Indispensable Librarian: Table of Contents
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 06:52AM Note: This week I am on a "writing holiday" from my day job. I'm using the time to work on a revision of my 1997 book The Indispensable Librarian. (Personally, I think it is still just fine, but others have asked if we still use Gopher as a search tool in our district.) While I wrote the draft for my last book I took advantage of Blue Skunk readers, using you as a sounding board for my book materials. Consider yourselves so used again. Thank you. – Doug
One of the most challenging parts of writing for me is getting organized and writing an introduction. One way I do this is by designing an outline in the form of a Table of Contents for book on which I am working. My draft TOC for The Indispensable Librarian 2nd edition is below. I have also appended the chapters from the first edition. I would value any comments from readers, especially if there were parts of my first book you found useful in its day.
Thanks.
Table of Contents for The Indispensable Librarian, 2nd ed. (subject to change without warning)
Introduction to the second edition
Author biography
Chapter One: The Roles and Missions of the Librarian
- The Virtual Librarian
- What are the challenges facing our profession?
- Seven ways for librarians remain relevant in a ubiquitous information environment full of NetGen learners
- Do school librarians have "enduring values?"
- Sample mission statement and the elevator speech
- Why are you in the profession anyway?
- Sidebar: The Mankato Transition: A case study
Chapter Two: Program Assessment
- Is it a trick question?
- How will you show your program is impacting student achievement?
- What data should libraries collect?
- Formal or informal assessments –what are the advantages?
- Sidebar: Linking libraries and reading achievement
Chapter Three: Planning
- How can collaborative planning build library support?
- What are goals and what are objectives?
- Sidebar: 20 years of working with an advisory group - what I've learned.
Chapter Four: Communications and Advocacy
- What are the basic rules of effective advocacy?
- What are the components of an effective communications program?
- Sidebar:What is transparency and why is it critical to the librarian’s success?
Chapter Five: Managing Digital Resources
- How has the library’s role changed with information and books going digital?
- What is cloud computing and how can libraries take advantage of it?
- What is the role of the library in technology integration planning and implementation?
- Sidebar: There are books and there are books
Chapter Six: Management and Collaboration
- Why do libraries need support people?
- What is the secret to successful supervision?
- At what level should you be collaborating?
- What are the fundamentals of successful collaboration?
- Sidebar: What are the strengths and weaknesses of both fixed and flexed library program?
Chapter Seven: Curriculum and Reading
- What is the library program’s role in developing “21st century skills?”
- What are the best student skill standards? What do they have in common?
- What are the components of a meaningful information literacy and technology curriculum?
- What new skills are needed to survive the information jungle?
- How can librarians support the development of “right brain” skills?
- Sidebar: What does a library for a post-literate society look like?
Chapter Eight: Budget
- Why is budgeting an ethical endeavor?
- Why is budget important and what are its critical components?
Chapter Nine: Facilities
- Why should I go to the library when the library will come to me?
- What are the fundamentals of good school library design and are they still important?
- How do we design brick and mortar libraries for digital resources?
- Sidebar: 10 design pitfalls and how to avoid them
Chapter Ten: Digital Intellectual Freedom
- Freedom and filters: can we have both?
- How does due process apply to online sources of information?
- Sidebar: How do you get the technology director to unblock a site?
Chapter Eleven: The Library’s Role in Ethics
- How has technology impacted ethical behavior?
- Copyright and common sense
- Creative Commons
- Rules for the social web
- Sidebar: Preventing plagiarism with better assignment design
Chapter Twelve: Staff Development
- Who will teach the teachers?
- Just in case, just in time, just in part - differentiated instruction in technology for teachers
- Sidebar: The secret to being perceived as a technology guru
Chapter Thirteen: Surviving Professional Transitions
- What can you do if your library program is a part of budget reductions?
- How can you lobby effectively?
- What’s a PLN and why you really, really need one?
- Sidebar: Top 10 ways to increase your technology skills and knowledge
Chapter Fourteen: Libraries and the Future
- Prognostications
- A vision for school libraries
OK, you can tell I am not as organized the further I go in the book. I am trying to avoid publishing anything that has appeared in my other books, including my book of Head for the Edge columns. Oh, my first edition manuscript was written using AppleWorks - files I can no longer open, easily anyway. The new book will be about 90% new it looks like.
Table of Contents of first edition of The Indispensable Librarian
Chapter 1: Mission
Chapter 2: Planning
Chapter 3: Influence and Public Relations
Chapter 4: Technology
Chapter 5: Personnel
Chapter 6: Curriculum
Chapter 7: Budget
Chapter 8: Facilities
Chapter 9: Policies
Chapter 10: Staff Development
A bibliography of “must reads”
Reader Comments (8)
Book sounds and looks great. I'm interested in Chapter 5 - it will be a good resource for the class I teach on reference materials.
Doug - the outline for Edition 2 looks fantastic - very timely topics and much needed. In the new version in your communication and advocacy, do you have any good tips for the school librarian who is trying to engage reluctant teachers with using library resources or in getting successfully engaged with school level professional learning networks or communities?
I'll look forward to reading this one!
Mary
Wow! looks great -- can't wait to read (and use) the final version.
Thanks, Alice.
Would you like to read and comment on the draft version as I write it? I'd send ya free book!
Doug
If you need to be able to open the Appleworks files, I could send you a copy of Clarisworks that will work.
(I love/loved the Appleworks and Clarisworks programs SO much that I kept finding a way to keep using it.) Not that I'm encouraging you to not update your work.... but if you really wanted to be able to open those old files, I could help you out.
Thanks, Janice. I did update the files sometime ago, but I appreciate the offer.
Doug
Look nice and tight. Look forward to reading it.
rocellee e3d3fd1842 https://www.palpodia.com/risrorrromo