The tops

Top Patron Statistics for the month ending March 17th are not surprising. These students are avid readers and busy patrons. We do our best to keep up with their requests and often are surprised by what they want. Time permitting we always get the books they want to read. And often learn a little bit more about what our top patrons like most about their favorite authors.

1) Jessica Massie
2) Gisela Hecht
3) Janine Bedon
4) Gattlin Ellis
5) Oscar Gonzalez
6) Krista Whitecotton
7) CJ Quipanes
8) Reginder Gascon
9) Yarely Chavez
10) Jennelyn Lazo

Granted, there was a huge research project that was a driving force for new top patrons and we had several copies of the favorites already checked out so our patron listed are a little different than normal.
Our Top Titles are really the same as always;
Breaking Dawn, New Moon, Eclipse and Twilight are in the top 10 as are Child called "It" and Lost Boy books which came in #2 and #3 respectively. Manga dropped out this month; my guess is its because so many have already been read and these patrons are waiting for new releases/purchases.

Senior Project Research

It is winding down or rather cranking up, depending on how you look at it. Senior projects! Using noodletools, checking for research materials and asking for web resources all are common requests this time of year. One class in particular has been utilizing our library to its fullest capacity, Ms. Ellington's seniors are some of our best patrons. Her students come in to ask for a variety of materials, not least of which are children's books and old magazines. As usual, her students will put together a remarkable show of talent and creativity. The research is varied among the classes. Some of the other most requested items are career books and domestic/family resources. This year's presentations are sure to be interesting.

Quiet please!

Facilities management and supervisor is not a title that I necessarily want but have. We have a small library relative to the total school population. When more than one group wants to use the library, we have to make a choice. How disruptive will it be to have two groups in here? What resources does each need? Will students be able to demonstrate the restrain needed to be polite and respectful to each group? With limited resources and space, we have to try to be as accomodating to all those who ask.
But when something like this happens, we look like the bad guy. One teacher is using the library for a small group meeting and needs some quiet so as to conduct the meeting. At the same time, a class of students arrives, unannounced, to get copies of a novel checked out. They are noisy and oblivious to other activities going on or to the fact that they just entered a library and social graces tell you to be aware of the general "library voices" rule. Meanwhile, another student of walks through the chaos and announces, "I need a computer." Again, completely ignoring all of the rest of the activity just to take the iniative and further her own agenda. Then an originally scheduled class comes to the door. But they can't get in because the unannounced class is loitering in the doorway. So they wait and chat even though the doors are open. The small group discussing in the back now has stopped all their work to wait for the classes to leave. I have to stand up and take the typical librarian stance, shouting above the din, "Everyone needs to be quiet in the library. Please respect the others in this space. Be quiet or go outside. If you have the book you need, you may go back to class. I am sorry Ms. SOHOSO for the interruption. I am sure these students will be leaving shortly." Is it a statement of our society? Is this a temporary brain freeze in social manners? Is it possible for 120 students to work together in the same small space without disrupting the various activities going on? I wonder how things change when these same students go on to college. In the meantime, we all need to work in our small library so as to be able to accomodate as many as possible.

To copy or not to copy, is it plagiarism?

Yesterday while teaching research strategies to a group, I was reminded of the simple fact that the concept of plagiarism just isn't really understood. According to pbs.org (who got their information from the Josephson's Institute of Ethics) the statistics for today's teens' ethical behavior are shocking.

• 57% of high school students (all grades, all GPAs) say they didn't think copying a few sentences without proper credit, sharing test answers or getting answers from someone who already took the test was CHEATING.
• 98% say they have let other copy their work

yet according to an edutopia ethics survey

• the majority (71 percent) of the 725 teens surveyed say they feel fully prepared to make ethical decisions when they enter the workforce.

Apparently there is a disconnect. I know that whenever I see it, I say something to the kids or even the teachers but it is so hard to catch it. Understandably so. There are thousands of websources and teachers have to read hundreds of papers but somehow the connection between cheating and ethics needs to be made. Many universities/colleges offer advice to their own staff to reduce the opportunity for plagiarism. Much of it is good for high school classroom use as well. The office of educational development at UC Berkeley offers these 10 ways to minimize academic dishonesty in our classrooms:
Accentuate the positive:

Make clear the purpose of the assignment of the assignment in the context of the course.
Make the assignment interesting and clearly relevant to the students and course material.
Make the assignment do-able in a reasonable amount of time.
Provide and briefly discuss models of the assignment, so that students will know what you’re expecting (the added benefit is that they will see that you are interested in the product)
Make it clear that you are interested in the process as well as the product of the assignment.

Make the process transparent:

Make the topic narrowly focused.
Ask students to submit an early draft for review.
Set aside time for students to work in peer response groups.
Make the final product a portfolio of work, not just a report or paper:Require students to prepare an annotated bibliography.* (two kinds of annotated bibs)
Ask students to submit all drafts and notes along with the final product.