In this class, Resource Alignment for School Librarians, we will be working through the resource alignment process developed by Karen R. Lowe as outlined in her book Resource Alignment: Providing Curriculum Support in the School Library Media Center. Resource Alignment is a library collection development process that includes collection analysis, weeding, curriculum matching, and the development of a 3-5 year library collection development plan.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
January 19 -- Shelflist Story
Please share a story from your work with your shelflist. No judgment here! We all have them.
My own story: In one of my elementary libraries I found a book about a career (I think veterinarian) dated 1952.
When going through all of the shelf list I found books that have been miss cataloged. Two books about aliens were in 516.8 (Geometry). After doing some searcing in Titlewave, I think they wanted the book in 576.8- Evolution including extraterestrial life. This mistake became very obvious when drawing the lines on the shelf list. However, it is not something that my associate or myself caught until now. Two of the interesting books I have come across so far would be the Complete CB Handbook, 1978 or Decorating your room, 1974. There are books older than this, but these were some of the intersting standout titles.
In looking at the shelf list and comparing it to my collection age, I've found certain areas where the average age was 1974, but it was the only book in that section and once I withdrew it, the average collection age for that section really jumped up. I've noticed a lot of my collection seems to have taken a standstill in the 1990s in non-fiction, I either have books copyright less than 1992 or of the newer books copyright 2005 or higher, but in between it's as if we barely ordered any new books in the 1990s in the district at my schools. We must have been buying a lot more Fiction and Easy Fiction then prior to the "nonfiction books for boys" push. As for interesting titles I am just finding that my sports books need updating as well as biographies, but the dilemma is that many of the biographies have little check out and I don't think it's because the books are dated, I just don't think I have any teachers doing a biography unit anymore and those are not the type of books the kids "flock" to for fun reading.
I'm curious about biographies - it appears in this modern age that books I think would be biographies are landing in the category in which the person/subject excelled (i.e. Lance Armstrong is in the sports, Steve Jobs is in the 300's if I remember, Einstein is in the physics, etc.) Is anyone else seeing this trend? I often wonder if the biography section will be worked into the general nonfiction.
I have noticed that some too, mainly with sports figures. I usually change them back to biography, but I will say that I think over time some of those books would get more check out in the subject area they represent. I have noticed over time that less and less teachers seem to do a "biography" report and so those books get less checkout. I've also noticed that I tend to order less "popular" biographies with money being so tight and knowing that in 2 or 3 years those books will never get checked out again without a teacher pushing a biography report. So, I tend to stick to presidents, explorers and specific people that teachers request I get books about n the hopes that they will actually use them. But I feel more could be done with the biography section and if we are starting to put more reference in the non-fiction section, why not put the books about football players with the football team books where students will actually see them and might want to check them out?
Yes, we have a choice with biographies -- to put them in a separate section or put them with the area. I can see pros and cons with both. If teachers do a "biography" unit, it helps to have the biographies all in one place. On the other hand, biographies will tend to get more check-out (for general readers) if shelved with their non-fiction area. Here again, decision depends on how your users use your collection.
Here are a few of my "gems"- Who was When? A Dictionary of Contemporaries. (1950), Bible Dictionary (1886), and Encyclopedia of Environmental Science (1974). Obviously, I need to a little weeding! I will say the Bible Dictionary is really good condition and I really hate to just get rid of it. Any ideas are welcome...
Examine the dictionary. It may still be acceptable--unless it has archaeology entries. There have been a lot of recent discoveries in this field. If the content seems current, I'd keep it.
I weed often but sometimes it takes printing off a shelf list with copyright dates and circ stats to see those "missed books". Even thought our 600's has a 2001 average copyright date, I'm still finding a few books with the copyright of 1985 on gerbils. I like the Dewey chart to help me with topics that need to be more current such as planets and space. I love having the circ stats right there too. The UFO book from 1997 that has only had 1 checkout in 3 years, probably doesn't need to be updated for students' pleasure reading.
After I highlighted my books that needed to be pulled. My 4-6th graders went on scavenger hunt to locate them on the shelves. Great way to test their knowledge while helping me out.
I have been working on the MS library. It has not been weeded in 10 years - I just added this school this year. My story is I ran our of yellow highlighter - pages of nonfiction are going to be gone. Technology from the 80's - even though I get a kick out of them the kids are not, so out they go! I have gone from approximately 13 shelves of biographies to 3. The use of the dates and looking systematically at the check out numbers helped tremendously.
This has also helped me to easily pitch books that were cataloged incorrectly. I have hundreds of titles: New York, the author is the title and the call number is the author. Easy way to weed this mess to see if I should even bother cataloging the book again. Most books are heading to the recycling pile and I don't need think about them much.
I agree with the miscataloged items. They are a surprise to find - and fun to correct to their actual Dewey classification to see if circulation will occur.
I've also noted that my electronic version of the shelf list shows an average age date that is MUCH newer than the collection actually is. I've been very puzzled - and today, as I look at the middle school collection (which has not been my emphasis), I note that many of the old copyright dates shown are in square brackets. I wonder if that allows the title to be counted toward the total number of books in the library, but the actual date does not impact the date averaging. It has to be what saved the collection from a more dire report on age. Pat
I should also mention that the MS library I am currently weeding is also going to be moved to a new school, so I need to get rid of out of date materials so that I don't have to move and then weed. I would also like the inventory to closely match when I take another inventory. Please send any advice to me that you have on moving a library, I will need any pointers that you might have. Thanks!
I've never moved a library to a new location but have had to move it to a different room when we have gotten new carpet. We always started with "Z" or "999" and put the books upside down. Then when you open the first box, it is "A" or "000"
This is my third year in the library at Nixon Elementary School, so weeding is high on my list of priorities. Several of my "old treasures" are in the fairy tale section. I was shocked to find titles with copyright years of 1947, 1949, 1954, 1959, etc. I checked them on the online Wilson catalog and they did not make the list. Some of them have a slight odor that goes along with their discolored pages. In the religion section I found a 1936 New Testament Stories book that I don't think has ever been opened. That book did not make the Wilson list either. I have enjoyed doing the highlighting process. It has made me well aware of how bad the collection needs weeding. The highlights are a very valuable piece of information to share with the principal and staff if they question why I am getting rid of so many books.
From Joyce VonGlan When I attended high school at Ar-We-Va in the 60’s, I loved to read. My favorite author was Daphne DuMaurier. In the 80’s, I accepted a teaching position at Ar-We-Va. While working on my first inventory, I was very surprised to discover that I was the last one to check out several of her novels.
I found "The internet for beginners" published in 1997! Another copy title that made me laugh, "Dinosaurs, beware! a safety guide". I am realizing although I'd weeded older books not too long ago that I have some good books that don't really fall in the curriculum areas, and perhaps are outside of student interests too and should probably be pulled. My shelves are too full and need more space so kids can find what they truly want and/or need.
I have also enjoyed highlighting my current collection and finding a lot of out of date titles. This is my third year in this job and weeding the non-fiction was high on my to-do list. I have found a bunch of books that are cataloged with the incorrect call number, so that was very helpful. My favorite title was Computers in Action from 1983.
I struggle with weeding, but did some preliminary weeding of the 600’s a couple of years ago. I decided to concentrate on science and technology so I looked at the 500’s and 600’s. I was absolutely shocked to see how lacking my library is in the science area. Over 70% of the Dewey categories listed in the 500’s did not have any books, when I include the out of date categories it jumps up to more than 80% with no information or misinformation. The 600’s fared a little better, coming in at 50% without information and nearing 70% when out of date materials are included. It looks like the 900’s have a similar situation. My biggest book surprises included three books on animals/reptiles with copyright dates in the 1930’s. At least in the 600’s there were no books older than me and only a couple with copyright dates before my graduation. This class will be very helpful to improve the quality of materials available for students in the library; hopefully I can get some funding.
I found a copy right date of 1820... I still have not gone to the shelf to see if this is the correct date. I have to admit since I am doing this electronically I often just look at the date and not the title. Our new semester started 2 weeks ago and I have not had a chance to get through all of the high lighting but I have found most of our collection is very dated and in places we do have some newer stuff but it gets lost in all of the "weeds".
I agree the highlighting makes things pretty straight forward and checking against Wilson has been a great experience. It has made me excited to work on the other sections of the library. This does really take the attachment out of the process. I have had kids already commenting about the empty shelves. I think having more room to browse the collection is going to be a benefit. One of my favorites that I pulled was Killing for Luxury... enough said.
I am still not done highlighting, have too many books! The process is a great one and even though I thought I weeded some, there is much more work to be done. These titles are popping out at me: Drug Facts from 1969, Car Care 1983, Living in Space 1981, America's Horses and Ponies 1969, Codes and Ciphers 1964, Genetic Engineering 1993. Not sure what I will focus on yet, the needs are everywhere. At least the graphic novels didn't wear out my highlighter!
Though I am weeding my 900s for purposes of this class, I am also going through my fiction section to update the spine labels that say PB to FIC. The previous librarian found the PB designation useful, but I don't. Anyway, as I browsed through the fiction section the other day, I was saying to myself how much sturdier the old cloth bookcovers are and how long they last (don't judge me - they are mostly classics!) Anyway, I pulled one out and realized it was actually deteriorating and crumbling. My new thought is to replace these sturdy old books with new ones who's covers will be more appealing (and less crumbly)!
Dictionary of American Biography in our High School reference section from (wait for it!) 1936... There are many more from other sections in the library... A 1943 copy of Mein Kampf (first edition??), 1959 copy of a Ghandi biography. And it goes on.
The high school library here is notably old; there are still some surprises, much like those you've mentioned above. There are some books so old that I think they are collectibles! Much of the shelf list has turned yellow, which is mostly dismaying in this time of limited budgets - but that issue will be discussed later in the course, I understand. My AEA has invested in eBooks, so I remain patiently watching the evolution of those with the addition of our 1:1 computers next fall. I'll focus on the print for now. The librarian listserve continues to keep the conversations lively.
I have come across quite a few books that are outdated and/or not relative to the curricular needs in the classrooms. My favorite weeded book is about photography from 1983. The section about "Photography in the Future" talks about the "new" color film. After seeing the book on my desk, a student picked it up and asked me what camera film was. Ha!
Actually not a story from finding it in my shelf list, but was returned one day by a student (not sure how it got past me when they checked it out...ha!) a book called "Your Pet Beaver". I first of all laughed at the title, but then realized who I the heck would think having a beaver as a pet would be a good idea. copyright was from the 70s.
This is a few years ago, but in an elementary collection I found a space book with the sentence, "Someday man will walk on the moon." Yikes!
ReplyDeleteWhen going through all of the shelf list I found books that have been miss cataloged. Two books about aliens were in 516.8 (Geometry). After doing some searcing in Titlewave, I think they wanted the book in 576.8- Evolution including extraterestrial life. This mistake became very obvious when drawing the lines on the shelf list. However, it is not something that my associate or myself caught until now.
ReplyDeleteTwo of the interesting books I have come across so far would be the Complete CB Handbook, 1978 or Decorating your room, 1974. There are books older than this, but these were some of the intersting standout titles.
I had a book titled The Future of Computers. The funny part was that the man on the cover had horn rimmed glasses from the 1960's.
ReplyDeleteIn looking at the shelf list and comparing it to my collection age, I've found certain areas where the average age was 1974, but it was the only book in that section and once I withdrew it, the average collection age for that section really jumped up. I've noticed a lot of my collection seems to have taken a standstill in the 1990s in non-fiction, I either have books copyright less than 1992 or of the newer books copyright 2005 or higher, but in between it's as if we barely ordered any new books in the 1990s in the district at my schools. We must have been buying a lot more Fiction and Easy Fiction then prior to the "nonfiction books for boys" push. As for interesting titles I am just finding that my sports books need updating as well as biographies, but the dilemma is that many of the biographies have little check out and I don't think it's because the books are dated, I just don't think I have any teachers doing a biography unit anymore and those are not the type of books the kids "flock" to for fun reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about biographies - it appears in this modern age that books I think would be biographies are landing in the category in which the person/subject excelled (i.e. Lance Armstrong is in the sports, Steve Jobs is in the 300's if I remember, Einstein is in the physics, etc.) Is anyone else seeing this trend? I often wonder if the biography section will be worked into the general nonfiction.
DeleteI have noticed that some too, mainly with sports figures. I usually change them back to biography, but I will say that I think over time some of those books would get more check out in the subject area they represent. I have noticed over time that less and less teachers seem to do a "biography" report and so those books get less checkout. I've also noticed that I tend to order less "popular" biographies with money being so tight and knowing that in 2 or 3 years those books will never get checked out again without a teacher pushing a biography report. So, I tend to stick to presidents, explorers and specific people that teachers request I get books about n the hopes that they will actually use them. But I feel more could be done with the biography section and if we are starting to put more reference in the non-fiction section, why not put the books about football players with the football team books where students will actually see them and might want to check them out?
DeleteYes, we have a choice with biographies -- to put them in a separate section or put them with the area. I can see pros and cons with both. If teachers do a "biography" unit, it helps to have the biographies all in one place. On the other hand, biographies will tend to get more check-out (for general readers) if shelved with their non-fiction area. Here again, decision depends on how your users use your collection.
DeleteHere are a few of my "gems"- Who was When? A Dictionary of Contemporaries. (1950), Bible Dictionary (1886), and Encyclopedia of Environmental Science (1974). Obviously, I need to a little weeding! I will say the Bible Dictionary is really good condition and I really hate to just get rid of it. Any ideas are welcome...
ReplyDeleteExamine the dictionary. It may still be acceptable--unless it has archaeology entries. There have been a lot of recent discoveries in this field. If the content seems current, I'd keep it.
DeleteI weed often but sometimes it takes printing off a shelf list with copyright dates and circ stats to see those "missed books". Even thought our 600's has a 2001 average copyright date, I'm still finding a few books with the copyright of 1985 on gerbils. I like the Dewey chart to help me with topics that need to be more current such as planets and space. I love having the circ stats right there too. The UFO book from 1997 that has only had 1 checkout in 3 years, probably doesn't need to be updated for students' pleasure reading.
ReplyDeleteAfter I highlighted my books that needed to be pulled. My 4-6th graders went on scavenger hunt to locate them on the shelves. Great way to test their knowledge while helping me out.
I like your idea for a scavenger hunt for the students! I may have to do this with my students as well!
DeleteI have been working on the MS library. It has not been weeded in 10 years - I just added this school this year. My story is I ran our of yellow highlighter - pages of nonfiction are going to be gone. Technology from the 80's - even though I get a kick out of them the kids are not, so out they go! I have gone from approximately 13 shelves of biographies to 3. The use of the dates and looking systematically at the check out numbers helped tremendously.
ReplyDeleteThis has also helped me to easily pitch books that were cataloged incorrectly. I have hundreds of titles: New York, the author is the title and the call number is the author. Easy way to weed this mess to see if I should even bother cataloging the book again. Most books are heading to the recycling pile and I don't need think about them much.
I agree with the miscataloged items. They are a surprise to find - and fun to correct to their actual Dewey classification to see if circulation will occur.
DeleteI've also noted that my electronic version of the shelf list shows an average age date that is MUCH newer than the collection actually is. I've been very puzzled - and today, as I look at the middle school collection (which has not been my emphasis), I note that many of the old copyright dates shown are in square brackets. I wonder if that allows the title to be counted toward the total number of books in the library, but the actual date does not impact the date averaging. It has to be what saved the collection from a more dire report on age. Pat
I should also mention that the MS library I am currently weeding is also going to be moved to a new school, so I need to get rid of out of date materials so that I don't have to move and then weed. I would also like the inventory to closely match when I take another inventory. Please send any advice to me that you have on moving a library, I will need any pointers that you might have. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've never moved a library to a new location but have had to move it to a different room when we have gotten new carpet. We always started with "Z" or "999" and put the books upside down. Then when you open the first box, it is "A" or "000"
DeleteThis is my third year in the library at Nixon Elementary School, so weeding is high on my list of priorities. Several of my "old treasures" are in the fairy tale section. I was shocked to find titles with copyright years of 1947, 1949, 1954, 1959, etc. I checked them on the online Wilson catalog and they did not make the list. Some of them have a slight odor that goes along with their discolored pages. In the religion section I found a 1936 New Testament Stories book that I don't think has ever been opened. That book did not make the Wilson list either. I have enjoyed doing the highlighting process. It has made me well aware of how bad the collection needs weeding. The highlights are a very valuable piece of information to share with the principal and staff if they question why I am getting rid of so many books.
ReplyDeleteFrom Joyce VonGlan
ReplyDeleteWhen I attended high school at Ar-We-Va in the 60’s, I loved to read. My favorite author was Daphne DuMaurier. In the 80’s, I accepted a teaching position at Ar-We-Va. While working on my first inventory, I was very surprised to discover that I was the last one to check out several of her
novels.
I found "The internet for beginners" published in 1997! Another copy title that made me laugh, "Dinosaurs, beware! a safety guide". I am realizing although I'd weeded older books not too long ago that I have some good books that don't really fall in the curriculum areas, and perhaps are outside of student interests too and should probably be pulled. My shelves are too full and need more space so kids can find what they truly want and/or need.
ReplyDeleteI have also enjoyed highlighting my current collection and finding a lot of out of date titles. This is my third year in this job and weeding the non-fiction was high on my to-do list. I have found a bunch of books that are cataloged with the incorrect call number, so that was very helpful. My favorite title was Computers in Action from 1983.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with weeding, but did some preliminary weeding of the 600’s a couple of years ago. I decided to concentrate on science and technology so I looked at the 500’s and 600’s. I was absolutely shocked to see how lacking my library is in the science area. Over 70% of the Dewey categories listed in the 500’s did not have any books, when I include the out of date categories it jumps up to more than 80% with no information or misinformation. The 600’s fared a little better, coming in at 50% without information and nearing 70% when out of date materials are included. It looks like the 900’s have a similar situation. My biggest book surprises included three books on animals/reptiles with copyright dates in the 1930’s. At least in the 600’s there were no books older than me and only a couple with copyright dates before my graduation. This class will be very helpful to improve the quality of materials available for students in the library; hopefully I can get some funding.
ReplyDeleteI found a copy right date of 1820... I still have not gone to the shelf to see if this is the correct date. I have to admit since I am doing this electronically I often just look at the date and not the title. Our new semester started 2 weeks ago and I have not had a chance to get through all of the high lighting but I have found most of our collection is very dated and in places we do have some newer stuff but it gets lost in all of the "weeds".
ReplyDeleteI agree the highlighting makes things pretty straight forward and checking against Wilson has been a great experience. It has made me excited to work on the other sections of the library. This does really take the attachment out of the process. I have had kids already commenting about the empty shelves. I think having more room to browse the collection is going to be a benefit.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites that I pulled was Killing for Luxury... enough said.
I am still not done highlighting, have too many books! The process is a great one and even though I thought I weeded some, there is much more work to be done. These titles are popping out at me: Drug Facts from 1969, Car Care 1983, Living in Space 1981, America's Horses and Ponies 1969, Codes and Ciphers 1964, Genetic Engineering 1993. Not sure what I will focus on yet, the needs are everywhere. At least the graphic novels didn't wear out my highlighter!
ReplyDeleteI found a 1937 copy of "And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street" by Dr. Seuss! Need I say more??!!
ReplyDeleteIs it a 1st ed.? If so, it might be worth $ on eBay or Amazon!
DeleteThough I am weeding my 900s for purposes of this class, I am also going through my fiction section to update the spine labels that say PB to FIC. The previous librarian found the PB designation useful, but I don't. Anyway, as I browsed through the fiction section the other day, I was saying to myself how much sturdier the old cloth bookcovers are and how long they last (don't judge me - they are mostly classics!) Anyway, I pulled one out and realized it was actually deteriorating and crumbling. My new thought is to replace these sturdy old books with new ones who's covers will be more appealing (and less crumbly)!
ReplyDeleteDictionary of American Biography in our High School reference section from (wait for it!) 1936... There are many more from other sections in the library... A 1943 copy of Mein Kampf (first edition??), 1959 copy of a Ghandi biography. And it goes on.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
The high school library here is notably old; there are still some surprises, much like those you've mentioned above. There are some books so old that I think they are collectibles! Much of the shelf list has turned yellow, which is mostly dismaying in this time of limited budgets - but that issue will be discussed later in the course, I understand. My AEA has invested in eBooks, so I remain patiently watching the evolution of those with the addition of our 1:1 computers next fall. I'll focus on the print for now. The librarian listserve continues to keep the conversations lively.
ReplyDeleteI have come across quite a few books that are outdated and/or not relative to the curricular needs in the classrooms. My favorite weeded book is about photography from 1983. The section about "Photography in the Future" talks about the "new" color film. After seeing the book on my desk, a student picked it up and asked me what camera film was. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story -- and reason for weeding!
DeleteActually not a story from finding it in my shelf list, but was returned one day by a student (not sure how it got past me when they checked it out...ha!) a book called "Your Pet Beaver". I first of all laughed at the title, but then realized who I the heck would think having a beaver as a pet would be a good idea. copyright was from the 70s.
ReplyDelete