A Potential Acquisition

Part 1: Dated Reference Resource--DK Eyewitness Book Series

The library at my school was recently transformed into a Learning Commons and contains very few printed reference resources. The reference section consists of school yearbooks along with few fact books on historical events and student textbooks (1^st image), and a collection of the DK Eyewitness Book Series (2^nd image). The DK Eyewitness Book Series is a collection of fact books on various topics. The current LC’s reference section is in need of good printed reference resources to supplement and meet the needs of all learners. As seen in the picture below there are empty shelves (image 3) that need to be filled with good printed reference resources.

 

                     

The collection of DK Eyewitness books consist of a total of 80 editions.  Each edition’s copyrighted date is different ranging from 1990 to 2005.  According to Reidling, Shake, and Houston (2013), these reference resources would be considered dated and should be weeded out of the reference collection.  These books range from 13-28 years old, way past the recommended guideline for reference materials.  All print reference materials should be discarded after 5 years of age and 10 years of age for reference resources in the areas of psychology, history, business, and education.  In briefly reviewing the DK Eyewitness books, most of the books are still in decent condition with the binding intact and the pages are still in good form.  The collection covers a range of topics across the BC curriculum and more.  It serves as a good quick reference and appeals to readers of different grade and levels, contains brightly colored, illustrations, graphs, and diagrams.  However, it is too old and consequently has become an unreliable reference source.  For that reason, the DK Eyewitness books need to be replaced either with a current version of itself or something else similar to it.

 

Evaluation of a Reference Resource Rubric

Evaluative Criteria	Not Very Useful	Useful	Very Useful
Relevancy	Information is not:        -relevant       -accurate       -comprehensive       -laid out well      Information is:         -poorly written         -dated	Information is somewhat:          -relevant          -accurate          -comprehensive          -well written          -laid out well          -relatively current	Information is:       -relevant       -accurate       -comprehensive &       diverse        -current        -well written        -well laid out with     diagrams and   pictures
Purpose	-not very informative      -not interesting      -unintelligible      -biased	-somewhat informative      -interesting      -intelligible      -unbiased	-very informative      -capture readers’ attention      -intelligible      -unbiased
Currency	6 years or more	5 years or less	Less than 1 year
Curricular Connections	Little or no connection:     -to the various grade levels     -to the BC curriculum     -across the curriculum	Some connections:       -to the various   grade level       -to the BC   curriculum       -across most of the   curriculum	Well Connected:       -to all or most of the   various grade levels       -to the BC curricular   areas        -across  the       curriculum
Library Space Efficiency & Usage	-difficult to access      -limited usage      -takes up lots of shelf space	-somewhat easily     accessible       -some usage       -takes up little shelf    space	-quickly and easily   accessible       -high level of usage       -takes up adequate    shelf space

Part 2:  A Potential Resource--World Book Encyclopedia 2018 or World Book Series

The reference resource under consideration for acquisition to replace the DK Eyewitness Book Series is either the World Book Encyclopedia or the World Book Series.  The 2018 World Book Encyclopedia meets every criterion in all categories of the evaluation rubric, see above.  It has achieved a reputation for reliability and accuracy, every year the encyclopedia is revised and updated to add current information, satisfying the currency category in the evaluation rubric.   Previewing some of the of previous year’s volume, the content is laid out well, it is informative with appropriate illustrations and diagrams.  Further checks for Canadian content by performing an online search, in the World book database at my library, yielded articles on Canadian figures ranging from athletes, politicians, musicians and more.  Other articles that came back from search results included; Canadian history, First Nations, fur trade, provinces and territories, and geographical features and landforms. This indicates that it is relevant, serves its purpose for use with high school students and has connections to the BC curriculum, thus satisfying the relevant, purpose and curricular connection categories in the evaluation rubric. Also, it does not take up excessive shelf space. As indicated on the World Book Encyclopedia webpage, it will cost $999 for a set of the 2018 edition.

As I was researching and evaluating the 2018 World Book Encyclopedia, I came across the World Book Series. This reference resource is very similar to the DK Eyewitness Book Series in the way it is written, laid out with nice illustrations and diagrams, and appealing to readers.  This would be a good resource to replace the DK Eyewitness Book Series.  However, upon further inspection these book series are costly. They range from $89 to $350 depending on the topic and contain 7 to 8 books per series.  With the need to replace 80 books of varying topics, this option would cost more and would not necessarily be as comprehensive as the 2018 World Book Encyclopedia, in terms of content.  But just like the DK Eyewitness Book Series, it does have great visuals and would appeal to visual learners and all learners alike.

Additionally, I did research the possibility of replacing the DK Eyewitness Book Series with some of this year’s publication.  I had emailed the Canadian sales office to inquire about purchasing some of their books but at the time of writing this report, I had not received any correspondence from the seller.  I researched their website to find that a single book cost around $17-$65 and is sold through Amazon and various bookstores, but could possibly get a better price through the Canadian sales office.

Finally, taking all factors into consideration, using the evaluation rubric as a guide, and keeping the LC budget in mind; purchasing the 2018 World Book Encyclopedia is a good option.  It still has significance and it is a good starting point for student research and inquiry.  It supplement’s the digital version nicely and would appeal to tactile learners as well.

Reference

Riedling, A. M. (2005). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: tools and tips. Worthington, OH: Linworth Books.

(n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2018, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum

World Book Encyclopedia 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved February 02, 2018, from https://www.worldbook.com/world-book-encyclopedia-2018