January 2005

Expanding Library Resources through the DLC

Toppenish High School, Eileen Ray, Librarian

Between classes, the library empties out and then, within minutes, it fills up with an entire class of students who are here to work on a research project. On a typical day, Librarian Eileen Ray spends half or more of her time working with research. When a class has a research assignment, students spend two to four 60-minute class periods in the library.

Since fall 2003, digital library resources have significantly expanded due to Toppenish’s participation in the Digital Learning Commons (DLC). “For us, the DLC Library is definitely the most-used online resource. It’s been wonderful,” Librarian Eileen Ray says. When it comes to usage of online resources, Toppenish is one of the DLC’s top 10 schools.

Benefits of the DLC Library

Like many other schools, the budget is tight at Toppenish and funds for library resources are limited, so the DLC helps fill this gap. “The DLC Library combines several resources,” Ray says. “If we had to independently purchase these, we wouldn’t be able to afford them. Or we’d have to buy fewer books. And I won’t sacrifice my book budget. We have a lot of ESL learners. I don’t want to stop putting new, interesting, vibrant books into their hands.”

Ray isn’t sold on a resource just because it’s available online. She points to dictionaries and encyclopedias as examples. They contain the same information, whether in print or online. “What the digital version does is make the same content available in a different form, which is handy for reference materials, which kids can’t otherwise check out of the library,” Ray points out.

Supporting teachers and students

Ray asks teachers to send along their lesson plans a day ahead of scheduled library-research time so that she can do some test searches and pull out print resources. She stresses that it’s important to help teachers understand the benefits of the DLC Library, because they build the assignments. “If an assignment requires digital resources, then students will use them.”

Ray spends the first ten minutes showing students examples of relevant print resources and online resources and how to access both. “Today kids need to be able to access print and digital resources and know how to use indexes and search engines.”

In addition to being open during class periods, the school library is accessible 30 minutes before school, 45 minutes after school, and during all three lunch periods.

Saving time with netTrekker

Ray’s favorite online resource is netTrekker, because it draws from a lot of websites. “It sifts through the junk you get through search engines,” Ray says. “And the resources are rated and evaluated by educators, so netTrekker is a time saver. It connects kids with relevant information quickly instead of getting 2.5 million hits through a search engine.”

Ray likes netTrekker because it puts resources into students’ hands that don’t exist in print or aren’t collected by the school library. And the resources are always up to date. For classes like Current World Politics, which doesn’t use a text, online resources are a must.

At the end of research time, students walk out of the school library with a stack of books and printed materials. “A good thing!” Ray says. “This is the screen generation. And the DLC Library engages these kids on a whole new level.”

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