LIBE 467 Assignment 3: Evaluation Plan to Improve Reference Services

Analysis

The reference section of the Library Learning Commons is not a section of the library that is well used. When students work on research, they rarely consult the reference resources. The reference print materials are housed on shelves that span one side of the library. It is easily accessed but not very close to the circulation desk.

LLC Reference Resources 

It is evident simply by looking at the reference resources on the shelves that many are old, and some need repair. There many parts of our reference section that could do with an update. I chose to focus on the atlases. This is not a large section, but I felt the lessons I learned and the methods I employed would help me as I continued to evaluate larger sections of the library in the coming year. Riedling says, “A systematic basis for reviewing resources, weeding, as well as adding new materials to the reference collection should exist” (23).

                         

 

After selecting the atlases, I ran a report to find out the actual number of catalogued books we had in this section, the cost of each of the volumes, and the year they were purchased. According to the catalogue, records there are 25 atlases in the reference section of the library. An actual count found twenty-six. When I went through each atlas on the list, three were missing and four others did not show up on my list. Since there is no record of the missing atlases being checked out, they will be removed from the catalogue record. Ironically, the four atlases on the shelf but missing from the report were the only new atlases we have, the set of The Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. When I looked up the record for the missing atlases, I found that the Holding Record had these atlases listed as Regular instead of Reference. This has been corrected and they now appear when I ran a new report. As well, the spine label on one of the other atlases was incorrectly labelled. If we decide to keep this resource, it will be corrected. 

Rational

Next, I looked at the currency and condition of the resources, using standards in Achieving Information Literacy (2003). 

Literacy (2003).

Resource	Below standard	Acceptable	Exemplary
Currency	Copyright dates within the last 10 years: less than 50% of the collection	Copyright dates within the last 10 years: 50-70% of the collection	Copyright dates within the last 10 years: 80% or more of the collection
Collection Maintenance	Significant number of the resources are worn, damaged, missing components or need repair.	Most materials are complete and in good repair. Some items are missing components	Materials are complete and in good repair.

Chart (Asselin, 2003, 33).

In the categories of Currency and Collection Management the atlas section is Below Standard. Of the 26 atlases, only four have copyright dates within the last 10 years. Many of the other atlases show signs of age. Some have copyright dates in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Our oldest one is a Canadian Oxford School Atlas from 1979. Given the age of the majority of atlases in the reference section, students might easily find and use inaccurate information when doing research. 

Some of these resources must be deselected. To find out about staff use and recommendations of the reference resources, I asked to attend the Social Studies department meeting. My plan was twofold. First, I was interested to learn if the teachers ever directed the students to do research that required a look at reference resources, and second to request input into the process of deselecting some of the current resources and selected new resources that teachers will promote and use with students.

The plan:

Teachers involved are the Social studies department head and social studies teachers specifically the three who teach geography, Canadian history and American history as well as the Teacher-Librarian.

        1.   October and November 2019

Work with the teachers in the social studies department to evaluate and then deselect atlases that are no longer appropriate for use with students. I was surprised that the teachers wanted to keep a few atlases that I would have discarded. Specifically, we kept two Canadian atlases with maps that do not contain Nunavut. The teachers plan to use them for showing the evolution of Canada. As well, the teachers wanted to keep all four of the historical atlases. Although events have occurred in the ensuing years, it was felt that the material was still relevant to curricula.
We considered the criteria from the British Columbia ERAC document (2008), Evaluating, Selecting and Acquiring Learning Resources: A Guide, to help us evaluate the resources.
"CO-2: is the content accurate?
Possible problems in content accuracy include:
• outdated information
• factual errors
• improper use of statistics
• inaccurate graphs or displays
• invalid or oversimplified models, examples, or simulations
• errors in spelling or grammar." (31).

As well, we followed Riedling’s recommendations regarding the evaluation of geographic resources, "Because these materials depend on graphic arts and mathematics as well, further issues should be noted regarding evaluation and selection. The basic criteria to be considered when evaluating geographic resources include publisher (authority), scale, currency, indexing and format" (80).

So far, we have deselected:

                The Canadian book of the Road, copyright 1980

                The Canadian Oxford School Atlas, copyright 1979

                National Geographic Atlas of the World, copyright 1990

                The World Book Atlas, copyright 1989

       2.  November and December 2019

Investigation of alternate resources to include in the library collection.Work with the teachers in the social studies department to select atlases that better reflect the needs of students as they work to achieve curricular outcomes. We are still working on this area. I introduced the teachers to online resources that are free such the Indigenous Map Tool

      3.  It is important that teachers know the resources available in the library learning commons. Several ways I plan to do this: book displays at staff meetings, show and tell at department meetings.

Most of the best conversations have taken place, not at the larger group meeting with all the teachers, but individually or in groups of two where I think teachers have been more comfortable expressing their opinions about why they want to keep certain volumes (to teach comparison).

 4. Most of the best conversations have taken place, not at the larger group meeting with all the teachers, but individually or in groups of two where I think teachers have been more comfortable expressing their opinions about why they want to keep certain volumes, for example to look at changes over time, or to have students discover the differences between old and new maps.

Other Considerations:

1. I was surprised to find so many inaccuracies, with regard to cataloging the resources, in a small sampling of books. The current Library Technician is new this year so discussing the errors of the past are a lot easier than it would be discussing the mistakes with the technician who made them. She is working fixing them.

2. As part of our professional development, all staff must complete a yearly plan for professional growth. A focus for my plan is deselecting of reference resources that are no longer useful and selecting of resources that will better serve our students. At the end of the year we revisit and evaluate how well we have met our goals. I am hoping that after working through this section, that I will be able to apply the skills I learned to the next sections.

3. The cost of many of the atlases, and many other reference resources, is substantial. I will have to allocate part of the budget ongoing to obtaining more current useful resources.

4. This is not a consideration just an observation. As I was going through the atlases, I noticed that in the Macmillan World Reference Atlas, copyright 1996, there were three people who did the job of Gazetteer, one of the words I did not know from lesson 1.

Works Cited


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. 

ERAC. (2008). Evaluating, Selecting and Acquiring Learning Resources: A Guide. BC Ministry of Education. Retrieved from: https://bcerac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ERAC_WB.pdf 

Riedling, A., Shake, L., Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth. 

LIBE 467 Blog Post 3 Reference Materials

     This section of the course reinforced the idea that the Teacher-Librarian must have extensive knowledge and understanding of online and print reference resources. As Reidling (2013) states, “The accurate and appropriate provision of information will occur when the school librarian has a complete and accurate knowledge of the library collection, along with competence in selecting, acquiring and evaluating that collection” (5). Only then can the TL work with students in reference interviews to best direct and match student questions to resources that will provide the best information to resolve their questions.

     Theme three opened with a discussion of the components of the World Wide Web—the surface web, the deep/invisible web and the dark web. Accurate statistics from reliable sources that give the percentage composition of the different parts of the World Wide Web are difficult to find, but most sources state that the surface web makes up a small part—between 1% and 4% pf the entire web (Mcfedries, 2017, 10) and (Deep websites, 2019). 

Retrieved from: https://www.deepwebsiteslinks.com/how-to-access-the-deep-web/ 

     The information in this section cleared up a number of misconceptions.  First of all I had no idea how little of the web is actually searched using a search engine such as Google. I was also surprised to learn that I am a consistent user of the Deep net. I had also been confusing the Deep and Dark web. I believe that many of the students and the teachers might also not understand the difference between the Deep and Dark web and might not know just how little of the web search engines like Google can access. I would like to do some research among the students and my colleagues to find out what they know and then I plan to work on dispelling some of the myths. Reading about the “filter bubble” that Google uses to tailor searches explained why I get different search results based on whether I do the search at home or at school. This is something I want to test out with my students.

     We returned to the technology and online access often during theme 3. Many of the reference resources in the library—encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs—are available online through paid subscription services or in some cases for free. Sometimes these offer advantages over print resources, especially with regard to recency. In examining the materials in the reference section, it is apparent that out of date resources are not easily replaced due to cost. Many of the print resources in the reference section are large and heavy. This makes them less convenient to use and students often prefer to use a computer to search for their answer. I admit I am an advocate for print resources. I find it easier to navigate books. If forces a slower learning process for students as well.

This atlas for example is 12" x 22" very heavy and very large.

     Reliance on technology has drawbacks as well. The care and maintenance of devices is time consuming and costly as well. Computers require technicians to maintain them in good working order. Reference resources, while expensive do not come close to the cost of thirty laptops that require programs and services from divisional technicians to keep them running smoothly.

Works cited:

Deep web links | Deep web sites | The Deepweb 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.deepwebsiteslinks.com/how-to-access-the-deep-web/

Mcfedries, P., Atwood, M. (2017). The dark dialect (Technically speaking). IEEE Spectrum, Volume 54: 10.

Riedling, A., Shake, L. & Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school librarian: Tools and tips. Santa Barbara, Ca: Linworth.

Inquiring minds want to know

LIBE 467 Information Services 1: Blog Post Theme 1

A teacher-librarian has an important role to fill in the school. They need to have excellent knowledge of the resources in the library, they need to be able to talk to students and staff, and finally they need to be able to choose the best resources to help students and staff meet curricular outcomes (Riedling, 2013, 4). In beginning this course, I recognize how important it is to start with a clear understanding of ‘reference sources and services.' The teacher-library is tasked with the job of “assisting students in finding the answers to questions and helping them become independent users of information and ideas” (Riedlling, 2013, 4). To do this we need an understanding of how best to help students use reference sources “materials, from book to computer to periodical to photograph that can be found anywhere in the library or online” (Riedling, 2013, 18). The Teacher-librarian also needs to understand and be able to employ a variety of inquiry models to guide students as they engage in research to answer questions and learn. It is a lot more complicated than it sounds, just take a look at this chart comparing 5 different inquiry models.
Chart: Comparison of Inquiry models (Riedling, 2013, p.10) (Beaudry, 2019, Course notes, lesson two) (BCTLA, https://bctladotca.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/the-points-of-inquiry.pdf (Links to an external site.))

The colours indicate areas of similarity.  Each model requires that students learn and master tasks so that they can effectively engage in inquiry. Questioning and writing questions is an area where students have to learn and practice so that they can explore deeply. 

Once they have a direction for inquiry students need guidance, and resources so that they can investigate and explore.  The necessity of selecting the best possible reference resources has become a priority. I was alarmed when comparing the current library reference materials with the standards listed in Achieving Information Literacy. I was especially concerned with the fact that many of the reference sources are long past their best before dates and do not meet the benchmark of “copyright dates within the last 10 years” (Asselin, 2003, 33). Fewer than 50% of the reference resources have copyright dates within the last 10 years and many are much older. Evaluating these resources will provide an opportunity to acquire more appropriate and useful materials for students and staff. These are not the type of accurate resources needed by the student body. Two areas in the reference section that met the criteria: the new dictionaries and the new Indigenous atlas set.





What I need to work toward is the trifecta of the Library Learning Commons—becoming a more skilled teacher-librarian, acquiring the best reference resources, and assisting students to inquire and learn.

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.

BCTLA. (2011). The points of inquiry: A framework for information literacy and the 21st century learner. https://bctladotca.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/the-points-of-inquiry.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Beaudry, R. (2019). Lesson 2: The Reference Process and Information Skills, Course notes. Retrieved from https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/41996/pages/lesson-2-the-reference-process-and-information-skills?module_item_id=1308244


Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth.