School Library Reference Services in the 90s

Book excerpt: Here is a succinct update on school library reference services for the busy practitioner or student. Exploring the state and state-of-the-art of school library reference services in the 1990s, this book provides an overview of current information skills teaching models, the impact of new technologies on the teaching of reference and the student search process, and assessment and evaluation models for gauging the success of school reference services. School Library Reference Services in the 90s is an informative guide for school media coordinators and specialists, library science graduate students, and professors and researchers in the field to help them understand what students must learn and what teachers must teach to keep everyone up to date in the fast-changing world of reference. School Library Reference Services in the 90s is divided into three sections that cover reference/research teaching models, technology, and evaluation. Topics in the first section include an examination of the current state of affairs in reference teaching, a look at various models for integrating library research and reference skills into the curricula, and discussions of the effects of these new models on the school librarian's role. Section two addresses the profound effect new technologies, such as CD-ROM, multimedia, CD-I and CD-TV, are having on both the teaching of reference and information skills and on the entire research process from initiation to production of the final student report. The last section presents three models for assessing the effectiveness of school reference services and skills instruction. School library reference services, and particularly library instruction, are changing dramatically in the 1990s as a result of the information age. School Library Reference Services in the 90s helps professionals in the field stay abreast of current developments and be more effective in their jobs.