Surprisingly, second and third graders in information literacy classes love searching the online library catalog for books. Even the more restless students listen carefully when we talk about ways to look for the titles, authors, subjects, and series they want. They love the idea that a keyword search of just two words brings up the book title they were hoping to find. They challenge themselves to locate books with the fewest search terms...and then beg me for free time the next class session so they can search the online catalog some more. It is like a puzzle game for them, and the relevance to real-world experiences is enormous.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Searching the Catalog
Surprisingly, second and third graders in information literacy classes love searching the online library catalog for books. Even the more restless students listen carefully when we talk about ways to look for the titles, authors, subjects, and series they want. They love the idea that a keyword search of just two words brings up the book title they were hoping to find. They challenge themselves to locate books with the fewest search terms...and then beg me for free time the next class session so they can search the online catalog some more. It is like a puzzle game for them, and the relevance to real-world experiences is enormous.
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This is great to know - I wish I had one of those original card catalogues tho.
ReplyDeleteMy mom found it from her church library. Alas, it is not filled with catalog cards but our placemats, carefully rolled for the next use. Check with school districts, Sharon. I got a second one that way.
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