Sonya's Teaching Blog

Digital Resources: Evaluation and Improvement Plan Resource: ERAC BC Digital Classroom , grades 9-12. Includes WorldBook Online Reference Centre, KnowBC, EBSCO Secondary Mini-suite, Gale in Context Series, and myBlueprint. Analysis: Riedling (2013) recommends analyzing indexes and databases for Accuracy, Authority, Format, and Scope (pp 90-91). Accuracy and Authority : The ERAC BC Digital Classroom is a trusted resource and the available databases are from trusted authorities and are considered to be highly accurate. Format (including accessibility) : Most of these resources are easily searchable, but require some added training to perform more complicated search functions. Some of these resources can be used in accessible ways. For example, EBSCO products support text-to-speech technology, provide transcripts for videos, and a few other tools to improve accessibility. The Gale In Context Series also offers text-to-speech and translation into over 20 common languages (...

One of the great struggles in maintaining a reference collection is the struggle to keep reference materials current. Riedling (2013) recommends that many reference materials be replaced after only 5 years. As the type of person who never likes to throw things out, I struggled with this idea. But it boils down to a quote from Riedling on page 21: "A good reference source is one that serves to answer questions, and a bad reference source is one that fails to answer questions." If a source is out of date, it likely won't answer all questions or, even worse, may answer them incorrectly. Reference librarians connect people with questions to sources with answers. Image care of Careers 360 . The quote by Riedling above gets to the heart of the role of the reference librarian. Be it maintaining collections, educating students, or performing reference interviews with students, we need to do our best to make sure questions are answered. But how do we do this in the age of ...

In this review, a reference work currently in the library's collection is evaluated for use in the high school setting, and a replacement is suggested and evaluated. Works are evaluated using the following rubric: Criterion Unacceptable Acceptable Exemplary Currency Published >10 years ago Published 5-10 years ago Published <5 years ago Relevancy Material is incorrect, or deals with irrelevant topics, places, or peoples. Material is factually correct, can be related to universally or locally on a broader scale. Material is accurate, deals with matters of local interest and is up to date with current information on topics of interest. Purpose Material is clearly biased – information is left out, contains deliberate misinformation and/or is attempting to sell a product. Material comes from a trusted authority and attempts are made avoid biases.  Material is made by a trusted author...