HUNTERDON CENTRAL REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

We made numerous additions and modifications this year, such as LibGuides and Destiny (see New Program
Highlights), to improve both physical and intellectual access to information. The effect of these new resources
on our program goes beyond information retrieval and works toward improving each student’s ability to find,
assess, and use information. Joyce Valenza, a high school librarian in Pennsylvania, uses a very apt analogy;
she says that she wants her library to be a kitchen and not a supermarket. A library should not be a place with
organized objects for students to grab and go. To that end, the IMC is a place where learning and creating are
encouraged, guided, and showcased. Of course, we worked with the Information Systems Department to make
sure that our new tools and resources integrate seamlessly into the classroom:
The electronic resources, LibGuides and IMC site are hands down the BEST. The services that
you have allowed me to find articles on anything, get them all PDF'ed up and out to kids
paperlessly on Moodle. The databases make teaching controversial topics easier since they're
relatively unbiased and relatively balanced. ~Teacher
Lastly, as mentioned above, the IMC staff focused more on teaching Dr. Carol Kuhlthau’s Information Search
Process (ISP). This framework for research and the basis of guided inquiry should be made transparent to
students before they begin the research process. Unlike other processes, it includes not only the actions of
successful researchers for each stage but also the associated thoughts and feelings. In our first year of teaching
ISP as an explicit process, we can already see a difference for students and teachers as they discuss the impact it
has had upon their learning:
The entire IMC staff all took the time to sit down with me and discuss what my goals and
priorities were and how I could use the ISP to help me achieve them. ~Teacher
At first everything is going to seem very confusing and unclear, but like Carol Kuhlthau says
“we need to go through a period of uncertainty before we can earn clarity and a sense of
accomplishment!” ~Student
Hopefully, through more collaboration with teachers, ISP can become “the language” of research as we help
students to monitor and understand their own learning.
Information, Collection Development, and Circulation by the Numbers
2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011
Project Links Created 16 34 59
(LibGuides)
Total Circulation 15242 17895 15976*
Fiction 3437 5570 5358**
Short Story Collection 95 99 64
Graphic Novels N/A 1720 913
Memoirs Newly created category for 2010 and 2011 1394
Additions to the collection 1346 1928 1518
Donations 28 41 72
Interlibrary Loan 25 78 3
*Although we saw a decrease in total circulation this year, it is likely the result of fewer teachers
requiring books for projects and an increase in the purchase and use of our electronic resources.
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