Spanish-American Institute

Instructional Resource Manual

q      Spanish-American Institute Library

q      Public Library Access

q      Information Literacy

q      Multi-Media Instructional Resources

January 2007

To All Faculty and Staff

215 West 43 Street

(Times Square)

Manhattan, New York 10036

212-840-7111

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Spanish-American Institute Library

The Spanish-American Institute Library contains nearly 1000 print and multi-media items. The Spanish-American Institute strives to maintain a balanced collection of representative print and instructional material geared to general reference, academic program, professional development, and student needs.  Collection development is guided by: 

q      recommendations of faculty

q      correlation to textbook bibliographies and activities

q      international student interest in information about New York City

q      instructional resources correlated to Institute programs and courses

q      faculty professional development.  

Automated Catalog, Electronic Databases, and Information Literacy Tutorials: 

Automated Catalog--The Institute catalogs the Library collection according to the Dewey Decimal System.  The Institute Library Catalog is automated.  Students, faculty, and staff can access the Catalog from any networked computer in the school.  To access the Catalog, go to www.sai2000.org and click onto Library on the left-hand menu. 

Electronic Databases— The Spanish-American Institute Library website also provides access to a variety of general and specialized automated periodical indexes through a search engine called EBSCOHost. A periodical index provides information about articles or essays in magazines, journals, newspapers, and other materials published periodically.

The Institute currently provides access to:  MasterFile Select, Funk and Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia, Topic Search, and General Science Collection.   All of the indexes provide abstracts and most provide full-text copies of the articles they index from the mid-1990s or earlier.  Full-text articles may be printed, e-mailed, or downloaded onto a diskette for personal use.  

Information Literacy Tutorials:  The Library website also includes information literacy tutorials designed to help students develop sound information literacy search capabilities.  With such ready access to the Internet, students tend to think that anything they find on the Internet is useful and good.  The tutorials teach basic search skills AND ways to evaluate the value and validity of information. 

Circulating and Non-Circulating Items:  The Library collection contains circulating and non-circulating items. 

Non-Circulating Material--Print collection reference material such as the Encyclopedia Britannica does not circulate.  Non-circulating print material can be used only in the Library. 

Multi-media material can be checked out through the Bookstore on a temporary basis by faculty for classroom use.  The Institute updates and distributes this Instructional Resource Manual periodically so that faculty will have quick access to a comprehensive list of call numbers and barcodes for classroom related multi-media material. 

Circulating Material--Students, faculty, and staff may borrow circulating

material from the Library by checking it out through the Bookstore. 

Professional Library:  The Library also includes a collection related to curriculum and instruction for faculty use and consultation. 

Library Use:  Faculty are encouraged to bring groups of students to the Library for specific activities related to library education or library research.  Students may use the Library for browsing, research, or study during school hours by logging their names and student ID numbers in the logbook maintained just outside the Library entrance. 

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Public Library Access

Using the New York Public Library (NYPL)

and

On-Line Remote Access to NYPL Periodical Databases

The Spanish-American Institute encourages faculty to inform students about free public libraries in their communities.  Students often come from countries and cultures where they do not have access to free libraries or not encouraged to use them.   

Please share the following information with students. Ask Dr. Prager, the Dean of Academic Affairs, for additional copies of the following information to share with classes.  In addition, she will come into classes to talk about the Spanish-American Institute Library and public libraries, upon invitation. 

Obtaining a Library Card:  The free public library is a remarkable American institution.  Every American community, even the smallest, tries to provide a free public library supported by local and state taxes. Public libraries offer many different resources.  In addition to loaning books and media materials, many local libraries offer free classes in computers or English, free cultural events, and other activities.  The local library also often serves as a community center with meeting rooms, with bulletin boards, and with programs for children and adults.

Library Systems:  The New York Public Library (NYPL) has many branches in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.  It does not serve Brooklyn or Queens, which have their own public library systems.  However, a NYPL card can be used in the Brooklyn and Queens system and vice versa. 

Locating Branches:  The New York Public Library (NYPL) home page is—www.nypl.org.  The homepage provides links to information about all NYPL branches and hours as well as links to the Brooklyn and Queens library systems.

Branch Libraries and Research Libraries:  The NYPL system is divided into two parts, the branch libraries and the research libraries.  The research libraries include the New York Public Library on 5^th Avenue and 42^nd Street and the Science, Industry, and Business  Library on 5^th Avenue at 34^th St.   

The New York Public Library on 42^nd Street is also known as the Research Library.  It can be used only by individuals doing serious academic research in the humanities (e.g., history, literature, art, etc.).  Usually, people who use this library are graduate students and scholars.  It does not circulate materials.  The Science, Industry, and Business Library may be used by anyone but also does not circulate materials.  You may use materials in this library but you cannot borrow materials to take home.  Because they are research libraries, they do not have the community flavor and do not provide the community services found in local branch libraries like those in your neighborhood.    

Applying for a Card:  Anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in New York City is entitled to a NYPL card.  Having a public library card entitles you to borrow books and other materials and provides you with a PIN number (personal identification number) for on-line searching. 

You must apply for a NYPL library card in person at any library branch.  The local libraries closest to the Institute are the Columbus Branch at 742 10^th Avenue and the Donnell Branch at 20 West 53^rd.  (Warning—the Donnell Branch tends to be very crowded during the week.) 

Remember, your NYPL card can be used at any branch or central library in the NYPL system.  

Important Identification:  A student should present his/her student ID card plus at least one form of “current traceable” identification that establishes name and local home address.  The following are typically considered forms of “current traceable” identification.  These are examples only--a driver’s license, a rent receipt, a utility bill, a bankbook, or an apartment lease.  Sometimes, the library will accept a magazine subscription sent to your address as identification. 

With appropriate identification, the branch library will issue you a library card with your PIN as soon as you complete the application.  

Accessing Electronic Databases:  Most large public library systems subscribe to on-line electronic databases.  You can access some of their electronic databases from your home or another remote computer.  The following steps describe how to get into New York Public Library databases by remote access. 

1.  Obtain a New York Public Library Card.  You will need to enter your library card number to access most on-line databases.

2.  Go to the NYPL web site:  www.nypl.org

3.  Find "On-Line Resources" on the right and click on "Electronic Resources."

4.  Find "Research Libraries" on the right and click on "On-Line Databases & Indexes." 

5.  On the "On-Line Databases & Indexes" page, look carefully for the link "list" in the last sentence of the last paragraph of the introduction.  Click on "list."  This will take you to databases that you can access from your home or other remote computer. 

Note:  If a database can be searched from home, it will have a little red icon of a house to the right. 

Any one database may include thousands of articles from hundreds of different periodicals.  Some will be "full-text" which means that you can print, e-mail, or save the article to a diskette.  If the article is not "full-text," you will have to go to a library, find the periodical that has the article, and read it in the library.  Ask for assistance if you are not sure how to find the periodical. 

6.  The list of NYPL databases and indexes is organized on-line in two ways:

• To search the database list alphabetically, click "alphabetically" near the top of the page.  For example, Academic Search Premier is similar to Academic Search Elite that you used in the Spanish-American Institute's Library tutorial.  If you wanted to search only in the database Academic Search Premier, you could click on the "A" in the alphabet list to find all databases with names hat begin with "A." 

• To search the database list by broad categories, scroll down and you will see different database collections listed under categories.  Remember, a database collection can contain several different databases.  For example, the Art and Architecture category contains 5 different database collections.  Each database collection in the Art and Architecture category may contain many different databases, which index hundreds of  periodicals or other sources that contain thousands of entries (results or articles). 

7.  Now return to the "Online Databases and Indexes" page.  Note that you can also search all of the available databases using "Browse," "Subject," or "Keyword."  Using these three search techniques is a good way to get started if you: 

§        do not know what database or databases you want to use or

§        if you want to search more than one database at a time. 

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Information Literacy Skills Development

The Spanish-American Institute encourages faculty to develop student information literacy skills in each course and at each ESL level.  The syllabi for courses such as Internet and College Success have specific information literacy modules.  In addition, most textbooks in current use contain research and information literacy development activities designed to help students become more adept at accessing and using information from a variety of sources. 

Model ESL Information Literacy Activities:  In addition to using textbook activities designed to increase information literacy skills, teachers can also generate activities that can be easily integrated into classroom instruction.  The following are a few examples that demonstrate how this might be done at any ESL levels or any program course. 

ESL I

1.  Parts of a Book Vocabulary—identify the title page, the author, the preface, the introduction, the index, the contents/table of contents (including the chapters, units, lessons, etc.), the glossary, the spine, lines, line numbers, the number of pages (in a chapter, in a book, in a lesson, etc.), the front cover, the back cover, the inside front cover, the publisher, the date of publication, etc. 

2.  Print presentation Vocabulary—identify formats such as dialogue, sentences, paragraphs, exercise, reading passage, workbook/handbook, etc. 

 ESL II

3.  Parts of a Book Vocabulary—identify the title page, the author, the preface, the introduction,  the index, the contents/table of contents (including the chapters, units, lessons, etc.), the glossary, the spine, the number of pages (in a chapter, in a book, in a lesson, etc.), the front cover, the back cover, the inside front cover, the publisher, the date of publication, etc. 

4  Information Format—identify formats such as dialogue, sentences, paragraphs, exercise, reading passage, workbook/handbook, etc.  Also, pictures, illustrations, drawings, charts and tables, magazine, newspaper, article, etc. 

5.  NorthStar Introductory Fieldwork--build information literacy skills into some of the "Fieldwork" activities at the end of each unit.  When doing "Fieldwork," students do guided research and make presentations based on the research.  Students are always given specific directions to guide their research and asked specific question that guide their presentations.  For example,

• In Unit 1, they look up an organization on a web site. 
• In Unit 5, they look up information about a young entrepreneur in the library and/or on the Internet. 
• In Unit 6, they do the same for a famous woman.

ESL III Through TOEFL

6.  Parts of a Book Vocabulary—identify the title page, the author, the preface, the introduction,  the index, the contents/table of contents (including the chapters, units, lessons, etc.), the glossary, the spine, the number of pages (in a chapter, in a book, in a lesson, etc.), the front cover, the back cover, the inside front cover, the publisher, the date of publication, the bibliography, the glossary, etc.   

7.  Information Format or Presentation—identify formats such as dialogue, sentences, paragraphs, exercise, reading passage, workbook/handbook,  pictures, illustrations, drawings, charts and tables, magazine, newspaper, article, etc.  Also, reference and cross-reference reference, cross-reference, footnote, endnote, bibliography, source, and citation, etc  . 

8.  Proverbs-- Borrow a proverb dictionary from the Library.  Ask students to take turns looking up a proverb, write a paragraph in which they cite the proverb and describe its meaning, and report on their research to the class. 

9.  NorthStar Research Topics—NorthStar builds information literacy skills into some of the "Research Topic" activities at the end of each unit that require students to do guided research and make presentations based on the research.  Students are always given specific directions to guide their research and asked specific question that guide their presentations.  Some examples from ESL IV NorthStar Intermediate, 

• In Unit 1, students look for magazine ads that illustrate advertising's use of emotional appeals and in Unit 8, they use a magazine picture of  someone who dresses in a certain way to interpret what they clothes say about the person. 
• In Unit 2, students research a sport; in Unit 3, they research a type of fraud;  in Unit 7, they research jokes;  and in Unit 10, they research specific marriage topics.  

ESL VI Through TOEFL

10.  Identity Standard Cataloguing Publication Data--Use the "Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data" at the beginning each text on the page.  All books are catalogued in every library in the United States in a similar manner, whether in a card catalog or in an automated electronic catalog.  Explain what each part of the catalog information refers to.  Ask students to find corresponding information in another book they have with them.

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Introduction to Multi-Media Resources

Tapes, CDs, Teacher’s Guides, Manuals, and Workbooks.  The Spanish-American Institute has an extensive collection or print, audio, and video material available for ESL teachers to supplement classroom instruction.  Audio-visual teaching materials and teacher’s guides may usually be checked out directly from the Bookstore. 

Call Numbers and Barcodes.  For your convenience, the next section contains a complete list of the above materials with their Library call numbers and barcodes. 

Please checkout no more than one tape or CD at a time.  Be sure to return to the Bookstore promptly so that others may use it. 

Please report equipment problems to an administrator immediately.

Worldview and NorthStar Teacher's Manuals and Testing Materials:  Two copies of the Teacher's Manuals for each level are available in the Bookstore. The Manuals contain teaching suggestions, expansion activities, and answer keys. 

The Manuals have companion listening tests and testing questions.  The listening test should be given at the end of each NorthStar unit so that students can see how much progress they have made. 

Call Numbers and Barcodes

for

ESL Audio-Visual Material and Teacher’s Manuals

VIDEO

Key:  V=video tape, DVD=DVD, VB=companion resource material

Teacher’s Manuals, Achievement Tests, & Dictionary CD

by ESL Level

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AUDIO

Key:   A=audio tape, AB=companion book, CD=CD, REF=material available in Library