Källkritk

Today, I'm asking your special attention for the 'Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries' CISSL. The center is part of the Rutgers School of Coomunication and Information (Rutgers, State University of New Jersey), situated in New Brunswick.

The Center is well-known for its ongoing research in school librarianship. The latest research on behalf of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, begun in April 2009, seeks to (a) construct a picture of the status of New Jersey's school libraries in terms of their informational-transformational-formational dimensions, (b) to understand the contribution of quality school libraries to education in New Jersey; (c) to understand some of the contextual and professional dynamics that enable and inhibit school libraries to contribute significantly to education in New Jersey, and (d) to make recommendations to NJ stakeholders to develop a sustained and long term program of capacity building and evidence-based continuous improvement of school libraries in New Jersey. Phase one and two have recently been published.

Another significant report is the Complete Position Paper. One quote I would like to share with you here is: "Schools without libraries minimize the opportunities for students to become discriminating users in a diverse information landscape and to develop the intellectual scaffolds for learning deeply through information. Schools without libraries are at risk of becoming irrelevant."

All reports can be downloaded for free. Take the opportunity to study and share these reports, as they offer substantial evidence for the importance of school libraries in today's education.

April 24, 2012. Lourense Das.