Gaming? In a School Library? August 27, 2006
Posted by Christopher Harris in : Hot Topics , 6commentsStop. Before reading any further, take a moment to examine the mental picture that enters your head when you think about “gaming.”
My guess is that it means many different things to different people. For a teacher-librarian working in the Las Vegas school system, a mental image of “gaming” probably includes lots of flashing lights and dings from slot machines. Others may remember the controversy about “gaming” from the 1980’s epitomized by the classic beginning to the movie ET: socially misunderstood, pimply-faced teens sitting around with pizza and Mountain Dew as they played Dungeons and Dragons. Some of you may have seen a child of today – disengaged with the world, but enraptured by the handheld gaming device he or she carries everywhere.
So what is gaming? And why, despite the controversies and issues that continue to surround games and gaming, do we need to talk about this on a school library blog? The short answer to both of those questions is basically “gaming is ubiquitous.” Please excuse this divergent use of a current buzzword, but ubiquitous is a great word that so aptly portrays the “everywhereness” of gaming.
This series of posts will explore gamers, gaming, and games with a focus on how and why this conversation is important for school libraries. This is not a call to action, but rather an opportunity to build awareness about something that keeps popping up in different places.
Letters to the Editor August 21, 2006
Posted by Laura Pearle in : Community , 2commentsSharp-eyed Wall Street Journal readers may have noticed an article in the Career Journal on August 17: Making a Difference, Quietly, As a Librarian by Aja Carmichael.
Melissa Techman did, and wrote to Andrew Bridges at ALA asking for an official response to the article, stating:
When you read it, you would think you were getting good succinct information about all librarians, but in fact, it is almost entirely about public librarians. In the last bullet, Leslie Burger is quoted, but she seems to be speaking about her job as a public library director. I think ALA needs to respond quickly about how this only describes (and very briefly) the career of public librarian. Someone needs to inform the Wall ST journal readers and editorial staff that there are many types of librarians and this short Occupational Outlook type description doesn’t begin to capture the full range of the career possibilities. In my MLS classes at the University of North Texas, I had classmates who went on to careers in Medical Schools, NASA, Geophysical Research Libraries, university research centers, archives, major law firms and corporations, private information and indexing companies, school libraries and….yes, public libraries. The public has very little understanding of what any librarian does, much less how important and varied their roles are. Please don’t let this be another missed opportunity.
In a similar message, this time to the Career Journal Editor, Peter Mohn wrote
Your writer seems to have missed letting your readers know that there are four major career areas for librarians: academic librarians, public librarians, special librarians, and school librarians. Not to mention, how these librarian jobs can lead to Chief Information Officer positions in businesses. Aja’s article seems to be about public librarian positions, while your “Salaries for Librarians” focuses on special librarians. This disconnect between the article and salaries will mislead readers to the real benefits of being a librarian.
Second, all types of librarians need to be technology savvy, not just corporate and academic librarians. School librarians in the 1980s led the charge in introducing computer technology into schools, and continue to be advocates for teaching technology skills to students. In my career I have taught students how to use technology, have automated libraries, recommended and purchased technology for my school, built a computer network for a school, been the systems analyst for my school, and have led the development of two 5-year school technology plans. Currently, I’m the web master for my school, I’m building a new high school library that will have cutting edge technology in it so I can train the next generation of information technology savvy graduates, I train teachers in the use of technology in the classroom, and I’m the building technology coordinator for my school. Being a librarian is more than just knowing books and where to look for information, it’s about being on the cutting edge of our information based society.
Thanks for writing about our dynamic profession, but it would be helpful to your readers if your author would revise their article to include the
different career paths librarians can take besides being a public librarian.
If you’d like to contribute to the conversation, write to Career Journal Editor at cjeditor@dowjones.com. Comments here equally welcome.
(both Melissa and Peter have given permission for their post on LM_NET to be quoted here)
