AHA Blog: AHA Librarian Facilitates Distance Learning

Posted by AHA Librarian Catherine Korvin

Hello everyone! It’s Mrs. Korvin. Despite the coronavirus crisis causing the doors of the AHA library to be closed temporarily, I continue to consult online to sustain our library services.

I have been busy answering students’ questions about what resources to use for classes and what criteria to apply in their selections. I am also teaching Modern Language Association formatting, correcting numerous works cited pages, and sharing newly available digital content with students and staff. By “attending” the virtual Curriculum Committee meetings, I am keeping abreast of the school curriculum.

Additionally, I stay in touch with publishers and other high school librarians via email, electronic discussion lists, blogs, and social media. To my great appreciation, publishers and database vendors are making numerous free resources available. This has helped us enrich our offering of reliable sources. I update the library’s PowerSchool page regularly, especially the subject guides, pathfinders, and databases and e-book listings. Our digital resources continue to fill our needs.

I recently finished my cycle of information literacy sessions, introducing Mrs. Delasandro’s computer applications students to web and database search skills and strategies. I was thrilled to see how engaged our freshmen students are and have enjoyed the opportunity to hear their well thought out questions, and answer their chat messages.

In Mr. Dunne’s U.S. History class on social reformers, I have been helping students find sound academic sources on a variety of interesting topics they are working on, such as the Temperance Movement and the Common School Movement.

I have been sitting in S. Diane Driscoll’s sophomore bioethics classes, and I am astounded, as I am every year, by the level of research required for this class. Students search for factual, unbiased general information on a topic, such as genetically modified organisms or vaccines, the moral issues surrounding such topics, and the Catholic perspective through Church teachings and Scriptures. We draw a lot from documents issued by the Vatican and The United States

Conference of Catholic Bishops. I can only imagine the volume of scientific literature this coronavirus will one day engender!

I answer questions via chat messages during class or via email afterward, and review numerous works cited pages.

A few students had researched print sources before the school building closed, and needed help for their citations because they did not have these works at their disposal. In order to assist them, I turned to our online catalog, and helped them structure their references.

I am in constant awe of the thirst of knowledge and resilience of our students. I really believe that our students are getting self-directed skills through this distance learning experience.

I miss you and I am here for you. Feel free to reach out to me any time via email. I will be happy to answer you. I love your questions!

Here are a few links the AHA community has been using for research:
 
https://www.ipl.org/div/subject/  
https://siris.si.edu/  
https://www.loc.gov/ 
https://www.references.net/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html 
https://books.google.com
/https://openlibrary.org/
https://www.doaj.org/