Reflection Blog 2- Hyperlinked Environments

Hyperlinked environments refer to where innovation and connection work together to improve library services. All information grounds and library and information science grounds can be considered hyperlinked environments when they embrace the fundamental qualities of hyperlinked libraries. In this reflection blog, I will analyze the ways in which school libraries have embraced emerging technologies and trends to better support student library users. Specifically, Loertscher and Hamilton’s articles each explain how school libraries adapt and innovate according to the technological landscape around them and respect students’ learning styles and interests in the process. 

The article “Flip This Library: School Libraries Need a Revolution” outlines patron-focused adjustments’ impact on library functions. Dr. Loertscher explains that school libraries had become stale and more irrelevant to students’ interests which caused fewer students to utilize school library resources (2008). In order to remedy this, Loertscher explains that librarians must make a “180-flip” to incorporate more communication and connection between students with each other and with the school library staff (2008). This can be achieved by embracing technologies that encourage direct communication between students, like blogs, and by remarketing the library space as more than just a place for books, but a central meeting and instructional space (Loertscher, 2008). Buffy J. Hamilton reiterates Loertscher’s ideas by highlighting the impact new technologies have on participatory learning (2012). According to Hamilton, after adding a makerspace to her school library students interacted with the library more frequently and learned through experimentation and connection with one another. 

Overall, reading about school libraries as hyperlinked environments helped me understand how different information organizations can embrace the qualities of hyperlinked libraries through means most relevant to their mission and patron’s goals and desires. Reading about how Loertscher and Hamilton were able to revitalize school libraries by implementing emerging trends and technologies reminded me of the work I do on a youth services desk in a public library. While interacting with the children and teens who come into the library I learn more about their interests and what library resources they are genuinely interacting with. Based on this information I am able to adjust my support strategies to highlight the resources relevant to them and encourage them to form a connection with the library and learn in the process. 

References

Hamilton, B. (2012) Makerspaces, participatory learning, and libraries – the unquiet librarian. https://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2012/06/28/makerspaces-participatory-learning-and-libraries/ 

oertscher, D. (2008). Flip this library: School libraries need a revolution. https://www.slj.com/story/flip-this-library-school-libraries-need-a-revolution