Using Google Site To Make A Library Website (2 of 2)

So how did I make a Google Site for the library?

First thing first. I am a Gen Xer. I am a digital migrant. I grew up in between the age when the Internet was only thought of as a military intelligence surveilance tool and Apple, after going bankrupt, was only making a come back that Windows worshipping tech people scoffed at. So you know my context and my experience, I am not as tech savy as I appear to be.

But, I love learning. I ask questions. I am moody and easily triggered. You don't call us Xers for nothing. So here I am in the midst of a global health catastrophe, figuring out how to make online distance learning work, going through mid-life crisis in my mid-forties and managing mental health all at the same time. I need to whip up a space for students to find sustainability, a sense of permanence and continuity of learning.

Enter Google's G Suite for Education. It is amazing! Don't worry about the tech and the tools that go with it. It is there. It will grow in leaps and bounds. Where to begin? Here are broad strokes to begin with.

1. Know your purpose. Know your audience. Who you are creating a website for is as important as knowing the why. The how will follow. Plan and do a bit of research and development.

2. Know the technology. Understand the tools. Be sure you have the support of the school leadership and that a tech help desk is just within reach. Google has links and cheat sheets and you can learn from these resources, but nothing beats in-house knowledge of your learning community. It comes form years of experience and professional practice.

3. Plan your content. There are so many cool tech out there. Media is the message. But the content you put out there is still King.

4. When you make a plan, do everything necessary to make the flow of information clear and coherent. Do not forget citations, attributions and yes, courtesy if you are to use content made and created by other experts.

5. Make a time table. Two weeks for research and development. Another week for learning the tech. Two weeks for putting everything together.

6. Work with a team. Use your staff or colleagues who are part of the library and tech system in your school in organising content, building the site and communicating it to the community. At the get go, they should be on board where roles and duties are equally distributed.

7. Have a dry run. Be open to feedback. Change and revise as necessary.

8. Once the edits are done in the website, plan for a launching to the community. This may be done during library orientation periods and or sessions where the library is presented to the learning community.

9. Do not forget to make a quick guide. Never assume that everyone is a digital citizen.

10. Reflect. Assess. Evaluate. Take Action. The cycle of creation goes on.

These are for now. There will be more sharing of insights and processes in the future so, keep visiting the blog. I am also on Facebook, Twitter and IG. Often, I cross post and link my blog articles to my social media sites. See you online!

Using Google Site To Make A Library Website (1 of 2)

On Sunday night, I posted on Facebook photos of the library website I made using Google Site. The Pioneer is one of two library websites I made during quarantine spilling over the summer while preparing for the opening of online distance learning. 

Along with the photos are my reflections that came about after working on the site.

I made my first library website using HTML, Windows Notepad and Internet Explorer. That library website was one of the requirements submitted to Ma’am Lourdes T. David, my grad school prof for LIS 100 - Information Science (if my memory serves me right). I had a lot of fun in her class but that deserves another post in another time. Suffice it to say that in Ma’am Lou’s class, there was diversity, inclusion and care. So my insecure heart gained confidence and the courage to try new things. 

I still feel insecure on most days. Doubting myself, thinking through processes for long periods of time and tempering my moods.  

 Oo. Procrastinator ako. 

But I always go back to those memories with Audrey in Ma’am Lou’s class. Learning logic from her and listening to computer language spoken in lectures delivered by Ma’am Lou herself. There were also resource speakers from the IT and EdTech disciplines whom she invited to speak in class. From her, I learned collaboration too!  

I often tell myself, that if I was able to do it back then, I can do it again and again and again. 

And here is my handy work! A new library website for our students who will begin school tomorrow. My library orientation with them will start on Tuesday. I am excited and nervous. And stressed. Thanks to Google Suite for these cool tech! And so much love to Ma’am Lou for teaching me the basics of programming. It sure comes in useful especially in this day of intuitive technology. 

Have a look at the screenshots of the library website I made. This one is an online module for learning research and information literacy skills. Send feedback. Ask questions. We can always learn from each other!

How I made the website, I will write about it the next post.

The BA Library Online: Goals and Directions for AY 2020-2021

The Beacon Academy Library Online

Academic Year 2020-2021

As the Academy move into online learning this academic year, the BA Library continues its commitment to provide access to relevant learning resources, conduct virtual readers’ services and implement programs that support inquiry and research. There are four ways in which the library personnel actualize these goals.

Learners and members of the BA Community can:

·      Connect @theBALib - access the Library OPAC, peruse the BA Library Gsite that has directories of online resources carefully curated by its staff and, schedule consultations and inquiry sessions with the Teacher Librarian;

·      Bridge information gaps @theBALib- access IB recommended databases and online subscriptions namely EBSCOHost, The Day and World Book Online. Usernames and passwords are shared and given to students, faculty and staff, parents and alumni;

·      Collaborate @theBALibrary – share and contribute to the Learning Playlist, avail of the virtual reference and advisory services on Academic Honesty, Creative Commons and strengthen professional partnerships with local and global learners;

·      Feed your curiosity @theBALibrary – spend some time at the The Pioneer, a virtual space where Grififns can jam and jazz up ideas, inquiries and questions and nurture one’s sense of wonder!

Get in touch @theBALibrary through these email addresses - teacherlibrarian@beaconacademy.ph / library@beaconacademy.ph

7.31.2020_teacherlibrarian_ZG

balibonline_2021

Dear SLIA: How to Make a Virtual Library? (Part 1 of 2)

Teacher Al of Keys School San Juan sent this query in Messenger: Ms. Zarah, Good day! Please explain how to make classroom virtual library in Google.

My reply to him:

I started making a website for our library through Google Site back in 2010. My knowledge of blogging made it easier to understand the interface and html of Google Site. Another platform I used was Wikispace back in 2012, until it closed down in 2014-15(?) The Google Site was for the purpose of internat communication on basic library servcies to our students, teachers and staff. The Wikispace was the platform for the library's Pathfinder and Webquest. Pathfinders are curated content from varied online resources. Webquests are search and locate activity modules using print and online materials.

Now, we are using Workplace by Facebook where the library has a group/page. There we post resources, teaching strategies, poetry, songs, pathfinders, news and updates on our subscriptions. What we curate and collect in Workplace, we put in our library’s Google Site for archiving.

I am also available Monday to Friday, at 2-4pm for chat with students on research consultations. Students and teachers can also reach me via email. So, I am using multi platforms to render library services virtually. Even before school closure, these platforms are already in place. We carried on the provision of remote services through the lockdown.

The video in making a Google Site is helpful. It has tools and strategies to help you create a virtual library. I suggest you further research on Blended Librianship and discover the theory and approach behind the creation of a virtual library. Work with Teacher Van so you can spread out the work. It can be time consuming because you are creating and curating content as well as understanding technology appropriate for K-12.

Also, you are communicating how students and teachers unpack and deconstruct metadata in different online subscriptions. It can be time consuming, but I learned to be patient when creating content and communicating it to the community.

Digital School Libraries

Pasli invitation-and-program from Zarah Gagatiga

Library 2.0 Revolution

CNN.com publishes online this brave article on Library 2.0. The digitization of library holdings is no longer a fictional matter. The virtual roles that librarians must play and portray to a younger, hipper and hi-tech generation is imminent.

It is a continuous evolution. From library services to the image of librarians online and in real time, change is inevitably happening.