5.+Selection+Report

=Selection Report=

=Process:= Thankfully, I was able to hold back $2000 of my budget so I can really purchase many of the items on my list. I plan to show the list to the Science Department to get their input before final choices are made. Since I have only been a librarian for the past 18 months, I have had to spend most of my time getting to know the role. Tasks such as attending to book reviews to select materials have not been my priority, as data base issues have swamped my time and the day-to-day issues that crop up seem to take all my time.

I enjoyed learning about these sites and spending time in their archives, and in a way they are a book lovers nightmare. I found so many books I would like to read, never mind purchase for my library! I was 'lost' in these sites for many more hours than I probably needed to be, and really had to include all the links so I can go back to them.

I subscribed to a number of the blog post services, especially on VOYA's site, and even applied to be a reviewer for VOYA and Resource Links. I was impressed with the quality of the websites and the amount of information that is available to support book choices. However, I had a great deal of difficulty finding reviews of electronic resources and DVD's that fit with the science curriculum area. Danielle Ford, in her article about reviewing science materials, acknowledges that “studies show that books are eclipsed by other forms of media as sources of science information," yet reviews of non-print resources are difficult to find. Even after I found DVDs I wanted to purchase, I was unable to find reviews for them. Finding novels to support this particular 500 area was almost impossible, as the reviews rarely include specific science related content that would help me to link to the curriculum. Perhaps this is because reviewers of fiction are not purposefully focussing on potential curriculum links, which is a shame.

=Step 1:=

Thanks to Joanne's Great Wiki I was able to use the following sites to find reviews for science books. I first looked through these sites and back issues of reviews looking specifically for science material. I discovered that dinosaurs are a huge topic.

From each source, I created a list of reviewed materials; I deleted items from the list that did not meet the criteria which had been developed previously with the science department (as recommended by School Library Media Specialist). (We are focussing on Science 8, 9 and 10 content support, and additionally focussing on easy to read, high visual content) and, following Eduscape's advice, I double checked that I did not already own these items.

My selection criteria (Bishop, 69-105) was based primarily on reflecting the curriculum. I wanted to see direct curriculum matches vs. obscure... maybe linked as I have enough of those. I wanted to focus on up to date content, such as Pluto not being a planet any longer, and wanted to include a large range of reading ability levels. Many of our older books are text heavy, and we had decided that visuals were important for our weaker students. Additionally, this is an opportunity to look into e-books. We have none, as yet, so look forward to this addition, although I was shocked at the cost. Further investigation into lower priced resources will be necessary. I also wanted to expand the DVDs for science as currently we have none available. DVDs may serve as a draw to get the science teachers into the library more regularly, as I see Social Studies teachers almost daily as they check out DVDs. This opportunity to connect with science teachers will increase library awareness amongst a low user group.

Next I then tried to find places to purchase the items. Interestingly, I discovered that the date of the review might have nothing to do with the date of the book. One cannot assume that if the review was written in 2009, that the books were published in 2009. By the end, as I started to look for prices, I ended up deleting at least six books that were older than 2006. Considering the timeliness of science, I wanted to keep as current as possible. Horn Book was the worst offender in reviewing older books. It was impossible to find a place to purchase one book from VOYA and another from School Library Journal.

Sources searched for reviews:

[| The Horn Book:] [|Kirkus Reviews]:

[| School Library Journal:]

[| Booklist:]

[| Canadian Review of Materials (CM):]

[| Quill and Quire:]

[| Resource Links:]

[| VOYA:]

=Step 2: Vendors:=

The easiest vendors for me to use for bulk orders are Amazon, Follet, and United Library Services. While we may save money purchasing from Amazon, next year we may have to focus our purchases with vendors who provide book processing services, as our DRC is on the list to be cut in budget "saving". A classmate posted a site called Distribution Access, so I perused their products, and found a number of videos that linked to my needs.

[|Amazon.ca] [|Follet.com] [|United Library Service] [|Distribution Access]

As you can see from my list, I was more than able to find enough books and resources for $4000.00. In fact, I had to delete some of my digital resources as they put me way over the top. After checking prices for a few items, it became clear that Amazon.ca had the best prices and free shipping. Since I am going to buy many of these resources, I was glad I could create a book bag at Amazon as I searched the site for these books. I was shocked at the difference in prices, so ended up categorizing a few things as REF. I wondered why price had not been a factor for the reviewers. I was additionally shocked to find that Distribution Access had a price of $35.99 per DVD (see below from catalogue), in comparison to Amazon's 24.99 price. This price differential has more implication, as our district removes the DRC support for processing, we will be forced to buy from only sources who process materials for us. Next year, I may not be able to do this type of price checking.

With price in mind, and in conjunction with my other course, I created a 'free' library of web based materials which also support the science curriculum. Since this is a huge undertaking, I focussed on Science 10. The project has been well received by the science teachers, and I will continue to build these resources.

=Conclusion:=

The selection report has been the area in which I learned the most. While I did not struggle with it, as other students have mentioned in their postings, I did find it somewhat HUGE. As I had not used, or even visited, many of the review sites prior to this assignment, I was impressed with the amount of information available. I was interested to read on the reviewer application forms that the review agencies receive more non-fiction than fiction, yet I was overwhelmed reading through fiction titles. I appreciated the websites that listed by age range and fiction/non-fiction.

I found this section to be very pragmatic and directly applicable to my position as librarian. I have found over the past year that keeping track of acquisitions, remembering what I have ordered and sent for processing, what has been paid for, tracking of receipts etc all rather overwhelming. I like the idea of creating an excel sheet of books I want, with prices etc., and after spring break I will submit the final sheet to purchasing removing the Amazon prices. It will be interesting to see if they can negotiate lower prices with U.L.S. and I will use this information for the district librarians' presentation to the board to save our in house DRC processing. (In fact I love this idea as it should prove that we save by shopping around!)

I'm excited to see the boxes of books when they arrive. Knowing that they are all reviewed and recommended relieves my usual apprehension that they won't be good choices.

March 27

Appendix: Price difference example for Disney DVD: Grades 4-8 • $35.95 • P52168-011 http://www.distributionaccess.com/new/pdf/DisneyFall2010.pdf
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