April 5, 2016

Hi,

Occasionally when I train about OSLIS, someone will mention the number of clicks it takes to get to a specific resource. Here’s my reply: you control what and how you bookmark. :-) Here are some tips.

Tip # 1: Bookmark the Most Relevant Skin / Version

If you are in an elementary school and have one bookmark for OSLIS on your school and/or library webpage, I recommend linking to the elementary student landing page: http://elementary.oslis.org/. For middle and high schools, I recommend the secondary student landing page: http://secondary.oslis.org/. I would not bookmark www.oslis.org except for on a district-level page. Even then, you could highlight both of the student landing pages instead of the general OSLIS page.

Tip # 2: Bookmark Multiple but Specific OSLIS Resources

In my job, I browse a lot of Oregon school library webpages while on the hunt for contact information. I’m surprised by how many folks do not link to OSLIS or by how many simply put one link on their page. I suggest linking to a specific resource in a specific section of the site. For example, if you are in middle or high school and want to point people to the databases, you could have a link called OSLIS Databases that goes to this page: http://secondary.oslis.org/find-information. That’s one click instead of three.

Then in the section on your webpage that talks about citing sources, there could be a link called Citation Maker that leads to this page:  http://secondary.oslis.org/cite-sources. Or, link directly to the MLA or APA versions.

I think you get the idea, but here’s one more example. On the same secondary school library website, if you have a section that teaches the research process, you can have a link called How to Do Research that leads to this page: http://secondary.oslis.org/learn-to-research.

Or, is there a specific step that student’s struggle with? Link to the OSLIS page with information about it on an assignment sheet or in a pathfinder. The example that always comes to mind for me is that so many students struggle to come up with their own questions, so you could link to this page: http://secondary.oslis.org/learn-to-research/define/define-your-questions.

See elementary equivalent links at the end of this email.

Unrelated Tip: Include database login information on assignment sheets, or recommend that teachers do that. Remember, though, that database logins cannot be posted on public-facing websites.

Questions? Please ask. Hope you have a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Thanks,
Jen

Jennifer Maurer
School Library Consultant
Oregon State Library

Elementary Equivalents for Tip # 2

OSLIS Databases: http://elementary.oslis.org/find-information

Citation Maker: http://elementary.oslis.org/cite-sources/mla-elementary-citation

How to Do Research: http://elementary.oslis.org/learn-to-research

How to Develop Research Questions: http://elementary.oslis.org/learn-to-research/plan/plan-form-guiding-questions-wp