Middle Tennessee State University

    Murfreesboro, Tn 37132

    M.Ed. in ADSU, concentration in Library Science

    Comprehensive Exam Questions
    You will be asked to write on two to three of the following questions.

    You will have three hours and bluebooks will be provided for you.

    Note: a list of resources is not required. Cite sources by author and date within the text.

    Tips and Directions:

  • Each question is answered in its own bluebook

  • On the front of each bluebook  include the question number and the short title that is provided

  • On the front of each bluebook, include your name

  • Writing style is graded as well as content.  Crossouts and other errors count against your scoring

  •  You may use the back or covers of the bluebooks to make notes/outline etc.

  •  Use sources, but see note at top

  • Information Power and Standards for 21st Century Learners are expected sources

  • All answers will include accommodation for students of differing learning abilities.

  • Please write in ink, not pencil

Leadership

Please outline the topics for an in-service (to district principals) on Information Literacy. Expand each topic and provide a storyboard for the PowerPoint presentation that you will use for the in-service. Include one of the process models to teach information literacy skills. Include Information Power principles and library skills. Remember: principals are interested in bottom line influences on academic achievement. Citation of research will be vital.  
Read the enclosed article and write on these ideas
  1. If the word "Librarian" is substituted for "Principal" in this article, what meaning does it have for you?
  2. Identify which ideas in the article apply to librarianship, how you think they apply, and why you think they are applicable to the profession.
  3. Choose four of the seven goals numbered in the article. Identify specific programs or strategies that you would use to achieve these goals, as they would pertain to a library.
    4.
No Child Left Behind emphasizes measurable student progress. What role do school librarians have in meeting the requirements of NCLB? How will school librarians prove that the library program contributes to attainment of achievement goals? (A summary of NCLB is included in the packet)

1)     Discuss these censorship issues:

 

  1. What are the pressures that cause school librarians, teachers, and administrators to censor materials?

  2. What can be done to promote intellectual freedom, even on the elementary level?

  3. What is the relationship between your selection policy and censorship?

  4. What role do parents play in the selection process for materials housed in the school library?

  5. Outline a procedure to deal with a material challenge.

  6. What are the necessary elements in a defense rationale for an item that has been challenged?

 

Program Administration
Compare and contrast school libraries, public libraries, academic libraries, and special libraries. Include characteristics, clientele, funding sources, services, collection, personnel and their qualifications, the size of the library, current issues (if any), etc.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of class visits to the library (fixed schedule, flexible, or combination)? How might principals and teachers weigh these advantages and disadvantages? Discuss the perspective from different school levels (elementary, middle school, high school). Provide support for flexible scheduling and explain the reasoning behind this support (Information Power, 1998 should be cited).
Discuss the differences between a public library and a 9-12 school library. Your discussion should address these aspects:
  1. User services include circulation and reference
  2. Collection Management include processing and selection
  3. Censorship of digital, print, non-print formats

Teaching

All answers must reflect accommodation for students of differing learning abilities.
Reading fluency is most affected by extensive reading. Knowing this, discuss a program that will attract and influence teenagers to keep on reading after elementary school. What types of materials and sources will you provide? What kind of programs will you provide? From whom can you seek help? Specific IP principles, experts, authors, and teen-friendly materials (all media) should be cited. What proof can you provide that the program will work?
How do you teach information ethics to a group of teachers, administrators, and high school students who are used to taking anything they want from the internet?
 

You started using Accelerated Reader about 10 years ago at the elementary school while you were the librarian there.  You moved to the high school 5 years ago and we are just now beginning to use the program at the high school level.  So far, only the sophomore and freshmen English teachers have shown any interest at all in using AR.

 

How do you plan to use it in the library program?

 

 

Technology

Thoroughly examine the issue of print media versus electronic media in the high school library. Consider that some print reference items are being replaced by electronic versions and the print editions will no longer be available. All aspects should be covered such as cost, use, access, technical support, etc. Both sides of the issue should be presented and supported logically.
Discuss the issues that would need to be addressed before you could institute the use of mp3 players (iPods) in the library as a delivery tool for teaching ESL students.  (Address these issues : Cost, maintenance, storage, software, copyright, student behavior, integration into which curriculum areas, etc.)

Case studies

All answers must include accommodation for students of differing learning abilities.
You have just been hired at John Jay High School in a rural district. There are 1543 students. You will be the only SLIS with a full-time aide. There are 10 items per student in the library (8 books per student, the other materials are videos and software). The reference area is especially out of date since computers were bought in the previous two years to provide Internet reference rather than print reference. The reference collection is included in the online catalog.
  1. Explain what you would do to evaluate the reference collection and update it. Provide specific books that you would purchase and why you would think those are important priorities.
  2. List five activities that you would implement in the first year. Explain why these five are top priority.
  3. How would you use the technology and software that you have now to aid student learning? How would you involve the teachers in this?

 
Your grades 9-12 library has Internet access throughout the school and all computers are filtered. You would like the library computers to be unfiltered so that access to all scientific material is available. Please write a request for the unfaltering. This requests must be approved by the PTO, your principal, and the school board so all bodies will see this request. All positives and negatives should be addressed. Include solutions to possible problems, details of physical arrangements, software considerations, etc.
A grant has placed five new computers in your K-5 library along with high-speed Internet connections and a web-based OPAC. You have three years to fully integrate the use of these tools into the school’s curriculum, meaning that all students and teachers will use them to supplement and complement their lessons. The following conditions are in place: you have a supportive principal; grades K-2 (300 students) are on a fixed library schedule; grades 3-5 (310 students) have a flexible schedule; you have a full-time aide.
  1. Outline month-by-month (Aug-July) your first-year plan for the library program to accomplish this integration
  2. Include Information literacy skills
  3. Use Information Power principles as support for your decisions
  4. Identify possible obstacles and your approach to overcoming them

 

After eleven years in a middle school science position, you will than be transferring to an elementary librarian position. 

What will you do??? You will have grades 1-5 for 40 minutes once a week and K for 20 minutes once a week. Address the following in your answer: 

  1. Lesson planning and collaboration procedures
  2. Scheduling for a fixed schedule
  3. Favorite websites & how you use to plan them
  4. A list of the  professional journals you will use and why you chose them
  5. Professional organizations for librarians that you will join
  6. How you will incorporate the use of technology (computers) within your library lessons.
  7. Use of AR in the library program
  8. Collection management issues
 
You are the first librarian in a school that has had a library with no supervision. You find books on the shelves and in boxes. The books are in no recognizable pattern. There is a card catalog, but no shelf list. 20 years of periodicals remain in the back room, unbound. There are numerous "illegal" videos. How will you handle the problem of organizing the library into a workable unit of the school? Only include organizational plans, not program plans. Provide an outline of steps that you will take to organize the library. Label each step with a priority code of 1-5 (1 highest, 5 lowest) and a time frame (e.g. 1 mo out, 1 yr out, 5 yrs out, etc.)

 

Interview Questions

    Choose 6 of these and write an answer as if you had been asked the question during an interview. Remember, interviews are oral and answers should be clear and concise.  Number each one that you choose with the same number as the list.

    1. What approach do you take in getting your people to accept your ideas or department goals?

    2. How will you raise teachers' expectations of and encourage teacher input on what the school library media program can do to facilitate and enhance teaching and learning.

    3. Which of these is more important as a goal for you:

      •  Encourage students to become information literate, independent learners, and socially responsible in their use of information and information technology.

      •  Encourage and engage students in reading, writing, viewing, and listening for understanding and enjoyment.

    4. Name two books you have read within the past two months and describe one of them as though you were recommending it to a patron to read. Why would they want to read it?

    5. What qualities do you think we should look for in a prospective school librarian?

    6.  Picture this: It is 3:00 PM (Thursday) and school will dismiss in 15 minutes.  You are the only librarian and the following are waiting for help. In what order would you answer them and why?

      • A 4th grader with a homework assignment
      • A trivia question; the contest is on now for the 5th grade.
      • A 3rd grader who has just read the last Harry Potter book and wants a recommendation for a similar book.
      • A teacher wanting advice on materials for a unit that starts next week.
      • The principal waiting on the telephone.

    7.  What are your strengths and weaknesses as a librarian?

    8.  Describe the most significant achievement or written project/presentation/report which you have had to complete. Why do you think it is so significant?

     

 

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08/11/2009  Library Science kbp