MUSINGS on METIS

Our journey of innovation for children's libraries

Welcome

WELCOME!

Thanks for visiting our blog. Please explore our website, too, at www.metisinnovations.com!

Monday, October 15, 2012

If you missed our chat on Twitter, take a look at this well-crafted summary on the School Library Journal website.

Posted by Jennifer at 6:37 PM

No comments:

Newer Post Older Post Home

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Metis

Our website

Search This Blog

Subscribe in a reader

Find Metis on the Web

Facebook/MetisLibrary
ALSC Blog
Dewey to Metis
EC Library Catalog
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
School Library Journal
Thatcher Brook Primary School Library
Cricketmuse Blog
Librageous
Librarything
Love, Laugh, Learn Blog
A Media Specialist's Guide Blog
Teacher Librarian Ning

About Us

We are four librarians who have come together as a creative team at Ethical Culture School in New York City. We strive to pass along our passion for reading and libraries to our students.

Tali Balas Kaplan, Andrea Dolloff, Sue Giffard, & Jennifer Still-Schiff

About Metis

Metis is our innovative new library categorization system.

We have focused on making it child-centered, browseable, and flexible.

To learn more, please email us at iwantmetis at gmail.com.

Read more about Metis at the bottom of this blog.

Popular Posts

Regarding bullying

In time for the Anti-Bullying panel discussion, EC librarians have been creating a resource list. We have put up lists in our library catalo...
METIS Main Categories

We ’ ve had some requests for more details about Metis, so we are posting the main categories here. We ’ re working on making the full ...
Self Check-out

Self check-out at the public library, at the grocery store: it works pretty well these days. So why not give it a try in your school library...

Blog Archive

► 2014 (1)
- ► January (1)

► 2013 (11)
- ► November (3)
- ► April (1)
- ► March (2)
- ► February (2)
- ► January (3)

▼ 2012 (23)
- ► December (2)
- ► November (1)
- ▼ October (8)
- ► September (2)
- ► April (4)
- ► January (6)

► 2011 (6)
- ► December (4)
- ► November (1)
- ► March (1)

► 2010 (11)
- ► November (4)
- ► October (7)

Labels

AASL (1) adoption (1) ALA (1) allergies (1) alternatives to Dewey (10) anxiety (1) APP (1) bullying (1) caldecott (4) cataloging (6) categorization (7) chat (1) child-centered (7) classification (7) crayon (1) Darien Public Library (1) deportation (1) diary (1) discussion (1) dogs (1) easy-reader (1) EClibrary (1) fairytales (2) fantasy (3) fiction (1) field-trip (1) Follet Destiny (1) friendship (3) gentle stories (1) graphic (1) Humor (1) immigration (1) librarians (1) links (1) metis (11) mixed-media (1) new-adult (1) non-fiction (1) outsiders (2) picture book (4) realistic fiction (2) Reinventing Dewey (1) responsibility (1) school (1) school library (2) School Library Journal (1) self check-out (1) short stories (1) Sibert (1) Tales (1) watercolor (1) word-bubbles (1) wordless (1) worrying (1)

MORE ABOUT METIS

For many children, the organization of a library and the code of the Dewey Decimal Classification System pose a barrier to finding a book. In thinking of how our library could embody a more progressive philosophy, the EC librarians began researching a more child-centered system. None of the alternatives we read about in public or school libraries seemed sufficiently clear, child-friendly, or flexible. So we invented a new categorization model and spent the summer implementing it here at school.

In creating this system, the priorities we elevated to the top are the needs of our users (mostly young children), flexibility, and the ability to browse the shelves successfully. Because we think that physical location and arrangement are crucial, and visual pictures necessary to empower users, we have employed visual aids as much as possible in order to help students who are still learning to read find their way around.

Although our system is subject-based, our categories are concrete--not discipline-based, like Dewey is. Relying on our collective experience of working with children and on anecdotal research we carried out this past spring with students in grades 1 through 4, we have tailored the categories to our collection and to our students’ needs.

Generally, we have used whole language--rather than code--and allowed the hard line between fiction and non-fiction to blur. A book about dogs is next to stories about dogs, thus a student can choose to look for information or engage her imagination while exploring the topic of “Pets.”

By using alphabetical order as a cornerstone, we are building on skills that students already have, rather than relying on decimal skills. At the end of fifth grade, when children are more comfortable with decimals, we will introduce them to Dewey so that they head up to middle school familiar with that system.

We’ve changed the library catalog to correspond to the new categories, created labels, rearranged all of our 20,500 unique titles, and created signage. If you don't feel like browsing, the catalog will direct you to the proper shelf assignment. There's order, but it's alphabetical now, not numerical.

Children want to read about all kinds of things; we’re getting out of their way! Our community has embraced this new system. We are finding that the librarians have more time to engage students in meaningful conversations about books during checkout time. In our library curriculum, we've gained time to teach more information skills; analyzing, using, and creating new information.

Click here for www.metisinnovations.com

Total Pageviews

Simple theme. Theme images by luoman. Powered by Blogger.