Collection+Evaluation

Collection Evaluation ** As I endeavor to become a Teacher-Librarian it is the needs of learners and staff that act as a guiding compass in my learning and professional growth. The same is true of this particularly relevant exercise, that of collection evaluation. I am not a Teacher-Librarian, and so it has been a valuable experience taking the time to get lost and found within the physical shelves, within the pages of books explored, as well as in the back-room professional resources and audiovisual collections, the on-line catalogue, databases, not to mention the Destiny system itself, Titlewave, and the raw data accumulated. My Teacher-Librarian and myself explored the Destiny system, both as newcomers. She knows of the system for policies and patron support, but she had not used the system to acquire the data and analysis that I needed, so graciously she gave me access to the system to explore myself, and I will share my findings with her. The experience has been fascinating and frustrating, as any complex task should be. Furthermore, I have chosen to explore the library collection's support of Social Studies 10 curriculum, which is primarily Canadian History. However, I did not restrict my search to North American history, as I intend to evaluate its potential support of a holistic, skills-based collection and curriculum. This means I have also explored and evaluated sections within the arts, social sciences, fiction, literature, and geography as they connect and interact with the North American history collection and Socials 10 learning opportunities. **   **Quantitative Data: **  ** L.A. Matheson library uses the Destiny Follett system to manage its collection. The total library collection is 17, 052 resources varying from print materials, audiovisual materials, kits and prints/maps. This works out to be 7.8 resources per patron (student and staff primarily). Moreover, the total copy count of resources that through catalogue searches pertain to the Socials 10 curriculum equal 2, 152 resources, or 12.6% of the total library collection. **

Raw Data:  Below you will find the raw data for the various sections within the total library collection that pertain to socials 10 curriculum. The data lists publication ages, collection %, copy count and circulation history.
 * ** Subject ** || ** Copy Count ** || ** % of Collection ** || ** Average Age ** || ** Circulation **** % since began using Destiny (2007/2008 school year) ** ||
 * ** Social Sciences (300-309) ** || ** 292 ** || ** 1.7 ** || ** 1992 ** || ** 0.1 ** ||
 * ** Political Science **
 * (310-319) ** || ** 146 ** || ** 0.9 ** || ** 2000 ** || ** 0.35 ** ||
 * ** Economics **
 * (320-329) ** || ** 341 ** || ** 1.9 ** || ** 2002 ** || ** 1.69 ** ||
 * ** Law **
 * (330-339) ** || ** 44 ** || ** 0.25 ** || ** 1998 ** || ** 0.12 ** ||
 * ** Commerce, Communication &Transportation **
 * (380-389) ** || ** 50 ** || ** 0.29 ** || ** 1997 ** || ** 0.35 ** ||
 * ** American/Canadian Literature **
 * (810-819) ** || ** 291 ** || ** 1.71 ** || ** 1996 ** || ** 2.12 ** ||
 * ** History of North America **
 * (970-979) ** || ** 988 ** || ** 5.79 ** || ** 1997 ** || ** 5.38 ** ||











Collection Mapping Data:  Please explore the graphs and pie charts that clearly illustrate the significance of the Social Studies curriculum to the library collection as a whole, as well as illuminate weaknesses in the collection, with regards to age of some resources, and with regards to the amount of teacher resources and non-print resources.

[|Complete Titlewave Analysis.pdf] **Furthermore, these resources outlined above refer to the print, CD, DVD, and teacher resources that exist within the library collection. However, there are numerous supportive and readily accessible resources available through the online catalogue and collection. These include on-line video streaming of the National** **Film Board, News in Review, Canadian Points of View (database for debates and varied perspectives on issues), Canadian Student Research Centre, Global Issues in Context and many more. Complete list available at: [|Online Resources] ** **Qualitative Data:** ** General Observations: ** **Despite the welcoming, open design of my school's library, when looking at the mass of rows of print resources, it can seem overwhelming. As with the guided instruction of our students, the best place to start is with searching the on-line catalogue, narrowing one's search and then venturing into the shelves with purpose and direction. Exploring the Canadian History collection through various focused search terms revealed that our library has a lot of support materials for a variety of focuses, whether it be geography, poetry in history, crime in history, the evolution of our laws and human rights, treatment (and mistreatment of First Nations), art as communication tool of our history, and much more. Yet going through the shelves, opening these various resources and examining them critically was imperative. As Bishop states in //The Collection Programs in Schools// “an assessment of the timeliness of materials and their physical condition can help identify which items need to be mended, repaired, bound, replaced, removed, or discarded” (2007, p. 145). Through exploring the various subsections of the collection that can support, enrich, or even administer Socials 10 curriculum I was surprised to see the unscathed condition of most resources. Many general historical resources seemed well-used while not being too worn, but if looking at the social history, criminal history, art history or literary resources associated with Socials 10 coursework and learning opportunities, they seemed to have never been touched. There were many resources that seems only to have been opened to have the school's stamp originally placed in it, such as with //A dance with death: Canadian women on the gallows, 1754-1954//, //Mythic beings: Spirit art of the northwest coast//, and //Pauline Johnson: First aboriginal voice of Canada//. In contrast, //Origins: A history of Canada// (published in 1989) and //Canadian history for dummies// were clearly used and reused. The condition of these resources spoke volumes to me. It tells that the Canadian history collection is largely used for their summative secondary sources and primarily for political history research. However, working with primary sources, of which there were many, and teaching to interpret, analyze and use primary sources, as well as examining social history or art, literature and poetry as expressions of history were largely ignored.** Some Canadian Literature Resources Supportive of Socials 10 Curriculum

 **After interviewing my Teacher-Librarian she commented that she was not very familiar with the Canadian History content in the total library collection, particularly because although the library is used for Humanities 8 (ancient civilizations and world religions content focus) and Social Studies 9 (French Revolution and Early Contact in North America) Social Studies 10, 11 and History 12 teachers rarely use the library with their classes. Moreover, when some Socials 10 teachers have used the library it has been for a major assignment on The National Dream or major Canadian figures, which is often a political focus. As such, summative, secondary sources on general Canadian history have the highest circulation statistics within the Socials 10 based collection. Further, I spoke with 3 of the Socials 10 teachers and conversed through email with two others, and the consensus is that they use the library to enrich and support students' understanding of Confederation, The National Dream and Louis Riel and the Northwest Rebellion, but outside of those particular units the library is not used as a physical entity for student activities in the remainder of the course. Nonetheless, all teachers spoke of the library collection's DVD resources, as well as on-line resources as being essential curriculum used throughout their Socials 10 classes. For example, the entire //Canada: A people's history// DVD series is housed and regularly used, equipped with teacher viewing/learning support guides. Also, the //News in Review// teacher guides are a professional resource that three of the five teachers conversed with spoke of using with their classes and relying on the library to provide this resource. Finally, current events are a staple of any social studies course, and the library, through their on-line resources provide ready support through access throughout the school. Overall, there are major improvements possible in the use of the collection, but as with all things, change requires baby-steps, collaboration, and probably one department member at a time conversion. For the time being, the teachers of Socials 10 found the library collection particularly helpful because of the access to materials outside of the physical library space. In this manner, through on-line resources, video streaming, some professional resources and the DVD collection with teacher guides, the library collection is meeting user needs. Nonetheless, the way it is used for Socials 10 currently, re-emphasizes the notion that library's are a warehouse of resources, rather than a space where essential skills are taught and exercised regardless of the subject. This is evident in that the collection is under-used compared to many of the resources that are available.**

** Strengths Noted: ** ** The library collection pertaining to the Socials 10 curriculum is full of mostly current, dynamic print resources. In almost any topic or sub-topic considerable for a Socials 10 learning opportunity, resources exist within the collection. This includes the various political, social, geographical and cross-curricular possibilities within the course. When examining the collection I found that there was a wealth of primary documents for every subject, including such resources as //Working: Images of Canadian labour, 1900-2000, Pier 21: Gateway of Hope, The Immigrant Experience//. Each of the secondary print sources examined included images, primary footage and were overall visually appealing. Bishop indicates that when evaluating a collection, the external design and contents should be "aesthetically pleasing" (p. 64) which most of the collection explored fulfill. **  **Political History of North America Shelves as seen by Patrons ** ** Within the collection there are various levels, primarily for upper level ability, but there were over 130 print resources for lower level (varying from grade 5-8) which could support learners at varying levels of reading and comprehension.These resources neither "condescend" nor "supersede the user's ability to understand" (Bishop, 2007, p. 60). As we have students of varying abilities, there are resources on the major curricular topics, such as immigration and Confederation, but better suited to those of lower ability. In addition, although not yet sanctioned by our district, our library is fortunate enough to have two E-Readers. These tools are used for visually impaired students and are loaded with any curriculum or resource the student may need or want for their reading enjoyment. Also, the library collection sensitively reflects ethnic diversity with resources authored by a variety of perspectives and of current publication, in non-fiction and historical and Canadian fiction. The B.C Ministry "Provincial Evaluation and Selection of Learning Resources" states that "alternative points of view are presented, as appropriate" (2002, p.38) and clearly our T-L has taken the time to screen resources for this, as there are numerous voices on controversial historical topics, such as Louis Riel and the Northwestern Rebellion, as well as immigration in Canada. The resources available, prominently print and DVD, along with on-line access and a wealth of technological tools (such as Prezi, Mindmeister, Glogster, etc.) ensures that there are opportunities for individual, small group and large scale learning. **  ** There is ease of availability of resources in the Socials 10 collection, as many teachers noted. They use the on-line and DVD resources (of which there are more than one copy) readily and routinely. Moreover, after exploring the on-line resources they are current, timely, credible and reliable. There are multiple perspectives, complex ideas and issues shared, and no broken links. As such, they meet user needs readily and support the teaching-learning context. Of all the subtopics explored for the Socials 10 portion of the library collection, the LMC is particularly supportive of the topics First Nations and Immigration. These are critical areas of exploration within Socials 10 and beyond. Moreover, although there are few kits in the library collection overall, there are kits for both of these subject areas, thus enhancing the potential of reaching all learning styles and abilities. **  ** Weaknesses Noted: ** ** Although there were many useful resources of primary documents, secondary sources drastically outnumber access to primary sources. When dealing with key skill development and critical thinking skills primary sources in Social Studies are vital. Furthermore, I found numerous outdated secondary sources filling space within the collection, such as //Origins//, a Canadian history textbook from the 1980s that has since been replaced many times over within the classroom. Also, within Bishop's //The Collection Program in Schools// it reminds studying T-Ls that we need to question whether "the material encourage[s] problem solving and creativity?" and "does the presentation stimulate interaction?" (p.61). Many of these secondary source resources simply summarize information and ask for little interaction. As a stand alone text they do not ask for creativity and problem solving. This is where the teacher's use of the resources and the Teacher-Librarian's information literacy lessons and supplementary resources are necessary. **  ** When considering a collection it is important to consider if the resources are integral to curricular needs. Overall, as Socials 10 classes have ready access to multiple school issued current textbooks, as well as having access to the DVD collection and on-line support resources, the wealth of print resources may not initially seem integral. The course can function and excel without many of the excellent print resources available. This seems to be the pattern of use for most teachers within the Social Studies department. Therefore, the collection is there and ready to develop and enrich student learning within the Socials 10 curriculum, but awareness of its possibilities and how it could support the teaching-learning context does not seem to be advocated. Furthermore, the "Provincial Evaluation and Selection of Learning Resources" clearly states that one of the pillars guiding educational practice in B.C. is that "learning requires the active participation of the student" (2002, p.1). There is the potential for this in the library collection, but in future selection, acquiring resources that guide and prompt student active, critical involvement would be important, beyond the mostly summary-based sources of print information. **  **<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">Attached is a sample of a research and information literacy guide that has been used in the past in the school library to promote critical skills while using the library's collection:   ** **<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">When evaluating a collection it is important to consider if different learning styles are supported. By far, those with visual and verbal preferences are supported through the mass of print and DVD resources, along with the on-line resources and video-streaming. From these resources there is the potential to create interpersonal and intrapersonal learning activities, yet kinesthetically, or musically (considering multiple intelligences) there is little. The two kits available touch on only two of the potential units within Socials 10, and although there is a wealth of potential musical primary sources on a wealth of Socials 10 topics (such as original protest songs) none are to be found within the library collection. Furthermore, four areas seemed to have holes within the collection. The Canadian geography section was rich in resources for natural resources, but had little regarding physical Canadian geography as a whole. Also, there are numerous potentially great picture books and graphic novels that could expertly support learning, such as //Louis Riel: A Graphic Novel, Grandfather's Journey, and How I Learned Geography.// Overall these sections were relatively lacking within the library collection as a whole. Understandably, these types of resources are more prominent in elementary schools compared to secondary schools, but visual literacy and multimodal resources are important in every library. They are critical potential teaching and learning opportunities that can be expertly used within a Socials curriculum, and in this case they were lacking. Another section of the library collection that was mediocre in its support of a Socials 10 curriculum is Canadian historical fiction. There are numerous excellent and current resources that can be used for historical literature circles and to enrich the study of Canadian history. These resources are contemporary, engaging, multicultural and not only advance learning, but advance enjoyment in reading and learning. ** **<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">Finally, there were numerous superb resources in each section that could be used to support Socials 10, but the displaying of these materials was uninviting and not aesthetically pleasing. Some shelves that housed Canadian History resources were surrounded by masses of blank open shelf space, making the resources themselves seem dwarfed and unappealing. ** **<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Canadian Immigration shelf as is ** **<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">Canadian Immigration shelf with some resources on display ** <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%; text-align: left;">**Recommendations:** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**1.) Weed the collection of resources that are older than 15 years, unless clearly unbiased and containing primarily primary documents rather than secondary summaries of history**  <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**2.) Reference grade collection lists for resources that can contribute to the sections with curricular holes, and lacking in differentiated learning style opportunities. For example, as recommended by the B.C. Ministry's "Learning Resources Grade Collection" //Historica Radio Minutes// can be an excellent resource with actual radio broadcasts of our history. Also, such resources as //Shaping the Future: The Treaty Process in BC-A Resource Guide for Teachers// is a current audiovisual teacher resource with student resource material for examining the treaty process, including the 2000 Nisga'a Treaty, with the perspectives of diverse voices.** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**3.) Supplement the current collection with some of the relevant and enriching resources as recommended by ERAC and other course recommendation lists (that don't require paid subscription). Granted, these lists rapidly change and can become out of date, but they have a wealth of recommendations that are contemporary and supportive of the Socials 10 curriculum, such as historical fiction, documentaries, and graphic novels. All of these sections are currently lacking in the library, and it could be an opportunity to create a historical literature circle collection with teacher input from Socials, Humanities, and English departments, thus encouraging more use of the resources.**  <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**4.) Select key picturebooks that can supplement the Socials 10 curriculum and offer to co-plan, co-teach visual literacy skills and different versions of personalized history.** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**5.) In the open spaces on shelves that are gaping, display some of these wonderful, unseen resources that already exist within the collection. Perhaps have "library pages" take ownership to create a rotating display of the great non-fiction resources, including Social Studies.**  <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**6.) There are numerous worthy resources throughout the collection to enrich and deepen the study of Socials 10. Unfortunately, Socials 10 teachers are underusing this collection, so a major recommendation would be outside of the collection: attend Social Studies department meeting, speak with the teachers of what can offer, hear their suggestions/recommendations for the collection, co-create and co-teach with even one of the Socials 10 teachers and then allow the experience to be promoted and shared, to encourage further involvement by the department.** <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">**Reflections on the Process of Collection Evaluation:** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**In //The Collection Program in Schools// Bishop states that "media specialists may lack experience with or knowledge about collecting and analyzing empirical data" (2007, p.143). When I began this collection evaluation this was most definitely my biggest barrier. I am not a Teacher-Librarian and had no access to the Destiny collection data. Nonetheless, there are numerous techniques that should be included in a thorough and thoughtful collection evaluation, and so I started where I could, and as Bishop advocates, sought out assistance. Like any staff member or student I have access to the library catalogue on-line, and so I spent numerous evenings exploring the collection as a whole, through specific and gradually narrowing search topics, and ventured into the various on-line resources available that equally support student learning. I compiled various lists, examining variety of sources, authors, and publication dates for an initial impression of what is available to a teacher or student of Socials 10. //Achieving Information Literacy// reminds Teacher-Librarians that a balance of print, non-print, electronic and digital resources is important (2006, p.24). On this front, the library collection is excellent, with routinely used teacher resources, audiovisual materials and a wealth of databases and periodicals that are accessible in and out of the school through on-line access, qualifying the collection as "excellent" in this area (2006, p.29).** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**Bishop also expresses the reality of "lack of staff time" (2007, p.143) as a significant barrier to a Teacher-Librarian. It is true that all exploration of the collection occurred on my own time, on-line, in evenings, afterschool and at lunch. Eventually as a T-L I would have to schedule time for collection evaluations on a larger scale and as a part of a much larger time frame. However, I believe that staff and student surveys at the beginning of school years and participation in a Titlewave analysis at the inception of a school year could provide clear focus and relevant data from which to move forward throughout a school year or series of school years. Moreover, at our school there is a library clerk that is a part of the library program part time. Training her on the Destiny system and in creating and printing reports that scan particular collections could be helpful and assist in the time barrier.** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**Beyond exploring the virtual library in the evenings, I then sought out as many learning resource lists as I could. The ministry and various departments within my district and province provide detailed lists and recommendations that I could then cross-reference with the library catalogue. Also, informal surveys of teachers and students, in my opinion, is critical in learning how a collection is perceived and utilized. Through brief meetings, emails, and more in-depth professional discussions I was able to acquire valuable information about how the collection is used and valued for the Socials 10 teachers in support of learning. Following this, and equipped with notepaper and a camera I approached the shelves as a new patron. First I stepped back and examined the lay out of the various print and audiovisual resources, how clearly accessible they were, how aesthetically appealing they were and their presentation. I noted that the shelves are labeled according to the Dewey decimal system, but thought of a book store and how it would have been great to see some carefully selected signs such as "Great Canadian History Here" with an arrow pointing down the aisle, or "Socials 10 Needs around the corner." I located the books and audiovisual resources easily according to the call numbers, but on the shelves themselves they are engulfed in many sections by a mass of open space. I believe this space could be better utilized with even one visually appealing sample from that section on display facing those whose eyes are scanning the shelves for their needs or the next great read.** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**While exploring the various sections in the collection that contained Socials 10 resources I found almost every book to be in good to excellent condition. It saddened me to see some interesting valuable resources seemingly never used. Within each section the resources were sleeved and protected, organized and grouped by subject with a variety of abilities evident in each topic. this is important, as it is critical that we consider the intellectual accessibility of all of our students, and I immediately felt that our library collection reflected these standards of accountability to our patrons. Flipping through the resources it was clear that every resource included text and visuals, some more, some less, which is appropriate when considering level of task and intellectual accessibility. There were a variety of authors, mostly current publication age, although many from before the year 2000, and the shelves were not over-packed, which can be detrimental to the collection and usage. It was in exploring the shelves and pulling the resources off of the shelves to examine and consider that I felt most aware of the state of our library collection as a tool for Socials 10 teachers. In exploring the actual resources I became more aware of what is possible in the teaching-learning context and felt that it was an extremely valuable experience for any teacher or Teacher-Librarian. As a future Teacher-Librarian I would continue this process and share it. I think it would be helpful to offer a brief tour to various departments at the beginning of the year, to email picture(s) and synopsis of vital, valuable resources available with an offer to plan/instruct/co-create for their classes, or to attend a Socials department meeting and bring a handful of the resources to show off, and allow the teachers to explore themselves.** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**Finally, I sat down with my Teacher-Librarian over a period of days, interviewing and exploring the Destiny system. The professional conversations and considerations were enlightening, for both of us. Diving into the Destiny system, we both sifted through the program's possibilities with peaked interest, and trial and error was the valuable learning process we found ourselves in. Qualitative data "gives an objective basis for changing a collection policy" (Bishop, 2007, p.143) and allowed me to more clearly see the strengths and weaknesses of the current collection in relation to Socials 10. In particular, it was clear that the collection as a whole is below standard for number of books required for the student population. It is recommended in //Achieving Information Literacy// that for a population over 1,000 patrons have a book collection of at least 30, ooo print resources. Currently, with a student population of 1, 380 and a total collection of 17, 052 resources we are below recommended standards. Furthermore, by examining the Destiny data is became clear that on the whole the collection is also lacking in non-print resources, such as slides, sound recordings, games, art prints, and more. The data was relatively easy to compile once I experimented with the possible manager functions. Seeing the statistics in number of resources and % of collection validated a lot of what I saw through qualitative analysis: that the collection greatly supports general history of North America, but if intending learning opportunities for social history, literature circles, art exploration, or other Humanities based approaches to the Socials 10 curriculum, there are relevant resources, but they are fewer, and utilized less frequently. Yet it is important to note Bishop's observation that "professional judgement helps us decide what to measure, whether we can measure it, and how we interpret the results" (2007, p. 143). Therefore, I must be aware of my own professional interest in creating a "new" Socials 10 course that may use the library collection in ways that have not been asked of it as of yet, and therefore cannot completely fault the collection for the potential gaps I see, as the current collection has served the teachers in their use of the collection thus far without complaint. However, what is clear is that as recommended by Franklin and Stephens in "Use standards to draw curriculum maps" (2009), that "those who constantly evaluate the collection, both formally and informally, survey teachers and students, and keep abreast of standards and curriculum, can build a collection that meets the needs of all users" (p.45), and after all, isn't this the ultimate goal of our library collection.** <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">**References:** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%; text-align: left;">**Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D., (Eds), (2006), //Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada//. Ottawa, ON: Canadian School Library Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**Bishop, K. (2007). //The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and information sources//. (4th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.** <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**//Evaluating, selecting, and managing learning resources: A guide// (2002). Accessed on Oct. 12th, 2011, available at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/resdocs/esm_guide.pdf****