Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Does "out of date" always warrant tossing?
Library Goals for 2005-2006: Catalog all science for all grades and all fiction for grades 5 to 8
Not always, but I do have to ask this question about many of the science donations we receive. Since we are so lacking in this area, I give the donation every possibility to stay - but there are rules.
There can't be inaccurate information. If the Empire State Building is described in the technology chapter as the largest building in the world - out it goes.
Some subjects are so in flux, that I know that anything published before a certain time will contain multiple errors. For example, a survey work on bio-mechanics published in 1982 is hopeless. There have been so many advances in materials, implementation of computers, and changes in understandings of diseases that there is no way I can hand this to a student in good faith.
If the presentation is riddled with stereotypes of gender roles or over-illustrates one ethnic group - out it goes.
I give more leeway to works that are simply incomplete. They get extra points if they add at the end that scientists are always learning more - a loophole and a prompter for further research. If the work purports to be exhaustive and is published in the last century - out it goes.
Sometimes the work is just too advanced for our school - so I send it over to the high school.
Some examples of very old works that I accepted - after much internal dialogue:
Rockets and Satellites (1985)
Most of this is very readable (sixth grade reading level ) on the basic physics of rockets and satellites - which hasn't changed. There is nothing on the wonders of the GIS (Geographic Information System) but at least it ends with the concept that rocketry is in its infancy.
We came In Peace: The Story of Man in Space (1969)
This is a type of the Time-Life series filled with illustrations, charts, etc on the first moon landing. It can be construed as more historical than scientific which gives it a pass. It is a unique work, even listing what companies helped on the Apollo project.
permanent link
Not always, but I do have to ask this question about many of the science donations we receive. Since we are so lacking in this area, I give the donation every possibility to stay - but there are rules.
There can't be inaccurate information. If the Empire State Building is described in the technology chapter as the largest building in the world - out it goes.
Some subjects are so in flux, that I know that anything published before a certain time will contain multiple errors. For example, a survey work on bio-mechanics published in 1982 is hopeless. There have been so many advances in materials, implementation of computers, and changes in understandings of diseases that there is no way I can hand this to a student in good faith.
If the presentation is riddled with stereotypes of gender roles or over-illustrates one ethnic group - out it goes.
I give more leeway to works that are simply incomplete. They get extra points if they add at the end that scientists are always learning more - a loophole and a prompter for further research. If the work purports to be exhaustive and is published in the last century - out it goes.
Sometimes the work is just too advanced for our school - so I send it over to the high school.
Some examples of very old works that I accepted - after much internal dialogue:
Rockets and Satellites (1985)
Most of this is very readable (sixth grade reading level ) on the basic physics of rockets and satellites - which hasn't changed. There is nothing on the wonders of the GIS (Geographic Information System) but at least it ends with the concept that rocketry is in its infancy.
We came In Peace: The Story of Man in Space (1969)
This is a type of the Time-Life series filled with illustrations, charts, etc on the first moon landing. It can be construed as more historical than scientific which gives it a pass. It is a unique work, even listing what companies helped on the Apollo project.
Out of the 60 science donations I've been processing, about 10 have had to be discarded for age reasons.
permanent link
