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 Media Center Question 1 
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Here is the first of three questions that I'd like for you to think about before class next Thursday.

What do you feel is the role of the media specialist?

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Erin Painter


Last edited by Erin Painter on Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.



Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:05 pm
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From my experience, media specialists are there as a resource to students and teachers. For students, they teach them how to find and use appropriate resources. For teachers, media specialists are there as an extra resource or helping hand for finding new approaches and new information to present to the class.

As with any occupation, I'm sure there is a lot more that goes into it than what is typically seen.

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Kimberly Smith

"In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else."
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Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:23 am
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In all honesty I am not sure what all is included in a media specialist job. In my experience, media specialists have assisted me in finding resources. They have assisted in researching topics of papers or conversations. Media specialists often know how to site sources, or where to find them, them being video, books, articles, websites, music, pictures, etc.
Media specialists have also held classes about the appropriate way to research a topic or how to follow the laws of copy write.
These, I think, are the majority of my experiences with media specialists.

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Lianna Denise Beard


Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:25 pm
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I really have to agree with both Kimberly and Lia. I have had some of the same experiences that both have had. The Media Specialist in my High School was helpful with just about anything that we needed to know about resources or something that we need from the library, although she was a bit mean and no one really ever wanted to approach her. Instead she taught Library Science and everyone normally went to the students because they were suppose to know some of these things too because that was what they were learning in their class. I was one of these who took the class and I remember helping many students figure out how to cite their research because they were too scared to ask the Media Specialist.

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Kelly York


Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:19 pm
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I would have to agree with Kelly. The Media Specialist at my High School was very difficulty to approach. Many of the teachers did not even like to approach her with questions. The assistants in the library or the student who were working at the moment became the go to people. However, what I did find out from them was how to find the information we needed. We could get help on how to put together projects; like how to make a menu for one of my cooking classes, to citing a paper for a history class.


Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:27 pm
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I feel that the role of the media specialist is different in every school, as well as different in every age group. The media specialist in a high school would not have the same role as a media specialist in an elementary school. From my experience, a media specialist is there to be a resource for the students and teachers in various venues, whether that be to help with research, to suggest supplemental materials for the classroom, or just to answer any questions that a student or teacher might have. To be honest, I'm not entirely positive what the ideal media specialist does, because I went to a small, private school, and things were done quite differently there.

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Anna F. Gay


Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:13 am
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I would think a media specialist has many duties. Probably the first and foremost responsibility as everyone else seems to agree that they are here to serve as a resource. A resource for students and teachers as well to come to for support and maybe help finding out how to locate something within the media center. I have seen media specialists perform seminars, locate resources for research, and also demonstrate how to use various media center equipment. I agree with anna in that the roles of media specialists will vary for age groups as well as in different schools. Mainly because schools will not always have the same resources available to them as others. I'm sure there are a lot of responsibilities associated with being a media specialist that we may not think about such as keeping track of where your resources are and who is using them. This is just from my own experience of course.

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Clay Moore


Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:14 pm
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I think that a media specialist is there to be resource for both teachers and students. For teachers the media specialist is there to help pull resources from text to web material. For students, I think the media specialist is there to help students learn how to find the resources they need. Probably, being the media specialist involves a whole lot more, but this is what I have experienced.

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Mandi McGaha


Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:58 pm
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Much like everyone else has said before me. I've always seen the media specialist as a resource for both students and teachers. From what I think I know about this profession, they not only know where to find material related to what you are looking for but also know many different methods in presenting it with the tools they have. While I never used the media center in my high school except for the computer part of it, I did go to the media center a lot in elementary school. It was here that our media specialist gave us information upon information about finding text that we would enjoy reading as well as help us with research, projects, or general interests.

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Kristen Bumgarner


Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:12 pm
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I have to agree with many of the other posts. The media specialists job is to assist the students and teachers as need be. They should be able to teach the students how to use the library and it's resources, while staying current on the ever-changing technology front, so that they can help students use technology correctly and to the best of their ability in order to encourage learning through technology. Since students are normally more tech-savy than their teachers, the media specialist needs to make sure that they can keep all of the teachers up-to-date with the technology that is being used in the classroom everyday.

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Wess B. Pasour


Tue Nov 04, 2008 12:30 pm
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i also agree that media specialists for the students are there to help them with resources and things that the teacher may not be specialized in. They should help out in the library, computer lab, etc. to help students with projects and resources. It is sort of the same from a teacher's point of view because they need someone to help instruct students on what is available and how to use it properly.

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Kristen P. Helton


Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:14 pm
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From what I know, I believe that a media specialist makes themselves available to teachers and students as a resource for all types of media such as television, magazines, radio, books, etc. in the school setting. I believe that they help assist students and teachers in places such as libraries or media centers in schools. I also believe that they probably help with papers and other projects in terms of providing the resources for them.

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Brynne Pulver, Music Education/Vocal Performance


Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:23 pm
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From my experience I believe media specialist are an in school resource to students and staff. They are available to teachers to help give them media resources to use in the classroom such as web material, books, television, videos, etc. For students, media specialist are someone to go to when they need extra resources they need in completing assignments and out of class projects, or maybe are just curious about using some kind of media.

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katielewis


Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:17 pm
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Media specialist wear many different hats. They have to be responsible for the library itself as well as be a resource to teachers and students. They have to be there of students when they need help on projects and papers as well as teachers when they are preparing lessons. Media specialist are too often overlooked and not given the proper amount of respect. Without the knowledge of media specialist schools would not be as successful because there would be no resource for students and teachers alike to tap into.

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Cory L. Rycroft


Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:28 pm
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I think that the role of a media specialist is to help the teachers and students in however they may need it. These individuals are often referred to as "librarians" and I'm not sure I agree with that term because media workers do so much more than deal with books. I remember in Middle School and High School, the media specialist in my school showed students how to use the computers and how to do things like spreadsheets, charts, etc. They also showed us how to use a card catalog and how to use the call numbers to find the books we need.

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Jessica Mundy


Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:43 pm
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From my experience, the media specialists in elementary school simply read books and used those books to teach different lessons (whether it be math, science, literature, or history). They also helped us check out books and make sure we were reading books on or above our reading level. In middle and high school, the media specialists had these same responsibilities, but they also dealt other things. For example, our media specialists always introduced us to big projects and helped us learn how to do research for them effectively. They were our resources for learning materials and even some technology support. However, I feel the role of the media specialist is expanding to deal with many more things than it used to.

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Heather Holland Crow


Sun Nov 09, 2008 5:45 pm
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