A step-by-step guide written specifically to introduce school library media specialists to the Internet, addressing their distinct needs and the unique relationships that exist between media specialists, their students, and classroom colleagues. Steps for incorporating the Internet into the media centre programme, online resource identification, and descriptions of successful learning activities will have immediate application in any media centre. Intended for media specialists with little or no Internet experience, it explains clearly how to incorporate the Internet into the media centre, cite exemplary World Wide Web sites for media specialists, and covers the following topics: how to connect to the Internet; Internet tools and how to use them; the best ways to browse the World Wide Web and retrieve useful information; the basics of home page development; listservs and USENET newsgroups for the school library media specialist; how to develop and evaluate Internet-based instructional activities - with illustrations of actual Internet use, and strategies for promoting responsible student use of the Internet. Appendices include a guide for evaluating World Wide Web resources, a sample Internet acceptable use policy, a selective subject list of World Wide Web resoures, a glossary of terms, and a bibliography of recommended titles. MacDonald explains, with Web screen illustrations, how to accomplish each step of Internet connection and use. He describes and evaluates hardware and service provider issues, Internet search tools and browsers, and cites exemplary World Wide Web sites for school library media specialists. All terms - such as Telnet, FTP, Gopher, WAIS, Netscape, HTML and Java - are clearly explained and their uses evaluated in terms of the school library media centre. This guide cuts through the confusion of the Internet and provides a path to transforming traditional media centre services through use of the Internet and to developing enhanced media centre and classroom programmes in collaboration with teachers.
