CERTIFIED LIBRARIANS = HIGHER TEST SCORES

from Washington, courtesy of DPI:

Note: this confirms earlier studies supporting the link between librarian staffed school libraries and student success.

Language test scores in New York State schools with certified librarians are higher than in those schools without librarians, according to preliminary research findings from Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.

The research was conducted on schools giving the English Language Arts test, which is administered by New York State to fourth graders and tests several language skills, including reading, writing, and listening. These preliminary findings indicated a 10-point increase of test scores in schools with library media specialists.

"Syracuse's results prove yet again how important school libraries and certified school library media specialists are in the education process," said ALA President Dr. Loriene Roy, "and why legislation like the SKILLs Act is so important for the future of our Nation's children and would solve the crisis facing school libraries."

Library advocates across the nation have been pushing tirelessly for the Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act, which would place a state-certified school library media specialist in every school in America. The SKILLs Act would be included in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which is being considered in Congress right now.

"Many people don't realize it," Dr. Roy continued, "but there are many, many schools in America without school librarians, which is so tragic because so many studies, including this one now, have affirmed the link between school libraries, certified school library media specialists, and student academic achievement."

More information on the research results is available from the New York Library Association. http://www.nyla.org/index.php?page_id=150

Article on writing books for children

Check out a brief, but very interesting, article in Tuesday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about misconceptions regarding writing picture books for children. Prominently featured, with many quotes, is former SOE faculty John Warren Stewig.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=719255

ERIC news & milestones

If you take advantage of the wonderful ERIC database (remember to use the Ebscohost version for easiest searching with a link from our webpage) see below!

* Eric added over 36,700 records in 2007
* 597 journals are under agreement
* 502 non-journal providers are under agreement
* Over 95,000 full text documents have been added

Some enhancements include:
* The "education level" has been added to the advanced search option
* The citation export feature has been improved, separating volume, issue, and page info into appropriate fields
* The options for sorting search results have been expanded

Misc.

Here is a great site to know about whether updating your portfolio, taking a class for certification, or just acquiring more teaching resources:

Known as Highlights for High School, the online site is an extension of MIT’s OpenCourseWare initiative, a project launched in 2001 with the goal of providing free public access to all the university’s courses and curricula via the Internet.

While many universities have set up free, online video, audio, and print course materials in recent years, the MIT high school site (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/hs/home/home/index.htm) is unusual both in terms of the sheer volume of information available and its specific organization for a K-12 audience.

Shifting:

We are in the process of shifting our Professional Collection to new stacks next to the old ones...please be patient as we proceed and if you see anything out of order lay it on a table or in the reshelving box - do not try to fix.

Finally - BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! I have heard several stories of students falling on the ice resulting in broken bones or nasty bruises. I've heard these because I fell on the ice Monday evening and only today (Friday) returned to work - with assistance. I am on crutches and cannot put weight on one leg. All the places I called Tuesday were out of rock salt, so if you see any grab it!

Celebrate Black History Month

This is Black History Month and the UWM Libraries have a wealth of resources for you to enjoy/learn/share.

The CURRICULUM LIBRARY has a multitude of books, from Professional Collection resources for teachers to lots of young adult, children's, and picture books - both fiction and non-fiction (including many biographies).

For research or just interesting reading check out some of the databases offered by the UWM Libraries - easily accessible from the Libraries web page (Databases A-Z).

African American Biographical Database
https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://aabd.chadwyck.com/
1790-1950; biographical information, including photographs, illustrations, and primary sources, for African Americans.

African American Music Reference
https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://aamr.alexanderstreet.com/
Dates vary; text reference, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies which chronicle the diverse history and culture of the African American experience through music.

American Mosaic
https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://am.greenwood.com
Dates vary; full text of reference sources and primary documents focusing on the history and culture of African and Latino Americans.

Black Drama
http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/BLDRLive/
1850-present; over 1,200 plays, with information on related authors,
productions and theaters.

Black Studies Center
https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://bsc.chadwyck.com
Dates vary; a fully searchable gateway to Black Studies including
scholarly essays, recent periodicals, and historical newspaper articles.

Oxford African American Studies Center
https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://www.oxfordaasc.com/
Dates vary; Full-text articles from:Africana, The Encyclopedia of
African American History, Black Women in America, African
American National Biography, and several other African American
reference works.

Check out more resources on the website of our UWM Libraries Multicultural Librarian, Michelle Harrell Washington.
http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/multicultural/
including her own guide to African American Reference cources

Finally look at our website from the Multimedia Librarian
which offers approx. 8000 videos & dvd's from educational to fun to classic and professional. Also offered are "mediagraphies" including several listing resources appropriate for celebrating Black History Month. That site is at
http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/media/media.html

Whew! Lots of excellent resources to celebrate and recognize: No excuses not to recognize the achievements, contributions, and culture of African Americans.