Showing papers in "School Libraries Worldwide in 2021"
TL;DR: Cheng et al. as discussed by the authors conducted a cross-national survey to determine and compare how school librarians perceived their own roles in the five different regions in Asia, namely Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Shanghai, and Taipei.
Abstract: IntroductionAccording to Jackson (1981), "Comparative librarianship offers the opportunity to look at theories and practices of librarianship in different countries for the purpose of solving and broadening understanding of library problems" (p. 342). Simsova and MacKee (1970) also pointed out that comparative librarianship "is a study of library development in many countries to discover what developments have been successful and can be copied elsewhere...on an international scale to determine long-range trends, to appraise short-comings, and to uncover contradictions and inconsistencies between practice and theory" (p. 4). The comparative method was used in this study in order to obtain a better understanding of the self-perceptions in relation to the professional practices amongst the school librarians in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Shanghai, and Taipei - to identify key solutions to more effective development.According to the University College London CIBER Research Team (2008) in the U.K., information skills are vital for our next generation to survive in the information age: "need to be inculcated during formative years of childhood: by university or college it is too late to reverse engineer deeply ingrained inhabit" (p. 32). School libraries and librarians may therefore play an important role in the development of enquiry-based learning amongst the students. Professional literature revealed that school librarians in many countries are facing similar problems related to their professional image, role and job satisfaction (Cheng, 2012; Hartzell, 2002; Miller, 2005; Nakamura, 2000; Wong, 1992; Zhan, 2012; Zhang, 2010). Meanwhile, there are not many cross- national comparative studies amongst Confucius societies in Asia. As noted by Otsuka (1996), the Confucian ideology has affected the hierarchy of social order, as well as East-Asian students' mode of learning and educational achievement for many centuries. According to Tu (1990), Confucian societies have a long and strong tradition of emphasizing the use of repetition and rote memorization in learning, as a result of their highly competitive examination system. One of the fundamental questions of this study: What are the evolving roles of the school librarians under the current highly-competitive and examination-based education system in East Asia? Without a clear picture of the actual situation and the possible inter-connections, no workable and sustainable strategies can be formulated for long-term development.Purpose of StudyJob satisfaction in relation to school librarians' roles and scope of work are seldom measured, and compared cross-nationally. This study aims to provide empirical data for exploring the professional roles and job satisfaction amongst school librarians in five different regions in Asia, by looking at their relationships with other colleagues, as well as their roles within the school community. In this study, we investigated:1. Degrees of job satisfaction - examine and compare their job satisfactions in relations to their professional practices.2. Self-perceptions and professional roles - examine and compare whether they understand and value their own role as school librarian, particularly the teaching and instructional partner role.3. School librarians' professional competency in relations to the amount of resources and technologies available.4. The perceptions of the principals and other classroom teachers towards the school librarians.Research MethodsA cross-national survey was designed to determine and compare how school librarians perceived their own roles in the five different regions in Asia. The chosen regions were namely Hong Kong, Japan (Osaka and Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul and Pusan), Shanghai, and Taipei. The original survey questionnaire was in English, and was developed by the researchers in all five regions as a team effort. The finalized English questionnaire was then translated into respective native languages before it was administered to the school librarians in all five regions, in order to ensure that respondents in all five regions could understand all items properly. …
10 citations
TL;DR: The International Association for School Librarianship (IASL) has a reputation for supporting and disseminating research informing school librarianships around the world, and has the responsibility to promote sound ethical procedures for all research as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: IntroductionThe International Association for School Librarianship (IASL) has a reputation for supporting and disseminating research informing school librarianship around the world. Since the organization serves a multi-national and multi-cultural library community, it has the responsibility to promote sound ethical procedures for all research. This can raise serious dilemmas for researchers planning to work in Global South countries with few or different ethical standards for conducting research when, as members of the Global North academic community, we are bound by strict guidelines covering ethical procedures. These dilemmas can include: 1) differing views on what counts as research: 2) differing values and policies on gender, religion, inclusive practices and other social and cultural areas; 3) the insider/outsider phenomenon (white privileged researchers working in non-white communities); and 4) development of culturally sensitive research instruments. These dilemmas present serious challenges as researchers set out to conduct research in school and community libraries in remote/rural areas and large urban centres where frontline staff have little or no experience with, nor knowledge of, educational research. Researchers are charged then to pay serious attention to issues of positionality, paradigms of what is "truth", the use of iterative methods and analyses, as well as an overarching awareness of their reflexivity throughout the research process. Research in this context becomes a continuous process of examining our relationship with fellow researchers and research participants, the dynamics of that relationship, and its relationship to the research that is undertaken. Without a self-critical lens for engaging in the research process, researchers run the risk of placing themselves in the position where "ethical research guidelines {as imposed by Universities} could be yet another western construct that create a global discourse of 'our way' is the 'right way' to do things" (Skelton, 2008, p. 29).Over the past two decades, the ethics of research involving children and youth has become a prominent topic in the literature (Powell, Fitzgerald, Taylor, & Graham, 2012), sparking a proliferation of resources for researchers (Alderson & Morrow, 2011; Childwatch International Research Network, n.d.; Graham, Powell, Taylor, Anderson & Fitzgerald, 2013; Young Lives, n.d.; UNICEF Office of Research, n.d). Spurred by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the emergence of the sociology of childhood (Mayall, 2002), accordant rights-protecting procedures were instituted and methods of research designed to enable voices of children and youth to be heard in various degrees throughout the research process. However, from an international perspective, this paradigm of research with children and the knowledge generated by it are unbalanced since . . . 'only a little more than 10% of the world's children live in the developed countries of Europe, North America and other European outposts... yet the research is heavily concentrated on children from these places" (Pence & Nsamenang, 2008, p.14).How then should researchers working with children in school and community libraries develop research that assures fair and respectful ethical procedures? What role do children play in the research process - subject, informant or participant? How can Western researchers approach research in developing countries where expectations for ethical research, as defined by Western norms, may or may not exist? This paper takes a critical perspective on these issues by: 1) reflecting on the various stances that researchers take in approaching new research; 2) comparing expectations for ethics in developed and developing countries; and 3) identifying the position children are placed in before, during and after research projects. We begin our discussion by examining some of the current political, economic and ethical challenges facing researchers wishing to work in international contexts. …
6 citations
TL;DR: In the context of the Shain Library at Connecticut College as discussed by the authors, Vonnegut compared a library to a noodle factory, noting that in a society where many people do not really enjoy reading, "Noodles are okay. They are rather neutral good news." It was an indifference, however, that could be tolerated three decades ago when libraries still maintained primacy as central repositories of information.
Abstract: In his 1976 dedication of the Connecticut College library, Kurt Vonnegut compared a library to a noodle factory, noting that in a society where many people do not really enjoy reading, "Noodles are okay. Libraries are okay. They are rather neutral good news." It was an indifference, however, that could be tolerated three decades ago when libraries still maintained primacy as central repositories of information. In contrast, in this era of existential crisis and as libraries scramble for "relevance," in face of a crisis of definition and mission, the urgent question then arises: "What new paradigms must be formulated to define the mission of the 21st-century library and delineate how that mission can better support both education and culture? Introduction "We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge." - John Naisbitt In his October 1, 1976 dedication of the new Shain Library at Connecticut College, Kurt Vonnegut compared a library to a noodle factory, noting that in a society where a majority of people did not particularly enjoy reading, "Noodles are okay. Libraries are okay. They are rather neutral good news" (1981, p. 162). While this indifference could be considered benign three decades ago when libraries still maintained primacy as central repositories of information, today, with information decentralized, or rather, centralized in cyberspace, libraries must now compete for attention, affection, and funding from a public grown increasingly distracted through a veritable tsunami of media that floods the public consciousness. For centuries, the relatively restricted nature of the printed word allowed the library to occupy a unique dual role in schools and society. First, it served as a central bank holding information and knowledge in its "vaults" which it could share and lend to the public, ideally in the creation of more information and knowledge. Second, the library served another equally if not more important role as a kind of civic temple which held knowledge as sacred. Like the printed word itself (or as it is known now, the "hard copy") the library was a singular, physical entity, a "brick and mortar" presence. Today, with the rise of cyber resources, the library's monopoly on information is broken; its physical presence not just bifurcated but infinitely divided. As libraries scramble for "relevance," seeking ever more exciting and up-to-the-minute ways to involve their communities, the question necessarily arises: What new paradigms should libraries adopt in order to retain significance? Now that libraries can no longer claim to be society's central bank of information, how will they engage the distracted imaginations of a public ever more reluctant to embrace the rigor of reading and thinking? Should libraries cater to the public's seemingly insatiable need for diversion and distraction, or should libraries hold fast to the aspirations and ideals of the library as a place devoted to learning and knowledge? Or, is it possible to create a model that leverages the library's primacy as a civic temple and knowledge center to create a new generation of deep thinkers? In formulating new paradigms for service, the consequences and costs must be weighed. Today's libraries must consider if the stillness of the "noodle factory" is the stillness of contemplation or the quiet of a tomb, and conversely, if the "factory," in attempting to lure new patrons, is becoming simply a glorified arcade-a boisterous place of bells and whistles and bright shiny packaging, where an "increased presence" does not necessarily translate into thoughtful activity or knowledge acquisition. A library empty of patrons will not survive; a library devoid of meaning and identity other than as one more portal in a sea of information is unlikely to survive, either. Moreover, this is not a dramatic overstatement, for it must be acknowledged that today's libraries face an existential crisis, with every decision playing out against an ominous backdrop. …
1 citations