Tag Archives: deselection

CSU Library

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Go to the CSU Library and explore the library site. How does this library change information sources to information resources? Record 5 items in your notes and consider relevance in the school library context.

 

I am unable to access the physical CSU library due to location, so i evaluated the library website. As CSU is a university with a special interest and skill in distance education, I feel that this is an appropriate method of observing the services offered to distance students like myself. I have grouped my observations into 5 groups:

  1. organisation of information sources by subject
  2. educational offerings such as tutorials and workshops
  3. book-based and digital resource lending
  4. Ask A Librarian service
  5. community services such as access for high schools and alumni

The CSU library offers students studying particular subjects curated readings that are searchable by subject as well as by topic, author and keywords. This service includes reserve and e-reserve, reading lists, industry specific database access, but also includes teams of librarians dedicated to particular disciplines. The CSU library employs:

These teams are responsible for selection and deselection and curation of discipline-specific resources. Employing focused teams of specialist librarians allows the library to ensure it is providing the most comprehensive, up-to-date, relevant resources for students and academic staff. These teams can collaborate with teaching staff on course development and resource provision to ensure the collection is as relevant and current as possible and meets the needs of students and academic staff alike. In school libraries, this is done on a much smaller scale. Usually the teacher librarian collaborates with class teachers or subject teams to do the same job as the faculty teams at CSU library: ensuring teachers and students have access to current, relevant resources.

The CSU library offers students workshops, tutorials and recorded webinars on aspects of information literacy, including assignment writing advice, research assistance, digital citizenship advice etc. Students can access this information at point of need or can peruse more general subjects at their leisure. In the school library, these skills are often taught in library lessons or during one-on-one student assistance or booked classes. In high schools, it may be appropriate to include some similar resources on the library website.

The print and digital collection is made available to students and staff of the university through the Primo interface. Using authorised access points along with browsing options, library users can discover resources that suit their needs and can request these resources be posted or digitised for distance students. Providing access to a variety of databases as well as interlibrary loans provides access to a greater variety of resources than would be available in a traditional print-based lending library. Teacher librarians can work to form community partnerships with local public libraries as well as specialist collections such as the Henry Parkes Equity Centre Library in order to increase the offerings for the school community.

The Ask A Librarian service assists students and staff by providing research assistance and providing help to intellectually access the information resources available through the library. By responding to requests for information not only with the answer to the question, but with an explanation as to how that answer was obtained, librarians can model for patrons how information seeking can be undertaken. Teacher librarians do this in schools everyday, though usually in person. Recently the Softlink team added an “Ask the library” button to the LMS Oliver, allowing students to ask questions remotely, which may be particularly useful for students who wish to investigate sensitive or personal subjects.

The CSU library offers access to its collections and services for alumni and high school students, increasing the information opportunities for students and, simultaneously raising the profile of the university and university library in the community.

Selection and deselection – ETL503 Module 2

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Probably the most well known and yet misunderstood aspect of the role of the teacher librarian is deselection. We’ve all been asked, “You’re throwing out books?” in a horrified tone by well meaning teachers and parents. My favourite response at the moment is, “Yes. Do you want it?” Invariably the answer is in the negative. I work in a school library, not a museum or archive. Shelf space is at a premium and it is the job of the teacher librarian to ensure that only quality, relevant material is taking up the valuable shelf real estate. Resources that are covered in 3 feet of dust but otherwise pristine are not being used. This prompts an investigation: why are they not being used? Are they poor quality? Irrelevant? Difficult to find? Unattractive? Teacher librarians are then faced with three choices: promote it, weed it or change the location (move, clean/tidy around it, decorate it to draw attention). A stocktake is a good opportunity to discover resources in this position. When looking at, scanning and cleaning every book, teacher librarians can take the opportunity to remove any resources that no longer meet the teaching and learning needs of the school community. It takes a certain amount of bravery to weed a large collection especially if it has not been done for a long time. My library has designated a “shelf of shame” in the library office to help deal with this situation with humour and provide a little education for teachers and parents who ask the questions I mentioned at the beginning of this post. It is stocked with recently weeded gems that demonstrate clearly why this is needed. One look through and people have a good laugh and understand.

In module 2 we learn that collection development involves:

  • an assessment of community needs
  • an assessment of how well the current collection meets those needs
  • development or revision of selection criteria
  • identification of resources that will improve the way community needs are met
  • selection of the best and most relevant of those resources for purchase
  • acquisition of selected resources
  • processing of resources to make them shelf ready
  • circulation
  • deselection of resources that no longer meet the needs of the school community.

We are pointed to the work of Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005), Johnson (2009) and Kimmel (2014).

We learn that teacher librarians use selection aids to assist in identifying resources to meet needs. Many are listed in section 2.4 of the module. Care must be taken to ensure reviews relied upon are objective, accurate and contain information about the resource such as the intended audience, reading level required, themes and potentially controversial elements (eg language, complex themes). The section of the module that deals with censorship encourages trainee teacher librarians not to self-censor controversial materials, but, in the interests of developing a balanced and diverse collection, be aware of themes or elements of resources that may be potentially offensive and make the deliberate choice of whether or not to include them. Not all selection aids will include this information.

The specific selection criteria used will be determined in response to the individual needs of the school community it serves (Keeling, 2019). Module 2.5 provides a sample selection criteria from Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005). These general criteria must be revised and customised for the individual circumstances. Once written into the Collection Development Policy for the school library, selection criteria must be regularly reviewed to ensure they remain relevant to ever-changing educational contexts.

References

Hughes-Hassell, S. & Mancall, J. (2005). Collection management for youth: responding to the needs of learners. Chicago: ALA Editions.

Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of collection development and management [American Library Association version].

Keeling, M. (2019). What’s new in collection development? Knowledge Quest, 48(2), 4-5. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/2311879567?accountid=10344

Kimmel, S.C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. [American Library Association version].

ETL503: Module 1 Collection Development and Management

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Module 1 provides some useful comments regarding the nature of collection development and highlights that there is some debate as to whether collection development and collection management are the same, different processes or two parts of a larger whole. My view at this very early stage of the subject is that collection development describes the future of the collection and how the teacher librarian intends to work towards that vision. Collection management, I see more as the day to day managing, organizing, processing etc of the collection as it currently stands. Of course these are two parts of a larger whole: resource provision. There are other parts of this whole as well – making the resources accessible and discoverable to those who need them, sharing ideas about how a resource could be used, guiding users to other resources that might confirm or challenge the ideas presented in a chosen resource, teaching students (and sometimes staff) how to locate, analyse and use resources, and more and more and more. I hope that these parts of the whole will be addressed throughout the course, however, I expect this subject will focus mostly on collection development and collection management.

So far, collection development has been defined by authors such as Corrall (2018), Van Zijl (2005), Queensland Department of Education and Training (2012), ALA (1998) and Kimmell (2014) who broadly agree that it is an assessment of needs, selection of materials to meet those needs, budgeting and acquisition of identified resources, evaluation of existing resources and deselection, where appropriate, of resources that are no longer meeting the learning and teaching needs of students, teachers and the school community. I am aware that there are several tools and models for criteria a teacher librarian might use in the selection and deselection processes, though I am yet to learn the specifics of them and which is most appropriate for my school library context. I look forward to learning more about them through this subject.

References

Corrall, S. (2018).  The concept of collection development in the digital world. In M. Fieldhouse & A. Marshall (Eds.),  Collection development in the digital Age (1st ed., pp. 3–24). https://doi.org/10.290/9781856048972.003
Kimmel, S.C. (2014)  Developing collections to empower learners , American Library Association, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1687658.
Van Zijl, C.W. (2005). Developing and managing information collections for academics and researchers at a university of technology : a case study. Pretoria: University of South Africa. Retrieved from http://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/1363