The Replace or Digitize, That Is the Question
I think a major idea for me during theme three was about whether reference materials should be available physically in book form in the library or available digitally and online for student use. As I discussed in my response post to lesson 13, both formats offer distinct advantages to the user. I’ve tried to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of both formats in the chart below using reasons gathered from arguments made in the textbook, articles from theme three additional readings, discussion board comments and blogposts:
Print Vs Digital Reference Materials
Print Reference Materials | Electronic Reference Materials | ||
Advantages | Disadvantages | Advantages | Disadvantages |
Easy for young readers to access | Need frequent replacing to keep up to date | Accessible outside of the library | Ad-heavy free reference websites |
Age-specific resources available | Underused section of the library | Accessible outside of the school | Expensive |
| Expensive to replace | Ease of information gathering (copy and paste for quoting) | Questionable authority |
| Time consuming to find information (using glossary vs. searching key word) | Infinite amount of users using the same reference source at the same time | Requires technology to access |
| Sometimes requires students to know how to search alphabetically in order to access information, use an index, etc… |
| Requires navigation skills to access and poses risks of accidentally accessing age-inapropriate content on the internet |
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| Increases students’ screentime |
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| Temptation to plagiarize is increased with the ease of copying and pasting |
In the blog post by Bonnie Swoger, she makes the case for not using either format but has decided instead to rely on journal articles and teaches students how to find information from these authoritative sources. Clearly, this cannot be applied to the K-6 students that I work with as they don’t have the computer skills, reading level or critical thinking necessary for them to make sense of these. However, even Swoger admits to having some must-haves in print format in her library for users to frequent which include, “dictionaries and thesaurus, atlas…[and the] Guiness Book of World Records” (Swoger, 2014). Based on my experiences since September as a teacher librarian, I can attest that the Guiness Book of World Records has been consistently in circulation!
https://www.geraldstiebel.com/2017/03/
Providing Options
All of the reference resources highlighted in theme three had quality equivalents available on the internet. Databases, bibliogrpahies, biogrpahies, directories, encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, almanacs, yearbooks, handbooks, maps, and atlases can be found with relative ease on the web. This was highlighted by Riedling, in each of the chapters we read, where she dedicated a section to notable online websites. She goes as far as to list wikis, blogs, photo/video sharing sites, RSS feeds, social networking sites, and podcasts as important tools for “expanding information services outside the library walls” (2019, p. 108).
Although the quality of the layout, the amount of advertisements and the associated costs all vary, a school library can curate a digital collection with relative ease offering the convenience and the accessibility of age-appropriate information from authoritative sources. It would be irresponsible for us as teacher librarians to ignore this important source of reference information for our students and we must adapt and be responsive to student research needs. Many students now require access to reference materials outside of school hours and outside of the physical library space. On the other hand, there are still plenty of reasons for keeping a few key reference items in book format (please see the above chart), and we must trust our professional judgment to make the call for when a book format is required by our student population.
Getty Images
References:
Bonnie Swoger (2014). Scientific America blog. Retrieved on November 19, 2020 from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/information-culture/why-i-done28099t-buy-print-reference-books/
Edstein Cartoon. Retrived on November 19, 2020 from https://www.geraldstiebel.com/2017/03/
Getty Images. Retrieved on November 22, 2020 from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/
Riedling, A. & Houston, C. (2019). Reference Skills for the School Librarian: Tools and Tips (4th ed.) [eBook edition]. Libraries Unlimited.
Hi Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking the same as you. There really is not fast and steady rule for digital or physical. It will come up to us to use our judgement to choose what is appropriate for our staff and students. I dread everything going online, with resources such as atlas's and dictionaries I think there is real value in teaching students search skills through these resources.
A good reflection on your key questions from Theme 3, as well as the whole course. You've done a good job discussing and outlining the pros and cons of the digital/print debate, as well as a good summary of your learning and own insight into the issue. Exploring this issue on a case by case basis can be the most responsive to your community's needs and address any gaps you have identified. A good overview of the big ideas from our last theme, but a little more discussion of some of the other topics like the Deep web can be insightful.
ReplyDeleteLuisa T.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your post. I like the clarity in the chart you made, this chart is very useful. I fully agree that one of the disadvantages of print reference resources in that they are costly to replace. Grrrrrr. It is too bad that money has to influence our decision making rather than being able to choose what we think would work best for our student group. I also fully agree with you that digital resources need to be shown to students with clear instructions on how to use them effectively. I am not in a LLC yet, but I can imagine this teaching being high on my list of what I would like to do when collaborating with intermediate teachers in particular.
Luisa T.