The post below was started in July of 2022 during the course of ETL 505 but left unfinished.
Here we go!
The next stop in this TL program is, thankfully, on resource description; something I have been skirting and tinkering with in the most ridiculous fashion for years.
With Hilder’s “Information Resource Description: creating and managing metadata,” as my main guide, I am starting to get a sense of the vastness of this side of things and the incredible importance of resource description.
At the outset of this program we were asked to read about and consider the nature of information which, at the time, seemed interesting, but now I see is vital for the nature of resource description. As Hilder notes, objects created primarily for the purpose of information need to be considered carefully and described thoughtfully so to be found and accessed.
Over two years has passed since this course (I cannot conceive of this), but the learning around the importance of description for discovery and use has become a part of my day-to-day practice as a TL. While much of the accessioning of new material is done by the library technician on our team, in our workflow which I have updated since this course, the TLs are the first to open boxes, examine materials and add any guiding notes which are deemed important for making this resource discoverable.
I found a definition of accessioning in the archival processsing pages of University of Florida’s (2024) George A. Smathers Libraries which I liked. It describes accessioning as ‘the process of formally accepting material into the archives.” When we unpack materials they are often books which we have requested (purchased) or which have come to us through standing orders from our trusted booksellers. In the formal process of welcoming, we are often thinking in the most fundamental of library terms care of Ranganathan: for every reader, their book and for every book, its reader, and books are for use! The readers might be particular students, but more often we are looking for connections to educator as reader: curriculum links, common themes explored by teachers across the K-6 and 7-12 years, particular perspectives shared, popular topics and expressions in style. We might be looking for connections to sustainability, inclusion, First Nations’ authors, illustrative styles for visual literacy exploration, unexpected narrative styles supporting writing, poetry for Year 2, books about blobfish for Matthew (the kid who loves blobfish).
The TLs will note a few of the new resources and do a quick check of what the SCIS record says about these books and add subject tags or notes to this book so that it can be discoverable. Sometimes we will note if it should be a part of existing reading lists, Initial Lit Year 1, for example.
The final two of Ranganathan’s laws, save time of the reader and the library is a growing organism, are considered in this first stage of welcoming, too. Teachers are notoriously short on time and, as a former head class teacher, I know that many teachers prefer what is known over what is new and a potentially better example. When you get a teacher in the door and they ask about a novel for Year 4 exploring sustainability, it is a gifted opportunity. The sooner you can get your hands on an example, show it to them, and talk them through what that has to offer, the better chance you have of giving that book its intended use and sharing your library’s strengths. As a growing organism, the library cannot have too many unknown, unused, poorly described resources anymore than any organism can carry around unknown, unusued, poorly understood organs.
Ranganathan, S.R. (1931). The five laws of library science. Edward Goldston.
University of Florida. (2024). Archival processing: Accessioning. University of Florida Libraries. Retrieved December 9 2024 from https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/c.php?g=419550&p=5449741#:~:text=Overview,vital%20to%20facilitate%20future%20processing.
