Promoting Historical and Cultural Memories through International Bookmark Exchange Project of the International Association of School Librarianship

Abstract

With digital network technologies, school libraries have shifted the geographical coverage of library advocacy from a local to an international perspective. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how to use videos critically to promoting historical and cultural memories through International Bookmark Exchange Project of the International Association of School Librarianship. The authors outline an innovative approach by the Lam Tin Methodist Primary School in Hong Kong to advocate how videos inform, guide, and collaborate with school media specialists around the world in the International Bookmark Exchange Project. Over 800 students of the Lam Tin Methodist Primary School exchanged bookmarks with more than 10 schools from 9 countries in this worldwide program. The driving force of digital networking technologies enables School Media Specialists to adopt various digital media for school library advocacy and to promote historical and cultural memories both regionally and internationally. This paper highlights the YouTube Video Exchange Project ‘Lunar Chinese New Year’ with Tettenhall College of United Kingdom. Both Hong Kong and the United Kingdom celebrate Chinese New Year in January to February of each year with different traditions and practices. School Media Specialists of the two schools produced their YouTubes on celebrating Chinese New Year. The message conveyed in the exchanged YouTubes not only benefits all students and teachers of these two schools socially, intellectually and culturally, but also sheds light on further multi-level application of videos and other digital technologies on school library advocacy and education.