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TE 893
Andy Brenn
Deshler Public School
Introduction
Our high school media center is run by Deanna Maschmann who is only
a part-time media specialist because she teaches social studies part-time
also. Due to Deanna being busy both teaching and running the media center,
she always finds time for new topics to be added to the collection but doesnt
always have much time to weed out the old books that are out dated or
arent used ever. I was discussing with Deanna which area she said probably
needed weeded the most and she mentioned the science non-fiction books.
She has some books that supply students with good information, but she also
has some books that are out of date when it comes to accurate information
and some that just dont get used. I decided that I needed to look up some
more information on proper weeding before I started to eliminate any books.
I also decided that I needed to do a survey with our two high school science
teachers, and also some of our sophomore students who are taking science
classes this year to see what they would like to have added to the library
collection. All of our high school students have school issued laptops for
them to use, so I am also going to check and see how much the teachers and
students really use the library for project information.
Literature Review
When I was searching for new science non-fiction books to add to the
library collection in the Library Sparks magazine, I came across a section in
the magazine that was full of tips. The tip that caught my eye was the
acronym MUSTIE thats used to decide if a book should be weeded or not. It
stands for M: Misleading or factually inaccurate, U: Ugly, S: Superseded, T:
Trivial, I: Irrelevant to the needs and interests in the community, E: Elsewhere
obtained. I was very happy to have spotted this handy acronym to help me
with weeding.
While I was searching for articles about methods for weeding, I came
across Library Weeding Methods written by Stanley J. Slote. Slote (1997)
stated that weeding will increased the satisfaction of the readers. A lack of
weeding often results in tightly packed shelved and books stored in
inconvenient locations, both of which tend to reduce user satisfaction. He
also mentioned that weeding not only helps out the students when they are
searching for materials, but it also helps out the staff by having to use less
time to but books back onto shelves and taking inventory at the end of the
school year.
U, S
U, E
Uluendo
U, I
U, S
U, S, I
I
M, S, T
I noticed that when I was looking at the removed materials from the science
non-fiction area that there are still books available to the students that are
more up to date and will supply them with more accurate information.
Secondly, I did a quick survey with some sophomore students who are
currently taking science classes this semester and asked them if there were
any materials that were difficult to find or you couldnt find in the library.
Survey Data
Results from Student Surveys Grade 10(11 Surveys Completed)
Research Use of
Reported Topics
Additional Materials
Needed
# of Students Requesting
Materials
Human Anatomy
Skeletal Books
5 students (45%)
Physics
None
Biology
4 students (36%)
Thirdly, I surveyed our two high school science teachers, Mr. LeFave,
and Mr. Vieselmeyer who teach Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy and
Physiology to parts of the sophomore class. The survey I had for them
allowed for them to suggest new materials for the library collection so it
would help out with supplying information for their class projects.
Results from Teacher Surveys
Research Use of
Reported Topics
Additional Materials
Needed
Alternative Energy
Global Warming
Climate Changes
Stem Cells
Interpretation of Data
After looking at what the two science teachers recommended for our
library collection, I dont think that our selection is all that bad. They stated
that some of the students who requested materials for the library dont look
very hard to find the topics they need. The teachers said the information for
those projects is available in the library you just have to look. After receiving
the surveys from the two teaches, its evident that we need information on
global warming, and multiple areas that involve biology.
After completing the weeding of the science non-fiction section and the
data I received about materials missing in the school library I created a list of
resources we need to order. I really focused on the biology area because
there such a variety of topics you can cover in biology. I looked up resources
on Titlewave, and JLG (Junior Library Guild) Backlist for suggestions.
After completing this project and informing Deanna on what topics our
science teachers would like to see more of in the collection, she said that we
wont be able to order everything at once but shell try and get the
collections more up to par with their subjects. She also noticed that when we
were weeding, she has good topics in the collection its just that some of the
resources arent used because they are so dated. So she said she will make
sure she sets aside a time at least once each school year to see if anything
needs removed. She really enjoyed getting information from the science
teachers on what they would like to have in the library, so she is planning on
sending surveys to all the high school teachers to see what they would like to
eventually have added.
Teacher Survey
Name:___________________________
Resources for Library
March, 2015
1. What projects did your students need to research information on this year?
2. Did you have your class visit the library for these projects? If not, why?
3. Do you prefer to allow your students to use their laptops or the school library?
4. What resources do you allow your students to use for information on projects?
5. If there are resources missing in the library that are needed for your curriculum,
what are they?
6. What internet sites do you recommend for your students to use in your class?
8. What ideas can you give me for making the library more usable for your classes?
Student Survey
Name:____________________
Resources for Library
March, 2015
1. What projects have you completed this school year?
2. Did you happen to use the school library for your projects? If so, which projects
were you in the library searching for information?
3. Does there happen to be any resources that you cant seem to find in the school
library?
4. What do you prefer to use for researching materials? School library or your
laptop? Why?
7. Does your teacher give you certain sites to use if you arent going to use the
information supplied in the library?
Title
Advances in Earth Science: From
Earthquakes to Global Warming
American Heat: Ethical Problems
with the United States' response
to global warming
Artic Thaw: Climate Change and
the Global Race for Energy
Resources
Author
P.R.
Sammonds,
J.M.T.
Thompson
Copyright
Publisher
2007
Imperial
College Press
Donald A.
Brown
2002
Rowman &
Littlefield
Publishers
McPherson
2014
21st Century
Cooke
2013
Rowell
2013
Clara House
Lerner
Publishing
Group
Abramovitz
2014
Essential
Library
Wittenstein
2013
Lerner
Publishing
Group
James D.
Watson
2001
Touchstone
References
Baumbach, D., & Miller, L. (2009). Less is More: A Practical Guide to Weeding School Library
Collections (pp. 3-10). Amer Library Assn Editions
Slote, S. (1997). Weeding Library Collections: Library Weeding Methods (p. 4). Libraries Unlimited.
Tips from the Trenches. (2014, September 1). Library Sparks, 6-6.