Selection Policy Assignment

UGA : COE : EPIT : SLM : MAF : 6340 : Assignments : Selection Policy

Selection Policy
Preferred mode: Teams of 2-3
Value: 25 points
Updated 2-20-09 (no substantial changes since 1-30-09)

Purpose
School Library Media Specialists must locate, evaluate, and acquire new materials guided by a thoughtful Selection Policy. There are many good reasons for having one, including providing a process for handling challenges, and facilitating the selection of resources according to a logical plan.

Generating a Selection Policy requires (at minimum) these skills:

information literacy: successful strategies for locating and evaluating quality materials;
knowledge of accepted library policies, procedures and practices for selecting, organizing, and using information;
ability to develop and evaluate policies and procedures that support the mission of the school and address specific needs of the library media program, including collection development and maintenance, challenged materials and acceptable use policies
ability to plan and perform acquisition procedures;
knowledge of a variety of formats to meet the needs of all users;
awareness and ability to use both traditional and electronic access media;
awareness and ability to apply the legal and ethical practices of materials selection;
understanding of the importance of Reconsideration as a method of improving the products and services of the library, given the constant shift toward increasingly complex, technologically-rich environments. As a media specialist, you must be prepared and able to handle challenges appropriately.

In this exercise, you will work as a group to construct the necessary components of a selection policy, ponder the difficult philosophical issues involved (including multicultural sensitivity and intellectual freedom), and produce a prototype that can be applied on the job.

Task
Create a group of approximately three people. Collaboratively, construct a Selection Policy that contains the following components:

Clear statement of the school's mission (or slogan or Annual Yearly Progress goals)
Media center philosophy and mission (from the PDEP)
Selection Process: step by step, how is selection carried out in your program?
Selection Principles: these are general statements that govern how materials are selected. They should change little over the years.
Annual Selection Targets: this year's foci for selection; rationales relating them to program goal(s) from PDEP and the School Mission. The rationales should show how, at least in part, specific MC program needs will be met by proposed purchases.
Responsibility - Who will perform the different roles required by selection?
Selection criteria: these should indicate a desired positive quality. Describe how they are applied. Explain any that are unusual.
Copyright Policy (or Information Ethics section): describes services you offer in support of intellectual property rights and ethical information use. Include the document or procedure used to disseminate copyright information annually. Reference an authority that you can readily use as an information source. Address the ethical information behavior expected of your students. Do not duplicate copyright law here, but it is appropriate to provide references to it.
Gift policy
Weeding policy (or "Collection Evaluation Policy"): When and why will existing materials be discarded? How will this be done? Specific physical disposition procedure should be spelled out.
Position on intellectual freedom, including your media center's position on Internet filtering
Reconsideration Procedure for handling challenges. This should include a form for challengers to fill out.
References - use inline citations and a Reference list in APA format. Inline citations should make it very clear what resources you have used as ideas or quoted closely - make sure the citations appear in the text of your project itself. Your reference list should follow APA as close as possible, although I don't expect you to fret too much over "odd" resources that don't fit any of the APA categories.
Reflections - each team member should submit a private reflection that addresses group process, personal contributions to the project, and personal growth. Submit in a separate file in the dropbox.
Cover Sheet: construct this last, but place it first in your project document.

This list of components follows Bishop's (2007) process very closely, although not exactly. Feel free to scrutinize her suggestions and apply them as you see fit.

Values
The following ideas, values, or themes should be reflected somewhere in your Policy:

Diverse formats for diverse learners (see Learner Characteristics)
Information quality
Support of curriculum
Support of personal interests, leisure reading
Intellectual freedom
Efficiency for broadest, most common-sense access to resources (time, money, things), but not at the expense of meeting diverse needs
Technology as access enabler

Format

Ideally, your policy will be displayed through your Media Center website, and so post a copy on each group member's assignment page. (This project will be needed for your M.Ed. or Certification portfolio.)
No prints are expected.
Submit to the WebCT dropbox:

A single project file (containing cover sheet, policy, and rubric) in one group member's dropbox, named after this pattern: maryann-sally-joe-sp.doc
One separate reflection per group member in individual dropboxes, named in this pattern: maryann-sp-reflection.doc.

Refer to MAF's Filenaming Rules for more formatting information.

Guidelines and Hints

The Copyright section of this Policy should not attempt to duplicate legal explanations and lengthy details. Instead, condense the policy into a small document that references authoritative copyright information and requires school staff to follow the law. Alternatively, provide a pamphlet or other concise format borrowed (and cited) from elsewhere. Emphasize helping staff do this, rather than enforcing rules. Students must also follow the law, and must be guided in their learning to do so.
Sample citation for another school's selection policy: see Bishop, p. 57: Falk Lab School.
I highly recommend that you study several examples. It is acceptable to adopt and/or adapt existing policies, but you must cite all sources and modify them to reflect the groups' beliefs and plans. Inline citations are important!
You are encouraged to tailor your policy to an existing media center. In reality, your selection policy will be constructed and approved by the Media Committee. Although you may not have the opportunity to consult a Media Committee for this assignment, don’t forget that this is a crucial step. Write the policy with your audience in mind, which will be school staff, community members, and especially parents. The negotiation necessary during group projects is good practice.
The ideal versus the real: make your selection policy as real as possible, but you should strive toward the ideals of Information Power as much as you can. Committees often disagree - find a compromise. Every school and community is different, and tolerance varies. If you find that your philosophical positions are at variance with the ALA Library Bill of Rights or other ALA policies (see IP, pp. 152-154), state your rationale.

Evaluation Rubric
Rubric language closely follows AASL Program Standards (2003).
Names__________________________________________________

Criterion and Value	Unacceptable	Acceptable (1 bracket pair = 1 point)
Contains all necessary components, and they are acceptable: []Cover sheet []Mission of school (or school goals) []Philosophy/mission (of SLMP) []Overview of Selection Process []Selection Principles []Annual Selection Targets []Responsibility []Selection Criteria []Copyright policy []Gift policy []Weeding policy []Intellectual freedom Policy []Reconsideration procedure and Form []References (Self-assessment and Reflections are accounted below) Deduct proportionately for each missing or incomplete component. 6 points	Something missing: []Something incomplete: []Something does not match its definition Deduct proportional points for missing items - some "weigh" more than others.	[]Contains all necessary components []Components are complete, meaning that every statement listed in the Assignment Description is honored. []Components reflect what they are defined to reflect (e.g., targets are truly annual selection targets) []Weeding policy explains why and how []Internet filtering position included []Reconsideration form included
1.3 Access to Information (2 parts) Supports intellectual freedom of users 5 points	[]Reconsideration procedures are not firm or clear []one or more significant problems with intellectual freedom []Little or no evidence of knowledge of issues related to access to information []No knowledge of the legal and ethical practices of the profession	Complies with and communicates the legal and ethical codes of the profession: []Includes statement of intent to fully comply with information ethics []Provides annual copyright information dissemination procedure, and cites copyright authority []Demonstrates proper referencing (especially inline citations) as model for teaching students []Intellectual Freedom Position clearly stated and reasoned; supports intellectual freedom of users []Proactive steps are taken to prevent censorship and self-censorship
2.1 Knowledge of Learners and Learning: Supports diversity 1 point	No attention paid	[]Proactively assesses and addresses the needs of diverse learners (broadly defined). Formats vary for different styles.
4.1 Managing Information Resources: Selecting, Organizing, Using 4 points	[]Little knowledge of accepted library policies, procedures and practices for selecting, organizing, and using information	[]Selects, analyzes, and evaluates print, nonprint, and electronic resources using professional selection tools []Selects, analyzes, and evaluates print, nonprint, and electronic resources using evaluation criteria: Selection Policy articulates how to apply criteria []Selects to develop a quality collection designed to meet diverse curricular needs personal needs []Plans for efficient use of resources and technology to meet diverse user needs
4.2 Managing Program Resources 3 points	[]Little knowledge of effective management policies, procedures and principles []Misuse of human resources: no democratic involvement or assignment of professional selection tasks to unqualifed personnel	[]Develops policies and procedures that: support the mission of the school address specific needs of the LMP []Applies accepted management principles and practices that relate to personnel: Selection responsibility planned for qualified personnel []Plans for Media Committee participation
4.3 Comprehensive and Collaborative Strategic Planning and Assessment: Supports mission of the school 1 point	[]Mission of school not referenced []Connections not well articulated for a community audience	[]Connections between selection targets, school mission, and student learning clearly shown (aligns resources ... with the school's goals and objectives)
Mechanics: presentation, grammar, spelling, quality of writing; formatting; organization 2 points	[]Errors frequently interrupt evaluator's ability to absorb content []Elements to be viewed by the community have embarrassing or unprofessional errors []Disorganized; hard to find required elements []Referencing problems or omissions	[]Minimal errors: -No more than a few minor errors -Items meant for viewing by learners, co-workers, and learning community are nearly perfect [1/2]Organized; headings included and/or labels applied to required elements [1/2]Clear; reasonably concise
Self-assessment and reflection 3 points (can vary by team member)	[]Rubric is missing []No self-assessment []Missing individual reflections (counts against the individual, not the group)	[]Rubric has self-assessment (one per group) Individual reflections address: []group process and personal contributions []quality of learning experience

References

American Association of School Librarians (2003). Program standards: School library media specialist preparation. Available: http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aasleducation/schoollibrarymed/ala-aasl_slms2003.pdf.
American Association of School Librarians and Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998). Information power: Building partnerships for learning. Chicago: American Library Association.
Bishop, K. (2007). The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and information scources (4th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
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Update log: 2/20/09: added a ref. For 2009: removed Acceptable Use Policy requirement; removed Cover Letter requirement; added Cover Sheet requirement; removed tags; removed several redundancies; removed budget as part of this assignment (although students may elect to address it).

1/3/08: major revision: removed Target column; collapsed some elements and divided others; tried to eliminate redundancies; changed language from Goals/Objectives to Principles/Targets; changed Tags to coincide

2-22: added rationales to rubric; 2-14-07: clarification added. 2-13-07: tag list attached; confusing highlights removed; 1-30-07: highlights of keywords in rubric. 11-3-06: table width fix for printing. 8/06: major revision. 9/14/06: typos.

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