Date Approved
5-1-2001
Embargo Period
6-1-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in School and Public Librarianship
Department
Special Educational Services/Instruction
College
College of Education
Advisor
Shontz, Marilyn
Subject(s)
Media programs (Education); School librarians
Disciplines
Library and Information Science
Abstract
In the twenty-first century, the World Wide Web is being utilized more at home and in our school systems. The use of the WWW is transforming our learning institutions. Students must be information literate in order to critically evaluate the information they read on the WWW. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which School Library Media (SLM) specialists in Camden County, New Jersey were teaching middle school students the appropriate skills needed to become critical thinkers when using Web sites on the Internet, and what methods/search strategies these SLM specialists used in teaching. Questionnaires were mailed to 117 middle SLM specialists in Camden County, New Jersey. An overall response rate of 55% (64 out of 117) was obtained; however a usable rate of 52% (61 out of 117) provided the results. The survey results indicated that 75% of the computers in the media centers have Internet accessibility and that 85% of the SLM specialists strongly agree or agree that the teaching of critical thinking skills is part of their professional responsibility. However, only a small portion of the SLM specialists (36%) teach Web site evaluation.
Recommended Citation
Burton, Michele L., "Involvement of the school library media specialist in critical thinking skills and web site evaluation at the middle school level" (2001). Theses and Dissertations. 1548.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1548
