Post 11 - First Day

I began my new job as a 7-12 school librarian today. I am quite overwhelmed with everything that I need to get accomplished over the next few weeks. In previous semesters I completed the school library classes where we focused on specific information for school libraries, such as advocacy, literature, management, curriculum design and integration, purchase, and other information for the school library. As I sat at work today, I tried to figure out how the core classes fit into my school library, and I have not found an answer yet, except that perhaps the school library program should have different core classes from academic library and archives students. These cores could focus on using systems such as Destiny from Follett for organization and material exchange or focus on educational technologies (which I know we do a lot of in Information Literacy)such as design of a web page for the library or wiki or using Google docs for educational purposes and setting up students for use. I have been given everything from the technology coordinator for my school. I know I have both a Mac lab and PC lab. I'm very comfortable with the PC lab, but I've never used a Mac before, perhaps this is something that a class on information and instructional technology could offer the school librarian. I feel like I am doing my students an injustice because I haven't used a Mac before, but I also now need to teach myself, which is hard to do with the amount of time I need to spend learning Destiny, purchasing, writing lesson plans, meeting with teachers, and so on, not including the clerical side of the school library because I do not have a clerk or aide; it's just me. I know that all of the information we have been learning in intro to technology and understanding is important to the overall profession, but it is not helping me currently in the school library, where I'm given the technology or access to specific databases; I don't have the choice that the knowledge and information taught proposes I do. I'm going to keep looking for connections between these core classes and my job, which might just be making suggestions to the technology coordinator about other options for technology and access to information.