LIS 525: School Library Center Practicum

Colleen Johnson LIS 525: School Library Center Practicum Fall 2007 Sue Janczak

Writing/Research Reflection

For the writing/research section of my portfolio, I selected two artifacts that demonstrate my writing skills and research abilities. The first artifact is a research paper that I wrote in LIS 532: Curriculum Role of the Media Specialist on the topic of differentiated instruction and the school library media specialist’s role in differentiating instruction. The second artifact is an electronic pathfinder on global warming that I created in LIS 518: Reference Sources and Services.

In writing the research paper on differentiated instruction for LIS 532, I not only learned a great deal about the topic of differentiated instruction and the role of the librarian in differentiating instruction, but I was able to develop my writing skills, as the topic was quite comprehensive. With so much information to work with, it was a challenge to know where to begin or what information to include. I had to determine what was pertinent to include in my paper; therefore, I included a variety of perspectives from teachers and leaders in the field who have experience differentiating instruction and have written scholarly information on the topic. Also, in writing this research paper I learned that there must be a balance between the information you are citing, versus your own analysis of that information. I was careful not to cram my paper with facts, but to insert my interpretations and reflections of the information I was citing as well.

The assignment also helped strengthen my research abilities; while locating research on the topic of differentiated instruction was not a challenge, it was more 2 difficult to find research on the role of librarians in differentiated instruction, as the information has not been as well-documented. To find this information, I had to approach the research process from a different angle. Instead of searching solely for the term

“differentiated instruction,” I had to sift through research that I had found which focused more broadly on the effects of librarians in student achievement, or how librarians can assist in the success of different learners…etc. In other words, this part of the research process it was not as straight-forward as finding information on a defined topic, like differentiated instruction. Having to partake in a more challenging investigative role helped to strengthen my research abilities. Although it was more of a challenge, I believe that my writing and research skills are more developed as a result of this assignment.

In this research paper, I used a wide-variety of sources: articles from the

University of Buffalo’s online databases like WilsonWeb database and ERIC database, online articles from Scholastic Online and books written by leading advocates for differentiated instruction, such as Carol A. Tomlinson and Tracy Hall. I properly cited my sources in-text and at the end of the paper on the works cited page, demonstrating my ability to follow the proper MLA writing style for references and citations. In the writing process, I made a conscious effort to include an appropriate balance between facts and analysis. I also revised my paper several times to rework transitions and conclusion paragraphs, and asked others to read my paper for clarity and overall comprehension. My concerted efforts throughout the writing/research process illustrates my ability to create a well-written research paper that demonstrates proper writing and research techniques.

The second artifact that I included in my portfolio is an electronic pathfinder that I created in LIS 518: Reference Services and Sources. This project spanned the entire 3 semester; we chose our pathfinder topic—which could be any topic of interest— at the beginning of the semester and proceeded to locate sources on that topic as we learned about the different reference services: encyclopedias, bibliographies, abstracts and indexes, journals, Internet sites…etc. This assignment forced us to use reference sources that we were unfamiliar with, in an obvious effort to strengthen our knowledge with those services. For example, prior to this assignment I had never used abstracts; therefore, it was a struggle for me to incorporate this source into my pathfinder, as I had never used it myself. I spent a good deal of time looking at various abstracts to familiarize myself with how they are used and what purpose they serve. I did this for each of the different sources we had to include in our pathfinder, which helped reinforce my knowledge and understanding with each of the different reference sources.

A pathfinder is an item that contains a variety of sources on any given topic, used to assist people in locating information. In successfully making this pathfinder on global warming, which includes both print and non-print resources, I am demonstrating my ability to research a topic and then compile and organize a variety of information resources into one user-friendly format. In addition to demonstrating my research abilities, this pathfinder also illustrates my web-design skills, as I created this electronic pathfinder using Macromedia Dreamweaver. In our technology-driven world, people often seek assistance from the Internet first. Therefore, creating a pathfinder that could be easily accessed electronically seemed appropriate. The electronic pathfinder is also easy to navigate; since several of the sources are electronic resources, the pathfinder can lead users to the source with one click. This electronic pathfinder is not only a demonstration of my research abilities but my web-design skills as well. 4