Let's Taco 'Bout Blog #3

The various sections of reference materials are important to analyze. Coming into this course I thought of reference materials as the one shelf where you held the old World Book Encyclopedia collection. Now I see the depth and usefulness of having up-to-date and age appropriate materials in our reference section. Theme 3 covered the various print and online materials that make up our reference materials.

Bibliographies are an area that I think our library has the potential to grow into. I like Riedling’s definition of bibliographies, that they “organize the chaos of information published”. I feel that this is what I needed before I became the librarian and started to see more value in the library. Most teachers like organization, many teachers I have encountered are type A personalities who have their lessons and units planned weeks in advance. In comparison, there are also teachers who are more like me, who have things planned but often change their lesson “on the fly”. Both types of teachers would benefit from having access to a librarian made bibliography. Our online OPAC system allows the librarian or teachers to create a custom-made bibliography to suit a certain lesson, topic or unit. In our school, we know that each year the grade 5 class will be learning about the Canadian government. Since this is a yearly occurrence it would be beneficial to have a ready-made bibliography that has fiction, non-fiction, picture books and websites ready for the teacher to use. This library resource would be a time saver for both the teacher and the librarian (once it was made).

Atlases are something that I struggle with in our library. I struggle with this section because I see how underused and undervalued atlases are in our school. Most of the atlases that we have in our school are ones that I used when I was in elementary school 20 years ago. A lot has changed since then and students deserve to have up to date print information. We have recently weeded our atlas section so I know that I must put aside my personal biases and spend money on updating this section of our library. Using this resource and online resources will provide our students with satisfactory atlas access.

            Wikipedia… Oh Wikipedia. I remember in university that professors often said “Do not use Wikipedia as a source.” and yet what did me and I assume countless others do? We used Wikipedia. I was glad to see that studies have shown that the facts on Wikipedia are accurate. Knowing this I think that for an elementary school, most students who stumble upon Wikipedia because it is often the first hit in a Google search. Research on an animal, a country our person will provide students with the facts they need to complete their research or inquiry project. Although I think that students will find information better suited to them by using non-fiction books or our online World Book Database, as the creator of Wikipedia Sandra Ordonez said it is a great place to “start your research”. 

(Michael Scott knows how awesome Wikipedia is!)

Overall I have gained a better perspective on how to build, highlight and incorporate the reference materials into our library. I think this will benefit our whole school I grow our reference materials.

References:

Riedling, Ann Marlow. Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips. Linworth Books, 2005.