Helping the School: Electronic Learning Resources of Foreign Libraries

Abstract

The transition from an information society to a knowledge society gives libraries a chance to overcome the crisis by transforming themselves into educational institutions of a new type, providing quality information and educational services that promote cognitive and creative activities. An important place among them belongs to programs and projects for the creation and promotion of electronic learning resources intended for schoolteachers and students, i.e. for the audience, which directly determines the society we will have to live in the near future. The aim of the article is to consider the experience of major foreign libraries in preparing electronic learning (e-Learning) resources for schools from the perspective of their possible use by Russian libraries in the light of the tasks set to strengthen the role of cultural and educational organizations in the historical and cultural enlightenment and upbringing of the growing generation. The object of the article is the resources of own generation (or created in cooperation with other institutions) of national and regional libraries in the USA, Great Britain, and Australia, related to the methodological support of the educational process in schools. The study of the content of these resources made it possible to identify several main groups with different purposes: training in the skills of working with primary sources; promotion of classical literature and reading; assistance to subject teachers in their work with current social and political issues; development of regional / local history knowledge. Examples explored are electronic learning resources for schools posted in dedicated sections or on the web portals of the Library of Congress (USA, Washington), the National Library of Australia, the British Library, the Florida State Library and Archives, the State Library of Victoria (Australia, Melbourne) the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales. The study has shown that national and regional libraries of the above-mentioned countries place a high priority on the preparation of electronic learning resources for schools. Creation of such resources helps libraries to solve important tasks: to popularize their collections and electronic resources; to expand the circle of regular readers by attracting schoolchildren; to enhance the prestige of the library as an important cultural and educational institution involved in forming the worldview and raising the intellectual level of the younger generation. Due to their social significance, such projects, as a rule, have state or regional funding; grants are widely practiced. The article pays special attention to the interaction between libraries and other cultural institutions in preparing joint electronic learning resources for schools, as well as to the promotion of such resources among the teaching community, primarily through close cooperation with pedagogical organizations.