Collection & Analysis Project
Jenny Hagler, LM 511
Collection Analysis Report
Echols Middle School was named after Wilhelmina Quarles Echols. Mrs. Echols was born Wilhelmina Quarles on August 14, 1914 in Tuscaloosa, and later moved to Northport where she lived and attended school. She graduated in 1930 at age 15 in the first class to complete four years of high school at the "new" Tuscaloosa County High, now named Echols Middle School after being opened in the year 2000 after being extensively remodeled. Mrs. Echols attended the University of Alabama where she majored in political science and earned a teaching certificate. Her first job was with the Tuscaloosa County School System teaching fifth and sixth grades at the elementary school in Vance. Growing up during the Great Depression, when so many families lacked material things, she understood the importance of education and the value of friendship and respect for others. Mrs. Echols left a trust fund for our school library since she was extremely passionate about providing for others in this area.
After performing a collection map of our school library at Echols Middle School with the library media specialist, Kim Harvey, it has been determined that more materials are needed in the 900 section of the Dewey range for the collection. This section of the collection is the most outdated and in need of the most recent information. It is imperative that the collection be updated in order for students to benefit from the instructional goals we have as a school this year and in the near future. Echols is focusing on quality questioning in teaching and using more nonfiction items in order to engage and encourage student learning through more reading and writing. The Alabama Course of Study is where we are focusing our school goals. Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects for Grades 6-12 states “Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.” For writing standards, it states, “Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.” Students will learn how to answer and think critically on a daily basis and will be engaged at a higher level of learning. Students will be able to use higher order thinking and reasoning skills on a regular basis by having more resources at their disposal, especially when using nonfiction materials with up to date and current information.
During collection mapping of the 900-999 section, it became apparent that more resources are needed. This entire section only makes up about 10.4% of all materials available to students, or about 693 items. Out of the 693 items, the majority of these resources are out of date or need more current information for students to utilize. The library media specialist agreed that the section is not current enough and if there was additional funding available, would add to the current collection and replace the materials that are oldest. One positive thing to note, is that even though our resources are in need of updating, at least the materials are age-appropriate for middle school students. The average copyright age for this entire section is 2000. The oldest copyright date is 1976 and the newest copyright date is 2012. When considering items for nonfiction resources, in my opinion, 1976 is out of date because the quality and quantity of the content has changed since then. World maps and country borders have changed drastically since 1997. Even though materials in this section are not often requested from students for pleasure, they are often used for instruction with quality questioning as well as research projects, for example. Another reason that newer resources haven’t been purchased is because of the recent push to teach with technology. Today’s students are more tech-savvy and are able to find abundant amounts of current information at their fingertips when using the Internet versus the out-of-date books and materials in the school library. The Alabama Virtual Library is also a free resource that students utilize to find information from. This is a valuable tool to have in every school library.
In general, the entire 900 section could use more current materials. The 910 section for the Dewey range of the collection, Geography and Travel, makes up about 0.7% of resources available with the average book having a copyright age of 1999. The 970 section, General History of North America, makes up the largest percentage and is utilized by the most people. It makes up 3.8% of the collection with an average copyright age of 2001. Even though we have many resources in this section due to the trust fund, a large number of the materials are now out of date and need to be replaced with better selections.
Justifications
Collection Analysis Chart
Collection Analysis Chart
(Copyright Dates)
Oldest Copyright 1976
Most Current Copyright 2012
Average Copyright 2000
Summary of Titlewave Order
eBook Order
DVD Order
Follett - includes 3 DVD's about general history, war, and traveling
National Geographic - includes 3 DVD's about general history and war
Cataloging Specifications
References
Bice, T. (2013). 2013 revised Alabama course of study: English language arts, grade 8. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?grade=8& subject=ELA2013&summary=2&pf=1
Follett. (n.d.). Titlewave. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.titlewave.com/
Morton, J. (2010). 2010 revised Alabama course of study: Social studies, grade 8. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?grade=8&subject=SS2010&summary=2&pf=1