BARKAN

BEATY, Bart H, ed. Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Independents & Underground Classics. 1500p. photos. further reading. bibliog. Salem Press. 2012. PLB $395. ISBN 978-1-58765-950-8. LC 2011051380. Online: Salem Literature database, eBooks on EBSCOhost
Gr 9 Up–The emergence of graphic novels as a genre worthy of analysis is of no surprise; this title looks specifically at the body of work that is self-published or is originally from independent publishers, examining more than 215 titles in terms of publication history, plot, characters, artistic style, themes, and impact. For example, Shaun Tan’s The Arrival is described as a hybrid graphic novel and wordless picture book that is held in high regard for its universal tale of an immigrant family, placing readers in the role of immigrants who must rely on images and symbols to communicate. Interesting information about Tan’s use of graphite pencils and a photorealism that contextualizes the book historically may help content teachers looking for resources that fit nicely in the Common Core standards. Other familiar titles covered in the approximately four-page, individually authored entries include Persepolis; Maus: A Survivor’s Tale; Stitches: A Memoir;Laika; and American Born Chinese. Black-and-white images accompany some entries, displaying the cover art or sample pages; other entries have an inset box with an author/artist photograph and a biography. All are followed by further-reading suggestions and a bibliography. Volume three boasts a number of appendixes, such as a time line and lists of online resources; major awards; and works by artist, author, or publisher, all followed by a complete index with many cross-references. An important and accessible resource.–Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY

CARRILLO, Karen Juanita. African American History Day by Day: A Reference Guide to Events. 420p. bibliog. chron. further reading. index. websites. Greenwood . 2012. PLB $89. ISBN 978-1-59884-360-6; ISBN 978-1-59884-361-3. LC 2012006083. Online: ABC-CLIO eBook Collection
Gr 6 Up–Organized by the calendar year, this expansive reference work covers the people and events that have shaped African American history. Covering from January 1, 1880, when the transatlantic slave trade was banned in the U.S., to December 31, 1930, when blues singer Odetta was born, the book touches on the breadth of the African American experience in politics, education, civil rights, art, literature, sports, and science. Each date highlights a major entry, with year, description, excerpts from primary sources, and a list of books and websites for further reading. Most days also include other “Also Noteworthy” events. Educators can find lesson connections here for every day of the year, while an extensive bibliography and index provide multiple ways to get at the information. Unlike other recent books on the topic, Carrillo focuses on events in a historical context, rather than merely presenting the same lists of famous African Americans. The day-by-day approach allows the author to go beyond the well-known to celebrate more events and people who shaped American history.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD

DANVER, Steven, ed. Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures, and Contemporary Issues. 3 vols. 877p. bibliog. further reading. index. maps. photos. Sharpe Reference. 2013. PLB $349. ISBN 978-0-7656-8222-2. Online: Sharpe Online Reference
Gr 9 Up–This informative encyclopedia surveys the history, language, culture, and current status of 400 native groups. The first two volumes discuss individual groups, profiling not only expected indigenous groups such as Native American and African tribes, but also the native populations of places such as Great Britain, France, and Norway. Articles are arranged alphabetically within sections based on world regions. The final volume’s two sections examine the general status of native peoples in 77 countries and the effects of important issues such as climate change, globalization, and women’s rights upon each of them. The signed, one- to five-page articles are accurate and reflect the perspective of native rights outlined in the 1992 Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of the World, which emphasizes the importance of sovereignty and self-determination. Numerous sidebars add information about important events such as the Navajo Long Walk and indigenous leaders such as Nelson Mandela. Average-quality, captioned black-and-white photos and illustrations add little, and the set’s most significant weakness is its single black-and-white political map, which fails to identify the locations of many of the regions and areas mentioned in entries. An extensive index, cross-references, and further-reading lists that are provided after each article will help users to navigate the work and to find additional sources. This set gives researchers a reliable introduction to native peoples of the world and their historical and current challenges. A useful addition.–Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO

FERRARA, Miranda H, ed. Innovation Masters: History’s Best Examples of Business Transformation. 404p. bibliog. index. websites. Gale Cengage. 2012. PLB $462. ISBN 978-1-4144-9618-4; ebook $462. ISBN 978-1-4144-9619-1. LC 2012005369. Online: Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gr 9 Up–Innovation successes featured in this high-interest, accessible reference are comprised of new technologies and inventions of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as novel ideas and concepts that have impacted society. Coverage in the approximately 100 essays ranges from the iconic Ford Motor Company’s assembly line and Eli Whitney’s cotton gin to products such as Band-Aid Bandages and 3M Post-it Notes, and advertising campaigns such as “Got Milk?” and one promoting NASCAR. The digital explosion makes this a highly relevant, current source for factual information about innovators behind Facebook, Wikipedia, Netflix, Apple, Wi-fi, Google, eBay, and more. An essay on Pandora Radio/Music Genome Project, for example, begins with its inception by Tim Westergren and his vision of producing software that would make thoughtful music recommendations based on previous selections. Each entry is typically four pages in length and includes a description of a business plan, the extent of financial success, product details, marketing, improvements, and consumer response to the innovation, followed by a list of recommended books, journals, and websites. The publisher’s companion volume, Corporate Disasters: What Went Wrong and Why (2012), looks at innovator failures, rather than successes, offering teachers critical thinking and inquiry opportunities for their students.–Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY

RUBEL, David. Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times. rev. ed. 256p. charts. chron. diag. illus. index. maps. photos. reprods. Scholastic. 2013. PLB $24.99. ISBN 978-0-545-49985-9.
Gr 4 Up–Who was the only president to be elected unanimously by the electoral college? When did the first modern campaign take place? Which president was ticketed for driving his horse with excessive speed? What role did Carry A. Nation, The Little Rock Nine, or Seal Team Six play in U.S. history? These questions and more are answered in this fifth update of the 1994 edition (the previous update appeared in 2009). Front matter includes a usage guide that describes how to look up a particular president, find out who was in office in a partiular year, locate election results, and learn about important events and people. Presidents are covered in a chapter each. The top corners of the pages denote the years during which the man ruled; each entry opens with vital details–birth and death dates, party affiliation, Vice President, First Lady, and children, if any, and nickname. Also provided in this opening information is a fun fact; for example, James Madison was the first president to regularly wear trousers (before him they wore knee breeches). Featured events during each presidency may include literature and the arts, inventions, or notable individuals. President signatures, campaign details, and newspaper-style clips add color. With the additional information on newly elected commanders in chief, this title offers students the opportunity to gain a solid foundation of information on American history and its leaders.–Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

RUSSO, Charles J. Debating Issues in American Education. 10 vols. 3968p. bibliog. charts. further reading. index. websites. SAGE. 2012. PLB $680. ISBN 978-1-4129-8978-7. LC 2011040901. Online: SAGE Reference Online
Gr 10 Up–Each of about 150 issues in primary and secondary education, in areas that range from school financing and governance to alternative schooling and the uses of new technology, is addressed here in a piece that opens with a “Yes/No” question (with some exceptions), and is followed by an overview and a pair of point-counterpoint arguments. The general slant of the material is academic, and the arguments are tightly laced with research results and case studies. The entries and the general introductions that open each thematic volume end with recommended resources and, where relevant, lists of court cases and statutes. Despite the high level of discourse, much of what is explored here is practical and, at least theoretically, should be of interest to present and future educators, parents, and politicians. Questions tackled include, “Should corporal punishment in public schools be abolished?” “Should English-only curriculums be eliminated or expanded?” and, “Should all forms of ability grouping be eliminated in schools?” Other debates take on school vouchers, teacher certification, religious expression in public schools, appropriate sources of funding, homeschooling, safety, and more. Though usable (and available) individually, each volume is capped by an analytical index to the entire set that highlights overlapping and interlocking subjects–notably the Common Core State Standards Initiative, aspects of which are examined in all five volumes. Relentlessly utilitarian design notwithstanding, these titles merit serious consideration for their systematic approach and unusually broad scope.–John Peters, Children’s Literature Consultant, New York City

TREFIL, James. Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and Beyond. 336p. appendix. bibliog. charts. diags. glossary. illus. index. maps. photos. National Geographic. 2012. PLB $50. ISBN 978-1-4262-0971-0.
Gr 6 Up–This stunningly beautiful and informative guide to the planets, stars, and beyond is illustrated in full color, providing photographs, art, and computer graphics that will draw readers into the mysteries and vastness of space. Brief biographies credit and introduce scientists who made important discoveries. The book explains, for example, that Edwin Hubble, one of the scientists who transformed our understanding of the universe, was also an outstanding athlete who chose science over a career as a professional boxer. The finding aids in this guide to the solar system, galaxy, and the universe make it highly user friendly. Appended are a table of facts about the planets, in which information about each planet’s satellites is alphabetically arranged under each planet heading; a list of notable deep-sky objects–the stars, star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, etc., found beyond our solar system; and a glossary and a list of map terms. The general index uses bold type for the page numbers of illustrations and the biographies of pertinent scientists, and it is followed by a lengthy place-name index. A gorgeous, fact-filled must for reference sections that need up-to-date astronomy information.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD

From the left (left image): Rocco Staino; Barbara Genco, Library Journal's manager of special projects; and Christopher Harris. From the left (right image):Jon Gregory, Matt Andros, Roger Rosen, Diana McDermott, and Geraldine Curran. Photographs by Sean McGinty.

The world of reference is moving at warp speed these days. Public library patrons are used to Wikipedia and expect the same convenience when it comes to library resources. And in many school libraries, budget crunches, technology issues, and Common Core standards have made librarians’ jobs even more, shall we say, exciting. Wouldn’t you love to sit down with some of the world’s leading reference publishers and say, “Hey, wait a second! This is what we need you to do to make our libraries better”?

Well, here’s the next best thing. The following conversation offers an abridged, fly-on-the-wall view of SLJ’s gathering of publishers, aggregators, and, yes, librarians at the American Library Association’s January midwinter meeting in Dallas. Our goal? To talk about the latest trends and issues in reference materials for school and public libraries. A broad mandate, to be sure, but one that was ably corralled by our quick-thinking moderators, Christopher Harris, of New York’s Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, and Wendy Stephens, of New Market, Alabama’s Buckhorn High School. The duo, both librarians and SLJ contributors, led a spirited discussion of the merits of print vs. digital learning, the impact of those Common Core guidelines on publishers’ plans, and other timely and vexing topics.

Christopher Harris: What are schools looking for these days?

Wendy Stephens: One of our databases had a lovely area where all of these social issues, topics, were broken down. It was the best interface for selling databases to my students and teachers because in one moment they could see what was most applicable to the topic that they were working on. They didn’t even have to type anything.

Rocco Staino (SLJ contributing editor): Schools that have AP courses need quality information that’s very expensive to subscribe to for the entire year. But let’s say we only need access for the month of April. I think temporary or periodic access to expensive resources is something that libraries are open to.

Harris: Let’s be honest, that’s what they’re doing with trials anyway. Here’s a chance to monetize that. All the studies show that people pirate music because there’s no easy, cost-effective way to access it. If you make it easy and cost effective, they buy it instead because pirating it is a pain. But now there are new pricing models, or maybe we could go back to old-school consortia pricing. One library needs the database in March and another one in April, and one of them’s doing it at 8:30 in the morning, one of them’s doing it at 2:30 in the afternoon. Can we buy seats, and spread some of the cost out?

Jon Gregory (vice president of regional sales, World Book): But one of the first questions that we’re asked by our new subscribers is, “This isn’t seats, is it?”

Rick Lumsden (executive director of institutional sales, Britannica Digital Learning): We’re very flexible. If somebody says, “I’ve got money for two months,” I can switch them on and off for two months. Going the other direction, when money runs out, digital content goes away. We have a lot of people who say, “I’ve got the money now. I’m going to subscribe for five years, so that I know it’s there.” There are always creative solutions.

Staino: But in some states, you can’t do that.

Lumsden: Still, there’s a lot of flexibility with digital content. I’m not really sure our customers know that, but they shouldn’t be shy about asking.

Harris: There might be opportunities if you build modular things around the large curricular areas.

Gregory: That’s absolutely where we’re headed, and I know you all are doing the same thing.

Staino: AP courses are standard throughout the country, so everyone who has an American history AP course is doing the same thing and needs that material.

Gregory: So we create a database that should cover nine or 12 months’ worth of curriculum and price it knowing how much things will be used. But the problem is that it has to be there the whole time so the teachers can be trained. And you have students who are trying to catch up on the remedial side or who come in late to the game, and if access has just been turned off, it’s a problem.

Diana McDermott (director of marketing and sales, M. E. Sharpe): I also work on the academic side and the push is even more urgent there in terms of libraries wanting to pay only for what is used. But it’s difficult for a small publisher to invest in new products without having a firmer grasp on what the revenue might be.

Because we were late in the game and wanted to provide as much flexibility as possible, we set up a one-time purchase for digital. We thought that might be an incentive for libraries, as well, because they could budget it when it worked best. So many libraries—I would guess most of them—have access through statewide consortia to these larger databases and encyclopedias. We had to explain how ours could be looked at as a one-time book purchase. And we’ve been successful with that.

Stephens: Is that sustainable in the long term? I worry about the infrastructure required to maintain that, whether materials sold that way will continue to be available to us.

McDermott: Our costs are not as huge as some other databases, and we still publish print. We’re not sure how long we can financially sustain that, though we like to make print available and have librarians who still want it.

Roger Rosen (CEO of Rosen Publishing): With an outright purchase, does a library have access to all your updates?

Stephens: I think if [publishers are] not updating, they just have to make that new print edition so dynamic and so different that libraries will want to buy it to get the electronic, or get the electronic only.

From the left: Diana McDermott and Geraldine Curran; Henrietta Thornton-Verma and Rocco Staino; Rick Lumsden.

Harris: We need a mathematician and an economist to help us, because we do these things by gut. Maybe I buy one copy of the ebook, and I get to use it with one student—or five-to-one, or 10-to-one, or X-to-one. What’s the value of X that ceases to be statistically different from unlimited, simultaneous access?

Stephens: In the school environment, I would say it’s a class, or in a district it may be a class per school.

Stephens: Will there be a greater emphasis on embedding images and video?

Rosen: Yes, so long as it truly advances the content and is substantively useful in terms of access that goes way beyond the book, and provides a wealth of primary-source documents, historic coverage of an event, or audio recordings of speeches or of poets reading their own work. That’s amazing fire power.

One of the things we’re looking at is how copyright-friendly material is embedded within what we’re creating so that they can use it, do their mash-ups, use 21st-century transliteracy modes to be ever more capable producers, and have a sense of ownership about their learning.

Geraldine Curran (marketing specialist, Scholastic): We feel that our TrueFlix online material has enhanced a longstanding product that many librarians enjoyed in print. It’s been called not just an ebook, but a digital learning tool. It was nice to hear people like yourselves call it that.

Stephens: How do you create an interface that works on a mobile device and has the features of a full-fledged database?

Gregory: That’s a real challenge, and not just on the publishers’ and aggregators’ side. It’s because of different formats. Apple doesn’t work with Flash, for example. And by the time you feel like you have it all together, the rules change on how to make material robust and include the videos, the pictures, and all that textual content. We get caught up in the idea that if it’s digital, it’s better, but we still have students who learn better using print. If we’re going to look out for learners, not just try to be 21st century, we have to understand that online is just a delivery method.

Stephens: As many lovely things that you can do within the databases—send the articles to yourself, formulate the citation, download—a lot of kids in my school don’t have access to home computing. It’s not necessarily even a financial issue. Part of the area that I work in is very rural, and they’re using dial-up or satellite.

Gregory: And the more robust we make something, the harder it is for those in rural areas to access.

Stephens: Exactly, and all the different options are so confusing sometimes. If you try to look at a full-fledged database on a mobile device, it’s one of the most frustrating experiences.

Lumsden: A real challenge right now for publishers is that when people ask for access on mobile devices, they may mean a multitude of things—access to a standard interface on a mobile device, a site that’s optimized for mobile devices, or an app. Right now, we’re doing all three because we don’t know where things will go. One of the things that publishers need from librarians is clarity about what they mean when they’re talking about mobile devices.

Harris: How are database publishers helping librarians curate the best resources for students?

Rosen: We serve initially as curators of what we deem to be the most appropriate material—primary-source documents that are age appropriate, correlated to the curriculum, and potentially at the right reading level. We want to move students from being passive consumers of information to more active creators of it and thereby fulfill many of the mandates of the Common Core state standards.

McDermott: I agree with Roger in terms of the publisher functioning as a curator. When the publisher gears material to exactly that level, we hope that students will become more engaged more quickly because the material is accessible, it’s what they need, and it’s interesting to them.

Harris: Matt, as a larger database vendor, do you foresee more of that?

Matt Andros (vice president of field sales, EBSCO): Definitely. The difficult position we’re put in as an aggregator is getting content that’s written at the right level—especially when you’re looking at K–3 or K–5, there’s not much for that audience. We use a Lexile indicator so we can see exactly the level material is written at, and that helps.

Stephens: How do you encourage kids to use your digital resources before they turn to Google or Wikipedia? Is there a way to highlight quality content within the search results or on your home pages?

Gregory: One of the good things about search is that we don’t have to wonder. We can look at curriculums and Common Core standards to find out what they’re going to be looking up and work toward that. Also we can see what they type into the search box and move information relevant to that “above the fold,” as we used to say with newspapers, and find out where we need to develop more content. Looking at queries also helps us realize when we’re putting resources toward something that we thought they were spending a lot of time on, and they’re not.

Stephens: I use the same method for collection building. I look at what people have entered as search terms in our OPACs. I like the idea that you’re building off those queries.

Harris: I would really encourage you to deeply investigate the analytics. You can see that a student spent only 30 seconds on an article because it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be.

Gregory: What if they only spent a little time because they found all they needed quickly? They could spend five minutes on an article but not find what they’re looking for, but there the statistics are saying, “Great resource!” Whereas in an article they looked at for 30 seconds or a minute, they found all they needed in the first two paragraphs because we did our ranking properly and moved it to the top.

Lumsden: The search results can really drive your content development and the way that you display results. But the issue of how to get them to actually do the search to begin with is still a huge challenge. The question is, can resources be in all the different places that librarians or other educators are searching for content? Are they completely integrated with the district’s learning management system or the school’s library catalogue, so that you have as many potential touch points as possible for a search to occur?

Rosen: The school administration needs to empower librarians to have time with students for deep education about what being a good digital citizen and being cyberliterate mean. Kids should understand that any random hit is not necessarily as good as a vetted, authoritative resource.

Stephens: My biggest challenge in pushing students to better content is the teachers. I have so many teachers who are not the best types of searchers, who don’t have the best skills at identifying quality information. The most success I’ve had is when they return to graduate school and their work is scrutinized, and that feedback trickles down to the classrooms and they raise the bar.

From left (left image): Christopher Harris; Wendy Stephens; Jennifer Pfau, ABC-CLIO’s marketing manager of print and electronic products; and Rick Lumsden. From left (right image):Matt Andros, Roger Rosen, and Diana McDermott.

Gregory: Let’s look at primary-source documents. How were teachers taught to use primary-source documents 20 years ago? Now, they’re all digitized but teachers didn’t get any instruction back then on how to use them. So one thing we do, and I know the other publishers and aggregators do, is provide guidance on teaching with documents.

Harris: Improvement also means moving away from textbooks as regurgitators of tertiary analysis. It’s going to be increasingly important to have direct explanations from experts who are able to offer true descriptions, definitions, and reviews of topics, overviews that don’t attempt to analyze, because we expect students to do that.

Lumsden: You just defined an encyclopedia article. For those of us in more traditional areas of publishing, the challenge is to make sure people understand where articles come from, that they’re written by experts.

Staino: We’re very tech savvy and we probably think everyone is moving toward electronic access. But I know some people who still buy print encyclopedias because they don’t have the hardware. What’s your feeling about that?

Gregory: If everybody had unlimited budgets, they’d probably buy both because of the different types of learners we were talking about. When some administrators and librarians have decided to back off print reference and buy online products, four or five years later, budgets are cut and they can no longer buy the online resource. If they had bought print, they’d have some shelf life. You have zero shelf life with 100 percent digital; when it’s cut off, you’ve got 100 percent of nothing. I heard from one of the largest library systems on the West Coast that they put their print encyclopedias out for circulation when they’re a year old.

Stephens: I do exactly the same thing. Print is excellent for equity of access, but also because if a student who’s using it looks up Paul Revere, it says, “See also American Revolution,” and so on. Then I can show them the related topics and controlled vocabulary they need to know. Also, sometimes the databases are just overwhelming and a circulating encyclopedia is much more digestible.

Gregory: You lose something going to digital, in my opinion. Years ago, when we had to write about Rhode Island, we got the “R” volume off the shelf, and on the way to “Rhode Island” saw “Revolutionary War.” A week later, I remember the Revolutionary War, and I don’t know a thing about Rhode Island. You miss that casual learning completely with digital.

Harris: I disagree. For me serendipity means that somebody failed to develop a proper search interface. Serendipity is an excuse that means, “We don’t know how to do fuzzy logic.” I can code serendipity that’s better than serendipitous. We have the ability to start using rich document format and semantic metadata so things will pop up that say, “You’re looking for Rhode Island? Rhode Island was in the Revolutionary War. Find out more about the Revolutionary War.”

Gregory: But with casual learning, you could find something beginning with “R” that’s nothing to do with Rhode Island.

Harris: We coded that. On our library portal is a little button that says, “Go fish.” Kids click on the button and it takes them to a random book. I see on Rosen’s PowerKids site, they have little things on the front page that rotate quite often, and I know World Book and the other encyclopedias do that too. You can digitally craft things to replace serendipity.

Staino: One thing I’ve observed is that with digital, kids become individual casual learners rather than group casual learners, whereas with print, they share more.

Lumsden: The problem isn’t format, it’s user attitude. There are far more opportunities for finding things serendipitously in a digital format than in a book because things that are related are linked.