NEW BOOK PACKED WITH TOOLS TO HELP SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIANS EVALUATE AND DELIVER REFERENCE SERVICES FOR YOUTH Wednesday, Feb 2 2011
Books and Forthcoming Titles and General Announcements and Press Releases 12:25 pm
February 2, 2011 (New York, NY) — Today’s children and young adults have an unprecedented number of ways to access information. But with so many resources available, they need the right guidance to ensure that they are researching productively. Reference Sources and Services for Youth, to be published by Neal-Schuman Publishers on March 31, 2011, will give public and school librarians essential tools to provide reference services and collections for children and youth.
Meghan Harper, an LIS professor who has taught numerous courses on reference sources and services for youth, provides valuable tools for aiding the research process for K-12 students in this user-friendly book. She begins with a historical overview of children’s services in school and public libraries and reviews the national school library standards and reference services generally available to school and public libraries. She introduces the concept of developmentally appropriate practice and describes the “40 Developmental Assets” in library environments. She then looks at communication in reference services, focusing on active listening and non-verbal literacy skills, before examining the organization of information and how it relates to the development of information literacy skills. Harper also explores such topics as working with children with special needs, government resources, and strategies for effectively using online research tools with youth. Next, she describes evaluative measures and best practices for conducting evaluations of reference sources. She concludes by outlining management principles and looking at the future of reference in school and public libraries. Each chapter opens with a practical demonstration with Harper describing a short, real-life scenario of a librarian applying these new skills . She also provides an outline of the chapter content, examples, sidebars and figures featuring Internet resources for librarians and key terms, charts, and exercises. Harper rounds out her book by defining core reference collections that include almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, fact books, thesauri, encyclopedias, and other essential resources divided into elementary, middle, and secondary age groups.
Thorough and accessible, Reference Sources and Services for Youth is an essential book for school and youth services librarians, as well as reference librarians and paraprofessionals working in children’s and young adult services. Professors and instructors will find it useful as a textbook for library and information studies courses.
Reference Sources and Services for Youth
ISBN: 978-1-55570-641-8.
2011 | 6 x 9 | 250 pp. | $65.00
About the Author
Meghan Harper is a professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. She has published several articles in the area of library facility design, correlating library materials to academic content standards, collection development in congregational libraries and on selection and evaluation of audiovisual materials. She has also been a columnist for School Library Monthly magazine.
About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Neal-Schuman Publishers is a leading publisher of professional books for librarians, archivists and knowledge managers. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City, with offices in London, UK.
For More Information and/or Cover Art
Contact Laura Berlinsky-Schine
laura.berlinsky-Schine@neal-schuman.com
100 William Street, Suite 2004
New York, NY 10038
212-925-8650
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