LIBE
467: Assignment 1
Students
need the best tools possible to find the answers to question they are asking. One
of the most critical jobs of the Teacher-Librarian “is the selection and evaluation
of reference materials” (Riedling, 2013, 18). Ongoing evaluation using
specific criteria is necessary to maintain the reference resources that are
current and useful. As well, collaborating with teachers with regard to their
students’ needs helps to direct my selection of resources.
Part 1: Evaluation of
a Reference Resource:
In looking through our reference section we have a number of
resources that should be removed due to copyright date alone—some were
published more than ten years ago. I focused on the section on Canada—atlases,
encyclopedias, almanacs, and the factbook that I chose to evaluate. I am considering
whether to keep or deselect Facts about
Canada, its Provinces and Territories by Jean Weihs. To begin I will look
at the resource for relevancy,
purpose, currency, curricular connections and efficient use of library space. Then I will consider whether to keep or discard it according
to a rubric that follows.
Relevancy
Facts about Canada,
its Provinces and Territories addresses a subject of relevance to many of
the patrons in the library. Canada is the main subject in several courses in
the social studies department. As well, we have a number of students new to
Canada who are interested in learning more about the country they currently
live in.
Purpose.
Facts about Canada,
its Provinces and Territories does contain much useful information and many
facts about Canadian provinces and two of its territories. Each province has a
section on history with accurate dates regarding the establishment of trading
posts and battles. It is organized in a way that makes it easy to find the
information.
Currency:
As far as I can tell this book was only published one time,
in 1995. None of my searches turned up any other edition. The book is currently
for sale, the 1995 edition, on Abe books and on Amazon through third-party
sellers, as new, for approximately $60. It made me wonder if selling discarded
books could be a revenue stream for the Library Learning Commons. Our copy is
pristine—no marks, bent pages, very few signs of wear.
Curricular
Connections:
There are three courses in our Social Studies department
that focus on Canada—Grade 9 Canada in
the Contemporary World, Grade 10 Geographic
Issues of the 21st Century, and Grade 11 History of Canada. Since Canada is the specific focus of three of
our compulsory high school Social Studies courses it is important to have reference
resources such as a factbook that support the outcomes of these courses. The
purpose of factbooks is to provide “basic facts on particular topics such as
countries, sports or time periods” (Riedling, 2013, 37).
Both the grade 9 and Grade 10 courses require that students
are able to identify elements of physical geography (provinces, territories,
cities etc.).
Grade 9 Canada in the
Contemporary World
From the Manitoba Grade 9 (2007) social studies curriculum
document:
Students will:
9-KL-024 Identify on a map distinguishing elements of the
physical and human geography of Canada. Include: political boundaries, capital
cities, population clusters, regions.
Grade 10 (2006) Geographic Issues of the 21st
Century
Learning Experience 1.2: Physical and Human Geography
specifically:
KL-009 Identify elements of physical and human geography
KL-013 Locate provinces, territories, and capital cities on
a map of Canada.
Grade 11 History of Canada
While the book purports to be: “A unique source of
information about the provinces and territories of Canada, covering geography,
climate, population, cities, government, politics, economy, history, culture,
education and in many other topics” (Weihs, 1995, cover), it barely touches on
Canada’s Indigenous population.
Its use is limited with regard to the following
grade 11 curricular outcome:
From the Manitoba Curriculum document (2014) “Addresses
essential question of “How has Canada’s history shaped the Canada of today?
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples play an ongoing
role in shaping Canadian history and identity.”
Accuracy
Many of the facts listed are accurate: Date of Entry into
Confederation, Capital City, and Motto. There are sections of the book that are
wildly inaccurate. With a publication date of 1995 Nunavut is, understandably,
not included at all in the book. The sections on Finances provide dollar
amounts that are no longer accurate. Population statistics are wrong. Canada’s
Indigenous populations are hardly mentioned. When they are, terminology used is
no longer considered appropriate. For example, “Cree Indian” and “Iroquois
Indian.” We have a significant population of international students and of new immigrants
to Canada and I would not want them to base an understanding of Canada on this
book.
It seemed unusual to
me that many government departments are listed by phone number. I called a few
of them and surprisingly they still worked. There are no websites listed at
all.
An interesting section of the book was the description of
the provincial and territorial flags. There are no colour pictures in the book
so they are all described. Here is the description of Manitoba’s flag: “A red
field with a Union Jack in the upper left corner and the provincial shield on
the centre right” (Weihs, 1995, 51). Since the author could not just look up
the flags on the internet, and colour printing was not very common, it would
have taken much more effort than it would today to find the flags and write an accurate
descriptions.
Efficient use of library space
The book measures
7” by 10” and fits easily on the reference shelves. It is hard cover and large
enough to be distinguished from smaller paperbacks. It would be easy to find
and not so large that it is cumbersome to use.
Chart used for evaluation of the Facts about Canada
its Provinces and Territories
Criteria
|
Below standard
|
Acceptable
|
Exemplary
|
Relevancy/curricular support
|
Materials support few curricular areas
|
Materials
support 3 or more curricular areas
|
Materials can be used with five or more curricular areas.
|
Purpose
|
Most or all of the resource cannot be used for its intended purpose
|
Some of the
resource cannot be used for its intended purpose
|
All of the resource can be used for its intended purpose
|
Currency
|
Copyright dates older
than 10 years
|
Copyright dates within last 5 years
|
Copyright dates within the last 2 years
|
Accuracy
|
The resource is
not accurate.
|
The resource is consistently accurate
|
The resource is accurate and provides bibliographic support
|
Cost of the resource
N/A Resource no
longer available
|
Cost is too high to warrant purchase of resource.
|
The cost of the resource is warranted based on value resource
provides.
|
Resource provides excellent value according to cost.
|
(Adapted from: Asselin, 2003, pages 33-34)
Part 2: Search for an alternate work
I thought it would be fairly easy to replace this Facts
About book published by H. W. Wilson. In Reference
Skills for the School Librarian, Riedling (2013) mentions H. W. Wilson in
the Factbooks section (41). The company is still publishing library reference
materials and lists on its website other Facts About books. However, it does
not list the resource I have evaluated, nor any other factbook specifically
about Canada. In fact they ones they still have on the site are published long
ago. For example the Facts About China
book was published in 2000 and is listed for 120$. I imaged a replacement would
be approximately the same cost.
Relevancy/curricular
support: The material is relevant and interesting to both students and
teachers. It provides an easy to navigate website.
Purpose: The Canadian
Encyclopedia provides Canadians and
others with accurate, updated information about the country and its people.
Currency: The Canadian Encyclopedia is current. It
is maintained by Historica Canada.
Accuracy: The
website is accurate. Articles contain bibliographic references to substantiate
what is said.
Efficient use of space: The resource is found online so requires no library shelf space.
Cost of resource:
the online Canadian Encyclopedia is free, making it an exceptional value. A
link will be provided on the library web-page so that this resource can be
accessed easily.
Chart used for evaluation of The Canadian Encyclopedia
Criteria:
|
Below Standard | Acceptable |
Exemplary
|
Relevancy/curricular support
|
Materials support few curricular areas
|
Materials support 3 or more curricular areas
|
Materials can
be used with five or more curricular areas.
|
Purpose
|
Most or all of the resource cannot be used for its intended purpose
|
Some of the resource cannot be used for its intended purpose
|
All of the
resource can be used for its intended purpose
|
Currency
|
Copyright dates older than 10 years
|
Copyright dates within last 5 years
|
Copyright
dates within the last 2 years
|
Accuracy
|
The resource is not accurate.
|
The resource is consistently accurate
|
The resource
is accurate and provides extensive bibliographic support
|
Cost of the resource
|
Cost is too high to warrant purchase of resource.
|
The cost of the resource is warranted based on value resource
provides.
|
Resource
provides excellent value according to cost.
|
References
Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds) (2003). Achieving
information literacy: Standards for
school library programs
in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association &
The Association for
Teacher-Librarianship in Canada.
Manitoba Education and Advanced Learning (2014). Grade 11
History of Canada: A foundation for
Implementation (Curriculum Guide). Retrieved
from:
Manitoba Education, Citizenship. (2006). Geographic Issues
of the 21st Century (Curriculum Guide).
Retrieved
from:
https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/frame_found_sr2/cluster1.pdf
Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth (2007). Grade 9 social studies Canada in the
contemporary world: A foundation for implementation.
Retrieved from:
Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for
the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third
Edition). Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth.
The Canadian Encyclopedia: Historica Canada. (n.d.).
Retrieved from
Weihs, J. (1995). Facts about Canada, its provinces and territories. United States
of America: H. W.
Wilson Company.
