[Michlib-l] 'Mamelist' Discussion: RE: MeL Changes

Fri Jul 20 11:41:24 EDT 2018

Thank you, Kathy, for sharing MAME's concerns.  I trust that the Library of Michigan process was open and inclusive and thorough.  Now, I am sure many of us are anxious to get to know the new databases that have been selected.  I am glad everyone has access to trial the databases now so we can all get prepped for the new resources.  We will have to work with all our library partners to get the most out of these new statewide resources.

-Steve

Steven K. Bowers
Executive Director
Detroit Area Library Network

Michigan Library Association Board of Directors

www.dalnet.org<http://www.dalnet.org>

"DALNET is a community of libraries working together to provide access to information for research, cultural enrichment, and lifelong learning opportunities."

"Wayne State University is Knowledge, Diversity, Community!"

[cid:2e030aa6-5d3f-439d-8a16-5425aeda6dcd]

________________________________
From: michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org <michlib-l-bounces at mcls.org> on behalf of Lester, Kathy via Michlib-l <michlib-l at mcls.org>
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2018 6:59 AM
To: michlib-l at mcls.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] 'Mamelist' Discussion: RE: MeL Changes

Hi All,
We've been having a discussion on MAME's listserve about MeL changes.
Steven Bowers suggested that we have this conversation on the broader MichLib-L with the thought that it would be useful to share concerns and questions.

So, I'm providing a summary below since I did not get everyone's permission to share their specific posts.  By the way, this discussion started before Liz Breed announced the extension of the trial access to the new MeL resources.  Thank you, Liz, for sending out that information!  That will be helpful as we move forward.

Summary of the posts is below.
I hope that I did a good job of accurately reflecting the range of comments during the discussion.

All my best,
--Kathy Lester

There is generally expressed concern of loss of Gale Databases along with Scholastic BookFlix.  School librarians and teachers statewide have lessons, pathfinders, presentations, scavenger hunts, Google Classroom resources, assignment directions, etc. all developed around these resources.  For school librarians, they often have to market the resources to get teachers to use them and feel like we will be going back to square 1 trying to convince teachers to use new resources instead of 'Google."  Many of us loved the seamless movement (look and feel) across Gale Databases.  For instance, Middle School students could use "Research in Context" and then move to the more advanced "Opposing Viewpoints" with little 're-teaching.'  Since many schools are 'Google for Education'; our teachers also loved the integration of Gale with Google Products.  [Maybe EBSCO has this same integration, we will need to investigate with the trial now available.]

Many of us were surprised that BookFlix was not renewed.  Based on information from the Library of Michigan, BookFlix is the most used resource on MeL, in fact, in FY18, Quarter 2,  the number of BookFlix retrievals was 2,712,952 retrievals which is over a million more retrievals than the next highest database (which is WorldBook Kids at 1,449,830).[See information far below from an October 2017 MeL minute about MeL use perception versus reality.]

We wonder if because there are so few school librarians in our state right now, if responses to the surveys did not include enough school responses.  We believe that school librarians, (and yes, teachers without school librarians at their schools) use resources like BookFlix to introduce MeL to elementary school students (staff & parents).  Once they are there, it is easy to show them the other great resources at MeL!

Also, there was concern in our mamelist conversation that with the emphasis on early literacy and the 3rd grade reading law in our state, that there will now be inequity of access to a resource like BookFlix.  School districts that are well funded and who have librarians (or other staff) "in the know" about this resource will be able to purchase it separately.  Others [most?] will not be able to do so.

Finally, the discussion also included some concern about
https://endsexualexploitation.org/ebsco/
https://endsexualexploitation.org/wp-content/uploads/DD_2017_EBSCO_Notification-Letter_02-21-2017.pdf

Information was shared about this extremist group as follows:

 The https://endsexualexploitation.org<https://endsexualexploitation.org/> group is purportedly a site that defines sexual exploitation and pornography in a way that does not fit the understood definitions of the words to the general population.  That is, they may see things such as soap ads in a magazine as pornography if they show more than they want to see.  This group has been hounding lots of libraries and states that provide broad database access.  Their work is similar to groups or individuals that as libraries not to carry books on viewpoints that they do not agree with.

It is good to know the above site exists, so that if anyone asks about it you can prepare a reply.  But many (most?) of the materials that the group objects to are found in any general library database that has general magazines in it.  The state (and libraries in general) provides access to many materials that not everyone likes.  Especially for those of us that provide services to children, we have to be aware of what we have access to and ready to provide a thoughtful answer to those who may question the access we provide.

I checked an article listed in their letter earlier and the same articles are in the Gale products.  Articles about sex exist in general databases, perhaps with links to porn sites.  Some academic articles in academic research journals or even in grocery-check-out-line magazines are useful or entertaining to adults but not recommended for children.  Hopefully the kid-specific databases from EBSCO are more "safe."

Here is a little info on how some have dealt with this group:

https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=11496

They are not just against EBSCO, but ALA, and others, that promote access to material they find objectionable.

EBSCO even made it into their Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_on_Sexual_Exploitation#EBSCO_controversy

MeL Minute EMAIL FROM DEB BIGGS 10/2018 to mamelist

As you may be aware, we recently conducted a large-scale survey of the Michigan library community about MeL database usage. We received 426 responses. One question we asked was: What are the top 3 most used databases by your library/patrons? Here's what library staff had to say:

1.       Chilton’s (117 times it appeared somewhere in the top 3)

2.       Learning Express (117)

3.       Opposing Viewpoints in Context (94)

4.       Academic OneFile (87)

5.       Britannica school (68)

We decided to cross-reference this in two ways. First, we looked at the total number of full-text retrievals from the MeL databases.

1.       BookFlix

2.       WorldBook Kids

3.       Academic OneFile

4.       Britannica Suite

5.       Opposing Viewpoints in Context

All 5 of these received over 1 million full-text retrievals for the 2017 fiscal year!

As you can see, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Britannica and Academic OneFile made both of these lists.

Let's look at one other metric and that's the rate at which items were clicked on from MeL.org in the month of September of this year. This is the percentage of outbound traffic from MeL.org.

1.       BookFlix (40%)

2.       Academic OneFile (6%)

3.       Learning Express (4%)

4.       Opposing Viewpoints in Context (3%)

5.       Chilton’s (3%)

Looking at this list, we can see that Chilton's and Learning Express, two resources rated highly in the survey, come back to the fore. However, by far and away the resource with the highest traffic at MeL.org is BookFlix, an early literacy resource.

Many thanks to Kathy Kosinski, our data analyst, for pulling these numbers together and allowing us to compare and confirm our ideas about database usage with actual usage.

Brought to you by Deb Renee Biggs and Sonya Schryer Norris, Library Consultants at the Library of Michigan

Kathy Lester, MLIS, MA
Advocacy Chair, Past-President 2014
Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME)
Region 3 Director
American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
SIGLIB Communications Director
Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL)
School Library Media Specialist / Technology Coach
SL21 Model Library, 2017-2018
SL21 Exemplary Ranking - Michigan School Libraries for the 21st Century 2016-2019
East Middle School, Plymouth-Canton Schools
ISTE Making IT Happen Award Winner
2017 MAME Michigan School Library Program of the Year
2012 State Librarian's Excellence Award Winner
kathyL at mimame.org<mailto:kathyL at mimame.org>
twitter: @LibraryL<https://twitter.com/LibraryL>
810.333.5873

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