Is there a connection between World Libraries and Inquiry based teaching and learning? For sure! Many times, our inquiry is to look at other cultures or areas of expertise where we are not the experts. What better way to find the answers to these questions than to go right to the source. We had a good discussion in our little group about websites where you can connect with schools around the world. What better way to learn about a different culture than to talk to a student in that country? We also talked about a longer lasting relationship where our students become pen pals with another class and actually begin to build connections around the world. Another option would be to Skype with experts. Sure, not as good as having the person come to the classroom, but I am wondering if there would be an inclination for people to agree to Skype, or perhaps even just respond to a well informed email if a class were to make a request.
We also felt that world libraries could perhaps provide more up to date information than we may have access to in our school library. Let’s be honest, no one in a school library really has the budget to be completely comprehensive and current in all areas of the curriculum. Further to this, perhaps a good web quest could be a link between the question at hand and the larger world. We also thought that perhaps our experience in world libraries could help form our inquiry questions rather than only answer our inquiry questions.
Lastly, we were hoping that our libraries could also become a virtual learning commons, a part of the world libraries. This would be a place that our teachers could come to link to topics and resources as well as for our students. Perhaps we could also become a resource for others who are interested in what we are doing in the classroom, or to inform their studies about school and libraries in Canada. If we all share our information and our resources to the best of our abilities, then I think we are all contributing to the idea of world libraries at a grassroots level.
These are all great possibilities for using developing world libraries as a jumping off point to strengthen global relationships and build constellations of library collections. There is much work to do in this field, ascertaining how digital content will be managed within school library systems. I really like the idea of a global network of school library systems. What a treasure trove of information that would be!