Exploring of an atlas in my library…
Two grade 6/7 classes in my school are doing a unit in social studies on identity, society and culture: comparing Canada with other countries and came to the library for resources. (https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/social_studies/2006ssk7_6.pdf p.41) I first went to our various country books. 5 out of 13 countries chosen by students were represented by print books in the library ranging in dates from 1974 to our most current country book of 2003. Next stop was the reference area to delve into our world atlases. We have six world Atlases (1979, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2010) on our shelves. According to Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada, reference atlases should be five years old at most. Thus, it is an easy weeding of five of the six atlases. My best/most current reference to offer two classes of 27 students is one copy of National Geographic Kids Our World (2010).
It cost a mere $15.00 to purchase and would be appropriate for grades 4-7. National Geographic is a reputable publisher for geographic references. This atlas has 115 pages of full-size colour maps (physical and political), data, essays about the world, quick facts, flags of 194 countries, and lots of intriguing images all in a nice size book. I feel the scale in this atlas is effective and appropriate for my student population and the index is solid. The book gives a quick snapshot of a country, a continent and includes outside websites. It does have a National geographic website intended to extend learning and allow a person to explore further. The website is supposed to match the book so that the user can search by page number or map and find the corresponding video, photo, games, or audio. However, newer editions of the book have since been printed and the icons/page numbers are useless in matching to the website. Also unfortunate, the book does not open flat and so some maps span over two pages leaving information unreadable in the centre at the binding.
Looking at the quality and usefulness of this reference book in terms of relevancy, currency, curricular connections, efficient use of library space, and purpose will demonstrate the value of this reference in meeting a user’s informational needs. An atlas is simply a book of maps containing a variety of information on the said area including pictures and/or tables and charts. It gives geographical answers and knowledge of the world around us and thus is a needed resource in a library. A world atlas allows for a more in depth understanding of geography. It is a needed reference in a library to increase learning of a specific area, country, and the world and our place in it. Use of an atlas is needed for elementary curricular areas such as social studies-human and physical environment and language arts-reading different materials for a purpose. One mere book, which is found in our small reference section, is so extremely small that efficient use of library space does not even need to come into question. This world atlas is recommended for grades 3-7 (although vocabulary in it would be challenging for grade threes), enjoyable, readable, only accessible for one student at a time, but gives information needed by the user through engaging, colourful, and informative clear maps. A student can use this reference book to gain a snapshot view of a country or find data on a country to compare with other countries so fills the needs of one student.
Rubric for National Geographic Kids Edition World Atlas:
Two grade 6/7 classes in my school are doing a unit in social studies on identity, society and culture: comparing Canada with other countries and came to the library for resources. (https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/social_studies/2006ssk7_6.pdf p.41) I first went to our various country books. 5 out of 13 countries chosen by students were represented by print books in the library ranging in dates from 1974 to our most current country book of 2003. Next stop was the reference area to delve into our world atlases. We have six world Atlases (1979, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2010) on our shelves. According to Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada, reference atlases should be five years old at most. Thus, it is an easy weeding of five of the six atlases. My best/most current reference to offer two classes of 27 students is one copy of National Geographic Kids Our World (2010).
It cost a mere $15.00 to purchase and would be appropriate for grades 4-7. National Geographic is a reputable publisher for geographic references. This atlas has 115 pages of full-size colour maps (physical and political), data, essays about the world, quick facts, flags of 194 countries, and lots of intriguing images all in a nice size book. I feel the scale in this atlas is effective and appropriate for my student population and the index is solid. The book gives a quick snapshot of a country, a continent and includes outside websites. It does have a National geographic website intended to extend learning and allow a person to explore further. The website is supposed to match the book so that the user can search by page number or map and find the corresponding video, photo, games, or audio. However, newer editions of the book have since been printed and the icons/page numbers are useless in matching to the website. Also unfortunate, the book does not open flat and so some maps span over two pages leaving information unreadable in the centre at the binding.
Looking at the quality and usefulness of this reference book in terms of relevancy, currency, curricular connections, efficient use of library space, and purpose will demonstrate the value of this reference in meeting a user’s informational needs. An atlas is simply a book of maps containing a variety of information on the said area including pictures and/or tables and charts. It gives geographical answers and knowledge of the world around us and thus is a needed resource in a library. A world atlas allows for a more in depth understanding of geography. It is a needed reference in a library to increase learning of a specific area, country, and the world and our place in it. Use of an atlas is needed for elementary curricular areas such as social studies-human and physical environment and language arts-reading different materials for a purpose. One mere book, which is found in our small reference section, is so extremely small that efficient use of library space does not even need to come into question. This world atlas is recommended for grades 3-7 (although vocabulary in it would be challenging for grade threes), enjoyable, readable, only accessible for one student at a time, but gives information needed by the user through engaging, colourful, and informative clear maps. A student can use this reference book to gain a snapshot view of a country or find data on a country to compare with other countries so fills the needs of one student.
Rubric for National Geographic Kids Edition World Atlas:
Not Meeting
|
Meeting
|
Exceeding
|
|
Purpose
|
Little or no connections to the curriculum, accessible for one user
|
Most of the material supports curriculum standards for
some grades 2-7, searchable with guidance, accessible for more than
one user (e.g. if print – have more than one copy)
|
Fits needs of intended
audience (many Gr. 2-7 curricular connections) snapshot of a country, data
and maps of country, accessible for many students to use at once, easily
searchable
|
Publisher
|
Neither respected nor well
known reputation
|
Good reputation
|
Well respected,
reputation well known for quality geographic materials, credible authors and
editor
|
Currency
|
More than 5
years old
|
0-5 years old, not updated yearly, majority of material is current
|
Includes changes in today’s world, updated every year, current
content, provides date of latest update or most current edition
|
Format
|
Print only,
vocabulary difficult, poorly organized, appropriate for a limited audience only
|
Audience friendly for several grades, easy to read, layout clear
|
Grade 2-7 audience friendly, easy to read, pictures, clear site/book layout,
strong organization of web design/book, flexibility
|
Content
|
Little information, limited
access, not user friendly, maps/scales/indexes not clear
|
comprehensive,
easy-to-use educational resource
|
24/7 information access, scale is appropriate for Grades 2-7, maps
are clear, colouful and informative, comprehensive and user friendly index,
table of contents
|
Although this book is of a reputable
company and would be a good print reference for its purpose. It is outdated, does not have an extensive flexibility
to cover more curriculum, and only one student can access it while at school. An outdated atlas, no matter how colourful and
full of data, is of little use when it has not kept up with the changing world. Having one print atlas does not meet the
needs to service a full class of up to 30 children nor is it much help to my teaching
community.
Potential
replacement atlas……….
My job as a Teacher Librarian is
to provide access to materials in all formats, as well as to provide
instruction and resources that reflect the current information
environment. With students preferring
electronic resources over print, the ease of many students at a time being able
to access an electronic reference 24/7, and for the best chance at keeping pace
with the ever changing world I have looked at internet sources to replace my
library’s print world atlas. I, as the
Teacher Librarian, need to help students learn the art of skillful researching
from print or from on line resources. Potential replacements for my sole world
atlas in the library are the following free sites:
This site has colour physical and political maps, facts and statistics
on countries of the world. Not a paid
site so contains advertisements.
Viewing of maps.
This site has online maps about Canada's
environment, society, economy and history.
This site has colour physical maps, facts, and
statistics on countries of the world.
Not a paid site so contains advertisements.
Students require time and know how to evaluate and practice
determining relevance of the information in front of them. They need to be able to cite their research
to prove authority or credibility of an online database. Therefore, I decided it was best to have a reliable,
vetted database which would also be free of advertisements. The American Association of School Libraries (http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/program-guidelines) provides
research and information on online reference databases and one can find
information about my chosen on line replacement atlas in CULTUREGRAMS. Culturegrams
is an online database from ProQuest and the Kids Edition and Provinces
Edition would be perfectly suited for grade 2-7. Its website boasts that, “CultureGrams™ is
the leading primary source reference for concise, reliable, and up-to-date
cultural information on the countries of the world. It goes beyond mere facts
and figures to deliver an insider's perspective on daily life and culture,
including the history, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people. CultureGrams provides vetted, quick-reference information
on countries around the world via an easy to use, reasonably attractive web
interface. The children’s edition is a popular resource for school projects,
and contains information spanning the geography, history, culture, and
demographics of each country.” It has
links to slideshows, videos, a photo gallery, interviews, data, maps, distance
calculations, world averages, currency and much, much more. Information is easily navigable and there are
content tools to guide you around the site. Tables and graphs can be made on the site
comparing one country with up to 9 other countries in terms of such things as population
to life expectancy.
This new resource will greatly add to our library collection. Again, looking at the quality and usefulness of this online Reference in terms of purpose, relevancy, currency, curricular connections and efficient use of library space will show the value of this resource. It meets criteria for our school’s needs in all areas at an exceeding level. Having a reference book on line allows students to seek information with more efficiency and it definitely provides a springboard for an inquiry based approach in learning. It fits with current Social Studies, Math, Science and Language Arts learning outcomes and allows flexibility in direction of learning for students which will work with our new curriculum. The site has teacher lessons and this resource would be accessible to the entire student and teaching population. Reports are reviewed and updates are done twice a year to ensure current and correct information. I like that Culturegrams gives a two week free trial period as it is allowing time for some colleagues to check it out and give input on the program’s worth. Our library is host to three desktop computers and four laptops meaning the resource is an efficient use of library space. There are an additional four carts of laptops for signing out across the hall. Adding this digital reference item takes up zero space of our current library. The site comes recommended to me by a veteran teacher librarian.
Rubric for Culturegrams:
Not Meeting
|
Meeting
|
Exceeding
|
|
Purpose
|
Little or no connections to the curriculum, accessible for one user
|
Most of the material supports
curriculum standards for some grades 2-7, searchable with guidance,
accessible for more than one user (e.g. if print – have more than one copy)
|
Fits needs of intended audience (many Gr. 2-7 curricular
connections) snapshot of a country, data and maps of country, accessible for
many students to use at once, easily searchable
|
Publisher
|
Neither respected nor well
known reputation
|
Good reputation
|
Well respected,
reputation well known
for quality geographic materials, credible authors and editor
|
Currency
|
More than 5 years old
|
0-5 years old, not updated yearly, majority of material is current
|
Includes changes in
today’s world, updated every year, current content, provides date of latest
update or most current edition
|
Format
|
Print only, vocabulary difficult, poorly organized, appropriate for a
limited audience only
|
Audience friendly for several grades, easy to read, layout clear
|
Grade 2-7 audience
friendly, easy to read, pictures, clear site/book layout, strong organization of web
design/book, flexibility
|
Content
|
Little information, limited
access, not user friendly, maps/scales/indexes not clear
|
comprehensive, easy-to-use educational resource
|
24/7 information
access, scale is appropriate for Grades 2-7, maps are clear, colouful and
informative, comprehensive and user friendly index, table of contents
|
Our one
school is host to 410 students and the district has 5 highschools and 14
elementary schools in total. Here is the price quoted to me for the
product:
Culture Grams Online Edition includes World Edition, 206 informative
country reports detailing the lifestyles, customs, courtesies, and more of
world cultures; States Edition, 51 colorful
reports on the U.S. states, including maps, flags, and symbols; Kids
Edition, 89 engaging country reports written for
upper-elementary students; Canadian Province Edition focusing
on 13 provinces and territories with categories specific to Canadian culture.
12-month subscription for Coldstream
Elementary: $570 (USD)
12-month subscription for entire
School District 22: $5,210 (USD)
Includes unlimited usage
and remote access at no additional charge.
Please feel free to contact me
with further questions or to move forward with a subscription.
Regards,
Gary
Gary Katz, Account Manager
ProQuest, 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA
Gary Katz, Account Manager
ProQuest, 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA
Overall, Culturegrams contains
excellent content, is user friendly 24/7, allows for multiple users at one
time, multimedia, is a trusted site, is a widely used cultural reference, and
enhances curriculum. It is a strong
addition to any reference section of a library with its huge flexibility and
wealth of information. Culturegrams only
flaws are cost and that not all countries of the world are reported on. Taking into account that my district has
approximately 8,200 students, then it is a mere 64 cents per student for a year’s
subscription. 89 countries are covered
through the Kids Edition and over 200 for the World Edition, which although is
not every country in the world, it covers a lot more countries with more
details than one print atlas alone.
Ala.org,. (2016). Empowering
Learners: | American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Retrieved 7
February 2016, from
http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/program-guidelines
Asselin, M., Branch, J., & Oberg, D. (2003). Achieving
information literacy. Ottawa: Canadian School Library Association.
Atlapedia.com,. (2016). Atlapedia®
Online. Retrieved 7 February 2016, from http://www.atlapedia.com/
Bced,. (2016). SS Grade 6.
Retrieved 7 February 2016, from
https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/social_studies/2006ssk7_6.pdf
Culturegrams.com,. (2016). CultureGrams:
Concise, reliable, and up-to-date country reports on 200 cultures of the world.
Retrieved 7 February 2016, from http://www.culturegrams.com/
Google Maps,. (2016). Google
Maps. Retrieved 7 February 2016, from
https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.2251988,-119.2460876,14z
Map, W. (2016). World Atlas /
World Map / Atlas of the World Including Geography Facts and Flags -
Worldatlas.com - WorldAtlas.com. Worldatlas.com. Retrieved 7
February 2016, from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm
National Geographic World Atlas.
(2010) (3rd ed.). Washington, DC.
Nrcan.gc.ca,. (2015). The Atlas
of Canada | Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 7 February 2016, from
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/atlas-canada
Screencast.com,. (2016). CultureGrams
4-Minute Overview. Retrieved 7 February 2016, from http://www.screencast.com/t/bgWlE9a1lrap
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