Tag Archives: budget

WTL501 – Module 2.1 – Reference Materials

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Farmer (2014) provides a guide to the development of the reference collection in American schools. It is clear that the information is specifically targeted towards American schools, however it is still relevant to Australian school librarians. Farmer suggests that librarians should be careful to select materials that contain American spellings and measurements, which is also true of Australian librarians, though, of course, including English spellings and decimal measurements.
Farmer points out the necessity of keeping the collection current and the fact that many reference titles are quickly out-of-date. Many school libraries do not have the funds to be updating these volumes every year, if, in fact a print update is available. While it is important to provide current reference materials, this is not an indication that older versions are not useful in a school for purposes other than locating factual information. Primary school libraries provide materials used to teach students about textual features such as indexes, contents pages, bibliographies, directories etc and this does not always require up-to-the-minute accuracy and currency, though it would be an added bonus if this was also the case. This has to be balanced against the competing needs of other curriculum areas the budget must cover. Recently in my school library we attempted to purchase class sets of updated atlases of the world. The most up-to-date edition we could buy in print form was from 2009 and contains suggestions to readers that they consult the online version for updates. We decided to purchase them anyway as it is deemed important to provide class sets of print copies for the purpose of teaching map-reading skills as well as textual features of atlases and reference books more generally.
Farmer suggests that it is important to consider hardware and software requirements when selecting digital reference materials. While this is certainly a concern, it is one that needs to be addressed not only from the point of view of the library computers, but also the universal usage by library users at home who may be using any number of different operating systems, old or new hardware with varying amounts of processing oe display power. In recent times, many reference material publishers have made their products available on a number of platforms and in a variety of formats such as websites, mobile or responsive websites, apps, cloud-based streaming services etc, that do not necessarily rely on the user having the most up-to-date technology available. This is important for patrons accessing content remotely, but also means that these services are in direct competition for student attention with sites such as Wikipedia, meaning that the educational programs offered by the library need to be on point in this regard.
In addition to the resources listed by Farmer and Alderman (2014), Australian school libraries might consider providing syllabus documents and professional readings collections in the teachers’ reference collection and conversion charts of common measurements and spelling differences between traditional English and American English. They might consider language references for First Nations languages and cultural materials.
A thought occurs that, as print-based materials are out-dated so quickly, digital resources should have an advantage. Perhaps signage and advertisements for these digital materials should be displayed in the reference area of the library. Perhaps teacher librarians should be including specific lessons about how these materials can and should be used in the library program, especially in primary schools where more students are likely to experience regular contact with the library through the RFF program.
Farmer, L. S. J. (2014). Introduction to reference and information services in today’s school library. Rowman & Littlefield.
Alderman, J. (2014). What is a reference collection? LIS1001 Beginning Library Information Systems & Strategies. http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=bliss

ETL503: Module 5.1 Collection Evaluation

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Module 5 introduces a comprehensive chapter (Johnson, 2014) that deals with the many and various techniques teacher librarians could choose to employ in order to evaluate their collections. Johnson includes all types of libraries in her work, and this provides interesting comparisons with my (admittedly somewhat limited) experience with school libraries. Johnson identifies 11 possible strategies, to which I have added my thoughts on their usefulness in my context:

Evaluation Strategy Description Advantages Disadvantages Usefulness in context
collection profiling A statistical description of the collection at a point in time. It may list information such as a count of titles in a particular section of the collection, a count of titles by imprint year etc Provides baseline data for future collection development activities. Provides quantifiable data for presentation to stakeholders. Can identify areas that need improvement and support budget requests. Does not consider the breadth, condition or quality of the titles counted or how well those titles meet the identified needs of the school community. Collection of this data may be useful as a jumping off point, however, for meaningful evaluation to take place, complementary strategies would need to be employed.
list checking Librarians check items held against a trusted list of quality resources. Simple to apply. Lists are available that are relevant to many contexts. Credible and reliable lists are assured by the reputation of those compiling them. Lists used must be relevant to the specific context. Lists must be regularly updated. If a suitable list could be obtained that matched the specific context, this is a useful technique. This strategy could be combined with circulation analysis and curriculum/collection mapping
direct collection analysis A person who is familiar with what a quality collection includes in a particular field physically inspects the resources provided to meet those needs. Useful when the collection or scope is small. The physical state of the collection can be ascertained and plans for repair, replacement or augmentation framed. Useful for evaluating several aspects of the collection at once Only considers the condition of the resources actually on the shelf at the time. Best suited to small, narrow collections. Librarians might not be objective. To some extent, this is done in primary school libraries each year during stocktake.
comparative statistics Comparison of various vital statistics with those of a trusted, aspirational model. May include collection size, materials expenditure, staffing levels, etc Can assist in identifying the relative strengths and weaknesses of the collection. Data is readily available and quantitative comparisons simple to draw. Numerical counts can not measure quality or the extent to which the resources counted meet the identified needs of users. This sort of evaluation provides limited useful information in a primary school setting.
application of standards Collection and resource standards are compared with the current collection to determine the extent to which the collection meets the relevant standard. Clear areas of strength, weakness and non-strength can be identified and strategies extrapolated to move forward. Standards are the result of opinion. Different circumstances and contexts might require different standards (meaning they are no longer exactly “standard”). If a suitable set of standards could be sourced, this would be an interesting activity to undertake. I would assess one element or section at a time in order to improve the overall library experience over time.
citation studies Similar to list checking, librarians look for commonly cited texts in a particular field and then determine whether those titles are available in the collection. Identifies items for selection consideration. Data is readily available. Lists of commonly cited texts can be difficult to attain in the primary setting. Teacher librarians could study student bibliographies, however, this will be heavily weighted in favour of items that are present in the collection. In the primary school setting, citation of fiction texts is much less common than citation of non-fiction. Students may struggle to identify quality sources, so citations may be weighted in favour of what is already available. It may be difficult to seek citation aggregates from the wider community in this age group. List checking might be a more valuable tool in this area.
circulation studies Provides data about how frequently resources are circulated by interrogating LMS. Indicates that particular titles are being heavily used and may need additional copies purchased, or that resources are not being circulated. Can be used to compare patterns of usage and possible changing community needs. A negative circulation record does not indicate why the resource is not being borrowed. A positive circulation record only shows the resource is being borrowed, not how it is being used. Does not consider items that are not present in the collection, but desired by users. This data forms a valuable starting point and points to areas for further investigation, but is not conclusive in and of itself.
in-house studies Gathers data about resources that are used on site but not borrowed. Captures information missing from circulation studies. May interfere with user privacy perceptions. Only captures data about resources located, does not include unsuccessful searches. Requires all resources used onsite to be retrieved or reshelved by staff, which, given the available staffing levels, is not realistic in the primary school setting.
user surveys and focus groups Users are asked for feedback on target areas. Responses are analysed and aggregated. Can help to identify areas in which needs are not met. Data collected can be both quantitative and qualitative. Does not capture the feedback of non-users. Users might not have a sophisticated understanding of what a quality collection should be like. Users may be unaware that their intended uses and actual behaviours may vary. Structuring effective survey questions can be difficult. This could be an effective strategy for a primary school setting if care is taken to include a cross-section of the school community in the survey/focus groups.
interlibrary requests A user who checks the catalogue for a particular item, finds it absent and decides they still need it, might request the item from a partner library. Statistics can be obtained allowing librarians to study patterns in the requests. Could help identify resources for selection consideration. Gathering of statistics is simple. Any changes in this area could indicate a shift in user community needs. Does not capture users who go elsewhere to find required resources. Relies on inter-library loans being available. As primary school libraries are usually stand-alone entities, interlibrary loans are not common.
document delivery test Library staff simulate users. First, determine whether the library holds a particular item on a citation list, then go get it. See how long it takes to supply the target item. Provides an objective measure of the libraries ability to meet the needs of users. May identify issues relating to cataloguing or collection management. Library staff are more familiar with the collection than most users, so this test may not show up some issues. Compiling a list of representative titles can be challenging. This could be an interesting strategy for evaluating the fiction and junior fiction collections as students are often looking for particular titles or authors. In the primary school setting, users tend to seek non-fiction resources on specific topics rather than individual titles, so it might be more beneficial to take a collection mapping approach in this area.

 

Reference

Johnson, P. (2014). Fundamentals of collection development and management [American Library Association version]. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=1711419&ppg=312

ETL503 Module 3 – Acquisition and Accessioning

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Module 3 discusses important aspects of acquiring and accessioning resources for the school library. Firstly budgeting is considered. Secondly acquisitions workflow and finally licensing arrangements for digital resources.

Section 1 encourages us to think about the budgeting procedures in our libraries. Sufficient funds are needed to purchase resources selected for inclusion, and to maintain a balanced collection. Teacher librarians are responsible for the considered use of funds available, and are sometimes to be involved in the setting of those budgets with the school leadership. In my school library, the teacher librarian sets out a list of requests for the following year’s budget, and this is then considered by the Principal and SAM in conjunction with the requirements of all the other programs operating within the school.

In section 2 we are encouraged to evaluate library suppliers and consider the features one should look for in developing a working relationship with a particular supplier. Possible outsourcing activities are also considered. Some suppliers offer pre-curated and selected collections. Some offer shelf-ready books, some offer downloadable MARC records etc. In my library, we use downloadable SCIS records for cataloging, and Australian Standing Orders for general collection building. It is important to review subscriptions such as the Standing Orders regularly. This particular service is offered by a specific publisher and exclusively provides content from that publisher. While the selections included are usually quality resources that do meet the needs of the school community, it is important to also consider the offerings of other suppliers.

In section 3: e-resources, we are encouraged to read about and ask questions such as:

  • Can I use this in a school?
  • Can I copy this content and distribute to multiple devices? How many copies? Can users distribute the content? Am I liable if they do?
  • Can I convert this content into a different format?
  • Can I share it with another school, eg interlibrary loan?
  • Will I own this content if I stop subscribing? What if the publisher removes it from sale? What if the content is superseded by a newer version of itself?
  • Can I preview this content, or receive a refund if it is not what I was led to believe

With whom the buck stops

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The NSW Department of Education in its Library Policy tells us that it is the teacher librarian, on behalf of the Principal, who is responsible for selection and acquisition of resources. Yet, should it be solely the teacher librarian who is making selection (and deselection) decisions? Of course not. Teacher librarians have a unique skill set in that they have the capacity to source, evaluate and make available resources their colleagues may not otherwise have found. Teacher librarians strive to stay abreast of developments in curriculum and the publishing industry as well as common digital resource providers so that they might identify and make available the most up to date resources available. But they are not usually subject specialists in all subjects. Class teachers and leaders have an intimate knowledge of their curriculum, their students and how the two might most beneficially be brought together. Teachers and leaders have insight into how resources might best be used with their students. It is sensible, therefore to include class teachers and leaders in decisions regarding selection and, particularly, deselection, of resources. At the end of the day, though, teacher librarians are intimately acquainted with the school library collection and are in the best position to know how a new or existing resource will fit within the context of the current collection and within the vision for the future collection. Teacher librarians are responsible for the budget of the library and, should therefore, in my opinion, have the final say as to which resources are purchased. The teacher librarian must be prepared to be influenced by the arguments and suggestions of other members of staff and of the wider school community but must approach those suggestions, requests and arguments with a critical eye, evaluating their merit within the context of the existing collection. It is this contextual evaluation that gives me pause when considering the possibility of patron-driven acquisition models that allow patrons (in this case students and staff) to trigger purchases on behalf of the library without regard to the context of the existing collection and without consideration being given to other budgetary considerations the teacher librarian might be grappling with.

How then might teacher librarians encourage community involvement in selection and deselection decision making? Students can be given the opportunity to suggest or request specific resources by completing a suggestion box slip or similar or by sending an email request to the teacher librarian directly. Teacher librarians on a fixed schedule can use a lesson here or there to ask students to produce a book talk about a book they have experienced outside of school and that they would recommend to others. Students could use their book club or book fair literature to ask the library to purchase particular books. Teacher librarians might consider asking student leaders (in my school we call the library monitors Reader Leaders) to provide suggestions and hold focus groups at particular times of year (eg in book week) to seek student input.

Some schools hold planning sessions for grade or stage teams to prepare teaching programs for the following term. This occasion could be used to seek teacher feedback on potential new resources identified and considered for purchase. It could also be an opportunity for teachers to request specific resources that they want to use. A suggestion form similar to that offered to students could be offered to staff and parents also. An online slip, such as a Google Form could be available to the entire school community via Orbit or the school website or app if in use.