December 2005 — Web/Net

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School Libraries Go Interactive

by Chris Balsano

An Illinois high school library uses online forms to stay in contact with the needs and requests of students and teachers.

HOW OFTEN HAVE WE SPIED that disoriented look on a parent’s face as she visits the school library? She seems to be wondering, Why aren’t the students hovering about the old card catalog with its neatly typed Dewey Decimal numbers on index cards? Truth is, in so many schools today, the card catalog is as much a relic of a previous time as is the reel-toreel projector. And as we’re well aware, the library is now just as likely to be called the Media Center.

By any name, today’s school library is not the same place many parents remember. New technology permeates every resource the facility holds, The Net every action that is taken. That old card catalog system has gone online, and it not only contains books kept at the school, but also those from the larger community— public libraries, state library systems, and college libraries. Newspaper and magazine articles are searched for and printed out online via subscription databases. Full-text reference materials are also available online through subject databases. Selected online references are posted on school library sites to make searching more productive for students.

Many librarians are ready to take the next step and collaborate with teachers to create online forms that support their curriculum and provide online interactivity for students. At Downers Grove North High School (DGN) in Illinois, we have done just that.

Putting Online Forms to Use
This generation of students prefers to gather information and communicate via the computer. So at DGN, we decided to make the most of students’ technology skills by developing forms on our library’s Web site (www.csd99.k12.il.us/north/library) for many library- and school-related tasks. (See box on next page for links to forms on the DGN library Web site.) Created in FrontPage 2000 or Acrobat 6.0, online forms facilitate communication between students and librarians, as well as assist teachers with assignments. They engage students in doing research and provide a constructive means for students to provide feedback to faculty. At DGN, we use forms in a number of ways: