Evaluation Plan to Improve our Reference Collection

The following evaluation plan document will be shared with my administration at my current school as well as with our Wye School Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee.

Background
Wye Elementary School is currently going through a massive transition within Elk Island Public Schools.  Since August 2018, construction has begun for a new school to replace Wye Elementary.  At the March 14, 2019 public board meeting, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) approved the new name for Wye Replacement School.  The new name will be Heritage Hills Elementary.  In addition to a new name, EIPS has also decided this new elementary school will be a dual track school consisting of English and French Immersion.  The current occupancy date set for Heritage Hills Elementary is September 2020.  In preparation for the relocation, it is imperative a comprehensive evaluation plan is in place for our entire library collection including the reference collection.  The evaluation plan will include evaluation of our current collection to determine any necessary weeding that needs to take place as well as evaluating acquisitions that are needed to enhance our reference collection.  Our acquisition of French resources will be entirely new as we are not currently a French Immersion school.  We need to ensure our collection is up to date, relevant and meets the needs of all students as we open a new building within the Heritage Hills community. 

Evaluation of Current Collection
Empowering Learners (2009) states the library media program should provide, "a well-developed collection of books, periodicals and non-print materials in a variety of formats that support curricular topics and are suited to inquiry learning and the user's needs and interests" (p. 38).  

Wye Elementary School's current collection of the reference resource section is limited.  We currently have 23 titles in this section.  The majority of this section consists of atlases which when using the Evaluating Reference Resource Checklist would indicate they should all be weeded.  In addition to atlases, Wye School holds 3 different Kingfisher encyclopedias.  These include the animal encyclopedia, history encyclopedia and the geography encyclopedia.  The remainder of the reference resource section includes resources relating to Alberta and Strathcona County history.  Although these resources are old in nature they do provide historical information currently not available any other way.  From this evaluation, we know the atlases will need to be weeded and additional resources should be considered to enhance our collection.  In addition, French materials will need to be explored. 

Plan
According to Riedling (2013), our primary consideration regardless of format for reference materials is providing "easy access to a high-quality collection" (p. 17).  This is the start of a 2 year plan to increase the reference resources available for our students.  

2019-2020 School Year

• During the 2019-2020 school year, staff will be continuously updated on reference collection acquisition and possibilities.  they will be asked to continuously share their thoughts on what they would like to see in the reference collection.  This information will be communicated in our school weekly as well as at staff meetings.  There will also be an ongoing Google sheet available which includes reference material acquisition possibilities with two sheets - one for English materials and one for French materials. 
• Continue to weed collection in preparation for move to new school using Table 2.1:General guidelines for replacing reference materials located within Reference Sills for the School Librarian by Reidling (p. 24, 2013).  If resources do not meet these guidelines or are damaged these resources will be pulled from current collection.  Once item is weeded from collection, in consultation with Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee, it will be determined if resource can be used to support classroom library collections or be completely discarded.  
• Research and collaborate with staff on the best use of the following resources - atlases, dictionaries and thesauruses.  How many should we purchase?  Where should they be housed?  In the Library Learning Commons?  In the book room?  A few copies in each classroom?  Decide on this process and have it written down in our School Wide Literacy Plan so all staff know where these resources will be located once purchased.  
• Ensure constant communication with our district literacy consultants and the second language consultant on resources available to build our reference collection. 
• Meet with literacy lead teacher and library technician at French Immersion schools within our district to see how they have been supporting their reference collection.  
• Once occupancy date has been set, purchase new collection to be shipped to Heritage Hills Elementary.  This includes reviewing the Reference Resources Acquisition sheet. 

2020-2021 School Year

• At the beginning of the 2020 school year, all staff will partake in a library orientation of the new space.  This will either happen during one of our operational days or within the first few days as an after school meeting.  This orientation is to familiarize all staff of the new Library Learning Commons space including the reference collection.  This orientation will also include a tour of the book room where we house additional literacy materials.  
• From here, staff will be asked to join the new Heritage Hills Elementary Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee to include both English and French teachers.  This new committee will use the Leading Learning Framework (2014) to develop a Learning Commons vision for our new space and ensure we are looking at each standard.
• Within the first few weeks of school, all students will partake in a library orientation of the new space.  The will include orientation of our reference collection.
• Throughout the school year, continue to work on collection acquisition to support the new space. 

Considerations

• Although budget needs to be considered, we are in a unique situation as we will have some additional dollars available to support the Learning Commons and reference section for the 2019-2020 school year and additionally for the 2020-2021 school year due to new school funds. 
• Some of the current limitations on building our reference collection is the relocation of Wye Elementary.  The overall vision of the new Heritage Hills Elementary is to have the most up to date materials and resources available.  Purchasing too many resources now already ensures the publication date is later than if we wait another year to buy.  Additionally, purchasing resources now means all stamps and bar codes will have Wye Elementary School rather than Heritage Hills Elementary.  We have not received our 4 digit Alberta School code yet for Heritage Hills Elementary so we are unable to order bar codes.  
• Since Elk Island Public Schools already has many databases available through the Online Reference Centre, no additional database subscriptions will be purchased during the 2019-2020 school year.  During this time, if a recommendation is made then every effort will be made to see if we can at least get a trial offer to test.  Any additional purchases will only be considered for the beginning of the 2020 school year and beyond. 
• It is essential whenever possible to purchase the same resource in both English and French if it meets the needs and criteria.  This is to guarantee equal access to resources for all students within Heritage Hills Elementary.  

Individuals Involved 

Administration - Principal and Assistant Principal 

Teacher Librarian

School Staff

Literacy and Second Language Consultants

French Immersion Lead Literacy Teachers

Library Technician Cohort including District Library Technician

It is imperative that over the next 12 months we continue to update and modernize all aspects of our collection including our reference area to ensure we can adequately meet the needs of our current population as well as the increased number of students who will be attending Heritage Hills Elementary in 2020.  We will continue to research and purchase additional reference materials to meet the needs of our French Immersion students who will also be attending in Fall 2020.  In order to maximize the usage and enhance student learning, proper orientation of the new space, proper way finding and reader's advisory are all factors which need to be considered.  The overall success of our plan will not fully come to fruition until we are in our new space and are able to see our students using the reference materials to enhance their learning.  

References 

AASL.  Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs.  Chicago:  AASL, 2009.  

EIPS Board Approves Name for Replacement School in Heritage Hills. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.eips.ca/about-us/whats-new/post/eips-board-approves-name-for-replacement-school-in-heritage-hill

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013).  Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.).  Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. 

Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. (2014). Retrieved from https://apsds.org/wp-content/uploads/Standards-of-Practice-for-SchoolLibrary-Learning-Commons-in-Canada-2014.pdf

Digging Deeper into Reference Materials

As LIBE 467 comes to a close, my learning about reference materials has increased exponentially throughout the course.  There are so many aspects of reference materials which I did not know about.  I also learned how reference materials and services apply to learning in the Learning Commons.  When I look back on my own years of schooling in elementary and secondary school, the main reference material that was used was the encyclopedia.  As I entered university and was required to do more research, that is when I was exposed to more databases and periodicals.  I look at my first experiences at the university library and feeling completely overwhelmed of not knowing where to start or even who to ask.  Thinking back to that time, makes me realize even more the importance of having teacher librarians in elementary and secondary schools to help students develop the skills and confidence to effectively navigate the reference materials available.  Throughout university, the internet started to emerge as an additional resource for students to use.  Our students now have to have even more advanced skills to navigate the endless amount of resources at their fingertips.  

Throughout this blog post, I will reflect and share some of reference materials which I tried to dig deeper into and how they may apply to my specific school situation.  I will also share some reflections on what I learned and want to learn more about. 

I had never heard of OER Commons before this course.  The idea of a free online library of educational materials for teachers sounded very appealing.  Unfortunately after just a few basic searches, I became disappointed. I went under the STEM resources and went to look for different STEM text sets. The most recent searches that came up were dated 2012 and 2013.  Although the resources were about Building Text Sets , I find this very old and am probably more likely to find better text sets and information regarding curating text sets through reading popular blog posts or even through Twitter or Pinterest. 

Maybe I do not fully understand the possibilities of the OER Commons and this is an area I need to explore further.  if any of my readers have any additional suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.  Additionally, I found the same with Listservs.  In a previous course, I had to take information found from a Listserv and post it.  The Listserv did not seem very well used, difficult to navigate and was not updated often.  Again, I wonder if individuals are looking elsewhere to obtain the information such as more common platforms like Facebook Groups, Twitter, Pinterest and blog posts.  

I spent some time looking at The Children's Literature Web Guide.  There is some great information in some areas such as Authors on the Web, but again you can tell this site is older and not updated regularly.  

The Deep and Dark web are areas I had never really been exposed to or thought about until this course.  I feel like I have a better understanding thanks to the information shared on Dark Web News.  I found the article Deep Web: What is it and how to access it?  The Ultimate Guide  very beneficial in helping me learn more.  I do wonder how best to explain this information to elementary students or even if it is necessary.  Maybe it is something to explore with upper division two students.  This is an area which I feel requires more reflection on my part. 

Being a grade one teacher in the classroom for many years, I was exposed to some databases, online encyclopedias and reference materials which were specific to that grade level through our Online Reference Centre on the Learn Alberta site.  However, being in a Teacher Librarian position this year has expanded my use of this site and my experiences in using databases to become more familiar in what is available for our students.  In Alberta, the Online Reference Centre is where databases are accessed for all schools.  After speaking with Aaron our course instructor during one of our hangouts, he suggested that some schools supplement these types of features by purchasing a specific school license.  I found this very intriguing as I had never thought about doing this before.  Since a grade group at my school was looking at learning more about biographies, I decided to look into the Gale - Biography in Context.  I was able to get a free 30 day trial.  Although there is a lot of information on this site and seems to be kept very current in biography content, it was not a good fit for our elementary students.  The reading level was too high as well as it does not offer the ability to read it to them.  I would recommend it for junior high or older. 

A reference resource recommended throughout this course was Culture Grams.  This resource is available through our Online Reference Centre and I have shared this with a few classes within my school.  A feature which I really appreciate on this database is the Kids Edition.  The Kids Edition reads to the student.  As mentioned earlier, this is often a deciding factor in trying to convince a teacher in my building to use the resource.  

An aspect of databases which I never considered until this course was looking into what was offered from my public library.  In Strathcona County all residents can get a library card for free.  This is a great way for students to access additional databases.  I will consider highlighting Strathcona County Library's features more in the future.  On the public library page, they have a complete section devoted to research.  This section has online journals, databases and encyclopedias.  When I narrowed the search to just Kids, the available choices were limited but it did however offer some which we do not have at school that many students might find beneficial.  My personal favourite was World Book Kids.

An area from this course which I feel I have focused on more than any other area since taking over as Teacher Librarian, is having my students use the school library catalog.  A feature discussed in this course is the ability for students to use the school library catalog as a starting point for bibliographies.  Prior to me taking on this new role, students at my school had never logged into the school library catalog or even knew the features and possibilities.  I have worked hard with each grade level to introduce them to the school library catalog and how to use the information available to support their learning.  I have even done a Breakout EDU with classes focused on them using the school library catalog to solve various challenges.  

Atlases were an area of interest to me and I explored this in Assignment 1.  However, I think Google Earth has an abundance of possibilities which are not being used effectively by many teachers and teacher librarians.  Five years ago, I attended a Google Summit session on Google Earth and I left the session in 'aw' with the information available on one site.  Since then, Google just continues to improve its features.  Most recently, Google released, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Although this is in its infancy stages, I think the concept and ideas gets to the heart of Riedling (2013) saying how stimulating geographic materials are for the imaginative mind (p. 84).  I would like to explore more lessons with my students using Google Earth to share with them the capabilities.  

This course has opened my eyes on the vastness of reference services and materials available for the Library Learning Commons.  Although I have learned about many different services and materials, I feel like I have really only scratched the surface on what is out there.  There seems to be an abundance and that is the most difficult part in narrowing down what to offer to students in a way to not overwhelm them.  Even though there is an abundance, I do feel there are limited reference materials available for elementary students.  From Riedling (2013) many factors have to be considered when evaluating a resource - this includes the format, ease of use and accessibility.  Many resources available are too difficult for my audience which hinders their ease of use and accessibility.  As I prepare for Assignment 3 and continue building our school's reference collection this will be something I will continue to keep at the forefront of my mind.  I will continue to look at ways to try out different reference materials before purchasing by asking for free trials or previews.  I hope to also continue to utilize social media and Facebook groups to ask others for recommendations before purchasing.  Digging deeper into reference materials has opened my eyes to the possibilities in the Library Learning Commons. 


References:

Cuthrell, S. Deep Web What is it & how to access it (Ultimate Guide 2019). Retrieved from https://darkwebnews.com/deep-web/

Google Earth. (2019). Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRMplV9SpA

Google for Education. (2018). EDU in 90: google Earth in the Classroom [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWq8nhocU5M

Google for Education. (2019). EDU in 90: Innovate with Google Earth [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrJy8ectHNc

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013).  Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.).  Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. 

Facilitating Change is a Whole School Effort

Our vision for our Library Learning Commons has been slowly evolving over the past year and a half with the implementation of a Library Learning Commons Leadership Team.   Last year, our Library Learning Commons team met monthly to discuss moving our Learning Commons further along the growth continuum using the Leading Learning (2014) document to guide our practice.  This Leadership Team was created with the belief that “participants supporting each other and building on each other’s thoughts and ideas push further than each team member could individually” (Leading Learning, 2004, p. 4).  We knew as a group we could come up with ideas, build learning communities and find better ways to support literacy in our school. As part of the process our team met to discuss various things such as space/facilities as we prepare for our replacement school, resources that needed weeding or acquired, literacy events to be promoted within the school, etc.  The reason I am sharing this process is that developing a Library Learning Commons committee helped to transform our Library Learning Commons and has also helped to create a more collaborative approach. Our learning commons space before our Library Learning Commons team was seen as just a place to house books and very little interaction with staff and students.  This year, my administration added 0.5 FTE of a Teacher Librarian which has also increased our Library Learning Commons usage. This has also allowed for opportunities for our teachers to feel comfortable in asking for help, guidance, collaboration and support in changing behaviour and in identifying strategies to support change.

Without the above leg work taking place within our school, the following approaches in supporting the following teachers would not be successful.  As a school, we have worked hard to develop a culture of mutual respect, risk-taking and collaboration.

Fictional Teacher 1 (Jane):

Jane is a first year teacher.  She is currently teaching Grade One.  Since Jane is a recent graduate, she is aware of emerging technologies and loves to integrate technology into many of her lessons.  She is Google Educator Level 1 certified. She is using many of the G Suite for Education features in her lessons.  She also incorporates the use of Seesaw as a platform with her students to incorporate technology, use as a digital portfolio as well as a way to communicate with parents.  Although Jane is very aware of emerging technologies and has recent knowledge on best practices, she is unaware of some of the resources available within a school to support her practice.  Jane spends many hours creating effective lessons. She is able to easily move through the SAMR model. However, when reviewing the Stages of Concern in the Concerns-Based Adoption Model she has little to no “Awareness” or “Information” when it comes to understanding how to leverage the resources and reference materials available in the Library Learning Commons (Huang, n.d).

Fictional Teacher 2 (Joe):

Joe is a veteran substitute teacher.  He enjoys being a substitute teacher and will often accept temporary contracts as well throughout our district.  Most recently, Joe accepted a temporary contract in our grade 3 classroom as the previous teacher has gone on mat leave.  Although Joe is very eager to engage students in a variety of ways he lacks the overall basic knowledge of emerging technologies currently available in our school.  Since he has held many different temporary contracts in various schools, he is aware of many different school processes but has limited training in many different areas due to not being with a school for an extensive period of time.  Joe would like to receive more training in a variety of areas, and learn more about ways to access resources in the classroom. Joe does not know very much about G Suite for Education and is still at the substitution level for most areas in the SAMR model.   

Since both teachers have very similar beginning needs, I would like to meet with them together to form a small PLC.  This will allow them to develop a relationship and support each other as well as reduce the time necessary to meet to show some basic steps in finding resources within the Learning Commons.  My hope is they will also begin to rely on each other as well for support. Jane is very knowledgeable with technology whereas Joe requires some guidance. Joe being a veteran teacher has many years experience dealing with classroom and school situations which can be beneficial to Jane.  The initial meeting will be to show both teachers how to use Destiny. I will show them how to log into their own Destiny account and how to search our school catalog. From here they will be able to search the catalog on their own in their free time focusing on specific areas related to the particular outcomes of the their respective program of studies.  In this initial meeting, I will explain how our reference section in very small since many of our resources have just been integrated into our non-fiction section. I will also show both teachers how to use the Online Reference Centre through Learn Alberta.

After this initial meeting, I will meet with them individually to discuss their specific learning outcomes and how to use the Online Reference Centre with their students.

Fictitious Teacher 1: Jane

Curricular Outcome to be Addressed:

Grade One Topic: Needs of Animals and Plants

General Learner Expectations

Students will describe some common living things, and identify needs of those living things.

(Alberta Education, 1996, p.9)

After our initial meeting and providing Jane an opportunity to do some of her own exploring through Destiny and the Online Reference Centre, I will also pull a text set of materials on the  Needs of Animals and Plants. I will also meet with her to show her some specific databases in the Online Reference Centre which target the curricular outcomes.

Since teaching Grade One students about the Online Reference Centre and the features can be overwhelming in the beginning, I will offer to co-teach the lesson with her.  I will ask for the Learn Alberta link to be placed in the student’s Google Classroom where they can easily access it. From here, Jane will be able to show the students the features in the ORC and I will be in the classroom to help support students.  It is important to introduce our youngest students to the ORC as early as possible so they learn to become proficient with the ORC and know that this is a place to support their research and inquiry. Jane is very comfortable in using technology, so she just needs some support to help leverage her skills and engage her students in using the reference materials available in the Library Learning Commons.  The two main databases we will be showing the students are Pebble Go Animal.  Pebble Go Animal allows the students to learn about various animals with tabs specifically related to topics such as body, habitat and food.  The other database the students will be able to explore is Power Knowledge Life Science.  This database has many different animals to explore based on classifications.  Both of these databases read aloud to the students. In addition to these two databases, students will also have access to the various non-fiction books chosen from the Library Learning Commons.  

After discussions with Jane, she will have her students find three facts about a certain animal which they can share through Seesaw with their families in any way they choose.  The child may choose to do a video, draw pictures or write text.

Fictitious Teacher 2: Joe

Curricular Outcome to be Addressed:

Grade Three Topic: Communities in the World

General Outcome Expectations:

Students will demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of how geographic, social, cultural and linguistic factors affect quality of life in communities in India, Tunisia, Ukraine and Peru.

(Alberta Education, 2005, p.37)

Joe is currently looking for reference materials to help support the grade three social studies curriculum.  When doing a quick search of our reference material section on the four countries to be studied, we have very limited resources in this area.  Mostly due to the fact that our reference section is out of date with regards to Atlases, Maps and other geographical resources. We have some non-fiction resources on these four countries which can be pulled to help support students in their inquiries.  The best way to support the teacher and students in learning more about these communities is through a few Online Reference Centre databases. Similar to Fictitious Teacher Jane, I would also suggest to Joe some possible co-teaching in showing the students these online databases.  This will also allow me the opportunity to introduce how to do citations with this group of Grade Three students as well. I might choose to show the following video with them.

Also to help move Joe along the SAMR model, I would suggest that students share their findings through a shared Google Slide. Each student could be a given a specific topic to research such a food, holidays, geographical location, etc. Each student would complete their slide but at the end of the project the group would have a finished project addressing all of the areas. This is similar to a Jigsaw model.

Through collaboration with the teacher, I would introduce the following databases to him and his students.  ProQuest Culture Gram database is available in our Online Reference Centre.  There are many tabs to explore within each Culture Gram with tabs related to people and places, history, lifestyle, & society.  The benefits of using this database to support inquiry into the countries noted above is the easy accessibility of using the tabs.  The database also reads the text so this helps to support inquiry without having to worry about reading ability. Scholastic Go!  is the other reference resource available in the Online Reference Centre which I would suggest Joe use to support student inquiry.  

As always, one of the biggest limitations and hurdles in assisting teachers in addressing their usage of references is collaborative time.  It is difficult to find the time to collaborate to show reference materials or to even find time to discuss how to use reference materials in the classroom.  In an effort to combat some of the time constraints, I have asked for time during staff meetings to share various library services and resources. Although this time is limited to just 5-10 minutes it might move some individuals along the CBAM Model from Awareness to Information to Personal.  This short time frame might also spark a thought or idea in individuals that they might want to explore further and then ask for my services. Another innovative way to try and assist teachers in addressing reference materials is through our school's weekly updates. In our school, we have a weekly update posted in our school’s own Google Classroom.  This is way to communicate with staff about the upcoming week’s events, deadlines, etc. However, the Learning Commons has also been given a section in this weekly. This is a simple way to highlight new resources in the Library Learning Commons, also to remind staff about reference services which are available in the Library Learning Commons.

The examples and ideas presented above from working with Jane and Joe are just a few ways to approach educators in a school and help move them into higher level technology integration. These simple approaches will hopefully help them learn to apply additional features in their classroom.  Ultimately, the main goal in the plan will be to transform practice and increase student learning.

References

Canadian Library Association. (2014). Leading Learning. Ottawa.

Common Sense Education. (2016). What is the SAMR model? [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b5yvgKQdqE

Huang, P. (n.d). Stages of Concern - Concerns-Based Adoption Model. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home/stages-of-concern

OSLIS Secondary Videos. (2016). Why You Need to Cite Sources [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=4v9mRHivjX4

Science. (1996). Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/159711/elemsci.pdf

Social Studies Kindergarten to Grade 12. (2005). Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/159594/program-of-studies-k-3.pdf

Managing and Evaluating Reference Services

From the beginning of this course, I have been looking at the reference section in our library.  Is it functional? Is it up to date? Are students using it? What is its purpose? What needs to be weeded? Why do we have a reference section in elementary?  Are there better resources? The list of questions seems to go on and on.

As much of the information over the past few weeks shared has been connected to policy and various guidelines some of which are directly connected to British Columbia, I decided that I needed to dig further into my Alberta Education curriculum to see what I could find relating to Learning Commons and reference services and materials.  

Alberta however is going through some major transitions right now.  We are on the horizon of adopting a new K-4 curriculum for optional implementation in September 2019, but our Alberta Education website is also slowing moving over to a different web format so resources can also be difficult to locate.  

I was able to come across this Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines.  I found the policy and guidelines very interesting as some aspects were directly related to the importance of reference sources and services.  Most notably ensuring students have access to quality resources in both digital and print to address all student learning needs (Alberta Education, 2014).

Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines

To meet and address the student learning needs, the Library Learning Commons must have the materials available to meet the curious and intrigued minds of our students.  Our advances in society are made through the curiosity of individuals. The library can provide that starting point for our students to seek out information, answer their inquiry questions and challenge their thinking.  From much of the reading through this theme, a recurring thought came through for me and that was the importance of relationships.

The teacher librarian must develop effective relationships with all stakeholders.  Reidling, Shake and Houston (2013) share about the importance of reference interviews and how the “reference interview still involves human relations, communications and interaction with the student” (p. 105).  If we as teacher librarians do not have those relationships with students they will not feel comfortable approaching us with their questions for research projects or reader’s advisory. The same is true for the educators we work with.  Building those relationships with our colleagues is key to the success of the Library Learning Commons.

I found the role of the teacher librarian information in module 6 very interesting as my school district does not have a job description currently for teacher librarians.  As my school is the only one currently with a teacher librarian role we are currently creating this job description. I look forward to sharing this with my current administration. My administration has been very involved in learning more about Library Learning Commons and how to effectively support all students in our school to provide equal access. After last year’s creation of a Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee, my administration decided to put a greater focus on budget allocations.  My administration even put budget lines in for fiction and non-fiction. Again this is where relationships is so key in managing and evaluating reference sources and materials. The more involved you can get your administration in the Library Learning Commons, the more they will understand the need for certain resources or also the cost in attaining some resources.  Open communication and sharing of information about the Library Learning Commons is key.

After working through Assignment 1, I realized how much more work is required in our Library Learning Commons.  Since I started my position in September, I have worked hard to continually weed the collection mostly just based on age alone.  I have also spent a tremendous amount of time with our First Nations, Metis and Inuit consultant reviewing our resources in this area to ensure appropriate information.  As my school gets closer to moving into our new location, I know more time will have to be devoted to collection development as we will be focused on what needs to be weeded as well as what will need to be purchased in our new location.  

Finally, when evaluating reference services, I feel the biggest challenge or hurdle to overcome in my building right now is the continuation of building relationships.  There are many teachers in my building who are utilizing the services I can provide such as working with students on information literacy, how to access our digital resources, how to find resources in our library though using the OPAC system. Teachers are also feeling more comfortable with asking me to pull resources based on what they are currently teaching.  However, I still have teachers in the building who have not accessed any services that I can provide. I know this is an area I need to continue to work on and look forward to talking with my administration on how we can evaluate the success of whether having a teacher librarian this school year enhanced the Library Learning Commons.

References

Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines. (2014). Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/learning-commons/learning-commons/

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Evaluation of Reference Work in Library Learning Commons

“The library learning commons is the physical and virtual collaborative learning hub of the school” (Canada Library Association, 2014, p.5).  For the success of this learning hub, it is imperative students, educators and parents know the resources/materials within this space have been specifically curated to take into consideration the audience, format and usage of each resource.  Students, educators and parents rely on the resources and services available in the Library Learning Commons. They trust the resources have been properly vetted. According to Elk Island Public School’s Administrative Procedure 250 (2016), the Learning Commons must ensure it maintains an up to date collection with appropriate library selections.

As part of ensuring our library collection in up to date with appropriate library selections, the following checklist can be used to evaluate our collection. After reviewing a resource from our collection, I will share some possible alternatives to be considered for replacement in our Library Learning Commons as we begin the process of ensuring our resources are properly updated and maintained.

Evaluating Reference Resource Checklist

The checklist has been created using ideas from Reference Skills for the School Librarian by Ann Marlow Riedling, discussions from colleagues, course work as well as standards set forth in EIPS Administrative Procedure 250. The indicators listed in the checklist will be used to help determine the appropriate selection and weeding of Atlas reference materials.  

The majority of materials in our reference section are atlases.  According to Riedling (2103), “geographical requests can vary widely, requiring and assortment of geography related sources” (p. 79). However, upon further review, many of our atlases were very similar in content. We currently hold 5 Atlases in our collection considered World Atlases.  Our current collection of atlases range in publication dates from 1998-2009. Although Riedling (2013), suggests age may not be the main criterion when weeding resources, it does need to be mentioned a “five-year-old atlas is considered historical” (p. 80).  This would mean every Atlas we currently hold in our collection would be out of date.

PART 1:
The resource I am choosing to evaluate based on the Reference Resource Checklist is The Eyewitness Atlas of the World (1998).

Relevancy and Use of Library Space

• Is the resource relevant and reliable to the students in our school? NO
• Does the resource take up an appropriate amount of space on our shelves? YES 
• Is the resource user friendly, allow access to information quickly and provides many different access points for students based on grade level and reading ability? YES & NO
• Is the format of the resource easy to understand with a comprehensive how to use introduction?  YES

This current resource is only 160 pages so it takes up little space in our Learning Commons.  The format and introduction of the resource provides an adequate Key as well as a comprehensive section on how to use the atlas.  However, the relevancy and reliability of this resource in questionable due to the some of the content easily observed. This resource still has Pluto listed as a planet and it does not show the territory of Nunavut.  Although students are able to access information quickly the reading ability would definitely be suited for Division 2 students (Gr. 4-6).

Purpose and Curricular Connections

• Does the resource meet the needs and follow the Alberta Program of Studies? NO
• Is the resource circulated appropriately within the school so it can meet student needs and support their inquiring minds? NO
• Does this resource meet and support the EIPS Administrative Procedure 250? NO
• Does this resource add value to student learning and introduce the students to the social context of the world they live in? NO

According to Section 1.3 of EIPS Administrative Procedure the Principal shall: provide students with information about Canadian society, its many facets and the contributions of multicultural groups to Canadian social, political, economic and creative life.

This atlas unfortunately does not meet this descriptor as it uses the term Eskimos which we know to be an inappropriate term when referring to our Inuit population.  

Due to the age of this resource students may not be able to use this resource for reporting accurate information on communities.  For example: The Canadian population in this resources is listed as 27 800 000. According to Statistics Canada (2016) the Canadian population was just over 35 million.

Additionally, when reviewing the circulation history of this resource it has only been circulated 10 times since its acquisition in 2000.  The last time it was circulated was January 2013.

Currency/Authority

• Is this resource up to date as we live in an ever changing world? NO
• Does this resource provide our students with accurate and current ideas with multiple opinions? NO
• Is the cost of the resource taken into consideration with its usage? N/A
• Has a reputable publisher published the material? YES

This resource was published by a reputable publisher - Dorling Kindersley.  The biggest downfall of this resource is its age. This resource is 21 years old which makes for many inaccuracies which do not accurately represent our current world landscape.  

Although this resource could be used as a historical atlas to compare and contrast with a newer version, I would suggest weeding this from the collection.

PART 2:
The newest atlas to evaluate based on the checklist which I could currently find is the Smithsonian Children’s Illustrated Atlas (2016) which I will choose to evaluate based on the checklist.

Relevancy and Use of Library Space

• Is the resource relevant and reliable to the students in our school? YES
• Does the resource take up an appropriate amount of space on our shelves? YES 
• Is the resource user friendly, allow access to information quickly and provides many different access points for students based on grade level and reading ability? YES
• Is the format of the resource easy to understand with a comprehensive how to use introduction?  YES

Purpose and Curricular Connections

• Does the resource meet the needs and follow the Alberta Program of Studies? YES & NO
• Is the resource circulated appropriately within the school so it can meet student needs and support their inquiring minds? N/A
• Does this resource meet and support the EIPS Administrative Procedure 250? YES
• Does this resource add value to student learning and introduce the students to the social context of the world they live in? YES

Currency/Authority

• Is this resource up to date as we live in an ever changing world? YES
• Does this resource provide our students with accurate and current ideas with multiple opinions? YES
• Is the cost of the resource taken into consideration with its usage? YES
• Has a reputable publisher published the material? YES

Although this resource met most of the criteria on the Reference Resource Checklist, I wish to point out a few things to keep into consideration.  This resource is a very simplistic atlas. It has a ‘key’ which highlights the produce and industry in Canada but is very limited in the information it provides on Canadian content to meet the curricular content in the Alberta Program of Studies.  However, the images, graphics and layout are very appealing in this atlas and I could see many students of all ages and grade levels choosing to look through this resource. This resource would definetly be a great introduction to atlases at the younger grade levels, but lacks some of the more detailed content required for older grades. This resource is currently only 2 years old and is also published from Dorling Kindersley.  It is 128 pages with a price tag of $18.45. I would recommend this resource be added to the collection.

Riedling (2013) suggests National Geographic Atlases as suitable for school libraries.  While searching which resources National Geographic might have available for the school market, I came across 3 resources we may consider purchasing for the Library Learning Commons.  All three of these resources have publication dates in 2019. Limited information is currently available on these resources but they are all strong possibilities to be added to our collection.  The National Geographic website does not even have information listed at this time regarding these upcoming publications. This information was retrieved from Amazon.

The first is the National Geographic Beginner's World Atlas which will be available July 9, 2019.  The cover itself is appealing to the eye and the cost of the hardcover version is only $21.14 CAN with 64 pages.  The synopsis on Amazon talks about lively photos and a kid-friendly design.

https://www.amazon.ca/National-Geographic-Beginners-World-Atlas/dp/1426335520/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1549227522&sr=8-2&keywords=national+geographic+atlas

The second is the National Geographic Student World Atlas which will also be available July 9, 2019.  This is the Fifth Edition and according to Amazon it is complete with updated maps and statistics. The cost of the hardcover version is only $22.90 CAN and 144 pages.  

https://www.amazon.ca/National-Geographic-Student-World-Atlas/dp/142633480X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549228022&sr=8-3&keywords=national+geographic+atlas

Finally, the National Geographic Atlas of the World, 11th Edition will be available September 3, 2019.  According to Amazon this is National Geographic's Flagship Atlas, but with this designation also comes the heftier price tag at $243.85 with 448 pages.  

https://www.amazon.ca/National-Geographic-Atlas-World-11th/dp/1426220588/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549228022&sr=8-1&keywords=national+geographic+atlas

Once these three resources are available for purchase and more information is available, the Library Learning Commons Leadership Team will spend some time reviewing our Reference Resource Checklist to determine which to purchase.  

References

Administrative Procedures. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.eips.ca/about-us/administrative-procedures/250

Brooks, A. (2016). Children's illustrated atlas. New York: DK Publishing.

Canadian School Libraries (CSL). (2018).  Leading Learning:  Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada.  Retrieved from http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca

Raincoast Books. (1998). Eyewitness atlas of the world. Vancouver.

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC.