COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

Transcription

1 Althea Georges, Elizabeth Reynolds, Laina Stapleton, and Tim Cook INLS , Resource Selection/Evaluation Assignment Two: Community-based Resource Collection 7 November 2011 COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION The user community we chose is a scuba diving school in Greensboro, NC. The population of Greensboro is approximately 270,000. Of this group, about 48.4% is Caucasian, 40.3% is African American, and the remainder is made up of various minorities. According to records from , the median household income is around $41,050 and about 17.9% of the population is living at or below the poverty line. Greensboro is sixteenth on the Daily Beast List of America s Brokest Cities; the unemployment rate is 11.0% and the average personal debt is $23,971. The median age for the year 2009 was 33.5 years. Greensboro is served at the elementary, middle, and high school levels by Guilford County Schools, and has a fairly large number of colleges and universities, including the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Guilford College, NC A&T State University, Bennett College, Greensboro College, High Point University, and Guilford Technical Community College. 86.6% of the population in Greensboro aged 25 years graduated from high school. However, despite the large number of higher education institutions only 34.9% of the population aged 25 and over have a bachelor s degree or higher. Our community at a scuba school in Greensboro would be highly specialized within the general population. We used Greensboro Scuba, an actual 5 Star PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Diving Center, as a resource to gather basic information about the community we would be serving with this collection. Grant Dawson, who has been diving for more than 30 years, leads Greensboro Scuba. He is a former support diver for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a research diver for the Smithsonian Institution. We made several attempts to contact Mr. Dawson or anyone at Greensboro Scuba to ask specific questions, but our s were not returned. We got information from their website and Facebook page and made some assumptions based on that information. Greensboro is located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. The area is full of lakes, but the closest large body of water ideal for diving is the Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of North Carolina on the Outer Banks approximately 200 miles away or further, depending on exactly where in the region a diver wants to go. Because of the minimum travel distance to reach a good diving location, our user community will mostly consist of students of scuba who are looking for group travel opportunities as well as those getting certified in preparation for their own individual, perhaps pre-planned trips to other places around the world. To corroborate what we came up with simply after looking at a map of Greensboro and surrounding areas, Greensboro Scuba offers trips to their patrons on a fairly regular basis. Most recently, according to their website, they took trips to Curacao in 2007, North Myrtle Beach in

2 2008, and are offering a long weekend trip to Rainbow River, which is home to manatees and incredible wildlife, in Ginnie Spring, Florida in early 2012 for the very reasonable price of $325. They also stay in the area and work in lakes, according to their Facebook page, which offers some information about an annual trip to Belews Lake to dive and clean up the lake. Their Facebook page also suggests that they do weekend dives regularly in the same lake. PADI dive centers offer classes to students age eight and up, so there is a wide range of ages for which our collection would need to work. Classes are offered at all levels, from very beginner all the way up to students considering becoming dive instructors themselves. No family classes are offered; students are split by ability level or, when less than eighteen years old, by age. Our collection would need to provide information for all levels of scuba divers, so we needed to look for resources that enhance the collection but are not too specific in their scope. The prices vary based on the class being taken, with classes for people becoming instructors being the most expensive and all being reasonably priced in our opinion. We tried to get more information about the number of students in classes, the number of classes that students take on average, how far they tend to increase in ability level, etc. but we did not receive responses. We looked at Facebook to attempt to get an idea of how many people may use the scuba school on a regular basis. Greensboro Scuba has 86 likes on their Facebook page. We assume those likes are a mixture of students who have taken one to two classes and regular divers who participate on the group trips, while the majority of the likes were probably from the latter. We also believe that those 86 are definitely a mere sampling of the patrons at the scuba school. Not all patrons would be involved on Facebook or involved enough in the scuba school to want to be linked to them on Facebook. We also looked into collections at other dive centers around the world for comparison. Surprisingly, only the largest, most visited dive centers house any kind of collection, but those vary widely as far as resources held. The most intriguing was the North Island Piazza Dive Centre & Library in Seychelles, which seems to be a both a scuba school as well as a kind of reading room for divers to visit....it houses a collection of books on topics of interest, various relics and artefacts. An ideal place for a quiet and relaxing read, the library also contains material explaining the background to the North Island project and details of environmental programmes currently underway. However, we could not find much specific information on actual resources held or how the library would choose what to include in their collection. Because of our highly specialized community group, most of our users would be looking for the same kind of information from any sources we include in the collection. Age would be the biggest differentiating factor, but generally we can assume that children under the age of eighteen are learning to dive with their family and can therefore hope to meet the needs of the children through their parents. We believe any diver could benefit from information about safety training. All divers have to work as a team when in the water to ensure each other s safety, so we decided that we would search for sources that address safety issues and training needs. Communicating underwater is essential for divers. Obviously, divers cannot communicate through most of the standard forms of everyday communication. A group of people diving together would not be able to successfully inform each other of decisions that need

3 to be made or informing fellow divers of danger, for example, without being familiar with both generally used underwater signs as well as more specific, less frequently used signs. We searched for resources that could meet both general and specific communication needs. Information about the latest equipment is very valuable to divers and dive instructors. Reviews of top equipment would help divers and dive instructors choose what they would purchase and recommend to their students so they feel safe and comfortable in the water. We explored options for a resource with regular updates about new equipment and dive accessories, while considering that this resource should be general enough to cover a wide range of diving needs. Although our collection is quite small, we also wanted to include an item or two that would be entertaining for the students at the diving school. Most of the items in our collection are educational or informational in nature, but we decided that a little amusement could be a very good thing. We made an attempt to find a few resources that are both entertaining and informative, but the users at Greensboro Scuba may want to get lost in a good book just for fun as well. RESOURCES INCLUDED IN COLLECTION Citations included are an altered version of MLA style where applicable, with emphasis on the sources titles. General Source PADI Instructor Development Course Crew-Pak Rancho Santa Margarita, CA: Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), [2010?]. PADI stands for Professional Association of Diving Instructors, one of the world s leading scuba diving training organizations. They sell packs of resources geared for people planning to become a professional diver and especially to become a diving instructor at a scuba school. The packs vary depending on what specialty area of instruction you are getting in to and include resources for instruction like lesson plans, a reference DVD, tests and quizzes, information on legislation having to do with diving, and aquatic cue cards. The authority of PADI s manuals is unquestionable; in fact, the packs are required for anyone wanting to become a professional diver. However, they are very costly, approximately $750 for each individual pack. The resources included in the pack may be important to have in the collection for the use of our instructors in the case of emergencies, lost or stolen individually owned resources, etc. A scuba school s collection in Greensboro, NC probably would not have very many students who want to become instructors, so it might not be something that we would need to have more than one of on hand, but the one would be something our instructors would probably need to use.

4 Video/DVD Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures Cousteau, Jean-Michel, et al. Alexandria, VA: PBS Home Video, [2009], DVD. This is a collection of documentary episodes, 11 hours of footage filmed mostly in 2006, with several new episodes from 2009, produced by PBS, which follow the French explorer and environmentalist and his expedition team of divers around the globe studying ecosystems and animals. It pairs amazing photography and beautiful scenery with interviews with working scientists, while also addressing current global, environmental issues. Episodes included are Sharks at Risk/Gray Whale Obstacle Course; Sea Ghosts/Call of the Killer Whale; Return to the Amazon; Voyage to Kure, Pts. 1 & 2; America's Underwater Treasures, Pts. 1 & 2. It would be an educational addition to our collection that combines the scenery divers would see as well as addresses the environmental issues that affect diving currently. It can be bought for around $50. There is also an accompanying website with free resources for educators, as well as additional supplemental videos and information. The general authority of the Cousteau family in the marine biology field, as well as the more up-to-date information of these documentaries lend credence to this film s inclusion in our collection. School Library Journal stated the series should be included in school collections for science classes; as we are a form of highly specialized school, this would add credence to our collection by enabling students to go deeper into the scientific aspects of scuba diving. BOOKS Nonfiction Diving Into Darkness: A True Story of Death and Survival Finch, Phillip. New York: St. Martin s Press, Print. Phillip Finch tells the story of two divers who went into Bushman s Hole in South Africa, 900 feet below the surface, and tried to recover a body. Their attempt was disastrous; one of the men died, and the other spent ten hours in struggling to survive. Publisher s Weekly and Booklist gave Diving Into Darkness positive reviews. The book also had positive reviews on Amazon and GoodReads. Our collection needs some general nonfiction in addition to the manuals and travel guide. Diving Into Darkness covers several interesting topics that would be of interest to the students: sport diving, cave diving, and diving rebreathers (a method for diving deeper with less equipment). Most of the materials in our collection are about the pleasures of diving. Including materials about the dangers will give us a more balanced collection.

5 Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World Ecott, Tim. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, c2001. Print. Journalist and diver Tim Ecott blends history and adventure in this nonfiction novel. He traces the history of diving, from the Ancient Greeks use of sponge divers through the development of modern scuba equipment. He also interviews pioneers of diving, including the first female dive instructor and a man who lived in an underwater habitat in the 1960 s. Interspersed with the history are Ecott s own experiences diving around the world. He makes sure to include both his good experiences all over the world in places like the South Pacific and Seychelles, and the bad experiences, like the near death trip into the English Channel. This book can be found in paperback for average book price, and Publisher s Weekly gave it a generally positive review. Ecott s authority as both a diver and journalist lends credence to this novel s inclusion in our collection, as do its mixture of nonfiction experiences and the history of humanity s attempts to explore an area that is uninhabitable to us. DAN Pocket Guide to First Aid for Scuba Diving Orr, Dan, Bill Clendenen, and Divers Alert Network (DAN). Helena, Mont.: Greycliff, [1998?]. Print. This guide to first aid, published by the Divers Alert Network and written by various field experts, is meant specifically for scuba diving incidents and emergencies. It is organized with easy access tabs such as Carbon Monoxide Toxicity and Squeeze/Barotrauma so divers can find what they re looking for quickly in an emergency, and is fully illustrated, with step-by-step instructions for efficiency. The pocket guide is also made to be used in the field; it measures approximately 3.5 by 4.5 inches, so it is small enough to stay in a mobile first aid kit or in a pocket. More importantly for a diving first aid guide, the book is printed on hard vinyl sheets, so it is entirely waterproof and virtually indestructible. Available for only $10 from the DAN online store, this resource should absolutely be included in our collection. The organizational structure, the authority of the authors, and the low cost of this guide lead me to suggest that the scuba school actually include multiple copies of it to be sent out with groups on travel or housed at various strategic points within the school, perhaps included in each of the first aid kits the school would have on site.

6 Scuba Divers Sign Language Manual Smith, James P., and Leann G. Smith. Flagstaff, Ariz.: Best Publishing Co., Print. This manual does exactly what it says it does; it illustrates ways that divers can communicate while underwater, a safety essential for scuba diving. This particular manual expands on the most standard signals used in scuba diving by combining them with signs derived from American Sign Language. Most common underwater signs are taught in scuba classes as part of the necessary knowledge before one can become scuba certified; this manual could be part of the collection to expand on the signs our groups use on trips. It could also be helpful for those divers who break out of the group to dive in smaller groups, on their own, and are on the track toward becoming serious, experienced divers. One downside could be that in order for these signs to work, all members of the dive group would have to be familiar with the signs. That downside is not a major issue, however, as the positives of having a manual like this in a collection far out way that one caveat. 50 Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World s Greatest Destinations Santella, Chris. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Print. This book collects 2-3 page write ups by international expert divers about their favorite dive spots around the world, both places that a novice diver could have fun at and spots geared mostly to the professional divers, and includes 40 pictures from underwater photographers. The book does not go into any detail about specifically traveling to these spots but gives just general information about the diving spot and what you are likely to see there, i.e. what makes the spot one of the top dive places. The lack of detail makes the resource a good starter spot for information to help narrow the options when a diver is deciding where he might want to go. The general authority of expert divers, as well as the relatively low cost of this resource suggests it should be a strong consideration for this collection. However, the public reviews of this resource that I could find suggest that the lack of specific information won t be as helpful for our users as we might want. There were also several complaints about the pictures in the book appearing to just be stock photos and mostly from above the surface of the water.

7 Dive: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Top Dive Locations Halls, Monty. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly Books, c2008. Print. For readers who want additional information on places to dive, Dive: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Top Dive Locations provides descriptions of 250 dives in 70 locations. Monty Halls arranges the dives by region and includes information about geography, history, marine life, special attractions. Each diving location is rated from beginner to expert with information from expert divers. The book also includes maps and photographs. It was revised in 2008, and so the information is mostly current. Unfortunately, there are very few user reviews of the Dive on the Amazon, GoodReads and Barnes & Noble websites. However, earlier editions of the book received positive reviews from the Orlando Sentinel, Northeast and Midwest Dive News and the San Francisco Chronicle. The book has plenty of useful information for new and more experienced divers, and the photographs are excellent. It will be a good complement to 50 Places to Dive Before You Die. Fiction Lost Empire Cussler, Clive, and Grant Blackwood. New York: G.P. Putman s Sons, c2010. Print. This suspenseful adventure novel is the second in a series called the Fargo Adventures. In this installment, husband and wife treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo find a huge ship's bell on a dive off the Tanzanian coast. Mexican president Quauhtli Garza, a staunch nationalist, knows that this bell comes from a former Confederate ship that sank off the east African coast after the Civil War. Garza fears the discovery of a missing piece of a Quetzalcoatl statuette, which was aboard the ship, will undermine his grip on power. Once Garza dispatches his henchman to Tanzania to deal with the Fargos, the novel devolves into a standard chase thriller.* We decided to include this novel for entertainment, and we chose this edition of the series because it focuses most heavily on SCUBA diving. NoveList awarded Lost Empire 4 out of 5 stars in its description of the novel. Many of the adult diving students would enjoy reading this fast-paced, plot-driven novel. * Lost Empire. Publishers Weekly 2 Aug. 2010: 31. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Oct

8 Serial/Magazine Scuba Diving Savannah, GA: Rodale Press, c F+W Media Inc., c Print and online [online ]. Published six times a year, Scuba Diving covers all aspects of the sport including in-depth equipment comparative reviews, aquatic life, dive techniques, training, fitness, nutrition, and travel destination reports. The "Editor's Choice Awards," introduced in 2005, lists the best new destination, travel company, surface interval, gear, divers, and more. Other features include a holiday gear guide, a reader photo contest, best dive destinations, and the like. In each issue, ScubaLab tests the most cutting-edge equipment to keep readers comfortable and safe in the water. Scuba Diving also dives into the latest information on training, the ocean environment, and the hotbutton topics affecting divers. The magazine also offers safety and health information, as well as tips for underwater photography. Most articles in this magazine are very short, averaging around 200 words. Some features, such as articles detailing top dive destinations may be more than 800 words. This glossy magazine with beautiful photography would interest professional divers along with enthusiasts. RESOURCES NOT INCLUDED IN COLLECTION Sport Diver Orlando, FL: Bonnier Corp., c Print and online [online ]. This publication offers information that would appeal to both students and diving instructors. It provides suggestions and tips for diving vacations, including ways of saving money on these trips. It also depicts how natural disasters such as hurricanes can impact popular diving locations. Both of these qualities will make it appealing to this travel oriented diving school as such information would enable them to plan trips that are both safe and well budgeted. It also highlights diving related exhibits and environmental issues related to diving. This publication includes articles dealing with safety and medical issues. Sport Diver is the official publication of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). As a result, it is an authoritative publication and will likely appeal to both the students and instructors of the diving school. It can also keep the school informed about new diving equipment, allowing them to keep their store well stocked. We ultimately decided that Sport Diver, though a useful resource in general, was too specific a resource for this diving school. The presence of Scuba Diving magazine in this collection would make Sport Diver redundant.

9 The Certified Diver s Handbook: The Complete Guide to Your Own Underwater Adventures Coleman, Clay. Camden, ME: International Marine/McGraw-Hill, c2004. Print. This handbook was written by a thirty year diving veteran and photojournalist with the new, inexperienced divers necessities in mind. He offers insider tips and how-to advice for the new diver to break out of the group dive experience. Specifically, he offers safety tips, information on where to get equipment at the best price and how to maintain that equipment, information on weather and changing conditions, tips on dive sites, and basics about underwater photography. While it is meant for new divers, the information can be helpful to divers of any age. The book is very easy to read and the photos are pretty incredible. As our scuba school would have many new divers, this resource would be a great addition to the collection, and would be especially helpful to those divers in our group who want to break away on their own at times. It is well priced and has garnered all favorable reviews on amazon.com.