Night Elf Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 My dd12 is taking the CAT/5. She started the Study Skills section and paused at the first few questions. They are for the picture of a card catalog index card! Our library system doesn't use those. I haven't seen one since I was a kid in school. She managed to figure out most of the questions, but had to take pure guesses on a couple. This test is dated copyright 1992, then reauthorized in 2003. Isn't this test updated? Are are these index cards still used enough to warrant it being on a standardized test? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 That is too wierd! When my son was taking this test 7yrs ago,thedy had the card catalog. I thought the question was outdated then too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Hmm...maybe I should go back and do that activity on "Technology" I skipped in the Scott Foresman language arts book that I got from DD's school. I assumed it was out of date since it included such up to date technology as cassette tapes and VCRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Several achievement tests still carry questions about card catalogs. I find this shocking, since very few libraries have employed card catalogs in the last *decade*, and most of these tests have been updated since then. ... It's worth discussing card catalogs (and how to search according to title, author, and subject) with kids before they take these tests, since this material does pop up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 It is so outdated that if I was giving a test with this question, I would give an explanation of what it is, how it was used, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Does anyone else miss card catalogs? I loved letting my fingers do the walking through them. But admittedly, I'd rather not see questions about them on standardized tests as my dd hasn't seen them in years. I think it's time for them to do some rewriting of the tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 Does anyone else miss card catalogs? I loved letting my fingers do the walking through them. But admittedly' date=' I'd rather not see questions about them on standardized tests as my dd hasn't seen them in years. I think it's time for them to do some rewriting of the tests.[/quote'] The Rod & Staff grammar book we used this year had a lesson on how to use a card catalog. I explained to ds that those didn't exist anymore, but I did get rather nostalgic thinking about using one. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted June 18, 2010 Share Posted June 18, 2010 I have a card catalog at home. :D But then, I miss the real ones too. I keep a spreadsheet of my books, but also a card file ... I guess I am weird. I would want to teach my kids the Dewey Decimal basics, which would probably be enough to get them through a card catalog question. But I am curious precisely what they asked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 19, 2010 Author Share Posted June 19, 2010 I would want to teach my kids the Dewey Decimal basics, which would probably be enough to get them through a card catalog question. But I am curious precisely what they asked? The author's name. Whether a year (1988) is the date the book was sold, written, purchased, or published. Why a city name is listed. The weird thing is that the city is next to the illustrator's name so she thought it had something to do with the illustrator. I'm assuming it should have been the publication place. The questions seem obvious to me but that is because I know what information is on those cards. She had never seen one before and had to ask what it even was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 Ah. So a good study of the copyright info page of most books would be enough to teach them those basics, and then when they see it on a card, they will get it. If they've learned to cite a book for a report, they would also know that information. Perhaps that's why they kept it ... just because it covers all those bases? If it asked about other subjects and keywords that the book might be under, that would be trickier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 If it asked about other subjects and keywords that the book might be under, that would be trickier. Just looking at copyright pages would be inadequate. I found that many kids in our home school group -- especially kids under 12 -- have never even heard of a "card catalog". They simply have no context for it at all. (Some, but not all, intuited that this was somehow related to a library catalog and knew what that meant.) They need to know what a CC is, and that you can search according to author, title, or subject in alphabetical order -- but not by "key word". It might also be necessary to decide on the best way to look for a particular book or type of book according to some data given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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