LIS 5513 Information Sources & Services

This artifact is for LIS-5513 Information Sources & Services, taken in Spring 2023. The assignment was to collect five reference materials items to use in a selected for a subject guide. The specific subject I was creating the guide for was Fantasy subgenres and world building.

This assignment was an eye-opening experience because finding quality reference material was a very different process compared to finding other materials for a collection. One of the differences I learned was how limited the print reference material was and in the fantasy genre there are few that are not digital. At the same time, there were similarities, such as finding reviews of the material and providing reasoning why the material should be in the collection. 

This assignment made me realize some of the difficulties and challenges facing reference collection in trying to provide the most recent and up-to-date material for patrons in physical copies. From completing the assignment, I have a better understanding and knowledge of how to select better reference material and have a better idea of resources I can use when looking for reference material in the future. These tie into the ethics and philosophy of maintaining and creating a ready reference source which ties into the SLIS SLO 1 (2022) for Core Knowledge about collections and how to evaluate sources to be used for reference material. It also helped me with my personal learning goals of gaining knowledge about ALA Core Competences (2023), primarily the References and User Service principles. It also showed me how diverse a reference collection needs to be in order to help the public best when selecting a source of information and the age appropriateness of items in a collection. 

Reference

American Library Association. (2023). 2022 ALA core competences of librarianship_final. In American Library Association. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.ala.org/educationcareers/sites/ala.org.educationcareers/files/content/2022%20ALA%20Core%20Competences%20of%20Librarianship_FINAL.pdf

School of Library and Information Studies. (2022, October 10). Goals and student learning outcomes. The University of Oklahoma. Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://www.ou.edu/cas/slis/about/vision