2nd+Assignment

Please visit the Gravesend Elementary School Library Website, created on Weebly.

**__ Part B: __**  To complete this assignment, I looked at several different websites, many of which are still swirling in my brain. Several of the websites that I looked at were fantastic--but also complicated and perhaps overloaded with too much information. Since we are starting from scratch, I really wanted to make sure the website was simple and organized, while also useful, aesthetic, and representative of the 21st library media center I hope to be a part of/help to create. Therefore, I first looked at the website of the LMS who I observed last semester in Queensbury, NY. She is a first year librarian, working with 4th and 5th graders. She was excited about just publishing her website in the last couple of weeks, and extremely gracious about letting me borrow whatever I found to be useful. When I visited the WHBI Library Website, I liked home simple and clean it looked. I think it's important for students, teachers, parents and other users to be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, just as if they were in a physical library. I modeled my menus and layout after this website, as several of the others I found (even with otherise excellent) to be jumbled and over stimulating. One of the websites that resonates with me is the Liberty Public Schools Lewis and Clarke Elementary School Library website. This library website definitely represents a 21st century library. On its home page, there are two slide shows, one with information about the library itself, and the other a series of announcements for students, teachers, and parents. There is also an animoto video tour of the library space, showing that a lot of work has gone into both the physical space and the virtual space. There is also a wordle-type image that was made on ImageChef.com, which is fun because you can make them in specific shapes. The home page also displays a 2004 //National School Library Program of the Year// award granted to the Liberty Public Schools Library Media Program by the American Association of School Librarians. Elsewhere on the site there is information about the library media specialists, links to specialized blogs and wikis, pathfinders, grade level links, information about books, authors, book clubs, and a library newsletter called the "Library Connection." Things that I would definitely like to add to my site at some point are the "Grade Level Links" and "Pathfinders." I did not have a chance to develop my own collection enough to put them up yet, but I definitely think that for elementary school, Grade Level Links are very important - age and grade can make a big difference in elementary school, where it might not make such a drastic difference in middle school and high school. Therefore, I think it's important to give each grade their own specialized space in addition to the general school library website. (Another website that did grade level links well was the Hillside School Library). While I didn't like the lay out of the Lewis and Clarke Elementary School Library Website, it definitely speaks to a wonderful Library Media Program, where students are receiving library and information curricular skills, exposure and instruction with web tools and 21st century activities, as well as garnering a love for reading a literacy. Were I to make suggestions for this website, I would say to take everything down, and think about order/organization. Right now it looks like the site may have started years ago as an after thought, and things have just been added to it over the years without any redesign. Another website that I really enjoyed looking at was North Elementary Virtual School Library. Like Somers, North Elementary seems confined by the district to have a conformed website--but they have a good done job with it. The first thing up is a slideshow that lets any visitors know "What's Happening in the LMC." North Elementary also received the //National School Library Program of the Year// award in 2007, as seen in this slideshow. The hours and library media specialists are clearly visible right next to the slideshow. Next are grade level links (K-4). There are also links for Art, Music, and PE. There is a section for online tools, each with its own visible icon link. There is a section for parent resources, a section for databases, and finally a section for the School Library Program. This includes links to the vision, policies, award programs, visiting authors, WNOR News, and links for LMSs. However, this is not where all the real information is - there is also a lmc wiki - North Elementary Library Wiki. I was surprised that there is no mention of the wiki and no direct link to the home page of the wiki on the school library website. However, if you click any of the grade level links or the school library program links, it takes you to a page of the wiki, and then you can roam around at will. The home page of the wiki shows the slideshow and links back to the website. On the left, under navigation, you can get to the different grade level links with resources listed for each of the grades and subjects. There are also special subject pages for things such as Animals and Composers, which list pathfinders and web resources. There are links for blogs, homework help, online tools, web 2.0, and more. Again, from this virtual library space, I can tell that the library media program and librarian are focused on 21st century skills and raising standards. I would like to see a little more organization, and a little more on literacy. However, on one of the teacher help pages, I saw a video describing how to sign into a webinar, and it showed a few screen shots of the website. It was a completely different website, and looked much more organized and user friendly. When you click on the library website link, it redirects you - so it looks like the district may have bought the use of software and asked all teachers/programs to redesign. It's a bummer - but this program DOES do a great job of making up for it.