School Administrative District #4

Unity of purpose

INFORMATION SERVICES PHILOSOPHY, K-12

Students, K-12, need information skills to cope with an ever-changing environment. They need to acquire, create, organize, and use information; and they need to internalize meaning in any content area. An instructional program enables students to prepare for a search, to gather relevant information, to interpret and evaluate information, and to apply and communicate information. School library media resources should provide students with the opportunity to find materials for personal enrichment and research at the level and format best suited to them. Resources beyond the school, both material and human, should be increasingly available and utilized.

Students require access to information in all areas of the total curriculum and must develop the ability to locate and use information at increasing levels of independence and sophistication. Verification of success requires close observation and content during a number of assignments and over a period of time. Students should explore relevant information so that they can appreciate the applicability of that information to their particular situations. Students commitment to projects is essential.

The teacher and the librarian share in the planning and implementation of research and learning activities. They need strong support from administrators, especially in the partnership concept; and they need support in the form of flexible scheduling and adequate staffing. It is noted that skills and strategies encompassed within many content areas support and enhance the reference process. In turn, the reference process strengthens and expands the content areas. Joint evaluation, then, would incorporate efficient assessment tools to take advantage of these strengths.

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This philosophy is adapted from The INFORMATION SKILLS GUIDE FOR MAINE EDUCATORS (1990), Maine State Library Media Services