December 2019

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Censorship

The censor on the other hand, begins with a list of or “no-no’s” and then seeks to identify whether any of these “taboo” words, subjects, themes or attitudes are present in an item. And if they are found, often even just once, then the material must not be acquired, or, if it has already been purchased, the item must be removed. For many, possibly most, censors, the concept of considering content is totally irrelevant. Jenkinson (2002, p. 22)

The most difficult form of censorship to detect is that of our own and others’ self-censorship, for it is absolutely invisible, and this silent censorship easily, and, I suspect, usually, occurs during the process of selection.

An informed public is the very foundation of a true democracy. To quote again the ALIA Statement on Free Access to Information:

Freedom can be protected in a democratic society only if its citizens have unrestricted access to information and ideas. (2001, para 2)

When librarians do their jobs properly, they connect people with the information they want and need. Moody (2005, p. 146)

How do librarians determine if a book is age appropriate? Reading reviews, reading and assessing the books themselves, and asking for input from others in the community emerged as top answers. (2016 p, 2)

The majority of challenges originate from parents, especially in elementary schools. School administrators and teachers are the second most likely source of book challenges, followed by the students themselves. (2016 p, 3)

Social and cultural expectations and needs require today’s students at all levels of education to be critical thinkers, that they understand history and broad social movements, that become comfortable using a variety of media, and that they have access to good teaching (Callison and Tilley 1998; Chadwick-Joshua 1992; Harada et al. 2004). Without access to information, democratic institutions and societies are at risk. Participants in this study appear to have a vague understanding of this, but only a small minority seem to relate this to their social and professional responsibilities to help protect students’ intellectual freedom rights.

References:

Jenkinson, D. (2002). :

//ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=7277053&site=ehost-live">Selection and censorship: It’s simple arithmetic. School libraries in Canada, 2(4), 22. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=7277053&site=ehost-live

Lukenbill, W.B. (2007). Censorship:

What do school library specialists really know? School Library Media Research, 10. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslpubsandjournals/slr/vol10/SLMR_Censorship_V10.pdf

Moody, K. (2005).:

//web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail?sid=c0a1a5f0-a3ea-4888-b507-0f8826668fa1%40sessionmgr4002&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=lih&AN=18032663"> Covert censorship in libraries: A discussion paper. Australian Library Journal, 54(2), 138-147.

School Library Research Journal. (2016). Controversial books survey

Qualities for Choosing a Preferred Library Supplier

When choosing preferred school library suppliers TL must consider their own unique school profile .

The following qualities are important for all schools but especially for isolated schools and those with particular needs.

Customer service and communication that is tailored to the school and the school libraries needs. The supplier should be asking questions and listening to the needs of the school library. Making sure that they understand the requirements of the school library’s RFP (Request for Proposal) and requesting more information if required to ensure all requirements are met.

The supplier needs to build a trusting relationship with the TL to meet needs as well as suggest new and existing services.

They should give opportunities to the TL to give feedback on products and services to ensure any issues or problems are resolved efficiently.

The supplier should have a customer-friendly interface to a web-accessible catalogue of the publications available, with the ability for the library to effect transactions in the vendor’s database (plus training in the use of the database)

They should have a bibliographic services (order confirmation records and catalogue records)

Have reporting capabilities to support collection development decision-making. These could include purchasing data or usage statistics.

A supplier that has experience and the ability to work with a consortia of important factors (licensing, business processes, resource sharing, training, management of trials and introduction of new products)

A supplier that offers value for money and is within the school budget.

Reference

Do Libraries Still Need Book Vendors and Subscription Agents?”, American Library Association, September 23, 2011. http://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/z687/vend

Other Techniques for Collection Management

Techniques for collection measurement that could be used for e-resources are obtaining quantitative statistical data from digital resource suppliers about user access. Using data collection techniques to determine what e-resources are being used and the extent of that use. Comparing e-resources that deliver similar or the same curriculum initiatives and determining value for money in regards to access. Acquiring feedback from teachers that e-resources and other resources were accessible and appropriate. Ascertaining what are the strengths and weaknesses of the resources.

Other techniques could be in using library circulation statistics to determine what resources were borrowed. This may not always be an accurate indication of collection measurement as resources may be borrowed but not used. The school profile (eg:

socio-economic, ESL students, independent) and the preference for resources. Further determined by the use of circulation records on the library software programs which can indicate student and teacher interaction with resources within the school profile.

Teacher librarians using data to determine collection measurement of e-resources need to consider and place ‘ merit upon what data to collect and what criteria to employ which is harder to detect’ (Poli, 2001) to ensure accurate measurement.

To determine if using an output measure is realistic when creating a budget a teacher librarian must also

measure the knowledge and understanding obtained through the resource. As argued by

Kyrillidou & Giersch (2004, p. 438) say “[…] in order to discover whether a user has successfully used

an electronic resource, we need to instigate a transaction that will help us understand whether the

information discovery process has truly led to knowledge discovery”. If performance measurement,

then, is about numbers and counts, it is true that to make sense out of them, to help the process towards

the ultimate purpose, that “knowledge discovery”, which justifies a library’s existence, it is vital the

application of mixed assessment methods, deriving also from qualitative research and it is also most

important the direction investigations are taking towards impact and outcome measurement of digital

services on users’ communities.’

Reference:

Kyrillidou, M., Giersch, S. (2004) “Qualitative analysis of ARL E-metrics participant

feedback about the evolution of measures for networked electronic resources”,

Library quarterly, 74(4), pp. 423-440 [Online].

Available at:

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/LQ/journal/issues/v74n4/740403/740403.web.pdf

74(4) (Accessed:

5 October 2005).

Bundled Sets

There is equal divide between the pros and cons of buying bundled sets of resources according to Kimmel (2014)

Pros:

No need to replace lost or damaged books, easier to weed unused items from the collection, easier to purchase new, relevant and current materials, access rather than ownership.

Cons:

The number of simultaneous users can be limited by licensing issues (single,multiple, unlimited), ownership of content – the library has access but doesn’t own collections to fill their shelves, subscription costs – one off or annually, does it easily integrate with the libraries catalogue system.

Considerations to selecting content that is provided via online access but not owned by the library according to Kimmel (2014), should be to the merit, ease of use, authority and value of the bundled set to the collection. Also do the bundled sets offer the ability of users to access the ideas and information required.

I feel bundled sets are an important part of the future of the library resource collection and if managed well are a great benefit to students. My concerns are with the licensing and subscription costs. Navigating these with the best interests of students needs and access to information is a challenge but one I think as a TL is worth embarking on.

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Patron Driven Aquisition

Tynan,Mark;McCarney, Eoin 2014. Patron Driven Acquisition in University College Dublin. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 20 (2):

233-250. DOI: 10.1080/13614533.2014.906352.

Five keywords – Patron, Driven, Acquisition, just-in-time, collection

The journal states that the most consistent argument made in support of PDA is that PDA material is borrowed much more often than material selected by librarians or academic staff.

The findings found that over the initial trail of PDA in their university libraries “63% of print PDA orders were placed by students, with the remaining 37% placed by academic staff. Usage among students is higher, but they are the larger cohort and always the greatest users of library books”.(Tynan,McCarney 2014)

The journal discusses the problems incurred using PDA during this time. “The percentage of print PDA material not yet borrowed is, however, a cause of concern. Over 300

print PDA orders were never collected. There are some reasons for this. For example, we

know some academics used print PDA for collection development purposes, and ordered

multiple titles that they did not necessarily want to borrow when received. One academic, for example, ordered over thirty print PDA books within a one hour time frame. Other

academics, from different schools, ordered over twenty titles over the course of the project.These academics ordered these books because they felt the collection needed them, and the opportunity was there, but they did not necessarily want them for themselves. Some orders received were from postgraduate students whose library cards had expired by the time the books they had ordered were received. A lot of the uncollected books were from orders placed in the first month of the new term by students who were new to the university and the library catalogue. They may not have understood how PDA worked, and may have been confused by the PDA MARC records in the catalogue.” (Tynan, McCarney, 2014)

The University of Dublin felt that these problems occurred because PDA wasn’t promoted correctly to the staff and students to ensure it was being used appropriately. Further that the right information on how to use PDA using everyday language and avoiding library jargon wasn’t used with students and staff.

Retrieved from:

https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/5600/2/RACL%20906352%20-%20Mark%20Tynan%20and%20Eoin%20McCarney%20-%20with%20amendments.pdf

Teacher Librarian in the Information Landscape

It’s important to have an understanding of the broader information landscape because it has changed the way in which information is now available. Information can now be accessed at anytime. As stated in Module 2, ‘The developments in technology affect the landscape and the humans that inhabit it. What humans do with the technology, how they view/perceive it, and how they use it affects developments in technology’. Therefore libraries need to keep up with these changes and developments by engaging a diverse group of users in resources, digital services and both print and electronic materials that are instantly available and inclusive.

The information landscape enables libraries ‘to manage complex collections of print, digital and electronic materials, to deal with both owned and licensed content and present modern used interfaces’ Breeding (2012)

Watch this useful clip for understanding the Information Landscape and how it affects the role of the teacher librarian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POq9zzIwKnw

Reference

Breeding, M (2012). The Library Information Landscape approaching the year 2050. Inf. Services ans Use, 32(3-4), 195-201.