Teaching Students How to Use Reference and Learning Resources

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     While reading Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide (2002), I noticed a glaring omission on how to promote a school’s learning resources. The document failed to list that students should be shown how to use these resources (p97; the document was updated in 2008). Perhaps it was too obvious to list; in any case, as Riedling remarks in her book, Reference Skills for the Skilled Librarian, “the average student may have no pre-knowledge of the type of resource(s) that will answer his or her question” (p101). This got me thinking that, as part of the teacher-librarian’s instruction to students on what the school library has to offer, it should include a fun interactive activity that gets students to use the library’s resources, perhaps as a sort of “treasure hunt” where groups of 2 need to find specific information out of each type of resource, thereby showing them what information each resource holds and familiarizing them with how to use it. Another great way to promote the use of learning resources is through a careful selection on each resource's usefulness, with such criteria being whether it entails and/or promotes: curriculum goals and pedagogy, critical and creative thinking, active learning, communication skills, accurate information, age-level appropriateness, and relevance (ERAC, 2008, p21-22). The teacher-librarian also needs to be able to provide help to the student looking for a learning resource, and the specific information within; this includes interviewing them while keeping in mind they may not know where to look, what they’re really looking for, what terminology would best help them find what they’re looking for, that they may be afraid of the teacher-librarian (or adults/authority figures in general) and may have less refined communication and verbal and nonverbal interpretation skills (Riedling, p101).

     As for deciding whether reference resources should be integrated with the general collection of non-fiction books or separated, I think it depends on the size of the library, its layout, who needs access to the reference resources (such as if other teachers need to quickly grab them), how they’re presented, and how much use they get out of their current placement (if little, then a change may be warranted). If they’re judged as most useful if integrated, I personally would clearly highlight the resource, such as with a shelf label and individually book-ending it so the resource “pops” and can therefore be quickly found by students and staff. If deigned most useful in its own separate section, Riedling suggests that the reference section have “easy access to technology, inviting spaces for social interaction, and spaces for individual inquiry” (p119). As for whether reference books should be able to be checked out, I propose that teachers should be able to check them out for a day (or a week for smaller schools). I make such a suggestion because reference books are usually expensive, can come in sets, and that when students visit a school’s library, they may need more time with the reference resource, so it's being exclusive to the library would be inconvenient. And, the reference resources that aren’t as expensive or in demand should be considered for student borrowing.

     Students should also be clearly informed, and have access to, all the online learning resources the school library has to offer. This should be pointed out by the teacher-librarian, including activities to their use, but also in pamphlets they give to students, parents, and teachers listing and describing online links, both paid for by the school and good free links. For instance, Britannica Kids as a terrific online encyclopedia for middle-school and high school students.

     The use of learning resources should also extend beyond the use for assignments. They can be used to introduce topics about one’s and others’ culture.

Resource collections should include materials that:

ο increase awareness of ethnic and cultural diversity
ο create sensitivity to and respect for differences and similarities within and among groups
ο affirm and enhance self-esteem through pride in heritage
ο promote cross-cultural understanding, citizenship, and racial harmony ο reflect and validate students’ cultural experiences (ERAC, 2008, p13)

     A teacher librarian could also read facts from a reference resource and then read a story based on those facts, thereby making the connection that stories can be written through research, promoting another reason to do research.

References

Britannica Kids, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., kids.britannica.com/.

Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. ERAC, 2002.

Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. ERAC, 2008.

Riedling, Ann Marlow, et al. Reference Skills for the School Librarian Tools and Tips. Linworth, 2013.