Study Guide

Field 038: Library-Media Specialist 
Sample Selected-Response Questions

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General Test Directions

This test consists of two sections: 1) a section with selected-response questions and 2) a constructed-response section.

Each question in the first section is a selected-response question with four answer choices. Read each question and answer choice carefully and choose the  start uppercase ONE end uppercase  best answer.

Try to answer all questions. Even if you are unsure of an answer, it is better to guess than not to answer a question at all. You will  start uppercase NOT end uppercase  be penalized for guessing.

The second section of this test consists of one constructed-response assignment. You will be asked to provide a written response to the assignment. Directions for completing your written response to the constructed-response assignment appear immediately before the assignment.

You may  start uppercase NOT end uppercase  use any type of calculator or reference materials during the test session.

Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0001 
Apply knowledge of the school library program; its relationship to the total school program and to information resources and services beyond the school; and legal and ethical issues and professional guidelines related to school library programs.

1. Which of the following school library program policies represents the most significant barrier to the equitable access of information and ideas by all members of the school community?

  1. A middle school library program limits the number of resources a student can have checked out to five at one time.
  2. An elementary school library program includes a collection of professional resources that are reserved specifically for use by teachers and other school staff.
  3. A middle school library program requires all resources to be turned in one week before the end of the school year for inventory purposes.
  4. An elementary school library program that has a separate collection for primary students requires parent/guardian permission for the students to check out resources from the main collection.

Correct Response: D. The American Library Association (A L A) start italics Library Bill of Rights end italics states that a person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views. According to start italics Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program end italics, A L A's interpretation of the start italics Library Bill of Rights end italics, a major barrier between students and resources is imposing age or grade-level restrictions on the use of resources.

Competency 0003 
Apply knowledge of the school librarian's responsibility to advocate for an integrated library program and demonstrate leadership within and beyond the school community.

2. Which of the following actions is most essential to successful advocacy efforts for a school library program?

  1. identifying influential stakeholders within and beyond the school community and engaging in ongoing relationship building with those stakeholders
  2. initiating communication with state legislators and department of education personnel
  3. participating in state and national literacy and reading events and promoting those events to students and their parents/guardians
  4. reporting regularly to various stakeholder groups about the library program's achievements

Correct Response: A. Relationship building with influential stakeholders helps establish a foundation of support for the school library program. When key stakeholders understand the role of the school library program and how it supports students, teachers, and the school community, they are more likely to speak up for the program. In their interactions with others, these influential stakeholders are able to communicate the importance of the school library program to a much broader range of individuals than the school librarian could alone.

Competency 0004 
Demonstrate knowledge and application of physical, digital, and virtual information and literary resources in the school library program and the curriculum.

3. A group of fifth-grade students consistently has difficulty summarizing information as part of the research process. The school librarian can best promote the development of the students' literacy skills in summarizing information by providing instructional support in which of the following areas?

  1. identifying main ideas in a text
  2. using a two-column note-taking system
  3. distinguishing facts and opinions
  4. analyzing graphic elements within a text

Correct Response: A. To summarize information effectively, students must be able to take a large body of information and reduce it to the main points for more concise understanding. Teaching students how to identify main ideas enables them to capture the core concepts and disregard irrelevant or unnecessary information. The main ideas then become an outline of information included in a summary.

Competency 0005 
Apply knowledge of issues and procedures related to collection development and acquisition of resources, technology, and equipment.

4. A middle school librarian is considering three geographical resources as possible additions to the library's reference collection. The resources appear promising, but the librarian does not know much about them. Which of the following sources would provide the most useful information about these resources?

  1. bookstore Web sites that provide descriptions of the resources
  2. a catalog from the publisher of each resource
  3. bibliographic tools that provide professional reviews of the resources
  4. a general Internet search of each resource

Correct Response: C. Bibliographic tools are selection aids issued by, among others, professional associations, government library agencies, and producers and publishers of educational media. These aids include opinions that are based on professionally accepted criteria, such as authority, scope, authenticity, and general suitability for specific needs, that are used to evaluate resources.

Competency 0006 
Apply knowledge of procedures and practices related to the organization, circulation, and management of school library resources and equipment.

5. Systematic deselection, or weeding, of library resources is designed primarily to achieve which of the following goals?

  1. ensuring that there is sufficient space to house the library collection
  2. providing evidence to support requests for new acquisitions
  3. ensuring the continued quality and relevance of the library collection
  4. providing materials that teachers can use to supplement instruction

Correct Response: C. Deselection, or weeding, is the process of eliminating unsuitable or unwanted materials from the library collection. The process generally focuses on four types of materials—materials that are out of date, materials that are worn out, duplicate materials, and materials that are unused. The removal of these materials from the collection makes room for materials that are related to new curricula and relevant to the changing interests of the school community.

Competency 0007 
Analyze best practices in planning and implementing curriculum, instruction, and assessment to help all students develop information literacy skills.

6. A school librarian wants to adopt a constructivist approach to teaching information literacy skills. Which of the following methods would be most effective for this purpose?

  1. allowing students to discover the features of various information resources through independent exploration
  2. engaging students in inquiry-based learning experiences that allow them to investigate topics of personal interest within the content-area curriculum
  3. using primarily demonstrations when teaching students how to use information resources in various curricular areas
  4. implementing a cycle of direct instruction and assessment of specific information skills needed to locate information independently

Correct Response: B. Constructivism is a learning theory based on the ideas that students must be actively engaged to learn, that students construct knowledge through experience, and that students learn best through authentic tasks. Interest-based tasks promote student engagement. Learning experiences that are grounded in inquiry present students with cognitively challenging tasks that promote their ability to construct their own knowledge with regard to a topic or question.

Competency 0008 
Apply knowledge of strategies and methods for promoting the development of information literacy skills that support independent inquiry and empower students to be critical thinkers and skillful researchers.

7. A middle school student has found several journal articles on an assigned research topic, but is having difficulty locating relevant information within the articles. Which of the following techniques is the most effective  start italics first end italics  step for the student to take in this situation?

  1. examining the articles to identify the text structure being used
  2. reading the articles thoroughly, placing sticky notes next to key ideas
  3. skimming the articles for key words and ideas related to the topic
  4. analyzing the topic sentence of each paragraph of the articles

Correct Response: C. Skimming is a strategy that involves looking through a text very quickly and only for main ideas and key words. This strategy helps reduce the amount of time the student must spend reading through entire journal articles in search of particular ideas or information.

Competency 0009 
Analyze strategies for promoting the development of skills that support collaborative learning, inquiry, and social responsibility.

8. In which of the following situations is a school librarian most clearly modeling digital citizenship?

  1. Each grading period, an elementary school librarian bookmarks Internet sites for students' use.
  2. At the end of multimedia instructional presentations, a middle school librarian includes citations for music, video, and text drawn from other sources.
  3. Each week, an elementary school librarian documents students' Internet search histories.
  4. At the beginning of the school year, a middle school librarian provides students with information about fair use and plagiarism.

Correct Response: B. A key aspect of digital citizenship is practicing safe, legal, and responsible use of information. Legal use of digital information carries the same requirements as the legal use of print information; that is, providing citations for the use of others' ideas and intellectual property. By following this practice in presentations to students, the school librarian is modeling the legal use of information.

Competency 0010 
Apply knowledge of strategies and procedures for managing human, financial, and physical resources of the school library program to create a positive learning environment.

9. Which of the following situations represents a significant problem that must be addressed in order to provide equitable access to library resources for students with physical disabilities?

  1. The rows of bookshelves in the library are twelve feet long.
  2. The online catalog stations are positioned on the top of built-in storage cabinets on one wall of the library.
  3. The bookshelves in the library range in height from three to five feet.
  4. The only two universal access Internet stations in the library are located near the circulation desk.

Correct Response: B. Positioning of online catalog stations on top of built-in storage cabinets prevents students in wheelchairs from accessing the stations. Even if cabinets are low enough, there would not be space for a wheelchair to slide up to the catalog stations. This situation represents an inequity for one population of students in gaining access to library resources.

Competency 0011 
Analyze issues, procedures, and practices related to the development, implementation, and evaluation of the school library program.

10. An elementary school librarian is developing a comprehensive public relations program for the library program. It is most important for the librarian to include which of the following information in the public relations program plans?

  1. current resources and services offered by the library program
  2. school and community meetings and events where the library program can be promoted (e.g., open house, board meetings)
  3. long-range goals and objectives for the library program
  4. specific library promotions targeting particular stakeholder groups (e.g., teachers, parents/guardians, students)

Correct Response: D. Students, teachers, administrators, families, and other members of the school community have diverse needs and interests. By tailoring library promotions to these needs and interests, the school librarian can help ensure that public relations efforts are reaching the broadest possible audience and that various stakeholder groups are aware of the resources and services they are likely to find most useful.