LME 502-Blog 2: Resources Plus and Minus

Group 2: Dominique, Gray, Harbin

In Weed ‘Em and Reap: The Art of Weeding to Avoid Criticism (2010), author Melissa Allen states, “To ensure a quality library collection, weeding is as critical as selection of new materials.” There are many things to consider when weeding a collection such as condition of material, copyright date, relevance to the curriculum, accuracy of information, and date last circulated (Allen, 2010). As Glenda Fortune quoted from Neale Donald Walsch in Out with the Old and In with the New!, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” (n.d.). Sometimes weeding can be difficult for the library media specialist. Therefore, it is important to have criteria as the basis of decisions made when weeding.

When looking at resources already removed from our current schools, we found that CD-ROMs, TVs, and printed copies of professional magazines or subscriptions seem to be the most common obsolete items amongst our comparisons. Resources on their way out are books on cassettes or CDs, DVD players, and subscriptions that have not yet gone to digital format. Cutting edge equipment seem to be things that put education and resources at each child’s fingertips. Chromebooks, iMac labs, and iPad carts seem to be more frequently provided for each student to use during a lesson. Robotics and 3D printers are also starting to make its way into the education world. In the future, streaming resources and E-books for students seem to be the focus along with STEM and robotics in the classrooms.

There are many reasons why resources are removed from a school. Equipment that is not used frequently or not easy to use may be one reason for removal. The age, functionality, and ineffectiveness of the equipment can push resources out of the school in order to be replaced by products that are user friendly, reliable, and cost effective. Some of the main inhibitors when it comes to adding resources are budget, lack of training, and buy-in from staff. Many times there is a constraint on funding in the library and allocation of monies. Staff buy-in can sometimes be a factor of resources coming into the school. Helping to change the perception of new resources and understanding the change in students from when they were in the classroom themselves is important in showing how the landscape has changed over time.

Resources

Allen, M. (2010). Weed “em and reap: The art of weeding to avoid criticism. Library Media

Connection. Retrieved 21 September 2016, from

http://public.sd38.bc.ca/~gpowell/libe461/docs/art-of-weeding.pdf

Fortune, G. (n.d.). Out With the Old and In with the New! Aoraki Slanza/National Library Christ

Church. Retrieved from

http://www.slanza.org.nz/uploads/9/7/5/5/9755821/collected_november_2013.pdf