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6340 Topics
Selection of Materials
(formerly The Big Picture: Collection Development and Selection Process)
discussed in class 1-10-09

This topic likely overlaps with several others, but is meant to plug a few content holes here and there. It covers, first, some general principles. Then, it covers the vague middle ground between Selection and Acquisition.  In this middle ground belong the sub-skills of Budgeting and Consideration.


Required Readings
  • Bishop 1
  • IP 2
  • Bishop 6

Standards
  • 3.3B:  Recognizes the role of other educational professionals and professional associations
  • 4.1A: Selects, analyzes, and evaluates print, nonprint, and electronic resources using professional selection tools and evaluation criteria to develop a quality collection designed to meet diverse curricular and personal needs
Supplemental Readings and Materials:
  • Wasman Appendix F
  • Riedling 1
  • MAF's commentary on Bishop 6: WebCt 6340 Resources
  • MAF's bookmarks: Consideration
  • Wasman 8


Joe's Story

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful elementary school library with an enthusiastic, smart, and new SLMS, Joe. In October, Dr. Principal called him into her office and gave him a copy of his budget allotment, which amounted to $8,000.  She told him that all money must be spent by March 1, or it would convert to another fund.

Joe was excited to be able to spend this much money on books. Within 30 minutes, however, Mrs. Smith, a first-grade teacher, came to the media center and asked about her laminating.  As Joe worked with it, he wondered, "How much does this plastic film cost, and do I have to replace it out of my precious $8,000 that I want to spend on books?"

As he thought further, he began to wonder, "How do I even know where to begin?  There are so MANY things that we need ... how can I choose?  Eight thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket to buy the ocean that we need."

After about a week of worrying about this, he ran into Sue, a five-year veteran SLMS from Nearby Elementary School.  He told her his story. She replied: "The thing you must do is begin with your program goals.  What do you want to accomplish in your Media Program? Once you know this, you will be able to apportion your money and have a starting point."

And so, Joe dug out the Media Plan he had filed with the county early in August.  There he found these goals and budget allocations:

Diversify the media center collection (20%)

Promote collaborative planning (10%)

Increase independent reading among students, faculty, and staff (30%)

Promote parent and community involvement (10%)

Increase overall usage of the media center (30%) 
(Goals taken from Anderson & Sauers, Cohort 5)

And then he felt overwhelmed. What should he do next? What do you think?





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Discussion Points
  • Overview: Bishop, p. 49
  • Annual procedure.  Step by step, how is selection carried out?
  • Who does what?
  • Role of the media committee
  • Important to include use of professional selection tools.  Use opportunities throughout the course to build your familiarity with several, and a treasure box of tools.
  • ALA's Code of Ethics says: "We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions" (EL, 2009, p. 55).  What does this mean?



Terms

Some terms - generally accepted
  • Collection
  • Collection development
  • Collection program
  • Selection
  • Acquisition
  • Collection management
  • Collection analysis, mapping, evaluation
  • Weeding


More terms: the most confusing ones
Every year, there's confusion about the meanings for the following terms. You will see authors apply them in different ways. You may even inconsistent usage in my course materials (please let me know where). For several years, I've used this vocabulary:
  • Goal: refers to the Program Goals from the PDEP. Beware that your school may also have Goals; we can't change what the school calls Goals.
  • Objective: refers to the measurable, short-term tasks that align under Program Goals.
  • Selection Principles: these are the big ideas that govern collection development over time; they change very little. Use stated as phrases or sentences.
  • Annual Selection Targets (sometimes called Selection Objectives): these do change every year. They identify the focus for spending money in the current budget year.  I invented this term, because of all the confusion over "objectives."
  • Selection Criteria: yardsticks for evaluating quality.  These change very little from year to year.  They are usually single words or short phrases.
  • Here is another explanation, mostly redundant.
  • And another: Cohort6 Blog, 17Jan08.
  • In real life, it really doesn't matter what you call them.  Adopt this vocabulary for now, if you can. In your projects, I will look for equivalents, perhaps be a bit frustrated if you don't use my terms, but I'll not penalize you if the concepts are there.
Examples:
Selection Policy: Jessica, Heather, Beth
More examples from Cohort 7
Remember that I tweak my assignments almost every year - so be careful not to regard any of these as templates.


Bishop's overview of the Collection in Context:
Holistic view of the collection as a dynamic entity: we are always in the process of evaluating, using, maintaining, and replenishing the collection. 
Book organization:





Activity
Imagine you have been the SLMS in a school for two years. Next year, there is going to be a big change in your school.  It could be ...
  1. A switch from instructivist to constructivist philosophy
  2. A switch from constructivist to instructivist philosophy
  3. Addition of a new class for severely visually impaired students
  4. Your school becomes a charter school
  5. Your school changes from grades 6-8 to grades 5-8
  6. No Child Left Behind: your school has not made AYP for 2 years in a row
  7. New social studies textbook adoption in an elementary school
Groups of 3-4, random assignment. Take 20 minutes or so to discuss how your assigned change will affect the collection program.
  • What new materials will you need?
  • What steps can you take now to make the transition a smooth one and to ensure you have the materials you need?
  • Report conclusions to the class.
A final word: Expect a big change of some kind nearly every year.




Application
References
  • 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.
  • Logo by CoolText
  • Riedling, Ann. (2005). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tips & Tools, 2nd edition. Columbus, OH: Linworth. ISBN: 1-58683-190-9.
  • Wasman, A.M. (1998). New steps to service: Common-sense advice for the school library media specialist. Chicago: American Library Association.


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Page history: refreshed 1-09. 9/28/09: added ALA Ethics bit.
todo: make sure all material from selection-process.html has been folded in here, then delete selection-process.html