| Example of an Audio-Visual Material Evaluation |
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The
year 2002 was the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition to
explore the then unknown lands of the American west.
If you log on to any of the databases available through the Hartfield
Library, you can find many articles about the Lewis and Clark
expedition. For example,
using InfoTrac’s
database Expanded Academic Index and the search terms “Lewis and
Clark” finds over 500 articles. One
such article is listed and evaluated below. The
article is: Smith, Candace “The Lewis and Clark Expedition,” Booklist,
August 2002, Vol. 98, issue 22, p. 1981. Relevance:
A reading of this short article proves that it is a review of the video,
“The Lewis and Clark Expedition.”
Since this is a review of an A-V source it is a good way to
evaluate the quality of this video. Currency: Since this article was written very recently during a spate
of bicentennial related research on the expedition, it is a very current
source of information. Author’s
Credentials: This review does not provide the name of the author or
provider of this video. The
best that can be found is the information that the company that produced
the video is Landmark. No
information about Landmark is readily available, so we must consider that
we really have no information about the author’s credentials. Content:
The review indicates that this video was written for elementary school
students (“Grades 2 – 6”) and is 17 minutes long.
With this information it is clear that the content of this item is
too slim to make it a useful resource for a college level research paper. To
make sure that the review is fair, check Magazines
for Libraries to see how the periodical Booklist is rated.
Booklist is evaluated in paragraph 1385.
In this evaluation, the authors of Magazines for Libraries
say, “A review in Booklist constitutes a recommendation for library
purchase.” Of course, such
a recommendation probably means the library of a public or elementary
school, not a college. Bibliography:
No information was provided about what sources were used during the making
of this video. |