assign3

LIBE 463 Assignment #3 – Collection Evaluation & Report
 * Raw quantitative data (reports from automated system) - Table 1 & 2

June 2012 – Evaluation of current biology resources Doing a system search in Athena using the subject terms biology and biological, data was collected regarding the circulation statistics, number of items and their date of publication.

When I ran the circulation statistics for biology resources (call number 574 – 578), there were NO resources signed out during this school year.

Table 1: Inventory of biology resources and dates of publications, using Call numbers in the range of 572.0 – 578.0. Resources || Magazines || DVD ||  Videotape   ||   ||
 * Date || Books || Ref. Series || Ref. Books || Prof.
 * Pre-1960 || 6 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 1960’s || 13 ||  || 2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 1970’s || 22 ||  || 2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 1980-1985 || 16 ||  ||   || 2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 1986- 1989 || 14 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 1990-1995 || 15 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 1996-1999 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 2000-2005 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1 || 2 ||   ||
 * 2005-2012 ||  || 28 ||   || 1 || *2 || 1 ||   ||   ||
 * Section Total || 87 || 28 || 4 || 3 || 2 || 2 || 2 ||  ||
 * TOTAL || - || -- || -- || --- || - || --- || - || 126 ||

*I included Discover and Scientific American in the biology collection even though these are not exclusively biology resources my rationale being that they could be used by biology teachers and students as certain curriculum topics would be addressed in these periodicals.

Table 2: *Number of print items corresponding to related call numbers for biology related topics addressed in the curriculum. *The categorization of resources reflects the current status; however, these results are reflective of the cataloguing skills and perspective of the cataloguer at the time of cataloguing.
 * Call number category || Description of topics addressed in our collection in this call number category. || Number ||
 * 574 || General Biology || 53 ||
 * 575 || Evolution & Genetics || 11 ||
 * 576 || Viruses || 1 ||
 * 578 || Microscopes || 1 ||
 * 581 || Plants - Botany || 6 ||
 * 582 || Plant Wildlife || 12 ||
 * 590 || Animals || 1 ||
 * 591 || Animals || 5 ||
 * 592 || Lower animals || 3 ||
 * 594 || Mollusks || 1 ||
 * 595 || Insects || 11 ||
 * 597 || Fish || 7 ||
 * 598 || Birds & Reptiles || 21 ||
 * 599 || Mammals || 12 ||
 * 608 || Invention & Patents || 3 ||
 * 610 || Medicine || 5 ||
 * 611 & 612 || Human body || 19 ||
 * 613 || Diseases, Nutrition, Smoking, Sex || 23 ||
 * 614 || Environmental concerns and health || 8 ||
 * 615 || Drugs || 5 ||
 * 616 || First Aid, Chronic Pain, Eating Disorders, Alcohol, AIDS, Mental Illness || 52 ||
 * 617 || Transplants || 1 ||
 * 618 || Pregnancy, Infant & Baby care || 13 ||
 * TOTAL ||  || 274 ||

Having been a high school science teacher early in my teaching career I know from experience that science teachers tend to be a fairly autonomous group, a group in which the teacher feels they alone are responsible for acquiring all the necessary resources for the students and to prepare for their classes. After speaking with two of our biology teachers and asking if they used any resources from our library they each responded by saying that they usually find the resources (usually digital) that they want to use and because of time constraints (getting through the course objectives and preparing for exams) they do not get to do the enrichment activities that they associate with the library atmosphere. They also added that any resources they want they often will put a query out to their email science conference group and set what is recommended. This professional sharing is effective, but is limited by the expertise and knowledge of varied resources of the particular teacher. A challenge I see that I have is to provide resources that teachers and students that they will find useful, be able to harness the wealth of knowledge that is coming in from various science teachers (perhaps I will develop a subject specific digital library) so that my teachers can easily retrieve, add to, and access new resources from. To my delight, another teacher who is teaching AP Psychology said they enjoyed using the new reference book series “Perspectives and Diseases” and thought the activity we planned together helped students not only fulfill the requirements of a research paper, but helped them critically analyze and find better sources for their research. A past collaboration on a nutrition lab was also positively discussed by another teacher. Both of these experiences preceded a discussion of how something similar could be used for biology and we left on a positive note for next year and our collaboration using the biology curriculum objectives. This interaction illustrates the direct relationship between relationship building and the openness to increased collaboration. From the system statistics as well as my own experience and current observation, high school science teachers are one of the least likely groups to engage in collaboration with the TL or using the library itself. My challenge – is how to change this!
 * Presentation of qualitative data (notes from observations, focus group reports, etc.) Going to the shelves I scanned the biology section and found that while the books were dated they were in extremely good condition, I am summarizing that is because they are not used. Following the immediate biology section and moving into related topics (call numbers 581 – 618) the materials were primarily found to have publication dates between 1995 – 2005. It was these specific subject books (particularly those with call numbers 613, 616,618) that seemed to have the most in-house use – they were often found on the tables on laid on the stacks after use, however, this did not translate to signing a book out.

Given the time of year when completing this assignment – a survey was difficult to conduct, as students were preparing for exams and formal classes had finished. However I did speak with 3 groups of students (11 students) about their use of the library when specific references to their science courses. Students said that they found it hard to get information on different types of science fair projects, and that they used the internet to get extra information on course material if they needed it, (but most said they really didn’t need to get more) and for information to complete assignments or papers. They did not think to come into the library for print material or DVDs. They said they primarily used the library for study, computer use and photocopying.

Presentation of collection mapping data that compiles or summarizes the qualitative and quantitative data. Performing this type of evaluation evoked some very surprising results.... no print resources were signed out of the library. The ages of the items were staggeringly old and considered the nature of science resources and their need for currency – this was extremely troublesome for me. The number of items could be considered satisfactory especially if you included the specific topics related to biology, however, the item number itself is superficial in terms of usefulness when considering the staleness of the information and variety of format. From the qualitative information I was able to retrieve from my conversations with students and teachers I feel there is a lot of work to be done in building a current, diverse (in format) and relevant(curriculum wise) biology resource collection. In addition, the promotion of the resources and how the TL and library can support learning in the biology ( and science generally) curriculum needs to be given attention and planning.

Summary report of findings – what you found out, what are your recommendations, what did the data tell you. No Print resources from 1995 onwards. School intergrated with another school in 2000, the closing school resources were integrated into our collection, it does not appear that any new print resources for general biology were added to the collection since this time. Majority of our biology collection is pre 1995, however, the related topics (call numbers 581 – 618) primarily were found to have publication dates between 1995 – 2005, this could explain the focus of spending with respect to building the biology resource collection from a topic centered approach versus general biology.

Recommendations: ü Review of collection should be ongoing and spanning the entire curriculum area. I would suggest a broad subject area a month, this will aid in decisions about new additions and prioritization of funding as well as keep the process of weeding at a reasonable level. Keeping a focus on a particular subject area will also allow you to focus your attention in getting feedback from the teachers in that curriculum area – this would also would be a good time to join the monthly department meeting to ask what resources are they currently lacking, what projects are coming up that they would like resources taken out for, or a mini-digital library developed for. (Having said this I think it would be a good idea to get the broad topics of the major assignments and a general timeline from all the departments at the beginning of the year, so that you have time to organize your efforts to meet the demands in a timely fashion). Having a monthly focus will allow for attention on a more microscopic level.

ü Recommend finding sources which give science fair ideas with varying degrees of difficulty.

ü Another dimension revealed during this evaluation process was the pressing need to add and/or increase access to resources in varying formats. I feel that DVD’s would have a high usage, as students and teachers like the format and tap into different learning styles than print material does. Relevant video in either the form of Youtube, webinares, audiocasts, on-line demonstrations or documentaries should be gathered. Biology concepts can be highly visual; classification of plants & animals, the workings of the human body, genetic principals just to name a few. Up to this time DVDs have been purchased as they have been recommended by teachers, however, referring to the Resources in our Appendix section of our text will give some sites that can be used to get good recommendations for additions to the collection. Also comprising a speakers list perhaps from the biology department at our University would also help support the teachers and students and these discussions could be arranged for in-class or dinnertime sessions depending on the time constraints of the subject curriculum.

ü Continued use of the Bulletin board display discussing such biology related topics such as skin cancer, infections and precautions related to piercings and tattoos is recommended as well as gaining input from students and teachers about additional topics they would like to see profiled.

ü Developing a rotational feed of interesting and related internet sites, as well as interactive activities on the Smartboard during dinnertime to highlight some of the topics being addressed in the curriculum. Again, this could rotate on a bi-weekly base throughout the curriculum areas and has the ability to be added to continually. Not only will this increase access to information, but will also act as an informal gauge for me to monitor what topics seem to peak student’s interest, much the same as viewing the returned book cart. Teachers could also make recommendations for this material as they often have commented that they would love to do this with the class but they haven’t the time to cover the material and prepare for exams and do some of the fun stuff!

ü Recommend bringing last issue of magazines to science classrooms, and rotating them so that this resource is present for the teacher or student to use when the opportunity arises.

ü Recommend to develop and conduct a formal survey of students and teachers which captures their feelings about using the library and services of the TL and what recommendations they would make with respect to adding resources and addressing any barriers they may feel exists for them to use the library resources more often.

ü Recommend to devise an evaluation plan and weeding criteria as well as a yearly timeline for various sections of the collection and place this in the policy & procedures manual.

Performing an evaluation using collection-centered measures, examination of the collection directly, while discussing informally how library resources are used in biology specifically with teachers and students with such a concerted focus was new to me. The results were quite an eye opener for me. I was absolutely shocked at the publication dates of our biology resources and shaken when I realized no one had taken out any biology resources over the past year. Having taught and worked primarily with English and social studies teachers the collection would seem to be doing well and being responsive. However, looking at the collection from a biology point of view the resources are extremely outdated. Approximately 82% of the biology print resources had publication dates of 1989 and older. While there are some resources that teachers and classes have used such as the //Perspectives on Diseases,// most remain untouched!
 * Reflection ( me... impact upon your decisions about your collection immediately and for your future practice as a collection manager – policy and procedure manual, on-going plan for feedback – holistic approach what would be your plan... reading references. How this process informed me as a TL.

First and foremost I am going to set up a criteria for weeding this material, while I concurrently get feedback from the teachers as to what curriculum topics they would like to have additional resources in and in what formats. Reflecting upon why the science collection is in such an unused and ineffective state revealed some truths about teaching science and the harsh time constraints there are to get through the curriculum and prepare for public exams. I actively need to address the needs of Science teachers and Math teachers and not wait from them to come to me, these teachers are used to getting their own resources and not availing of the library of the services of the TL. Given my background in science, I understand this, but am very able to circumvent this by being able to target valuable resources in a pro-active way for them. In addition, to attending department meetings, and getting a broad topic list and yearly timeline I will also consult with checklists, and catalogues some of which are suggested in our appendix section of the text, conduct formal surveys of students and teachers which should address their satisfaction with the resources available, and how easily they are able to access them.

Another revelation that I discovered through conducting the evaluation for this assignment was, how, as a TL, I can be of assistance in a small group setting helps set the stage for further collaborations with other teachers. Even though I thought this was being addressed in our general staff meetings, it seems that small department meetings when specific curriculum topics are discussed and brainstormed about are the most effective way to get teacher’s input into what resources they would like to have and how they would like to be supported in using them with their students.

In order to really move forward one needs to evaluate what you are doing from your client’s perspective. It is of great value to gather as much data as possible both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective and reflect upon the information that has been gleamed. From there adjustments can be made to your policy & procedures manual, or how you are doing things generally, perhaps, the issue is communication, perhaps it is outdated resources, or time is insufficient to collaborate. Whatever, the results it is easier to move forward with effective recommendations if one knows where the problems lie. Knowing one’s strengths and weakness helps you grow to be more effective in your role. Having data to support your decisions also adds credibility to your requests or recommendations and thereby further establishing yourself as a knowledgeable, active and responsive TL.