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Library Collections are not Neutral

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  Hi All, In reviewing Theme 3, Reference Materials, I was struck by three ideas: the importance of the online world to a library’s collection, the importance of having collection resources in multiple formats and serving multiple purposes, and the importance of examining the biases of the library collection itself. Let’s examine the importance of the online world to our libraries. Some databases available through B.C. Digital Classroom are EBSCOhost (grades 4-8), EBSCOhost image search, EBSCOhost EBook collection, the Funk and Wagnalis New World Encyclopedia, Masterfile (with the full text of nearly 1700 periodicals), Explora Primary and Secondary, Consumer Health Complete, and NoveList K-8 Plus. This is far more information than could ever be housed in a school library. Moreover, as Richard pointed out in his notes, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He states “That there are 500 billion web pages (only 1/500 of that accessible by a typical search engine search)” (course ...
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Reference Service Improvement Plan

  Analysis of Reference Services In “Reference Skills for the School Librarian”, Riedling states that “The purpose of reference and information service is to align information to flow efficiently from information sources to those who need it” (Riedling, 3). Yet factual information isn’t flowing in the Westview library. Only 27% of the library resources circulated this year have been non-fiction. Some categories, such as Language or Religion, have had virtually no resources circulated. Dewey Decimal Range % of Resources Circulated 0-100 1.99% 100-199 0.39% 200-299 0.01% 300-399 2.69% 400-499 0.02% 500-599 15.55% 600-699 3.49% 700-799 28.87% Not included in the total of non-fiction resources circulated as most of these were fictional graphic novels. 800-899 0.6...
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