April 2008

Librarians Make a Game of Mastering Libary Databases

Ballard High School, Debbie Arthur, Librarian
Shorewood High School, Brenda Gilman, Librarian

Brenda Gilman, Librarian at Shorewood High School, spends most of her time trying to get 1,800 kids to become skilled library researchers. But, if it takes more than four clicks to find what they need, Gilman’s students tire of the hunt and settle for what’s on the first ten hits of a Google search. Both she and Ballard High School Librarian Debbie Arthur lament this electronic path of least resistance. Yet, their Seattle-area schools rank very high in student usage of DLC library resources. We took time to learn what they do to overcome the overuse of mainstream search engines.

A playful learning process

Gilman knows that to be taken seriously by any teenager, you must occasionally prove that you know something they don’t. She wins them over to DLC resources by making it fun, fast and credible.

“When I model it,” she says, “I use an example that works like a dream.” She and a student will sit down to research a topic on adjacent computers. Within no time, she’s found the answer through DLC sources while her student is still weeding out irrelevant references on a mainstream search engine. She describes the DLC as the “invisible web” that isn’t available to everyone. Speedy exclusivity is often the hook that gets the student invested. “I try very hard to get them to put DLC in their toolbar because then it is as fast as Google or Wikipedia.”

In addition to her one-on-one game plan to create skilled researchers, Gilman visits all ninth grade science classes to help with a current events component. “I went in for 20 minutes in each class and pitched Today’s Science. The kids loved that resource, especially when searching by date,” she says.

Gilman is currently formulating a game around the idea of key word searches, the backbone of all good research and something that is often misunderstood. She loves that Facts on File and SIRS incorporate related subject categories or “key words” at the bottom of their searches. While this is a work in progress, Gilman knows that she gets more from her students when “it is fun and they are motivated.”

A DLC scavenger hunt for freshman

“There are some kids that I see using DLC first, they get it, and they use it,” says Arthur, “but for most of the kids, it has to be made clear to them that it’s expected of them.”

Each September, Arthur hosts an online scavenger hunt for incoming Ballard freshman, many of whom are shy and slightly overwhelmed. She uses humor and mystery to make the orientation engaging and memorable. Arthur jokes, “I get one shot at them for 45 minutes and so they sit there and go What did she say? Who is this crazy woman? They look like deer in headlights.”

Arthur’s scavenger hunt may raise eyebrows with Ballard’s freshman, but this orientation is important because it triggers their usage later. Within this game, her students are given a list of questions and are told that the answers lie within the library databases of the DLC.

She asks very specific questions: “I tell them to go to DLC and do a search in the orange box. Go to Grolier and tell me where Collin Powell was born. Now, go to SIRS and tell me how many magazine articles came up around Collin Powell. Then I send them to netTrekker d.i. You have to make it real world, more interactive.”

One orientation may not quell the urge of some students to use mainstream search engines, but Arthur believes it sets the tone for the next four years. She reinforces that along the way. Later on when they are working on a project, she will say, "‘Remember Digital Learning Commons."

Best results come when resources are embedded

In creating “smart researchers” who “create better products for academic achievement,” Arthur enlists the aid of classroom teachers, encouraging them to embed DLC resources into their assignments.

A recent spike in usage of the DLC at Ballard was tied to a debate project that is assigned to most of ninth and tenth grade classes. Students chose a debate topic of their choice and were directed by their teachers to go to SIRS Pro & Con Issues or the Facts on File Issues & Controversies resources. Arthur recognizes that if a teacher finds a source that gets good results from the kids, they are more apt to include it in an assignment.

Over at Shorewood, Gilman couldn’t agree more. A district-wide mandate for technology training enabled Gilman to introduce the DLC and pitch it to some of the power hitters in her school. “When you build it into the assignments, it is the best training of how to use these resources, both for the teachers and the students,” she says, “We are fortunate to have an outstanding social studies department where they do a lot of grade-level teaming, so most freshmen have used the DLC.”

The ultimate winners

“My whole goal is that when students leave Ballard, they understand that all databases have information that you can’t get from the free internet,” says Arthur.

Gilman encourages her Shorewood students to look at the long term benefits of using DLC resources. She believes that savvy teens leave high school and are able to seek digital information no matter where they find themselves—in jobs, in colleges, at the local library—and that is her mission. Her students are comfortable with library databases and can have fun in the process of fact finding, whether they are doing research for a vacation or writing a thesis.

That maturity and sense of personal ownership of their work takes time. Recently, a junior came up to her and said “You know, you made us do all that stuff and I’m actually starting to use it now.” For Gilman—and her student—it was a well-earned victory.

Want to read more? Browse the Success Stories page.