Definition from the United Nations Archives and Records: International Standard ISO/TR15489-1, Clause 3.1
* Right, opportunity, means of finding, using or retrieving information.
Many people believe that we have a moral responsibility to share our educational riches with all students - especially those from developing countries by providing OPEN ACCESS to them. This is the model that Charles Best Secondary School Library has used.
This is the general approach of the great memory institutions of the world, who have not only shared their resources, but also have created amazing online access portals and eductional resources to match.
For example:
- ATLAS OF CANADA
- CANADA E-BOOK (yearbook)
- CANADIAN ENCYLOPEDIA
- CBC DIGITAL ARCHIVES
- DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY
- ARCHIVES & LIBRARIES
- CPAC
- STATISTICS CANADA LEARNING RESOURCES
Ironically, excessive amounts of information create new barriers to access for our students.
Teachers and teacher-librarians have new challenges in breaking them down for our students. The best way to do this is to integrate information literacy skills into lessons: for example effective search skills, how to use proprietory databases, and evaluate sites for quality and bias. Also, post online lesson "maps", develop classroom management skills anticipating student online behaviours, edit and adapt for students, and incorporate media literacy into lessons. Consider the ergonomics, aesthetics and efficiency of using print versus digital resources.
BARRIERS TO ACCESS
* ADDICTIONS AND DISTRACTIONS
* COMPUTER USE HASSLES
* DISORGANIZED INFORMATION
* DOT.COM & ADVERTISING
* INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLES
* INTIMIDATED USERS
* NO TIME
* PASSWORD PROTECTED SITES
* PILING ON MORE INFORMATION
* POOR SEARCH SKILLS
* SCREEN READING
* SHORT ATTENTION SPAN
* STRESS
* TOO MANY CHOICES
* USER MELTDOWN
TOOLS FOR DISSOLVING BARRIERS
* ADAPTED TEXT
* HUMAN SEARCH ENGINES
* INSTRUCTIONS MERGED WITH CONTENT
* KNOWLEDGE OF USER BEHAVIOURS
* LESS NOT MORE
* ONLINE TOPICS LISTS & INDEXES
* SELF-PUBLISHED PORTALS
* SIMPLIFIED COMMUNICATION
* TEACHER - LIBRARIANS
* THE SIMPLER SOURCE: PRINT OR DIGITAL
* TREES AND KEYS
* UNDERSTANDING COMPUTER BEHAVIOURS
* WWW MAPS WITHIN ASSIGNMENTS
