On May 6, about 30 junior and senior high school teachers, librarians and administrators from the Washington- Baltimore metropolitan area attended an all-day briefing at the Library that focused on LC's collections in the environmental field.
Educators were introduced to primary documents and were instructed on how to use the Library's electronic data bases.
Carolyn Brown, associate librarian for Cultural Affairs, welcomed the group on behalf of the Librarian of Congress. The seminar, organized by Jackie Wintle, Office of Educational Programs, was made possible with support from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through a grant to Morgan State University (MSU).
During the morning session, Constance Carter, head of the Science Reference Section in the Science and Technology Division, talked about library resources and the Science Tracer Bullets, which are short bibliographies on current topics. She also set up a book display of recent and important titles on environmental topics.
Gary L. Fitzpatrick of the Reference and Bibliography Section in the Geography and Map Division presented a series of maps and discussed how they could be used in the classroom to enhance environmental studies.
This preceded a period in which teachers divided into six working groups to discuss and develop a lesson plan for other primary documents (e.g., cartoons, manuscripts, music) from the Library's collections.
During the afternoon, the seminar participants split into two groups, and two concurrent sessions were presented and repeated. In one session, Robert Zich, director of the Office of Electronic Programs, and Michelle Cadoree, a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Division, demonstrated how to access materials in the Library's collections electronically. In the other session, Ms. Carter provided hands-on experience in using the Science Reading Room computers to query the Library's data bases.
In addition to the Library's presentations, representatives from EPA and MSU spoke to the group. Charles Salters, professor of biology at MSU, reviewed environmental regulations, and Peter Redmond of the Community Relations Office of the EPA talked about community involvement. Judith Greenberg, executive director of the EPA/MSU Summer Environmental Institute for Teachers, provided an overview of the activities planned for that institute.
This seminar is one a series of pilot projects to encourage teachers to use library resources and primary documents to enhance their teaching. Thus, teachers were asked to complete an evaluation form at the end of the day. The responses reflected high regard for the information, resources and enthusiasm of the Library's staff. Said one librarian: "The seminar has shown me new ways to serve teachers and access information." Another person commented, "I saw many uses for long-distance access to the information of the Library of Congress."