Trying to work out how to teach library skills in an engaging way is an ongoing mission for lots of us. My latest attempt at thinking about why we need to consider alternate terms when we search involved shaking down my 3 year old niece for some of her beautiful drawings (don’t worry, I actually just asked her if she would mind me using them in my classes; also checked with her parents; and only photographed them so they could keep and treasure the works of art forever.)

“Great news, Stacey, glad to hear you didn’t mug a child in the name of literature searching skills, but why have you done this?” I hear you say.

Good question.

I wanted to find a way to get everyone thinking about the different ways we might all describe things, and yes, we of course have the classic topics with lots of terms that all refer to the same thing. But is anything in this world as ambiguous as a picture drawn by a small child?

I’d like you to take a moment and look at these glorious pieces of art.

What are they? (Please feel free to share your guesses in the comments of the article!)

We, of course, have “Daddy with a rainbow” and “A rocket” but I’m going to guess that you didn’t quite get those exact descriptions. My students don’t either.

So how do I use this in class?

Before we talk about OR terms I put these images up on the board, I ask everyone in the room to take a few moments and think about what they see, then anyone who’s willing can share. There’s always at least some variety in the answers and it helps illustrate the point literally and figuratively without any pressure to be “right” about specific terms. I’ve been using the exercise for a few years now and it is generally well received and remembered – students have come back to me later and mentioned thinking about it when deciding terms (I’m not sure anything else I’ve tried before has lodged in their minds as effectively as the unfortunately phallic rocket.)

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or would like to try using the exercise yourself and want a higher res copy of the photos!

Stacey Astill (She/Her)
Senior Library Assistant
Keyll Darree Library
Isle of Man