ETL503 Module 2.1 Activities and Reflections

Module 2.1 Selection in the school context

Definitions of selection

Activity

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
Review the model (p. 34) developed by Hughes-Hassell and Mancall (2005) – Chapter 4, Selecting resources for learning.

Note that it presents selection as a series of YES or NO decisions. In reality, many selection decisions are not this black and white, and involve a process of prioritising across a range of criteria.

Attempt to draft your own selection decision-making model or flowchart that considers a more complex set of choices and criteria.

My model:
Resource being considered —>

Test 1: Apply selection criteria regarding Curriculum Relevance and Authority and Fit —> 90 – 95% = hold for second look, < 90% = NO

> or = 95% on Test 1 —> Test 2: Apply selection criteria regarding resource fitting the needs of the learning community (fits program units/themes/priorities) —> 75 – 85% = hold, , 75% = NO

> or = 85% on Test 2 —> Test 3: Apply selection criteria regarding learner characteristics, reading levels, scope, appropriateness of language, illustration, etc. —> 85-90% = hold, <85% = NO

>or = 90% on Test 3 —> Test 4: Consult teachers regarding whether resource fits into their teaching-learning context, fitting pedagogical and methodological planned usage —> < 90% = NO

> or = 90% on Test 4 —> Test 5: Value and budget testing —> check cost relative to budget, compare with scores received by resource going through various tests and enthusiasm of teachers for resource… if within budget and rated well for value, recommend — if not, bring to committee for further comparison with other resources, if beyond budget or scored low along the testing for value and low on teacher enthusiasm = NO.

Patron driven acquisition

Search

Using the Charles Sturt University Library Primo search or Google Scholar, conduct a search for a recent article in English that discusses patron driven acquisition.

If you are not familiar with searching for articles then first watch the tutorial: Find full text articles with Google Scholar

Post your correctly APA referenced article with 5 keywords to describe the content on Forum 2.1. There are some helpful APA tools here (also available in the Resources folder).

This activity was crossposted to ETL503 Forum 2.1

Lukes, R., Markgren, S., & Thorpe, A. (2016). E-book collection development: Formalizing a policy for smaller libraries. The Serials Librarian, 70(1 – 4), 106 – 115. doe: 10.1080/0361526X.2016.1153329

* university libraries
* E-book acquisition
* Patron-driven acquisition
* Collection development policy
* Collection development philosophy

Discussion for Forum 2.2

Reflection and discussion
Discuss how the teacher librarian’s expertise and role is different from that required by all teachers.
Share ideas on how teacher librarians might effectively collaborate with the school community in the selection of resources in a school with which you are familiar.
Consider also how to engage your learners in selection of resources for their school library.
Who should have the final say on what is included? Why?

I did not choose this as one of my three forum posts.

* Share ideas on how teacher librarians might effectively collaborate with the school community in the selection of resources in a school with which you are familiar.

I had a 3 day per week temporary engagement at a school last year. I was impressed with how the TL would come to our Grade and Stage meetings when we were discussing programming of different subjects. She would have a copy of our units for programming and sometimes other lists of suggested resources for the topic we were covering. She asked us to identify the resources that we would like her to acquire or reserve for those units. She created resource boxes in the Teacher Resource Room with targeted resources so that we would not be trying to access something and find out that it was on loan to a student. Another helpful collaboration strategy was giving new resources a little promotional viewing at staff meetings on occasion. She also worked with each class teacher to tie her RFF lessons in with our programs, supporting our English focus some terms and our History content in others. She always had suggestions ready, but was flexible to change her program if it duplicated something we were doing in class. I thought these were effective collaboration methods.

* Consider also how to engage your learners in selection of resources for their school library.
Some possibilities for engaging learners in resource selection might be:
* providing a facility for reviews and recommendations – either in a display area or on the library catalogue system
* having a suggestion box – either physical or virtual
* holding “book tasting” events where students can browse amongst a curated range of resources and vote for their preferences
* having a book fair where students and carers are encouraged to purchase and donate books to the library (as a sweetener – the donating child gets to be the first borrower of the resource)
* invite student representatives to a resource display meeting of the library committee

* Who should have the final say on what is included? Why?
I think that the TL should have the final say on what is included in the library, because that expertise is one of our purposes in the school context. In lieu of that, a library committee with representation of teachers, executive staff and parents and including the TL as either chair or member, would be a good final authority. This would allow for participation by the TL in the final say, but ensure that other members of the school community felt that they had an ownership stake in the decision as well.