Evaluation of a Reference Work (Encyclopedias)

https://kids.britannica.com/

Introduction

     The ideal scenario for this assignment would be to evaluate a reference resource at a teacher or teacher-librarian’s school library; however, as I am not currently employed at a school, I am evaluating a reference resource from a library in my region. Another ideal scenario would be to find a reference resource that should be replaced, evaluate it, and then offer a replacement suggestion, evaluating it as well. The reference resources at my local library were good and current, so I found a library (which shall not be named) that was lacking in physical reference resources. I will be evaluating the library’s online encyclopedias, which are shared amongst 29 libraries in the region, and recommending that the library also add a physical encyclopedic set.

     “Encyclopedias still remain among the most frequently used reference materials in school library media centers (print and electronic)” (Riedling, 71). Through the reviewed library’s online resources, three links are provided for encyclopedias: Encyclopedia Britannica for kids (up to grade 5), for young adults (grades 6-8), and academics (grades 9+). If one uses the “kids” or “young adults” links (which connect to different sub-links of “Britannica Kids”), for whatever subject they research, after selecting the subject, in the top right-hand corner, they can change the “version” which increases the amount of details and reading level. I quite liked this feature – both adjusting the amount of detail and the reading level is helpful for students and teachers who want to customize the depth of a subject and its reading level. A down-side is that the “kids” version’s reading level does not match the intended age range, being more appropriate for grades 7 and 8, as calculated by using multiple random samples through the website, “Readability Formulas”. Using the same website, I discovered that the other two reading level options (young adult and academic) do match their intended audience’s reading levels. Because of the wide variety of content found in encyclopedias, they end up covering a significant amount of BC's curricular content.

     There are at least five advantages of this online encyclopedia over printed encyclopedic sets. For one, it doesn’t require any shelf space and people can use it on any electronic device with internet access. Two, there a videos and pictures linked to researched subjects and there is an option on the sites to have the text read out-loud. Three, taking research notes is quicker by using copy/paste rather than writing/typing by hand. Four, most older students/adults often prefer to research online versus printed formats. And five, for those who know how to spell, finding a subject is faster by typing in keywords than by alphabetically searching for the subject and sometimes being redirected to another keyword to search in order to find the information sought.

     The included rubrics are based on criteria from Riedling’s book, “Reference Skills for the School Librarian”, pages 22-24 and 72-74, and on criteria I believe should be included. The one directly below breaks down my evaluation of the online Encyclopedia Britannica resources provided on the reviewed library’s website.

	Questionable utility	Has Some Utility	Very useful
Currency/ Accuracy/ Bias	-Is from a non-reputable or unknown publisher. -Hasn’t been updated in 11+ years. -Content is clearly biased, possibly propaganda, or influenced by advertisement.	-Is from a semi-reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 6-10 years. -Some content has a questionable bias and/or stereotypes.	-Is from a reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 5 years. -Is carefully worded to avoid bias; is objective and factual.
Scope	-Is thoroughly inappropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is grossly unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are either not present, significantly down-played, ignored, or not politically correct.	-It is variably appropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is a bit unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are present but are inadequately represented and/or not using current politically correct terms.	-It is appropriate for the target age range and/or a wide age range. -The subject coverage is well-balanced. -Contemporary issues are present, adequately represented, and politically correct.
User-friendliness (format)	-Illustrations aren’t current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and are poorly laid out. -The printed word layout is not pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are noticeable and distracting.	-Illustrations are somewhat current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid a bit awkwardly. -The printed word layout is awkwardly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are mildly present but not distracting.	-Illustrations are current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid out nicely. -The printed word layout is pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are at least minimal.
Curricular Connections	-Doesn’t clearly connect to BC curricular content or does so in a limited or tangential manner.	-Connects to much of the BC curricular content but is too brief and too vague to have a decent understanding.	-Connects well to, at least, nearly all of the BC curricular content and is detailed enough to understand.
Efficient Use of Space	-Is needlessly bulky and hard to place on shelves. -The pages/links are inefficiently formatted, with a print size that is too big.	-Is bulkier than it needs to be but can fit on shelves, tightly. -The pages’/links’ formatting is fairly efficient but could be improved.	-Is no bulkier than most books of its format and fits well on shelves (or is an online resource that takes no space). -The pages/links are efficiently formatted.

A Recommended Supplement

https://www.amazon.com/World-Book-Encyclopedia-2018-Set/dp/0716601184

     Younger students use printed reference materials more, while older students use online reference resources more (Riedling, 24), so having both formats of encyclopedias available has more use than recommending to replace one for another. So, I suggest that the library under review add a physical encyclopedic set. This library has the 11^th most number of books when compared to the 29 other locations; 12 of which have physical encyclopedic sets. Some of the libraries in the region are only open for 1 or 2 days, but this location is open 5 days a week, from 10-5, except Saturdays are 10-8. Given that the library’s size is comparable to the libraries that have physical encyclopedias, that the library has accessible hours of operation, and that having printed encyclopedic sets makes research more accessible to younger readers, adding an encyclopedic set to the library’s collection becomes a reasonable recommendation. The best encyclopedic set I could find, based on criteria to determine its relevancy and purpose for being included, such as its currency, accuracy, bias, scope, user-friendliness, indexing, curricular connections, and efficient use of library space, is “The World Book Encyclopedia 2018.” To come to this recommendation, I used the set from my local public library as a reference, comments from Riedling’s book, and online research which led me to find out that its biggest competitor, Encyclopedia Britannica, stopped publishing physical encyclopedias in 2010.

https://www.amazon.com/World-Book-Encyclopedia-2018-Set/dp/0716601184

     To check how current this resource was, I looked at every adapting technology as a guide, in this case video game consoles and virtual reality technology, and a current event. The set had a reference to the Oculus Rift, which was released in March 28, 2016, and had references to all the current video game consoles except Nintendo’s Switch, which came out in March 3, 2017. The set, under the Donald Trump heading, listed him as taking presidential office on January 20, 2017. So, at the very least, the set is current up to January 20, 2017, but possibly not as far as March 3, 2017. “Since 1917, World Book Encyclopedia (World Book) had provided accuracy, objectivity, and reliability” (Riedling, 74). But, as a quick check as to accuracy, I compared the information from NASA’s website on Saturn with the set. The information matched. As a quick check as to bias, I verified the wording, in the set, from their biography of Donald Trump to make sure the wording didn’t suggest an opinion, but rather stuck to well-documented facts. It did. To verify scope, I perused the set’s entries on “global warming” and “Donald Trump”. The entries were detailed and handled the controversial issues present in those subjects by sticking to widely acknowledged science and reporting. The readability was on par with the "Kids" and "Young Adults" readability of the online Britannica encyclopedias. 

	Questionable utility	Has Some Utility	Very useful
Currency/ Accuracy/ Bias	-Is from a non-reputable or unknown publisher. -Hasn’t been updated in 11+ years. -Content is clearly biased, possibly propaganda, or influenced by advertisement.	-Is from a semi-reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 6-10 years. -Some content has a questionable bias and/or stereotypes.	-Is from a reputable publisher. -Has been updated within 5 years. -Is carefully worded to avoid bias; is objective and factual.
Scope	-Is inappropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is grossly unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are either not present, significantly down-played, ignored, or not politically correct.	-It is appropriate for the target age range. -The subject coverage is a bit unbalanced. -Contemporary issues are present but are inadequately represented and/or not using current politically correct terms.	-It is appropriate for a wide age range. -The subject coverage is well-balanced. -Contemporary issues are present, adequately represented, and politically correct.
User-friendliness (format)	-Illustrations aren’t current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and are poorly laid out. -The printed word layout is not pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are noticeable and distracting.	-Illustrations are somewhat current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid a bit awkwardly. -The printed word layout is awkwardly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are mildly present but not distracting.	-Illustrations are current, functional, clear, easy to follow, appropriate for the target audience, and laid out nicely. -The printed word layout is pleasingly laid out. -Layout and/or grammar errors are at least minimal.
Indexing	-Doesn’t have an index.	-Has an incomplete index.	-Has a detailed index.
Curricular Connections	-Doesn’t clearly connect to BC curricular content or does so in a limited or tangential manner.	-Connects to much of the BC curricular content but is too brief and too vague to have a decent understanding.	-Connects well to, at least, nearly all of the BC curricular content and is detailed enough to understand.
Efficient Use of Space	-Is needlessly bulky and hard to place on shelves. -The pages are inefficiently formatted, with a print size that is too big.	-Is bulkier than it needs to be but can fit on shelves, tightly. -The pages’ formatting is fairly efficient but could be improved.	-Is no bulkier than most books of its format and fits well on shelves. -The pages are efficiently formatted.

References

Britannica Kids, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., kids.britannica.com/.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/.

Readability Formulas, http://www.readabilityformulas.com/free-readability-formula-tests.php

Riedling, Ann Marlow, et al. Reference Skills for the School Librarian Tools and Tips. Linworth, 2013.

“Saturn.” NASA, NASA, 28 Jan. 2019, solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/.

“The World Book Encyclopedia 2018.” The World Book Encyclopedia 2018, 22 Volume Set, World Book, Inc., a Scott Fetzer Company, 2018.