Sunday March 27th, 2011 Picture It Kids' Catalogue

Finding exactly what you want in the vast library collection can sometimes overwhelm people. There are several ways to go about it – pick an area and just look until you find what you want, ask library staff for help or try to use the library catalogue to identify the location of an item. All have their advantages – there is no one way that people should follow, but as observers of people using the library it is frustrating to watch when people misread the screen and set off in the wrong direction, or misspell a title or author’s name and announce that “the library doesn’t have any books by Dr. Suess” (No, but we have lots by Dr. Seuss!). The latter is a real problem for children who do not yet have the searching skills or spelling ability of the adult library users but now there is a fabulous new type of catalog to assist them in finding exactly what they want.

It’s called the Picture-It Kids Catalogue. Like any catalogue it is a listing of every item that we have in the children’s collection, but it has one essential difference – it is photo-based. That means that instead of typing in what you think the search term might be, you can choose your topic by looking at photos on the screen and clicking on the image you want.

For instance, until recently the books about pigs were listed under the technically correct subject heading of “swine”. How many of you would think to search for books about pigs using that term? With Picture, even a young child can figure out to click on the picture of the pig. Of course staff are always ready and willing to assist anyone at the library, but it can be extremely satisfying for a child to be able to figure something out on their own.

Children’s staff customized the Picture-It catalogue so that it reflects Thunder Bay and northern Ontario. For instance, we added prime ministers where there were presidents, caribou and loons where there were armadillos and flamingos and mosquitoes where there were only a few ordinary insects.

We also added in First Nation content which was absent – for instance, Aboriginal athlete biographies into the sports section, and Cree /English and Ojibway /English books into the Languages area. Many of the photos had to be redone or created so with my library camera I spent a lot of my free time photographing scenes and people to use for this purpose. Thanks to my ever-patient nieces and nephews, a few neighbours, friends and children who visited the library who were kind enough to pose for me. I was able to populate the catalogue with beautiful photos of children doing the activities depicted in the subjects. So don’t be surprised if you recognize someone in the catalogue!

Needless to say, this took a lot of work but it was also a very challenging, creative and interesting project for a librarian as well. I was able to do the complicated searches that sometimes need to be done to find something precisely and link it to a simple photo which will make that search painless and quick for children to do on their own. And that’s at the heart of what librarians do – we provide access to information and books for recreational reading as well.

Sorry adults, Picture-It only covers the children’s (and some teen) materials. But do try out the Kids Catalogue and introduce your students or children to it. You can access it from your home computer here, or at the library. Feedback from users is appreciated.

Angela Meady, Head of Children’s & Youth Services