Curriculum Materials Center

The Curriculum Materials Center (CMC) is a branch of William Madison Randall Library and is located in room 127 in the Education Building on the campus of UNC Wilmington.  The CMC Collection is organized and administered to serve certain specific requirements of the teacher education program of the Watson School of Education (WSE). 

I.  Audience

      1. The audience primarily served consists of pre-service teachers, graduate students, WSE faculty, and area teachers working in the following counties:  Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, and Sampson.  The collection is limited to students taking WSE classes and UNCW Faculty and Staff and area public school teachers.  Circulation policies vary according to the category of the user http://library.uncw.edu/policies/curriculum_materials_center_0

II. Scope of the Materials to be Collected

      1. Collection Guidelines

a.  Levels: Birth through secondary education

b.  Subject:

i.  Curriculum as stated in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study issued by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

ii.  Enrichment and remedial materials for the listed curriculum.

iii.  Subjects not covered in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, but taught in designated school districts.

iv.  Materials developed for a specific student population (i.e. English Language Learners (ELL), visually impaired, learning disabled).

v.  Birth through kindergarten learning experiences.

c.  Language: The primary language of materials in the collection is English; however, materials will be included which support the teaching of foreign languages, bilingual education and English Language Learning.

d.  Geographical Guidelines:

i.  Priority is given to materials issued, adopted, or published by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and area school systems.

      2.Specific Guidelines

a.  Print Materials

i.  Textbooks

a.  Textbooks in all subject areas of the curriculum, grades K through 12, are selected.

b.  All state-adopted elementary, middle school, and high school materials are comprehensively collected.

c.  Textbook correlations and ancillary teaching materials are collected when available.

d.  Preschool through grade 12 curriculum guides from state and national levels are available online.  Selected guides are listed on the CMC’s website.

e.  Print and electronic versions of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study are available.  A link to the online version is provided from the CMC website.

ii.    Auxiliary Materials

a.  Lesson plan and activity books in all subject areas of the curriculum appropriate for birth through grade 12 are selected.

iii.  Diagnostic Tests

a.  Tests in the following categories are selected: achievement, adaptive behavior, early childhood, intelligence, learning skills, leisure, mathematics, oral language, reading vocational and career, and written language.

iv.   Big Books

a.  Big Books in all subject areas of the curriculum appropriate for birth through grade 12 are selected. 

v.   Novel Sets

a.  These book sets include multiple copies of titles with/without activity/lesson plans and video/DVD of the stories.  They are appropriate for grades 4-12 and in all subject areas of the curriculum, with a special emphasis on historical fiction and award winners.

vi.  Catalogs

a.  This print set is loaned to WSE students and faculty.  Vendors are selected to include a large sampling relating to educational resources and instructional equipment in all subject areas of the curriculum appropriate for birth through grade 12.  This collection is updated annually.  Vendors who offer electronic catalogs only are included in a browsing guide shared via the CMC website.

vii.  Reference Materials and Praxis Study Guides (which are also provided through Learning Express Library provided by NC Live.

 

b.  Non-print Materials

i.  Audiovisual Kits

a.  Kits such as board games, manipulative sets, toys, musical instruments, job boxes, visual aids, puppets, scales, charts, math and science lab equipment, and other items in all subject areas of the curriculum appropriate for birth through grade 12 are selected.

ii.  Software

a.  Educational software including games and activities in all curriculum subject areas appropriate for birth through grade 12 are selected.  Additionally, programs used for educational assessment and classroom instruction by educators are selected.  All programs are used for review in-house and non-circulating unless license agreements allow otherwise.

iii.  Videos, CDs, and DVDs

a.  Randall Library houses the main CD and video/DVD collection.  The CMC’s holdings include items acquired through WSE grants and a sampling of programs from all subject areas of the curriculum appropriate for birth through grade 12.

iv.  Video Cameras, DVD Cameras, Flip Cameras, Tripods, Mini-tripods, Digital Still Cameras, and Microphone Headsets

a.  This equipment is packaged separately and loaned to students tutoring in the Education Lab, WSE students and interns, and WSE faculty and staff.

v.  The CMC collects a variety of non-print formats for inspection, demonstration, and utilization for pre-service and in-service educators.  Emphasis will be placed on emerging formats.  Some exceptional examples of traditional formats may be retained.

 

III.  Criteria for the Selection of Materials

The Coordinator of the CMC is responsible for determining which materials will be added to the CMC collection.  Input from faculty, staff and students is valued and encouraged in the selection process.  Emphasis is placed on materials aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

      1.  Selection Criteria

a.  Intellectual content and presentation:  The basic idea or content of the material and how it is presented will be considered.

i.  Authority: Qualifications and abilities of the ones responsible for the creation of the work.

ii.  Appropriateness of content to users:  Content will be presented at the user’s interest and developmental level.

iii.  Scope:  The overall purpose and depth of coverage of the material must meet the needs of the collection.

iv.  Accuracy of information:  The facts and opinions of the material should be recognizable and unbiased.

v.  Presentation:  Information must be presented in a sequence that can be understood with ease.

vi.  Literary merit:  The work must display literary value.

vii.  Information availability:  At times, the need for information on a given topic may overshadow other literary criteria.

viii.  Format:  For materials dealing with rapidly changing subjects, less expensive or online formats may be considered.

ix.  Special features:  consideration will be given to materials with teacher’s guides, maps, graphics, glossaries, indexes, bibliographies, web links, etc.

x.   Value to the collection:  the work will meet the needs and purpose of the collection.

xi.  Other:  The materials will correlate with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

b.  Physical Format:  The content and format of materials will be compatible.

i.  Technical quality including photography, sound, filming technique, color, graphics, etc. will be of good quality and appropriate for the subject matter and audience.

ii.  Aesthetic quality will be considered in order to provide attractively packaged and aesthetically pleasing materials.

iii.  Safety and health considerations will be considered when selecting realia or tactile materials.

iv.  Other considerations to be reviewed include:  potential number of simultaneous users/licensing, variety of purposes for using material, variety of formats for the same work, ease of use, storage, and maintenance, and equipment needed to utilize the material.

      2.  Reviewing Sources

a.  Selection will be made using a wide variety of evaluation sources.  These resources will provide reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared evaluations of the materials being considered.

b.  The following titles are examples of sources which may be consulted when locating reviews:

i.  Professional Library Literature

a.  Periodicals:  Booklist, School Library Journal, Horn Book, andInfoTech.

b.  Books:  Elementary School Library Collection, Children’s Catalog, Middle and Junior High School Library Catalog, Senior High Core Collection: A Selection Guide, Senior High School Library Catalog, A to Zoo, and The Bookfinder.

ii.  Electronic Resources: Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD), Children’s Catalog Online, Bookwatch, Novelist K-8 Plus, MAS Complete Plus, Middle Search Plus, and Teacher Reference Center.

i.  Professional Education Literature

a.  Periodicals:  Instructor, Teaching PreK-8, Childhood Education.

b.  Subject Area periodicals: Computing Teacher, Science and Children, Language Arts, Social Education.

ii.  Specialized lists published monthly or annually by professional organizations, which list titles considered as outstanding examples of subject areas.

a.  Library organizations:  Best Books for Children, Notable Books for Young Adults.

b.  Educational organizations:  Teacher’s Choice, Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, and Notable Social Studies Books for Children.

IV.Gifts

1.  The Coordinator of the CMC will receive gifts-in-kind for the department.  Such donations are reflective of the CMC Collection Development Policy.

2.  The Curriculum Materials Center will accept gifts in accordance with Randall Library’s gifts policies and procedures.

3.  Monetary donations will be accepted through Randall Library.

 

V. Maintenance and Evaluation of the Collection

1.  Inventory will be conducted regularly to determine:

a.  Accuracy of information in materials.

b.  Availability of materials.

c.  Condition of materials.

d.  Accuracy of integrated library system records.

2.  Deselection will be an ongoing process to ensure that library materials are current, enticing and relevant to the collection.

a.  Withdrawals will be necessary when materials are obsolete, in poor condition or no longer relevant to the mission of the Curriculum Materials Center.

b.  Criteria for materials to be removed from the collection will be based on:

i.  Content

a.  Is the information relevant?

b.  Is a newer edition available?

ii.  Physical condition

a.  Can the material be repaired?

b.  Will the material be appealing after the repair?

c.  Is the material a candidate for the bindery?

d.  Is the material out of print?

iii.  Format:  Is it outdated (e.g. video cassettes to DVDs)?

iv.  Duplication:  Are there multiple copies of a seldom used title?

v.  Number of circulations:

a.  When was material last circulated?

b.  How many times has the material been circulated in the last 5 years?

3.  Materials which are physically damaged due to high usage will be replaced as quickly as possible.

4.  Deselection of textbooks is based on the North Carolina State Adoption List.

a.  As the textbook adoption cycle occurs in targeted subject areas (typically annually depending on the state budget) and textbook adoptions are replaced, textbook titles pulled from the CMC collection will be reviewed by the Coordinator of the CMC.  Appropriate textbook titles that reflect the UNCW curriculum for courses taught at Coastal Carolina Community College (CCCC) may be transferred to Coastal Carolina Community College’s collection to provide a convenience collection to supplement state-adopted textbook holdings for UNCW extension students.   Students can obtain latest editions through Randall Library’s Interlibrary Loan program (ILLIAD).   Please refer to the MOU for further detail related to this topic.

We gratefully acknowledge ECU Teaching Resources Center faculty for sharing their collection policy notes and for their wonderful feedback.

This document is based on the Curriculum Materials Center Collection Development Policy published by the American Library Association in 1993. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/about/sections/ebss/curric/cmcpolicy.cfm