case study - cengageassets.cengage.com/pdf/cs_mel_grosspointe.pdf · 2014-04-17 · case study from...

Case study

From left: Karen Villegas, Media Specialist at Grosse Pointe North High School; Courtney McGuire, Media Specialist at Grosse Pointe South High School;

Carrie Conner, Media Specialist at Oxford High School

Michigan High school Media specialists Drive

MeL Usage and Student Success

Michigan High School Media Specialists Drive MeL Usage and Student Success

Learn more online at www.gale.cengage.com2

BaCkgroundGrosse Pointe North High School, Grosse Pointe South High School, and Oxford High

School are the top three users of Michigan eLibrary (MeL) resources for K12 schools

in the state of Michigan. Gale wanted to understand what was driving this usage and

find out why these Media Specialists were having such incredible success in integrating

library resources into their schools’ curricula. Interestingly, these Media Specialists,

although in 3 different schools, have similar approaches to bibliographic instruction,

managing resources, and teaching students how to conduct research. Integrating

MeL resources into the high school website, implementing a library curriculum, and

collaborating with teachers have all lead to improved bibliographic and research skills

among students.

LiBrariansKaren Villegas has been the Media Specialist at Grosse Pointe North High School since

1999. With a background in teaching K12 science, Karen brought a wealth of teaching

insight and experience when she started her role as Media Specialist.

Courtney McGuire has been the Media Specialist at Grosse Pointe South High School

since 2008. Courtney started out as a Social Studies teacher and transitioned into the

Media Center after going back to graduate school for her Library Science degree.

Carrie Conner has been Oxford High School’s Media Specialist since 2012. Carrie

began her career as a cancer researcher and transitioned into library science. Prior to

working at Oxford High School, she served as a Media Specialist and library director

at a high school in Virginia.

Bringing MeL HoMeAll three Media Specialists attribute their schools’ high MeL usage to the fact that they

have successfully integrated MeL resources into their schools’ respective home pages.

Students can easily find MeL resources seamlessly integrated into all three schools’ Media

Center home page. Carrie says “Before we had two sites where GVRL was located, one

was for MeL and one was for our school. I merged them into one page because I wanted

one-stop shopping for my students.” This blending of the MeL resources directly into

the library website is certainly the foundation for high MeL resource usage among these

three schools. But we also found that these Media Specialists have unique approaches

to integrating library resources into their schools’ respective curriculums.

Integrating

MeL resources

into the high

school website,

implementing a

library curriculum,

and collaborating

with teachers

have all lead

to improved

bibliographic and

research skills

among students.


LiBrary CurriCuLuM at grosse Pointe HigH sCHooLsA mandatory library curriculum at both Grosse Pointe North and Grosse Pointe

South is one reason why usage is so high among students. Students at Grosse Pointe

North and South are given a research skills project their freshman year and required

to properly research and cite resources through the library. This curriculum ensures

students graduate with a working knowledge of how to conduct proper bibliographic

research and are well equipped to handle research at the college level. Karen and

Courtney work closely with teachers in designing the project and ensuring students

receive proper bibliographic instruction. It is not uncommon to see an entire class in

Grosse Pointe North or South’s library researching topics or articles for a research

project. Karen takes a methodical approach to introducing students to proper research

skills. “We take it step by step. Finding the information, citing the information, using

in-text citations to build the students’ five paragraph essay which is a requirement of

the library curriculum,” says Karen.

As a result of students building research skills early on in their high school career, Grosse

Pointe teachers see a marked improvement in bibliographic skills as their students

progress through high school. Karen says, “The AP US History teacher approached me

and said, ‘I am so amazed that my kids know how to make a bibliography!’”

innovative sLiCes of ContentOxford High School has seen a great deal of change in the two years that Carrie has

been their Media Specialist. She has introduced innovative methods of providing

information access to students, including introducing students to GVRL through small

slices of related content. Carrie has found GVRL to be a popular resource among

students and will pull together related articles for a specific class so students can easily

access relevant content. For a Chemistry class at Oxford, Carrie pulled out five GVRL

articles on Acid Rain and linked to them from the library’s home page. Instead of just

providing a list of links, she used images and icons that linked to the original article in

GVRL. Carrie says “I try to make the links as visual and engaging as possible for the

students. When I use images and pictures I have found students are more likely to use

the resources I provide.” Carrie has noticed that once students are introduced to GVRL

they return to it often.

3

Carrie has

noticed that

once students

are introduced to

GVRL they return

to it often.



starting sMaLL Leads to Big resuLtsKaren believes in introducing students to library resources in small chunks. Karen

says, “When you give kids more than just a couple resources, they later think ‘I don’t

even remember where [the Media Specialist] said to go’ when seeking out resources.”

Karen believes that steering students towards specific, subject-oriented library resources

shows them how useful they can be. Karen gives an example of this approach in guiding

students taking Grosse Pointe North’s Power of Language course.

“One of the books they read in Power of Language is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

They have an assignment where they choose a person and then have to determine

whether or not that person is an ‘Outlier.’ That’s where we’re using Gale’s Biography in

Context. I tell kids ‘If someone’s not in Gale Biography in Context, will they really be an

Outlier?’” says Karen. Karen shows the students how quickly they can retrieve reliable,

subject-specific information when compared to open-web searches.

This successful integration of Biography in Context into Grosse Pointe North’s Power

of Language course is reflected in Grosse Pointe schools’ usage statistics. From 2011

to 2013, full text retrievals in Biography in Context have increased by 65% (Table 1).

taBLe 1: grosse Pointe schools: full text retrievals for Biography in Context by year

2013

2012

2011 9063

10611

14998

0 5000 10000 15000

From 2011 to 2013,

full text retrievals

in Biography in

Context have

increased by 65%.

65%


integration witH teaCHers is key to suCCessCarrie found success in the starting small approach through her collaboration with

teachers at Oxford. In her first year at Oxford she reached out to the Science department

because they were facing challenges with a new assessment that required research

and citation skills in students. Carrie solved this problem by collaborating with the

Chemistry Department on a chemistry paper and demonstrated the effectiveness of

GVRL and PowerSearch, a search tool that allows user to perform searches across

databases. Carrie says “We built from the step of students needing to find resources

to the next step of students needing to cite resources.” After the chemistry students

finished their first research paper, the classes returned to the Media Center to learn

citation skills. Carrie showed them how to properly cite resources, generate citations

from research databases and how to format citations in a paper. Word of Carrie’s

success spread to other departments at Oxford which led more teachers to seek her out

to help build research and citation skills with their students.

Carrie’s snowballing success has led her to work more with the Language Arts

Department. She has shown students and teachers the value of Opposing Viewpoints in

Context, and this is reflected in Oxford’s usage statistics (Table 2). Full text retrievals in

Opposing Viewpoints in Context have seen an increase of 325% from 2012 to 2013.

5

taBLe 2: oxford High school: full text retrievals for Opposing Viewpoints in Context by year

2013

2012 694

2951

0 1000 2000 3000

Word of

Carrie’s success

spread to other

departments at

Oxford which led

more teachers

to seek her out

to help build

research and

citation skills with

their students.



tooLs tHat drive usageSoon after becoming the Media Specialist at Oxford High School, Carrie began adding

Gale Widgets to the library’s home page. She attributes some of Oxford’s increased

usage to the integration of the widgets, and the statistics support her claim. In 2012 –

the year Carrie integrated the Gale Widgets – GVRL full text retrievals went from 2,036

in 2011 to 5,464. In 2013 they rose to 10,211 full text retrievals – a 402% increase

from 2011 (Table 3). In addition to Gale Widgets, Carrie includes the direct link to the

resource giving students a choice in how they want to navigate to the resource. Clearly

more Oxford students are finding their way to GVRL through Gale Widgets.

taBLe 3: oxford High school: gvrL full text retrievals by year

2013

2012

2011 2036

5464

10211

0 5000 10000 15000

In 2012 –

the year Carrie

integrated the

Gale Widgets

– GVRL full

text retrievals

increased by

402% over the

previous year.


Courtney uses the citation generator to compel students to use library databases at

Grosse Pointe South. She has found that showing students how much time and effort

can be saved by conducting research in Gale databases is a strong incentive. “I ask

them ‘Does anyone want to search for the publisher of the article? Or the date? Well

if you just scroll down to the bottom of the article, it’s all there for you.’ And they

say ‘That’s amazing!,’” says Courtney. She compares that to the effort required to

track down all of the necessary information when retrieving articles through a Google

search. Courtney also demonstrates to her students the value of curated subject areas in

Opposing Viewpoints in Context. She finds the subject areas extremely valuable when

students who are having trouble finding a paper topic approach her for help. “I always

tell students, the smart thing to do is to go to Opposing Viewpoints and play around.

Find something that interests you,” says Courtney.

ConCLusionIt is clear that Oxford High School, Grosse Pointe North High School and Grosse Pointe

South High School have had a great deal of success in integrating MeL resources into

their Media Centers. The success is largely driven by the relationships Carrie, Karen,

and Courtney have built with teachers and students at their respective schools. These

examples show that the key to driving usage is to solve problems and provide access to

resources wherever and whenever they are needed.

7

“I always tell students,

the smart thing to do

is to go to Opposing

Viewpoints and play

around. Find something

that interests you.”

Courtney McGuireMedia Specialist, Gross Pointe South High School

Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, software and services company,

empowering educators and driving learner engagement through personalized

services and course-driven digital solutions that bridge from the library to the

classroom. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world’s information and

education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by

students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best

known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types

of information needs – from homework help to health questions to business

profiles – in a variety of formats. www.gale.cengage.com

Copyright ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Source Code: 14M-AG0100

case study - cengageassets.cengage.com/pdf/cs_mel_grosspointe.pdf · 2014-04-17 · case study from...

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