Stacey Dunlap Reference Collection Evaluation/Development Plan FRIT 7737 2/19/13

Site and Learner Description

The Simpson Elementary School media center is part of the Gwinnett County Public School System in northeast Atlanta. As of September, 2012, our media center held 22,472 titles, about 24 items per student, with an average copyright date of 1997. Our school has 927 students with 72 full time certified teachers on staff, creating a student/teacher ratio of 13:1. Our demographic makeup includes 77% White, 8% Asian, 7% Hispanic, 4% Black, and 4% other. Close to 40% of our students qualify for the gifted and/or advanced placement programs. We are a non-Title I school with only 57 students, or 6% of our population, eligible for free and reduced lunch. Our average attendance is 97%, and students come to us with a vast array of background knowledge and experience. Our administration, staff, parents, and the community maintain a very high level of expectation for student performance, and our school delivers. We have been honored with many awards over the last few years including the 2010 Georgia School of Excellence. We have also earned the Platinum Award for seven consecutive years since 2005. Our greatest achievement thus far was being awarded the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence just last month.

Our county provides a wealth of resources to assist students, teachers, and the media specialist. We house 3 computer labs, each with 30 computers. The media center also has 37 computers for

student use. There are assistive devices and capabilities on many of the computers to serve the needs of our special education population. Gwinnett County also subscribes to a wealth of databases that serve as research and teaching tools for students and teachers. On a local level, our PTA and parent donations have resulted in classroom technology that has been very valuable, including Mimios in each classroom, Smart Boards in each lab and in the media center, Mimio views, Redcats, etc. Our school employs a part-time IT professional and a full-time Local School Technology Coordinator (LSTC). The media specialist and the LSTC collaborate with one another to provide technology assistance to teachers and students.

Curriculum Review
As a part of the Georgia Performance Standards and the Gwinnett County Academic Knowledge and Skills Standards, the following standards are addressed in grades K through 5: Kindergarten W.K.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them). W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

First Grade W.1.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of how-to books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions). W.1.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Second Grade W.2.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

 W.2.8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Third Grade W.3.7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic. W.3.8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

Fourth Grade W.4.7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. W.4.8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. W.4.9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Fifth Grade W.5.7. Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. W.5.8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources. W.5.9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Building our reference collection and resources will help every grade level in our school as the Common Core includes an emphasis on research to build and present knowledge. In addition, these standards will be assessed by standardized tests and common assessments.

Collection evaluation
Age/Collection Mapping Analysis
I used TitleWise to run a collection analysis on our reference holdings. The analysis revealed the following results: Average Age
Reference 2000

# of Holdings
756

Percentage of Collection
3.54%

Types of Reference Resources:

Almanacs 212, ranging from 1993-2012, most from the late 1990s Atlases 26 ranging from 1990-2011, most from the early 1990s Encyclopedias 2,157 individual encyclopedias, most from the mid to late 1990s. Many of the encyclopedias are subject-specific. Dictionary/Thesaurus 205, most from the mid 1980s Online Research Library 17 databases, one in Spanish Websites (WebPath Express) linked to Destiny, access to educator-reviewed sites that have been verified for factual accuracy, currency, authority, educational value, coverage and objectivity. Content is differentiated by grade level, encouraging information literacy by supporting each students self-directed research

Results of Analysis: Strengths: According to Follets Balanced Dewy recommendations, our reference section should make up at least 5% of our total holdings. We are very close to this suggestion with reference materials constituting 3.54% of our total collection. Our Online Research Library provides a wealth of reference resources. A huge advantage of these databases and the websites included in WebPath Express is the fact that they are regularly evaluated and updated for accuracy, currency, authority, educational value, coverage and objectivity.

Weaknesses: At first glance, an average publication date of 2000 might seem reasonable, however, according to experts, reference resources should be weeded every 3-10 years. Follets analysis reveals 251 aged titles based on a 15 year age limit. Although we do have a recent set of print encyclopedias, our overall reference collection is aged.

Opinion Survey
In order to find out what the teachers feel are the areas of strength and weakness in terms of reference resources and materials, I conducted a brief, open-ended email survey with the following questions: a. Do your students have available reference resources to complete their projects and assignments during the year? b. Is there a variety of formats of resources for you and your students to use when conducting research? c. Is there sufficient access to electronic reference information and databases to meet your needs and the needs of your students?

d. Are there any specific reference titles you wish our media center had to support your teaching and student learning? e. Are reference resources in good condition and appealing to you and your students? f. Do reference resources represent a multicultural viewpoint?

The following table shows my survey results:

Question
Resources to match activities available?

Results
Yes - 83% No - 5% I'm not sure - 12% Yes - 46% No - 7%; I'm not sure - 47% Yes - 12% No - 25%; I'm not sure - 63% Yes - 5%; No - 95%

Notable Comments:
Sometimes I bring my whole class for research and there are not enough current encyclopedias for each students needs. I usually just use the print materials, but I have heard there are some good electronic resources, as well.

Variety of formats? Access to electronic information? Specific titles desired?

(See above comment) Those titles requested are contained in the consideration file. Some of our reference materials look ragged and old. Students dont like to use these. I am not sure how reference resources can be multicultural. I did see a Spanish dictionary once.

Yes - 37%; No - 32%; Condition of resources? I'm not sure - 31% Yes - 0%; Multicultural No - 0%; viewpoint? I'm not sure - 100%

Results of Analysis: Strengths: The teacher survey results did not reveal any apparent strengths in the reference collection, however, the issue could be a lack of awareness rather than a lack of resources.

Weaknesses: The teacher opinion survey exposed some issues, not only with our reference collection, but about access to our resources. The majority of teachers did not seem to know much about the reference collection outside of the print books. The survey revealed that teacher training needs to take place so that teachers and students can and will access the variety of databases and electronic resources we already have in this area. The survey also revealed that our collection looks outdated and unappealing. Students are less likely to use the materials that look old and ragged.

Conclusions:
Although we have a good number of reference materials, many of these resources are unappealing and outdated. We need to weed the reference collection, and wisely analyze what materials we want to replace with print materials versus other formats. From informal discussions, I know that teachers still feel that student experience with physical encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, and atlases is important to their understanding of the function and value of these reference materials. We are not ready to do away with a physical collection and move strictly to electronic reference materials. On the other hand, our county has provided access to some superb databases that serve as reference resources. The databases are regularly updated and contain current information. Maintaining a balanced reference collection will be crucial in meeting the research needs of our students and teachers.

Sources:
Baumbach, D. J., & Miller, L. L. (2006). Less is more, a practical guide to weeding school library collections. Chicago: American Library Association.

Harris, C. (2012). The end of nonfiction:common core standards force us to rethink categorization. Retrieved from http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/03/ebooks/the-endof-nonfiction-common-core-standards-force-us-to-rethink-categorization/

Hellyer, Paul. 2009. "Reference 2.0: The future of shrinking print reference collections seems destined for the Web." AALL Spectrum 13, no. 5: 24-27. Singer, Carol A. 2008. "Weeding Gone Wild: Planning and Implementing a Review of the Reference Collection." Reference & User Services Quarterly 47, no. 3: 256-264.