Managing Information Resources: Selecting, Organizing, Using

Selection of materials for a school library is one of a Media Specialist's most important tasks. In designing the "Selection and Evaluation of Materials" chart, I used professional evaluation journals and online sources such as Booklist and the American Library Association Notable Books lists. These reviews were analyzed in an attempt to determine if the materials met the standards for authority, currency, price, timeliness, validity, accuracy, and bias. Included in the selection chart were fiction and non-fiction multicultural materials in print, non-print and electronic formats for a high school curriculum. 19 Varieties of Gazelle was selected because it contains poetry about Arab Americans and the Middle East. For a study of World War II , Holocaust, The Death Camps was selected. Icons of Photography would fit into an arts curriculum and a DVD titled A History of Science addresses several sub-curricular areas in that field. For fiction readers, Son of the Mob presents the daughter of an FBI agent dating a boy whose dad is the mob boss. Since the materials in the chart were selected and evaluated using professional selection tools and evaluation criteria and were designed to meet diverse curricular and personal needs, this artifact meets the Acceptable level for the objective.

Selection & Evaluation of Materials