Professional+Journals

Professional Journals

//Library Media Connection//. Linworth Publishing, n.d. Web. 23 April, 2011.  This journal contains book reviews, editor's choice reviews, Spanish and bilingual reviews, and articles about current school library issues. I haven't used this journal yet this year, but I think that it would be helpful in the future to keep abreast with trends in the field. Once again, I'm not sure where I found this tool. This journal just seemed to be talked about while I was in school and I know I've read articles published in it. The strengths of this journal are its very talented staff and its book reviews. A weakness is something that is probably true of all journals - they will always be a bit behind with current trends, so this won't be as good a place to keep up with technology as a listserv like LM_NET.

//School Library Journal//. Media Source, Inc., 2011. Web. 23 April, 2011.  This is the "go-to" journal in the school library world and, if I had to choose, the one journal I would buy if funds were that limited. It includes book reviews, articles and blogs by the top professionals in the field, and information about new technologies. This journal has already been very helpful to me. When I've read it this year, I've been very impressed by how pertinent the articles are - how much they relate to the realities of the job. I've known about SLJ for many years, but I didn't start reading it until a few years ago, and I didn't start reading it regularly until this year. I don't mean to sound ridiculous, but I really can't think of any weaknesses of SLJ. Not to say that it's perfect, but it's the journal I would most highly recommend.

//[|School Library Media Research]//. American Library Association, 2011. Web. 23 April, 2011.  This journal is an official publication of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and its purpose is to publish high-quality original research about all aspects of school librarianship, including research about instructional theory and teaching methods. I haven't read much of this journal yet, but I think it would be useful in keeping up with the current research in school libraries and for use in advocacy. Administrators love studies and statistics, and this is a great source for that. I learned about this journal from another SLIS class, "Information Inquiry for School Teachers". The strength of this journal is the easy accessibility to high-quality studies, but a weakness is that it's heavy reading, and I would be hard-pressed to want to read every issue cover to cover.

//School Library Monthly//. Libraries Unlimited, 2011. Web. 23 April, 2011.  Formerly //School Library Media Activities Monthly//, this journal provides an assortment of high-quality articles written by the leaders of the profession. One of our textbooks, //21st-Century Learning in School Libraries//, consisted entirely of articles from this journal, and they covered a wide array of topics and were generally very helpful with understanding difficult concepts like mission statements or reading incentive programs. I think this is a great journal, but its website is the least useful of all my chosen journals.

//Teacher Librarian//. Teacher Librarian, 2011. Web. 23 April, 2011.  This journal contains articles about current school library issues, reviews of professional development titles, articles on new technologies, internet resources, and reviews of children's and young adult literature. I've read a few articles from //TL//, but I think it would be a great resource to keep knowledgeable about current trends. I found this tool from the readings in School Media, although I think I had heard about it before. I think this is a high-quality journal, and I don't see any specific weaknesses, but as everyone knows, our budgets are not endless, and you really have to keep in mind if a resource is essential, and I'm not sure if //TL// is.