Lesson 3- Selection and Evaluation Process

I found this week’s readings and posts to be quite informative.  I have not touched my reference section because I had no idea what materials should be in this section and which ones are considered dated.  Riedling’s selection and evaluation process are clear and easy to follow.  The last thing I need is to read a long document with 20 steps when choosing any kind of learning materials.  It’s just not possible with my time constraints.  One thing that I would add to the criteria is language since I work in a French Immersion school.  There needs to be an equal number of reference materials to support the French and English curriculum and the materials must of varying level of difficulty.   

I also looked over the resource from the Ministry- Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide.  This is a long document with a lot of information.  I found it to be a little too much for me but there were some things that I really like about the document.  I like the check lists that are provided when selecting various types of learning materials.  I especially like that there is a separate checklist of each of the 5 criteria (curriculum fit, content, instructional design, technical design and social considerations).  With the evaluation criteria that Riedling provided and with Jody’s easy to read chart (thanks Jody!), I could easy create a similar checklist for reference material.  I think this would really help in speeding up the process and insuring that I’ve taken everything into consideration before purchasing reference materials.

I really like the inclusion of social considerations (age, gender, aboriginal, multiculturalism, language, etc) in the Ministry document.  This is something that I often overlook and that I find is missing in Riedling’s process.  I think that she touches on this in ‘content scope’ but it should be a separate criterion.  There are too many things to consider in ‘content scope’.  I think it is still important that TL’s take these social considerations into account even for reference material.  For example the almanacs are very popular in my library. They are not in the reference section but often time I will have a group of boys come in and look through the almanacs during recess. They don’t take them out too often because they are quite big and heavy.  I plan on purchasing more almanacs and similar type books to attract my boys to come to the library to read.  I would have no problem spending the money on those reference books even though they are very similar because I know it will attract the male population at my school. The boys need special consideration when buying books and if it’s not clearly laid out in the selection/evaluating process it could be forgotten with everything else that needs to be considered.

Like any kind of policy or process that I want to implement into my library I always modify and adapt it to my current situation.  I think with a combination of these two documents, I could have a pretty comprehensive list of criteria to help me.  There is always the issue of time but when spending a lot of money on resources, like reference materials whether they be in print or online, there must be a policy in place.  It’s important that the TL be able to justify his/her purchases.   I must complete a report at the end of the year and if ever questioned I know that I have my policies to back me up.