I also got rid of the library's vertical files at the end of the second year at my
last school. The majority of the materials contained in them were actually
documents that were taken from the Internet---the kids had done research on
specific topics and the previous librarian accepted their copies afterwards to be
placed in the vertical file for future research. (?)
Most of them were outdated or were from questionable sources, and some were even
faxed copies of magazine articles that were sent from the area university library
to our school's library (ILL)---which, I explained was a violation of copyright law
since our library had taken the individual student's copy that was requested and
filed it (or even copied it) for placement in the library's files rather than
purchasing the magazine being used for future research.
After I had purchased several online databases, updated the print collection in the
areas of research on the topics covered, and offered links for student research
assignment (webquests or pathfinders), the vertical file went "untouched" for a
year---and it was eliminated completely. Only one teacher complained that the
materials were gone --- but she was reassigned the following year to another
subject area and would not be using the materials she had grown used to seeing
documented on the yearly assignments, so no one missed the materials. The only
things that were kept in files for use by the students were related to Texas
history or local clippings but very seldom were these even used later due to the
resources online.
I think the best resources that might be kept for vertical files (if I had
continued to keep them) would be maps--such as those found in the National
Geographic Magazines or those requested from different states, countries, etc. We
had a small collection of those and some poster sets at the university level
(separate from our university's map room in the main library) which the education
majors would use for presentations and projects. Those were our best circulated
items in the vertical files.
And just a side-note for those who are interested in keeping vertical files and are
looking for resources of unusual materials (if you have the staff members available
to catalog all of those items), the Educator's Progress Service, Inc.
http://www.freeteachingaids.com/
has several titles that list organizations and companies that offer free or
inexpensive materials for instruction on a variety of topics. These guides are not
inexpensive or free, however. They range between $35 - $45 per catalog, but for
those resources that unique or rare, the catalogs contain some great things that
you can obtain free of charge / inexpensively---it just takes a letter or sometimes
a quick download from a website---unless it is a kit, a video, or DVD. At the
university level, we had the entire collection of catalogs and would create an
up-dated vertical file of unique resources by writing to the companies for their
materials---however, I had a staff of 7 doing this on their "down time" in the
library. If you're interested, you might want to order one catalog OR visit your
local university or college to see if they have these available for review (they'll
probably be in reference).
~Shonda
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
US / Technology Librarian
Fort Worth Country Day School
Fort Worth, TX
sbrisco@fwcds.org
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