#9 Internet

I chose www.teenspoint.org as a good example of a public library website aimed at teens. Some of its features are: book lists, reviews of books, movies, music & websites, upcoming programs of interest to teens, weekly opinion surveys and contests, links to homework help and to other areas of the library such as the OPAC as well as links to interesting external websites, information on wifi in the libraries, and online book renewal. Teens can also post their own book reviews, poetry, and essays on the site. It receives a good amount of traffic and is updated by staff and teen patrons regularly.

This is the teens' page of my own library system, so I didn't find it with a search engine. I was already familiar with it.

#8 Multimedia

Live indie teen band shows are held every month at the Central Branch Library in London, Ontario in support of local teen talent! This is a clip of selections from the first event. I love it when teens are given the opportunity to share their talents and passions!


http://youtube.com/watch?v=z9RSdRVDQ1A

#7 Social Networking - MySpace.com

I searched MySpace.com for pages having to do with teens in libraries and found quite a few. As I browsed through them I found that some were very slow in loading, one had a black background with red lettering which was difficult to read, and some had not been updated recently.

However, the Seattle Public Library Teens' page loads quickly, is easy on the eyes, updated frequently, is mainly written by teens, and has 509 friends so it seems pretty popular (I only have 12 friends on my page!). Here is the link to it: http://www.myspace.com/splteencenter

This is what they have to say about themselves: "We are the Teen Center Advisors for the Seattle Public Library. Our group is the first group of Teen Center Advisors and we consist of about 17 people, ranging in age from 14-18! If you have any questions feel free to ask them in our comment boxWe are the Teen Center Advisors for the Seattle Public Library. Our group is the first group of Teen Center Advisors and we consist of about 17 people, ranging in age from 14-18!"

And on their interest in music: "We like music, except for those of us who don't like music."

#6 Searching, searching, searching

A) Building block search in ASP

Search strategy: (teens OR teenagers OR adolescents) AND (public libraries OR libraries OR public library) AND (programs OR program OR events)

Retrieved 259 hits. The left side of the screen had "narrow results by subject" with suggested subject headings. When I narrowed the search by "Libraries & teenagers" I ended up with 28 hits. Here are the first few hits:

A Rock Band Tours the Libraries. Library Journal, 7/1/2007, Vol. 132 Issue 12, p13-13, 1/5p; (AN 25608097)Notes: This title is available at the TWU Library

JACKIE CORNETTE. (cover story) By: Berry, John N.. Library Journal, 3/1/2007, Vol. 132 Issue 4, p30-31, 2p, 1c; (AN 24231614)

MEANING FOR TEENS. American Libraries, Feb2007, Vol. 38 Issue 2, p48-48, 1/6p; (AN 24000851)

YALSA, Your Work Isn't Over. By: Kenney, Brian. School Library Journal, Feb2007, Vol. 53 Issue 2, p11-11, 1p, 1c; (AN 23962071)

Web, Library, and Teen Services 2.0. By: Bolan, Kimberly; Canada, Meg; Cullin, Rob. Young Adult Library Services, Winter2007, Vol. 5 Issue 2, p40-43, 4p; (AN 23585945

B) Successive fractions search in WorldCat

I was interested in finding resources that would give instruction or help on how to connect young adults with the library and make it an enjoyable experience for all involved.

I started the search with the term "libraries" and no limits. I got 954,871 hits !

The first hit was:
Library journal. Publication: New York, NY : Library Journal, 1976-
Document: English : Serial Publication : Periodical : Semimonthly (twice a month)

I added a term to my search (teens OR teenagers OR adolescents OR young adults). This time I got 2,493 hits

The first hit was:
School library journal : SLJ. Publication: New York : R.R. Bowker Co., Xerox Co., 1961-
Document: English : Serial Publication : Periodical : Monthly

Next I limited the search by selecting “more like this” and choosing the subject “young adults’ libraries. Retrieved 675 hits. School Library Journal was still the first hit.

Then I limited the search by selecting “more like this” and choosing the subject “young adults’ libraries. This retrieved 675 hits. School Library Journal still the 1st hit.

One of the hits looked particularly promising:
Connecting young adults and libraries :a how-to-do-it manual / Author: Jones, Patrick, 1961-
Publication: New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1998
Document: English : Book

I decided to add the term “handbooks OR manuals” to my search.This got my results down to 38 records. The first 3 were different editions of the same book. In browsing this list I liked several of the hits.

Connecting young adults and libraries :a how-to-do-it manual / Author: Jones, Patrick, 1961-
Publication: New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1998

Developing and promoting graphic novel collections / Author: Miller, Steve, 1969- Publication: New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2005

The basic young adult services handbook :a programming and training manual / Author: Wemett, Lisa C.
Publication: Albany, N.Y. : The Association, 1997

The Second young adult program guidebook /
Publication: New York, N.Y. : The Association, 1987

Finally, I sorted my results by descending publication date. The first hit was

Connecting with reluctant teen readers : tips, titles, and tools / Author: Jones, Patrick, 1961-; Hartman, Maureen L.; Taylor, Patricia, Publication: New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2006

Here are my favorite 3 hits of the more current results:

Developing and promoting graphic novel collections / Author: Miller, Steve, 1969- Publication: New York : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2005

Oh ya! :a manual for library staff who work with young adults /
Publication: [Columbus, OH] : Ohio Library Council, 2002

Youth participation for public and school libraries a training video / Author: Cart, Michael. Publication: [Willows, Calif.] : North State Cooperative Library System, 2002
Document: English : Visual Material : Videorecording : VHS tape

C) Browsing search in ERIC

First I entered libraries, teens, and issues as keywords just to get started so I'd have something to browse. I didn't get any hits, and the database suggested I use the "browse index" function. I browsed indexed terms and discovered "adolescents" was a much better term to use in ERIC than teens, teenagers, or young adults. I limited the initial search to 2000-2007. I got 3 hits. The first one was:

Profile of the Young Californian (Age Group 16 to 24): How Has It Changed Over the Last Three Decades? Access ERIC: FullText Author: Moller, Rosa Maria No. of Pages: 56 Source: California State Library

I proceeded to browse by looking at the 3 hits retrieved, selecting "more like this," clicking on subject heading links, and following any path that looked interesting. Here are some records that looked interesting to me.

Partners in Literacy: Schools and Libraries Building Communities through Technology Author: Cuban, Sondra; Cuban, Larry No. of Pages: 176 Source: Teachers College Press

What Happened to Me when the Police Came Knocking Author: Reutty, Michele Source: Computers in Libraries v27 n6 p11-12, 14-15 Jun 2007 (4 pages) Doc. Type: Article (EJ) In this article "Michele Reutty... narrates her experience--one that probably occurs with alarming regularity to professional librarians all over the United States: The police came knocking at her door--without proper documentation--and asking for information about a patron"

Public Library Service to Children and Teens: A Research Agenda. Author: Walter, Virginia A. Source: Library Trends v51 n4 p571-89 Spr 2003 Doc. Type: Article (EJ)

Connecting Young Adults and Libraries: Creating Raving Fans into the 21st Century. Author: Jones, Patrick Source: Orana: Journal of School and Children's Librarianship v36 n1 p24-28 Mar 2000 Doc. Type: Article (EJ)

How Are You Going To Get "RENT"? Author: King, Kevin A. R. Source: Voice of Youth Advocates v23 n3 p170-72 Aug 2000 Doc. Type: Article (EJ)

Los Angeles Public Library's TeenS'cape Takes on the "New Callousness." Author: Bernier, Anthony Source: Voice of Youth Advocates v23 n3 p180-81 Aug 2000 Doc. Type: Article (EJ)

D) Citation Pearl Growing Search in Dialog

I selected the Library and Information Science database to search and started with an article I’d found in a previous search: "Web, Library, and Teen Services 2.0" by Kimberly Bolan

The dialog descriptors attached to this article were:Web 2.0; Young adults' library services; Internet -- Public libraries; Microcomputers -- Children's use; Social networks

I took the descriptor "young adults' library services" as my next search term.
This gave me 1043 hits which was much more than I needed, so I stopped growing my pearl at that point.

The first hit was:
2/8/1 DIALOG(R)File 438:(c) 2007 The HW Wilson Co. All rts. reserv. 0480165 H.W. Wilson Record Number: BLIB07000244 A year of programs for teens Descriptors: Young adults' library services -- Activity projects
Library Lit. & Info. Science (Dialog® File 438): (c) 2007 The HW Wilson Co. All rights reserved.

Some of the descriptors attached to other hits were: Microcomputers -- Children's use; Social networks; Second Life (Web site); Young adults' library services -- North Carolina; Internet -- Public libraries;Young adults' library services -- Aims and objectives; Anime (Motion pictures) ; Podcasting.

#5. Tagging

Librarything.com tags for Bare Bones Young Adult Services: Tips for Public Library Generalists by Renee Vaillancourt

2004(1) adult nonfiction(1) collection development(1) libraries(1) library(1) Library Science(3) non-fiction(1) programming(1) public libraries(1) read(1) space planning(1) teen(1) teens services(1) teentrax(1) young adult services(2) Young Adults(1) youth services(1)

I chose Bare Bones Young Adult Services because I had read some of it for a project in another class, and I am a public library generalist right now. It also had more tags than the other titles I looked at.

Here is a link to this title and it's tag cloud on librarything.com: http://www.librarything.com/work/1899293

#4 RSS Feed

I chose an RSS feed from the Tacoma Public Library which lists new teen graphic novels that the library has acquired. A new list is produced monthly. The current feed is for September, 2007. Patrons can subscribe to this feed to keep up with new arrivals of graphic novels for teens.

#3: Podcast

"The Cheshire Public Library Podcast is a teen-driven cultural magazine featuring teen writers, musicians, reviewers, commentators, and more." (quote from their website)
http://www.cheshirelib.org/teens/cplpodcast.htm

I selected this podcast because the all the content was generated by teens in grades 9-12, and it was interesting and enjoyable to listen to. I listened to episode 13 which contained the Hartford Public High School Poets doing a group poetry performance, strange and humorous news items, a girl reading a short story that she wrote, and the teen hosts plugging library programs. I think the Cheshire Public Library succeeded in creating a project that their teen patrons really got involved in and felt was their own. I've forwarded the podcast to my own library's youth services director.

To find this podcast I searched using the 3 podcast search engines provided by Dr. Akin, but did not find much. I turned to google.com and put "library wiki podcast teens" in the search box. That took me to this list of podcasts created through partnerships between public libraries and teenagers. http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Podcasts_%26_Teens I chose the CPL Podcast from this list.