Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 23:54:31 -0500 From: K.R.Mulla Soquel High librarian encourages students to research on Web - By Nancy Pasternack - sentinel staff writer - February 8, 2006 Hi [LIS-Forum]! Thought you might be interested in reading this story from the Santa Cruz Sentinel. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/February/08/local/stories/09lo... http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/February/08/local/stories/09lo... Regards K.R.Mulla February 8, 2006 SOQUEL Soquel High librarian encourages students to research on Web By Nancy Pasternack sentinel staff writer Soquel High School's Madeline Britton is part of an endangered and often misunderstood profession: the modern school librarian. Unlike librarians of yore who managed index files, taught the Dewey Decimal System and worked in rooms crowded with books, Britton teaches her students to mine the Web efficiently for the most reliable information, and to find creative solutions for stretching nearly extinct library budget dollars. She can't afford, she says, to spend the whopping $4,000 she has for 2006-07 all in one place. The $2,400 subscription bill for Ebsco Host, the primary database she has used in the past to teach her students research skills, is too steep. So that subscription, which allows access to magazine and academic journal articles, is out — and Santa Cruz Public Library cards are in. Britton's campaign to get all her students a public library card will have them using comprehensive databases like Ebsco Host, as well as many others the school cannot afford. They can access these resources from any Internet-linked computer, between the hours of 6 a.m. and midnight. And Britton can continue, she said, to teach students the necessities for adult life in today's real world. "This is the iPod generation," she said. "You have to teach them to use their brains in the ways they're wired." Her push has caught on in Santa Cruz City Schools' other high schools. Librarians from both Harbor High and Santa Cruz High have teamed up with public librarians to take students through the steps necessary to gain access to the public library's resources, and to take full advantage of those resources. "It's win-win," said Heidi Smith, the system's development librarian. "We have wonderful databases the students can now use." And because of the number of new cards the Santa Cruz Public Library system will issue, Smith can make a stronger case for continued funding. "If our databases don't get enough use," she said, "our governing board won't continue to fund it." Britton's school district is the only one in the county that still funds credentialed librarians. The ratio in California of professional media library teachers librarians to students is the lowest in the country: one media teacher/librarian for every 4,541 students. The average, nationwide, is one to 870. Because Soquel High's feeder schools — in the Live Oak and Soquel school districts — do not have professional librarians, Britton and many teachers must make an extra effort to get incoming students caught up with the online world. In order to do this, you first need access to reliable resources. "They need to learn library skills every year," O'Reilly said. "They need practice over and over again." Those skills increasingly consist of an ability to edit out sources that are either not going to be helpful, or that are not reliable. "They need to know what's a bogus Web site, and what isn't," O'Reilly said. Britton compares the Internet to an open fire hydrant. "You have to know how to swim through all that, just to take a sip of water," she said. She tells her students, "You guys have to be your own censors." "Your lives are packed," she tells them. "And you want to go to that party Friday night, right? Well, being good at this Internet research will save you time." Contact Nancy Pasternack at mailto:npasternack@santacruzsentinel.com?subject=Soquel High librarian encourages students to research on Web npasternack@santacruzsentinel.com .