Evaluation of a Reference Resource

Assignment 1: Evaluation of a Reference Work

PART 1

Reference Resource Evaluation

Biographical source:

Hacker, Carlotta. 

The Book of Canadians. An Illustrated Guide to Who Did What.

Hurtig Publishers. Edmonton, Alberta (1983).

Scope: This print reference is, according to the back cover blurb, ‘the first dictionary of Canadian biography ever written especially for young people’. It does include an impressive variety of entries spanning over 1000 years of Canadians in an array of fields such as art, exploration, politics, sports and music. Some women are noted however there are still a majority of entries for white males. There were no updates to this publication and obviously no entries after the early 1980s regarding more recent achievements of notable Canadians. While the historical biographies have brief summaries that cover the most notable achievements, Canadians who are still living like David Suzuki, have entries that do not address more recent events. There are very few entries for Canadians of different ethnicities.

Relevancy:

The print is small and close-set which may be hard for some readers who are not confident scanners of information. The photos are black and white with some included in colour. The overall style of the book is older and not visually appealing for today’s learner.

Accuracy, Authority & Bias:

Carlotta Hacker is a noted historian and author of children’s educational texts. ‘The Book of Canadians’ received a very favourable evaluation from CM Reviews in 1984, which can be found here http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol12no4/bookofcanadian.html (Accessed Feb 4th, 2018). She does a good job of referencing Canadians from many different spheres and she writes in a clear and straightforward style. There is some effort to include First People’s biographies, however the outdated term ‘Indian’ is used throughout.

Arrangement & Presentation:

Over 700 biographical entries are organized alphabetically and there is an index at the back of the book for referencing specific people. Photos and illustrations are well sized but predominantly black and white. The cover illustrations are hand-drawn and dated. The text font size is small and somewhat overwhelming for an English Language Learner as there are no sub-headings or text boxes to highlight important facts. An asterisk beside a name is used to indicate that there is another entry for the person mentioned. The entries are not categorized in any way and it makes it difficult to look for biographies in certain fields unless you know the name of the person.

Currency:

This resource was published in 1983 and has not had any recent updated versions. Therefore, this 24-year old book is well past the recommended guidelines for replacing reference materials (Riedling, p. 24) which is 10 years for print history sources. The SD36 Teacher-Librarian Handbook does say however that for biographies specifically, we can ‘keep those that are outstanding in style or content as long as they are useful’ (p.23)

Curricular Connections:

The New BC Curriculum for Social Studies does not address a need for students to know famous Canadians specifically however, I am sure that there would be an indirect need for Canadian biographies from Grade 4 onwards as the Social Studies curriculum addresses ‘the history of the local community and of Local First Peoples communities’ (BC New Curriculum, Social Studies). In addition, Riedling (2013) notes that ‘Students require biographies for research purposes, for general information needs, as well as to satisfy their personal curiosity’ (p.52)

Space:

This resource is a one-volume publication that does not occupy a significant amount of space in the physical collection.

Rubric for Evaluation (Print & Digital):

	Not Meeting Standard	Meeting Standard	Exceeding Standard
Scope	Information outdated and may have omissions. Content is irrelevant to the school community. Little or no connections to the curriculum. Little or no information about First Peoples knowledge and indigenous ways of learning (where applicable).	Information is related to the purpose of the reference resource. Content is relevant to the school community. Some connections to the curriculum. Some references to First Peoples knowledge and indigenous ways of learning (where applicable).	Broad and detailed amount of information related to the purpose of the reference resource. Content is specifically relevant and of interest to the school community. Direct connections to the curriculum, across many grade levels. First Peoples knowledge and indigenous ways of learning are included and linked to the content (where applicable).
Accuracy & Authority	Little known about the publisher. Not reviewed by independent sources. Contains advertising or links to a sponsored agenda.	Well-known publisher. Good reviews from independent sources. Unbiased coverage regarding controversial issues.	Highly regarded, well-known publisher. Excellent reviews from independent sources. Objective, balanced and extensive coverage of controversial issues.
Arrangement & Presentation	Content is overwhelming and difficult to search. Text is small and illustrations are unappealing. May be missing index or contents table.	Content is well organized. Text is easy to read, with clear headings and sub-headings. Clear index or contents table. Visually appealing photos or illustrations.	Content is logically organized and arranged in an easy to read and visually appealing manner. Photos or illustrations are useful and support the main ideas. Videos and/or audio files included.
Currency	Publication date is older than 5-10 years.	Publication date is less than 5 years old. Information is regularly updated and monitored by publisher (digital).	Published in the last 2 years. Information is regularly updated and monitored by publisher (digital).
Accessibility & Diversity	No information from different cultural perspectives. Text is inappropriate reading level for the school population. Little or no diversity in gender roles or identity shown (if applicable).	Includes information from different cultural perspectives. Text is the appropriate reading level for the school population. Diversity in gender roles & identity is addressed (if applicable).	Includes an extensive amount of information from different cultural perspectives and possibly even multiple languages. Text is accessible to a range of reading levels. Diversity in gender roles & identity is celebrated (if applicable).

*Evaluation Criteria taken from Riedling p. 22-23, ERAC Guide and the Surrey SD36 TL Handbook

Conclusion:

Although this was once a well-reviewed and useful reference text, I have come to the conclusion that this reference source is no longer suitable or necessary for Holly Elementary Learning Commons. The style and presentation of the book is difficult for ELL students to navigate and the black and white pictures and small text are not visually appealing. The lack of cultural diversity represented in the biographies demands a more recently published resource.

PART 2

After an extensive search did not turn up any print reference sources that have been published since 2008, I believe that we are overdue for a newer work to be published. In the collection, there is currently a print reference work titled ‘The Kids Book of Great Canadians’ (Elizabeth Macleod) that was published in 2008 and received the following satisfactory review from CM Reviews here http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol12/no10/thekidsbookofgreatcanadians.html

However, this is still a ten-year old resource. Consequently, I would hold off from purchasing any print resources for the time being and rely on the digital resource outlined below. I would make note of the need for a new reference resource and be on the lookout for one that addresses Canadian biographies in manner that is accessible for younger students and English Language Learners. In the mean time, I spent some time researching digital resources that are available. Surrey School District subscribes to GALE Canada in Context, which is a fantastic digital subscription for older students Grade 8-12. For students aged Grade 4 and up, the free online resource of the Canadian Encyclopedia is a more accessible resource.

Historica Canada – The Canadian Encyclopedia website

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/

According to the website, The Canadian Encyclopedia is non-partisan and apolitical. It is not affiliated with any government or political party. It is a not-for-profit organization that is funded by Canada Heritage. It is an ERAC approved website and the entries are clearly labeled with the individual authors. There is a fact box on each page that includes the ‘Publication Date’ and ‘Last Edited Date’. All entries are provided in English and French.

This website is easy to navigate and the search window is prominantly located. Entries are broadly categorized into four areas ‘Events, People, Places and Things’ and then further separated into more specific categories. There are many interactive features such as audio files, videos, timelines, maps, photos and hyperlinks to related entries. It is a visually appealing and clear website.

There is also an Indigenous Peoples Collection that addresses historical events as well as Indigenous authors, musicians, artists, actors and community leaders.

I have evaluated this resource using the same rubric as above:

	Not Meeting Standard	Meeting Standard	Exceeding Standard
Scope	Information outdated and may have omissions. Content is irrelevant to the school community. Little or no connections to the curriculum. Little or no information about First Peoples knowledge and indigenous ways of learning (where applicable).	Information is related to the purpose of the reference resource. Content is relevant to the school community. Some connections to the curriculum. Some references to First Peoples knowledge and indigenous ways of learning (where applicable).	Broad and detailed amount of information related to the purpose of the reference resource. Content is specifically relevant and of interest to the school community. Direct connections to the curriculum, across many grade levels. First Peoples knowledge and indigenous ways of learning are included and linked to the content (where applicable).
Accuracy & Authority	Little known about the publisher. Not reviewed by independent sources. Contains advertising or links to a sponsored agenda.	Well-known publisher. Good reviews from independent sources. Unbiased coverage regarding controversial issues.	Highly regarded, well-known publisher. Excellent reviews from independent sources. Objective, balanced and extensive coverage of controversial issues.
Arrangement & Presentation	Content is disorganized and difficult to search. Text is small and illustrations are unappealing. May be missing index or contents table.	Content is well organized. Text is easy to read, with clear headings and sub-headings. Clear index or contents table. Visually appealing photos or illustrations.	Content is logically organized and arranged in an easy to read and visually appealing manner. Photos or illustrations are useful and support the main ideas. Videos and/or audio files included.
Currency	Publication date is older than 5-10 years.	Publication date is less than 5 years old. Information is regularly updated and monitored by publisher (digital).	Published in the last 2 years. Information is regularly updated and monitored by publisher (digital).
Accessibility & Diversity	No information from different cultural perspectives. Text is inappropriate reading level for the school population. No diversity in gender roles or identity shown (if applicable).	Includes information from different cultural perspectives. Text is the appropriate reading level for the school population. Diversity in gender roles & identity is addressed (if applicable).	Includes an extensive amount of information from different cultural perspectives and possibly even multiple languages. Text is accessible to a range of reading levels. Diversity in gender roles & identity is celebrated (if applicable).

This is an excellent digital resource and is appropriate for student and teacher use for all aspects related to Canadian history and biographies. I intend to introduce it to students and guide them through the process of using it for research projects as well as personal interest. I will also highlight it to teachers so that they are aware it is an approved resource that they can use in their classrooms.

References:

Riedling, Ann. (2013). Reference Skills for the School Librarian. Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth.

New BC curriculum website

School District 36 (Surrey) Teacher-Librarian Handbook (2007) – By committee. Accessed from http://bctf.ca/bctla/pub/documents/2008/TLHandbookSurrey.pdf

(July 2017).

 A Curated List of Websites for Classroom Use to Save You Time (ERAC). Accessed from https://news.bcerac.ca/curated-list-of-websites-for-classroom-use-saving-you-time/ (Feb 3, 2018).