Assignment3LIBE463

Collection Analysis Resources to support Grade Five Social Studies
 * Raw Data and Information Gathering**

The Destiny program developed by Follett is the library management system used in the Surrey School District. The District was formerly using a local area network based program called Multilis. Destiny was implemented in all of the school libraries in 2007 and at that time the data was converted. The Multilis program was not a very sophisticated program. Consequently, all of the circulation history data was lost during the data imports. Therefore, circulation statistics are only four years old. Additionally, Follett offers a collection analysis service call Titlewise. Data for the collection analysis report is composed from information obtained through local reports as well as the complete analysis information drawn from Titlewise.

In order to accurately evaluate the collection to determine the resources available to address the curriculum content for Grade Five Social Studies I went through the curriculum guide and picked out several key words. I searched the key words to determine the Dewey numbers or Dewey ranges to uses in running reports.

The following is a table outlining the key curriculum areas and the corresponding Dewey numbers or Dewey ranges.

Note: Locating information related to country or province information can be tricky depending on the date of cataloguing. There was a trend in cataloguing during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s to put geography and cultural related materials in the 91-‘s. Historical related items were catalogued in the higher country codes. For example, the Canadian geographical items would be catalogued in the 917’s and the historical items would be catalogued in the 971’s. More recently, it seems items are not designated so specifically. Consequently, I have used both Dewey ranges to ensure capturing all resources. Collection statistics:
 * Key Curriculum areas || Corresponding Dewey numbers and ranges ||
 * Geography of BC and Canada || 917, 971 ||
 * History of BC and Canada || 971 ||
 * Canadian Immigration History || 305, 306, 971 ||
 * Fur trade in BC and Canada || 971 ||
 * Gold rushes in BC and Canada || 971 ||
 * History of the railroad in BC and Canada || 385, 971 ||
 * Canadian Government || 320, 917, 971 ||
 * First nations governance || 971.004 ||
 * Natural resources in BC and Canada – Forestry || 917, 634 ||
 * Natural resources in BC and Canada – Energy resources || 917, 621, 622 ||
 * Natural resources in BC and Canada – Minerals || 917, 552 ||

Statistical data include the number of items in the particular Dewey number and topic, average age, number of circulations per year and total number of circulations since 2007. I am including topic as I believe that would be more informative to an administrator, to staff or to PAC members.

The average age of all the items related to the Grade 5 Social Studies is 1994 making these items approximately 17 years old. There is a limited number of resources in the specific areas, however the two broad Dewey numbers 917 and 970 do have a significant number of items. However, the circulation numbers indicate limited use of the items available.
 * Curriculum subject || Correlating Dewey number || Number of items in the area || Average age || Number of circulations in this year || Total number of circulations ||
 * Geography of BC & Canada || 917 || 40 || 1990 || 2 || 45 ||
 * History of BC & Canada || 971 || 169 || 1996 || 28 || 335 ||
 * Forestry || 634 || 13 || 1993 || 2 || 16 ||
 * Energy Resources || 621 || 35 || 1991 || 0 || 0 ||
 * Minerals || 552 || 17 || 1995 || 5 || 59 ||
 * Canadian Government || 320 || 5 || 1997 || 3 || 4 ||
 * Railroad || 385 || 4 || 1994 || 2 || 10 ||
 * Immigration || 305 || 17 || 1997 || 1 || 10 ||
 * Immigration || 306 || 18 || 1996 || 1 || 2 ||

Titlewise reports only breakdown data into the 100’s. They compare local collections against two major standardized collections; FLR – Follett Resource Library and Wilson. These findings show additional evidence where the collection is lacking. I am only presently the relevant Dewey ranges. The numbers for the 300’s and 500’s are not as informative as these sections are so diverse. For example the figures for the 300’s would also be including all of the 398.2’s which is a substantial portion of the collection. Also, the 500’s would be including all of the animals, again which make up a substantial portion of that area. However the figures relating to the 600’s and 900’s provide helpful evidence supporting the need for more resources in these areas.
 * Comparative Data provided by Titlewise Reports**
 * Balanced Dewey Comparisons - FLR**
 * Hundred’s Division || General topic || Average Age || Number of Items || % of Collection || FLR Balanced % || Difference ||
 * 300’s || Social Sciences || 1991 || 703 || 5.21% || 10.50% || -5.29% ||
 * 500’s || Natural Sciences || 1993 || 1917 || 14.21% || 11.00% || +3.21% ||
 * 600’s || Technology || 1992 || 566 || 4.20% || 6.75% || -2.55% ||
 * 900’s || Geography & History || 1994 || 736 || 5.46% || 10.25% || -4.79% ||
 * Balanced Dewey Comparisons - Wilson**
 * Hundred’s Division || General topic || Average Age || Number of Items || % of Collection || FLR Balanced % || Difference ||
 * 300’s || Social Sciences || 1991 || 703 || 5.21% || 9.25% || -4.04% ||
 * 500’s || Natural Sciences || 1993 || 1917 || 14.21% || 8.75% || +5.46% ||
 * 600’s || Technology || 1992 || 566 || 4.20% || 4.90% || -.70% ||
 * 900’s || Geography & History || 1994 || 736 || 5.46% || 11.25% || -5.79% ||

To collect data for the qualitative aspect of my report I created interview questions for both staff and students. Additionally, I observed students prepare for two major projects. 1) In addressing the curriculum PLO’s for Gr.5 Social Studies what learning resources to you typically use? Teacher A & B  They both mention they primarily use the textbook prescribed for Social Studies, classroom atlases and other personal resources acquired over the years.
 * Qualitative data collection**
 * Teacher interviews and results:**

2) In looking for school library resources to support the Gr. 5 Social Studies are you a. Very satisfied  b. Satisfied  c. Less than satisfied  Teacher A & B – Both felt less than satisfied

3) Do your students use school library resources for any of their project research? Teacher A & B – Both felt the students did not go into the library and borrow materials on their own but would use the books in the classroom borrowed by the teacher. They both felt students were more likely to be taken to the public library by their parents, particularly the more eager students and parents.

4) Where do you obtain the majority of your learning resources or support materials? Teacher A & B – Both felt they used what was already in their classroom, whatever materials were in the school library and the public library. They both mentioned using the public library when they were there with their own families.

5) What are your favorite topics to cover in the Gr.5 Social Studies curriculum? Teacher A & B – Both mentioned the topics related to the early history of Canada and BC were fun and interesting. Mapping and government were their least favorite topics.  6) What kinds of resources would you like to see if we did not have to worry about a budget? For example, have you seen anything at a conference or workshop that you would love to use. Teacher A & B – Both mentioned they would like to see more media resources and more interactive resources. Additionally, both mentioned the print resources needed to be updated. One teacher mentioned I should acquire some of the same series that the public library had. Neither had any specific resource in mind but would be on the look out for me.

7) What kind of resources can you think of to make the curriculum a little more accessible for some of our diverse learners? Teacher A & B – Any resource that is more interactive is helpful as many of the students have processing difficulties.

8) In general what areas of the library do you feel need the most updating? Teacher A & B – They both felt the other intermediate Social Studies areas as well as intermediate science could be updated.

**Student interview questions and results:** There are a number of Grade 5 students and Grade 6 students that volunteer in the library. I have included the Grade 6 students as I thought they could think back on their year, whereas the present Grade 5 students have only had a couple of project based assignments. I interviewed those students as time permitted. I have included a summary of their responses.

1) When doing research for social studies have you used books from the school library? Most stated they did not use school library on their own, some recalled using library books in the classroom.

2) If so, which books have you found to be helpful? Most mentioned the library books were not helpful or could really remember what they used.

3) If not, why not? They mentioned that they did not have much opportunity to come to the library on their own to look and it didn’t seem like there were enough books to share. They mentioned the books that were in their classroom were too hard to read. And, where have found your resources? They mentioned they liked to use the internet to find information and they remembered using books in the classroom.

4) What have been your favorite social studies projects? The students from the classroom that put on the play about being an immigrant thought that was their favorite project. Other students did not have a favorite social studies project.

5) Where did you get most of your information for that project? Again, these students mentioned they mostly used the internet.

**Report of Student Observations.**

The two classes are presently working on the Immigration experiences and the development of the infrastructure in Canada and BC.

Each of the classes has been assigned one big project. In one class students were to examine different aspects of pioneer life and create a poster project. The other class was creating a play about the life of new settlers in BC. The task was to create a script incorporating the information they learned about the aspect of pioneer life they were assigned. Four groups of settlers would be setting out on different paths; one group was heading out to check on the Klondike gold rush, one group was working on the riverboats, one group was seeking work on the railroad and one group was working some land.

In observing the options for research I began to realize resource choices for students were limited. Students were attempting to use some of the Bobbie Kalman pioneer life series. The books in the series have many illustrations but the series is very text heavy with long passages of information. Additionally, these are American resources. Consequently, many students appeared to loose interest in the resource. Other students were using books from a series written by Pierre Burton. Again, although the books were well suited to their topic the students did not appear to be engaged with the resource. These books were borrowed from the school library by the classroom teacher.

In addition to the print resources students were using laptops and searching the internet. Several students were simply ‘Googling’ their topics. Some students had found museum web pages as well as Wikipedia sites. Many of the web pages were heavily text based, a few had interesting photographs that seemed to interest the students.

Research is challenging for students at this age. The resources available do not seem to make their task any easier. Additionally, the access to the school library seems to make it challenging for students to choose their own resources. **Collection Mini Map**

South Meridian Elementary School Total Student enrollement – 250 February 20,2011

**Total number of books related to Grade 5 Social Studies – 283** **Total number of Students in Grade 5 - 35** **Total number of books available per student – 8** **Average age of all books to Grade 5 Social Studies – 1994 (17yrs.)**
 * Curriculum subject || Correlating Dewey number || Number of items in the area || Average age ||
 * Geography of BC & Canada || 917 || 40 || 1990 ||
 * History of BC & Canada || 971 || 169 || 1996 ||
 * Forestry || 634 || 13 || 1993 ||
 * Energy Resources || 621 || 35 || 1991 ||
 * Minerals || 552 || 17 || 1995 ||
 * Canadian Government || 320 || 5 || 1997 ||
 * Railroad || 385 || 4 || 1994 ||
 * Immigration || 305 || 17 || 1997 ||
 * Immigration || 306 || 18 || 1996 ||