Tag Archives: collection evaluation

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Farmer points out the necessity of keeping the collection current and the fact that many reference titles are quickly out-of-date.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 Assessment 2 Part B – Reflection

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One of the exciting yet challenging features of the school library is change. The speed of change. The pervasiveness of change. The digital revolution (O’Connell, Bales and Mitchell (2015) that has swept the world has transformed the information landscape and the people who inhabit it. Bringing new formats, digital content, changing publishing models, shrinking print collections, increasing digital collections. But it is still all for the same purpose. The school library still exists to help students find, create and explore ideas (Lamb 2015), to assist students to learn to navigate the information landscape confidently, critically and efficiently. Central to that purpose is the development of a comprehensive, balanced and accessible collection. And central to that is the collection development policy.

 

We all share the ultimate destination: we want students to be life-long learners. Capable, confident, efficient, ethical and flexible thinkers. While the end destination is the same for all schools, the scenery, route and landmarks are all different. Our approach to collection development and management must be reflective of the community in which we work and the goals and aspirations of that community. It is the responsibility of the teacher librarian to ensure that the library’s policies and procedures support and implement the mission of the school (ALIA and ASLA 2005).

 

The elements of a collection development policy allow teacher librarians to assess the state of the collection presently, posit the ideal state of the collection and formulate a plan to move towards that goal. I discussed collection evaluation strategies in my blog post, Collection Evaluation. One of the challenges faced by teacher librarians is developing a strong collection that supports the needs, wants, expectations and interests of the school community now and is also flexible enough to be useful as technology and pedagogy continue to develop. Loh and Sun (2019) argue that it is the preferences and interests of the readers themselves that determine whether print or digital resources are more effective. Print is heavy, not updated and takes up valuable shelf real estate, yet students prefer it in some circumstances (Copyright Agency, 2017; Johnston& Salaz, 2019). But what about picture books? Richter and Courage (2017) found that younger readers were more engaged in e-books than in print. It is therefore important for the school library to offer a variety of formats and delivery methods so that readers of all persuasions might access information in their preferred format. This should be reflected in the goals and selection criteria of the collection development policy.

 

Along with a diversity of formats, the collection development policy should reflect the desire to create a collection that represents a diversity of viewpoints (Disher, 2014). All students have the right to see themselves reflected in the characters, stories and problems they read about (Braxton, 2018). Recognising themselves in characters that face hardship and overcome challenges encourages them to do the same when they are experiencing difficulty. Seeing the world through many different lenses allows students to develop empathy and intercultural understanding (Brown, 2016; Veltze, 2004).

 

Are school libraries and teacher librarians to disappear as teachers and students access resources directly online? Finding reliable, accessible and authoritative information online can mean sifting through a lot of unreliable and irrelevant resources in order to find what is needed. I wrote about this in my discussion post in Forum 2.4b and in my comments in Forum 2.4a on the work of Michelle Wheeler. Strong selection criteria combined with reliable selection aids ensure that resources included in the collection are reliable, authoritative and relevant to the school community. Yet, to make sure resources selected meet the needs and interests as closely as possible, it is desirable to include the school community in decision making processes (Viner, 2016). I discussed some strategies for this in my blog post, With Whom the Buck Stops. Regular review of the collection development policy and the selection criteria is desirable in order to ensure the collection continues to meet the needs, wants, interests and expectations of the school community. I discussed this in my blog post, Selection and Deselection. Part of the review cycle should include an evaluation of the collection. Doing this regularly is especially important in a time of rapid change to curriculum such as has been seen since the introduction of the Australian Curriculum and the related state syllabus documents. Keeping abreast of changes in syllabus documents and pedagogical developments allows teacher librarians to ensure resources and services provided remain up-to-date.

 

Changes in technology available in schools has and will continue to be rapid (Domeny, 2017). This has implications for the teacher librarian in determining how the development of digital collections will proceed. Changing software and hardware can mean that resources quickly become unusable, for example, many devices can no longer access CD and DVD resources as they do not have the necessary drives. Software that is developed for older operating systems may not be compatible with newer versions. Resources that can be accessed by iPads may be inaccessible to Android devices and so on. This should be kept in mind when selecting resources and access patterns: what is cutting edge now will likely be obsolete in five years time. The changing technology space brings some exciting new tools and pedagogies but it also brings new safety concerns. Gillies (2017) argues that digital security is a major concern in schools that requires more the virus protection, firewalls and content filtering. She advocates placing greater attention on digital citizenship and cyber security. These are, arguably, part of learning to navigate the digital information environment safely and effectively. The challenge is to keep students safe from inappropriate content without straying into censorship (Rumberger, 2019). Here, too, we must be ever mindful of the context. What is appropriate in one school may be positioned just over the line in another. I considered this in my discussion post in forum 6.2.

 

Part B References

 

ALIA & ASLA. (2005). ALIA-ASLA policy on school library resource provision. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/policies-standards-and-guidelines/alia-asla-policy-school-library-resource-provision

Brown, D. (2016). School libraries as power-houses of empathy: People for loan in the human library. International Association of School Librarianship.Selected Papers from the …Annual Conference, , 1-10. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1928619177?accountid=10344

Copyright Agency. (2017, February 28). Most teens prefer print books [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.copyright.com.au/2017/02/teens-prefer-print-books/

Domeny, J. V. (2017). The relationship between digital leadership and digital implementation in elementary schools (Order No. 10271817). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1896954900). Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/1896954900?accountid=10344

Disher, W. (2014). Crash course in collection development. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Gillies, A. (2017). Creating a healthy digital environment for 21st century learners. Independence, 42(2), 60-61.

Johnston, N., & Salaz, A. M. (2019). Exploring the reasons why university students prefer print over digital texts: An Australian perspective. Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, 68(2), 126-145.

Lamb, A. (2015). Makerspaces and the school library part 1: Where creativity blooms.

Loh, C. E., & Sun, B. (2019). “I’d still prefer to read the hard copy”: Adolescents’ print and digital reading habits. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 62(6), 663-672.

Oberg, D., & Schultz-Jones, B. (eds.). (2015). IFLA school library guidelines, 2nd revised edition. Den Haag, Netherlands: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

O’Connell, J., Bales, J., & Mitchell, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. The Australian Library Journal, 64(3), 194-208. doi:10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043

Richter, A. & Courage, M. L. (2017). Comparing electronic and paper storybooks for preschoolers: Attention, engagement, and recall. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 48, 92-102.

Rumberger, A. (2019). The elementary school library: Tensions between access and censorship. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 20(4), 409-421.

Veltze, L. (2004). Multicultural reading. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 20(9), 24-26,41. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/237132103?accountid=10344

Viner, J. (2016). Collaboration : school libraries. Synergy, 14(2).

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