Volume 35 Nº 1 - March 1999

From the editor

Guest editor: G E Gorman

The second issue of Orana in 1998 had as its principal theme literature and reading, and in introducing that issue I intimated that there were further papers to come on this important topic. So in this first number of Orana for 1999, here they are. And once again there are still more such papers awaiting publication; perhaps another issue later in the year will be able to contain them - clearly we have touched upon a topic that many Australian teacher-librarians and others find of interest.

In this issue we present a mixture of work by practitioners and academics, with a public librarian (award-winning Heather Fisher) covering many key concerns of those who serve young readers in libraries, followed by two practitioners (Crase and O'Connell) reflecting on information literacy and reading from their experiences in the school library, and two West Australian academics (Genoni and Debowski) writing, respectively, on a little-known theme in young adult Australian fiction and on the broader issue of school library collection management.

In her 1998 Nancy Booker Lecture Heather Fisher of Gosford City Library sets the tone for this issue by reflecting first on the work of two eminent leaders in children's librarianship, and then turning her attention to practices overseas that have some relevance to children's libraries in Australia. As always, Heather conveys her great joy in the profession of librarianship, while also offering sound works of wisdom for anyone seeking new ideas not only in the areas of reading and information literacy but across a range of issues that are important in providing quality library services to children and young people.

The next two papers look at the principal issues of information literacy and reading. In 'Information Literacy and the Primary School Student' Patricia Crase of Christ Church Grammar School in Kew offers valuable insights into the information processes used by primary school students when undertaking reasearch assignments, focusing of the ways in which these young library users might become information literate. Next, Judy O'Connell of Bethlehem College in NSW offers a broader perspective in her paper on the nature and role of reading. Taking as her theme the 'shape' of reading, Judy reflects on how this is being affected by the electronic environment and how we might develop more effective literacies for the information age.

In the fourth contribution Paul Genoni from Curtin University explores the use of legends of lost explorers in young adult fiction, using Ludwig Leichhardt as an example. While this paper in and of itself is insightful and entertaining, it also reflects inter alia how a high level of literacy allows the reader to delve more deeply into creative writing, finding new ideas to challenge and extend the mind.

The final paper, by Shelda Debowski of Murdoch University, moves away from the direct concerns of reading, literature and information literacy to consider a reality that underlies these themes - the electronic revolution. Specifically, she is concerned with the electronic resources in school libraries and how these affect not only collections but also services that are offered. Her particular concern is with management issues, and in her discussion there are subtle warnings about ways in which management divisions affect literacy programs, reading activities and a host of other services.

The Reviews section in this issue has been co-ordinated by Pam Zweck of Concordia College in Adelaide, and contains reviews contributed by staff of that institution. To all who conscientiously supplied their reviews on time, we again offer and aplogy - because Orana was cut back to three issues in 1998 and probably also in 1999, this section has not appeared in as timely a fashion as one might have hoped. Nevertheless, the items reviewed here indicate that the fields of teacher-librarianship and library services for children generally are both exciting and innovative, with some very sound and interesting materials being published to assist those who work in these areas. The reviews cupboard is now bare, so anyone wishing to contribute reviews should contact the reviews editor at: gary.gorman@vuw.ac.nz