A community for teacher-librarians and other educators

Learning HTML - Why?

I'm taking over a class Information Technology in Library Media Centers and one component is for librarians to learn enough HTML to put up a home page for a library site. I have a lot of reservations about this.

Do we need rudimentary knowledge of HTML when we have so many ways to create a Web page? I designed a Web site teaching myself Dreamweaver and never learned a HTML script.

Can it be argued this is a holdover from our early fascination of gaining entrance to the Web?

If you believe that we still need basic information, just how much do we need?

Thanks. floyd

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Erika on February 11, 2009 at 11:41pm

At least a basic HTML codes like url, img, font, and tables of course.

It will come handy when you need to debug your web page.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard Beaudry on February 24, 2009 at 8:27pm

Hi Floyd,

I have been a school librarian and I have taught classes in the diploma in Teacher Librarianship program at two universities in Canada. I have an educational background in librarianship and technology. I started building websites long before software like Frontpage or Pagemill appeared so I am well versed in HTML and other computer languages.

Is it necessary to know HTML to build a school library website these days? Probably not if you use software like IWeb for the MAC or any webpage program that front loads all the information that you need.

On the other hand I will admit that I use Dreamweaver and I often use html coding to tweak the website of my school library.

It may seem like a lost art but knowing html can be beneficial if you use a program like Dreamweaver that lets you add code as needed. If any glitches occur, I can fix the code rather than cutting and starting over.

So my answer would be that it is not necessary to know HTML to build an average school library website but if you intend to add tools or special formatting to a website it does seem like a basic knowledge of HTML helps.

Richard Beaudry
Librarian
Langley Secondary School

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard Beaudry on February 25, 2009 at 10:45pm

Hi Floyd,

Here is a website that might be of interest to your students:

How to Embed Almost Anything in your Website
http://www.labnol.org/internet/how-to-embed-in-html-webpages/6365/

Richard Beaudry
Librarian
Langley Secondary School

▶ Reply

RSS

Welcome to
TLNing (teacherlibrarian.org)

Sign Up
or Sign In

A Learning Revolution Project

Twitter feeds

Tweets about "#tlchat" Tweets about "#tlelem"

TL Scoop.its

Teacher Librarians of the 21st Century Curated by Mrs. N Ideas and Resources for the 21st Century Teacher Librarian

Libraries as Sites of Enchantment, Participatory Culture, and Learning Curated by Buffy J. Hamilton Ideas and resources to develop the concept of libraries as sites of participatory culture and learning

Personal Learning Networks for Librarians Curated by Donna Watt

Staying ahead of the game, managing your own professional development, joining the dots

SchoolLibrariesTeacherLibrarians Curated by Joyce Valenza News for teacher librarians

What is a teacher librarian? Curated by Tania Sheko Defining the role of teacher librarians for those who think we just look after books

Teacher librarians and transliteracy Curated by Sue Krust Explore the evolving role of the teacher librarian

Teacher-Librarian Curated by Librarian@HOPE Best sites and resources on the web for teacher-librarians

ResearChameleon on School Libraries Curated by Kathy Malatesta Teaching, mentoring & leading in today’s school libraries

Student Learning through School Libraries Curated by lyn_hay Building evidence of impact through research and professional practice

SCIS Curated by SCIS News and resources about school libraries

Educational Technology and Libraries Curated by Kim Tairi In libraries we teach, we learn and many of us are early adopters of technology. This is your scoop on those things.

21st Century Libraries Curated by Dr. Steve Matthews all things 21st Century library related