FREEMAN also noted the obvious fear of the computer, which constitutes a difficulty in using an electronic resource. Though students in general did not suffer from this anxiety, several older students feared that they were computer-illiterate, an assumption that became self-fulfilling when they searched for something but failed to find it. FREEMAN said she believed that some teachers also fear computer resources, because they believe they lack complete control. FREEMAN related the example of teachers shooing away students because it was not their time to use the system. This was a case in which the situation had to be extremely structured so that the teachers would not feel that they had lost their grasp on what the system contained.
A final question raised by FREEMAN concerned access and availability of the system. She noted the occasional existence of a gap in communication between school librarians and teachers. Often AM sits in a school library and the librarian is the person responsible for monitoring the system. Teachers do not always take into their world new library resources about which the librarian is excited. Indeed, at the sites where AM had been used most effectively within a library, the librarian was required to go to specific teachers and instruct them in its use. As a result, several AM sites will have in-service sessions over a summer, in the hope that perhaps, with a more individualized link, teachers will be more likely to use the resource.
A related issue in the school context concerned the number of workstations available at any one location. Centralization of equipment at the district level, with teachers invited to download things and walk away with them, proved unsuccessful because the hours these offices were open were also school hours.
Another issue was hardware. As VECCIA observed, a range of sites exists, some technologically advanced and others essentially acquiring their first computer for the primary purpose of using it in conjunction with AM's testing. Users at technologically sophisticated sites want even more sophisticated hardware, so that they can perform even more sophisticated tasks with the materials in AM. But once they acquire a newer piece of hardware, they must learn how to use that also; at an unsophisticated site it takes an extremely long time simply to become accustomed to the computer, not to mention the program offered with the computer. All of these small issues raise one large question, namely, are systems like AM truly rewarding in a school environment, or do they simply act as innovative toys that do little more than spark interest?
FREEMAN contended that the evaluation project has revealed several strengths that were gained through the use of archival resources in schools, including:
* Psychic rewards from using AM as a vast, rich database, with teachers assigning various projects to students—oral presentations, written reports, a documentary, a turn-of-the-century newspaper— projects that start with the materials in AM but are completed using other resources; AM thus is used as a research tool in conjunction with other electronic resources, as well as with books and items in the library where the system is set up.
* Students are acquiring computer literacy in a humanities context.
* This sort of system is overcoming the isolation between disciplines that often exists in schools. For example, many English teachers are requiring their students to write papers on historical topics represented in AM. Numerous teachers have reported that their students are learning critical thinking skills using the system.
* On a broader level, AM is introducing primary materials, not only to students but also to teachers, in an environment where often simply none exist—an exciting thing for the students because it helps them learn to conduct research, to interpret, and to draw their own conclusions. In learning to conduct research and what it means, students are motivated to seek knowledge. That relates to another positive outcome—a high level of personal involvement of students with the materials in this system and greater motivation to conduct their own research and draw their own conclusions.
* Perhaps the most ironic strength of these kinds of archival electronic resources is that many of the teachers AM interviewed were desperate, it is no exaggeration to say, not only for primary materials but for unstructured primary materials. These would, they thought, foster personally motivated research, exploration, and excitement in their students. Indeed, these materials have done just that. Ironically, however, this lack of structure produces some of the confusion to which the newness of these kinds of resources may also contribute. The key to effective use of archival products in a school environment is a clear, effective introduction to the system and to what it contains.