Goal II.b
Students evaluate and select print and digital information resources and systems to meet needs of users.
Artifact 1: Collection Maintenance, Stewardship, and Equity
Artifact Explainer:
This presentation examines collection maintenance in the context of a school media center, focusing on both print and digital access. The artifact identifies two major issues at the site: a backlog of unshelved and uncatalogued books after a period without a full-time media specialist, and the absence of student-facing technology access points within the media center. It connects these issues to broader concerns about collection stewardship, student access, and equity.
I selected this artifact for Outcome II.b because it demonstrates how collection evaluation must include both physical and digital resources. The project does not treat collection maintenance as only shelving, weeding, or cataloguing, although those are clearly important. It also argues that technology access is part of a modern school library collection, especially for upper-grade students preparing for more research-based and digitally mediated learning. The presentation connects resource management to user needs, particularly for students with limited access to books, devices, or internet outside of school. This makes the artifact a strong example of evaluating information resources and systems through the lens of access, usefulness, and institutional responsibility.
Artifact 2: Collection Development Plan
Artifact Overview
This collection development plan built directly from the community needs assessment by turning the data into a practical framework for collection decision-making. The plan included a purpose statement, background statement, mission and goals, target audience, budgeting and funding considerations, evaluation criteria, collection analysis, selection aids, intellectual freedom procedures, weeding policy, gift policy, replacement procedures, and special collections guidance. Rather than treating collection development as a generic policy exercise, the plan responded to real concerns in the PLC, including aging nonfiction, uneven budgets, STEAM modernization, resource sharing, and the need for clear procedures that media specialists could realistically use.
I selected this artifact for Outcome II.b because it demonstrates my ability to evaluate and select print and digital information resources and systems based on user needs. The assignment required me to think carefully about how materials should be selected, retained, weeded, replaced, or supplemented based on student needs, curricular relevance, access, age, accuracy, format, licensing, and budget. It also demonstrates my understanding that collection development is not only about buying books. It is also about maintaining useful systems, making defensible decisions, supporting equitable access, and ensuring that library resources continue to serve students and teachers well.
Project Note: This research proposal was completed as a collaborative project for LIS 6511. For portfolio publication, I edited the document to protect my project partner's privacy by replacing my project partner's names with a general identifier, Student 1. The portfolio version preserves the substance of the original project, including the contribution section, while removing personally identifying information for my project partner.