Assignment 1 - Where in the world can I find an atlas?

University Hill Library reference section, photo by Holly Broadland

Additional area of University Hill Elementary reference section, photo by Holly Broadland

At University Hill Elementary, we have a well-stocked reference section that includes both print and digital resources. As our digital resources are purchased on a district level and teacher librarians don't make the decisions about which online resources we select, I have chosen to look at our school's print materials. The resource I decided to evaluate is The Nystrom Atlas of Canada and the World. When I assessed our collection this resource stood out as an outdated book and our teacher librarian agreed that it would be a priority to update our atlases. At our library, we have a class set of the 2005 edition of this atlas. As Reference Skills for the School Librarian by Riedling states that "a world atlas that is five years old portrays enough obsolete information to be considered only for historical purpose" (Riedling, p 81) and our books are now thirteen years old, I believe it is time to look at updating this resource.

Nystrom Atlas of Canada and the World, photo credit: Holly Broadland
Nystrom Atlas of Canada and the World (2005), photo by Holly Broadland
I chose five criteria to analyze and evaluated this atlas based on the following rubric I created. As our edition was revised in 2005, it only receives one out of five points for currency, which is, according to Riedling, an "essential criterion" upon which to evaluate geographic sources. "Because the world is changing so rapidly, it is of utmost importance that the school library provides up-to-date geographical information." (Riedling, p. 81). This atlas only scores three out of five for curricular connections because it is at a relatively challenging reading level and is not the easiest first atlas. Our school switched from a K-7 school to a K-5 school within the past five years (i.e. after this class set of atlases was purchased) and we no longer have the oldest intermediate students. With a shift in the school population, it would be appropriate to get a new atlas that is aimed at a younger demographic. 



In terms of authority, value, and format, the Nystrom Atlas ranks well. I contacted a Nystrom sales representative and was quoted a price of $699 for the complete program which includes thirty copies of the atlas, a teacher's guide with student activities, and access to NystromCanadaWorld.com, a companion online resource. The Nystrom website quotes the price at $21 for individual copies and $18.90 for five or more. Overall, this atlas scored 19/25 on my rubric and I believe it's a good resource in general, it just needs an update. For example, it lists the population of Canada as 31.5 million when Statistics Canada's data from October 1, 2017 estimates the Canadian population at 36,885,049 (Stats Canada website).

Searching for a new atlas
When considering new resources, I looked at both digital and print options. I also reached out to colleagues and asked them for their thoughts on current atlases keeping in mind that "as in most professional activities carried out by the school librarian, effective collection development is done collaboratively" (Riedling, p 17). I was informed that National Geographic's MapMaker Interactive is a good digital resource. Our students also have access to the World Book suite of products through a district subscription and that includes an online atlas. Through my inquiries, I heard that the Nystrom atlas was well-liked and that the binder of student activities was appreciated. Since we have a relatively young population at our school and many of them are still learning how to utilize websites, I think it is useful to have print atlases available in addition to the digital resources we can access.

I contacted Nystrom and was told that their most recent update to the Nystrom Atlas of Canada and the World took place in 2011. Unfortunately, that is seven years ago, so if I were to buy those books for our school, they would be considered obsolete before I got them out of the box. The sales representative didn't have an estimate for the next publication date.

I looked at a number of options to replace our atlases, but didn't find many options that had extensive coverage of both Canada and the rest of the world in one volume. I discovered a Quill and Quire review of two new books relating to Canadian geography: My Canada: an illustrated atlas, and Carson Crosses Canada.

My Canada: an illustrated atlas (photo by Holly Broadland)
Carson Crosses Canada (photo by Holly Broadland)

 My Canada: an Illustrated Atlas (2017) is a simplified atlas with cute illustrations indicating highlights of each province. I would like to purchase a copy of My Canada to have in our library, but it isn't suitable to replace the Nystrom Atlas as it doesn't have enough detail. Carson Crosses Canada  is an enjoyable picture book by local Vancouver author Linda Bailey that I will add to our school library's collection. Collins published the Collins Canadian Student Atlas in 2015, but it is aimed at 11-14 year old students, which is a little older than my school population. 
Scholastic Children's Atlas of Canada (photo by Holly Broadland)

Spread on British Columbia from Scholastic Atlas (photo by Holly Broadland)

What is a map? from Scholastic Atlas (photo by Holly Broadland)

The best option I came across is the Scholastic Children's Atlas of Canada which was revised in 2017. It is certainly current, which was the main drawback of the Nystrom Atlas. Scholastic's website states that it is suitable for ages five to nine, which fits well with my school population. It has introductory material aimed at students who are learning to use maps and atlases, which is appropriate for our school. It is a colourful, hardcover book that my local bookstore, kidsbooks, sells at $17 for schools. It covers the provinces and territories of Canada and contains many interesting facts about the geography of each region. 


The Scholastic Children's Atlas of Canada scores twenty-three out of twenty-five points and the main issue I have is that it is purely an atlas of Canada rather than an atlas of Canada and the world. In order to cover the content in Nystrom's Atlas, I'd need to also buy Scholastic Canada's Children's Atlas of the World (2015) for an additional $17. With a limited annual budget, I would not buy an entire class set of the Scholastic atlases, but I like them enough to buy one of each for our library's collection. I will plan to stay in touch with the Nystrom sales representative and purchase a set of thirty of the updated Nystrom Atlases when they are published.

Works Cited

Bailey, L. (2017). Carson crosses Canada. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books. 

Bryant, J. (2017, June 12). Carson Crosses Canada Review. Retrieved February 04, 2018, from https://quillandquire.com/review/carson-crosses-canada/

Collins. (2011). Collins Canadian Student Atlas. HarperCollins Publishers Limited.

Dearlove, K., & Smith, L. J. (2017). My Canada: An illustrated atlas. Toronto: Owlkids Books.

NatGeo Mapmaker Interactive. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2018, from https://mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org/

Nystrom Education. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2018, from https://www.nystromeducation.com

Nystrom (Firm). (2005). The Nystrom atlas of Canada and the world. Chicago, Ill: Nystrom.

Picthall, C., & Gunzi, C. (2015). Scholastic Canada children's atlas of the world. Toronto: Scholastic Canada.

QA International (Firm). (2017). Scholastic children's atlas of Canada. Toronto: Scholastic Canada Ltd.

Riedling, A. M., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school librarian: Tools and tips. Santa Barbara: California.

Scholastic Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved February 04, 2018, from http://www.scholastic.ca/books/view/scholastic-childrens-atlas-of-canada-revised-edition

Statistics Canada. (2017). Retrieved February 04, 2018 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171220/dq171220e-eng.htm

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Proud member of the Oregon Trail Generation

Image
As the name of my blog suggests, the library is my happy place. I love being surrounded by books and having the time to browse the shelves and find new resources. I can't see myself ever giving up print books. However, I also do a significant amount of information gathering online and am comfortable searching digital resources for the answers I need. It likely won't surprise you to know that I was born in 1977, the year that Riedling declares as the generational divide in our text, Reference Skills for the School Librarian. I have one foot in the print world and one foot in the digital world. I can remember using card catalogues and microfiches and I also use online databases and have been blogging for over a decade. I was amused when I read that my generation was dubbed the Oregon Trail Generation in a Social Media Week article by Anna Garvey .  I can't be the only one who remembers playing this game in elementary school! I'm comfortable using both print and d...
Read more

Libraries around the world - Inquiry Blog Post #4

Image
Creative Commons licensed image courtesy of GDJ on Pixabay In researching global libraries, I came across the Beyond Access  Bangladesh program, sponsored by IREX and Save the Children , and read about their work in libraries in Bangladesh. This program started by working with twenty libraries to develop library programs for children. Before this program started encouraging children to come to the library, the library had no activities for children and very few of the visitors were children . The pilot program libraries were given supplies for a children's area in the library as well as four Samsung tablets loaded with books and games. Librarians received training and worked with children to encourage them to visit the library. I found an evaluation of the Beyond Access Libraries Program in Bangladesh and it included infographics stating that children used tablets 60,000 times between November 2015 and June 2017 and the monthly average number of children visiting the library ...
Read more

Information Literacy Resources - Reading Review Blog Post #3

Image
My initial inquiry into resources related to information literacy led me to an article by Copeland and Jacobs in the journal Teacher Librarian entitled, "The power of collaboration between school librarian and classroom teacher". This article describes a successful collaborative relationship where a teacher librarian and classroom teacher taught students research skills to elementary school students. Copeland and Jacobs write, "the school librarian and teacher planned the unit together, determining student goals related to social studies content, information literacy skills, and communicator/collaborator skills." (Copeland & Jacobs, 2017, p 23). One reason this article is an excellent source is that it lists challenges that teachers may face when considering collaboration and offers possible solutions. As I'd had success finding articles on my chosen topic of information literacy in the journal Teacher Librarian, I narrowed my search within the L...
Read more