Young Writers and the Nursery Rhyme Genre

This paper investigates children’s interest in the nursery rhyme genre whilst at the same time considers how children can be encouraged to write reflectively if they are working on something that both stimulates and motivates them to want to write. After reading a story book of nursery rhymes, a group of Y2 children were encouraged to consider what other adventures some of the main rhyme characters might have. By talking about the rhymes, seeing an expert writer modelling the writing process and writing collaboratively with their teacher and with each other, the children wrote an “alternative” nursery rhyme book. They began to see writing as a long term process which is recursive, takes time and effort but which is also very rewarding especially when published in the form of a book.     

New Approaches to Subject Indexing at the British Library

The constantly changing metadata landscape means that libraries need to re-think their approach to standards and subject analysis, to enable the discovery of vast areas of both print and digital content. This article presents a case study from the British Library that assesses the feasibility of adopting FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) to selectively extend the scope of subject indexing of current and legacy content, or implement FAST as a replacement for all LCSH in current cataloging workflows.