ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum

The library collection is constantly expanding and the Teacher Librarian (TL) has the important role of managing all the resources in the library collection. Continually maintaining this collection is an immense task, as each library resource can be viewed in multiple formats. This means that as technology is continually being improved, school libraries are able to focus on different areas of the curriculum either being accessed in a digital format or accessed online. Throughout this subject I have learnt that the school library has become a central hub of information that staff and students can access and interact with during research based learning. Processing each resource can be quite a time consuming task and even though it takes a while, checking the copyright of these resources is extremely important (Johnson, 2009). This results in resources being verified both for their quality and relevance in the library collection. An example of this process is testing the information relevance for those users, including the idea that primary aged-students will have access to resources aimed at their age group. I have learnt that the Smartcopying website ensures that every TL thoroughly checks the resources that they are including in the library collection. This can be referred to as fair dealing as the TL needs to further research associated restrictions before obtaining permission to use these resources in this learning environment (Smartcopying, n.d).

I have previously addressed the three different key roles that affects how the TL manages the library budget. Each of these roles explores how the TL can interact with their colleagues, assess the way that resources are used in the library and determine appropriate methods of developing the resources in the collection (Lamb & Johnson, 2012). The Collection Development Policy (CDP) is an incredibly important document that allows for changes to be made throughout the library collection. The policy highlights the importance of maintaining relevant and sustainable resources throughout the year and encourages the TL to evaluate different sections of the collection. Throughout this course I have learnt that a constant interaction with students and other staff members is important to gain insight about specific subject relevant resources that the TL can obtain (Grigg, 2012, p. 130). I have further expanded my knowledge of developing the library collection through the focus group interaction as this encourages the TL to investigate the best offers provided from book companies and online distributors. The year round process of weeding, focuses on evaluating resources based on their relevance. This process is necessary in maintaining subject specific content as well as encouraging the TL to interact with texts that are appropriate for their students (Grigg, 2012).

A CDP is an incredibly crucial factor to the creation of a library collection. Each TL is tasked with sourcing resources that will be able to correspond with areas of the curriculum. This means that each resource needs to be proofed before it is included as well as having strong links and multiple uses in the library. I have discussed policy issues previously as the TL needs to consider current grant situations, the population of the school, equity and updating resources within the library collection. Accessibility is constantly changing as more online texts are being included through digital service providers which can cut into the library budget. This means that physical texts are still incredibly relevant as they are cheaper to source in comparison to online services, which the TL can consider when purchasing new resources for the library collection (Scherlen & McAllister, 2019).

The TL needs to be constantly interacting with various resources to demonstrate their understanding concerning how the resource will link with the curriculum. Collection reviews are vital to keeping the library collection relevant and updated, so that less essential resources can be culled from the collection. A resource can be culled from the collection due to irrelevance in a particular subject, the age of the text or there may be a more updated, better version. Each of these factors highlights that the TL should be constantly observing the resources students have access to and understanding where improvements can be made (Johnson, 2009). I have explored the different methods of weeding a library collection in a previous post but the main thought I developed was the idea that despite these resources being removed, they still have a use and purpose. For example once a resource has been taken off the shelf it may be included in a book fair to raise money for the school, which can once again go back into the school’s budget.

*Hyperlinked text refers to previous discussion or blog posts.

References:

Grigg, K. (2012). Assessment and evaluation of e-book collections. In Kaplan, R. (Eds.), Building and managing e-book collections: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians (pp. 127-138). American Library Association. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of collection development and management. American Library Association, 4, 103-150. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=d4eb044f-08ee-4fe9-a13f-3198f84a46e6%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d

Lamb, A., & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist. Retrieved from http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html.

Scherlen, A., & McAllister, A. D. (2019). Voices versus Visions: A Commentary on Academic Library Collections and New Directions. Collection Management, 1-7. Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1080/01462679.2018.1547999?needAccess=true

Smartcopying. (n.d). Text works. Retrieved from http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/copyright-guidelines/what-can-i-copy-communicate-/2-1-text-works

Each collection development policy (CDP) is different and changes according to the setting of the library; whether it be in a government public system or a school establishment. Every policy unpacks the relevance and process of managing the library collection for a particular area or region. The CDP aims to focus on one or numerous library branches that needs to be continually updated in order for efficiency to take place. The difference between policies can vary according to the money provided for each centre (also known as a grant), the general population, stock take of items and accommodating to the community’s needs. Each of these contributions and changes allows the dynamic of the library collection to constantly evolve:

Grants– the amount of new resources that are able to be obtained can be significantly different depending how much funding a state public library or even a school library has access to. The state library in particular can look at the including donations from the community in order to gain access to new material (SLQ, 2013). Whereas the school library depends on the overall school budget that the principal and teacher librarian (TL) can organise and evaluate during throughout the year.

Population– I found it interesting that local library size can vary depending on the population of a particular place (whether it be a whole region of NSW or a local library in one of the suburbs). This point encouraged the exchanging of resources particularly if the library has connections throughout regions of the community. The fact that so much of the collection depends on where the library is located makes it interesting to think about what types of resources might be cut back due to a lack of physical space.

Equity– making all of the library centres easily accessible for all users was an interesting point that was discussed in the reading by VCTL & ALIA (2017). Allowing the community to contribute their thoughts to the library staff through reconsideration forms pinpoints some of the problems or issues citizens might have with particular resources. These forms also provide more opportunities for the citizens to participate in discussing their likes or dislikes when using the resources in their local library. Ensuring that the library collection stocks a variety of resources, whether it be in physical or digital form, will hopefully encourage more people to return on a regular basis.

Updating resources– the TL has a huge task of selecting which resources will be included a library’s collection; particularly as new volumes become more easily accessible on a topic of interest. This task can often be incredibly difficult as the librarian needs to decide if the resource is going to be readily used or borrowed out of the collection. The new texts might be incredibly similar to the old resources and the librarian’s job is to make an informed decision about the resources that they keep in stock and the ones that they update or replace. This can happen when books are damaged as well and the TL might seek further advice from their principal if they want to discuss the status of the library budget before obtaining these new resources.

Maintaining a constant mindfulness as well as continually evaluating the collection, the librarian has an enormous task ahead of them but I’m sure many of their colleagues will be willing to help in this process.

References:

State Library of Queensland – SLQ (2013). Queensland Public Library standards and guidelines: Library collections standards. Retrieved from http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/146261/Library_Collections_Standard_2013.pdf

VCTL & ALIA (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/ALIA%20Schools%20policies%20and%20procedures%20manual_FINAL.pdf

Weeding! What an interesting term to use for excluding all the unnecessary resources in a school or public library collection. However all of these resources need to be properly evaluated in order to determine which physical, electronic books (e-books) or subscription services need to be removed from this collection. In one of this week’s readings Grigg (2012) identifies several methods of evaluating collections in order to determine the more relevant content that can be included in a library collection. These methods include:

1. Usage data: this process highlights the importance of how often a particular resource is being used. The acronym COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) looks at calculating the entire collection and taking into consideration the title requests, turn aways and total number of searches or sessions where someone has tried to find a particular resource.
2. Overlap analysis: duplicates; that’s basically what this evaluation method is trying to maintain, particularly if there is more than one resource that needs to be removed. The librarian might then want to use EBSCO A to Z in order to make this process more efficient.
3. Survey instruments: this method encourages the user or learner to provide their insight into the types of resources that they continually use and the services that they find most helpful when they visit the library. Sometimes a small incentive or reward is provided for those members that don’t think it’s helpful to provide feedback to the librarians (just remember the librarian has a job to do too you know).
4. Benchmarking: making a comparison between other institutions encourages those librarians to determine how other people in a similar position evaluate the collection that they are in charge of.
5. Focus groups: finding out the opinions of those people that regularly use the library is very crucial to determine what areas could be improved, removed, given less support or even funding depending on certain areas in the library (for example if the library contains study rooms that people can use and more rooms are going to be included will it benefit the people that are using them?).
6. Balanced scorecard method: maintaining continual observations of the funding that goes into programs such as e-book subscriptions to ensure that the librarian can keep dropping or increasing the budget that goes into that service; depending on how much the resources are being used.

So all of these methods are great at maintaining and evaluating a library collection but some of these would work best in a public library. However for a school library, I think that usage data, overlap analysis, benchmarking and input from the balanced scorecard method will ensure that the collection is continually maintained especially during the school year. For me as a casual teacher I have the opportunity to take part in the benchmarking method (just through observation) and discover how other school libraries are set up and what types of resources are readily available for students to use. During my time as a casual teacher I have noticed that additional staff members (such as SLSO or student library monitors) assist the teacher librarian in stocktaking or returning books back to their shelves. I haven’t observed the process of stocktaking up close, only walking past the library area, but I have talked to some Teacher Librarians (TL) that are always thankful for Executive members of staffing providing them with additional release time particularly at the end of the school year. I found that the TL that I have talked to often use the usage data method in order to find out how many copies the school might have of a particular book and also ensure that they order any replacements particularly if the text has been overused.

In order to do a school library evaluation I think the benefits of the usage data and overlap method can be a quicker method to analyse which series or group of resources are being continually used in this learning area. Despite the fact that this evaluation process takes an immense amount of time, it benefits the TL as they become even more familiar with resources that either are being used continuously or not at all. This process also encourages for the TL to maintain the school library collection by ensuring that each resource provides a learning benefit as it may attribute towards a unit of work. Each unit of work may merit new learning resources such as physical books, online websites or interactive iPad apps; which should be continually evaluated according to relevance of both the topic area and when it was produced (keeping the collection current and new for different learning styles). Following these evaluation methods allows the TL to monitor and keep track of the vast variety of resources that are being used in the school library rather than letting those weeds take over!

Reference:

Grigg, K. (2012). ‘Assessment and evaluation of e-book collections’ in Kaplan, R. Building and managing e-book collections : A how-to-do-it manual for librarians. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

I have started to develop more understanding this week for the copyright process that takes place in schools. The Smartcopying website is a great resource that encourages the proper process as well as useful searching and sharing resources for lessons in the school environment.

I have focused on two sub-sections of the Smartcopying website as a way to unpack the method of developing/understanding how copyright is used in the Music section of the Creative Arts.

Sound Recordings: 

The copyright associated with sound recording is more important than you think as several project based activities can take place during school hours. These projects encourage students to work collaboratively but also need to reference the authors of the sound/video files that may be included; for example during a PowerPoint presentation that has included several embedded sound files. This means that students and teachers should be following the APRA guidelines (Australasian Performing Right Association) as they focus on implementing the licence fees that go into a specific educational service. When researching or studying, students should also be aware of the fair dealing process that is in place during course work, particularly ensuring that the content of the video/sound file is relevant to the subject area. These files should therefore be monitored carefully when they are accessed outside of the classroom as the resource cannot be sold outside of the fair dealing process and the student may be refused continual access if they use it inappropriately. This means that schools should be aware of the permission details provided for sound/video files and continually update each of these resources as the files become outdated.

Copying Sheet Music in Schools: 

It’s interesting to think that a teacher can only copy 10% of a music resource book under the Australian Copyright Act but I suppose this makes a lot more sense when you think about the authenticity and relevance that authors want to keep their original work. The most interesting point I found as part of this resource link was the fact that many of the copying totals made up 30 as a total number. Ironic that the average for a Primary school Stage 3 class would be between 30 and 32 students and this is the preferred amount that can be copied out. Each of these copies varies between the type of resource such as Vocal scores, Music Collections, Transcripts or Orchestral/Band work. I suppose this encourages for a variety of extra-curricula activities throughout the school community and allows students to become more actively creative with music. It’s incredibly relevant that teachers follow guidelines of the Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) which allows schools to make multiple copies of whole print musical works for educational purposes. This is particularly beneficial for producing/practising musical pieces of work, for example during school musicals, when more than one class may be working together on a single song as part of a performance.

References:

National Copyright Unit. (n.d). Sound recordings. Retrieved from http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/copyright-guidelines/what-can-i-copy-communicate-/2-4-sound-recordings/2-4-sound-recordings

National Copyright Unit. (n.d). Copying sheet music in schools. Retrieved from http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/information-sheets/schools/copying-sheet-music-in-schools

It’s essential that the Teacher Librarian (TL) has an excellent understanding of the finances that are used for resources both in the school library and the rest of the school community (Lamb & Johnson, 2012). The TL has this task in the back of their mind, particularly when accessing or providing new opportunities to resources that are utilised both in the school library and other classrooms.

However the question: What’s involved in managing a budget? is very important as it tests what that the TL is able to maintain across the school environment. The TL also takes on three key roles when managing a budget which are the collaborator, the steward and the thinker. Each role provides a different trait which focuses on:

Collaborator: building and continually discussing with the community of people that use the library is vital in this role. This role allows the TL to gain further understanding of the types of resources that each individual or group will use. For example, IT groups within the school may want to access laptops or computers during research lessons. Managing the budget as the collaborator ensures that staff, school executives, parents and most of all students are encouraged to use the resources that are provided in the school library. 

Steward: the TL takes into account the wide variety of resources that are on offer for students and staff to use as well as lead each group through quality learning programs. These programs encourage each group to effectively understand how new programs can be implemented, accessed or communicated during learning activities that take place in the school library or the classroom environment. This also means that the TL needs to consider as part of the library budget, both how much a particular resource is going to cost vs the need for it during learning activities. For example the TL, given the opportunity, could look to all the other faculties within the school and contribute an amount of money that could go towards resources such as laptops or other ICT equipment that could be lent to the variety of areas around the school (Lamb & Johnson, 2012). However this may be a poor decision if the equipment is not readily used throughout the school.

Thinker: the role the TL has on the school budget can be quite small or rather large when involving in the overall input placed throughout the school. This means that the TL can be continually discussing with the school principal or executive members of staff in order to determine how beneficial new resources are to the school environment. New resources can make quite an impact especially if they are physical as textbooks take up a significant amount of space in the library environment and the TL needs to consider whether this is the best option for the school library. However with the increase of technology into the school library much of these new texts can be viewed through subscriptions that may cost less to start with but add on over time (Lamb & Johnson, 2012).

Therefore the budget of the school library and the entire school should be constantly managed and adjusted accordingly when introducing a form of change to each learning environment.

Reference:

Lamb, A. & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist. Retrieved from http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html.

The decision making model that is illustrated in Collection Management for Youth examines the process that is taken for a resource to be made available for learning. However in this chapter Hughes-Hassell & Mancall note that there are several factors that contribute to the selection of a particular resource being included in a library’s resource list. These factors include the learners, teaching context, link to the curriculum and engagement for the community.

The learners are a key influence particularly when sourcing different types of resources. When a school library is obtaining new resources to assist the learner the reading level, writing level, language differences, learning styles, ethnic and cultural background, learning differences, and reading preferences should be considered (Hughes-Hassell & Mancall 2005). This ensures that the resources can be used adequately and are linking to relevant Key Learning Areas (KLA) across the curriculum.

Due to the teaching context of each resource, the school library continually needs to consider which materials will be “most appropriate” for the learner (Hughes-Hassell & Mancall 2005). A digital resource might be helpful during school hours so long as students have access to them but there isn’t as much relevance for the student to be set tasks on literacy and numeracy programs such as Studyladder, particularly if the learner doesn’t have access to a computer or laptop at home. This issue should be considered before obtaining access to these resources so that the learner can have adequate time to use it.

Resources that have multiple links across KLAs can be extremely helpful particularly if they are links to everyday examples that will provide strong connections for the learner to build their understanding. Therefore the development of school wide curriculum maps are an essential way to understand and develop how the scope and sequence of a particular term will be set out for each subject area as well as discuss the units of work that will be covered throughout a term or semester.

The use of literacy apps during small group time can broaden the reach that the school library can introduce to the entire school community. A new application that focuses on sight words could be introduced and used during literacy lessons in Early Stage 1 and revised in Stage 1 so that multiple stage groups have access and familiarity to these sort of resources. The engagement between the learner and parents or caregivers is also vital so that learning can continue to take place in multiple environments. These environments can include at home or even during everyday situations such as grocery shopping which encourage the learner to have experiences in problem solving. However the encouragement of practising skills such as reading or writing at home is necessary for the parent or caregiver to also see what they are learning during school hours.

When all of these physical or digital resources are being obtained they should follow explore each of these areas in order to determine if the resource will be beneficial as part of the school library collection. Here is a quick overview of those steps:

1. The Learner:
   • What type of display setting will the learner use this resource (physical, digital)?
2. Teaching Context
   • How relevant is this resource for teachers in particular learning areas?
3. Link to the Curriculum
   • Where will this resource be used when it comes to the subject area or unit of work?
4. Engagement with the School Community
   • How often will this resource be used (across stages or at home)?

References:

Hughes-Hassell, S. & Mancall, J. (2005). Collection management for youth: responding to the needs of learners [ALA Editions version]. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=289075

While exploring the pedagogical initiatives at the end of Module 1 this week; I decided to focus on the Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians (Curriculum Corporation 2008). I found that this declaration had 2 specific educational goals for the learner to work towards. The one aspect of goal two that I connected with was the creation of confident and creative individuals. I mainly focused on this aspect as I love when students and people in general are creative in their way of thinking and expression.

While reading the declaration it stated that students “have the knowledge, skills, understanding and values to establish and maintain healthy, satisfying lives (Curriculum Corporation 2008).”  I started to contemplate what this might mean in regards to how students would gain this knowledge and skill set when learning in a school library environment. The school library strongly encourages the use of creativity particularly when practising reading and writing in literacy. The job of the Teacher Librarian (TL) therefore is to engage the interest of these creative students particularly when participating in research activities. In my experience primary aged students are encouraged to use their own skill set when presented with a topic to research.

Organising elements for Literacy (Australian Curriculum n.d.)

Therefore the TL has the task of engaging students in these research tasks particularly when displaying the relevant information used in literacy lessons. For example if a student is asked to create a presentation about rainforests then the TL can provide physical textbooks or digital links for students to use in order to interpret any relevant information. The element that I believe is most relevant to creative students however is the composing of texts through speaking, writing and creating across all their schooling. Each student is different but the Australian Curriculum states that they can: “create formal and informal texts as part of classroom learning experiences including group and class discussions, talk that explores and investigates learning area topics, and formal and informal presentations and debates (Australian Curriculum n.d.).” This provides the student with all manner of learning areas to explore as well as encourage them to become more confident in areas that they enjoy like public speaking or creating digital media (PowerPoint or i Movies) that expresses their learning in different forms.

References:

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/literacy/

Curriculum Corporation. (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Melbourne: Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. Retrieved from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf