Resource description and school libraries: A reflection

Ideas and issues: Cataloguing materials in school libraries

Studies in this subject have taught me the importance of effective organisation in school libraries. While, in theory this appears to be a straightforward, an indeed obvious concept, in practice, it is much more complex. Metadata standardisation, description specificity, access and resource arrangement all play a huge part in ensuring that school library users are able to complete the user tasks (Hider & Association, 2013) to effectively obtain or navigate the resources they require. School libraries present unique challenges in regard to information organisation and resource cataloguing, namely, ensuring practices remain relevant to best meet the needs of staff, student and community users (Chadwick, 2015; Hider & Association, 2013). Successful information retrieval largely depends on the quality of the bibliographic records made available to users via the library catalogue (Chadwick, 2015; Hider & Harvey, 2008; Mitchell, 2013).

New understandings

The greatest challenge I have encountered throughout this subject has been in learning and applying the Resource Description for Access, School Catalogue Information Service Subject Heading and Dewey Decimal Classification standards. The guidelines and conventions of each (Dewey, 2011; SCIS, 2016, 2017) and their application to resource description with any semblance of correct usage has required an intensive level of study and practise, making it very much like learning a new language. However, as a new teacher librarian it has been satisfying to gain a preliminary understanding of how and why these standards are used. More importantly, my work in completing the subject modules and assignments has led me to understand that quality resource description considers not only the resource content, but the needs of the user and the intended user context. The relationship between these factors is what supports effective information discovery by school library users.

Future of description and organisation of materials in school libraries

In a rapidly evolving information landscape (Combes, 2008; Floridi, 2007), one should assume that users will continue to drive description and organisation practices in school libraries. For example, there has been an increase in the addition of user generated tagging and inclusion of reader reviews within library catalogues (Hider & Association, 2013). This practice, whilst not standardised in nature, can encourage user interaction with the catalogue and thus create a sense of shared ownership. Therefore, in my view, teacher librarians should encourage such practices. This not only goes to making library catalogues competitive with web search engines such as Google, but to assist in developing a sense of community within the physical and virtual library space.

In the future, greater consideration should be placed on how to arrange resources within the library space to encourage increased engagement and usage (Digital_Promise, 2016). For example, Susan Davenport has led a process of genrefication within the fiction section of the Radford College Years 5-12 library, which has been met with enthusiasm by the students. By arranging titles by genre and then author surname, students are better able to find, identify and select the books they wish to read(Davenport, 2017). This practice is much more in line with how modern school-age users choose what books to read, with a greater emphasis on genre and subject and less on author. Practices such as these encourage effective access to resources within the school community (Mitchell, 2013).

References:

Chadwick, B. (2015). SCIS is more. Connections, Issue 92. Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_92/regular_features/92scis_is_more.html

Combes, B. (2008). Challenges for teacher librarianship in the 21st century: Part 1 – Technology. Connections, Issue 66. Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_66/challenges_for_teacher_librarianship_pt1.html

Davenport, S. (2017). Genrefying the fiction collection. Connections(102). Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_102/articles/genrefying_the_fiction_collection.html

Dewey, M. (2011). Dewey decimal classification and relative index (J. S. Mitchell, J. Beall, R. Green, G. Martin, & M. Panzer Eds. 23 ed. Vol. 1-4). Dublin, Ohio: Online Computer Library Center.

Digital Promise. (2016). The new librarian: Leaders in the digital age. Connections, Issue 96. Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_96/feature_article/the_new_librarian.html

Floridi, L. (2007). A Look into the Future Impact of ICT on Our Lives. The Information Society, 23(1), 59-64. doi:10.1080/01972240601059094

Hider, P. (2012). Information resource description: Creating and managing metadata. Retrieved from EBSCOhost, CSU Library.

Hutchinson, E. (2017). Navigating the information landscape through collaboration. Connections, Issue 101. Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_101/articles/navigating_the_information_landscape.html

Mitchell, P. (2013). The future of the school library catalogue. Connections(87). Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_87_2013/articles/the_future_of_the_school_library_catalogue.html

School Catalogue Information Service (SCIS). (2017). SCIS standards for cataloguing and data entry. Education Services Australia. Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/cataloguing_standards.html

SCIS. (2016a). Overview and principles of SCIS subject headings. Education Services Australia. Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/cataloguing_standards.html

SCIS. (2016b). Guidelines to using SCIS subject headings. Education Services Australia, Retrieved from SCIS website: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/cataloguing_standards.html