"Today, knowledge has power.
It controls access to opportunity and advancement."
~ Peter Drucker, business and educational theorist
ReflectionThat word access made all the difference. Understanding this concept of access triggered an abrupt shift in how I saw the role of the media specialist. Before taking my SLM course on organization and access, I perceived access as a nebulous idea of people being able to find what they needed. I thought the media specialist was someone who made sure things were where they were supposed to be. But now I know that access involves so much more and can be responsible for the success or failure of the library.
As I learned, access is about creating as many physical, mental and social opportunities for people to achieve their goals. Access is about removing any barriers, whether they are physical barriers, barriers created by policies, barriers caused by inappropriate classification of materials or improper budgeting. One of the biggest barriers facing students is accessing information. Many students struggle with using the school’s online public access catalog or OPAC. Because they fail to find what they need, they believe the media center has failed them. To help students understand and use the OPAC, I designed a series of flip cards for both secondary and elementary school students. These cards enable students to guide themselves through the process of accessing information. Allowing students to take ownership of their search not only values the adolescent’s need for independence, but also ensures that they won’t have to wait for help from the one or two media personnel. The cards are manipulative and tactile, appealing to many diverse learners. The screenshots and text gives visual learners and struggling readers different ways to interact with the information. Also, the novelty of ring cards attracts attention. Each set sits next to a computer station. This may be easier than providing digital directions in which students would have to click back and forth on screens as they read the directions and perform the steps. The ring cards reveal how important it is to consider multiple variables when increasing access to the media center and its resources. I value thinking outside of the box to remove the walls so that all patrons feel welcome, and they believe they will successfully find whatever they need. At the end of the course in which I made these cards, I created an “Ah-Hah!” list so I would continue to grasp the power of access. It included statements that addressed issues of access involving the physical layout of the media center layout, the multiple ways for using the catalogue and searching for information and even the media center environment. Several essential questions will help me remain focused on access. How does XYZ impact access for our stakeholders? What is it that our community needs and how will I make it happen? Without access to resources, our students won’t have access to knowledge. And as businessman Peter Drucker reminds us in the quote above, lack of knowledge limits opportunities. |
3.2 Access to informationCandidates demonstrate their ability to develop solutions for addressing physical, social and intellectual barriers to equitable access to resources and materials.
ARTIFACT |