A library is a library is a virtual library

"The only true equalisers in the world are books; the only treasure-house open to all comers is a library; the only wealth which will not decay is knowledge; the only jewel which you can carry beyond the grave is wisdom." J. A. Langford

Although Langford is referring to a library filled with books, he couldn't have possibly known what was to come with the arrival of new technologies. He would not have been able to envision the benefits or the possibilities of virtual school libraries for students and educators. According to digital library federation in the USA as quoted on the Library and Information Science wiki, virtual libraries, also known as digital libraries, "are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities." There are many other definitions available, but this seem to encompass all aspects of what a virtual library is.
Here begins my exploration of virtual (also known as digital) school libraries. This is the first time since the beginning of the course that I have had an inkling about the blog topic for the week. But to be honest, I had not yet explored virtual school libraries as a teaching or learning resource. What I discovered was that there was yet again another valuable option that I hadn't fully investigated.
Before I began my exploration of several different virtual school libraries, I wanted to know what some of the advantages and disadvantages of this library format would be. The advantages seem to vastly outnumber the disadvantages:

According Virtual Libraries Supporting Student Learning, some of the advantages of virtual libraries are that they:

• allow for instant access to a wide variety of resources which couldn't possibly be available in "physical collections"
• are available anytime and anywhere
• provide opportunities for learning that might not occur in a regular school library
• contain information that is current, and can be easily updated (which is almost impossible when working with print material)
• are "organized and managed to increase productivity and efficiency of the user"
• make audio and video resources available, which can benefit people who are visually and hearing impaired (as well as engage the students of the 21st Century many of whom are visual and oral learners)
• more importantly, provide the opportunity to "build a different type of library collection in [which] student created art, photography, oral histories, local histories, and local survey data" can be housed.

Disadvantages of virtual libraries seem to have more to do with how the students use the information. Many of the initial concerns about access and the skills to manouveur through a VL don't seem to be an issue any longer as computers and the Internet are used in almost every household. One of the main concerns is that students have difficulty "making effective choices when confronted with multiple databases" (Gunn) and as a result struggle with deciding which information is relevant.

As with many of the teaching and learning options available through the Web, I think that the virtual library is another one of those unexplored opportunities due to the fact that teachers aren't aware of the possibilities. It would be beneficial to have some professional development in which educators could investigate the many different virtual school libraries. With this in mind, I began my investigation.

I began by visiting Joyce Valenza's virtual library, and I was immediately drawn in by her daughter's amazing artistic depiction of Springfield Township High School Virtual Library! The site is so visually appealing, and easy to navigate through that afterwards I was continually comparing other virtual libraries to it. There are many online lessons and activities that can be used by any teacher or student, such as What's the Fuss About the Thesis? or any of the many teacher resources found under Links for Teachers. Something new that I learned about on this site is pathfinders which resemble Joanne's trailfires in their function, as they help to direct students' research. It seems that originally these were pages that listed links for students to access, but Valenza is in the process of converting these to wikis so that others can add sites to the pathfinder. From what I understand of wikis, and am realizing about the collaboration aspect of Web 2.0, it makes sense to allow visitors to the site the opportunity to contribute their knowledge for the "greater good." However, in using wikis, there is the potential for some people to link sites that are not necessarily appropriate, or that aren't applicable. I tend to think that this wouldn't happen, but to ensure that it doesn't, the librarian probably needs to be more diligent in checking the pathfinders, whereas before this wouldn't have been an issue.
The next Virtual library that I visited was Bessie Chin Library at Redwood High School. After looking at Springfield's VL, I found this site to be very visually unappealing due to the "busyness" of it. In particular the announcement feed running along the top which was a constant distraction to me. However, despite this, there are some useful handouts one of them being the Website Evaluation Rubric. There are many links for students to follow, but the design is much simpler in that it doesn't expand on information in content areas (Social Studies, English, Science, etc.) as widely as some of the other VL's that I visited.

I then explored the 3 other VL's that Joanne listed, but because these were elementary oriented, I did feel a little out of my element. I began with Grandview Elementary Library Blog, which has a beautiful home page. It is colourful, clearly laid out, and straightforward for parents and teachers to use. I don't think students would use this often, as it seems to be a K - 3 school, and the level of writing is adult oriented. But what it does do is provide parents with some useful tips, such as what they can be doing before, during and after reading a story, as well as encourages them to visit the grade level links so that they can know what projects students are working on in class. There are many interesting powerpoints, links and podcasts that can be followed in the Reader's Theater, Poetry and Story Telling areas. The one tool that I found useful for all levels, and one that I will bookmark, is the link to the Digital Pencil. This tool provides links to the Commoncraft "In Plain Engish" series, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's 7 Things You Should Know About... series, as well as several inspiration videos, etc.

I proceeded to investigate Parkcrest Elementary School Library and McLurg Elementary School sites, both of which were also clearly laid out and informative, although I didn't find them as colourful or attractive as the Grandview site.

Upon investigating these sites, the one thing that became clear is that they all have great security in that a visitor has to have a student name and password to access many of the links, in particular the ones where student work is shown. Also, the VL's would not want to allow everyone access to their databases.



I also followed the link for other examples, and came to School Library Websites Wiki where I proceeded to investigate many of the high school links because these would be useful for me, and I would have a better understanding of what information students and teachers would find useful. What I found is that these were all American based, and although bits and pieces were useful to me, I wanted to find something Canadian, and I lucked out and found Esquimalt High School Virtual Library a relatively "local" school. I really liked this site because it was clearly laid out with the intro page highlighting and linking to some social issues such as Climate Change and a great powerpoint on Millenium Development Goals. This is a useful VL for someone teaching or learning the B.C. Curriculum. Another plus, is that it is one of the few sites that links to a variety of podcasts which would be of interest to both teachers and students.

Further exploration led to South Carleton High School Virtual Library located in Ontario. Although more simplistic than the Esquimalt example, it does have many useful links for students to follow. In particular, it links to the Ottawa Public Library, Carleton University Library, University of Ottawa Library, and Algonquin College Library. This is likely only useful for students who can access information from these places using logins and passwords from the librarian. Another great site is the Calgary Board of Education site - I like the way it had the libraries divided into 3 different levels and it is very visually appealing - in the same style as Springfield Township's VL.

So . . . What would my Virtual School Library look like:

If I could find someone with Emily Valenza's artistic abilities, I would definitely want my library to resemble the Springfield Township and Calgary Board of Education sites. Because I believe that a library should be a colourful and inviting place to be, I feel that a VL should do the same. I want to draw students in so that they are excited about whatever the topic is they are studying. I would try to include the following besides the obvious information about library hours, where to find information, and so on:

• pathfinders that are wikis because of the collaboration aspect
• highlight a social issue that students and/or teachers are interested in
• links to podcasts, photo sharing sites, graphic organizer sites
• links to databases and newspapers
• if possible, links to the public library, as well as the local university or college libraries

My goal would be to make the VL one of the sites that students and teachers would automatically visit when they are about to embark on research or class work.