Independent Study
UPDATE: Continuing my interest in the career of Lillian H. Smith, a musical is being developed to reach a wider audience than would be interested in the Web site. The lyrics for seven original songs have been written, each focusing on a different aspect of her work. Pre-production has begun and information about project participants is available through a promotional Web site. For complete details visit http://www.alifeinthelibrary.com
BACKGROUND
A London, Ontario native, Smith's entire library career was spent as a children's librarian and she became the first in the British empire to have academic credentials. Her forty years of service with the Toronto Public Library resulted in pioneering work developing a model of children's services. Her reputation was international and many librarians from Great Britain, Europe and Asia came to work under her direction.
Despite her stature amongst librarians and the respect she attained, very little has been written about Smith. Her contribution both to the public library system, school libraries and the profession of librarianship is at risk of being eclipsed by the rapid changes that are taking place, notably the advent of technology and social challenges, that were not present during her career.
STUDY PLAN
In the fall of 2008, an independent study was completed under the supervision of Dr. Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie. There were two components to the project. First, a comprehensive bibliography of writings by and about Lillian H. Smith was compiled from existing resources and original research. Second, a web site was created to highlight Smith's career using material from a variety of sources including: the Toronto Public Library, the City of Toronto Archives, the University of Toronto and a 1978 audio interview conducted by library scholar Dr. Adele Fasick.
The site is a departure from what was originally envisioned. Plans to include original newspaper articles, video of Boys' and Girls' House where Smith spent most of her career, as well as tributes from those who were influenced by Smith all proved unsuccessful. However, considering the brief amount of time available for the project, these efforts are seen in hindsight to be very ambitious.
Ensuring easy access to the content was made possible by the registration of the domain name Lillian H. Smith.ca and it remains available at that address. The project came to the attention of Lorne Bruce, MLIS, administrator of the Libraries Today blog. A post about the site was added on December 9, 2009 at http://libraries-today.blogspot.com/2009/12/lillian-h-smith-website.html and a permanent link was added on this page http://www.uoguelph.ca/~lbruce/about.shtml.
Book Talking Experiment
During a children's materials course for my MLIS degree students were required to do a book talk. My decision to do it in the form of a rap was motivated, in part, by a desire to do something different from the examples that had been shown in class. The classroom presentation was videotaped and is available for viewing by selecting the video tab above.My book rap about Laura Secord was based on a biography by Janet Lunn and it received strong support from other students and the instructor Dr. Lynne McKechnie. Since graduating from the program, the decision was made to expand on the Rappin Librarian character by creating a dedicated Web site.
The books raps and accompanying videos are targeted at the library community as a demonstration of an alternative approach to the traditional book talk. This reflects my belief that the profession must be willing to take risks and consider new approaches to services to avoid stagnation.
With the exception of the music for the raps, all other responsibilities including writing, direction, performing, editing and making arrangements for filming on location were completed by myself. The site is available for viewing by visiting www.RappinLibrarian.com.
Gaming Pathfinder
BACKGROUND
Created for Dr. Lynne McKechnie's course LIS 9362 Materials for children (8 - 12 years) at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario.
As a participant in the MLIS penpal program, the letters I received from my elementary school student included frequent references to video games but not a single mention of books. I recommended a graphic novel based on one of his favourite games as a story he might enjoy. Thus, this pathfinder was born out of a desire to use the popularity of gaming as a mechanism to encourage recreational reading, primarily amongst boys aged 9-12.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Spending enough time within virtual worlds will cause some gamers to develop an appetite for books related to their themes and characters. Fan fiction exists whereby players write stories inspired by their favourite digital universe. In the last few years, publishers have taken a cue from these efforts and have begun commissioning novels based on famous and successful games (Thompson, 2005). Often the stories are written to bridge the gaps between video game releases and to maintain players' interest while waiting for a sequel (Letendre, 2008).
There has been an explosion of interest in gaming in libraries. Surveys reveal that the two most important purposes of such programs are to draw in the under-served and to increase the library's role as a community hub (Nicholson, 2009). While these are certainly admirable goals, librarians and literacy experts debate how effective it is to use an overwhelmingly visual medium to connect youngsters to the written word. Some gamers report that reading feels too solitary and passive, preferring the sense of power conferred by a control pad. Reading already takes place when video games stimulate the use of blogs and strategy guides by players, and that these might serve as a "gateway drug for literacy" (Rich, 2008). Authors are responding by giving "gamers who might not otherwise pick up a book a clear incentive to read: one way that players advance is by answering questions with information from the novel" (ibid). What entices an individual to read a book or play a video game is a compelling story with interesting characters. It remains to be seen whether any synergy between the two is sufficient to create long-term converts.
PREPARATION
The seven video games mentioned in my penpal's letter provided the list that was used to generate the pathfinder. Three issues became immediately apparent. First, they are all action games and this excludes other genres such as role-playing and fantasy. The pathfinder could include a variety of books based on several different game genres. However, the more varied the selection the more irrelevant it would become to users. A list with only one game of interest would hardly serve to expand someone's reading choices. It was decided that the pathfinder would be an example of a series that could be produced highlighting different books for different types of games.
The second issue involved determining whether the pathfinder would only include books based on popular video games or offer related titles. The more familiar books are to gamers, the more likely they are to give them a try. But this would produce a very repetitive pathfinder with the same titles merely duplicated in different formats. Further complicating the selection was the need to provide a list that was accessible to the target age range of 9 to 12 year olds. For these reasons, it was decided that only alternative titles would offered.
Finally, most of the games that my penpal plays are rated Mature, despite the fact that he is still in elementary school. It is possible that the material being recommended would be seen as too tame by comparison. For a librarian in practice, it would be beneficial to have a relationship with the reader to recommend more advanced titles if this was necessary. There may also be concerns about the possible perception that the library is promoting Mature games to youth. However, the fact that they play them is a reality that must be faced as we try to respond to their reading and information needs.
DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN
A few of the games were unfamiliar to me, making it necessary to research them on gaming web sites to determine their subject matter. This primarily involved watching trailers and other promotional videos on official sites. Having established a list of content, the next step was to find related book titles. Some suggestions were based on my own reading, while others required using resources and I benefitted immensely from Junior and Teen Genreflecting. When these were insufficient, I also used Novelist and found the web site Fantastic Fiction (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk) to offer a number of quality suggestions. The annotations were abridged from these sources as well as the web sites of online book retailers.
Two alternatives to novels were included. One game on the list is based on Mars and it was paired with War of the Worlds. However, the original novel was deemed too advanced and so a graphic novel version was used instead. Also, whereas most of the games are based in a fictional world, one of the titles is historical and set in medieval Europe. As a result, it was decided that gamers might be interested in learning more about this time period and a non-fiction book in the DK Eyewitness series was included. Kenneth Oppel's Starclimber is an ideal match for one game and this made it possible to recommend a Canadian title.
Finally, in order to catch the attention of the public, it was decided that the pathfinder would be in the form of a poster rather than the more traditional bookmark. The titles could also be available separately as a plain list to serve as a reminder and finding aid for the interested reader. Since the poster would be on display in the library itself, it was decided that it would not be necessary to indicate the name of the library itself. The poster itself was created in Photoshop with images of the boys and explosion being purchased from iStockPhoto. The book covers came from online book web sites.
REFERENCES
LeTendre, B. (2008). Josh Ortega talks Gears of War. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id
Nicholson, S. (2009). Library gaming census report. American Libraries, 40 (1,2), p. 44.
Rich, M. (2008, October 6). Using video games as bait to hook readers. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/books/06games.html?_r
Thompson, C. (2005). The video-game novel also rises. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from: http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2005/09/68821