Competency F
"Use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information."
Introduction
In an essay written by G. Edward Evans, he reminds his readers that as information professionals, we “should never forget that information services exist to provide people with access to the information they need and want. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of daily work it is easy to forget why we are doing what we do. When unused, a collection is just so many objects and really of little or no value. Only through use does it become a vital asset to anyone, much less to the service population. Having the right items, at the right time, in the right format is the essence of a valued collection” (2008, p. 95).
Collection management, sometimes called collection development, is one of the core skills of professional librarianship involved with “having the right items, at the right time, in the right format.” Librarians responsible for the selection of materials in a certain area need to consider the collection’s target audience and audience needs to purchase—or purchase access to— the most relevant materials, possess knowledge of selection tools to help aid the selection of different types of materials in a variety of formats, and adhere to the library’s collection development policy and budget restraints.
Librarians also must also weed or deselect items to keep collections current for their library users. Sometimes, older materials can be used for historical analyses, but, for example, having health materials that are ten or twenty years old in the general collection can be dangerous as these materials may contain information that is outdated for today’s medical standards. Technologies also change, leading to decisions such as discontinuing purchase of VHS tapes in favor or DVDs. Through weeding, it may be discovered that some items never circulate or have not circulated in a number of years, which may mean the item may fare better under a different subject heading or is no longer relevant.
It is also important for librarians to spend some time getting to know their library collections. This is not only helpful for determining any gaps in the collection that may exist but also crucial for improving reference service and developing finding aids for particular subjects or topics.
Evidence
As evidence for meeting competency F, I am submitting assignments from LIBR 210 Reference and Information Services and LIBR 266 Collection Management.
LIBR 210: Learning Spanish Libguide (with feedback)
As part of my coursework in LIBR 210, I was required to create a short library pathfinder or guide on a topic of my choice incorporating several resources that could be used by a library user to provide insight on the subject and offer tips for research of places to begin the research process. For my pathfinder, I developed a guide through Springshare's LIbguide software that included resources that could help UC Merced students in their quest to learn Spanish. (At the time I was about to commence a similar volunteer project at the UC Merced library, but I was unable to complete the project because I started a new, unexpected job.) The resources I selected were based on decisions I had made regarding criteria for the kind of items that would be included, which I discuss in the reflective paper below. Also included is an annotated bibliography of the resources I included and a bibliography of excluded resources.
LIBR 266: Video Librarian Selection Tool Report
In LIBR 266, one of the lessons focused on learning about different kinds of selection tools. The instructor assigned each student a particular selection tool, and each of us were to write a short report reflecting on the tool's strengths and weaknesses. Each student posted their report in an online discussion forum so that we could learn about the other assigned tools.The tool I was assigned is Video Librarian, which is subscription-based review guide used by different library environments to make decisions regarding the purchase of DVDs. One flaw in the assignment, is that many of us did not have access to those tools requiring a subscription, but I was able to derive some information about the tool from the displayed examples and information provided by the Video Librarian website as indicated in my report below. Each student's contribution was very helpful in introducing the variety of tools available to aid the selection process.
LIBR 266: Adult Spanish English Instruction Collection Evaluation
In my collection management course, each student was also required to evaluate a library collection. For this assignment, I elected to evaluate the adult Spanish English instruction collection at the Stanislaus County Library. At the time, I had just started working for the library system and felt that this afforded an opportunity to learn a little more about the adult Spanish collection as a whole. I interviewed the selecting librarian, Vicki Salinas, about the adult Spanish collection's strengths and shortcomings and the collection development policy and weeding procedures she follows, looked at circulation statistics from a sample of items, and also looked at the items themselves on the book stacks. The evaluation below includes information on the collection's scope, currency, appropriateness to the target community, circulation, physical condition, and monetary value, along with some recommendations to improve the collection. This exercise gave me a hands-on opportunity to experience a little of process professional librarians undertake to monitor the condition and utility of a collection.
LIBR 266: Early Literacy Opening Day Collection
The final assignment for my collection management course required each student to create an opening day collection for an academic, public, school, or special library, either real or fictional. Using a budget of $750 dollars, I selected resources as though I were building upon the Stanislaus County LIbrary's selection of early literacy resources, in both Spanish and English, which are housed in the parenting collection in the children's department and in the adult Spanish nonfiction and adult English nonfiction collections. For purposes of the assignment, the cost of selection tools, reference resources, databases, equipment and supplies, and shipping and handling expenses was excluded. This assignment was particularly challenging in that my access to selection tools was limited; Spanish language items, like other non-English language materials, are often difficult to find due to smaller print runs; and items in DVD format focused on early literacy with parents in mind were difficult to find. The paper below includes a description and purpose of the collection; a list of the five best selection tools relevant to the subject area; a list of three major publishers who publish materials related to the subject area; a lost of free online resources; and an order list with justification for my choices and recommendations to improve the collection.
References
Evans, G.E. (2008). Reflections on creating information service collections. In K. Haycock & B.E. Sheldon (Eds.),
The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 87-97). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
In an essay written by G. Edward Evans, he reminds his readers that as information professionals, we “should never forget that information services exist to provide people with access to the information they need and want. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of daily work it is easy to forget why we are doing what we do. When unused, a collection is just so many objects and really of little or no value. Only through use does it become a vital asset to anyone, much less to the service population. Having the right items, at the right time, in the right format is the essence of a valued collection” (2008, p. 95).
Collection management, sometimes called collection development, is one of the core skills of professional librarianship involved with “having the right items, at the right time, in the right format.” Librarians responsible for the selection of materials in a certain area need to consider the collection’s target audience and audience needs to purchase—or purchase access to— the most relevant materials, possess knowledge of selection tools to help aid the selection of different types of materials in a variety of formats, and adhere to the library’s collection development policy and budget restraints.
Librarians also must also weed or deselect items to keep collections current for their library users. Sometimes, older materials can be used for historical analyses, but, for example, having health materials that are ten or twenty years old in the general collection can be dangerous as these materials may contain information that is outdated for today’s medical standards. Technologies also change, leading to decisions such as discontinuing purchase of VHS tapes in favor or DVDs. Through weeding, it may be discovered that some items never circulate or have not circulated in a number of years, which may mean the item may fare better under a different subject heading or is no longer relevant.
It is also important for librarians to spend some time getting to know their library collections. This is not only helpful for determining any gaps in the collection that may exist but also crucial for improving reference service and developing finding aids for particular subjects or topics.
Evidence
As evidence for meeting competency F, I am submitting assignments from LIBR 210 Reference and Information Services and LIBR 266 Collection Management.
LIBR 210: Learning Spanish Libguide (with feedback)
As part of my coursework in LIBR 210, I was required to create a short library pathfinder or guide on a topic of my choice incorporating several resources that could be used by a library user to provide insight on the subject and offer tips for research of places to begin the research process. For my pathfinder, I developed a guide through Springshare's LIbguide software that included resources that could help UC Merced students in their quest to learn Spanish. (At the time I was about to commence a similar volunteer project at the UC Merced library, but I was unable to complete the project because I started a new, unexpected job.) The resources I selected were based on decisions I had made regarding criteria for the kind of items that would be included, which I discuss in the reflective paper below. Also included is an annotated bibliography of the resources I included and a bibliography of excluded resources.
LIBR 266: Video Librarian Selection Tool Report
In LIBR 266, one of the lessons focused on learning about different kinds of selection tools. The instructor assigned each student a particular selection tool, and each of us were to write a short report reflecting on the tool's strengths and weaknesses. Each student posted their report in an online discussion forum so that we could learn about the other assigned tools.The tool I was assigned is Video Librarian, which is subscription-based review guide used by different library environments to make decisions regarding the purchase of DVDs. One flaw in the assignment, is that many of us did not have access to those tools requiring a subscription, but I was able to derive some information about the tool from the displayed examples and information provided by the Video Librarian website as indicated in my report below. Each student's contribution was very helpful in introducing the variety of tools available to aid the selection process.
LIBR 266: Adult Spanish English Instruction Collection Evaluation
In my collection management course, each student was also required to evaluate a library collection. For this assignment, I elected to evaluate the adult Spanish English instruction collection at the Stanislaus County Library. At the time, I had just started working for the library system and felt that this afforded an opportunity to learn a little more about the adult Spanish collection as a whole. I interviewed the selecting librarian, Vicki Salinas, about the adult Spanish collection's strengths and shortcomings and the collection development policy and weeding procedures she follows, looked at circulation statistics from a sample of items, and also looked at the items themselves on the book stacks. The evaluation below includes information on the collection's scope, currency, appropriateness to the target community, circulation, physical condition, and monetary value, along with some recommendations to improve the collection. This exercise gave me a hands-on opportunity to experience a little of process professional librarians undertake to monitor the condition and utility of a collection.
LIBR 266: Early Literacy Opening Day Collection
The final assignment for my collection management course required each student to create an opening day collection for an academic, public, school, or special library, either real or fictional. Using a budget of $750 dollars, I selected resources as though I were building upon the Stanislaus County LIbrary's selection of early literacy resources, in both Spanish and English, which are housed in the parenting collection in the children's department and in the adult Spanish nonfiction and adult English nonfiction collections. For purposes of the assignment, the cost of selection tools, reference resources, databases, equipment and supplies, and shipping and handling expenses was excluded. This assignment was particularly challenging in that my access to selection tools was limited; Spanish language items, like other non-English language materials, are often difficult to find due to smaller print runs; and items in DVD format focused on early literacy with parents in mind were difficult to find. The paper below includes a description and purpose of the collection; a list of the five best selection tools relevant to the subject area; a list of three major publishers who publish materials related to the subject area; a lost of free online resources; and an order list with justification for my choices and recommendations to improve the collection.
References
Evans, G.E. (2008). Reflections on creating information service collections. In K. Haycock & B.E. Sheldon (Eds.),
The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 87-97). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Files and Links
Below are the files and links to my pieces of evidence.
LIBR_210_spanish_libguide_reflection.pdf | |
File Size: | 782 kb |
File Type: |
http://libraryschool.campusguides.com/Learning_Spanish
This is the link to my LIBR 210 Learning Spanish Libguide.
This is the link to my LIBR 210 Learning Spanish Libguide.
LIBR_266_selection_tool_review_video_librarian.pdf | |
File Size: | 207 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_266_collection_evaluation_adult_spanish_english_instruction.pdf | |
File Size: | 211 kb |
File Type: |
LIBR_266_opening_day_collection_early_literacy.pdf | |
File Size: | 439 kb |
File Type: |