Lesson 13 - Evaluating Reference Services

Accessing the collection:

The Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide discusses the different forms of accessibility within a library collection. This is not limited to how often students are able to visit the library, but is broadened to include the intellectual, physical, and digital access the clientele have with the collection.

Intellectual:

The guide states, "Schools and school districts have the responsibility to balance the information needs of staff and students with the need to provide materials that are appropriate to the age/maturity level of the students and are generally acceptable to the community at large" (Ministry of Education, 2002, 88). When building the collection, teacher librarians must keep in mind that it is not only students accessing the resources, but also local community members and the school's staff. In School District No. 57, inter-library loans between school libraries are popular. Teacher librarians share their resources throughout the district, knowing that their in school library is a branch of a larger network.

Physical:

Physical access does not mean how fast students can move from their classroom to the library or whether they can access it at any point during the day. Though, I do believe in open access with some limitations. The reference collection should have restrictions on how long students should have access, especially if a class is working on a research project on similar topics. Most libraries I have visited are open before, during and after school hours to allow access by students, staff and community members.

The physical refers to the location of the materials within the library space. The physical layout of the library resource centre must be considered when organizing the space. The layout will determine the best flow of students through the space, but also will encourage areas to be accessed equally, or some areas more than others. It is also important to consider access to all formats of resources and "providing facilities and equipment for previewing all learning resource formats" (Ministry of Education, 2002, 89).

Digital:

The Guide states, "The incorporation of any of the current or emerging information technologies into educational programs should be based on the ability of the technologies to assist students in meeting learning outcomes or to facilitate learning resource management" (Ministry of Education, 2002, 89). This means technology should not be added for the sake of adding technology, but digital access should be available with a purpose to meet specific Learning Outcomes. Digital access can also mean ensuring  enough "workstations are available for student and teacher use in accessing online databases and the Internet" (Ministry of Education, 2002, 89).

Most schools I have visited have four to six computer stations in the library. With a computer lab somewhere else in the school. There are two formats of labs within the district, portable and stationary. The portable labs are somewhat problematic, as they require substantial wireless bandwidth to support the online use. The stationary labs have fewer issues as they use wired ethernet cables, so the Internet accessibility is usually reliable. Two libraries I have visited have to fortune of having the school's stationary lab connected to the library resource center. Students have access to both physical spaces at the same time.

By proving access to the library resource centre and all its resources teacher librarians are opening up new worlds of learning and many opportunities for researching interests as well as curriculum directed learning.

References:

Ministry of Education. (2002). Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning 
     Resources: A Guide. Victoria, BC: Learning Resources Branch.