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Selection tools project
- 1. Selection Tools Project ISSUES WITHNON-PRINT SOURCES With a rise in digital and electronic sources in today’s libraries, comes a new set of challenges and issues that librarians must face. One of the difficulties with digital sources comes in the demands placed on librarians, forcing them to make choices in what to order and how to order these sources. The point of electronic sources is that they provide immediate access to what students and staff need in the moment. However, these demands are hard to keep up with. One way that librarians can meet those demands is to make patron-driven acquisitions. On a one-to- one basis, librarians can order books for individual needs. This makes it hard to keep up, as trends change quickly. Librarians could also choose e-book bundles. Someone else is making the decisions about what books to buy in this scenario. This removes the knowledge of the librarian from the equation. There is no consideration of the school’s curriculum, mission, or demographics. Another issue with electronic sources is within the users themselves. Some users may not be as technologically savvy. They may have difficulty finding what they want. Once they do, if they are not familiar with e-books, they may have difficulty or frustrations with trying to access them. The vast amount of options in terms of platforms and publishers does not make this any easier for the user or the librarians. Sometimes platforms are not user-friendly. They are hard to figure out for those new to electronic books and are not very intuitive. At times there's very little consistency between platforms. Once a student gets used to one platform that does not mean that it will translate to fluency within another platform. They are also prohibited from sharing these books and only a certain number of people can use them at a time, not unlike print books. Prices also vary drastically from one publisher to the next, making it difficult to choose the best deal. The University of Wyoming library ran into issues with the format of some of their e-books as well. Some could only be read on computers, others on proprietary e-readers, and even some only allowed parts of the book to be downloaded (Proctor). They can also become overwhelmed with the vast amount of options. Also with certain publishers or subscription services the question of maintaining access to resources comes into question. What happens if the library decides to switch to a different provider? Would they lose all their previous e-books? What e- book sources/tools do you use? Do you use ones that focus on mainstream books or more academic sources? There are also those students who would benefit more from print sources than electronic sources. Bridging the "digital divide” of students becomes important. Some students wouldn't be able to access the sources from home; even in the case of audiobooks, they would lack the devices on which to play them. The University of Wyoming library bought two of each type of e- reader devices in order to provide their students with the means to access these sources. However, this is expensive and draws funds away from other potential sources. There are also student who just aesthetically prefer print over electronic copies. "He wanted to be able to highlight things, he told me, and scribble notes in the margins and share his books… ‘ I want to be able to hold it in my hands, you know’” (Fialkoff). Some students or even teachers will just prefer print sources.
- 2. 2 SELECTION TOOLS REVIEW The search tool from the professional selection tools that I feel would be the most helpful is the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. It seems to be the easiest site to navigate. You are first brought to an extensive search engine that is highly customizable. You can search by age, by author, or by reading metrics. You can get as specific as you want to find books for your specific demographics. They also have a number of other resources that are highly beneficial for librarians. They have an online forum, where other users can come together and discuss problems or sources they need as well as make suggestions for each other. They also have a calendar with links to thematic reading lists. Each month for years, back to 2012, there are collections of suggested themed titles. They also have a page with articles written by their own professional writers. These cover a variety of topics relevant for today’s librarians. I found the other sites not to be as comprehensive or as easy-to-use as this database. The Common Core databases have something in common with the CLCD that makes it very useful as well. Like the CLCD, the Common Core sites allow you to customize for your specific demographic. They may not be as extensive as the CLCD but they are still fairly specific. You can choose grade level, and even lexile reading score. However, the Common Core does let you search by topic, while the CLCD does not. You can even choose books that are highly recommended right from the search page. This allows librarians to immediately find books that have positive reviews without having to search through a number of other sources that may not. From the selection tools and important sources of professional development, I find myself drawn more to the School Library Journal. While some of the other tools have some of the same kind of information, I find the School Library Journal’s resources to be more extensive and better presented. It has clear headers for its various sections, allowing users to jump directly to the content that applies to them. There is even a section labeled “Technology” that provides reviews for different apps. The section “Teens and Young Adults” is particularly useful for middle school librarians. It provides a toolbox that deals with teen issues and suggest projects for librarians. The ordering tool that I found most helpful was Follett’s Titlewave. It provided a collection analysis tool that you allows you to check their booklist against your existing collection in order to avoid duplication. Like the other sites, they also provide processing and cataloging services that you can customize. Examples are barcode scanning, findings, and shelflist cards. However, this site does have some features that the others do not. That is the ability to order pre-planned Makerspace bundles, allowing librarians to have a more hands-on experience for their students without the work of planning and preparing another lesson. The free tool from the internet that I found most helpful was YALSA Book and Media Awards List for Libraries. It had a variety of book suggestions for young adults, but it also contains suggestions about other forms of media. They have links to audiobook suggestions, film reviews, and even graphic novels. There was even a link about how to get teens involved in the library through technology during Teen Tech Week.
- 3. 3 Works Cited Busby, Lorraine. "Turning Pages: Reflections On Ebook Acquisitions & Access Challenges." Against The Grain 19.6 (2007): 28-32. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 10 September 2016. Children’s Core Collection. EBSCO Industries, nd. Web. 10 September 2016. Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database. CLCD, LLC, nd. Web. 10 September 2016. <http://www.clcd.com.cyrano.ucmo.edu:2048/#/advancedsearch>. Fialkoff, Francine, et al. "Our Ebook Challenge." Library Journal 135.18 (2010): 18-21. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 10 September 2016. Follett Titlewave. Follett School Solutions Inc., 2016. 10 September 2016. <https://www.titlewave.com/login/>. Proctor, Julia, and Sandra Barstow. "Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Entertainment: An Academic Library's Experience With A Popular Reading Ebook Resource." Journal Of Library Administration 53.7-8 (2013): 401-411. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 10 September 2016. School Library Journal. SLJ, 2016. Web. 10 September 2016. <http://www.slj.com/>. "YALSA Book and Media Awards and Lists for Libraries." Young Adult Library Services Association. American Library Association, 8 February 2012. Web. 10 September 2016. <http://www.ala.org/yalsa/bookawards/booklists/members>.