Assignment+Three

=Assignment 3 = =﻿ =

Summary and Analysis of Quantitative Data
I performed a collection evaluation on the section of my school library that relates to Grade 5 Social Studies. With a focus on Canadian history, government, natural resources, and First Peoples, I focused on the 300’s (Social Sciences) and 900’s (History, Geography, and Biography). My library has 416 titles in the 300’s, with an average copyright date of 1998. While the one book from the 1940’s and the one from the 1960’s really bring down the average, they are oddities. The number of books from each year starts to grow in the 1970’s and 80’s, but the bulk of the collection is from 1995 to the present. There are 2778 titles in the 900’s, with an average publication date of 1992. The usage this year to date is very revealing. In the 300’s, only 13 books have been signed out so far this year, and 10 of those were published in the 2000’s. A similar trend towards signing out newer books more often is visible in the 900’s. 134 books have been signed out this year, with 88 of those with publication dates in this decade. Of course, with more new books than old available to choose from, students are statistically more likely to sign out the newer books, but the fact remains that the older books are not being checked out. Out of the 164 nonfiction books that have been checked out of the library so far this year, 147 have been from the 300’s and 900’s. That is not surprising, considering that there are 3479 nonfiction books in our collection, and 3194 are from those two classifications. For a school of 129 students, that is almost 30 nonfiction books per student. That number is high, but the collection definitely needs to be weeded and then developed so that the books are the best ones for our needs.



Summary and Analysis of Qualitative Data
Included below are some summaries of the top 20 most signed out books in specific areas of my school’s library. In nonfiction in general, it was no surprise that the most popular books are records, facts, and jokes. These are the books that kids, and especially boys, can’t get enough of. My school is small enough that a group of students in my class passing around and reading The Diary of Anne Frank brought it to the top of the chart in the 900 section.

My Grade 4/5 class has just completed a research project on a topic of their choice with our TL. I surveyed them on their experiences locating specific information in the library. They were very reflective and helpful. They mostly agreed that their success depended on their topic. More narrow topics had posed more of a challenge, and some areas had definitely been found lacking. For example, the boy interested in sharks had found a whole section, but the boy interested in gaming had found nothing up to date. Several students had to change their topics because they couldn’t find anything at all. They were able to supplement their research with internet searches, but thought that we should have online databases as part of our library. They thought that most of the books were at a ‘just right’ reading level, and that many were new and appealing. They did notice the older books (“from the 1960’s!”), but mostly avoided them because they didn’t have interesting pictures. Overall, they decided that if they had an ‘easy’ topic, they could find lots, but ‘harder’ topics struggled to find resources. Even though they were not focused on my specific curricular areas, I found their opinions to be informative and important: as the library’s primary users, they should be heard.

I scanned the catalogue and the shelves looking for books that related to my curricular areas. I was scanning for titles related to Canadian government, natural resources, the gold rush, the fur trade, the development of the railroad, immigrants to Canada, and sustainability. I found a number of new books on the Canadian system of government, one older book on the Fraser Gold Rush, and a few newer books on the experiences of immigrants to Canada. For sustainability there were a number of brand new books on ‘living green’ and earth-friendly science experiments, but nothing related to natural resources. Overall, there are many gaps in the collection with reference to the Grade 5 Social Studies curriculum, as I have discovered every time I try to find library books to supplement my classroom instruction.

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Collection Mapping

 * 300’s: Social Sciences **
 * Number of Titles and Lifetime Usage by Decade **
 * Decade || Number of Titles in Collection || Lifetime Usage of Titles ||
 * 1940’s || 1  ||  5  ||
 * 1950’s || 0  ||  0  ||
 * 1960’s || 1  ||  2  ||
 * 1970’s || 7  ||  27  ||
 * 1980’s || 13  ||  126  ||
 * 1990’s || 108  ||  394  ||
 * 2000’s || 105  ||  415  ||


 * 900’s: History, Geography, and Biography **
 * Number of Titles and Lifetime Usage by Decade **
 * Decade || Number of Titles in Collection || Lifetime Usage of Titles ||
 * 1930’s || 1  ||  3  ||
 * 1940’s || 2  ||  5  ||
 * 1950’s || 19  ||  55  ||
 * 1960’s || 50  ||  92  ||
 * 1970’s || 272  ||  795  ||
 * 1980’s || 362  ||  2352  ||
 * 1990’s || 779  ||  5021  ||
 * 2000’s || 584  ||  3680  ||

Recommendations
My quantitative and qualitative examination of the collection revealed some areas of strength, but more areas of weakness. The entire collection needs to be weeded, as many of the books are out of date, in poor condition, and just plain old. The books are not being signed out frequently. Removing the less appealing and useful books would make the more relevant and attractive books more easily accessible to students and teachers, thus hopefully improving circulation. Once the collection has been weeded, there will be room on the shelves to add new resources. If the Grade 5 Social Studies curriculum is so inadequately supported, it is probable that the curriculums of other grades and subject areas are likewise under supported with resources. It would be impossible and impractical to attempt to stock the library with all things for all teachers for all subject areas all at one time. I would recommend gradually building the collection by getting input from teachers about what subject areas they would most like to see the collection developed to cover. If each teacher chose one particular area of content per year, the TL could gradually build up the collection to suit the needs of his colleagues and the requirements of the curriculum. The area of content that each teacher chose could be the focus for a collaborative unit developed by the teacher and the TL. This would bring students into the library, and introduce them to the new resources in their subject and grade areas.

Reflection
The process of conducting a collection evaluation was informative and eye-opening. I found that collecting the qualitative data was the most useful, because I was limited only by my time and my ideas. I found that my students were helpful, and took their reflections very seriously. They are the ones for whom the library should be designed, and they did not find that the resources available sufficiently met their needs. Visually examining the collection showed me what the students see when they look for a book to sign out or to use for a project; the shelves are stuffed with old, unappealing books, the signage and the catalogue do not match what is on the shelves, and specific books are hard to find.

The quantitative data was less useful to me, as I was limited by what my TL and I were able to get from the computer. Even using the Alexandria manual, we were unable to produce the data that would have been most helpful to me. My collection map would have been more relevant if I had been able to show the usage for each category of books not over its lifetime or the current year (since it is only February, the year-to-date usage for most of the books was zero), but of the school year, or past two years. My TL and I were not able to figure out how to change the date range. Whether that is a limitation of Alexandria or of us, I do not know.

Next time that I do a collection evaluation, I hope that I am working as a TL, and am not a teacher trying to squeeze an assignment in between classroom planning and report cards. I hope to be familiar with whatever computer programme my library will use, so that I can elicit the data that will be most relevant to me. I would like to be have the skills to do an effective Circulation Study, as I feel that that would reveal some critical data about how the collection is being used. I would still like to survey students, but I would also talk to other teachers. An In-House Use Study would be an interesting technique to try, and would show me what books are being used but not signed out. This would have made a lot of work for my TL, who is already short on time.

This assignment was very useful to me. Not only did I learn about how to do a collection evaluation and why it is important to do one and use the results, I also learned a lot about the strengths and limitations of my own library. I have shared these results with my administrator, who is new to our school, and is beginning to take a personal interest in the library. I have learned the effectiveness of having clear data to present over vague complaints and criticisms. When I am a TL, I will know how to carry out a collection evaluation, and how to use the results to make positive changes in my library and therefore in my school.