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Research You Can Use To Improve Results.

Getting Books to School Pupils in Africa

This bibliographic essay reviews the English‐language collection development and management literature published in 1997. Selection, deselection, access as an alternative to ownership, collection evaluation, user studies, organization and staffing for collection development, serials collection management, and electronic resource collection management, among other topics, are included. The primary emphasis is on articles, books, and book chapters. More than 180 items are covered in the essay.

A review of the 1997 collection development and management literature

Title of Dissertation: HOW SIX FOURTH GRADERS EXPERIENCED AND UNDERSTOOD LITERACY EVENTS DURING ONE YEAR IN A QUALITY SCHOOL LIBRARY Anita N. Voelker, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Dissertation Directed By: Dr. Marilyn J. Chambliss Associate Professor Department of Curriculum and Instruction University of Maryland, College Park In this one year study, I employed a “childist” lens (Hunt, 1991) to discover how six fourth grade students experienced and understood literacy events in a quality school library program. To locate a quality setting, I sought experts’ suggestions, reviewed resources, interviewed librarians, and visited four sites. Of these four sites, I chose the quality setting with the highest percentage of racial diversity within the student population. In response to Snow, Burns, and Griffin’s (1998) call for more research on fourth grade students, I focused this study on students in this grade level. Using data from Terra Nova scores, teacher ranking, and a Title Recognition Test, I selected six fourth graders, who represented diversity in reading ability, reading experience, race, and gender. Using a sociocultural perspective (Gee, 2001) and Halliday’s (1980) “socialfunctional approach” (p. 37), I defined literacy for children as learning existing, new, and evolving language and language systems in text and technology; learning about language and language systems in social and cultural settings that are meaningful to the community of learners; learning through language and language systems by understanding the power of words in text and technological contexts. With this established literacy definition, I selected the literacy event as a unit of analysis. Collecting and analyzing data were reciprocal processes. During the academic year, I collected data via observations and interviews. There were three distinct types of interviews: post literacy event, with artifacts, and with a library model. I employed an emic perspective to view the literacy events through the experiences and understanding of the participants. Using an etic lens, I applied my understandings of literacy research to analyze the child’s perspective. To crystallize the findings from the analysis, I created literacy portraits for each participant that aligned with the subsidiary questions. In summarizing the literacy portraits, I found a paradox: Although literacy events were ubiquitous in this quality school library, literacy was rare. Drawing on Swales (1990) theory of discourse communities, I argue that the contradiction may stem from differences in the school library and literacy discourse communities, as well as complexity in defining

Title of Dissertation: HOW SIX FOURTH GRADERS EXPERIENCED AND UNDERSTOOD LITERACY EVENTS DURING ONE YEAR IN A QUALITY SCHOOL LIBRARY

Supplementary reading: definition and role School libraries in Africa Other access modalities Case studies Preliminary workshop Problems and limitations References Chapter two-School library services: Ghana and Tanzania Origins of school library services in Africa Activities and achievements Reasons for failure Evaluation and conclusions References Chapter three-School libraries: Mali Background Methodology 'A library in every school' programme Libraries at the secondary level Conclusion Recommendations References Chapter four-Classroom libraries: South Africa Background READ educational trust READ's classroom libraries Methodology Findings Conclusion Notes References Chapter five-Book box libraries: Mozambique Background Book box libraries Methodology Findings Evaluation Conclusion References Interviews Chapter six-Teachers advisory centres: Kenya Background Teachers advisory centres Methodology Findings Evaluation Conclusion References Chapter seven-Conclusions Teacher involvement/training Support and monitoring Book accessibility and availability Costs and cost-effectiveness Role of NGOs Sustainability Implications Appendix data collection instruments 1. School library services: Ghana and Tanzania 2. This is one of a series of Education Papers issued from time to time by the Education Division of the Department For International Development. Each paper represents a study or piece of commissioned research on some aspect of education and training in developing countries. Most of the studies were undertaken in order to provide informed judgements from which policy decisions could be drawn, but in each case it has become apparent that the material produced would be of interest to a wider audience, particularly but not exclusively to those whose work focuses on developing countries. Each paper is numbered serially, and further copies can be obtained through the DFID's Education Division, 94 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL, subject to availability. A full list appears overleaf. Although these papers are issued by the DFID, the views expressed in them are entirely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the DFID's own policies or views. Any discussion of their content should therefore be addressed to the authors and not to the DFID.

Getting books to school pupils in Africa - Education Research Paper No. 26, 1998, 134 p.

Quality and Elementary School Library Media Collections.

In keeping with the facilities theme of this issue of SLMQ, the “Current Research” column offers an excellent review of relevant research by Carol A. Doll, Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of library and Information Science at the University of Washington. Doll is well known for her work in collection analysis and the use of print and technological resources in school library media centers and the classroom. She is the author of two recent books, Collection Analysis for the School Library Media Center: A Practical Approach (with Pamela P. Barron), American Library Assn., 1991, and Using Informational Books in the Classroom, Libraries Unlimited, 1990. In this research review, Doll focuses on aspects of human behavior in physical settings (e.g., personal space, territoriality, privacy and variety) that can be applied to create school library media centers that meet the diverse needs of student users.-Michael B. Eisenberg, Column Editor

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Carol A. Doll

Papers

Quality and Elementary School Library Media Collections.

School Library Media Centers: The Human Environment