collections, surpassing the total loans for some previous years in their entirety. However, this is compared to the 1250 resources we loaned during the same time last year; the down-turn is due in part to falling student enrolments, the number of interruptions leading to the library’s closure, as well as a decrease in digital loans from our virtual library. Another pertinent fact emerging from this data is the increasing popularity of our magazines, with 31 loaned this term compared to only 2 in the same time last year.

Another way I’m trying to build a reading culture is by celebrating reading achievements in our school. I’m updating our Readerboard every month to show the students with the highest number of loans, and giving these students both merit certificates and house points in their roll calls to visibly highlight their achievement and show that we value reading. I’m also in the early stages of planning a celebratory afternoon for the students who finished the Premier’s Reading Challenge last year – they’ve chosen a movie afternoon as their reward, so hopefully other students will see their reward and want to get in on the action too! Another way I can increase participation is by embedding the challenge into the Wide Reading Program through read-alouds, book talks and activities such as the CBCA Shadow Judging.

Action moving forward: Embed PRC resources into the Wide Reading Program and continue developing activities to develop enthusiasm around reading.

Fostering Positive Wellbeing

Our school’s strategic plan has a strong focus on wellbeing; this is therefore an area where I can support the school community while advocating for the value of the library. I recently bought some of Margaret Merga’s books on this topic and intend to add them to our Teacher Reference collection, and can’t wait to read them to gain some more ideas on how to be active in this space.

So far this year, I’ve continued to support social-emotional learning through the provision of social clubs during the breaks. I’ve encouraged students to form their own clubs with my support, and as a result we’ve now added a Trading Card Game Day and Origami Club into our schedule, alongside our regular offerings of the Nintendo Switch Club and Dungeons and Dragons. While the Nerdvana Day didn’t get off the ground this term due to time constraints, this has previously been a great success with students and I will endeavour to make it a priority in Term 2. I have also discussed the possibility of a Year 12 Reading Retreat during their Trial exams to help them relax during this otherwise stressful period.

Action moving forward: Organise the Nerdvana Day and Year 12 Reading Retreat in Term 2.

These clubs and activities have had a significant impact on our daily visitor numbers, with an average 138 students visiting each break. Our biggest day was a whopping 334 students! While these increased visitor numbers contribute to a lot of noise and chaos in the library, they also represent an opportunity for students to be exposed to the reading culture I’m attempting to build, with several students who wouldn’t normally identify as readers borrowing books that they wouldn’t have come into contact with had they not been in the library space. However, the data suggests that our daily visitors and loans were trending down towards the end of term; this is no doubt due to the number of interruptions affecting the library’s ability to open in those later weeks, such as the fact that I’m not replaced when I’m absent. Ensuring continued access to the space is therefore an area for improvement in future.

Action moving forward: Advocate for the library space to be covered like any other playground duty in my absence.

Our Library Monitor program is also expanding, with several students approaching me throughout the term asking if they can join the program. Early in Term 2 I will incorporate these new students into the program and develop their skills as junior librarians in training. Their assistance is vital in helping maintain the library collections, especially as our loans increase.

Action moving forward: Train the incoming library monitors.

Maintaining Effective, Relevant Collections

Collection management is one of the biggest, most underappreciated aspects of our role as teacher-librarians, largely because so much of it is done behind the scenes and is therefore invisible to the majority of our school community. We’ve had an influx of student requests, so in addition to my plans to replace many of the outdated resources weeded over the last few years I’ve had to dedicate a significant portion of my budget to fulfilling these requests. As a result, there’s not a huge amount of money left for future purchases! A more balanced allocation of funds might be prudent in future years. However, one benefit of ordering so much so early in the year has been that we are getting a steady arrival of new resources to process in our systems as stock becomes available. This will hopefully allow us to spread out the accessioning process and reduce the number of orders we need to chase up at the end of the year.

Over the past few years I’ve invested a significant amount of time in updating our collection to ensure it’s relevant to the learning and recreational needs of our school community. When I first started, the fiction and non-fiction collections hadn’t been weeded for several years and the median date of publication was 1981. Last year our average date of publication was 2006, and I’m happy to report that due to my efforts last term this date is now 2010, while our median date is now 1995. While this is still not as up-to-date as I’d like, it’s a significant improvement.

I’m also in the process of cleaning up our catalogue and moving some items to locations where our students and staff are more likely to find them. I’ve set myself the goal of cleaning up 10 catalogue records a day, and while this isn’t always achievable it has made a significant impact on the number of resources with outdated or incorrect catalogue metadata.

Action moving forward: Complete catalogue clean-up.

Progressing with my Professional Development Plan

In NSW Department of Education schools, we are required to have a Professional Development Plan (PDP). This year I’ve set myself three somewhat ambitious goals.

Goal 1: To raise the perceived status, professionalism and value of the school library by ensuring its effective management. This will be achieved by conducting a needs assessment and creating a strategic plan aligned to the school’s Strategic Improvment Plan by the end of Term 3.

This is a huge goal with multiple steps, which is why I’ve set its completion at the end of Term 3. This term I asked for planning time and was knocked back, so have asked for time again in Term 2. I’ve submitted a proposal through my Head Teacher for this planning time to be during the HSC Trial exam period when the library would normally be closed; hopefully my line managers will see the value of this goal and understand my attempts to support the school while minimising disruption.

Action moving forward: Gain approval for planning time in week 9.

Goal 2: To support the diverse needs of our students by working with the Engaged Students for Learning committee to reintroduce a school-wide High Potential and Gifted (HPGE) education initiative.

This is another area where I’ve sadly made limited progress, largely due to the restrictive nature of our committee meeting schedule which has meant we’ve only had one official meeting last term. We were supposed to deliver a presentation during a staff meeting on how to identify and support HPG students, but beyond informal conversations with staff there’s been no movement in this space for me yet.

Action moving forward: Conduct an evaluation of existing HPGE activities with the committee.

Goal 3: To forge strong connections between the library, teaching staff and students by supporting the implementation of the new English syllabus through the expansion of the Wide Reading Program and engagement with research into reading for pleasure and for information.

I feel that this is one area where I have successfully achieved my professional goal. The new English syllabus explicitly references reading for pleasure and our English faculty has embedded the Wide Reading Program into their units as a result of my continued advocacy over the past two years. I’ve also posted previously about my research into reading for pleasure, though more could be done in the information literacy space.

Action moving forward: Continue research into reading for pleasure and information; continue using data and feedback from students and staff to plan engaging activities which provide access and time for self-selected, socially supported reading with the Wide Reading Program.

ETL505 Assessment 3 Part C: Genrefication Essay

The literature provides good arguments for arranging primary school library collections by genres. Is this also the case for high school library collections? Choose two of the advantages and disadvantages mentioned in the literature and critically discuss these in relation to arranging a high school library collection by genres.

When deciding to genrefy a high-school library’s collection, teacher-librarians should consider the multiple roles a library performs within a school community, the specific needs of their adolescent users, and which aspects of genrefication (if any) best suit these purposes and user needs. While genrefication has gained popularity amongst practitioners for its ability to increase circulation and promote lifelong reading habits, issues around logistics and lack of standardised organisation remain.

Genrefication is a relatively new topic in information sciences (Outhouse, 2017, p.43). Broadly speaking, genrefication constitutes organising resources by a system other than the traditional Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) (Outhouse, 2017, p.44). Organisation can be based on resources’ formats, literacy levels, subject headings (such as those assigned by SCIS), or literary genres (Wall, 2019, p.11). Genrefication exists on a spectrum, from labelling books in their original DDC location, to separating ‘mini-collections’ in distinct displays, to completely reorganising the layout and position of resources (National Library of New Zealand, n.d., para.33-36; Gray, 2019, p.25; Wall, 2019, p.11). There is also an imbalance in the treatment of fiction and non-fiction collections in genrefication discussions, with greater emphasis on its benefits to fiction collections (Wall, 2019, p.11).

School librarians espouse numerous benefits to genrefying their collections. Increased circulation statistics are cited as one crucial benefit (Gray, 2019, p.18-22). Many practitioners claim that genrefication has made their collections more accessible and more appealing (Davenport, 2017, p.7; Dawson, 2019, p.23; Mathur, 2019, p.6; Wall, 2019, p.14; Davenport, 2021, p.12). Hider (2018, p.24) argues that effective information resource description should help users obtain information, and librarians should therefore understand their users’ specific needs. In high-schools, when student pleasure-reading declines (Dickenson, 2014, p.10), genrefying fiction can be a game-changer. Many teenagers prefer to browse to find interesting and relevant resources (Bessman Taylor et. al., 2019, p.862); therefore, organising fiction according to similar subjects or themes is a useful way to promote positive reading habits in adolescents. Pleasure-reading has numerous academic and social benefits which overcome socio-economic disadvantage (Krashen, 2011, p.1-9), and research shows that access to reading materials increases adolescents’ reading motivation (Manuel and Carter, 2015, p.126). Therefore, genrefication supports adolescent information behaviours, encouraging browsing and selection of resources relevant to their needs, interests, and abilities.

While reading promotion is one aspect of high-school librarianship, promoting information literacy is also crucial. Forsaking standardised methods of organisation like the DDC is a frequent objection to genrefication (Gray, 2019, p.23; Wall, 2019, p.13) since students require the skills to navigate standardised systems utilised by most libraries worldwide. Greater emphasis is placed on genrefication’s benefits to fiction than on non-fiction collections, possibly because the DDC already groups similar resources by discipline to facilitate browsing (Hider, 2017, p.193). However, Outhouse (2017, p.36) argues the DDC is not a browsable system for today’s students due to its technical nature. The DDC has been described as a ‘secret code’ that students today do not understand (LaGarde, 2018, para.10). Outhouse (2017, p.41-42) argues that one of the DDC’s faults is that it is difficult for young children to search effectively due to its reliance on mathematical knowledge and seemingly unrelated subject order; high-school students with poor numeracy or pre-existing negative perceptions about the library would likewise be frustrated by its complicated numerical classification system. Some high-school teacher-librarians have therefore partially genrefied their non-fiction resources to support specific subject areas such as English, or to support specific groups of students, such as senior students (Dawson, 2019, p.23).

One frequently cited disadvantage of genrefication relates to the logistics of such reorganisation. Rearranging sections of a collection, let alone the entire library, takes time, effort, money, and training to ensure effective organisation and cataloguing of the changes (Gray, 2019, p.24; Mathur, 2019, p.6; Wall, 2019, p.14). However, LaGarde argues that if we value improving our users’ reading experiences and volume, then genrefication is worth prioritising (2018, para.26). Yet it must be stated that by replacing the ‘secret code’ of the DDC with genre classifications such as those assigned by SCIS, teacher-librarians might just be replacing one code with another, and replacing the standardised DDC subject groupings with another, non-standardised genre grouping (such as SCIS categories) might not suit all texts and users (Hamm, 2019, para.1; Wall, 2019, p.14), especially considering recent trends towards genre-blending (Barone, 2010, p.15-17). The ongoing flexibility needed to maintain a genrefied collection and keep it up-to-date with teen reading needs and expectations might be more than some teacher-librarians are willing or capable of providing.

Teacher-librarians considering genrefying their own collections should thus weigh the benefits to their specific clientele against the logistical realities of such an undertaking. They may choose to genrefy ‘mini-collections’ or to label resources in their current DDC position, using SCIS categories and user input as a guide. Ultimately teacher-librarians must use their technical expertise alongside their knowledge of their specific users’ needs, abilities, and interests to make the right decision for their context.

 

Reference List

Barone, D. M. (2010). Children’s literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers. Guildford Publications.

Bessman Taylor, J., Hora, A., Steege Krueger, K. (2019). Self-selecting books in a children’s fiction collection arranged by genre. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 51(3), 852-865. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000617743088

Davenport, S. (2017). Genrefying the fiction collection. Connections, 102(3), 6-7. https://www.scisdata.com/media/1511/connections102.pdf

Davenport, S. (2021). Genrefication 3.5 years later: Reflections. Connections, 117(2), 12-13. https://www.scisdata.com/media/2283/scis_connections_117_web.pdf

Dawson, T. (2019). Genrefying nonfiction at Parkes High School. Scan, 38(2). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/make-a-difference-mad-spotlight-on-teacher-librarians#tabs1

Dickenson, D. (2014). Children and reading: literature review. University of Western Sydney, Australian Government, and Australia Council for the Arts.

Gray, M. (2019). Genre fiction collections in Australian school libraries. Scan, 38(10). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/genre-fiction-collections-in-australian-school-libraries

Hamm, S. (August 5, 2019). Why I chose not to genrify the fiction section. Teen Services Underground [blog]. https://www.teenservicesunderground.com/why-i-chose-not-to-genrify-the-fiction-section/

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

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

LaGarde, J. (October 24, 2018). Genrefying your collection without changing call numbers. The Adventures of Library Girl [blog]. https://www.librarygirl.net/post/genrefying-your-collection-without-changing-call-numbers

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers’ reading practices and preferences. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 38(2), 115-128.

Mathur, P. (2019). Genrefication @ The Kings’ School Senior Library. Scan, 38(9). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/genrefication—the-kings-school-senior-library

National Library of New Zealand (n.d.). Arranging library fiction by genre. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/libraries-supporting-readers/arranging-library-fiction-by-genre

Outhouse, A. R. K. (2017). Genrefication: Introducing and explaining the exponential trend in public and school libraries. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/kk91fq479

Wall, J. (2019). Genrefication in NSW public school libraries: A discussion paper. Scan, 38(10). https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-38–2019/genrefication-in-nsw-public-school-libraries

ETL505 4.2: Subject Heading Lists

Perform some subject searches on the Library of Congress catalogue, by choosing ‘Browse’ and using the ‘SUBJECTS beginning with’ option.  Conduct a search for any term, such as ‘Cats’ or ‘Libraries’.  You will see a list of headings, with the subject terms on the left and the type of subject heading on the right.  Check those to identify which headings are Library of Congress subject headings.

Note how many headings are ‘strings’ of terms.  Can you interpret them correctly?  Click through various headings to the records that include them, and see if the resources are the kind that you were expecting.

Log into SCISData, choose the SCIS Catalogue, then search by ‘Subject’ repeating some of the searches you did in the Library of Congress catalogue.  Again you will be taken to lists of headings.  Those identified as SCIS subject headings are the ones you are looking for.  What similarities and differences to LCSH have you noticed?

I initially did a Library of Congress search for ‘dogs’, and as Lisa said, there were so many results to the point where it was almost overwhelming.

I then did a search for ‘Pompeii’, where I found the subject headings and strings to be more useful and not quite as overwhelming (perhaps because there’s not as many terms/resources?). I could see this being a useful search strategy to narrow down relevant resources:

When I clicked on the subject heading ‘Pompeii (Extinct city)–Civilization, it brought up the 13 resources relevant to this topic. I found it interesting that when I typed the terms ‘Pompeii civilisation’ directly into the search bar it took me straight to one resource rather than bringing up all the resources that were listed under the subject heading, while the search terms ‘Pompeii civilization’ showed 81 search results. Clearly it’s not a perfect system and the differences in language (e.g. US spelling vs. Australian spelling) create issues. However, I still think that it’s a useful tool for when we need to find information on a particular subject.

I clicked on Joanne Berry’s book “The Complete Pompeii” and saw that there were three different LC subjects assigned to it, which would also be useful for someone looking to find other related relevant resources.

When I conducted the same search on SCIS, there were fewer results but they seemed more relevant to a school search:

To further test the functionality of these subject headings, I then tried a search for the books based on the stories created by Critical Role. This created an extra layer of difficulty for the cataloguers, since these comics are a) based on a Dungeons and Dragons Twitch game, so not exactly traditional media; and b) created by a group of actors before being c) adapted into comic book form. When I searched the LC subject heading ‘Dungeons and Dragons (Game)–Fiction’ a number of titles came up, including one title relating to the Critical Role universe: ‘Kith and Kin’. However, none of the actors in the original Twitch game are listed as authors; considering most fans of this show would search for resources using the names of the original actors/creators, this might make it difficult for users to find this resource. In SCIS the same author issues arose; for one resource the actor who created the world and ran the original game the stories are based on (Matthew Mercer) is listed as a contributor, while for another he’s not listed at all, despite being the first name on the cover:

Plus, neither Dungeons and Dragons nor Critical Role are listed as subject headings!

I guess it just goes to show how complicated cataloguing is, and despite the best intentions of the people designing these systems, sometimes (perhaps due to lack of familiarity or new forms which defy traditional standards) they’ll create a catalogue record which is unlikely to be easily found by users who aren’t familiar with cataloguing standards. It’s another reason why it’s so important to have trained teacher librarians recognised as information specialists in schools!

ETL505 3.2: Metadata Quality – Authority Files

Take some time to explore the Library of Congress authority files, particularly its “Help on Searching Authorities“. Search the authority file for the subject, name and title authority headings for your favourite topic, author and book. Are they included in the authority files?  If you haven’t been able to find them, do you have any thoughts about why they are not there?

I typed in one of my favourite historical figures, Agrippina the Younger. As you can see I got an overwhelming number of results, most of which were not relevant to my search due to the fact that so many ancient Romans shared the same name:

When I clicked the first option it showed me a cross-reference for Agrippina, Minor:


Most users wouldn’t search for this particular Agrippina using these terms but it was interesting to see that it was still listed as a possible access point for the users who might.

Once I found the correct Agrippina, I was intrigued by the number of headings that Library of Congress had created in anticipation of user searches, including her historical roles, her fictional representation, and resources in different languages:


When I clicked on the MARC record I was completely overwhelmed by the layout and what all the numbers could mean. The labelled display option was a little easier to read, but it just goes to show how this is really like learning a whole new language!


Interestingly, one of the texts I read while studying and teaching Agrippina the Younger – Anthony Barrett’s Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire (1996) – had the subject headings

  • Agrippina, Minor, 15-59
  • Empresses — Rome — Biography
  • Rome — History — Julio-Claudians, 30 B.C.-68 A.D.

which, as stated above, would limit the number of people recalling this resource since most would now use the search terms Agrippina the Younger when searching for resources on this topic. This reinforces Hider’s point that metadata doesn’t always support user needs (2018, p.101).

ETL505 2.1: Digital Libraries – Organising Digital Content for Schools

Consider how a school might organise digital content.

For a high school library, I feel like the following might be important to consider when organising digital content:

  • student literacy needs
  • student attention span
  • student access to technology
  • student ability to navigate online spaces
  • student information behaviours (sadly they often take the easy, convenient way out)
  • student information needs (such as for specific subjects or assessments)

Due to this, a school’s digital collection should be organised with accessible language and formatting, in a visually appealing manner. Visuals such as book covers could support simple summaries of the text, while simple bibliographic details and subject headings could help users determine whether content is relevant to them or not. For instance, most students probably wouldn’t select a resource based on its size or page numbers. I think that having groups of similar resources would be an effective way of organising digital content for students who are looking for quick fixes with their research. Teacher librarians, working alongside classroom teachers, could curate reading lists for specific assessments which can help students navigate their way through the digital catalogue, and TLs should teach specific strategies (such as boolean operators, filters) to help students access and find relevant, quality information. Access to these digital libraries should be provided within the library and promoted to the school community to ensure students can independently access these resources in their classrooms and, where possible, at home.

ETL505 2.1: Tools of Library Organisation – Scootle Digital Library

Comment on Scootle as a starting point when searching for electronic resources.

Scootle appears to be a very useful starting point for electronic resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum. It is easy to navigate, uses a convenient range of filters, and allows users to explore resources based on subject, year, or curriculum outcome. I also like that it takes you straight to the resource or unit of work, though due to the dynamic nature of the internet it would be a lot of work for site administrators to ensure that the links are all correct and still live!

Despite its use as a starting point when searching for electronic teaching resources, I had never heard of Scootle prior to starting this degree so I’m not sure how well it’s advertised and promoted to the wider teaching community. A resource is only useful if users know about it and how to use it.

ETL505 2.1: Tools of Library Organisation – Databases

Search one of the CSU Library databases and note the fields included in the records.  How much overlap is there with the fields and elements used in library catalogues?

The database that I’m most familiar with is JSTOR (thanks, Arts degree!). For this activity I went with an old favourite, Mary Beard, and compared the fields and elements used to describe one of her articles.

Beard, M. (1980). The sexual status of vestal virgins. The Journal of Roman Studies 70, 12-27.

JSTOR Content Metadata:

JOURNAL ARTICLE
The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins
Mary Beard
The Journal of Roman Studies
The Journal of Roman Studies
Vol. 70 (1980), pp. 12-27 (16 pages)
Thoughts on the JSTOR resource description:
This record also allowed me to see thumbnails of each page as well as the notes and references (113 footnotes total) which would help in the ‘select’ FRBR task. The ability to access and download a copy of the resource would also be useful for the ‘obtain’ FRBR task.
The Primo resource details are:
ARTICLE
The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins
Beard, Mary
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
The Journal of Roman studies, 1980-11, Vol.70 (2), p.12-27
The Vestal Virgins have often been the subject of close scrutiny by classical scholars…
PEER REVIEWED
Available Online
Details
Title: The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins
Creator: Beard, Mary
Is Part Of: The Journal of Roman studies, 1980-11, Vol.70 (2), p.12-27
Subject:
– Ambiguity
– Atriums
– Ceremonies
– Flames
– Men
– Priestesses
– Religious rituals
– Virginity
– Weddings
– Wives
Language: English
Description
The Vestal Virgins have often been the subject of close scrutiny by classical scholars. Indeed many articles have been devoted to a careful analysis of individual, apparently trivial, aspects of their legal rights, their privileges, their cult obligations and even their dress. In the same tradition I intend in this paper to consider just one element of their priestly position: their sexual status and its relationship to their sacred status. It is however an element which will be seen to have wider implications for their cult as a whole and for ancient religion in general.
Publisher: Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Source: JSTOR Arts & Sciences II, Scopus, Periodicals Index Online
Rights
Copyright © Mary Beard 1980. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Copyright 1980 The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Identifier
ISSN: 0075-4358
EISSN: 1753-528X
DOI: 10.2307/299553
Thoughts on the Primo resource description:
Primo also gives me the option to see other linked sources which cite this resource or are cited in it, which is similar to the JSTOR ‘notes and references’ feature. Primo also has a menu on the right-hand side which offers ‘related reading’ suggestions to further my potential research and would be very useful for users engage in the ‘explore’ FRBR task.
Primo is much more detailed than JSTOR and offers more information to help users determine a resource’s relevance. It’s clear why Primo has been given that name – it’s clearly the better option!

ETL505 2.1: Tools of Library Organisation – Library Catalogues

Go to the SCIS website https://www.scisdata.com/ then click on ‘Login’ in the right-hand panel.  Use your SCIS username and password to access SCIS Data.  Click on ‘Search’ and you will be in the SCIS catalogue (or SCIS database) which contains all the catalogue records created by SCIS for school libraries.  Guidance on using this catalogue is available at ‘Help’.

Locate three catalogue records of interest to you and explore which elements can be searched in this particular catalogue, and which elements describe a resource’s information content.  It is best to search for records from 2014 onwards to see recent examples of SCIS records.

 

Since I’m teaching HSC English Extension this year, I figured I’d search for some resources relevant to this course.

Search for Pettersson, B. (2016). How literary worlds are shaped: a comparative poetics of literary imagination.

This search was straightforward, with only two records describing this particular source (for a 2016 and a 2018 edition). Here are the record details for first one I chose:

SCIS number: 1898439
ISBN: 9783110483475
Main author: Pettersson, Bo.
Publisher: Berlin, De Gruyter, 2016
Publication date: 2016
Series: Narratologia ; 54
SCIS subjects: Literature, ComparativeLiterature–History and criticism
ScOT subjects: Literary criticism
Dewey: 809 PET
Description: viii, 326 pages.
Content type: text
Format: volume
Language: English
Additional terms
Learning area: Humanities and Social Sciences, English
Type: Book

Summary
Literary studies still lack an extensive comparative analysis of different kinds of literature, including ancient and non-Western. How Literary Worlds Are Shaped. A Comparative Poetics of Literary Imagination aims to provide such a study. Literature, it claims, is based on individual and shared human imagination, which creates literary worlds that blend the real and the fantastic, mimesis and genre, often modulated by different kinds of unreliability. The main building blocks of literary worlds are their oral, visual and written modes and three themes: challenge, perception and relation. They are blended and inflected in different ways by combinations of narratives and figures, indirection, thwarted aspirations, meta-usages, hypothetical action as well as hierarchies and blends of genres and text types. Moreover, literary worlds are not only constructed by humans but also shape their lives and reinforce their sense of wonder. Finally, ten reasons are given in order to show how this comparative view can be of use in literary studies. In sum, How Literary Worlds Are Shaped is the first study to present a wide-ranging and detailed comparative account of the makings of literary worlds.

Author notes
Bo Pettersson, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Search for Le Guin, U. K. (1969). Left Hand of Darkness.

This search gave me more results, since there have been multiple editions/formats published as well as criticisms and study guides. Interestingly, many of the top results when sorted by Relevance were not the text itself but study guides.


The record details for the edition that I’m using with my students are:

SCIS number: 1830065
ISBN: 9781473221628
Main author: Le Guin, Ursula K.
Publisher: London, Gollancz, 2017
Publication date: 2017
Series: SF masterworks
SCIS subjects: Life on other planets–FictionSex differences–FictionCivilisation–FictionHugo AwardNebula Award
ScOT subjects: AliensGender (Physical characteristics)Society
Dewey: F LE
Description: 304 pages.
Content type: text
Format: volume
Notes: First published: 1969. Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Genre: Science fiction.
Language: English
Additional terms
Type: Book
Summary
Genly Ai is an ethnologist observing the people of the planet Gethen, a world perpetually in winter. The people there are androgynous, normally neuter, but they can become male ot female at the peak of their sexual cycle. They seem to Genly Ai alien, unsophisticated and confusing. But he is drawn into the complex politics of the planet and, during a long, tortuous journey across the ice with a politician who has fallen from favour and has been outcast, he loses his professional detachment and reaches a painful understanding of the true nature of Gethenians and, in a moving and memorable sequence, even finds love…
Series
1 Rocannon’s world
2 Planet of exile
3 City of illusions
4 The Left hand of darkness
5 The Dispossessed
6 The Word for world is forest
7 Four ways to forgiveness (Collection)
8 The Telling
Author notes
Ursula K. Le Guin was born Ursula Kroeber in Berkeley, California on October 21, 1929. She received a bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College in 1951 and a master’s degree in romance literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance from Columbia University in 1952. She won a Fulbright fellowship in 1953 to study in Paris, where she met and married Charles Le Guin. Her first science-fiction novel, Rocannon’s World, was published in 1966. Her other books included the Earthsea series, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, The Lathe of Heaven, Four Ways to Forgiveness, and The Telling. A Wizard of Earthsea received an American Library Association Notable Book citation, a Horn Book Honor List citation, and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979. She received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2014. She also received the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award. She also wrote books of poetry, short stories collections, collections of essays, children’s books, a guide for writers, and volumes of translation including the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu and selected poems by Gabriela Mistral. She died on January 22, 2018 at the age of 88. (Bowker Author Biography)

Thoughts:

While most of this information wouldn’t be used as an access point for someone searching for this resource, it would nonetheless help narrow down during the selection FRBR task.

On a side note, I love that SCIS often provides links to the Google Books version of the resource. I’ve found that accessing the Google Books samples (where possible) has helped me make the decision about whether a resource is relevant to my needs or not.

ETL505 1.4: Who Organises Information?

If teacher librarians don’t normally create metadata, such as catalogue records, why do you need to have an understanding of information resource description?

I found it interesting that the module noted that if the most noticeable feature about the catalogue is the number of users who bypass it, then something has gone wrong. It seems like hardly any of our users utilise the catalogue and instead either ask the front desk for resources or browse the shelves hoping for the best. While I’d like to attribute this to either laziness or a preference for personal interaction, clearly this is something I’ll have to rectify! It was good that the module reinforced that the one of the roles of the TL is to teach users how to effectively use the catalogue independently. It’s also an important skill for them to transfer this knowledge to other catalogues, such as public or university libraries.

As a NSW DoE school, we use SCIS as our supplier of catalogue records. I’m very fortunate to have a full-time library assistant who handles most of the cataloguing when we accession new resources but her position is not guaranteed and it’s important for me to know how the system works so that I can maintain our collection and ensure efficient access to our available resources.

I’ve noticed that while the records from SCIS certainly do save time, they aren’t necessarily describing or classifying our resources in a way which suits our students’ needs. For instance, many of our manga series are catalogued under their individual titles rather than the series title + number, which makes it difficult for people like me who are unfamiliar with the series to find whether we’ve got a requested book on our shelves. Series which have multiple authors also face this issue, as SCIS classifies them under each individual author instead of together which means that the books are scattered amongst our fiction shelves. The Australia’s Great War and the Twisted Tales series are the best examples I can think of with this issue. Last year I also undertook a stocktake and discovered a pile of never-borrowed verse novels which had been classified as non-fiction, the land that our students forgot. I’m in the process of reclassifying them as fiction texts, which will hopefully allow them to be found and used more regularly. If I have an understanding of information resource description I can hopefully combine this with knowledge of my users’ needs and preferences to create a more efficient collection.

 

ETL505 1.3: Functions of Metadata

Determine some elements or attributes that might be useful for the purposes of discovering and retrieving a particular resource of interest to you, for example, the prescribed textbook for this subject. Review these elements in light of the FRBR user tasks – are they all useful for all of the user tasks, or for some tasks more than others?

As information specialists who facilitate efficient access to information, it is crucial that our catalogues are well organised and effectively described. Organising information can be a little bit like herding cats – no doubt that’s why it’s called a catalogue!

I found this list of metadata elements that I feel are a useful overview of the types of elements/attributes that can help libraries organise information effectively:


From my experience, depending on the information need and the user task, not all of these elements/attributes will be useful.

For instance, I think that finding the textbook for this subject was very straightforward. Because we have been given the links via the Resources tab I think that I skipped the first few user tasks. I went straight to Select since I needed to make a choice between the two links, and chose the Cambridge Core item because it was described as having unlimited user access. I then Obtained the item by clicking the link. It was very easy for me as a patron to fulfil my information need in this instance due to the effective organisation and description of the information resource. I did not need to Find, Identify, or Explore because this resource had been found for us by the course organisers who had identified its usefulness. Because these steps were eliminated from my search process, I did not need most of the elements listed in the above table. I only needed the bibliographic description to ensure that I had the correct item and the access rights description.

However, if I was searching for information for another purpose, such as if I was researching a new topic to teach at school, my needs would be different and so too would my process. As an example, I am teaching English Extension 2 this year and have a student whose Major Work involves elements of historical fiction. Looking through the JSTOR databse, together we Found relevant resources by searching specific criteria, then Identified the key ideas and Selected which ones might be more suitable for her needs before Obtaining them via pdf download. Because this search was more vague, more elements/attributes were called upon to make decisions about whether a resource contained relevant information. In this instance we drew upon not only the bibliographic descriptions, but also subject descriptions and item specific attributes to understand whether the resource was relevant or not.

It is therefore important for teacher librarians to understand the information needs of their users and which of the FRBR user tasks they are requiring to ensure that our resources are described using effective elements/attributes. If our resources are not described effectively, we risk our patrons becoming overwhelmed and missing important, relevant resources. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

ETL505 1.1: The Need For Information Resource Description

Why is it necessary for information agencies such as school libraries to organise information?

One of the key functions of the school library as an information agency is to ensure that our patrons can easily and efficiently access what they need, when they need it. We therefore need to organise our information effectively to:

  • avoid patron ‘infowhelm’
  • provide the right book to the right reader at the right time
  • reduce time wasted spent looking for resources
  • reduce dissatisfaction with library staff, services, and resources
  • support time-poor teachers
  • support reluctant students who might be turned off by inefficient organisation or difficulty locating resources
  • ensure equitable access to information i.e. give all users the skills and confidence to fulfil their information needs
  • ensure effective use of materials and justify costs
  • maintain our professionalism and advocate for our value to the learning community
  • keep up with a changing information landscape and ensure continued relevance

ETL402 2B.1a: Representing Indigenous Voices in Our School Library Collection

  • To what extent are indigenous OR multicultural voices represented in your school library or local public library collection?
  • Do you have an unstated or stated selection criteria in the provision of this type of resource?
  • Name children’s texts (2) that you could recommend as important additions to support either:
    • Cross currriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures or Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia or another indigenous group relevant to your location or context
    • General capability of Intercultural Understanding

To determine the extent to which Indigenous voices are represented in our school library, I searched through our Oliver catalogue. 

A search using the subject “Aboriginal” received 611 hits while the subject “Indigenous” received 57. There were 28 results for “Torres Strait Islander”. A search for “First Nations” only turned up 3 results. However, the three results for the First Nations search were far more recent (2017-2021), whereas the majority of the results for the others were outdated, perpetuating negative stereotypes or using insensitive terms. For instance, several resources were listed under NON305ABO (if I’m cringing, I can only imagine how our students feel when they see that word!), while the oldest resource was from 1972 and used the term ‘Aborigines’. Results for resources on the local Gundungurra, Dharawal, and Darug peoples were likewise limited. The subject search “Aboriginal peoples – Fiction” produced 35 results dating from 1983-2021.

These searches revealed that our library hosts a mix of fiction, nonfiction, picturebook, and audiovisual resources in both our physical and digital collections. A subject search for “authors, Aboriginal” received only 7 results and confusingly included The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan, which suggests that our SCIS records are perhaps not up-to-date. 

Looking at the lists of texts and authors in the above searches, I conclude that our collection is largely outdated and seems to prioritise white representations of Indigenous cultures, histories, and experiences. As far as I have been able to determine, the school library does not have a collection development and management policy, let alone a selection criteria which guides the inclusion of relevant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources. I am in the process of completing ‘ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum’ and will hopefully soon be in a more informed position to construct such a policy for the library. 

Some more recent texts which I’ve added to our collection and could support the Australian Curriculum’s cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures are:

Sally Morgan. Sister Heart. 

  • This short verse novel details the experience of a young Aboriginal girl who is stolen from her family. This would be a fantastic cross-curricular resource for Stage 4 or 5 students. These teacher’s notes differentiate the text for older and younger readers: http://static.booktopia.com.au/pdf/9781925163131-1.pdf 

Anita Heiss. Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia.

Bruce Pascoe. Dark Emu and Young Dark Emu.

  • A controversial reconsideration of pre- and early-colonial Aboriginal Australian culture and farming practices. It would be interesting to consider the historiographical debates presented by contrasting it with Sutton and Walshe’s recent Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate. There’s a comprehensive teacher’s resource aligned to the Australian Curriculum available here: https://readingaustralia.com.au/lesson/dark-emu/