Children's Materials 101 (online learning course)

Children's Materials 101

(An Infopeople Online Learning Course)

Aug 15, 2006 - Sept 11, 2006

Providing top quality children's library services requires up-to-date familiarity with children's library materials. This introductory course will guide your exploration of children's books, magazines, websites, and more.

• Do you work at a public service desk that serves children and parents?
• Can you name four books in five minutes for a 4th grader who thinks he doesn't like to read?
• Do you keep repeating the same children's literature recommendations and need some new inspiration?

Whether you're brand new to children's materials or want to refresh your knowledge of the basics, this is the course for you! Children's Materials 101 offers practical and instantly usable information about materials that will appeal to today's children and reflect best library practices. Feel more confident helping children find the materials they need. Become more efficient at answering reader's advisory questions. Your new/enhanced skills and knowledge will ultimately increase your own and your patrons' satisfaction.

Workshop Description: This four-week online learning course will provide practical information about discovering, evaluating, and using children's materials, including both print and online sources. Throughout the course, you will participate in online discussions, sharing and talking about children's books and other materials. You are expected to voice your opinions, add your "two cents," and contribute to the discussion.

Through reading, exercises, online discussions, and using professional print materials, you will become familiar with many good titles in a range of genres. Students will subscribe to a professional listserv to gain a broad perspective on the world of children's books and related library services. You will also share ideas for using materials to enhance programs for children.

The instructor will provide bibliographies, webliographies, and other "quick guide" materials that you will be able to use immediately.

Please note: This course concentrates on materials and services for children ages 0-12. While you may be responsible for service to teens as well as services to children, our focus will be on the children's aspect of your job.

Preliminary Course Outline: Using your web browser and your Internet connection, you will log in to the Infopeople online learning site and complete the following learning modules:

• Module One: So Many Books, So Little Time!
  • Differences between picture books, easy fiction, fiction, non-fiction
  • Award winning books
  • Genre overview - folk/fairy tales, historical fiction, science fiction/fantasy, contemporary problems, poetry, mystery
• Module Two: Connecting Users with Appropriate Materials
  • Print sources
  • Online sources
  • Materials for specific needs, e.g. accelerated reader
• Module Three: A Helping Hand From the "Collective Brain"
  • Listservs that can help you do your job
  • Useful websites
  • Mining your own library's catalog (OPAC)
• Module Four: Keeping Up with Your Own Reading
  • The most prominent and useful magazines for children's services
  • Supplementary sources

Online Learning Details: This four-week course will be taught online using the web. When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation, which will include the URL to get to the course, as well as a username and password.

Every student proceeds through the online learning modules at his or her own pace. Students should expect to commit to spending a minimum of 2 to 2 ½ hours per week on this course in order to be successful. You can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night. However, you will be expected to log in to the course each week to do that week's assignment. We ask that you log in sometime during the first week of the course to begin the course work.

Your instructor will be available for limited consultation support for two weeks after the official end date of a course, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that, to give those who have fallen behind time to work independently on the course. However, you will be expected to accomplish the majority of the course in synchronization with your peers during the first four weeks.

Because this course depends heavily on sharing information and discussing ideas and opinions, it's important to try to keep up with the assignments and discussion. The instructor will be available Monday through Saturday.

Who Should Take This Course: Anyone from the library community who works with children and parents, including, but not limited to:

• support staff in children's departments
• children's librarians who have less and one year of experience working with children and parents
• public services staff who provide reader's advisory service to children and parents
• staff who need a 'refresher' in materials for children
• adult volunteers who work in children's departments
• school library support staff and/or volunteers

Prerequisites: This course is taught over the web. You must:

• Have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer 5 or higher.
• Be able to save Microsoft Word .docs or Adobe .pdf files to your computer and print them out. (For .doc files, a free Word Viewer is available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en. Search for "Word Viewer." For .pdf files, a free Adobe Acrobat Reader is available at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html).
• Be comfortable navigating on the web and navigating back and forward on a website that uses frames.
• Have MS Power Point.
• Have an e-mail account that will allow you to receive 20-30 messages a day.

System Requirements: The online learning product that Infopeople uses is called Angel. The following are minimum system requirements for using Angel. You will need access to a computer that has at least these specifications to participate in an online course:

For Windows:

• Internet Explorer 6.0 and above, Netscape 7.1 and above, or Firefox 1.5 and above.

For Macintosh:

• Mozilla 1.4 and above which is the same engine as Netscape 7.1, Safari 2.0 and above, or Firefox 1.5 and above.
• OS X and above (OS 9 will NOT work with our online learning product)

To be the most successful in this course, you should also be eager to talk about children's books, and willing to share your opinions and experiences with books and children's services. You should also be able to receive, read, and organize the 20-30 daily Listserv messages.

If you are not comfortable with any of the above, please consider taking this course with a colleague who does meet these requirements.

Course Start: This 4-week-long online learning course starts on August 15, 2006.