{"id":105,"date":"2016-02-07T19:27:48","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T02:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jaclearningblog\/?p=105"},"modified":"2016-02-07T19:27:48","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T02:27:48","slug":"assignment-one-evaluation-of-reference-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jaclearningblog\/2016\/02\/07\/assignment-one-evaluation-of-reference-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Assignment One: Evaluation of Reference Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201dOne of the most important tasks of a school librarian is to help students and teachers find the best materials available – in all formats – to support teaching and learning.\u201d (Riedling, Shake & Houston, p. 18)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In order to perform the task, it is necessary for a teacher-librarian to acquire knowledge on what is being taught and learned in the school community. For myself being a core music teacher, there is no doubt that I would be interested in the music, non-fiction section of the library. In furtherance of evaluating the current library collection of resources for music, an understanding of the music program at the school is crucial.<\/p>\n

Curricular Connection<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I have been teaching kindergarten to grade seven music at Royal Heights Elementary<\/a>, Surrey, for almost 10 years. Since I know the students and the community quite well, and the administrator is supportive in the music program, I decided to develop a new program based on classical music and new B.C. curriculum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the B.C. arts education curriculum<\/a> (both the new one and the previous one), students are expected to learn about music from a variety of tradition, culture, and community. Personally, I believe that through the study of music in different periods in the music history, students would be able to make connection to how music style has evolved into what we have nowadays.<\/p>\n

This year is the \u201ctrial and error\u201d year, and so far, the students responses are positive. Students show excitement and curiosity in learning about the lives of the composers, such as J.S. Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, etc. They are also enthusiastic about learning musical elements through singing and playing instrument accompaniments to the compositions of the composers we studied. I do mostly direct teaching with the primary classes. On the other hand, I take the approach of inquiry-based learning, in which I work alongside and learn collaboratively with my intermediate students. Hence, for this assignment, I would evaluate the library resources with the intermediate students as my targeted users of the resources.<\/p>\n

Rubric for Evaluating Resources<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After reading Asselin, Branch & Oberg\u2019s Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Program in Canada<\/em>, and Riedling, Shake & Houston\u2019s Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips<\/em>, I designed the following rubric to help evaluating the reference resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n

Non-satisfactory<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Acceptable<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Exemplary<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Relevancy<\/span><\/p>\n

(Curricular Support)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Material supports a small part of the curriculum<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Material supports much of the curriculum<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Material fully supports the curriculum<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Currency<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Copyright date exceeds 10 years<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Copyright date is within the last 10 years<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Copyright date is within one year<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Accuracy of Information<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Contains incorrect or biased information<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Contains accurate information, but omits facts regarding unfavourable<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Contains accurate, unbiased information<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Ease of Use<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Information is poorly organized<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Information is organized without an index<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Information is well organized with an index<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Efficient Use of Library Space<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Resource uses unreasonable amount of space, i.e.. does not fit into regular shelf<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Resource uses decent amount of library space<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Resource does not need much of a space<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Cost<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Cost is exceeded the school budget<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Cost is within the school budget<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Cost is minimal or free of cost<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Future Updates<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

No future updates are available<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Resource contains facts, no updates needed<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Future updates are available with minimum or no cost<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Evaluation of a Current Library Resource<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"IMG_2458\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Music (non-fiction) section in Royal Heights Elementary Library<\/p>\n

The Royal Heights Elementary library has a small collection of resources for music. There are less than 30 reference resources and approximately 15 story books relate to music matters. Among the reference resources, there are about 7 biography books that I often use to introduce composers of our studies. For this assignment, I have chosen a \u201cmusic dictionary\u201d which includes information regarding composers, different styles of music, and different kinds of instrument from a variety of cultures.<\/p>\n

Book: Barber, Nicola. Music: An A-Z Guide<\/em>. New York: Watts Reference, 2001.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2488\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Cover page of the book<\/p>\n

Using the above mentioned rubric, the following is my evaluation of the resource:<\/p>\n

Relevancy<\/strong>: The book contains relevant, truthful, and unbiased informations on
\nmusicians, musical instruments and styles. However, informations are brief and introductory.
\n[Acceptable]<\/p>\n

Currency<\/strong>: The publication date of the book is 2001, more than 10 years.
\n[Not satisfactory]<\/p>\n

Accuracy of Information<\/strong>: The book contains accurate, and brief information, detailed facts are omitted.
\n[Acceptable]<\/p>\n

Ease of Use<\/strong>: The information is organized with an index at the back of the book.
\n[Exemplary]<\/p>\n

Efficient Use of Space<\/strong>: The book is in decent size, and it fits into the bookshelf.
\n[Acceptable]<\/p>\n

Cost<\/strong>: The book costs Canadian dollars $27.95. The price is reasonable.
\n[Acceptable]<\/p>\n

Future Updates:<\/strong> The book is 14 years old, and no updates is available for the past 14 years. However, the book contains mostly facts that updates are not necessary.
\n[Acceptable]<\/p>\n

On average, the resource is considered \u201cacceptable\u201d as a reference resource. It deserves a place on the bookshelf on the Royal Heights Elementary library, and will not be considered for weeding.<\/p>\n

Evaluation of a Potential Resource<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Resource accessibility is my major concern of any potential resources. In the new music program I am designing, I try to facilitate individual inquiry project in which individual student would decide on the musician that he or she would like to study. In the past, my students and I had experienced situations when more than one student were studying the same composer, but there was only one reference resource available in the library. In our recent inquiry project on the role of music\/sound in movies, researching online is our only option as there was no printed resources available in our school library. Therefore, I search for an online database as a potential resource.<\/p>\n

Website: Classics for Kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Home Page SSP Content<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n