Sunday, 14 October 2018

Collection Evaluation Report

Collection Evaluation Report- Assignment #2

This evaluation is focused as much as possible on my subsection collection of physical education/heath for an independent Montessori school with students from preschool to grade 8 . My focus was the collection found in the library. There is a small set of books in each multi grade class as well.
Step #1-   Quantative data;
Our school uses L4U software database for online cataloging system and recently were told that to update their software it would cost 2000 dollars US which our school cannot afford right now our librarian indicated. The company was recently bought out by Powerschool and the librarian said they were not responding to her calls and she had not been able to get any assistance. I asked if she has CheckMarc system(machine readable cataloging) she said she was able to access records last year but with the new update now she cannot.I noticed on the L4U  website that this feature is an extra cost and they are not paying for it. Because of not updating they were experiencing glitches in the check out of resources as well and incorrect due dates etc;. Next year the librarian said they would upgrade so I was unable to run a Titlewave report and the data on my sub collection was not complete.

Quantitative data  I was able to report:

1. Circulation data on the whole collection as of September 28th 2018:

 2. My physical education/heath collection comes under the social sciences (300-399 Dewey decimal system as well as 600's  and 700's in the non fiction section)
. There had been no books taken out this week and yearly 5897 non-fiction books were circulated.This is 8.3% of the total collection. She indicated to me in by her observations that very few  students are interested in the non- fiction books and especially in the social sciences are ever taken out.  Miscellaneous entry at 21680 was due she thought by default placement of resources.
The Media Smarts series(in my collection) are under the reference section and so far she said none had been checked out. Overall 20 reference materials were circulated yearly. One reason for lower circulation and selection was because all our multi grade classes have their own set of fiction and non-fiction library/reading area in class.



3. Average Age of NON-FICTION Books in Library collection :(locate my sub collection within the 300's social sciences;610's medical science; 700's sport/ art and recreation)

 - average age is 1994 with 81 resources (78 titles)
-no data within Dewey decimal categories recorded electronically by L4U  as seen below with data being all zeros.(just first page picture)

4. The average age  from physical search of my sub collection was 1990.

5. AGE of Collection report of entire collection  of 13,694 is below: Majority age of collection was 1996/97 with 5,649 the next being 2016 with 1,640. So 21 years old is average for the collection. 

5. Bc Erac Evaluated resources for my collection  (grades k-3; 4-7 and 8-9 groupings)  health/physical education search there were 79 total evaluated resources:
-33 fiction books primarily health topics
 -39 non fiction mostly on health ;
  -7 posters  showing movement/exercise pictures 
  More useful data if I was able to run off a list of all current PhysicalEd/ health resources(I tried) to compare with our resources but useful for recommendations and unique social considerations such as LBQT or Aboriginal content; ESL; etc; search tabs.

6. Media search on L4U 
- 3 posters. There are no media resources in the library(audio visuals; dvd's etc;) I have observed audio books in the younger grades and use of DVD's and Utube videos on smart boards in classrooms. Except for preschool all classes have a set of computers. 
Entire Collection: MEDIA FILE BY MEDIA NAME REPORT: BUDGET DATA
-majority of budget on paperback;$19,410 and hard cover books at $14,453
DEPARTMENT FILE TOTAL ITEMS AND MONEY SPENT INVENTORY:
-MAJORITY is the main library at $37,696; no money on other media items year to date. I noted that within the school there are 368 posters according to this report that are spread throughout the school.



7.  Subject Authority Search on L4U 
 11 entries -health
6-fitness
2-exercise
4-bullying
 I tried other subject tags and came up with zero. I noted that the search only involved 5,964 when the total collection is 13,694 so its not accurate.

8.Collection Magazines: 2 on healthy living/fitness:

BaZoof-The Catchy Silly healthy Fun Magazine. grade 3 and up; interactive; real life stories. articles included," germinator says' and snack shop.; cartoon style. 2015; parent choice award 
Zamoof- older version for grades 5 to 8; with relationship issues/ right and wrong scenarios; appealing cover and content.

step #2  Qualitative data;

For descriptive data to analyze I investigated  evaluative criteria to analyze my collection which included criteria lists,policies:interviews and observations and standards based on Montessori Philosophy to help evaluate my sub collection.

1. Berkeley Evaluating Resources(alternative concise evaluative criteria)

2.Selkirk Montessori Learning Resources approved policy(April 2017) :primary policy source as this is specific to acquisition of learning resources for students at Selkirk with specific pedagogical Montessori standards; respect for individual differences; and service learning criteria. Montessori materials are generally beautifully created; (intrinsic  motivation is key)self correcting; control of error; with no unnecessary distractions.


3.BC Education 2006 Learning Resources Criteria online(outdated  due to new curriculum in 2016 but still useful )

4.Observational data; shelf scanning

  Using the Non-Fiction Dewy decimal subject categories I searched for books that fit my physical education/health collection curriculum  to evaluate:
300's social sciences- 2 books;  1 on Sex education; 1 teacher resource;Teaching on tricky subjects/compassion;

Reference section- One series: Asking questions About Media series- 2016 -(  above from first assignment blog) from there I widened my search:

- 610's medical science-7 books  focus on health/fitness and your body and 2 on Terry Fox average age was 1990; one book I had trouble retrieving because of its size .
-700's arts and recreation - 6 books; 4  on games ; 2 on dance average age 1980;
-790's recreational and performing arts-29 sport topic books from ice skating to soccer with 7 books and hockey with 5;
-790's was the largest category collection.

Physical  Collection Mapping:
Overall in my search I did come across several books in my collection with jackets that were a little dirty/torn and aesthetically not pleasing with outdated pictures including small pencil drawings and very small text that wouldn't be appealing to students.

 Interview with librarian and survey with Physical Education teacher
She indicated to me in by her observations that very few  students are interested in the non- fiction books and especially in the social sciences are ever taken out.  The media smarts series(in my initial collection) are under the reference section and so far she said none had been checked out. Overall 20 reference materials were circulated yearly. One reason for lower circulation and selection was because all our multi grade classes have their own set of fiction and non-fiction library/reading area in class. She indicated that she does share new resources with applicable teachers. Her budget is based on what the 2 day Scholastic book fair brings in every year.


6.. BC ERAC policy and standards for Evaluating, selecting and acquiring learning resources(revised 2008). Click here for printable evaluative forms and checklist from BC Erac.ca resources;- in depth guiding principles includes considerations for, ESL, Gender equality; aboriginal education, special needs . These are overall principles to consider when evaluating my collection for:
Provincial resources labelled RECOMMENDED are evaluated by the Ministry of Education by trained evaluators (not done anymore in Victoria) includes teachers and/ or LOCAL resources are APPROVED based on the policies and procedures established by the Board of Education. (see above)

7.Physical Education Equipment Mapping (In storage room inside gym)
 I consulted these criteria  from the  physical  form   criteria listed in Mardis  text(pg.107) and added the sufficient supplies for school population:

  1. PHYSICAL QUALITY/DURABILITY
  2. AESTHETIC APPEAL
  3. SAFETY AND HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS
  4. SUFFICIENT SUPPLIES FOR SCHOOL POPULATION

In my observation the physical equipment did meet all these criteria. For example our class size is 22 maximum and there were  more then 22 inflated rubber balls with no holes in good condition. ( I know this is an issue because I had to constantly blow up and replace balls when teaching gym) all equipment was labelled for quick access with a picture on the door of the equipment layout. I didn't find any damaged or safety causing parts that would be a concern. The equipment is placed in bins so small children cannot just access on their own possible harmful equipment like bats and rackets. One improvement could be a set of smaller balls for the very young children making it easier to grip.
Picture on the storage door to remind students to place equipment back properly creates an aesthetically pleasing environment:
My main source of policy/standards  was the Selkirk Montessori  Learning Resource Policy document online as stated below:

The evaluation criteria used in determining appropriate learning resources for the school will include, but are not limited to: • Supporting the learning standards and outcomes of the curriculum (Montessori and Ministry) • Assisting students in making connections between what they learn in school and its practical application in their lives • Addressing developmental and age appropriateness • Having effective instructional and technical design • Meeting the requirements set by copyright and privacy (PIPA) legislation • Suitability for a Montessori environment • Suitability based on the pedagogical, social, philosophical, and/or cultural values of Selkirk Montessori School.
Their resource inclusion criteria included ERAC'S SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS with the addition of respect for individual differences and service learning .

DATA SUMMARY:

I  consulted APPENDIX 6 EVALUATION FORM FOR NARROWER,ADDITIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES from ERAC Document (link above) as the main  criteria  for evaluation of my collection because I liked the social considerations included and how concise it was. I added Montessori standards/philosophy to meet our school learning resource policy and clarified some of the major headings  and added two additional social considerations not listed in this ERAC form.
-Respect for individual differences and service learning
For clarification of summary of criteria and considerations read pages 36 and 37 . I summarized results below taking into consideration our school learning resource policy:
Below Appendix 6 with Modifications to meet our Schools Policy:






Step #3 Strengths of  Library  Sub-Collection:

Strengths:  The strengths that I discovered through a physical  mapping shelf scanning was the small in class library area accessible to student  in our multi grade classrooms had the most relevant and current books with content related to curriculum. There are no formal records for quantitative data that I could run on the OPAC.
 For example in the grade 7/8 class I found:
 -14 non fiction books accessible to students in a classroom of 21 for dealing with heath/ relationships/diversity/bulling  which would be applicable for addressing the competencies for the health side of their curriculum and met the social considerations such as aboriginal peoples, gender roles; belief systems.

In library the wide scope of sport books which well outnumbered the other topic areas such as fitness/ healthy eating etc. I noted one book on girls in hockey.

Our school promotes and participates at school in a Terry Fox run and raises money to support his cause for a cure of cancer. This school wide event promotes fitness, awareness of disabilities and empathy, all part of the curriculum.

 I appreciated the collaboration with the PT librarian and her willingness to share. 

In the staff room it was easy to access the labelled practical and  professional teacher resources on mental and physical heath, curriculum guides and physical education games/lesson plans. Staff room collection was well organized and mostly current(see below) containing both curriculum support binders and practical paperbacks on physical education games/lesson plans for K-3; 4-6; 7-9.
I noticed how under competencies they recently updated with Coding books; Me to We book; and Gender Diversity book(meeting the gr 7/8 curriculum)


The  health/relationship magazine choice  of Bazoof  for younger students and Zamoof for older students met the Selkirk policy criteria and curriculum big ideas while appealing and relevant to students 

Physical Education Equipment Evaluation
- physical inventory passed easily the criteria with one recommendation below. Proper and sufficient good working equipment is key to achieving the physical literacy goals( the Doing part of the curriculum especially!) 


Weaknesses:

1. lack of diverse media resources such as DVD  videos,greater selection of magazines; e magazines and e-book subscription; more visuals; only 3 posters from media search report on this subject

2.lack of a  school database which would include bibliographic records on this topic such as BC ERAC

3.lack of a Virtual Learning Commons; VLC webpage with  health/fitness/relationships links appropriate to curriculum content  and highlighting  of new resources; fiction and non fiction

4. teacher resource binder for physical education/health curriculum has not been updated to 2016 from 2006.

5. not a separate youth section for non fiction for easier usage and accessibility . Fiction novels have a yellow bind strip above the call number but not grouped for content that deals with adolescent issues

6. Average age of collection is getting older at 1996/7 with sub collection about 1990.

7. Noticeable abundance of sport books though scope lacking in fitness principles and individual pursuits such as running(1 book) as well as adolescent changes/sex education with only 1 book.

8. lack of  student resources(there are teacher resources) on social considerations  such as gender diversity;discrimination  and Aboriginal content in the library to deal with stereotyping, discrimination etc.

9. weeding of some very outdated books not appealing to students replace with more appealing covers/ relevant content/ illustrations

10. only 8.7% circulation use of non fiction books

Recommendations:

consider;

1. school DATABASE ; consider BC ERAC (was used in past)

2. e- book; e- magazine subscriptions consider International Childrens Digital Library; free e library.

3. labelled; could use tag; HEALTHY LIFE youth  novel section for grades 5 to 8 with novels that have content related to adolescent life/relationship/health issues; (can consult ERAC list for  evaluated special considerations; aboriginal LGBT; disabilities etc)A clearly marked section would be helpful for individual suggestions to a student dealing with a touchy issue or simply wanting a book they can relate to in their life. It also allows the student privacy to chose a book on their own dealing with a sensitive topic. Teacher Librarian can make the connection with classroom teachers in recommending  novel set collections for  a whole class reading that deals with topics in curriculum . For example the, "Wonder" book which I was part of in  a grade 5/6 class dealing with a boy with a facial deformity so meets the health curriculum respecting differences or " Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes"; a novel about a  Japanese girl who dies without any hatred from leukemia caused by the atomic bomb attack on her community showing compassion and forgiveness. Dealing with tricky subjects through stories can often make a better impact then formal lessons.

4.Request/Wish jar  in library with small slips of paper/ pencil  for teachers and students. Younger students can have the TL or teacher scribe for them. 

5. VLC; Virtual learning Commons start with one web page ;this is an example of a  school library ; Virtual-Library-Learning-Commons 
 Useful link is: healthyschoolsbc.ca which has programs and teacher supports from diversity/ positive mental health/Aboriginal perspective toolkits etc; for healthy relationships;eating;practices and active living. Use the evaluated/evidence based search tab to refine results. This is helpful for students accessing reliable health sources to answer their private inquiries.(more links from assignment #1)

6. Subscription to Journal of Physical Education and Health(PHE CAN) for the  professional collection($175/year) or access free e- subscription

8. Update BC curriculum binder for physical education/health to the 2016 version

9. Creating  a  physical education/ health collection of visuals  and DVD's to enhance learning and reach more students learning strengths with diverse resources. One reviewed American site is: Physed review of dvds.; most acquired through Amazon; open access site established 2017.

10. Highlight a non fiction book from sub collection though placement to encourage more Non Fiction circulation. In a Library web page could be reviewed by students or Teacher Librarian.

11. Increase scope by acquiring resources on fitness principles (FITT; SAID) and effects on body


 CONCLUSION SUMMARY:

In summary this sub collection is getting outdated with the average age being 1990; so increasing the currency/relevancy would be helpful. it would benefit by weeding some books that are unappealing physically due to their covers, tiny print(hard to read )and visuals that are not current and in many cases could be more inclusive. As well there are a few older books with small pencil drawings which are outdated. The content is somewhat lacking in scope with the majority being on team sports; majority is soccer while lacking scope on fitness principles; training and individual sports as well as more resources are needed in the area of adolescent health and sex education. Technically there is no media resources in the library but as indicated by the OPAC there were 88 videos in the school and 9 cassette tapes and 29 maps in the school.  The budget report also pointed out the large majority of budget goes to books.The library space though limited could highlight select media resources that change according to major themes this would help students independent use and accessibility  to learning through differing formats beside books.
The instructional design is benefited by the placement of current/relevant books inside their classrooms creating easy access but there is no cataloging data to compare it with. This practice is in alignment with Montessori philosophy as the class is a community and the resources are age group appropriate.
I found a few questionable books within the social considerations of gender depiction in the sporting books and violence/safety with one book praising being an Enforcer in hockey(especially with brain injuries so prevalent) More aboriginal content books dealing with their health/ relationships would create a more inclusive collection.
Finally;this sub collection can be improved with a  sharing of a curriculum map outlining the major big ideas to align resources better between classroom and library increasing collaboration.

 Reflections:

Most of the quantitative data was based on whole collection with some non fiction data so my results are not concise because unfortunately  when subdivided according to the dewy decimal categories of my  sub collection the OPAC came  up with zero's so this resulted in a very generalized conclusions based on in- complete subject and media searches.Use of qualitative data  proved helpful particularly in the physical mapping and observations from the librarian when considering weeding needs within the library.The school  specific learning resource policy I feel would be useful in putting a framework around acquisitions and criteria if challenged on a purchase/ or choosing against a resource. 
I found these steps helpful when considering the evaluation process:

What are the steps in evaluation? ( from:Eduscapes program evaluation)
Follow the steps below in conducting evaluation.

  1. Identify what information needs to be collected.What resources need to be weeded and what is needed? 
  2. Determine how the information will be collected.
    What effort is needed to collect he information?
    What instrument(s) will be used?
    What will not be measured by the instruments?
  3. Determine how the information will be organized and analyzed
  4. Determine how information will be use and shared
Overall this assignment gave me awareness of tools used for descriptive and quantitative data search when investigating a sub collection with the purpose of evaluating with purpose in order to justify weeding and recommendations/acquisitions needed to create the best collection possible for students learning.

CITATIONS:

 

Bcerac.Ca, 2018, https://www.bcerac.ca/resources/whitepapers/docs/erac_wb.pdf. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

 "ERAC K-12 Evaluated Resource Collection - ERAC". ERAC K-12 Evaluated Resource Collection, 2018, https://k12.bcerac.ca/?Keywords=health&Grade4=true&Grade5=true&Grade6=true&Grade7=true. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

Mardis, Marcia. The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts and Practices, 6th Edition. 6, Libraries Unlimited, 2016. ABC-CLIO,publisher.abc-clio.com/9781610698245.

"Library Guides: Evaluating Resources: Home". Guides.Lib.Berkeley.Edu, 2018, http://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/evaluating-resources#authority. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

Selkirkmontessori.Ca, 2018, http://selkirkmontessori.ca/images/uploads/22/learning_resources_policy_approved.pdf. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

"ICDL - International Children's Digital Library". En.Childrenslibrary.Org, 2018, http://en.childrenslibrary.org/. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

"Virtual Library Learning Commons | Wgsslibrary". Wgsslibrary, 2018, https://www.wgsslibrary.ca/single-post/2017/11/29/Virtual-Library-Learning-Commons. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

"Programs & Supports". Healthyschoolsbc.Ca, 2018, https://healthyschoolsbc.ca/category/11/positive-mental-health. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

"Welcome To The Physical And Health Education Journal | PHE Journal". Journal.Phecanada.Ca, 2018, http://journal.phecanada.ca/. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

"The School Library Media Specialist: Library Media Program: Introduction". Eduscapes.Com, 2018, https://eduscapes.com/sms/program/evaluation.html. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

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