World Book Encyclopedia - To Buy or Not to Buy?

Assignment 1:  Evaluation and Selection of a Reference Resource

Part 1

The printed reference section of the school library is only one small bookcase of reference books.  On one of the shelves, the World Book encyclopedia is alphabetically organized in 22 volumes with a Research Guide Index.  The bindings on the encyclopedia are welcoming and appealing since they create a complete picture of a diversity of smiling faces. 

2004 World Book Encyclopedia

Since the World Book encyclopedia is from 2004, some of the topics are no longer relevant or current.  They are missing recent information and technology that have occurred in the past 13 years.  According to Riedling et al, any reference resource that is more than 5 years old is out-of-date and needs to be replaced.   There are many updates that need to be done and additional topics that need to be added to these existing World Book especially in terms of politics, technology, inventions, scientific discoveries, and current events.

Some of the illustrations, content, and layout are still quite interesting and beautiful. The writing is quite concise and informative as well as crosses different curriculum areas. There is quite a wealth of topics and everything is alphabetized making it easier to look for a particular topic.  The detailed diagrams, stunning pictures, and graphic organizers are helpful to English language learners as well as all learners.

Rubric for Evaluation and Selection of a Reference Resource

(Based on Ann Riedling et al, Reference skills for the school librarian:Tools and Tips, pages 17 to 25; and Aaron Mueller, instructor, for UBC LIBE 467 course) 

Aspect	Not Very Useful	Useful	Very Useful
Relevancy	Information is not relevant, inaccurate, homogeneous, not comprehensive, poorly written, not laid out well, and dated	Information is somewhat relevant, accurate, comprehensive, heterogeneous, well written, laid out well and relatively current	Information is relevant, accurate, diverse, immaculately written, well laid out with diagrams, illustrations or pictures, and current
Purpose	Not very informative, nor insightful, uninteresting, difficult, biased, and not a very good starting point for inquiry based questions	Somewhat informative, insightful, interesting, understandable, objective, and a good starting point for inquiry based questions	Very informative, insightful, engaging, understandable, objective, and a great starting point for inquiry based questions
Currency	6 years or more	5 years or less	Less than 1 year
Curricular Connections	Limited or no connection to grade levels and British Columbia’s (BC’s) New Curriculum as well as not across the curriculum	Some connection to the different grade levels and BC’s New Curriculum as well as across most of the curriculum	Meets most or all of the grade levels and curricular areas in BC’s New Curriculum as well as across  the curriculum
Library Space Efficiency & Usage	Takes up a lot of shelf space with limited usage and difficult access	Doesn’t take up too much self space with some usage and access	Shelf space is adequate for the high amount of usage and quick access

Part 2

Since the school library is part of the Vancouver School Board District (VSB), the online World Book encyclopedia is available readily through Webcat (The VSB Online Library Catalogue).   The online World Book is quite comprehensive, up-to-date, informative, and caters to the different grade levels, personal and curricular interest, and different reading levels.  Thus, students, teachers, parents, and administrators have easy access to the electronic reference so the focus will only be on whether or not to purchase a new set of printed World Book encyclopedia as a reference resource for the school library.

Online World Book from Webcat

The criteria to purchase the printed 2017 World Book must meet the “Very Useful” part of the Rubric created in Part 1 and having the budget available as these encyclopedias are very expensive and priced at USD$ 1,199.95 (approximately CAD$1,558.14). 

Printed World Book Encyclopedia

To begin with, the World Book encyclopedia has been around for 100 years since it was first published in 1917 so it shows their usefulness as shown by its longevity.  Also, according to their website, they have “more than 4,000 scholars and experts as contributors, reviewers, and consultants” that write their topics.  After each topic, the writers are listed with their credentials as well as references for further knowledge exploration so that helps with purpose and relevance on the Rubric.  

Also, the 2017 World Book mentions that it has “over 1,000 new or revised articles and over 25,000 photographs, maps, and illustrations” as well as references to new videos.  It is yearly reviewed by experts and fact checkers which again adds to the relevancy, purpose, and currency of the Rubric.  There has been an astonishing amount of articles, photographs, maps, and illustrations updated and added over the past 13 years compared to school library’s 2004 World Book.

Moreover, the World Book is American based and published in Chicago, Illinois so there is a need to evaluate their curricular connection with BC’s new curriculum. Their centennial binding covers create the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range with their giant sequoia trees and Lake Tahoe that borders both Nevada and California.  The 2017 new highlights section mentions famous Americans, 2016 United States presidential election, and the California Gold Rush.  Before it can be purchased, there has to be an assurance that there are sufficient and useful amounts of Canadian content for Canadian students.  Therefore, I used the World Book on-line and 2004 World Book to check its current and past Canadian content.   Most of the Canadian contents that I looked up were available and contained articles such as the First Nations, first prime Minister of Canada (Sir John A. MacDonald), current Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau as well as his father, Pierre), Fur Trade, Canadian history, Terry Fox, the provinces, the territories, and landforms in Canada.  One search that could not be found was Pink Shirt Day against bullying but overall, the new encyclopedia would meet the curricular connections of the Rubric.

Furthermore, the Rubric's library space, efficiency, and usage will all be met with the new World Book purchase.  The 2004 World Book encyclopedia looks quite well used.  Some of the pages are crinkled and Book #2 is missing.  The spines on some of the books are warped.  A new set would replace the old set on the shelf and be better labelled and advertised with the signage “A Great Reference to Begin your Inquiry.”   The new set would also be moved to the top shelf of the bookcase for easier access and visibility.  The printed World Book encyclopedia is a great starting point for learning; is easily accessible and formatted; doesn’t require the Internet and electronic devices to look up information; and helps to provide background knowledge and further references to answer their questions.  It gives the students a reliable and tactile source without having to shift through the mountains of information found on the Internet, which can be overwhelming due to the need to evaluate the information critically for validity and accuracy.  Also, my children, children’s teachers, husband and public librarian friend, all, like World Book and see the encyclopedia as a very useful reference resource.

In conclusion, there is still value presently in replacing the older 2004 World Book by purchasing the newest printed World Book 2017 (100^th Anniversary addition) as it fulfills the “Very Useful” part of the Rubik.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTfppngPqOs -Video from Youtube about 2012 World Book

References:

https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum

Mueller, Aaron, instructor, 2016W-LIBE467-63C-Information Services I course, University of British Columbia, 2017.

http://pinkshirtday.ca/about-us/

Riedling, Ann Marlow et. al, Reference skills for the school librarian:Tools and Tips,(Third Edition).  Santa Barbara, CA: Linworth, 2013.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTfppngPqOs

https://www.vsb.bc.ca

http://webcat.vsb.bc.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14860Y86LJ094.1217&profile=ls&menu=tab21&ts=1486068604094

https://www.worldbook.com