Delivering Web Reference Services to Young People

Youth librarians are anxious about the Internet. Anxious for resources on putting it to use as a tool in service to children, that is. Authors Walter Minkel and Roxanne Hsu Feldman's ""Delivering Web Reference Services to Young People"" aims to help youth librarians find the resources they need to use the Web effectively. This informative guide is useful to both technology zealots in children's services as well as the librarian just catching on to the Web. More and more students are showing up at the library with their assignments in tow. Many librarians who serve students between the ages of 8 to 18, are eager for tips on how to improve skills in Web reference and training. ""Delivering Web Reference Services to Young People"" helps with advice on: what the Web does well for young people and what it does poorly; which Web skills are developmentally appropriate for which grades and ages of student; how to use search engines and subject directories to find what you and the students you serve want; how your library catalogue skills have already prepared you for effective Internet searching; why most young people are usually poor searchers; how to evaluate Web sites; how to assemble the good sites into a subject directory for student, teacher or library use; why creating a vital subject directory for your library (or linking to someone else's directory) can be great for your reference services; and how to encourage staff, students and volunteers to have fun with the Web.