Assignment 1: Evaluation and
Selection of a Reference Work
Part 1- Evaluation
There are many kinds of reference materials available
in elementary school libraries, both print and digital. For this assignment, I
examined the print resources at a school I teach at regularly and chose the
encyclopedia collection to focus on. There were two encyclopedia series, the World
Book of Encyclopedias, and the Wildlife of the World Encyclopedias,
and I chose the latter of the two to assess. While both collections were out of
date, the Wildlife series was the oldest. Achieving Information Literacy mentions
that resources should be current to the last ten years, (pg. 33), but Reidling
recommends that encyclopedias specifically should be updated every 5 years,
(pg. 18, 19).
To evaluate this animal facts encyclopedia set, I
designed a rubric specific to the needs of this elementary school learning
commons and school community. To create this rubric, I looked at other documents
with information on evaluating reference material.
Reidling has criteria that applies to encyclopedias
specifically, (pg. 67):
Accuracy
Authority
Currency
Format
Indexing
Objectivity
Scope
I also examined ERAC’s guide on evaluating, selecting,
and acquiring learning resources, (2008). This document listed the following
criteria for evaluating a resource:
Curriculum Fit
Content
Instructional Design
Technical Design
In addition, I looked at the B.C. Education Ministry’s
evaluation criteria which lists the following:
Content
Instructional Design
Technical Design
Social Considerations
Media-Specific Criteria
Series Evaluations
Lastly, I came across something called the CRAAP test
for evaluating learning materials. Created by the Merian Library at California
State University, this test encompasses the following categories:
Currency
Relevance
Authority
Accuracy
Purpose
There are many similarities between these different
methods for evaluation, and the differences are due to the specific needs the
documents are addressing. For example, the Reidling criteria is the only list
that is specifically for an encyclopedia set, and the B.C. Education Ministry’s
criteria includes a focus on social considerations that might not necessarily
apply to an encyclopedia set. However, Reidling’s criteria is the only one that
doesn’t mention anything about curriculum fit/purpose/instructional design/ relevance.
In designing my rubric, I included the common
categories from these sources that are relevant to an encyclopedia collection
in an elementary school, such as currency, authority, format, indexing, and
curriculum fit from the criteria from Reidling, ERAC, the B.C. Education
Ministry, and the CRAAP test. For the purposes of an elementary school
encyclopedia set that provides general information on animals though, criteria
regarding social considerations or objectivity will not be necessary.
Information about animals doesn’t usually contain social biases, and generally,
“editorial standards are high in encyclopedia publishing”, (Reidling, 2019), so
accuracy will be standard if the collection is from a publisher with good
authority.
In evaluating current reference material for an
elementary school there should also be some mention of usage, (teacher
interviews, 2022), condition and online duplication of the resource to
determine suitability or if the resource needs to be weeded, (Reidling, 2019,
pg. 17). This school also has multiple online encyclopedia links such as the World
Book Encyclopedias, Nasa, and National Geographic, so the use for
the print encyclopedias would be as a starting of point in research with
digital support available to further research.
I completed research interviews with staff at this
school and was told that older students tended to use online reference material
and the younger students used the print references more to start research. Teachers
of the younger students felt that it was easier for the students to find
information in print material and that the tactile experience of handling the books
helped them focus on completing the research. So, format is important for
whether or not students will actually use a reference source.
Given the age of this reference resource I would
remove it. Also, the material contained isn’t linked to any curricular topics,
and the format is badly outdated with old fashioned pictures. The books
themselves are worn and haven’t been used in a long time, as communicated by
interviews with the school staff. Although it is published by someone reputable
and has an index, there are online resources on the school’s website that could
fill the role of this encyclopedia set that are more current and engaging.
Rubric
to Evaluate: Wildlife of the World Encyclopedia Set
|
Categories |
Unacceptable |
Acceptable |
Exemplary |
|
currency |
-is older than 10 years |
- is within 10 years of age |
-is under 5 years of age |
|
content |
-is
not linked to curricular topics. -is inappropriate for age level. |
-is linked generally to curricular topics. - is appropriate for age level. - has appropriate depth of scope of
topic. |
-specifically linked to curricular topics. - appropriate for age level and is engaging
with high readability. -has detailed depth of scope appropriate
to age level. |
|
authority |
-unknown publisher |
-reputable
publisher |
-reputable publisher, lists scholarly contributors. |
|
format |
-confusing
layout -pictures
outdates/unattractive |
-clear layout -color pictures match text |
-clear user-friendly layout -colorful, attractive pictures that match
text |
|
indexing |
-Not present or confusing |
-Present at
end of each volume and refers to pages in volume and in other volumes |
-present at end of each volume and refers to pages in
volume and in other volumes |
Part 2-Selection
To
select replacement reference material, I looked at something appropriate for
grades K-3. Based on teacher interviews at this school, print reference resources
that are linked to the curriculum and at the age level of younger students are
in demand. The older students use the Worldbook Encyclopedia in the
reference section, (even though this series is outdated as well), or
non-fiction books specific to their topic if they are using print materials at
all. The older students use the online reference resources more frequently I
was told by the library technician and teachers at this school, so I focused my
reference resource search on grades K-3. To replace an encyclopedia reference resource based
on wildlife/animals, I examined the curriculum to see what related topics were
covered. The Alberta Education Program of Studies refers to animal
studies objectives in grades one, two, and three. In grade one the topic is, needs
of plants and animals. In grade two the topic is, small crawling and
flying animals. In grade three the topic is, animal life cycles.
https://education.alberta.ca/media/159711/elemsci.pdf
To
find a reference resource that is appropriate as a replacement I invited and considered
input and feedback from the staff, “Although collaboration between teacher and
teacher-librarian can be difficult to achieve, the result is improved student
learning. “, (A.I.L., 2003, pg. 64). I also looked at factors from Reidling who
differentiates between evaluating a resource to weed, and evaluating a resource
to select, (pg. 23-24) such as:
Content Scope
Accuracy, Authority, Bias
Arrangement/Presentation
Relation to Similar Works
Timeliness/Permanence
Accessibility/Diversity
Cost
I also considered factors listed earlier in this paper
from ERAC, B.C. Ministry of Education, and the CRAAP test, as these don’t have
different factors between weeding and selection just the same factors to
evaluate for an effective and useful resource.
The reference resource I chose is from World Book
publishers, called Animal Life Cycles. This book is part of a series
called the Building Blocks of Life, and this is the 2016 updated edition
from the original in 2014.
Accuracy, Authority, Bias
This
book is published by World Book Publishing, which is a well known and respected
publisher and so has good authority. This book contains accurate information on
animal life cycles and doesn’t contain any bias.
Content Scope
This
reference material is geared towards younger learners, and the information includes
birds, butterflies, mammals and amphibians, and their life cycles and is
appropriate to the age level of grades K-3. It also includes a glossary, index,
and an additional resources list. The information is well known so this book
does have some permanence to it.
Arrangement/Presentation
This
work utilizes bright, colorful pictures and photographs, diagrams, and maps. The
pictures match the text well, and there is a good consistency in the
presentation. There are fun characters that lead the reader through the information
and keep the reader engaged. The explanations are age appropriate and sequenced,
and the graphic novel format is appealing for struggling readers as well.
Cost
This
reference resource is one volume from a series and is available for $24.95 from
the Worldbook website.
www.worldbook.com/Animal-Life-Cycles
It
is also available from the Barnes and Noble website for $14.99 in paperback
form.
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/animal-life-cycles-joseph-midthun
The
cost is minimal compared to replacing an entire wildlife encyclopedia series
that might not see much usage or address certain specifics of the curriculum
objectives such as life cycles.
Works Cited:
B.C
Teacher Librarians Association. (2008). Evaluation, Selecting, and Acquiring
Learning Resources: A Guide. Retrieved from https://bctla.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2018/02/erac_wb.pdf
Meriam
Library, California State University-Chico. (2010). Evaluating
Information-Applying the CRAAP Test. Retrieved from https://library.csuchico.edu/sites/default/files/craap-test.pdf
Canadian Association for
School Libraries (CASL) 2003. Achieving Information Literacy Standards for
School Library Programs in Canada. Retrieved from http://accessola2.com/SLIC-Site/slic/ail110217.pdf
Riedling, A. M., &
Houston, C. (2019). Reference skills for the school librarian : Tools and
tips (4th ed.). Libraries Unlimited.
B.C. Ministry of Education.
(2002). Evaluating, Selecting, and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. https://blogs.ubc.ca/dandt/files/2015/09/BC-Resource-Guide-2002.pdfLinks
to an external site.
Mr. Jones, Mrs. Smith, Ms. Lee, ABC
Elementary School. (2022). Informal Interviews with Teachers. (*names have
been changed to protect privacy).
Marshall
Cavendish Publishing. (1994). Wildlife of the World Encyclopedia, series #1-13.
New York.
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