Report on P.L. Duffy Website

Abstract

Report on Proposal for
P.L. Duffy Resource Centre Trinity College Website

1.Rationale

We are all aware of the possibilities of the enormous amounts of material available on the Internet. The huge quantity of sites available are daunting rather than encouraging to a student first faced with the vagaries of the World Wide Web It is very apparent that many find the quantity of material available on the web overwhelming. Anyone who has gone to Google, Yahoo or even an Australian search engine like Goeureka, typed in one word and been faced with millions of hits has faced with the sheer immensity of the Internet However; the main difficulty with this plethora of information is the enormous variety in quality of material that is available Many waste much time searching for appropriate sites that are on the correct subject, have appropriate information and are at the right level. There is a necessity to provide a roadmap to assist students find their way through the maze on the ÆInternet Superhighway. To alleviate this problem, I have decided to construct a library website.

The search engines are developing better selection methods to make their retrieval more useful, but the amount of information recovered is still overwhelming. Both students and staff find the task of obtaining relevant material very time consuming. While students don't often mind this time loss, staff resent it, and students ultimately realise they do not have the information to assist them.

Some staff members may initially see the creation of the website as "spoon feeding" the students. However, in a print library we don't just pile the books in a heap on the floor. We don't call providing a library catalogue as Æspoon feedingî The Æroadmapî of the website will merely be pointing students in the right direction. If I was to merely provide one or two sites on a topic, then this might be considered "spoon feeding". My aim is to provide a number of sites, just as we would offer a number of books.

The main aim is to provide access to a wide variety of high quality information in all kinds of areas to support the curriculum and the teachers as much as possible. No library has the funds to provide access to a wide range of hard copy resources in all the possible areas students and teachers would choose to research. The Internet may provide the opportunity to do this, at least to a limited extent.û My expertise, shared by many librarians, gathered over a number of years enables me to choose material that will be of use to staff and students. The skills of selection we apply in choosing books and magazines are appropriate in selecting web sites. The question we ask about quality and relevance apply in the same way. The medium may be different but the quality of the message is still an issue in selection.

It is envisioned that the assistance of this selection will give the maximum amount of choice with the greatest amount of support for the teaching and learning programmes. The website will try not limit the choices of the students. It will provide a number of sites on each topic, ranging from introductory to academic. The range of opinions will also attempt to be as varied as possible. Especially in areas where viewpoints differ, I will attempt to provide a wide variety of opinions to allow students to examine.

The website, will necessarily, be as accessible and usable as possible. The resource is only worthwhile if students and staff find it easy to use and can access the site and navigate it with ease.

2. Methodology

I will use FrontPage to create my website. There are many different website creation tools, many easy to use for new creators of web sites. FrontPage is available at my school with the Office software, and this is the case with many schools. It is a tool that enables planning of the structure of the site beforehand, and it is able to be changed easily as needs change. It is relatively easy to use and integrates easily with ubiquitous Microsoft products.

I will plan a site where every learning area is covered and has its own folder and subsections have subfolders. This will allow for expansion as further assignments are added. I will keep file names short and without spaces or special characters as this will make the site easy to read in all kinds of browsers.

To create a website reflective of the needs of the school both staff and students I will arrange for teachers inform me of programs, topics and assignments at least a week before they bring students to library and computer labs. I will provide forms with spaces for appropriate information, so that teachers can give me enough background to choose sites intelligently. I need to know the topic, its focus, the subject area, the year level, the time allocated for research and production of the assignment.

I will search for appropriate sites. This will require using search engines intelligently. Search engines are useful but there is a need to learn the peculiarities, strengths and weaknesses of each one to use them appropriately. An Access database of Australian sites has been prepared to aid in this process Australian Search Database.Educational sites and specific subject areas sites that review other websites are useful Educational, computing and other journals regularly review sites of use to students and can provide good suggestions A knowledge of the Æinvisibleî web is necessary to aid in finding appropriate sites. Normal search engines do not find the contents of databases or Adobe pdf files which are of great benefit to students and teachers alike.

I will apply specific criteria to examine the sites as I find them to assess whether they are of use to the students or staff. As with print material the sites have to be useful to our purposes as well as of good quality.

I will add a webpage with a number of appropriate links for each assignment. I will need to decide on criteria for the suitability of each link, and to apply that as consistently as possible. I will be linking each page to a general page for each subject area and link it other subject areas if it seems appropriate.

I will need to evaluate the usefulness of the site and the amount of use of the site. This evaluation will need to be ongoing and continuous.

A PowerPoint slide show prepared for a workshop summarises this process Saving Time

2.1. Presentation Style

My main focus will be on creating a Web site that organises the links coherently with easy navigation so that both student and teacher can find what they need quickly. I will add site maps and a search facility to assist with this. I will use large fonts, few illustrations and a simple format to make it relatively uncluttered. I will try to make the pages visually attractive without slowing them down too much. The priority will be for each page to load quickly and provide information as easily as possible.

I will aim to make the website as accessible as possible to as many browser platforms as possible, as wide a range of screen and colour resolutions as is practicable. For the most part I will add links to tables, as they are easy to navigate and read. Some earlier version browsers cannot handle tables but it is the best way to make the presentation easy. I will try to make the code as uncluttered as possible (realising that FrontPage is not as useful in this capacity as some others). I will try to learn as much as possible about webpage design so that the site will be as error free as attainable. I will endeavour to keep the links up-to-date, although as the site grows this will become more difficult.

I have decided not to have much editorialising. Unlike many my comments will be minimal so the user can make their own decisions. The books on my library shelves do not come with my commentary on the cover. I have decided not to add comments except when absolutely necessary.

2.2. Criteria for Choice of Links

2.2.1.   

>Content Criteria

2.2.1.1.        

>Geographical Bias

The Internet is very culturally biased with the great majority of sites emanating from the United States of America. For this reason, as we are in Western Australia, although local sites are often more difficult to locate I will try, in most instances, to include first Western Australian, then Australian sites so the information is relevant to the students.

This requirement makes finding sites especially difficult. Most of the Internet is dominated by the Unites States; in sheer numbers websites from there dominate the web. Australian and Western Australian sites are much fewer and therefore much harder to find. Nevertheless the number is growing and in most areas of discussion there are some available.

As we are also one of the most isolated cities in the world I will also try to include sites from around the world. In some cases, a site in another language may be the only helpful one. Now this is less of a problem than it would have been. With the advent of a number of translation sites like AltaVista's Babel fish site we can read and access sites in a number (not all, of course!)û of different languagesû Now, we can enter a url of a site and have it translated. Or we can enter straight text to do the same.

û

2.2.1.2.        

>Variety

I will endeavour to include as wide a range of sites as possible, allowing for different reading competency levels, different learning styles and different abilities. I would, finances allowing, have many books on every topic that students study in the library. With the Internet, we can have this range of topics covered at a surprising breadth and depth at a somewhat lesser cost. I will try to include a wide range of information from many different points of view. This means the students can examine diverse opinions and begin to develop critical thinking skills. A lot of the pages will have links to specific webquests so that the students can follow them if they wish.

Sometimes this search for variety may be at odds with the criteria of quality. In trying to balance the need to provide a range of viewpoints on a topic, it may be necessary to include sites that are not of the highest quality, so that all perspectives are expressed. If the quality gap is too wide then the stance may not be well served. Nevertheless, I will err on the side of variety if necessary.

Similarly, some viewpoints may not be representative of the school mainstream thinking but in the interests of providing material for discussion may still be included.

2.2.1.3.        

>Evaluation

I will try to choose website links based on the following criteria, weighing this with the aim of variety.

2.2.1.3.1.             

>Accuracy

2.2.1.3.2.             

>Authority

This is one of the most difficult areas to confirm. Many websites provide little or no information on the author and some authorisations prove spurious on further analysis. It is definitely a step in the right direction if there is an author cited. I will try to choose sites where there are credentials are clear and reliable source organizations are acknowledged and organization loyalty is clearly cited. This is not always foolproof. Universities sometimes host websites that have no actual academic standing at all. It is a good sign if there is an address that is contactable outside the Internet provided

2.2.1.3.3.             

>Objectivity

When I first began my teacher training our lecturers said we had to be objective when teaching. They spoke of keeping our personal feelings hidden and merely presenting the facts. This stance was and is untenable. No one is really objective. Their viewpoint on the world colours what they say, how they say it and what they present. In choosing websites I will choose sites that where the bias is clear and acknowledged. Where, if commercial, the dependency is stated; if academic which institution is involved; if related to any group or affiliation that is clear.

When dealing with advertising the situation is more problematical. A commercial site must advertise its product. A genealogy site may advertise gedcom software, a music site favourite player software. When choosing sites for students especially I will try to choose sites where the relationship with the advertising is clear and acknowledged.

2.2.1.3.4.             

>Currency

One of the major benefits of the web is access to current information. It is obviously of much more use if the page appears to be up-dated regularly. This is not a hard and fast rule, of course. On-line classics will not change, but is more relevant than you would think even in areas like history where research constantly changes our view of the past. It is especially relevant in areas like current affairs. I will choose sites where the page is dated clearly, where the information is up-to date.

Links also need to work. The usefulness of any links provided in dependent whether they work. If these are not updated then the page may be out-of-date as well despite any dating provided

2.2.1.3.5.             

>Coverage/Purpose

The first issue of coverage is subject matter of use to the students in their particular assignments. Many sites may cover the topic in question, but to be added to our site they have to be relevant to assignment under discussion, and suitable for the year level that is studying it. There is so much on the Internet. I am not trying to catalogue it all, but merely find sites appropriate for our students and teachers in their tasks.

When evaluating sites those of more value are ones where the purpose and coverage of the site is clear. It does not matter whether the site appears to be comprehensive or on one small area. If it is clear what the aim of the site is and if it achieves that aim then it will be valuable. A major university site may aim provide a comprehensive coverage of World War Two; a small storytelling organization may try to supply resources for beginning tellers. Both may be valuable if they achieve their task well

3. Areas of Coverage

3.1.Curriculum Areas

The main section will be links to sites in various curriculum or learning. I will organise the Learning Areas

Arts (including Art and Music)

Communications (including English. Media, Italian and Indonesian

Mathematics

Science (including Biology, Chemistry, Human Biology and Physics)

Studies of Society and Environment (including Economics, Geography and History)

Technology and Enterprise (including Computing, Business, Materials and Technology)

Religious Education

Work Studies

3.2.Contemporary Issues

I will create pages of links that deal with controversial and contemporary issues as they are discussed in Religious Education, English, Science, Studies of Society and Environment etc. As these topics cross curriculum areas I will not place them in particular Learning Areas but I will place them in a separate subdivision In this section I will also add pages of links to support the debating teams as they deal with various topics.

3.3.Australian Aboriginal People

I will create a cluster of sites bringing together information about our indigenous population and discussing issues that are of interest across the curriculum in this area. I will develop this in consultation with the Aboriginal Education Officer.

3.4.Reference and General Information

I will add links to encyclopaedias, dictionaries, atlases, on-line journals and other such reference material available on the web

3.5.Study Skills and Research Methods

Information and tutorials on methods of study and research skills will be added, as this is an area where there has been much discussion from staff. Included will also be information about copyright, citation and referencing methods

3.6.Computer and Information Technology

Pages of links dealing with the Internet, Internet searching, search engines and tutorials on word processing, spreadsheets and database will be added, as this kind of information can be accessed and used as needed. Links to web page design and evaluation will also be necessary.

3.7.Special Interests

English as a Second Language links will be added, as will links to assist Gifted and Talented students, as both these groups need specialised assistance.

3.8.Pastoral Care

I will create a site, with advice from the guidance officer, to provide information that students may wish to investigate, but would wish to do on their own. Topics in this area would be suicide, drugs, domestic violence and other areas of this nature.

3.9.Primary

I will develop links to assist primary students in their studies as well. This will be a smaller area as students here have more limited access to computers and consequently less skills and use.

3.10.Recreation

It will also be necessary for there to be areas of recreational interest for students, so pages of links to sport, music, movies, books, web cams around the world and trivia will be added.

3.11. Teachers

3.11.1. General Education lesson plans and resources

Pages will be added leading to sites with lesson plans and teaching resources of a general nature, professional organizations, educational journals, listservs, webquests and other on-line assignments and collaborative resources like e-mail and video conferencing.

Rosemary Horton

M.Sc; B.A. (Hons) Grad Dip Ed; Grad Dip Lib; Grad Dip Women's Studs

Updated

March 7, 2006

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