LORI Proposal Part 2
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Part 2 Proposal
If you are submitting this grant in paper format and require more room, use separate sheets for Part 2 and the components below.
(Part 2 Application Cover Page, and Part 3 Budget, should be submitted on forms provided.)
Project Title: Block Island School Library-RILINK Connection
Project Narrative: Goals and Description
What need (s)) will be met by the project, and how was the need determined? What is the goal (s)) of the project and how will achievement of that goal affect the LORI network and its users? How does the project address the purpose of the LORI Grant Program and the specific LSTA priorities listed?
The Block Island School provides educational services to students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. There are 137 students in the school. The school librarian position is 2/5-time.The school library meets all Rhode Island and National School Library Standards.1
The Island Free Library in Dodge Street is the only other library that is easily accessible to Block Island School students. The town library meets the needs of year-round residents, as well as those of visitors, whose stay on the island varies from a single day to an extended summer vacation. Because of the Block Island’s remote location, students have limited access to school and public libraries other than the Block Island School Library and the Island Free Library.
RILINK membership will greatly enhance the resources available to Block Island students. Conversely, The Block Island School library maintains collections that will benefit students from other schools. For example, the school library’s seashore environment and migratory bird collections may be of interest to students in more urban settings. The teachers and librarian believe that RILINK membership will improve students’ projects and enhance learning. As Ronald Brown noted in Connecting the Nation, "As the transition to a knowledge-based economy accelerates, America's children must have access to communications and information technologies in the classroom. Without these tools, American children will lack the necessary computer skills to compete in the 21st Century." 2
RILINK membership will enable students and teachers to identify books available through interlibrary Loan (ILL) from other school and public (CLAN-Cooperating Library Automated Network)3 libraries. (Note: The Island Free Library is a member of CLAN). The school will be eligible for RILINK membership-only pricing on the computer software needed to convert the library’s card catalog records to machine-readable format.
Plan of Operation
Identify objectives or "output" that will be met during the course of the project. What activities will be undertaken to achieve these objectives? How will the objective be measured? How do the objectives relate to the overall goal of the project? If this is a data conversion, see additional Guidelines for Data Conversion.
The objectives of the project include:
The Block Island School library will join LORI. (Target date: September 1, 2002).
The Block Island School library will become a member of RILINK. (Target date: September 1, 2002).
The Block Island School will purchase a multi-user circulation and cataloging system from the Follett Software Company. This system includes WebCollection Plus, BookWhere 2000, and 856Express Subscription Service. (Target date: September 1, 2002).
The school librarian will attend Circulation Plus and Catalog Plus product training, provided by the Follett Software Company. (Target date: September 15, 2002)
All card catalog records will be converted from print to machine-readable bibliographic records. (Target date: November 15, 2002).
Monitoring and Evaluation
How will the progress of the project be monitored during the year? How will the success of the project be determined? What outcomes are expected in terms of the LORI libraries and/or library users?
The library will be online with RILINK by September 1, 2002. PTA members and community volunteers have agreed to enter bibliographic records into the new system. Mrs. Tengwall will survey and verify records. It is anticipated that some records will need to be modified after initial entry, to ensure complete accuracy. Adding and maintaining accurate records will be continued throughout the year. Teachers and staff will receive orientation and training in the use of the new automated circulation system at a teacher orientation, scheduled for September 3, 2002.
In order to evaluate the impact of RILINK membership, the librarian will record the number of materials borrowed from other RILINK libraries, as well as the number of material sent to RILINK member schools. The librarian anticipates that access to a significantly larger number of materials through the RILINK consortium will improve the quality of students’ written assignments. She will request input from teachers regarding their impressions of the success of the program. (i.e. are students using more resources when writing papers? Has the quality of student’s schoolwork improved, as a whole, since the library joined RILINK? Are students receiving material in a timely fashion? Timing is of particular importance because books will be sent from the RILINK distribution center to the Westerly, RI airport for a twice- weekly delivery to Block Island via New England Airlines. The school will pay the freight charges.
Notes
1. Rhode Island Educational Media Association. School Library and Information Literacy Framework. www.ri.net/RIEMA/infolit.html (Accessed June 13, 2003).
2. Brown, Ronald. Connecting the Nation: Classrooms, Libraries and Health Care Organizations in the Information Age. United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Applications, National Telecommunications and Information Administration. http://www.ntia.doc.gov/connect.html (Accessed June 13, 2003).
3. Cooperating Library Automated Network (CLAN) http://www.clan.lib.ri.us/
| LSC 521 Public Library Service | Master of Library and Information Science Homepage |
|
Grant Files |