Reflection Lesson 5, Hands On Resource Selection Criteria

I chose four items from the public library to comment on. Each item was found catalogued under ‘snakes’ in the junior non-fiction section. Criteria used for assessment was from the Ministry of Education resource guide checklists. I was then able to briefly review each item under the categories of Content, Instructional Design, Technical Design, and Social Considerations. Because I am working at Elementary level, and because I chose a concrete subject as snakes, much of the information I was looking at were basic facts. I found that the Instructional Design of the resources drove much of my criticism. Some of the resources were visually confusing and not engaging and the videos I found were appalling.

After reading comments and reviews by other students I realized that I am not nearly tough enough. I am going to have to get a lot freer in weeding items. I think this will be easier to do when I have a collection that I am familiar with and know what the collection development plan is for the library. I was trying to chose resources from a public library without really having a clear understanding of the collection. If an item is the only resource in a needed curricular area it must be kept until something is purchased to replace it. Overall, I did find that many VHS tapes are weed feed. If not for content, then for film quality.