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ERIC Number: ED267775
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1986-Jan
Pages: 19
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Collection Mapping in School Library Media Centers.
Ho, May Lein; Loertscher, David
This study was conducted to field-test collection mapping as an evaluation technique, to determine collection standards against which individual schools could compare themselves, and to compare the collections in schools to nationally-recommended lists published by Brodart and Wilson. Questionnaires were sent to 120 library media specialists in elementary, junior high, and high schools in 11 states. A total of 68 (37 elementary, 10 junior high, and 21 high schools) respondents provided sufficient data to be included. Survey areas included grade levels and number of students, total number of library media materials (categorized by Dewey Decimal System), and number of materials in both general and specific emphasis areas. Analysis of the data indicates that: (1) the average collection size ranged from 8,372 for elementary schools to 18,306 in high schools; (2) the greatest number of elementary schools (14) were in the range of 16 to 23.9 items per student as compared with the national recommended standard of 40 items per student; (3) 431 emphasis collections covering 134 discrete topics were identified; and (4) collections related to social science, reading, and literature predominated. Findings also indicate that school library media specialists build different collections from those recommended by national lists, and it is recommended that these lists be re-examined in light of current school curriculums. It is concluded that collection mapping is a viable and effective technique for collection analysis and management. Examples of collection maps and charts generated by a computer program written for this project in BASIC and a list of references are provided. (JB)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Media Staff; Researchers; Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A