ETL 507 - Placement Report

PART A

I undertook my placement at Penrith City Library, which is run by Penrith Council.  Most of my time was spent in the main branch of the library, the centre at Penrith, so that is where I will focus the bulk of my report. 

The Role of the Library

It is a public library and serves a population of approximately186 937, spread over 404 square kilometres.  The Council states the following on their website regarding the library’s mission and vision:

Council's vision is for a sustainable and prosperous Regional City with a harmony of urban and rural qualities.

Our organisation's mission is to implement Council’s strategy and program, through skilled and responsive management, by valuing staff, partnerships and community involvement, by providing quality customer service and upholding ethical standards and behaviour (Penrith City Council Library intranet, no date).

Therefore, the library is aiming to provide quality library services to their community, responsive to the needs of that community.  Library membership is free to anyone who lives, works or goes to school in the Penrith district.  Out of area patrons can join the library for an annual fee.  Library members live as far away as Queensland.  I joined the library on my second day, I am out of area, but the services offered are too good to miss out on.

I don’t think the mission statement is specific enough for the library itself.  My interpretation of it, and trying to apply it to the library was a stretch.  It is difficult to evaluate if they are fulfilling their mission when it is stated in such general terms.

The Library Collections

The collection at Penrith consists of approximately 280 000 physical items.  There are a range of fiction and non fiction books and biographies for adults, teens and children.  These include the latest best sellers from Australia and overseas.   There is an extensive large-print collection available.  The collection also includes CD’s, DVD’s and audio books.  There is a large children’s collection, with picture books and board books, graded readers, chapter books, PRC titles and general fiction titles.   There is also a toy library, which has a focus on (but is not limited to) toys for children with disabilities.  There are also bilingual books, and books in other languages available.  Languages represented have been chosen using information provided in the latest Census data.

In addition to the physical collection, there is a growing number of online and electronic resources available.  These range from e-books and audio book titles, to newspaper articles, art works and music performances.  Library members can access these at any time from home and office.  There is a Home Tutor service which is available for members from years 4 to 12, also accessible from home, and students can seek assistance from Australian tutors via online messaging. 

Computers are available to access material from Births Deaths and Marriages and other genealogical research sites.

Penrith is a repository of local history materials, with a Local Studies Collection housed onsite. This collection is available for public use in the research room. There is a technical library housed at the same location, with support materials for Council staff.  There is also a photographic database of historical photos. 

All items are available through the library catalogue.

Access to the Library Collections

It is possible to search the library catalogue from any computer, for both members and non members.  Membership gives a user access to the Home Tutor Service, Britannica Smart maths, specialist websites for students of art and science, a number of databases, Overdrive for electronic books and Zinnio for electronic magazines.

In the library itself, specialist equipment is provided to assist all members to access material.  There are:

·      headphones

·      hearing mats

·      a smartview magnifier, to magnify letters, photos, forms and newspapers

·      magnifying sheet, for use with computer screens

·      the poet reader, which scans letters, newspapers, books or magazines and reads them aloud

·      PC screen reading programs

·      JAWS (Job Access With Speech) –a Microsoft screen reader software program for visually impaired patrons.  The user is provided with access to information displayed on the screen via text to speech

·      Magic Screen Magnification – this allows the visually impaired person to magnify their screen as required

·      Open Book – pages can be scanned and transferred to the computer to be read.  It will not scan images.  After scanning, OpenBook will read the document which appears on screen.  Each word is highlighted as it is read. 

Services

The library at Penrith provides a variety of services to members.  These include:

·      The toy library

·      Storytime and Babytime, for children not yet in formal school

·      Children’s programmes after school – these change from term to term, but have included a chess club, which is very popular, and a science club

·      School holiday activities – science workshops, embroidery workshops, creative writing courses

·      HSC lectures

·      World Environment day activities

·      Pyjama Storytime – this is a special evening event for children

·      Printing (black and white and colour), and scanning facilities.  There is a small cost associated with these, though scanning to a USB is free

·      Free wifi

·      Items can be reserved for a small fee

·      Interlibrary loans are available for a small fee, there are conditions on when an item will be requested from another library

·      Justice of the Peace services

·      Powermate meters are available for loan

·      Theatrette for hire (comes with toilets, kitchenette, whiteboard, projection screen, conference table)

·      Home library services –volunteers load electronic books onto ipads and deliver to members who are no longer able to get to the library.  Some of these people have since bought ipads of their own and are now able to access books through overdrive themselves. There are a number of home library patrons who still prefer physical books to electronic ones, and these are provided also.  There is currently space for about 100 more people than are currently utilising this service.

All age groups are catered for in some way.

PART B

The library in Penrith is primarily a resource for the people of the area, offering library services to their local community through the main library at Penrith, and the 3 branch libraries located in St Marys, St Clair and Emu Plains.  The library offers a wide array of services and an extensive collection of items.  Of great value, are the knowledgeable staff, who are available to assist with enquiries.

At the circulation desk, library members have enough enquiries to keep desk staff very busy.  During my time on the desk, I observed and assisted a number of these:

·      Located junior fiction for younger members.  The junior fiction has a number of different sections, and navigating those can be difficult

·      Located a  DVD series for a senior patron

·      Assistance was given in connecting devices to the wifi, sometimes this was as simple as handing over the passcode, other times, more help was needed (and given)

·      Items were reserved

·      Scanning the pages of a resume and job application letter and saving to USB

·      Assistance was given with the Births Deaths and Marriages database, helping one delighted woman to locate her elusive ancestor from the limited information she had

The library serves the whole community, even those who are no longer able to physically get to the library, through the home library service.

The toy library has a focus on toys that are particularly valuable for children with disabilities.  This is unique in the area.

Although the primary customers are the people of the Penrith council area, out of area patrons can (and do) join.  Out of state members often join for the extensive e-book collection on Overdrive.  New titles are purchased regularly.  Penrith was one of the first libraries in Sydney to use Overdrive to provide e-books and the service is very popular.

Part C
Shelf Tidy – carried out for 30 minutes each day as a group, a section of the library is targeted, and made orderly.  Some areas are more challenging than others.  For example, the children’s sections required many items to be moved from one place to another to ensure they were orderly, while in large print only one or two titles per bay needed to be reshelved.  Keeping the shelves tidy is important for improved access to the collection.  It is not enough to have an excellent catalogue system, the physical library must maintain order also.
Circulation desk – dealing with customer enquiries.  The majority of these queries were for assistance with the computers and printers.
Cataloguing at St Marys – we catalogued new stock (adult fiction), checking MARC records and amending as necessary.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this task, as I found ETL 505 quite challenging, however, holding an item in my hand, and thinking about ways to make sure it was accessible to the library’s users was quite different to deciphering my assignments. 
Searching for reserve titles on the shelves – there is a list printed of titles on reserve, and the shelves are searched regularly for those items.  During one of my searches, I noticed a book I had read on one of the shelves, I even picked it up (my personal copy had a different title, the library holds the American release).  Half way down the list, I discovered the title I had seen earlier. I couldn’t locate it again, wherever that book is, it is not shelved alphabetically.  This emphasised to me, how important good organisation is – if I had noticed that the book was in the wrong spot, I could have saved myself a lot of time, and had the book in the patrons hand much faster.
Choosing books from the overdrive catalogue – I read through the mystery section of overdrive titles, and selected some that appealed to me for purchase.  I also deleted books from a list of recommended titles, based on the Circulation librarians criteria (books that were not immediately available were deleted and books that had naked male torsos on the cover were also unacceptable).
Training of Library staff – staff at the branch libraries attended training at St Marys in cataloguing.
Attended a presentation on a library tour report that a staff member went to last year. 
Attended the presentation by SersiDynix staff who are putting in a tender for the library management system. 
Creating homepage for library website – recommended reads using custom software.  My theme for the first week was Books to Movies, and for the second week, it was Celebrate authors born in July.  I wrote a short blurb about the theme for each week, and included pictures of 6 book jackets and a summary of those books.  (See Appendix 1 and 2).
Cataloguing and Indexing items in the Local history collection – I spent a morning with the Local history team, watching their work.  While the work was interesting, I don’t think I am cut out for this particular type of library work – though possibly that was more about simply watching rather than doing – I discovered that watching someone doing something is hard work.
Storytime – a group of between 40 and 60 children meet in the library each week for singing, stories and craft.  I helped with this, and read one of the stories to the children.
Creation of advertising material – I spent an afternoon with the staff member involved in library promotion, this includes support of other organisations in the area such as the Lewers gallery.  We made a poster for the fiction section in the library.  I was surprised that images were sourced from the internet without regard to copyright.  I asked if Creative Commons images were sought, but was told that the nature of the internet is that everyone understands that if an image is on the web, it is available for use by anyone. 
Home Library Service – I spent a morning travelling with 2 volunteers, delivering books, and an hour with the Home Librarian who described her role to me.  The service provides books, physical, electronic and audio to elderly, or infirm patrons, in the Penrith Council area.  The vision impaired can borrow a device called a navigator, which can store up to 8 audio books.  Patrons are given training in using any new technology.

Part D
My experience in the public library has been quite different to how I have experienced most of the work I have done in the school library.  I have enjoyed the focus on providing library services, and using my skills as an information expert.  I think what placement has highlighted for me, is that the librarian aspect of the teacher librarian role is what I enjoy most.
I do not currently have a school library of my own, though I have done a considerable amount of work in one public school library.  In that library, the focus is not on library services, or even on teaching information literacy.  The librarian I fill in for is expected to teach stage three maths, kindergarten science, and stage two HSIE (library borrowing is squeezed in around these).  These lessons do not take place in the library, as the library is used by more than one class at a time, and teaching science or maths with 60 other students in the library who are borrowing is not optimal.  This is not the kind of school library situation I want to teach in.  Library is clearly not valued as something that can enhance teaching and learning.  Conversations with the stage two teachers has revealed that there is no collaboration between them and the librarian, a lost opportunity.
That said, I have worked in schools where the focus on the librarians role as a library and information professional is paramount, and that is the situation I would be seeking if I remain in schools.  The temptation of looking outside schools to other libraries is great at this stage.
When I do have my own school library, I would follow a similar system to that I observed in Penrith Library where the children’s section in the library is extensive.  Books are divided into different types, and clearly labelled, which helps when putting items in the right spot during shelf tidy.  Large clear labels in the same spot on each book helps the process, as it is very obvious when something doesn’t belong. For example, the beginning chapter books are together on a display shelf, and all have a large green F on the spine, about 3cm from the bottom.  When I was doing shelf tidy in that area, it was a simple matter to remove the books that didn’t belong.
I find at the end of my placement that my understanding of the wider community of information specialists is much greater, and I have seen many different aspects of the role of the public librarian that I was simply unaware of.  During the study tour, I was struck by the importance of meticulous, consistent cataloguing, partly because, as a casual, I haven’t had the opportunity to think about assigning subject headings and describing resources for optimal retrieval.  I enjoyed participating in the process of cataloguing over my time at Penrith library. 
I was surprised to note that Chess club is so wildly popular.  It isn’t a free event, but there is a waiting list of children who want to join.  Chess club is something you could easily run in the school library at lunchtimes.  The library staff work hard to get their community of users in to the library, by hosting various events for both adults and children.  They provide information services that people want, and give the support to use their resources.  The library is a quietly busy place, and utilised by people of all ages.

Study Visit Sydney July 2014 Reflections

State Library of NSW

This library was an inspiring start to the study visit.  It is evident that the staff have a passion and respect for the work that they do.  I realised again the necessity of precise and meticulous care when cataloguing,  The sheer size of the collection means that unless it is done to a paricular standard, it would be impossible to find and retrieve a specific item.  This was highlighted particularly as we toured the stacks in the underground levels, where so many items remain uncatalogued, awaiting discovery or rediscovery.  The library staff are committed to providing access to their huge and very interesting collection, while still keeping it safe for future library users.

I enjoyed the loveliness of the library and its different spaces.  While school libraries are somewhat limited by comparison (no stained glass windows or ornately decorated ceilings), it was a good reminder that using space well is important if we are aiming to encourage our community to want to spend time in our libraries.

ABC Sound and Reference Library

This small specialist library serves a very specific community – producers of content for the ABC.  Although it clearly serves its purpose, as content is definitely being produced by the ABC, I couldn’t help wondering how anyone could find anything.  There are 64 databases, a number of different cataloguing systems for different types of material, at different points in time, one which won’t allow additions to be made after this month.  It seems overly complex, and there is no plan to commit time or resources to changing/streamlining the current arrangement.  I don’t know why the reality of budget constraints surpirsed me, we all have budgets, I just imagined that in an industry like television that the money would be there. 

Having been reminded anew of the importance of concise cataloguing by our morning session, I was struck by how haphazard the cataloguing seemed to be in this library.

Australian Museum Library

The collection is driven by the needs of the library community, ie, the scientists who work at the Museum, although it is accessible to the general public, who are even allowed to take photos.  The librarians are required to carry out high level cataloguing of the collection items, when I completed ETL 505 I remember wondering what kind of library would need to catalogue Dewey numbers to 8 digital places, I now have my answer.  With the bulk of the collection falling in the 500’s, those digits are necessary. 

The focus has changed from making print materials simply functional, to preservation and conservation.  The two librarians have a marked respect for their collection, and I had the sense that they were frustrated by all the things they would like to be able to do but weren’t able to because of time and money constraints. 

Customs House Library

This branch of the City of Sydney libraries, is required to share space with other entitiies (exhibitions, a café and restaurant and venue hire areas).  It is an unusual situation, further complicated by being a heritage building.  Library staff have found creative workarounds for various issues.

I love that this library is an important community space, this is what I want for the school library, that it is valued by the staff and students and is a place with a lot to offer. Customs House offers so much, including a large collection of daily newspapers from around the world, free wifi access and reading rooms, as well as the large collection of print and other items (including DVD’s and musical scores).  They also offer free computer courses run by the staff. 

Jessie Street Womens Library

This was the only library we visited that wasn’t anxious about their budget –they  don’t purchase books (they are given donations from private collections, and they ask publishers for new works.  All staff are volunteers, and many of them are (or were) librarians, so their library management seems to be done well.  The women who work there are passionate about their collection, and the work they do – they are there because they want to be.  They are funded through memberships and fundraising, and they seem to plod along comfortably.

This is another specialist collection, and users include feminists, students, journalists and biographers.  It is a repository of works, and the focus is holding rather than loaning (there is aloan collection, but it very small) – very different to a school library where my focus is how to interest the children in borrowing.

AFTRS Library

This library exists to support the school’s curriculum, very much like the library collection in the school where I have been working.  The library has grown with the school, part of the original plan. 

Unlike the school library though, there is a big push towards ebooks.  Their collection of this type of resource is large and growing.  They also subsribe to video streams.  This would help with the ever present problem of space, a universal theme for libraries. 

While the library is open to the public, it is clear that their focus and passion is their students and supporting their learning.  Being a small and specialised school, they kow all the students – their services are very personal.

There are 6 staff, and at present they are all trained librarians.

Sydney Institute of TAFE - Ultimo

Throughout our Masters studies, there has been an emphasis on showing that the work of the TL is of value, and this mantra was evident in the TAFE librarians address.  The focus of the work and the collection at TAFE, is the community of users, and the librarians work hard, and work strategically to earn their place, by giving their users what they want, sometimes before they know that they want it. 

The library is seen as being similar to a commercial space – displays are changed, to add interest, everything is part of the plan to support the students and staff.

They don’t just guess at what their community wants, they are also proactive and ask through surveys for ideas, and feedback on what is currently available.  When I have a school library of my own, I think this would be a worthwhile practice.  
 
 
 
  

ETL 504 Assignment - Reflective critical analysis

 

Reflective critical analysis

Throughout my Masters, my learning has felt largely theoretical, and ETL 504 has been no exception.  This is mostly because I am not the regular librarian in any school library, although I have worked for the last three terms on a semi regular, part time basis in a school library, so I am getting some hands on experience about how the school library works, and the role of the teacher librarian.  It is interesting to see how this compares to the things I have learned in my studies.

My understanding of the leadership possibilities for the teacher librarian has grown this semester.  I began with little idea about what it meant, which was obvious from my first blog post in the subject.   I really didn’t have a clear picture of the librarian as a leader in the school, and initially, I was uncomfortable with the concept of leadership for myself.  I have never thought of myself as a leader, I didn’t think I had the right personality traits or the right skills or strengths, but I now realise it is something I could develop. By module three, having covered leadership theories, and creating the concept map, I began to see how it could happen, how I could become competent as a leader and agent for change in a school, leading from the middle (Cawthorne, 2010).  I particularly liked the quote from the Red Thread Thinking blog:

Innovation is a skill set that can be improved with practice. You can teach your brain to better recruit its idea-producing networks and expand its ability to innovate.

Such a positive reminder that great things are possible.

Prior to this semester I hadn’t separated the concepts of managing as opposed to leading.  A key difference between management and leadership is vision.  A leader has a compelling vision that they are able to communicate to others, so that they believe in it as well (Coatney, 2010).  Management maintains the status quo, leadership influences by giving purpose, direction and motivation (Browing, 2013).  Leadership moves forward, while management stays the same.  I was interested to note that good leadership was correlated with student achievement, and this I think is why it is so important, important enough to spend a semester pondering it – improved student achievement is the business of schools, and working towards that is what we are about.  If leadership is so important that it impacts our primary purpose, then it’s worth looking at in some depth.

In module three I read about collaboration and leading or following, depending on each individuals expertise (Collay, 2011).  This made sense, and in a way, took some pressure off.  I don’t necessarily have to lead everything, just in those areas where I am skilled.  As a teacher librarian in training, my skills are in technology and information skills.  Collaborating with staff, leading staff development in technology is something I feel comfortable with.

I was impacted by the Donoghue (2013) reading in module 3 which stated that it was important to keep learning, and improving your proficiency and skill as a teacher.  So much so that I joined the casual relief teachers professional learning organisation, so that I can do some personal development with other teachers in similar situations to my own.  I have already attended a webinar, and look forward to doing more.  Opportunities to participate in staff development when you are a day to day casual are rare, and I have realized that I will need to create my own opportunities.

The ability to change increases an organizations chance of success (Kotter, 2012).  This makes sense, and with all the changes to the information landscape, both in the way we get our information and the amount of information available, it is vital that schools adapt and work on ways to do things better.  It can be expected that technology will continue to change, and that in order to prepare students for their lives as citizens of the 21^st century, we will need to stay on top of those changes.  While students are clearly immersed in the new technologies, they are not always able to use them efficiently or effectively, it is necessary that they are integrated into the curriculum, and skills explicitly taught and modeled (O’Connell, 2012). The teacher-librarian, as information specialist can and should lead the school in this regard, providing support and development for other staff.

While I agree that effective communication is essential for leadership, I wonder if there is a job that doesn’t require a degree of competence in communication.  It seems that the ability to communicate well is going to be of benefit in most situations.  That effective communication skills lead to more positive working relationships seems very obvious (Bender, 2005).  

Studying leadership theories, and realizing that leadership is a skill that can be developed, has been inspiring.  The teacher librarian must have a vision for their library, and know where it is going and what changes need to be made to get there, particularly in the constantly changing world of the 21st century, where the expectation is that we are plugged in and ready.

Bender, Y. (2005). Building effective communication. The tactful teacher, effective communication with parents, colleagues and administrators. (pp. 3-18). White River Junction, VT: Nomad Press.  Retrieved from: bit.ly/1oem05z

Browing, P. (2013). Creating the conditions for transformational change. Australian Educational Leader. 35(3) 14-17

Cawthorne, J. (2010). Leading from the middle of the organisation: An examination of shared leadership in academic libraries.  The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(2). Retrieved January from http://www.citeulike.org/article/6724719

Coatney, S. (2010). Leadership from the middle: building influence for change. The many faces of school library leadership.  Santa Barbara, Calif.: Libraries Unlimited.  Retrieved from bit.ly/1gkqeZo

Collay, M. (2011). Teaching is leading. Everyday Teacher Leadership:  Taking Action Where you are.  Retrieved from:  bit.ly/1jreN1s

Donoghue, T. A., & Clarke, S. (2010). Teachers learning and teachers leading.  Leading learning;  process, themes and issues in international contexts.   (pp. 87-99). London: Routledge.  Retrieved from: bit.ly/1m3l1EM

Innovation Takes Practice More Than Talent. (2013).  Retrieved from http://www.redthreadthinking.com/innovation-takes-practice-more-than-talent/

Kotter, J. (2012).  The 8-step process for leading change. Kotter International - Innovative Strategy Implementation Professionals. Retrieved from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/changesteps

O’Connell, J. (2012). Change has arrived at an iSchool library near you. In Information literacy beyond library2.0 pp. 215-228). London : Facet.

                   https://www.csu.edu.au/division/library/ereserve/pdf/oconnell-j1.pdf

ETL 504 - Conflict Resolution

Complete the Conflict Resolution Questionnaire .

What is your approach to managing conflict?

Does this match to how you think of yourself?

What areas do you think you need to develop?

This is what the questionnaire said about me:

Based on the responses you gave, it appears that your style of conflict resolution tends to be best described as:

Compromising. You tend to express about average assertiveness and cooperation. Some of your associates may think of you as a fox because of your ability to make trade offs to accomplish what you want by helping the other person gain what he/she wants.

I think this is probably spot on to how I deal with conflict.  I do like to look for a way both parties can win of possible.  I don’t like that it says that makes me a fox however, that seems a negative way to describe something I would think was a good thing. 

I’m not assertive, and as a casual, I always feel like if I push against something I think is unfair, I won’t be asked back.  I did a block last year and had a situation where a principal didn’t treat me particularly well over an issue that was out of my control (a kid vomited in the library).  When I was telling the regular librarian about it, she thought I should go to the union and complain.  It never crossed my mind.  I like the school, I want to work there, there is no way I am making waves.  I would say in my role as a casual, my style is more roll over and let people do what they want :/.  I’m hoping that is simply because of current circumstances, and I would actually have more backbone if things were different.

ETL 504 Librarian as leader - Reflective critical analysis Assignment One

Reflective Critical Analysis of the concept of leadership

Initially, I found the reading for the first two modules of ETL 504 overwhelming, partly because I wondered how they could be relevant to my situation.  At this point, I do not have my own library, or even my own classroom.  I am a casual teacher who does day to day work, and the odd block when it comes up.  I get a lot of library work, but it isn’t the same as having a library that is my responsibility.  In truth, it wasn’t until I started working on the assignment that my understanding progressed much.  My initial thoughts on leadership were brief, and not particularly insightful, I wrote the following on the forum:  

I have observed as I float in and out of different schools, what a difference a leader can make. The friendliest, most cohesive, happiest schools seem to be those where the principal is a visible leader - there is no question in my mind about who they are.

                          

This seems woefully inadequate weeks later, when I have learned so much about leadership, and the exciting possibilities for not just the principal, but also the Teacher Librarian, and other staff members. Leadership skills are not just something you have or don’t have, it is possible to develop and improve those capabilities. 

While leadership styles are described in the literature, and I was particularly drawn to transformational leadership (Avolio, Walumbwa and Weber, 2009), I imagine I would incorporate what I considered the best parts of more than one style, depending on the situation I was in and what worked best to achieve the goals I was working towards.

Leadership begins with a vision for the school, specific goals are formulated, and it is these which staff are working towards.  A good leader must get their followers excited about those goals, and support them as they work together towards them   (Marzano, 2005 and Sergiovanni, 2005).

Unsurprisingly, communication is a fundamental concept which I think underpins much of a leaders work.  Without the ability to communicate effectively, it is almost impossible to lead well.  Communication is vital for building relationships and putting together workable teams, it is necessary for collaborative efforts, and for resolving conflicts and solving problems (Browing, 2013).  Communication is the key to building relationships – I have always said that casual work is difficult because of the lack of relationship with the children.  the same is true of the leader, without a positive relationship, without trust,  the task of leading is more difficult.

From the beginning of my studies for this Masters course, much has been said of collaboration and how essential it is for improving student achievement.  If the schools purpose is improving students educational outcomes, and if collaboration is “the single professional behaviour of teacher librarians that most affects student achievement” (Haycock, 2007, p32), then collaboration is clearly one of the most important activities that teachers and TL’s can engage in.

The more study I do in this course, the more excited I become by the prospect of being part of a school and running a library.  Librarian as leader was always slightly perplexing however.  I wanted to develop a great collection to meet my communities needs, but leading seemed to be the domain of other staff.  Developing the concept map, and considering leadership, I have begun to see that it can be a part of the librarians role.  That in fact, the teacher librarian is a good choice as a leader, with their expertise in information provision, and insights about the scope of the curriculum. 

Avolio, B., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. J. (2009).  Leadership: Current Theories, Research, and Future Directions. DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Retrieved April1, 2014, from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/managementfacpub/37/

Browing, P. (2013).  Building relationships.  Creating the conditions for transformational change. Australian Educational Leader.  35(3) 14 - 17.  retrieved April 2, 2014 from http://www.minnisjournals.com.au/images/artiles/pdf/article-pdf-0787.pdf

Haycock, K.  (2007).  Collaboration:  Critical Success Factors for Student Learning.  School Libraries Worldwide, 13(1), pp. 25 -35.  Retrieved from:

              http://www.iasl-online.org/pubs/slw/index.htm

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). Some theories and theorists on leadership. School leadership that works: from research to results (pp. 13-27). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Retrieved January 27, 2014 from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/docDetail.action?docID=10089219

Sergiovanni, T. (2005).  The Virtues of Leadership,  The Educational Forum, 69(Winter), 112-123. Retrieved January 16, 2014 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/7375166/Sergiovanni-Thomas-Virtues-of-Leadership