Assignment+6

LIBE 463 - Selection of Learning Resources (I) has been a roller coaster ride with a high learning curve. We went through the 5 major themes of Collection Development: Community Analysis, Collection Evaluation, Weeding the Collection, Issues in Collection Management, and Acquiring Resources. I have not felt so overwhelmed or accomplished in a course. It has been inspiring and an eye opener to see how much a Teacher-Librarian achieves with the amount of time given. What I did was only a tiny speck compared to the reality. The amount of learning that happened is incredible. Every assignment we did, I now know how to use it in the school library.

Theme 1: Community Analysis

Community Analysis has taught me to think about reaching out to my community and see what rich resources and collaborations I can get out of it. With the prompt of assignment 2, I did go to the Surrey City Centre Public Library to talk to the public librarian about what types of collaboration we could have together. I learned that classes do come out to the public library and the librarians do go to school libraries to give presentations. We are all working together to provide the best resources for our students. We had a great conversation and even exchanged information to plan something together in the fall. Little did I know that the library offers plenty of writing workshops and competitions for students to partake in. I went back to the school promoting these offers to the students as best I could. Furthermore, public libraries have access to the Canadian Council Grants which give them money to request book talks from authors. This would be a great promotional tool that is free for the school and the students that our community could benefit from. I'm already thinking about suggesting a book talk from Kenneth Oppel while he is in town this October. This assignment was frustrating as it required a lot of researching outside of the school but in the end, it was very rewarding.

Theme 2: Collection Evaluation

Collection Evaluation provided a snapshot of the subject area to prepare for weeding and selection. It was a preparation unit. For a brand new T-L like myself, I was never taught how to manage a collection. This course provided the opportunity to learn first hand on what to do with the learning resources. Prior to this, my T-L told me that she just bought what she felt was needed in the collection depending on whether classes do projects in a particular subject area. She did not explain that there was an actual process like this one. For me, I like to have a systematic way to look at a collection and see what is there and what needs improvements whether that means selecting new resources or deselecting outdated resources. A collection evaluation allows me to look at the collection through statistics that I can mostly rely on. I can see for myself what percentage of biology books are there and how old this collection is. I can even check to see how often it is circulated. These facts help determine what following steps need to be taken in order to improve the collection. In fact, I learned recently that Follett, as they created Destiny, have the capability to analyze the collection for us on their website and create all sorts of tables, charts and graphs! Now I know there is an easy way to do the collection evaluation without all the extra time and effort. Tools that make life easier are a must! Anyway, I learned that this is the correct way of looking at a collection in order to think about what to do next. This step justifies what the following steps we take in weeding and selection. This falls under the CREW method: Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding.

Theme 3: Weeding the Collection

The weeding assignment helped me find the justification to refine the collection. It lets me think about what my patrons' needs are. It's more than just having the look of being full. A full library does not necessarily mean it is a current and relevant library. Weeding, as negative as it sounds, is a vital part of collection development. We must always make room for new things and retire the old ones that can no longer be of use. This does not mean we are throwing away money at all! Students go to the library expecting resources to be useful and reliable. If we do not remove the misleading sources, students will not see the library as a source for good and trusted information. To me, that was the most shocking part. I did not see having old books as a hindrance to learning and demoting the importance of the library. Now I see that. And to be honest, the process was almost therapeutic. It was tough but it felt great to actually look at the resources and finally saying that enough is enough. A book from 1982 just cannot possibly stay here anymore if no one is using it and there are better replacements for it that would appeal to the public. The other mnemonic device, MUSTY found in the Surrey T-L handbook as well as in the article by Dickinson certainly help in determining whether a resource should continue in the library or move on to being bigger and better things. I also learned from Dickinson that "weeding is best done continuously throughout the year...in small numbers at a time...in targeted small sections of the collection...quietly and without comment" (2005, p.24-25) These are great tips to avoid having a huge daunting task at the end of the year and perhaps boxes full of books advertising weeding. As much as it is part of collection development, the public still does not want to see us throwing away books - especially boxes of them. It is better to do it quietly and intermittently without notice!

Theme 4: Issues in Collection Management

This section of the class was very interesting for me. Issues creep up all the time and it is interesting to learn about how to deal with these issues professionally. The readings and the podcast went through some of these formalities and they were helpful. Johnson explains how easy it is: "Know your selection policy, select from authoritative reviews, insist on due process if a book is challenged, and make children responsible for their own choices." (2007, p.98) He lists out the steps to take if a book is challenged but essentially it is not as scary as I expected. Although I'm sure if an incident were to occur with me, I doubt I would be able to remember these steps and act confidently in face of angry parents!

Copyright issues are important, too! We talk about copyright in the sense of plagiarizing and I continuously remind students that copying is not giving credit to people who put in the time and effort to write about these topics. However, I realized that we always talk about copying a writer's work in terms of words. Currently, we don't think about it in terms of photos or videos. It's interesting to see that pictures are also a form of work by a photographer. Taking his or her work without giving due credit is also plagiarizing. This is an issue that never crossed my mind and

Theme 5: Acquiring Resources

This is the last part of the cycle before it repeats. It was probably the most fun but most stressful assignment for me. Shopping is a lot of fun but shopping with restrictions is difficult. I spent most of my time on this assignment looking for resources. I had to see if it was within my budget realms and was I justified in buying it. After deeming an item good, I spent a lot of time reading multiple reviews from several sources and comparing notes. This was the final phase. If the reviews supported the resource and it was within my means of purchase then I would think how it would be used. If I could not think of how it would be used then I had to start all over again. If a book did not have a preview, I was very reluctant to choose it. I learned about all the different reviewers I could rely on to give a professional and reliable opinion about books. It is a very time consuming task and I would definitely include suggestions by teachers and students to minimize the leg work I would have to do on my own.

Each assignment brought some revelation to my current teaching ideals and has enriched my learning. I think that I walked away from this class feeling better prepared for September than I did in December last year when I started my first T-L position. There is more clarity to selection of learning resources now so that I can take a small part of my collection and evaluate it carefully and correctly. Learning is a continuous process with lots of practice! We can only get better and learn more so we can share with others. This course has given me the proper tools to practice collection development.

References:

Dickinson, G. (2005). Crying Over Spilled Milk. Library Media Connection, 23(7), 24-26.

Johnson, D. (2007). Don't Defend That Book. Library Media Connection, 26(1), 98.