As an educational media specialist thrust into that role too often, my
answer is NO, with a lengthy explanation, personal and otherwise, to
follow:
1. I didn't go to graduate school for my MLS to become a technology
coordinator but to become a school librarian, working with people,
materials, and equipment to provide the services in the media center for
the entire school. I didn't respond to an ad for a technology coordinator
position, I responded to one for educational media specialist.
2. I don't have the time to perform the above service AND coordinate
the technological efforts of the entire school as well, NOR do I have the
technical expertise in all the software and hardware used in the school to
perform the function helpfully.
* Perhaps at this point, I should say that my high school has about
1,850 students and 175 teachers plus others, and is one of five high
schools in a regional high school district. Each media center has two
media specialists, one concentrating on the print collection and the other
(me, in this case) concentrating on the nonprint collection, and one clerk.
In our Media Center, teachers are assigned duty at the Circulation Desk,
just as they are in the halls, etc., during most periods of the day, so
some help to distribute microfiche, SIRS articles, and magazines, as well
as monitor student traffic. The media specialists are responsible for
teaching people how to use the resources in the Media Centers, helping
people find what they need, and planning for future needs, among other
things.
The print person has become primarily responsible for our Novell network of
14 PCs through which run two forms of our electronic catalog plus around 12
CD-ROM resources, most running on MS-DOS, some running on MS-Windows 3.x;
and the addition of more CD-ROMs and PCs is ongoing. The nonprint person
is primarily responsible for the non-networked computers - 10 Macintoshes
that are used for word processing, educational games, multimedia
activities, and access to the WWW plus 1 PC hooked up to a 56 kbps line -
and the AV equipment circulated throughout the school from the Media
Center; and all of this, too, continues to increase in number and effort.
Neither media specialist received training during her MLS for working with
the computers or the AV equipment, so all knowledge gained has been
as-needed on the job plus some from workshops and conferences, and we are
considered the first line of fix-it when something goes wrong.
Classes (about 25 students) sign up to come to the Media Center, three
maximum per period. Additionally, students with medical excuses from PE
are sent to us, as are students who don't have a class that period. The
Media Center is full at about 100 students and staff, as teachers are
expected to stay with their classes, to be there to help their students
with the assignment they've given. *
3. Every time I'm called out of the Media Center to do something with
equipment somewhere else in the school, the other media specialist and the
clerk are expected to take up my functions in the Media Center plus carry
on with their own.
4. All of us who are dealing with computers in the school would love
to have a technology support person, someone full-time who is familiar with
both Macs and PCs and their respective platforms and can fix our software
and hardware problems plus install, maintain, and upgrade as appropriate;
someone responsible school-wide for the inventory of all computer and
computer-related equipment; someone who kepts up with technological
advances and changes and informs us when appropriate.
5. The media specialist "looks" like the logical person to coordinate
technology because he/she is centralized already in the school hierarchy
and is probably already working with technology, as are most department
supervisors at this point, however, whatever they may understand of it.
Generally, when I come across something that I know impacts more than just
the Media Center in terms of upgrades, etc., I alert the others in the
school whom I know to be also affected. There are times when I voluntarily
perform a "technology coordinator" task, as I perceive it, because I'm a
disseminator of information, an information specialist, and it's in my
nature to want to help others. This is part of the nature of library
services for me.
6. I've been thrust into the technology coordinator role because my
principal, who came to my high school at the same time as I, was accustomed
to the media specialist from his previous high school who a) had a student
assistant, b) loved working with computers, c) was paid after school to
repair them, and d) was responsible for coordinating the district's
computer repairs and given the budget in support of this, probably also for
extra pay. In other words, this media specialist was completely involved
with the computers in his high school, as well as at the district level, to
a certain extent.
7. The decision of a school/district to become computerized and
technologically involved brings with it the responsibility to provide
personnel who can support this direction responsibly and competently. Too
often, this doesn't occur; and what results is slipshod, hit-and-miss, and
a source of vast frustration and aggravation to all of who have been
directed to use the technology in the curriculum. It's the all-too-common
short-term view and "cheap" approach that costs everyone involved too much
in the long term.
8. A year ago February, when my principal told me what he expected me
to do building-wide, I started looking for another media specialist postion
elsewhere, as I did what he expected. This year, because of time and his
illness, the issue died down somewhat, and now he's leaving so I have a
chance to start anew with another principal. Meanwhile, the district has
addressed the issue of technological support and planning through a
technology committee, and someday we may have a support/coordinator person
at the district level, if not the building level. As long as district
administration and the school board don't see the need for specialized
personnel to handle the technology for those of us who are using it for
content, all of us in each of the high schools will have to do the best we
can. At what cost to the school community, I wonder?
Finally, the American School Library Association has published a book,
Information Power, that describes what may be expected in today's media
centers. I suggest that your group review this for a better understanding
of the media specialist's functions.
Susan L. Oates <oates@cybercomm.net>
* Educational Media Specialist *
* Marlboro High School, New Jersey, USA *
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* Check out the Marlboro High School Home Page: *
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* http://www.cybercomm.net/~marlboro/ *
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