Who We Are in a Digital World

I am growing as a teacher and presenter, relying on my personal stories to deliver messages of history, heritage, hope, compassion, unity, and community.  There is no better way to connect with other human beings than to share stories. We build relationships this way. We build bridges of understanding by demonstrating common themes. I have learned that my stories impact the adults to whom I have always directed information about caring for archives, but similar stories make the same impact on children. How do we get students interested in a subject? Tell them stories about it. More than that, show them that you respect their own stories that they have already identified as important to their lives.

The Bow, NH Rotarians donated a
book to their local elementary school
to honor my visit.

This week, I had the pleasure of addressing Rotarians. A colleague asked me to deliver a short presentation about family history. She told me that her Rotary group has responded favorably to her own stories about her own family history. I decided to tie together some stories of my own for them.

My grandparents
My daughter's pancakes and mom's pizza
My students and encouraging thinking about the future 

In the classroom this week, I spoke about a totally different (but strangely related) subject. I was teaching about being an effective information consumer and distributor.  We discussed branding and the stories that companies are crafting about themselves to sculpt their reputations. I then asked students to turn inward and to examine what kind of personal brand they are creating online.

Like many of us, students are creating an online presence without thought to the digital trail they are leaving and the personal characterization they are sculpting for themselves. Today, our information often is saved before we even have a chance to consider its initial purpose, organization and long-term value.

Digital Life 101 asks young adults to consider their digital lives, the stories they are telling, and the information they are spreading. After viewing the short movie in the classroom, I split students into groups to discuss what they put online and what audiences they are reaching. Do they want all of the stories they share to reach all of these audiences? What personal brand are they projecting? How can they more carefully craft their personal story by using restraint and through the careful management of their social media and other online interactions?

It took me 20 years to craft my stories for diverse audiences. I had time. Our teens might not. By having them identify what is important to them now and by helping them focus in on personal branding, my purpose is twofold:

• I hope to help young people gain a greater awareness of how their life fits in with their larger communities, to feel part of something bigger than themselves, and to gain an appreciation for their place in history.
• But, I also hope to help them realize that the "stories" they tell now, those little bits of information they leave all over the Internet, are precious, potentially dangerous, and open to larger audiences they may not have considered. They may not be talking to Rotarians yet, but their words have potential and can make an impact on our culture.

Stories are powerful. If we don't craft them for ourselves, others will tell the story of who we are. Thoughtfully and deliberately consider your role in this world and the remnants you leave behind. Help the teens in your life do the same.

Storytelling

This past weekend, my family accompanied a nice chicken dinner with stories about school in the 1940s.  I watched my daughter, the only child at the table, and wondered what kind of impression the tales her granddad told over the meal made on her.

I remember when I was a girl and stories were exchanged around my parents' table.I would hang on every word my elders shared about their own childhoods. I don't recall my siblings in the room or any other children. (Were they there and I just don't remember)? I do remember that I was enthralled and that at least sometimes I was the only person under thirty remaining at the table beyond dessert.  Looking back, I realize how these experiences prepared me for my future career. I enjoyed sitting at the table listening to the grownups talk about the past as much as I enjoyed playing with the other children. Sometimes I enjoyed it more.

I loved the stories that my Dad and Uncle Bob told of stickball, punchball, and baseball played on the streets of New York City.
 
I loved hearing how my paternal great Uncle Sid and Uncle Joe landed as American soldiers in Normandy during World War II.

I loved hearing about how my neighbor, "Uncle" Al, had climbed some of the highest skyscrapers in New York City to install windows on our now iconic buildings.

Looking back, it was primarily men's stories that were told over large meals that involved multiple families - weekend barbecues, holidays celebrations, birthdays, and neighborhood parties, A focus on the men seems unusual now, but it was a part of the times and perhaps the location. It was an era when most women in my Long Island neighborhood were housewives and their days were wrapped around their neighbors. When the men left the table, the women would sip teas and coffees and talk about our community and their children.

More personal stories from Mom and Aunt Rochelle and the other women in my life were saved for quiet moments when it was just one of them and me. Girl talk. They were usually life lessons passed down to the next generation, not tales of bravado. They were stories about family connections and I learned how where they came from played a vital part in who I was.

Listening to the storytellers in my life, I grew to appreciate the past, their experiences, their personalities and our community. Through their stories and personalized lessons. I better understood the world and my place in it.

Does my daughter get it? Does she listen and internalize the stories?

I realize that I share my own words of wisdom with my daughter when we are alone. (Is this quiet together time part of the nature of our gender or the reality of circumstance?) I tell my daughter about my childhood when we are driving together. I tell her about my family background when I get ready in the morning. I try hard to file away in my brain the stories that she tells me when we go for walks together - her favorite anime, teachers, friends -- in part so I can repeat it back to her and reminisce about her childhood when she is older. If she doesn't fully appreciate the grownup stories now, I know she will when she is older. I will help her connect generations in her mind by referring back to our times together.

And then there is a larger group of youngsters to consider...This past Monday, I introduced my students to the field of oral history and techniques of interviewing as we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our school community.  When I make archives presentations to an adult audience, I often am questioned about how to make kids interested in their own history. Do kids today value the stories we tell them or do we just seem old-fashioned? I know that my students are excited to have a formal event that encourages them to ask questions of their elders. Are they proud of their community and do they see this opportunity as a way to honor it? Are they interested in seeing connections between themselves and past generations? I'm not sure. I am not sure that they know themselves, but giving young adults an opportunity to try to make a deep connections to the past is important. Creating an event, series of events, or a platform (like a dinner table conversation) where they can explore their thoughts and feelings about their own history is important. Kids will not make the connections between history and themselves without the approachable stories as a foundation.

We all have different reasons for studying the past. Does it matter why we seek more information about those who came before us? Do we need to understand why we want to know to fully appreciate what we learn? Perhaps listening to the storytellers may not make an immediate impression. Perhaps we do not immediately have a full grasp of the stories' meanings in our lives. But we must keep the storytellers telling to get the listeners questioning.

Young Inventors Program - Library and Information Services Award

For the past five or so years, I have been a judge for the New Hampshire Young Inventors Program. Each spring, K-8 students who win local school competitions move on to this competition that supports innovative young people throughout our state. This year, I am honored to be sponsoring my first specialty award, the Library & Information Services Award. Sponsored by ArchivesInfo, this award recognizes an invention that can support the day to day work of libraries. Inventions in this category could include items such as a new type of bookshelf, a computer database, or a stand for holding your e-reader while you ride a stationary bike. My intention in sponsoring the award is to support this valuable program and the kids who take part. I also wish to raise awareness about what libraries can do for people's lives and to encourage young people to think about ways to make libraries stronger and more impactful.

As libraries expand services, re-invent themselves, or just renovate their marketing to attract a 21st century audience, they must make their innovation prominent. Libraries serve as places supporting discovery, learning, curiosity, and invention. Conversations about our role in building makerspaces, encouraging cutting edge technology, teaching sound information seeking practices and more need to filter out of our inner circles and move beyond the field of library and information science. Librarians must show how our institutions support multiple disciplines and are capable of engaging in conversations ranging from the arts to mathematics, science and history. 

Inviting students to think about how they themselves can make libraries more helpful places can play an important role in continuing and promoting the relevance of our profession. I am hopeful that by offering an award for library related inventions, I can encourage young students to consider new possibilities. I look forward to seeing children's creations for progressive libraries and better information services. 

Community Thanks

We are once again approaching my favorite holiday. To me it is a holiday grounded in the idea of community. I give thanks for all I have and topping this list are the people in my life.

I have always purported that archives are all about community. Individual stories sit together in special collections, while the handiwork of individuals makes up the institutional archives. We are surrounded by people who are walking stories. The archivist attempts to capture the essence of each individual and their communities to save and share with posterity.

This month, I have been listing something for which I am thankful, each day. I think about my friends. Their diversity rounds out my life, while their uniqueness touches my soul. I think about all of my communities - my family, my coworkers, and my students. Of course - always my students. They allow me to show them every day what community means to my, why it's important and how it can enhance their lives. Together we are working to build a library and archives that shows the best of who we are; that lets us reflect on our knowledge of ourselves, boost it  with information about others, and aspire to greater things.

I have talked on this blog in the past about a tradition I uphold with my daughter each year. We make a tree of thanks and add as many leaves as we can to tell for what we are thankful. I took this tradition to my school library when I began there two years ago. I have discussed the library tree of thanks in this blog too. Now is the time to get it going again. Our tree of thanks will be made of all of our hand prints, this year. Each student will trace and cut out their hand to tape to the library wall with a message about for what they are thankful. This is one of the best traditions I have started and I hope that you may find room in your own lives, even in your own institutions, to reflect on how your community influences you; how being thankful for what you have helps strengthen bonds.

Finally, I would like to say that this marks a turning point on the ArchivesInfo blog. when I began this school journey two years ago, I wasn't sure I was making the right choice. I wasn't sure if a school environment was right for me, if the teens would welcome me, if my unusual ideas would be accepted. I have found a second home in the arms of educators and now consider myself one of them. I have been taking some education classes and have plans to pursue a degree in advanced graduate studies. It is my hope that I can continue to show the role of community in the school and that my own education will enhance my writing. I am an archivist at my core, but I am more than that. I am a librarian, information specialist and most of all, I am an a teacher. I hope that you stick with me on this journey. I am thankful for you all.

Archives and the Maker Movement

Last week, I discussed Information Culture and the Maker Movement, which examined "making" to enhance STEAM education, creativity, and independent learning within a school setting. As I develop a makerspace in our high school library, I have been thinking of how to include archives in my planning. I believe that educational institutions wait too long to expose people to the idea of archives. Students may learn a bit about primary sources in association with a history class, but that does not teach them the full value of these materials. Most students do not get to work hands-on with archives until college, or grad school, if they get to handle them at all. As an Information Specialist, I want my students to understand the broad concept of information, i.e. that there is recorded information about every discipline and that it takes many forms. It is our responsibility to save archival information that sheds light on our ideas to help advance society. It is an Information Specialist's responsibility to make archival materials available to young people so that they have a better understanding of how archival materials may impact their lives.

My school is developing a collection of archival materials in part to celebrate our school building's upcoming 50th anniversary. I have invited students to take part in the collecting of materials. These students are part of a committee that I call the "50th Anniversary Committee." It is my goal to have these students also perform interviews for oral histories. Beyond the direct role my committee takes in the development of our Archives, I want those not involved with our special event planning to be given an opportunity to "experience" the resources.

Last year, I copied and laminated a bunch of orphan photos. I have been waiting to decide what to do with them. I want the kids to be able to examine them, to play with them if you will, but I wasn't quite sure how.  I have set up a mini makerspace in the middle of our library. The space includes small bins of crafts, origami projects and more. I want the kids to see archives as something hands-on too. I want to include an archives project in this space. Few things make me as happy as processing an archival collection. I want the students who may feel the same contentment I do when touching these unique items to have an opportunity to do so.

This morning I was listening to the TED Radio Hour on NPR. Sugata Mitra discussed how his experiments "have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other." Sugata Mitra has left computers for disadvantaged young people without teaching them how to use them. His studies have shown that kids will find a way to make them work and do useful things with them. Is it possible to do this with archives in a library setting? Can we entice teens to learn on their own within a school building during their off-time, especially when the learning is not tied to the classroom in any way?

What if, I started by putting out copies of unusual photos in a box on my maker table?. What would the students do with them? Would they ignore them? Would they organize them? Would they begin discussing them? Maybe someone might write something about them. Maybe an art student might be inspired to draw.
What if I put an original 19th century diary on a table. Would the students start wondering about it? Would they be interested enough to look at it and make connections to today? What if I shared an early 20th century nature journal for my science lovers, or old advertisements promoting medical devices? Then, what if I put some papers in an archival box with empty folders and other archival tools? Would they learn to process something?...Is there any chance that I might spark something in someone? I wonder - do I have to tell the teens that they are allowed to touch the materials to get them to explore them or would that kill any interest they may have? Maybe it's better to just leave them there. How do I make the items tempting? I don't know, but I'm going to give it a try and I'll play with the concept all year.

Perhaps I might find a student who develops enough interest in the work to join our anniversary committee. Perhaps someone will go home and ask their parents about the family papers they have stored in the basement. Or - dreaming big? - perhaps someone may even be inspired to one day pursue a career as archivist.

Artifacts and Information: Crossing into the Sciences

 One of the things I love most about being a librarian is the chance to be in the world of Shakespeare one day and to be exploring Marine animals the next. Usually I only get to do this through research, but yesterday they let me out of the school library to take a field trip. As an archivist who specializes in local history, I had quite a treat as we explored the shores of Rye beach in New Hampshire and took a boat trip off the Isle of Shoals. I took the trip in part to help me better assist students with a big biology research project they do each year. What I discovered is that this trip and project lend themselves to collaboration across multiple disciplines. I plan to inject what I learned into the library work that I do.

I started my day by bringing into school a bird's nest I found while gardening. I had been meaning to bring it in to share for awhile, but I think I finally remembered to actually do it since my head was anticipating a day in nature. I think that most people see birds' nests as part of the field of science. When I think birds nest I think about Audubon's drawings; I think about Wonder cabinets, stuffed birds in libraries that were popular in the nineteenth century, the specimens of birds I first saw at the Vanderbilt Mansion where I volunteered in high school; I think about the birds who frequent my garden who are different year to year ["the cardinals won the prized tree this year for their nest"]; I think of the stories behind the places where these animals go; I think of collecting; I think of the human hand in the natural world. In short, I think history.

The most perfect bird's nest I've ever seen. An outside layer
of flowering grasses, then a layer of leaves, then a layers of
flat wide twigs, then soft, fine grass. I want people to see
the information we can get from nature. I also threw in a little
Twitter bird to get my teacher and student patrons to connect
social media to the idea of the bird.

Doing some surveying work

So, it was a treat to visit the New Hampshire coast - so rich in history and sense of place. Students were brought to different stations to learn math and science concepts. History was popping up everywhere. One station in particular made me interject my librarian thoughts. Older students were teaching younger students about the science at the shore. At the salt marshes, they began talking about a business that had dumped sewage into the habitat years ago. The ecosystem was damaged by the actions of that institution. The students' sentences, so sure about their scientific information, were suddenly punctuated with "I think...this is what I was told...this could possibly have happened." I began thinking about our news database. I began thinking about the Portsmouth Athenaeum not far from where we are. I thought about the Seacoast Science Center that must have information about this event in their archives. 

I interruppted, "Finding out exactly what happened here would make a GREAT research project." They stopped, looked at me, said "Mmmmhmmm," and moved on. As a high school teacher librarian, in a moment like that, all I can hope is that I planted a seed in someone's brain. 

A "purring" fish.  Arawana? I'm not sure of my scientific labeling here

On our trip, I got to play with a vibrating fish, a star fish arm, periwinkles, crabs, rocks and more. These are the "artifacts" of my science colleagues. They collect them like I collect books and archives. They collect nature while I collect man-made material culture. Humans are all collectors, categorizers and information gatherers at heart!

It was seeing the Isles of Shoals  that got my liberal arts side purring. Author Celia Thaxter grew up here. This is where she and my beloved Childe Hassam drew inspiration. This is where Thaxter would bring the plants that she loaded on a small boat in Portsmouth to restock her famed gardens each spring. [see An Island Garden]

As we traveled out to the island, I told some of the students, teachers, and chaperones what I knew about Celia Thaxter. Right in this spot was science, math, history, literature and art rolled up and just waiting for us to explore. So much to see. So much information to take in. So much learning to be done!

I look forward to visiting the Island this summer. It's been calling me for twenty years. It's time to land there. Maybe some of my students' thoughts will follow me there too. Maybe there is another field trip in order.

***

___________________________________________________________________________

Many weeks ago I promised a post about the right to copy from archival collections. I will publish that post soon. I have been working hard on it and am backing what I know with research. Copyright is a complicated subject, so I do not want to start people off with basic misinformation. Stay tuned...

A Deckle and a Community

As the Information Specialist at a local high school, I am taking the first steps in a two year preparation leading to my high school's 50th anniversary celebration. I am focusing the celebration on information and history to show how our past has grounded as and will help lead us to the future. This is an exciting opportunity to lean heavily on my archives expertise to support the education of our students. At the moment, our efforts are focused on three very broad areas.

• Search for a rumored buried time capsule and building of our own
• Creation of a school archives by collecting existing materials and documenting unwritten history
• Work culminating in re-creation of Winter carnival past events 

The creation of a school archives will show students the role that their school plays in their community.  In so doing, it will allow students to better understand their own role in the world and in history, while at the same time protecting our group knowledge of events for posterity. The final celebration itself will boost pride and self understanding. The celebration will become part of our recorded history while highlighting the value of that history.

Image from http://theopenend.com/2009/01/25/how-to-make-handmade-paper/

Next month we are making paper journals. I have been talking with the town's "Main Street" organization to place books in businesses in the area. We will encourage people to record their reminiscences of the school in the books. I have a college intern working to promote this effort. I am also coordinating my efforts with the help of the public library and historical society. In fact, the director of the library is the one who brought the journal idea to the table. She came in with an article about another community that made journals and said that she thought it would be a nice piece to our work. It really pays to collaborate!

• " Collaboration helps us learn and gives us more ways to access information. It enables us to rely on the diversity of a group to accomplish tasks. It gives us multiple perspectives for more efficiently solving problems, which can make us more capable of follow through on a wide-range of tasks. With a network for collaboration, we are smarter. If we spread our network far enough, someone can help us answer the questions for which we have no answers ourselves. Collaboration can help us grow ideas and garner new tools for information seeking behaviors." [M. Mannon]

I like the handmade aspect of our planned journals. For one, while this first outreach effort is meant to involve adult community members, it is important for our students to be part of it at the outset. While later we will ask students to write their own reminiscences, we want them to see that the community has an attachment to our school, that we do not operate in a vacuum, and that community support is important for education...So to my deckle....(I just love that word!) We are building a deckle to create handmade paper. We will do this leading into school vacation and the holiday season. The artistic element and thoughts of community feel ripe for December. Paper will be bound into our journals and early next year, I will ask for student help to put the journals out beyond school walls.

And here we go...I look forward to sharing more as we continue on our way!

Inspiring Engagement with Archives

Last week, three students walked up to me.
"Ms. Mannon. Your presentation last week was interesting. We decided to look for diaries at antique shops like you did and we found one from 1910."

Students hold copy of 1910 diary that
they found in an antique shop

I felt the smile spreading on my face. "You did?!"
They told me that the diary belonged to  George C. Silsby of Vermont and they had researched him on Ancestry.com to find out more.
"What do you plan to do with the diary from here?" I asked. They told me that they wanted to research more about their Vermonter.
I made a copy of the diary and have begun reading it myself.
January 2, 1910 - "Went up to the barn and look at the cattle & horses. All looking well. Snowing."
The familiarity of the words excites me -- the weather, farming -- These three girls are starting on a journey that I've taken so many times now.
January 11, 1910 - "I am 52 years old to day [sic]. got a letter from home. been a cold day but fine & clear."
There may be no train crashes in this diary. Maybe this man is less well-known than the town pharmacist. Yet, my students are delving into a mystery. We already have a name, a birthdate and setting. I can't wait to see what they discover!
"Let me know if you need help with the research, girls."

Yay!

Teaching Archives: Reprising the Diary Project

Lesson Learned. Hopes confirmed. Teens are fascinated by archives.
How could they not be? We should have known this all along!

Last week in this space, I introduced a course I was preparing to teach at the high school where I serve as an information specialist. Over the course of the week, the twelve classes I taught on Introduction to Information began to morph. What started out as a very formally laid out series of ideas melted into a few very big ones. Information is everywhere. We need to pay attention to details. We need to pay attention to what we know versus what we think we know to distinguish truth from fiction - to build our knowledge and to properly educate ourselves.

All freshmen English students took a test on evaluating information during the first half of one of their English periods this week. My lesson on what information REALLY is took place during the second half of the period. My goal was to give them a broad understanding of information and to show them that information does not have to be as dry as a test. I had objects for show and tell that I wove into the presentation. I had a stereoscope, photographs, war ration coupons, a primer. One class, on the second or third day of teaching, had split up. About half the class was still testing while the other half sat patiently in the chair waiting for the lesson. I pulled out the stereoscope. This was not part of the original plan.

"Let's have a little show and tell before the rest of the class gets here. Has anyone ever seen one of these?" There was an immediate buzz and we began talking about the Viewmasters we had as children. I passed around the stereoscope for the students to get a closer look. The remaining test-takers started to trickle over.

"Has anyone ever gotten stickers from their teachers for doing good work in school?" Hands fly up in the air. "Well before there were stickers, students got 'Rewards of merit,' like these. Students valued them so much that they would stick them in scrapbooks. You can see the remnants of the scrapbook on the back of these cards." Pass them around. And so we went on...I had planned to start my presentation with a photo from Ransom Riggs' book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, but the archival materials proved to be a better warm up.

At the end of this lesson, the 5th one this year, a teacher said something profound to me. It was my second class with this teacher this autumn. I had worked with her rather closely last year designing a research curriculum for ninth graders and I greatly value her teaching expertise. She said, "Melissa, that was your best information presentation yet. You don't need to teach them everything in this lesson. You just need to get them interested."

Parts where I had picked up steam earlier in the week -- evaluating photos, viewing letters and diaries -- those related to archives, stayed in my presentation. Parts where I found I had lost steam were removed. "What does the word 'information' mean? What's an information resource?"

Show and tell led to discussing photographs. I kept Ransom Riggs' images as fodder. Here's an example of one we discussed.

photo from "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"

Me: "What do you see here?"
A moment of quiet.
Students: "OHHHH! There's one girl and two reflections! Maybe that's her dead sister! Maybe its her alter ago..."
Me: "Wait. Back up. First tell me what you actually see. One girl. Two reflections. What else?"
Them: "Gravestones... Water... One tall gravestone one short...oh! creepy! the short one isn't reflecting!"
Me: "Ok. Use knowledge you already have. Information in your head...why is the short one not reflecting?"
Blank stares and then someone says, "It's too short."
Me: "How do you know that? AHA! We need to have some understanding of math to know that don't we?"

Nearly every class had the same conversation with the same elements of the photo pointed out to me.

Me: "Now tell me based on your knowledge of the real world, what is happening here? Why are there two reflections?" We talked about double exposure and darkrooms and light sources.
"Now, let's do what Riggs' did and jump out of reality and make up a story. Now we can go back to our ideas about alter egos and dead sisters."

The exercise in which I had them close their eyes to picture a library memory (see last week's post) became close your eyes and picture a place that you love. "Picture an amusement park or a ball game. What sights and sounds and smells were there? Take in the information with all of your senses. Pay attention to details." It's the details that mattered and the information. Not the library setting. One can get a "sense of place" anywhere.

We went through many photos analyzing each. This included Riggs' photos and photos that I had collected at local antique shops. [Search "More Finds at the Local Antique Shop in this blog for samples of my collecting.] Then, I pulled out the diary.

I explained the research that I did with my daughter.
Me: "I found this diary in an antique shop in Massachusetts. I wanted to learn who wrote it."...
"On page 2 it talks about a train crash near Wells and Kennebunk. Where do you think this diary was written? [silence] What state?"
Students: "MAINE!"
Me: "I don't know why, but the author wrote first and last names of friends. I don't know about you, but when I write in my diary I write first names only. Maybe first and last names was common diary writing then. I could research that if I wanted to, but that's not the direction I wanted to head. How can I find out more about these people with their first and last names as information at my fingertips?"
Students: "GOOGLE IT!"
Me: "Yep, that's what I did and on books.google.com, I found their names in a book called "Businessmen of Maine....Do you know about books.google.com?...that's all I found on the Internet. Where should I go now?"
Students: [some confusion and then usually a tentative...] "Go to Maine?"
Me: "YES! Where am I going in Maine?"
Students: "To the library!"
Me: "What library?...what am I looking up at the library?" and so I revealed the clues. Then I revealed a dead end. I knew all about the people and places surrounding my diarist, but I didn't know my diarist so I re-read the diary. A clue that I had originally ignored stuck out. I told the students that the diarist mentioned a marriage on a particular date, but I had ignored it because it was mentioned so matter-of-factly that I thought I misunderstood. This time through, I decided to pursue it as if the person was really married on that date. Sometimes we don't see what's right in front of us. Instead of throwing up our hands and saying "There's no information!" sometimes we need to slow down and re-evaluate.
Me:"Where do I go to find out about marriages?"
Student smirking: "The Internet!"
Me smirking back: "NO! Where do I go? (quiet) If your parents were married, what document says that they were married?"
Student tentatively: "A Marriage certificate."

Early in the presentation, I showed students places I had worked to shatter their ideas about what the "information sciences" entails. I have had such a varied and unusual career that when I was putting together my presentation this seemed like a worthwhile thing to highlight. However, my discussion of my own career became more important with this line of thought. I had shown students a picture of a town hall vault and explained that important town records were kept there.

Student: "You would go to town hall to find a marriage certificate..."

The pieces came together. They were getting the idea about following an information trail. I revealed who my diary writer was and showed pictures of him, his house, his business, his marriage record. I showed an advertisement for his business and the plot map for his grave.

After one class, a teacher told me that a student had leaned over to her to whisper that the fact that I had visited his grave was really cool.

At the end, we talked about different ways of learning and creating a makerspace in our library. We talked about behavioral expectations. We talked about books. They were paying attention. I felt like I was getting to know them as a class. (I am excited about the school year now!)

Moral: Wherever you are evaluating information, the rules of slowing down and thinking about what is going on applies. I think this is the most important thing my students learned from me this week. Information is everywhere and we need to pay attention to appreciate it. Oh yeah, and archives are cool!

The ins and outs of finding out more will come throughout their high school careers.

If any students are reading this, thanks for a great week! I look forward to learning more with you. Thanks for teaching ME about what is important.

What is Information? Getting High School Freshmen Prepared for Inquiry

Tomorrow I begin a week of presenting an introduction to information to high school freshmen. I will teach the same 45 minute introduction for almost every period of the school day for all of our freshmen English classes. This is exciting! When I did this Introduction to Information unit for the first time last year, I could see lightbulbs going off over heads all day long. I remember the boy who sat down with headphones. I asked him to take the headphones off and he scowled at me. Then he listened. Then his eyes lit up. Then he participated. He told me about the records he's seen that belonged to his grandfather. He stayed after to tell me more about his family. And, I remember the boy who was interested in my old class photo in which students held a "no hunting" sign before them. I explained that I didn't know why the sign said that. The boy told me. He then told me about conversations he had with his neighbor about World War II and hunting. These boys showed how interesting and personal sharing information can be.

In this blog today, I am sharing my outline for my class. I hope that an introduction to the wide-world of information is something that becomes a core part of every American high school curriculum. We will begin each class tomorrow with an assessment of students research skills using "Trails Nine" so that I may better tailor information lessons to suit the needs of students. The last half of class includes the following:

What is information?

Introduction

Good morning. You are here today to learn about what information is. It seems like a pretty simple thing, right? 

I have worked as an information specialist for my whole career. I have been a public librarian, an archivist, a museum assistant, and cultural heritage consultant. I have worked professionally in museums, libraries, and archives. I have also brought my library skills to my work in town governments a science lab and a law firm.

[Show photos of places I’ve worked]

Did you hear anything besides “library” that got your interest? Did you know that “librarians” might work in places like the ones that I listed and showed?

Just to round out my background for you, I am also a published author and a professional public speaker. I speak about preserving family memories, historical records in communities, and using social media effectively for business.

All of these things that I do are considered part of the “library sciences.” Libraries are all about information – inside and outside of the library building. My job is to help you to find the information that you need, wherever it might be, and to evaluate it to see if it is good information or bad.

Visualization

Picture your first visit to the library or an early memory of a library. What did you see, smell and hear? Hold onto that memory.

Share my story about the old library in 5^th grade – Mrs. Hoffman.

Now think about your library memory. Does anyone want to share an early library memory? [If no response, prompt – What does a library sound like to you? What does a library look like to you? What do you do in a library? – pick a student to answer]

A library offers a sense of place. It should be a safe, neutral place to learn, discover, and work your mind.

What is Information? (i.e. Why is this room called an information Center?)

From Miriam Webster:

1: the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence

2. a (1) : knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction

My definition of an information resource (what we use here in this room)

Information Resource – A document or other man-made item that communicates knowledge about an event, place, living being or object, or that conveys ideas about any subject.

Can anyone think of a time when they got bad information? Did they know that it was bad right off the bat or did they need to think about it? Did bells go off in your heads “Warning, warning, this information may not be true!” That’s what I want your head to do whenever someone tells you something - whenever you read something.  Evaluate the source and seek the truth through common sense and research.

What information can you get from images? Using your imagination - fiction and nonfiction can mix. Example of "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"

Knowledge is power

Election quotes – which are true?

[show video clips of presidential candidates. How do you know what to believe?]

http://youtu.be/lQzZdyzDZVY

http://youtu.be/L6b9F9IiAZw

Knowledge comes from what others teach you and what you learn yourself.
Support the Learning Lab!

Elements of Information

Written information – primary versus secondary sources

[show source samples from my personal collection]

Unwritten information – spoken - oral history, shared knowledge versus gossip, propaganda

We can reach out to get that kind of help too by making calls to specialists or by employing social media strategies

Information is a foundation of community and culture

What information is important to you? What if someone twisted the truth. How would you feel? Why is factual information important? (the secret of why I became a high school librarian – to help you learn to decipher infor

What makes you part of certain communities beyond just being there? What makes you a Mannon? What do you give to your high school and take away from it that makes you part of this community?

Tools in the Library for Finding Information

Flip chart – ask students to list the tools that they know

Then, library tour (to stretch our legs!)

Books – fiction versus non fiction versus reference. Not everything from books is available online.

PAC – Public Access Computer

Computer area – for access to Internet and specialized databases
explain difference. Explain search engines.

Express machines, color printer

Exhibits

Games table

Copiers, etc.

Give information handout

You are an important part of this space. During your four years here:

·      You will help mold the info center to be what we want and what we need. What information grounds us and makes us feel like part of a community? – our exhibits and the room itself will reflect that “sense of place”

·      Bring in and emphasize the information that will help us be a strong community

·      Come here to discover, learn, research

·      Come here to share information and ideas – with me, with teachers, with other students

I Am A Student Again When I Think All I May Want to Be is a Beach Bum

I just got home from the beach...

But...

Now I need to study.
 
Today was the start of my first formal graduate level class in twenty years. As an un-certified school media specialist, I need to get certified. So here I am, taking Advanced Children's and Young Adult Literature. 

Doubt.

I am a student again. I wonder, is it possible that I am too old for this? That can't be. I pride myself on being a lifelong learner, yet this feels so different. This feels a little scary.

Not only do I need to get certified as part of my new school journey, (It still hasn't quite sunk in that I work as an information specialist / librarian in a high school. Since summer arrived for me a week ago, my past school year seems almost like a dream.) I need to prove something to myself, or somebody, or many somebodies.

Do I?

The course is fully online. I've never done that before. How DO we do "discussions" there? I have to post to a forum if I have a question rather than getting in touch with the teacher? We're reading YA books and picture books. Picture books? I've enjoyed them with my kid, but am I out of my league here?

I am an expert. But not here. I feel like a freshman. (poor freshmen!)

But then I look at a gift my daughter recently gave me that sits upon my desk. As part of a special writing group with which she is involved, she was required to write about her Mommy and to create a portrait of me to go with it.

She wrote:

The humming of the projector is barely heard as my Mom's confident voice practices her book talk for me. The book picture shines brightly on the light colored wall. My mother is magnificent. Not only is she a high school librarian, but she works in archives. Whenever she needs to practice a presentation, I watch her. It makes her happy and me too! Although my Mom is busy, she still makes sure we get lots of mother/daughter time. I learn so much from my Mother and if you ever met her, you would too!

Confident.

Magnificent.

Happy.

I have big shoes to fill and they are my own. At least in a little girl's eyes. 

Students need to see their teachers as lifelong learners and my daughter needs to see me do this.

And I can.

I just can't guarantee that all my summer blog posts will be smashing. Something may have to give here.

I head back to my high school tomorrow to figure out how I'm going to remove shelving to make room for book and archives processing. I need to rearrange the reference collection and weed it to make room for a new textbook collection. I need to find great signs and take in the new books I ordered a little too late in May...

I need to work on my Voice Library project for ArchivesInfo.

I need to read "The One and Only Ivan" for my class. I can start there on this new trip. Ivan looks pretty cute. Is he the elephant or the gorilla on this book that sits near my elbow?

Maybe it's a good beach read...  

High School Archives as Independent Study

This is my second semester as a school librarian. With the third quarter coming to a close, I am happy to share one of this year's newest experiences, which has involved offering "directed study" to a few individual students. I outlined a plan for my school to have me teach students about library and information science in the areas of collection development, Internet resources, exhibits and programming or archives. To take my directed study, students must write a plan that focuses on one of these areas. This post, because of the nature of this blog, focuses on the archives option.

One student is working with me to explore the history of our school and is working on a project to jump start our school archives. In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of our school building, the student began working to compare students from the 60s with students today. Examining yearbooks, she listed areas of interest to teens, including such activities as sports, clubs, and studied subjects, noting differences between students "then" and students "now."

The project has grown and fleshed out in the past two months. We recently took a short field trip to the local historical society to check out the resources they have related to school history in our town. The student is now planning on a time line that she hopes to turn into a mural, showing milestones in our community story. The student has also begun helping me search for information about a school time capsule that is rumored to have been installed when the building was erected.

In the meantime, a teacher has donated copies of his photographs of school events to our archives. Slowly, word of our efforts is getting out. The library staff has done a couple of displays that have included archival material. I've begun taking my own photos of events in the library that we display on a continual slideshow on the library's television. These images will be added to our archives. The school information center will continue to work with the local historical society to build stronger local archives related to our history. I have offered to digitize their images related to school history so that we may keep copies on school premises for learning purposes. We are in discussions with the high school class of 1968 to complete some oral histories with them.  

I am offering copies of diary pages and other interesting personal papers I have collected over the years from outside sources to assist teachers with their lessons. Most recently, a teacher mentioned beginning a unit on the Industrial Revolution and I told her of my Waltham experience and how I can provide interesting stories and materials related to my work in the city where the American Industrial Revolution began. I hope that exposure to archives in the classroom will help make history come alive. I also know that introducing these materials will give our students a greater understanding of different types of information and the differences between primary and secondary sources. Perhaps tying archives directly to the curriculum will encourage even more students to pursue independent study in the archives field.

In my own life, I have found that my independent studies have been a good anchor for my interests and general education. They have allowed me to explore core topics, giving them a twist that best suits my personality. Independent studies in the a few different areas challenged me intellectually and creatively. Independent study has allowed me to flesh out the context of the subjects I studied. It allowed me to better define the purpose and value of my education through a personalized lens. [The most memorable independent study I did was as an undergraduate. I spent 1 1/2 years studying gravestone iconography, which gave  me a better understanding of history, art, cultural identity, religion, business, and more. The work culminated in a trip from New England to California to speak in an undergraduate research conference at CalTech University - my first public speaking engagement. In high school, I was lucky enough to have an independent study in the arts, that helped set me up for my future degree in art history.]

Exposure to archives should begin earlier than we have traditionally provided it in the United States. It is imperative as we move more into a digital world that students have a solid understanding of materials that are produced close to events as opposed to less solid and reliable sources. Students tend to believe what they see on the Internet. A solid understanding of provenance is very important to overcome this naivete. Before the line between primary and secondary sources fully blurs, we need to set up methods to make distinctions so that people better understand and examine the materials that provide them information. Directed study in archives has provided one way to capture a student's interest and to prepare her to better evaluate the world around her.

Give a student a thread and let them work to unravel the sweater. Let a student find one thing of interest that leads them to another jewel of information, and then another. Let the librarian be the guide to a path of learning that puts a student at the center. Let her understand that information swirls all around us and it is up to us to take it in, organize it, seek context, and connect thoughts that lead us to bigger and better ideas.

Young Adults, Sense of Place and Archives

ArchivesInfo has always promoted the idea that archives provide a foundation for building a sense of community. Using information as a resource for social connections and understanding can be applied in any environment. My school experience is a reflection of this in action.

I spent much of the first term as the new information specialist at a local high school, building a sense of place. Sense of place does not always come naturally. Sometimes it needs to be molded and focused, and cultivated to reflect this idea. To begin to create that feeling in our library, I've re-arranged the room a bit; I've hung posters and created exhibits aiming to get students to think about our library as the heart of our community; And, of course, I've started a school Archives.

There is A LOT going on in this very busy environment at the physical center of the school. We are building tech opportunities as well as focusing on the "traditional." But my focus here is on building a sense of place -- with a goal to make the physical center the metaphorical heart of our education.We aim to create a comfortable, enriching environment. This, I believe, adds to a feeling of community and certainly to the sense of place. In addition to trying to provide educational opportunities in diverse forms all around our room, we fill our display cases each month with exhibits focused on building community.  (Let me know if anyone is interested in the "educational opportunities" aspect and I can talk more about that specifically in a future post.)

• In September our first exhibit involved using mind-mapping to envision the library as a community space. 
• In October, we built an exhibit about Archives Month that introduced the idea of school archives. 
• In November, we focused on food traditions and encouraged students to dig up their own food memories and recipes. 
• In December we introduced a pen pal project with the Teen Center in Botswana where we will be connecting our community with one in Africa to explore a different culture and get to know people from across the world. 
• We are now focused on our favorite books. In December we encouraged teachers and students to create a holiday chain that listed their favorites. I've made a list of them, have ordered ones we don't have here, and made an exhibit with the help of my staff. With the help of this current project, and through surveys and collection development, we have added materials for all levels of library users. We are aiming for diverse educational resources to tap the needs, and spark the interests, of as many students as possible.

We aim to reflect the soul of our community and that's where the archives really shine. An archives committee, currently made up of just a couple of students and staff, is working to build a collection that focuses on our building. The building was constructed in 1965, so we are preparing for a 50th anniversary celebration. We are collaborating with the local historical society and have visited their collections to get a sense of where we, as a school community, fit in our larger town community. I'm trying to have students think of our school as just one ring among all the communities in which they participate. An alum contacted me about a blogging project his graduating class is building. We will be reaching out to them. We plan to conduct oral histories and ask the people in the town about their memories of the school and to see if they have materials related to the high school's place in the community. I hope that the project will spread to other schools as well and I will meet regularly with other school librarians to tie our respective educational communities together on an informational resource / sense of place level.

I have a sign on my office door that says, "Libraries are in the curiosity business." I hope that when one enters a space encouraging exploration that also reflects ties to the past -- a place that shows its roots AND a forward movement -- that one feels energized. I leave little "sparks" around the library with the hope that I can ignite students' interests, whatever they might be. I aim show them that no matter the subject in which they have an interest, there are learning opportunities to grasp. I want students to remember this place as one where they felt safe and free to learn beyond the classroom and that their experiences here will help them build an enriching life where they recognize opportunities for lifelong learning. The long-range plan is coming and this will continually be a work in progress.

Archives Month: Teach the Value of Archives to the Young

A full understanding of the differences between primary and secondary sources should be a priority for our society. Misinformation, propaganda, looking forward without understanding where we've been and how we got here...these are all things that threaten the health of culture, civil discourse, and cooperation. Helping individuals understand how archives chart our development as a civilization within overlapping communities leads to a better understanding of self and others. It leads to a thoughtful populace and a more productive conversation that can help all of us achieve our goals as good citizens.

October is Archives Month. This annual celebration of primary source materials highlights the work of archives and archivists. October is a perfect time to bring out hidden collections, explain archival methods, and promote the archivists' strong sense of purpose to diverse audiences. It is a time to connect our work to individuals and communities so they better understand the archivists' role and can apply it to their lives. In a school setting, highlighting archives can help students develop a deeper appreciation for history.  Archives Month can help our students develop a better understanding of knowledge in general, so that they may become better consumers and users of information.

You don't need to be an archivist to start these efforts. School librarians are perfect to lead the charge. Talk to professional archivists in the community to guide you, if necessary. Archivists have an interest in documenting many different communities and should be happy to help! (I can, and have, written whole blog posts and a book on this subject so I won't go in depth here. See Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation if you want to learn more about documenting communities and the roles of various community members in doing so.)

In my high school library, I guided staff and volunteers to create a display that includes information about what archives are, how they achieve their goals, and what archives we have related to our school community. We have formed a Library Archives Committee with a group of students who are interested in caring for our school's history. Our initial goal will be to find materials related to the history of our school, make collection development and community documentation plans, and begin collecting and organizing materials. I see oral histories in our future (I hope.) I imagine using materials from our archives to support class lessons in all fields. Archives can provide new close reading materials to support common core objectives. Archives can help build collaboratives in which other repositories in town see the school community as a partner in larger community efforts. Archives will provide promotional materials to support our teams and other school interests. They will support lessons in deciphering materials to better understand that some of the things that people call "facts" are not always based in truth and that knowledge often has shades of gray.

Here are some tips to get you started. How to start a school archives:

1. Form a committee. (I introduced the topic of archives to all freshmen in an introduction to information class that I designed. The class dovetailed with Trails Nine assessment testing.) I like the idea of having your students make up your committee. This will be a great learning experience for them!
2. Pick a date and time when most of your committee can get together. Try a few times - after school, before school and during lunch periods on different days. - to accommodate anyone interested in learning more.
3. In an initial meeting, get students thinking about what aspects of their school experience they want to share. Share materials that other generations have left for them. You probably have yearbooks and at least some brochures in your school library. Get students thinking about themselves as part of a timelines of students passing through this school. Talk about the legacy of students and how students help shape what the school is and what it will be for the future. Introduce the idea of "sense of place" and discuss how their lives in the school help develop a school culture.
4. Brainstorm the different aspects of a typical school day and what activities need to be documented. Explain the idea of a collection development policy and work on one with the students.
5. Begin announcing what you are doing to the larger school community. Ask teachers and staff to contribute to efforts. (You should be spreading your efforts by word of mouth right from the beginning and hopefully building steam and excitement for the project as you go.) Have the students start talking to teachers and staff about what archival materials might be hidden around our school.
6. Engage the yearbook staff. Their materials are most often considered the school "archives." They have valuable resources and knowledge and should be a valued part of your team.
7. Once a solid foundation is formed and the ball gets rolling, introduce the larger community to your archives. Get in touch with the Historical Society to tell them about the project. Get in touch with individuals in the community through social media and student contact (with their parents, clubs in which they already take part, etc.) and tell them about the project. Encourage them to share things they have in their own collections and homes that relate to the school. If they are alums, ask them about their experiences and ask if they have materials related to their time at school.

A school archives can be a very valuable resource.  I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you and will have more tips as this project grows.

See great info on school archives from the National Archives

Understanding My World through Curiosity

Curiosity is part of human nature. We can feed our curiosity
and build our understanding of the world by pursuing
information in a wide variety of formats and fields.

While listening to NPR this morning, I was intrigued by a story about the Mars rover that is set to touchdown on Monday morning EST, next week. Aptly named, "Curiosity," the rover will expand our understanding of the universe, life and the context of our lives in that universe.

Adam Steltzner, the entry, descent and landing team leader for the rover mission, was highlighted in the radio program "Morning Edition." Below, I've pasted some copy from the Crazy Smart:When a Rocker Designs a Mars Lander story transcript. Steltzer discusses his teen years when he was a less than stellar student and was told by his Dad that he wouldn't "amount to anything but a ditch digger...." 

Finding Purpose In The Stars

But then something happened. As Steltzner tells it, he was on his way home from playing music at a club one night when he became fascinated with the stars, especially the constellation of Orion.

"The fact that it was in a different place in the sky at night when I returned home from playing a gig, than it had been when I'd driven out to the gig," he said. "And I had only some vague recollection from my high school time that something was moving with respect to something else, but that was it."

As crazy as it sounds, that experience was enough to motivate him to take a physics course at the local community college. That did it. He was hooked.

The fog of sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifted. He had to know all about the laws that govern the universe. The rocker wound up with a doctoral degree in engineering physics.

"I was totally turned on by this idea of understanding my world," Steltzner said. "Engineering gave me an opportunity to be gainfully employed [and] really understanding my world with these laws and equations that governed it."

Finding Purpose in Life through Information

Earlier this week, on my new office door in the school library, I posted two signs. One says, "Libraries are in the curiosity business." The other says, "Curiosity and creativity are cousins." As I looked for ways to describe my library vision to my students, the word "curiosity" has come up again and again. I realize that, no matter what lights a spark for a person, it is that person's curiosity about the subject that will propel them to learn more about it. 

I asked a teen who was helping me shelve books this week what his areas of interest are. He told me that he likes working with motors. I told him about my husband who recently took apart bits of his motorcycle and rebuilt it. I told him about the plane that he is building. He began asking questions. He was curious. I was working to make the connections between bits of information that he might be able to use to better understand and appreciate his world. I am prepared to help him find books on the subject during the school year should the opportunity arise.

The idea of finding a subject that would "motivate" a rocker to become an engineer and that would "hook" him, has inspired me. How do I get across the idea that information is fun? How do I motivate teens and help them realize that research can be a key to finding purpose in life? Maybe as an information specialist I am not motivated to take apart an engine, but I am excited by someone else's excitement about it. I am excited about finding the information that will help someone succeed. I am excited about connecting a person to the information that helps one better understand himself and his world in any productive way that is possible. 

With expertise in archives, my understanding of my world is usually guided in some way by my interest in primary sources. How do people leave their marks on society? How do we share our thoughts and ideas? How do others use our thoughts and ideas? What do we learn from one another? How do we pass on our knowledge and the culture that we develop from it? How does material culture reflect our attempts to understand who why are and why we are here? How have others helped mold my world? What have earlier communities set up for me so that I can make my own mark on society?

I am fascinated about how we each "understand" our place differently. Yet, sense of place, sense of purpose, and sense of self can be found in any study of culture, science, arts, or mathematics... Despite the diversity of information, it is all is connected. "Understanding my world" involves finding a pursuit that leads one down a path guided by curiosity.