Evaluation of Print Atlas Reference Resource Demonstrates a Need for Digital Replacement

While assisting students and teachers in finding information, I have noticed that our World Book Atlas (WBA) is not being used.  A replacement atlas resource that is able to keep up with our changing world is necessary to support students in their inquiry of our world.  The National Geographic World Atlas app (NGA), created by the National Geographic Society and Rally Interactive, is my potential replacement for this resource.  It is an excellent tool that meets the needs of students who demand immediate interaction with information in our technology driven world.

The WBA, published in 2005 is a large scale relief map atlas including political boundaries, physical landforms, terrain, elevation and sea level depth.  The atlas includes political maps of each of the continents except Antarctica.  It has a time zone map, legend and an extensive index.  Besides being cumbersome and outdated, students are unable to connect to and interact with this resource for many reasons.

Reference Resource Rubric evaluation of the World Book Atlas shows it is failing students' information needs

According to Reidling’s evaluation and selective criteria when evaluating geographic sources, “scale is the most important element, as it defines the amount of information that can be shown.”(p.76)  Each page is packed full of place names making it difficult to focus on a specific area.  “Maps with fewer items of information are typically easier to read”.(p.78)  This atlas uses a scale between 1:250 000 to 1:2 500 00 and is difficult for students to relate to and retrieve information from.

Reidling also states atlases should be five or less years in age, due to the rapidly changing political world. The WBA is an historical atlas at twelve years of age, and missing current information.  For example, the former Queen Charlotte Islands was renamed Haida Gwaii in 2009.  The Salish Sea, a new name given in 2010 to the area including the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, because of its cultural importance to the Salishan people.  

World Book Atlas: current political boundaries are not represented, map is right at the edge of the page disconnected from the rest of the world, name places are hidden in the crease of the book binding

National Geographic Atlas app: place names current and legible, map is connected to the rest of the world map

The NGA app addresses contested areas and is updated twice a year.  National Geographic acknowledges disputed political boundaries "by portraying them in grey with their administrative centres designated with a special symbol."(NGA Map Policy)  This feature could create an interesting inquiry project for students. 

"Somaliland's independence... is not recognized by the international community"(Somaliland Disputed Territory NGA), and is therefore represented in grey

After sharing district digital resources and consulting with students, teachers and other teacher librarians about the benefits of NGA app, it is clear that it would make an excellent addition to our digital resource collection.  The NGA, when used in conjunction with other online resources such as World Book, Discovery Education, Learn360 and KnowBC.com, will help students to understand our world in a more meaningful way.  Students who used this app were very excited about the prospects of having it available as a learning tool.  They felt it was a fun way to personally interact with and learn about the world. "It was awesome..very cool..better than an atlas..liked zooming..information and temperature features cool!"(Grade 7 feedback)

There are many features the NGA app offers that work to provide a full picture of our world.  A very engaging feature of this map is the ability to spin the three-dimensional globe manipulating it easily by the swipe of a finger.  A zooming in option changes the scale five times and allows viewers to focus more clearly on the map as it increases in detail such as major cities, bodies of water, islands, rivers, roads, mountain elevations and airports.

Aside from the ability to move the map around in various ways, other tools are helpful in applying a sense of spatial awareness.  Rather than use many lines of Latitude and Longitude to create a spherical illusion on a traditional map, this map already appears as a globe three dimensionally.  Fewer lines are needed resulting in less visual clutter.  Lines that are included are the Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Meridian of Greenwich Date Line.  Other feathers that promote spatial awareness include GPS coordinates given for any single touch on the globe, and a distance calculator that when aligned with two different points, will render a distance in kilometers.

GPA feature                                           Distance Tool

Students will be able to construct knowledge about the world when they are able to interact with this map. “Electronic geographical sources should provide rapid and user-friendly access to information.” (Riedling p.76)  The NGA app helps accomplish this as it is very responsive to the users touch.  Other interactive features that are quick and easy to use include local time, temperature, weather forecast, daily trivia and the ability to pin places of interest to create personalized maps.  In addition to these fun, useful features, there is current information for each country including climate, population, literacy, life expectancy, GDP, area, languages, government, industry, exports, agriculture, resources, human response to geography and demonyms.  This app can also be used offline by downloading it to a device.  Few features become unavailable and the majority of the map and related information remains intact.

There are a few things with the app that could be improved upon.  I discovered the information included was general for each country rather than looking at smaller parts of the country.  There should be more specific information pertaining to regions within a country such as provinces and states, as some countries are extremely large.  This would help create a more accurate representation of the country as a whole.  Similarly, the weather forecast is connected to the capital city and does not provide information for other parts of the country.  Finally, the index is replaced by a continent search and a search bar.  If the correct spelling or whereabouts is unknown, places may be difficult to locate.  If Czech was spelled “Check”, then no other spelling alternatives would pop up to alert the student of their mistake.  However, this is also possible when using a traditional atlas index, therefore, I have negated it as a problem.  Again, these things would not pose a problem if the resource was being used properly, alongside other sources.

Reference Resource Rubric evaluation of National Geographic Atlas App shows it is serving students' information needs

According to Reidling, “geographical reference sources can be thought of as works of art. They provide aesthetic satisfaction and the opportunity to let one’s imagination wander.”(p.75)  The World Book Atlas that I have evaluated to be replaced by the National Geographic Atlas app, neither provides aesthetic satisfaction nor the opportunity to let the imagination wander anymore because it is not being used.  This app is an excellent tool that should belong in our school reference resource portfolio because students are excited to use it. They want to interact with their world in a meaningful way.  When used properly, the National Geographic Atlas app can help to create a full, informative picture of our world in the minds of students today.  "We give educators powerful tools to reveal our interconnected world-and inspire new generations."(NGA Society)

 “The Volume Purchase Program for Education offers special pricing for education institutions and we would receive the 50 percent discount for app purchases of quantity 20 or more.”(apple.com)  The cost would be $46.80 including the 50% discount that the VPP offers.

  

Bibliography 

www.apple.com/ca/education/docs/vpp_education_guide_en_Oct2013.pdf,

Volume Purchase Program for Education-Apple

www.rallyinteractive.com

Rally Interactive LLC

National Geographic Atlas application, National Geographic Society & Rally Interactive LLC

www.nationalgeographic.com

Reidling, A. Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips, 2nd Edition

Monroe, C. Reference Resource Evaluation Rubric