a. Guidelines for All Materials

1. General Guidelines

a. Materials must support the goals and objectives of courses within teacher education program at UNI.

b. Materials must contribute to a balanced collection of various formats on appropriate subjects.

c. Materials must support new and current educational methodology and technology. Most materials will not be more than 10 years old with some exceptions noted in II. C.

d. Materials will be selected on the basis of favorable reviews. Previews of faculty recommendations if at all possible.

e. If reviews, previews, or faculty recommendations are not available, materials will be selected based on the authoritativeness of author, publisher or producer.

2. Content Guidelines

a. Materials will be selected only if the content is accurate.

b. Materials will be selected only if the content is appropriate for the intended level.

c. Materials will be selected if the content fulfills the instructional objectives.

d. Materials will be selected to foster respect for women and minority and ethnic groups and shall realistically represent our pluralistic society, along with the roles and lifestyles open both to women and men in today’s world. Materials shall be designed to help students gain an awareness and understanding of the many important contributions made to our civilization by women and minority and ethnic groups. Materials shall clarify the multiple historical and contemporary forces with their economic, political and religious dimensions which have operated to the disadvantage or advantage of women, minority groups and ethnic groups. These materials shall present and analyze intergroup tension and conflict objectively, placing emphasis upon resolving social and economic problems. Materials which make clear the important role religion has had in shaping every age and culture shall be included with emphasis on objectivity and balance.

e. Materials on controversial issues will be selected to maintain a balanced collection representing various views.

3. Technical/Format Guidelines

a. Materials will be selected only if the technical quality ( print and nonprint) is good.

b. Materials will be selected only if the format is useful for the instructional goals.

4. Miscellaneous Guidelines

a. Materials will be selected only if their cost is reasonable in proportion to the budget.

b. Materials will be selected only if the lab has the necessary equipment to utilize, space to house, and staff time to process and assist clients.

c. In most cases, no more than 2 copies of any item shall be collected.

d. Materials selected, except those utilized to teach foreign languages, will be in English.

e. Materials will be acquired in compliance with copyright laws.

b. Guidelines by Format

1. Textbooks

a. Scope: The Textbook Collection includes in-print texts used in N/K-12 grade classrooms in all subjects. Teacher editions, student editions, workbooks, guides, manuals, and additional supplementary materials are collected. The collection emphasizes textbooks used in Iowa schools but has some used elsewhere in the United States. The lab collects as many in-print N/K-12 grade texts as possible and does not screen them for quality.

Subjects include art, foreign languages, music, language arts, industrial technology, mathematics, science, business, home economics, social studies, health, physical education, and safety education. See Appendix A for information about level if intensity of collection for these subjects.

b. Influencing Factors: The Textbook Collection is used by teacher education students and area teachers who need access to new and other currently in-print N/K-12 grade textbooks in all curriculum areas. Clientele use the textbooks for class assignments, tutoring and/or field experiences, and adoptions. No budget is available, so the lab’s collection is determined by the generosity of textbook publishers and their representatives.

c. Selection Plan: As all textbooks in the Curriculum Laboratory are complimentary copies, selection is done annually by contacting textbook publishers’ representatives in Iowa who are included in the Educational Publishers Directory which is available from the Iowa Professional Bookmen’s Association. For subjects such as art, music, industrial technology, journalism speech, drama, business, home economics, and physical education, it is useful to check additional publishers in El Hi Textbooks in Print. Textbook News contains lists of texts and publishers in various curriculum areas and provides another good way to check for additional titles.

d. Retention and Weeding: Textbooks that are no longer in El Hi (and thus are no longer in-print) are removed from the collection annually. Superceded editions are removed when the new volumes are shelved. Since publishing companies donate texts, their suggestions on weeding titles from their companies are considered. Texts are also removed if they are damaged. In this case, lab staff may request a replacement.

Discarded textbooks are sent to resources centers on campus or are put on the lab’s free materials cart for patrons to take.

2. Enrichment Materials

a. Scope: The Enrichment Materials Collection is a very selective collection of supplementary materials to “enrich” lessons. It includes activity cards, games, globes, flash cards, kits, pictures, poster cards and transparencies. Only a few filmstrips, slides, sound recordings, and videos are collected, and most of these are components of multi-media kits.

Subject areas covered include art, foreign language, language arts, music, industrial technology, mathematics, science, business, home economics, social studies, early childhood, gifted education, guidance, health, human relations, language arts, library, middle school/junior high, physical education, safety education, special education, study skills, and thinking skills. See Appendix A for information about level of intensity of collection for these subjects.

b. Influencing Factors: This collection is used by teacher education students who need examples of enrichment materials for lesson development, tutoring, and field experiences. The Rod Library provides AV materials including videos, filmstrips, and cassettes to these students. AEA 7 provides AV materials to area teachers. Thus, the lab concentrates on print items, games, and small kits.

c. Selection Plan: Whenever possible, these items are previewed before purchase. If preview is not possible, reviews for enrichment materials are found in sources such as Curriculum Review, School Library Journal, Booklist, and EPIE Gram. In addition, education journals and newsletters such as Instructor, Arithmetic Teacher, Early Childhood News, Gifted Children Monthly, Reading Teacher, Science and Children, Science Teacher, Social Education, and Young Children contain some reviews. Enrichment materials are also selected from faculty requests or if the items are produced or distributed by companies reputed to handle quality products. Complimentary items are requested annually, and a few companies will donate materials. Some items are also available if lab staff or faculty write reviews for a journal, company, or the Iowa Department of Education.

d. Retention and Weeding: Enrichment materials are kept as long as their content is accurate and educationally sound. Items over 10 years old are examined seriously to determine if they should be withdrawn. Some of these materials are removed sooner from the collection if they have missing parts or are damaged. If materials are to be withdrawn, the lab staff decides if a replacement or revision should be obtained. Materials are spot-checked for missing parts after every circulation transaction and thoroughly inventoried annually.

c. CUAs (Curriculum Guides, Units and Activities)

1. Curriculum Guides

a. Scope: The Curriculum Guide Collection includes all guides from the Iowa Department of Education, and as many as possible from other states and school districts in Iowa and other states. The emphasis of the collection are guides from within Iowa and from other influential states. A few guides from various professional organizations, such as the National Council for Geographic Education or the National Council for Teachers of English, are included in the collection also. Guides in this collection usually cover the entire spectrum of a course; they are longer than a unit.

Subjects areas included are art, foreign language, language arts, music, industrial technology, mathematics, science, business, home economics, social studies, computers, gifted education, guidance, health, human relations, library, safety education, special education, study skills, and thinking skills. See Appendix A for information about level of intensity of collection for these subjects.

b. Influencing Factors: The Curriculum Guide Collection is used by teacher education students for class assignments and teachers who are writing new guides for their districts.

c. Selection Plan: Previews or reviews are not necessary in order to select even purchased curriculum guides. Guides are obtained by contacting the Iowa Department of Education annually and the Department of Education in other states every other year. Selected school districts (especially student teaching centers) in Iowa also are contacted every other year. If a state or district does not donate guides, sometimes they offer guides for purchase and send price lists. The lab will purchase as many as possible, concentrating upon districts in Iowa and from other key states or districts. Some information about availability of curriculum guides is available in sources such as Curriculum Review, ERIC, The Monthly Checklist of State Publications. Faculty recommendations regarding curriculum guides are another source of information.

d. Retention and Weeding: Curriculum guides are kept no more than 10 years and may be withdrawn sooner if the content or format of the material is inappropriate educationally, if the guide has been revised, or if the guide has been damaged. If the guide has been damaged, lab staff will determine if a replacement should be acquired.

Discarded items will be sent to appropriate resource centers or placed on the free materials cart.

2. Units of Study

a. Scope: The Resource Unit Collection mainly includes units prepared by UNI teacher education students in various methods classes. It also contains samples of commercially published unit. In addition, it includes some done by teachers from Price Laboratory School and various educational organizations.

b. Influencing Factors: The resource units in the UNI Curriculum Laboratory are used by teacher education students for class assignments, especially those who are starting to prepare a unit themselves. In addition, practicing teachers also examine units as they search for instructional ideas.

c. Selection Plan: Many of the units received in the Curriculum Laboratory are prepared by UNI students. These units are obtained by contacting faculty who teach methods and materials courses and asking for donations from their students. Requests are also directed to Price Laboratory School for units prepared by faculty. Finally, reviews of and information about units is sometimes available in periodicals such as Curriculum Review, School Library Journal, Instructor, and some of the specialized subject periodicals mentioned under Enrichment Materials.

d. Retention and Weeding: Resource units are kept no more than 10 years and may be withdrawn sooner if the content or format of the material is inappropriate educationally, if the guide has been revised, or if the guide has been damaged. If the guide has been damaged, lab staff will determine if a replacement should be acquired.

Discarded items will be placed on the free materials cart.

3. Activities

a. Scope: The Activity Collection includes selected idea-activity books, workbooks, game books, bulletin board books and learning center books.

Subjects covered include art, foreign language, language arts, music, industrial technology, mathematics, science, business, home economics, social studies, computer uses in education, cooperative learning, creativity, gifted, guidance, health, human relations, animals in the classroom, newspapers in the classroom, puppets, seasons and holidays, library, physical education, rural education, safety education, special education, study skills, thinking skills, and vocational education. See Appendix A for information about level of intensity of collection for these subjects.

b. Influencing Factors: The Activity File is used heavily by teacher education students for units, lesson plans, resource files, and field experiences. It is also widely used by area teachers who are looking for new teaching ideas.

c. Selection Plan: Previews or reviews of materials for the Activity File are very useful as the quality of these items varies a good deal. Publishers do not usually want to sent these books out on preview; however Lattas and University Book and Supply stock hundreds of titles that may be previewed in their stores. Curriculum Review frequently reviews activity books as does Instructor. In addition, publishers and distributors such as Good Apple, Instructor, Gryphon House and some educational organizations such as the National Council of the Social Studies, et al, consistently offer quality items which may be purchased without review or preview. Finally, most faculty recommendations are purchased if funds are available and the item fits within the scope of the collection.

d. Retention and Weeding: Materials in the Activity File are kept no more than 10 years and may be withdrawn sooner if the content or format of the material is inappropriate educationally, if the publication has been revised, or if the item is worn or damaged. If the item has been damaged, lab staff will determine if a replacement should be acquired.

Discarded items will be placed on the free materials cart.

4. General Education Collection (GEC)

a. Scope: The GEC includes selected monographs (books, articles, brochures, etc.) about curriculum developments, trends, and materials. Publications from various educational organizations such as Phi Delta Kappa (especially PDK Fastback), the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Science Teachers Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, etc. are often selected for this file. In addition, the file includes samples of materials from N/K-12 grade schools, such as handbooks and policy statements. It also includes current reports of various commissions, etc. on trends in N/k-12 education, especially curriculum. This collection does not include in-depth materials about educational research, theory, or history, nor does it contain professional yearbooks.

Subjects covered include art, foreign language, language arts, music, industrial technology, mathematics, science, business, home economics, social studies, adult education, child development, computer uses in education, cooperative learning, creativity, curriculum, discipline, early childhood, education media, educational psychology, educational research, elementary education, extracurricular activities, facilities and equipment, foundations, gifted, guidance, health, higher education, human relations, instructional materials, international education, learning, library, middle school/junior high, moral education, non-traditional education, physical education, rural education, safety education, school administration, school law, school-parent-community relations, school publications, secondary education, special education, study skills, teaching methods, teaching profession, testing and evaluation, thinking skills, and vocational education. See Appendix A for information about level of intensity of collection for these subjects.

b. Influencing Factors: The GEC in the UNI Curriculum Laboratory are used by teacher education and faculty and N/K-12 educators for background as they study and develop curriculum materials. The Library collects monographs about research, theory, history, etc. of education so the lab does not purchase materials on these topics.

c. Selection Plan: Previews or reviews are not necessary in order to select items for the research file. Publications from PDK and ASCD come because of the lab’s institutional memberships. Items from other professional education organizations are selected if the topics and costs are appropriate since the quality of these publications is consistently high. Some materials for this file (reports, etc.) are requested because they are mentioned in Curriculum Review or the more specialized periodicals, listed under Enrichment Materials. Samples of items such as handbooks from N/K-12 grade schools are requested every three to five years from schools, especially student teaching centers and other major school districts in Iowa. Finally, faculty requests for Research File materials are purchased if funds are available and the item fits within the scope of the collection.

d. Retention and Weeding: GEC materials are kept no more than 10 years and may be withdrawn sooner if the content or format of the material is inappropriate educationally, if the guide has been revised, or if the guide has been damaged. If the guide has been damaged, lab staff will determine if a replacement should be acquired.

Discarded items will be sent be placed on the free materials cart.

5. Standardized Test

a. Scope: The Standardized Test File includes selected specimen sets of in-print tests used in N/K-12 grade educational situations. Emphasis is placed on major, general achievement batteries and some tests for specific curriculum areas and guidance purposes.

Areas covered include achievement, developmental, education, English, fine arts, foreign language, health and physical education, home economics, intelligence, learning disabilities, mathematics, neuropsychological, personality, reading, science, sensory motor, social studies, speech and hearing, vocations, study skills, and miscellaneous.

b. Influencing Factors: Tests in this file must be ones that the Curriculum Laboratory legally is qualified to possess and they must be used for viewing only. Standardized tests are most frequently used by teacher education students who are evaluating them

c. Selection Process: Reviews of new standardized tests are only infrequently included in sources such as Curriculum Review or other specialized education journals. Reviews of more established tests can be located through the Mental Measurement Yearbooks. However, most tests are purchased to meet faculty requests or to obtain updated versions of frequently used achievement tests such as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills or the Metropolitan batteries. Publishers’ catalogs, which are issued much more often than the MMY, are useful sources of information about test revision.

d. Retention and Weeding: Major test titles are checked annually in publishers’ catalogs and are pulled when replacements are obtained. All other tests in this file are kept while they are included in the most recent volume of Tests in Print (which is issued very irregularly). Tests are also removed if they are damaged, worn or have missing pieces; in this case, lab staff will determine if replacements should be acquired.

Discarded items are thrown away or given to faculty.

6. Publisher/Vendor Catalogs

a. Scope: The Publisher/Vendor Catalog File includes catalogs with descriptions and price and ordering information for N/K-12 textbooks, supplementary curriculum materials, school equipment and supplies, tests, etc.

b. Influencing Factors: These catalogs are used by teacher education students evaluating textbooks, building resource files, and completing other assignments. They are also used by area educators who are purchasing materials.

c. Selection Process: Catalogs are requested from textbook publishers or company representatives at the same time textbooks are requested. Catalogs are also requested from advertisements, and cards from periodicals are submitted to get on some mailing lists.

d. Retention and Weeding: Catalogs are retained for two years or are pulled when a updated catalog from the same company is received.

Discarded catalogs are placed on the free materials cart.

7. Journals

a. Scope: The Journal Collection is a limited selection of current publications about N/K-12 grade curriculum, teaching methods and materials, and educational technology. The Curriculum Lab also subscribes to one daily newspaper.

b. Influencing Factors: The Rod Library maintains a research-oriented journal collection with back issued and relevant indices thus IRTS prefers not to acquire journal titles held by Rod Library.

c. Selection Process: The Curriculum Lab, in cooperation with the Rod Library maintains a limites collection while the Library maintains an extensive collection of education journals. The Curriculum Lab surveyed faculty in 1999 to determine which titles were to be maintained in the collection.

d. Retention and Weeding: Past issues that are more than three years old are removed from the collection. Newspapers are removed after one week. Withdrawn issues will be given to the Library if the Library requests. Library requests will have priority over any other requests. Withdrawn journals also are given to other resource centers in relevant subjects such as mathematics and science.

Discarded issues not sent elsewhere will be placed on the free materials cart.

8. Reference

a. Scope: The Reference Collection includes standard sources useful within the N/K-12 curriculum such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and almanacs. The collection also contains selected educational resources about N/K-12 grade education including handbooks, directories, AEA educators, bibliographies, and reviewing tools.

b. Influencing Factors: This collection is used by teacher education students for assignments and by lab staff to answer questions. The Library’s Youth Collection and Reference Section collect many resources; the lab only duplicates essential ones such as several dictionaries, and encyclopedias.

c. Selection Process: Reviews are consulted for reference materials that are purchased; School Library Journal, Booklist, and Education Libraries review some reference resources. Kenneth Kister’s reviews of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases are available also. Revisions of reference materials are purchased as frequently as budget permits.

d. Retention and Weeding: Items that are revised regularly, such as El-Hi and Guides to Free Materials, etc. are removed when new editions are received. Other reference sources are kept as long as they are in-print or their content is up to date, usually no more than five years.

Discarded items go to the Library, resource centers, or the free materials cart.

9. Software

a. Scope: The Software Collection includes selected software for use in N/K-12 grade classrooms and other educational uses such as administration and guidance. The collection emphasizes selected examples of software in major curriculum areas and of major types including drill and practice, tutorials, games, simulations, graphics, utilities, data bases, spreadsheets, word processors, and desk top publishing programs.

b. Influencing Factors: This collection is used by teacher education students for word-processing and for reviewing instructional or utility software.

c. Selection Process: Reviews or previews of software are utilized before most packages are purchased. Reviews in Only the Best and Technology and Learning are consulted frequently. Faculty recommendations also are followed if budget permits. Software from a few highly reputable publishers such as Sunburst, Broderbund, and Tom Snyder is purchased occasionally without preview or review.

d. Retention and Weeding: Software is seldom kept more than 10 years and may be withdrawn sooner if it is no longer in-print, if the content or format is no longer educationally sound, or if it is missing or damaged. If it is missing or damaged, lab staff will determine whether or not a replacement will be obtained.

Discarded software is removed in keeping with copyright restrictions.

10. Graduate Research Projects

a. Scope: The Graduate Research Project File includes graduate papers written for self-selected departments with the College of Education. Currently these departments are Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Administration and Counseling, and Educational Psychology and Foundations.

b. Influencing Factors: This file houses the only on-campus copy of the papers which are used mainly by other graduate students beginning their research projects.

c. Selection Process: These papers are sent to the Curriculum Laboratory by the participating departments.

d. Retention and Weeding: These papers are permanently retained in the Lab unless one is missing. Missing papers are withdrawn.

d. Evaluation of the Collection

1. Circulation studies and reference fill rate evaluations will be conducted yearly, at regular intervals.

2. Syllabi from teacher education courses will be collected at least every 5 years and the collection will be evaluated to see if it supports assignments and topics.

3. Users will be surveyed through written questionnaires, one-on-one interviews, and/or focus groups at least every 5 years. The surveys will include ratings of and comments about the collections of materials.