Reflection Theme 1: Reference Services

   Theme 1 provided an opportunity to look at my collection with a critical eye. Yes, the focus was on the Reference services that I provide to our staff and students, but I was able to look at the rest of the collection as well.


   Ann Riedling's book, Reference Skills for the School Librarian and the book Achieving Information Literacy both provided guiding principles with which I should look at my collection and the programs that I provide in the Library.


   The library collection is of an acceptable size for our school population, however, it's average age is 15 yrs. When the District amalgamated schools a few years ago, all of the books from another immersion school were sent to us and catalogued over the summer. In haste, ALL books were catalogued, no weeding was done and not all information was entered and so I know I have some old books hiding on my shelves.

My Reference collection

   This is a picture of my Reference collection. Many of the resources mentioned by Riedling are not in our Reference collection, but rather they are housed in our non-Fiction section. Books like Guinness World Records that you see on the bottom shelf have been placed there because:

• they are so popular and we cannot keep them on the shelf; 
• there are normally so many of them (15);
• they were on a high shelf that required students to use a stool in order to reach them and this became a safety issue.

   We also have put handbooks, some atlases and biographies in our general collection. The biographies, especially those about Canadians are well used as the school is heavily involved in Heritage Fair, Heritage Stamp and Concours d'Art Oratoire (a French public speaking contest)


   The average age of my Reference section is 14 years. My English encyclopedia (2008) and the French one (2009) are not within the recommended age. It is my dictionaries and an Usborne thesaurus that are even older: 2002! They are, however in excellent shape (because they are rarely used!) So this provides a dilemma. Should these be replaced, when they rarely get used? If students are looking for information on Canada, our non-fiction collection is quite current. If they are looking for information on athletes from the summer Olympics, they will have to head to the computer!


   The School District purchases ERAC's digital reference bundle that includes resources such as EBSCO, Worldbook Online, Encyclopedia BC, Passport to the Internet, Reality Check, My World Teacher, Learn 360, LegalEze, National Film Board, Gale and National Geographic Kids. An excellent variety, something for everyone, if they use them! We even have these nice bookmarks that have the passwords on them!

   We are fortunate to have 2 Chromecarts for intermediate teachers to use with their classes, however the downside to this is that most of the research now gets done in classrooms rather than in the computer lab (that is attached to the library) I cannot help the students develop big (thick and juicy!) questions, direct them to better resources or help them take notes (rather than copying and pasting). Having realized this, I am now focussing my efforts on grades 3,4 and 5.


   Students need to be taught to go beyond the first few sites that are suggested when they are searching. Wikipedia will invariably be at the top. I think it should be used as a starting point and can lead to other credible sources. I found this infographic by the Daring Librarian about Wikipedia. She uses Wikipedia to teach research skills and critical thinking. I find that this is an interesting approach, rather than limiting or banning the use of Wikipedia, she has embraced it and given students tools to evaluate the information that they read.


   Now, back to my library... Theme 1 has helped me look at my collection with a critical eye and I have found areas that need attention. My Reference collection needs updating, and a decision will have to be made regarding updating my encyclopedias. As well, the ratio of fiction to non-fiction needs readjusting, if I am to follow the guidelines as they are stated in Achieving Information Literacy...




Asselin, Marlene, Jennifer L. Branch, and Dianne Oberg. Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada. Ottawa: Canadian School Library Association, 2003. Canadian Association of School Libraries. Web. Jan. 2017. http://www.accessola2.com/SLIC-Site/slic/ail110217.pdf.
                                                  
Riedling, Ann Marlow, Loretta Shake, and Cynthia Houston. Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips. Third ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013. Print.