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

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.
 
The following 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.

Task & List of Elements for the Selection Policy
Assemble a team of two or three people. Identify an authentic school setting to base your work upon.   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?
  
• Position on intellectual freedom, including your media center's position on Internet filtering
• Information Ethics (or Copyright) 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.
  
• Selection Principles: these are general statements that govern how materials are selected. They should change little over the years.
• Selection Criteria: these should indicate a desired positive quality. Describe how they are applied.  Explain any that are unusual.
• Responsibility - Who will perform the different roles required by selection?
• 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.
• Reconsideration Procedure for handling challenges.  This should include a form for challengers to fill out.
• Embedded 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

• Annual Selection Targets: this year's foci for selection. Each should include a rationale relating the target to program goal(s) from PDEP,  the School Mission/Goals, and student achievement.  The rationales should show how, at least in part, specific MC program needs will be met by proposed purchases.

• 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.
• Self-assessment: Finally, assess the project as a team by filling in the rubric and pasting it at the end of your document.
  
• Reflection - each team member should submit a private reflection that addresses group process, personal contributions to the project, and personal growth. Submit via the Reflection form.
• Submission Form: construct this last, but place it first in your project document. (Here is a Worksheet you can use to formulate your responses before entering them online.)

• There are 3 parts to your SP submission: a Google document containing the main body of your project; a Submission Form that acts as an overview and summary; and, an individual Reflection Submission Form.
  
• Google document: Create a G-doc early on in the process. Name it carefully, including your team name and "Selection Policy" in the title. Share it with each other, and when you're ready, share it with me at maryannfitz@gmail, and please give me collaborator rights.  Eventually, this enables me to view your document and insert comments.
  
• When finished, compose the elements of the Submission Form.  Refer to the Worksheet for easy access to the questions.  When ready, fill in and submit the form - one entry per team.
  
• As an individual, submit your Reflection.
  
• On the job, your policy will be displayed through your Media Center website (in most cases). For now, post a link on each group member's assignment page. (This project is required for your M.Ed. or Certification portfolio.) The simplest way to do this is to "publish" the Google doc once it's ready for public viewing.
  
• If something goes wrong with the submission form, email me.
  

• Freely incorporate elements created earlier (for example, in the PDEP).  Make improvements as needed.
• The Information Ethics/Copyright section of this Policy should not attempt to duplicate legal explanations and lengthy details.  Instead, condense the policy into a small section that references authoritative copyright information and requires school staff to follow the law. 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.
• Policy documents are very difficult to cite.  Do your best. Here's a sample citation for another school's selection policy: 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!
• I encourage you 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 likely will 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 and Empowering Learners 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.