Reference Resources - The Print and Digital Balance.

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One of the over-arching issues from this final theme seems to me that as school librarians we are constantly juggling cost and currency. Budgets are fickle creatures and we cannot rely on them from year to year – so where do we spend money? Riedling et al (2013) also note that primary age students often rely on print reference more than intermediate due to the difficulty in navigating online sources. I would argue that the same goes for English Language Learners. However, print resources are often more expensive than digital and often quickly outdated. Digital databases are more easily kept current, and in fact, many publishers no longer publish print encyclopedias (a fact of which I was not aware before reading more about encyclopedias in Lesson 11). My conclusion is that we should use the digital encyclopedia sources with students regularly. While at the same time, allowing space in the print collection for specialty encyclopedias on specific topics. In Assignment 3, I also explored the potential of a subscription online database that may work for younger learners - PebbleGo.

One of favourite topics in Lesson 11, was learning about the vetting processes of Wikipedia - I was surprised at how rigorous it is. Of course, Wikipedia still needs to be treated with due caution, but like many in our weekly discussion, I agree with the opinion article by Christopher Harris in School Library Journal that we need to ‘make peace’ with Wikipedia and teach students how to use it responsibly rather than reject it altogether. The likelihood that crowd-sourced encyclopedias are here to stay is fairly high and we need to find a way to work with them rather than against them.

Lesson 12, highlighted a similar dilemma. Print dictionaries and thesauri can be expensive and class sets occupy a significant amount of physical space. However, the act of looking for words and using alphabetic knowledge is often argued to be an important skill. I know that my grade three class enjoys using our class set of dictionaries to look for the meaning of the weekly spelling words. Many of my English Language Learners will often happily read the large picture dictionary during free choice. They sit close to a friend and determinedly sound out words together, often bringing it to me when they are unsure of a particular word. The same experience just does not seem to occur with the online dictionaries. However, when we are in the middle of a lesson and a student cannot find a word in our class dictionary, we instantly turn to Merriam Webster Online and it rarely fails us. Indeed, while writing this blog post, I have used Collins Thesaurus several times. I believe that full class sets of dictionaries and thesauri are no longer necessary however every classroom and library learning commons should still have multiple options available.

Short and long term planning is necessary to developing a reference collection that serves the school community. Having a short and long term budget outline allows for the purchasing of print and digital references in a way that is sustainable and keeps the collection relevant. However, it means nothing if the reference collection sits unused. In Assignment 3, I looked closely at the digital collection at my school and planned ways to promote its value to staff and students. Direct instruction is important as well as making the resources easy to access and visually prominent in the library learning commons. It is also important to give teachers examples of what collaboration can “look like”. My school has only recently received more time for collaboration and many teachers have not experienced the potential of collaborating with the teacher-librarian. I believe that communicating the learning taking place in the library learning commons through word of mouth, a website and perhaps even a digital newsletter, will hopefully create excitement and motivation for collaboration.

Image from https://tscpl.org/news/why-libraries-matter-in-the-age-of-google

 The librarian will always be the most valuable reference resource in the library because ultimately I do not believe that there will ever be entirely digital or print collections. What will the balance be? It comes back to what Riedling et al (2013, p.25) lists as the important considerations when selecting reference materials:

1.     Knowledge of the school community and study body

2.     Ongoing collaboration and consultation with teachers

3.     Keeping track of reading and research requests

I would add that it also requires managing a fluctuating annual budget and also taking time to truly examine the current collection (which we have thankfully had the opportunity to do in this course). Print and digital reference resources both have their strengths and weaknesses and I have no doubt that in every elementary, secondary and public library, the balances looks different. All I know for sure is that, the challenge of finding that balance between print and digital, is one that I can't wait to tackle.

References

Harris, C (2007). Can we make peace with Wikipedia? School Library Journal. Accessed April 2nd, 2018 from https://www.slj.com/2007/06/technology/can-we-make-peace-with-wikipedia/#_

Riedling, A. M., Houston, C., and Shake, L. (2013) Reference Skills for the School Librarian Tools and Tips. Santa Barbara: Linworth