https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12 Please feel free to respond to any or all of the following: 1. What setting do you work in? 2. How do you "do reference"? 3. Describe your physical/virtual reference collection(s). 4. How frequently is your reference collection used? Does it circulate? 5. What trends are you seeing with regards to your collection? 6. What’s your reference model (roving reference, traditional reference desk, etc?) 7. Do you think we still need a reference desk? If so, what would it look like? 8. What is your favorite reference resource? en-us 2018-05-09 18:36:37 UTC 2018-05-17 16:37:35 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/12520171/8fa73232d9229052a09b0033ee699690/silhouette_1632912_640.jpg https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259797404 1.) Public High School
2.)I teach reference as a definition of a resource.  When using databases, is when the question commonly occurs.  That is when the teaching moment happens.
3.)Reference collection is mostly virtual via databases.  We subscribe to 9 different resources.  Small ebook reference collection.  Print collection has been steeply weeded and is slowing building again.
4.) Reference is no longer an individual location.  Everything has been merged into the regular collection.  I have noticed more of the books being utilized since this change.  Yes, we allow the books to circulate, but most never leave the space.  Some usage by specific class work when I push print materials.
7.) yes I feel we still do need a reference resource station, but in a high school, it is hard to dedicate time/space.
8.) my favorite resource is Literature and its Times ]]> 2018-05-10 21:42:56 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259797404 sandbmar https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259815832 1. Lg. 9-12 HS in KS
2. Students in remedial reading classes are the most frequent users of print references sources to understand the organization of books. Reference to me is also the starting point/background info/knowledge for building upon further topic specific knowledge. Online encyclopedia use is encouraged for background knowledge while often times students are on wikipedia for such information, which is an entire different topic. :)
3. Physical collection continues to shrink, virtual collection growing slightly through ebooks and continued general database access.
4. Reference is infrequently used and it can circulated for a few days.
5. Trends in the reference collection - greatly decreased acquisition of large reference sets of print materials.
6. Roving reference would best describe the way I view my roll, taking any question at anytime or location to help patrons in need of information.
7. A local called library has a more open, less bulky/intimidating reference (help) desk as patrons enter the library. Their computers have 2 monitors to demonstrate searches one screen as the librarian demonstrates on their computer. It is my plan to create this computer setup next year.  :)
8. I don't use it often any longer but the World Almanac is a fascinating book so personally it may be my favorite. :)
Thanks for accepting our input, Joyce! :)]]> 2018-05-11 00:14:56 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259815832 kufahlin https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259968542 1. What setting do you work in?
Pre-K to 6 Elementary with 550 students in KS
2. How do you "do reference"?
Most reference is online encyclopedia use. 
3. Describe your physical/virtual reference collection(s). I have digital access to Pebble Go (pre-K to about 3), World Book Online (all ages), and Britannica (all ages)
I have three sets of physical encyclopedias, a set of dictionaries, thesauruses, and some atlases. I also have a couple smaller more specific encyclopedia sets. 
4. How frequently is your reference collection used? Does it circulate? Physical books don't get much use. Some teachers will checkout class sets of dictionaries once a year. The digital usage is much better. Pebble Go has very high usage. 
5. What trends are you seeing with regards to your collection?  I moved a lot of the reference to non-fiction so it would circulate.  I don't purchase books for reference.  
6. What’s your reference model (roving reference, traditional reference
desk, etc?) Roving I suppose. I would say I help students as asked.
 7.  Do you think we still need a reference desk? If so, what
would it look like? Yes, but all digital.
8. What is your favorite reference resource? Pebble Go and Britannica ]]> 2018-05-11 14:45:21 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259968542 eouvrard_prettol https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259986684 1- I work in a TK-12 charter school, which has 2 campuses: one for TK-5, another for 6-12.
2- Reference is either real-time questions at the desk, or during research projects, through resources.
3- Physical REF at the TK-5 campus is not marked at such. It's integrated in the nonfiction section, and can be checked out. Elementary students are curious, so REF resources do get checked out fairly regularly.
Physical REF at the 6-12 campus has been intershelved with NF, but is marked as REF. It used to be library-only, but we do allow it to be checked out. Unless it is part of a research project with a very proactive teacher, however, it does not get checked out. REF represents less than 10% of our NF.
4- see #3.
5- Trends? Less focus on print sources; or at least access to print sources also accessible online. Even teachers fall prey to it.
6- Traditional ref desk.
7- Depends on the school, the culture, the tech available, the teachers, the projects given to students.
8- My personal favorite is the dictionary. Basic, simple, and yet so many treasures waiting to be discovered :) For work, I'm working on using Open Data more (check out this initiative, for which I received the train-the-trainer training: http://data-equity.org/) 

]]> 2018-05-11 15:34:09 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/259986684 debschi https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260228552 1. Small Public High School (approx. 700 students)
2. Students know the term "reference" as a resource type, a starting point for investigation. Choosing the type of resource needed is part of the search process. 
3. We do not have a physical reference collection. All physical resources once deemed as reference, have been integrated within the nonfiction collection by subject area. Students most often access reference materials through our database collection. Each database is labeled by subject area and types of resources it contains. We also have a page on the library website devoted to more traditional reference resources and another for finding datasets. We also discuss Wikipedia and best practices for using it effectively.
4. Students use of physical reference materials is infrequent. All reference materials can be circulated.
5. No longer purchase physical reference materials-too costly and not used. Still a need for virtual reference materials.
6 & 7.  I definitely prefer roaming! We have one overly large "librarian" desk at the front of the library, and I find it intimidating. I did set up a monitor backed up to mine, so that students can see what I'm seeing when looking for materials. However, I'd rather a small high desk, adjacent to a table, offering a more working together feel.
8. I really like Oxford Research Encyclopedias: high quality reference materials and reasonably priced.]]> 2018-05-13 14:08:39 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260228552 bthomas199_1 https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260412185 1. 6-8 middle school approx. 900 students
2. Reference is typically handled on the fly, usually during research projects. We also create formative assessments via Google Forms that can serve as a mini reference interview (how is research going, what sources are you using, what obstacles are you facing, etc.)
3. We do have a physical reference stack that we have been weeding (and not replacing) over the last few years. It is right next to the nonfiction section. It gets some use, but not as much as our digital reference collection. We subscribe to over 15 databases.
4. Infrequently and yes we do circulate it.
5. We are seeing it not get as much use as it once did and are planning to weed it further. We are also looking into the possibility of removing that stack altogether to free up more room.
6. Roving reference: face-to-face with students as well as digital surveys.
7. We do have a front desk (we call it circulation desk, not reference) and we are rarely behind it. It is really large and we want to minimize the size at some point. 
8. This is a tough one - it really depends on the project or task! Personally, I love looking through a good atlas and dream about all of the different places I would like to travel :) Google Earth and Street View also provide the same fun (not sure if they would be considered a traditional reference source, though)]]> 2018-05-14 11:20:14 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260412185 librariantiff1 https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260524479 1. I am the library director at a PK3-12 independent school with just under 1000 students. I serve as the librarian for the 6-12 grade library, with about 650 students.
2. I "do reference" for both students and teachers on an as needed basis -- they typically stop by the library with a question or shoot me an email. These types of questions take priority for me, just as readers advisory does; I will stop what I'm doing typically to assist these types of questions if at all possible.
3. Our physical reference section has been integrated into the nonfiction collection, which is rarely touched and in the process of being heavily weeded. We have a very nice virtual reference collection, which is housed on my library web page. My first year here, I spent a nice chunk of time making the virtual collection more accessible and intuitive, and it has paid off in usage.
4. Circulation of nonfiction (within which reference is integrated) is low, although it is available for check out. The majority of our reference usage comes into play with out databases, which are used a great deal by students working on research projects.
5. By making the databases easily accessible, providing frequent on-demand instruction on database usage/tips/tricks, and making myself available to sit down and troubleshoot or work through different stages of the search process, we have seen a significant increase in the use of our digital reference resources. Before, they were rarely used as many students and teachers were unaware that they had access/were not sure how to access.
6. Our circulation desk is centrally located within our library space, and it serves as the hub. My work computer is located at the circulation desk instead of in my office, which makes me more easily accessible and visible. 
7. I feel like I just need a spot where I am located (whatever type of desk it may be - mine is currently the circ desk) where students know they can find me and ask questions at any time.
8. I love my EBSCO Discovery Service that makes reference work so much easier as I can tap into nearly all of my resources in one search. I am also really loving the JSTOR Text Analyzer that's in Beta. It's a great way to help students hone their keywords for search when they have one really great source/chunk of text.]]> 2018-05-14 15:45:16 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260524479 https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260950651 2. Reference is pretty much entirely digital - questions via email or Google Voice are more for assistance in doing something, or searching for information, rather than  traditional "fact-based" questions like they were long ago.
3. we have a small physical ref collection, but the majority of our references are online with resources like GVRL (Gale Virtual Reference Library) and all of our other databases.
4. The physical items are used a couple times a year for specific projects (per teachers' directive). These items do circulate.
5. definitely not purchasing in print unless it's a must-have and doesn't come in an online version.
6. Virtual reference...
7. No need for a special desk.
8. Our kids love Worldometer, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook,  and DPLA ]]> 2018-05-15 17:37:24 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/260950651 paigejaeger https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/261187729 2. New Reference MO = Trust, but Verify. The "verify" is becoming a hot reference button and students as well as adults need to learn how to verify all the garbage they're hearing. Part of that is assessing sources. In the "old reference world", librarians would choose reference books and they could be trusted as reliable. That was then, this is now: Everyone rushes to the Internet and curtly assesses, but that's how scammers, poor journalists, and "news farms" succeed.  Perhaps by teaching people about "fact farms" (those who watch trending words and create pages for the sole purpose of traffic) or having kids create Fake News, would be a good way to teach them to avoid it. 
3.  I remember about 15 years ago, contemplating getting rid of our Middle School library's reference collection.  After all, it was supposed to be for "ready reference" - easy to search.  But -- that process has almost all migrated to the Internet. 
4 - Why not let Students earn "Reference Badges" to post on their electronic portfolio?  "Certified Reference Researcher" -- ALA could sponsor a virtual course content for a badge like that which librarians could help them step through. 
 -- Just brainstorming here.  :)  Keep up your great work, Joyce! ]]> 2018-05-16 12:41:08 UTC https://padlet.com/joycevalenza/referencek12/wish/261187729