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FACTS ABOUT INFOhio & School Libraries |
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School libraries and librarians have a positive impact on student
achievement.
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A national research study involving over 13,000 Ohio K-12 students
showed clear evidence that "an effective school library led by a
credentialed school librarian plays a critical role in
facilitating student learning and knowledge building."
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Automated school libraries also have a positive impact on student
achievement. |
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An evaluation by the State Library of Ohio found that the
automation of Ohio’s schools libraries "has had major positive
impacts on K-12 education in Ohio – access to information is
more equitable; important searching skills are taught through
the online catalog, …and students are better prepared to
continue their education and/or become lifelong learners."
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Automated libraries have the infrastructure and connectivity to help
teachers teach and students learn.
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Automating behind-the-scenes library functions frees the librarian
to be able to work with students and teachers.
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Books, non-print materials and digital content are heavily used in
schools with automated libraries. |
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Last year 18.5 million books and non-print materials were
circulated in the 2,447 INFOhio-automated libraries, a rate of 15+
per child.Ohio school libraries have approximately half the
books Ohio’s university libraries have, but K-12 students
circulate almost three times the books per year.
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INFOhio helps school librarians cost effectively catalog their print
and non-print materials. |
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INFOhio’s shared Curriculum Resource Catalog has over one million
unique bibliographic records which can be copied at no cost by
school librarians.
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Although the paper card catalog is obsolete, some Ohio schools still
use them and their students are lagging behind in critical 21st
century skills. |
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While no public or academic library in Ohio has had a
card catalog for over fifteen years, there are still
229 Ohio school libraries (including 36 high school
and 193 middle/elementary schools) which have only
paper card catalogs.In addition, 841 school
libraries, which are still not a part of INFOhio’s
automation network, are automated with less
sophisticated standalone systems.
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FACTS ABOUT INFOhio & Teaching and Learning
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INFOhio engages students in an active process of building their own
understanding and knowledge. |
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INFOhio's Discovery Portal offers a
one-stop, single-search capability, unique among Ohio libraries.
It brings together 23,000+ educator-selected,
age-appropriate websites and INFOhio’s electronic resources, all
aligned to curricular subject areas.
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INFOhio is an agent for individualized learning, knowledge
construction and academic achievement. |
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The INFOhio Research Project Calculator
provides an online template for doing research, developing a
timeline, asking good questions, taking notes, etc.
The Research Project Calculator is
nationally recommended as an online aid for student research.
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INFOhio connects school librarians with their academic librarian
counterparts to encourage a seamless student transition from high
school library to college library. |
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The Go Further! campaign is based on standards that are
in line with building 21st century learning skills. INFOhio is working
with OhioLINK and higher education institutions to develop
initiatives that will encourage students in the Ohio school system
to Go Further! With Career and College Readiness.
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INFOhio’s Certified ICoach program supports educators using 21st
century instructional strategies. |
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The ICoach program is a statewide effort to train educators to
effectively utilize 21st century learning and to integrate INFOhio
resources into the classroom. The ICoach team has been divided
among 16 regions throughout Ohio.
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The INFOhio 21st Century Learning Commons helps teachers effectively
use Web 2.0 tools and teaching strategies. |
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INFOhio offers a free, self-paced online course, 21 Essential
Things for 21st Century Success.It also offers a graphical
approach to incorporating information literacy skills using INFOhio’s DIALOGUE Model and ways to enhance the use of
INFOhio’s
Core Collection of Electronic Resources.
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KEY FACTS ABOUT INFOhio
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INFOhio is a statewide information system which uses a highly
centralized and very cost-effective system architecture for
delivery. |
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INFOhio’s library automation system, currently in 2,447 libraries
in 514 districts, operates on only 20 shared servers. (OhioLINK
currently has 60 hosting sites for 115 libraries.)
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INFOhio is a nationally recognized model of shared services and cost
efficiencies. |
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INFOhio has achieved substantial cost savings by sharing hardware
and software and by standardizing practices and procedures to
create economies of scale.
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INFOhio is one of five core services which must be provided by each
ITC, as mandated in the Ohio Administrative Code. |
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Per ORC 3301-3-01 Scope and definitions (5) "Core services" (d)
Library automation, curricular resources, and educational
technology services to support academic content standards and
effective instruction.
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INFOhio has grown substantially since automating its first two
school libraries in 1994.
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It took almost ten years to automate the first 900 libraries; it
took just five years to automate the next 1,500.
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INFOhio is one of the largest library and information networks in
the United States. |
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2,447 individual school libraries automated with INFOhio serve
nearly 1.2 million K-12 students and educators.Based on the
number of automated libraries, INFOhio is the largest automation
system supported by SirsiDynix, the largest automation vendor in
the United States.
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The licensing cost to automate libraries through INFOhio has not
increased since 1994. |
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The original cost of $4.10 per ADM has remained constant.
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With 2,447 libraries, the average annual maintenance fee paid to
SirsiDynix is less than $275 per library. |
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Annual maintenance paid to SirsiDynix averages 55˘ per ADM, based
on a 10% annual rate.Without INFOhio, the annual cost would be
$4.40 per ADM and at the industry standard of 18%.
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INFOhio is much more than a library automation supplier.
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INFOhio, initially a library automation project, has evolved into
an electronic and digital content provider.It is also a primary
source of instructional services, professional development and
training for teachers and other educators.
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INFOhio provides equitable statewide access to essential K-12
electronic resources. |
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Collection is funded by a combination of state and federal funds
working collaboratively with Libraries Connect Ohio partners.
INFOhio funding reductions caused the elimination of SIRS
Discoverer, a qualified elementary database for grade appropriate
access for K-6.
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State funding for INFOhio has decreased significantly even as it has
substantially expanded services.
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Overall state funding for INFOhio has declined 46% since 2001,
even though INFOhio automated an additional 942 (+63%) libraries
with no increase in staff.Use of the electronic resources
increased by 888% (for searches) and 329% (for articles printed).
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INFOhio’s ability to provide databases in the future is threatened
by funding reductions.
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With only $150,000 allocated, INFOhio is unable to pay its fair
share of the $4.1 million statewide total cost.Given the
economic situation, if funds are eliminated districts would need
to pay $19.90 per ADM to continue these resources.
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