This paper offers an impressionistic assessment of the major centripetal and centrifugal forces recontouring the landscape of information studies education. The focus is North America, though some of the trends described find their echo in other contexts. The paper considers the health of the field in terms of its (a) critical mass, (b) coherence,…

At Kent State University, Libraries and Media Services (LMS) and the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) have been working closely in the area of collection management. The article explores the multi-faceted way in which the LMS-SLIS collaboration manifests itself and shows how this collaboration goes beyond what might be expected as…

This report summarises Year 6 pupils' attainment in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) survey of 2016 in Northern Ireland and explores the context of that attainment. PIRLS is an international comparison study of reading at ages 9-10. PIRLS has a five-yearly cycle. Northern Ireland took part in PIRLS for the second time…

This summary accompanies the national report for Northern Ireland (Sizmur et al., 2017). It outlines the attainment of Year 6 pupils in Northern Ireland in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 survey and explores the context of that attainment. PIRLS is a study of reading at ages 9-10 and has a five-yearly cycle.…

Of all the buzz words used in the school library media profession, "collaboration" evokes the strongest feelings--and not all of those feelings are positive. Some library media specialists are not convinced that collaboration is an essential part of their programs, yet collaboration seems to be essential in many other professions. In fact, there…

To address the varying needs of media specialists, area Educational Technology Training Centers, Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESA), and larger school systems are forming professional development communities or consortia that cater specifically to the continuing education needs of library media specialists. In addition to academic and…

Children are natural visual learners--they have been absorbing information visually since birth. They welcome opportunities to learn via images as well as to generate visual information themselves, and these opportunities present themselves every day. The importance of visual literacy can be conveyed through conversations and the teachable moment,…

"LibraryThing" is a great way for library media specialists to keep track of the books they personally read. "LibraryThing" allows them to create a personal library, give their books tags, choose book covers, give star ratings, generate citations, and review books. Library media specialists can also connect to other readers and see their reviews.…

In data-driven collaboration, the teacher and library media specialist (LMS) have a prolonged and interdependent relationship as they do in all collaboration. Units and projects are team-planned, team-taught, and team-assessed. The partners share goals, have carefully defined roles in the process, and plan comprehensively based on the results of…

Recent descriptions of comprehensive vocabulary programs identify fostering word consciousness (getting students really interested in and excited about words) as a crucial component of effective programs. This article defines word consciousness, explains why it is important and how it fits into the curriculum, describes a six-part framework…

It is not unusual for library media specialists to experience having their staff cut. The author has experienced this scenario twice. Each time, she and her colleagues redefined and restructured their library media centers to maximize teaching and learning. In this article, the author discusses some of the things she has learned about coping with…

Because so much information exists only in video format--from documentaries to instructional videos to entertainment films that create a significant amount of the popular culture--libraries have increased their collections of these materials. Nevertheless, no library could possibly afford to collect every item its patrons might one day request.…

A brief account is given of the author's two-year struggle to obtain school librarian certification in Pennsylvania. Current trends in several states for certification are also included. (6 references) (NH)

In this article, the author provides 10 tips on how to reduce overdues in the future: (1) Whatever you do, do not encourage students to check out books--especially high-priced reference books; (2) Do not have hours before school, after school, or at lunch--or any other time that might possibly be convenient for students to check out books; (3) If…