Issue 19

What a wonderful way to start the last term of school. A beautiful Queenstown morning - crisp, clear, snow capped mountains and wind ruffled waters of Lake Whakatipu, backdrop to our Maori challenge and welcome. Not only that but a superb gathering of like minds to talk to and bounce ideas off -bungy jumping included! One of our T /Ls sat on the right chair at the Plenary Session and won herself a free bungy jump. However she decided that her dignity was more important than her valour and gave it away!

One of the threads connecting conference sessions was information literacy, which all school librarians found most relevant. All the new NZ curriculum documents have somewhere in their content an information literacy/problem solving component. Within the Technology curriculum one of the areas is Information and Communication Technology - fast becoming the specialist area of librarians.

As Dale Spender was quick to point out, we are moving from a print based society to one that is digitally based and that brings about changes and challenges to many of our established conventions. We need to become computer literate as well as information literate if we are not to be left behind.

Our students are also being urged to take responsibility for their own learning and as Patricia Senn Breivik said the teacher is no longer seen as the sage on the stage but the guide on the side". Therefore the process of gathering and manipulating information becomes all important. It is an essential skill transferable across the curriculum and school libraries and librarians have an important role to play in the teaching of this process.

Professional development is essential if we are to keep up with the latest trends in information servicing. We must insist that school librarians are not forgotten, after all the benefits of what we learn flow on down through the school.