sprylibrarian

Teaching Journal

2012-02-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

I have been taking notes throughout each of the last few quarters/semesters because I always seem to forget the minor (sometimes major) changes I want to make to quiz questions or explanations, or to the overall structure, anything really... Because I am a very strong believer that to be a good teacher you need to be refreshing and current, both with how you demo things and the examples you use, I have decided to formalize the process this semester. Not that you shouldn't keep what works, but in the info lit world, there are so many perfect new examples of current events that can be evaluated. In light of this, instead of simply piling up the notes at the end of each unit or month, I am developing an informational teaching journal form to be filled out by me for each unit, which addresses specific areas of change for this quarter at Eastbay and this semester at SRJC. I believe this will make it easier to record the information, recognize overall similarities, trends, etc. and go ahead with any changes.

Here is my rough draft that I will fill out each week:

Unit 1: Introductions & Moodle
General Questions on the Unit:
Quiz questions that garnered confusion:

Trends in grading/assignments that need to be addressed:
Changes to the point values for the week:
Changes to the course layout:
Changes to the syllabus or class expectations:

Unit 2: YOUR Information Needs (and it continues...)

This way, I can input all my notes about two core categories, minor details related to a unit, book, text, etc. and larger impact items such as major changes to the order of the course and the syllabus. Feel free to try this out, or please share how you keep track of changes you want to make!

Read my e-mails!

2012-02-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

As an online instructor, sometimes I can't tell if students are reading my e-mails or lecture notes fully (unless of course they ask questions that I clearly answered in one or the other). To help students understand the importance of reading my emails, I use a handy tool each semester. On the first weekly e-mail of the semester, I add in a little extra credit assignment. I title the e-mail "LIR 10 (or LIBY1210) Unit 1 Grades and Wrap-Up." Then, in the last line of the e-mail, which is generally a bit longer than the rest and includes answers to some general house cleaning types of questions, I write something like this: "Please hit reply and let me know you have read this e-mail in full for 3 points extra credit." The students who read and respond to the e-mail get a simple 3 points extra credit. The next weekly e-mail is titled "LIR 10 Unit 2 Grades and Extra Credit." Once I get the responses I send the students a quick note letting them know they got extra credit (and following up again on any looming questions). Only about half the class responds to the first e-mail, but after missing out on the extra credit, a lot more continue to read the weekly updates for the rest of the semester.

I see this as a positive exercise rewarding those students doing a good job, and encouraging everyone to stay up to date on e-mails and communications.

What does a Link+ Coordinator do?

2012-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

I was reading one of my regular blogs (Information Wants to Be Free) and decided I should also do a “Day in the Life” of my two core jobs, one as a Link+ Coordinator in a small California State University and the second as an Online Instructor/Librarian at a large California Junior College and a large California State University. So, this first entry is about my Link+ Coordination. The break-down tomorrow will be what a typical day looks like for me by the hour….

It has been about 8 months since I stepped into my new role at SSU as the Link+ Coordinator. And while I am working in the same library and still providing reference services as before, most days I feel as if I began an entirely new job last May.

What does a Link+ Coordinator actually do? Well, in one word: troubleshoot.

The entire day is full of solving various book and lending mysteries, figuring out what is going on with someone’s account and running reports, not to mention the borrowing for our Interlibrary Loan program. I am responsible for borrowing books, articles and media for our Library and have to say it is a very FUN process. I know it might be unusual to say that a potentially (and sometimes) rote, mundane process is fun, but I haven't found it to be very rote or mundane. To me, it is a very challenging exercise in finding resources (that are poorly cited, freely available or in our very own collection). It is like doing a full day of reference desk time without the student in front of me – as if I am giving a reference interview by just looking at clues on my screen. (just a few examples: This isn't showing up in OCLC anywhere; okay, what is it actually? Did this person request a piece of art? What's this student’s major? Is this person a distance education student and it didn't show up correctly? Did that Library actually ship that item? Is this patron sure they don't have the book at home? Is this our student? Hmm, I wonder if the Library of Congress will really send that? Is sending this item to 50 libraries too many? Does this patron still need this; book rate is going to take a long time from that Library...). Expiration dates, student majors, editor last names, format types, imported database names and e-mail address fields all become your best friend in Interlibrary loan. I like to think of my motto as "I can solve anything and borrow anything." So, that's just a typical day as a Link+ Coordinator.

Long Hiatus!

2012-01-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

Well, after a long hiatus I am finally back. Last semester was very rewarding, but extremely hectic. I was working almost seven days a week between my three jobs and with one being new, there was no time to blog. Now, I have a line up ready to go, so I will be back in action this semester!

Cool Tools for Millennial Learners

2011-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

I gave a presentation two weeks ago title "Cool Tools for Millennial (and other!) Learners"

It was a two hour workshop for the SRJC and included my personal "tool selection philosophy" and a demo-ing and hands on activity of the four free tools: toonlet, picnik, prezi and jing. These are four of my core tools that I use to create content. I also demo-ed bubbl.us and showed how I have had students use to help expand their topics and discussion with others in the course. Here is the prezi below. Take a look!

Introductions create Candlelight Power

2011-09-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

I read an article several years ago about creating "candlelight power". Since I can't remember the title I will include the general gist of the content:

It is extremely valuable to create an environment where students feel like they have comrades in their class so they are not "alone" in an online environment with no one to connect to. By creating an environment or places for students to connect in stead of just talking about the content, but bringing a part of their experience to the class it creates a sort of campsite discussion feel, where intellectual content and growth intermixes with personal experience and connection.

This regularly happened to me as on online student in grad school (both times). You really have to try and connect and look for your friends from class to class, so when you left the program you essentially had a cohort and people to check back in with and grow professionally with.

The introductions I did for my first week (and the questions I asked) really brought out the candlelight power of the class. I asked a mix of academic (how experienced are they in online coursework, academic goals, etc.), social questions (favorite foods, hobbies, etc.) to give myself information but also give them an option to find mutual interests, as they would if they were in a face to face course. It is obvious there is already back and forth between students (hurray!).

Nominate your favorite librarian

2011-09-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Nominate your favorite Librarian for the "I love my Librarian" award. Nominations are due September 12th.

Small Victory Moment

2011-09-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those moments of true victory when teaching? There can be a lot of different reasons for the small things that add up. In this case for me, it was a very very minor mistake I was making over and over, and not even closely related to my students, their work or feedback. I am trying to learn how to batch load quiz questions in to blackboard. I will be teaching on Blackboard this Fall for a late start introductory info lit course and am refreshing myself with the platform. I have not taught on Blackboard for several years, and while I did have access as an instructor while finishing up the MS.Ed it has been a while and is on a new version (which is greatly enhanced). I was saving my file over and over as a word doc as opposed to using the notepad and saving as a .txt file. Ahhh, the glory of small findings and a victorious test upload.

What was one of those moments for you?

Convocation Speech and Information Literacy

2011-08-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

The SSU campus just hired a new provost, Andrew Rogerson, on July. I was reviewing his convocation speech posted on our campus website (http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/convocation/provost.shtml) (which I really appreciated since I am a visual learner) and was immensly impressed by his observations, potential approach to understanding the campus community and students and assertions about the forces that will shape our future, namely including "declining funding, rising expectations and rapidly developing technology." He then went on to discuss some of the statistics about current youth including the 84% rate of cell phone ownership in children older than 12 and the 50% plus that have facebook accounts (same age limit). What struck me next was the statement "Because of easy access to technology, students are now dealing with privacy issues, cyber bullying, depression (from physical isolation), illegal file sharing, plagiarism, a culture of immediacy, classroom behavior and difficulty with validation of information."

This is so in line with Library instruction and many both in academia and outside of it are unware of the impact IL instruction can have on illegal file sharing (copyright and fair use laws), plagiarism (again copyright, plagiarism and citation skill sets) and with validation of information (the entire goal of information literacy skills regardless of format or media). Over and over again I have students end the course with the statement it has changed how they look at information.

I hope that speeches such as this one are happening across college campuses, bringing it in to the forefront of active and engaged learners not only reading and accepting what is presented to them. How I will apply several of these principles in my IL instruction this semester: 1) Using entertaining examples of news stories and asking students to practice their evaluation skills (mainly of completely false stories and videos) and 2) Expanding my copyright and fair use lesson so students understand what is protected when creating media content for courses; which I think is often confusing because of different formats.

Captivate 5.5!

2011-08-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing unbelievable things about the new Captivate version. I am thinking of downloading a free 30 day trial (use the try link over to the right) and then taking the plunge and purchasing an educator version. That way I can make videos whenever I want! Which, at this stage, is pretty darn appealing. Get your educator version here.

One big change is the ability to push content on to youtube. I am excited about the new format because I can push this content in to my moodle books easily.

I also have an opportunity to use Camtasia this semester which I have never used before. From the feedback I have heard it is extremely intuitive. Thank you Adobe and TechSmith for making content creation more fun!

Sand Mandala

2011-06-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

A few months ago the SSU Library had hosted a sand mandala creation from some Tibetan Monks. It was really beautiful. Here is the time lapse that is from our website:

Library Signage Examples

2011-06-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

I was browsing flickr this evening and came across a great library signage group. Here. The rights are reserved so you will have to click through to see the HUGE collection of signage examples/styles.

I also found a spectacular image advertising librarians. I think it is in Portuguese and says "Adopt a Librarian". Anyone know? The rights preclude me from pasting the image. Go here to see it.

Oprah and Libraries

2011-05-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

I read a fantastic article today on Oprah from American Libraries (whose show I admit I never watch) and her history in promoting literacy and the support she has given libraries. Maybe I was in my own bubble only thinking she contributed by her hugely popular book club. I didn't realize the additional financial and show support she has clearly demonstrated. My favorite quote: “Getting my library card was like citizenship; it was like American citizenship.”

See the full article at the American Libraries site here

Training on Millennial Learners

2011-05-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

I went to a training a few weeks ago with Joan Van Duzer. She is an instructional designer and has some really great online teaching ideas. She is also really current in new technologies.We spent the majority of the morning brainstorming how to apply Universal Design for Learning principles to our curriculum for millennial learners. I have seen Universal Design defined in multiple ways, the cornerstones of the presentation:

Inclusive and fair (example: including a disability statement in the syllabus)
Straightforward and consistent (example: deadlines are at the same time on the same day each week; sending out a weekly e-mail on the same day; using a rubric and sharing it with the students)
Flexibility in participation, use and presentation (example: including multiple options for a final project instead of a paper;
Explicitly presented and readily perceived (example: careful that all materials can be readily perceived)
Provide supportive learning environment (example: making students feel like they can ask any question; provide guidelines about your expectations). The “sandwich model” was discussed where you make a positive comment and then a constructive comment and then a positive comment.
Minimize unnecessary physical effort (example: No clicking around hunting for hidden resources.) Joan gave a great analogy about taking online courses that were really unorganized. She said they were like taking courses that had been stirred by a stick.
Space accommodates students and pedagogy (example: longer quiz times for students with learning disabilities; optimizing images)

Test avatar

2011-05-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

ACRL Unconference

2011-04-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts of ACRL this year was by far the unconference. Always quick, exciting, entertaining and packed. It was the nitty gritty of content- so useful.

Unconference (didn’t catch all the titles/speakers):
Session 1: Collaboration with Faculty? Kim Leeder
(This was a hilarious session- excellent speaker)
Step 1: Be confident.
An MLS does not make me less than a PHD (we were all required to say it with the speaker).
Step 2: Don’t be overly differential.
Do not say professor or doctor.
Make a connection and get out there.
Be bold, do not be a librarian introvert.
Step 3: Reinforce
Keep the connection.
Be professional.
Step 4: Build
Work on the relationship
Keep in touch, put the person on your calendar schedule.
Listen to them; ask them questions about themselves (a tip from the speakers mom).
Step 5: Collaborate
Identify mutual interests and benefits, should benefit both parties.

Be | Make |Reinforce | Build | Go

Session 2: Zombie Game Night, Cynthia Dudenhoffer
Small campus library, 250 freshmen. Had 120 freshmen showed up for optional zombie game night. English faculty dressed up as zombies and roamed campus before the event to promote it. Started with games and everyone who did poorly turned in to a zombie. Night rolled in to more of an info lit session and students were asked to do research. Did NOT go over well with students who stated they felt tricked. Audience offered that maybe the main goal should be to introduce library and staff not to try and align with IL goals.

Session 3: Libguides and QR codes (actually used the Microsoft tag and not a QR code) Jodi Sheppard
Used QR codes to help students lost in the stacks find help. Created “Lost in the Stacks” posters and the QR code led to a Libguide directing students how to find help and how to find their book. Regular URL for Libguide was also listed on poster. Two different Libguides set up (stats can be collected from strictly mobile site to determine QR code usage).

Discussed using a “wayfinding” approach before creating the Libguide and asked a student to walk through the stacks expressing what they were thinking verbally to ascertain what confusion areas there were.

Session 4: Marketing to Parents
This session was about the Library dean and librarians meeting with potential parents about the Library and services offered. When the college reps visited a high school a Librarian would attend and focus attention on parents. Two main things developed: 1) good relationship between Library/enrollment developed 2) parents became big supporters of the Library and in feedback from students kept repeating over and over “well my mom/dad kept telling me to come in here”.

Session 5: Using Music to Cite Resources
Two different songs were played to teach plagiarism: 1983 song “I Want a New Drug” by Huey Lewis and 1984 Ghostbusters song. Both were played and the goal was to demonstrate the broader implications of plagiarism (not just text). This specific case was settled out of court and Parker settled the suit by paying Lewis in a confidential settlement. The speaker stated it takes a lot of time to find an appropriate example and looks for 4 things:
1) Relevance- needs to have happened recently or when the students were born
2) Needs to quickly hear the plagiarism (similar songs)
3) There was a lawsuit and the courts ruled for the plaintiff
4) Includes no swearing or hate language

Checking out dogs?

2011-03-23T18:10:00.001-07:00

A story went around work today that I just loved. Here it is. I will let you read it in full but basically the Yale Law School Library will be checking out a therapy dog to it's law students for periods of a half hour during a three day trial run. This brings up so many logistical questions for me.
Who will be feeding the dog?
What if everyone who wants to check out the dog wants to walk the dog?
Will all the patrons be carrying bags around with them on campus?
Will there be restrictions where the dog can be taken?
Are there renewals?
Is there a restriction on treats or feeding?
What if the dog is returned late?
Will the dog have break times to sleep?
Where will the dog be when he/she is not checked out?
Are there any kind of legal ramifications/dog laws for allowing your dog to be checked out to anyone (okay granted they know the check outs are going to students- but still couldn't this be considered careless)?

What I am realizing from my list is that I am coming at it not from the patrons/library perspective but actually from the dog care perspective. Hmm, shocking, wonder if I own a dog.

(A picture of my Duke).

New Class

2011-02-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

Loving every minute of it...I have been teaching for almost 3 weeks now at my new job at a local junior college. I am really enjoying Moodle and LOVE teaching this class. This is the first time I have taught a strictly info lit course online and it is going very smoothly, I have a very inventive group of students and have been enjoying the grading side of the class in addition to the discussion posts. All my content is already built for the semester but I keep getting ideas and want to tweak certain units as I come up with new ideas. Here is screenshot of my Moodle homepage:

Test Jing Video Test

2011-02-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

Wikis in Plain English - 40 Translation(s) | dotSUB

2011-01-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, I love the Common Craft videos but they are not accessible. I posted that on one of my class discussion boards and a peer mentioned a site called dotsub.com. It is where videos are captioned. I cannot believe I might get to use some of these videos to teach students! So exciting!

Wikis in Plain English - 40 Translation(s) | dotSUB

Jing Embed test

2011-01-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

Will it work is the question? I have just created a free account with Jing, I imagine I will shortly being purchasing a Pro account so I can make some tutorials for my class next semester. I just added an embed link to my Jing account and am testing out an image I took of our old website. If it appears below it was a success!

Wikipedia Leave me Alone!

2011-01-01T12:15:00.001-08:00

I have a general rule which I do not bend under any circumstances: students cannot cite wikipedia. The simple fact that it is an organic method of communication (even more so than a blog or other wiki whom you tend to know who the authors are) allows me to exclude it (and personally justify this exclusion when everyone continues to want to use it, and dishearteningly some professors allow it). I was in Borders the other day and picked up a book, darn if I can remember it, something like 1,001 things that are most annoying...and I flipped straight to the page that stated "it is annoying how often wikipedia is. correct" Which I admit was a perfect addition, it is often correct, or at least really appears to be that way, which further confuses students as to why they may not use wikipedia as a source.

On to the larger point, I am sitting here drinking coffee and reading my winter break book which is "Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement" by Ruth Colvin Clark. It is a very well written informative book, so far I highly recommend, but there is a Wikipedia citation! You couldn't have found another source for what an expert is?!

Just can't get away from Wikipedia!

Unbelievable Video: Did you Know

2010-11-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

I LOVED this video. First time I had seen it. The statistics are eye opening. Did you notice the part about info lit. That's right! It was solution number one for the part about how to prepare our students....something about teaching them to navigate massive amounts of information. Be sure to watch the entire thing.

Perfect Example

2010-10-24T13:07:00.001-07:00

I have been focusing a lot of my Masters program research on if online information literacy courses work. Are they relevant? Are there specific examples of courses that change student habits, etc.? We were posting our research topics in a course and the most perfect example came from a peer. He was discussing how three fire departments had merged in to one, which created one department of 50+ firemen. His men were coming to him with a lot of really good ideas and he was asking them to go do some research and present the idea in a more formal way. The response was that many of their eyes glazed over and that was the end of the proposal. He then stated how helpful an information literacy course would have been in this situation. I couldn't have thought of a better example of how defining an information need and knowing what type of resources you are looking for applies to a much more broad real world example than just finishing up a research paper.

Alarming Online Program Trend

2010-10-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

I read an article from this morning’s Chronicle of Higher Education. It is so alarming and it directly relates to an article I just read about the quality versus quantity debacle within online education. The article titled “Will Technology Kill the Academic Calendar” focuses on a new trend of classes that start anytime and are student paced. The example given of Kentucky’s Jefferson Community & Technical college highlights the freedom it allows students. What we also find out is that there are no start and end dates to the program, classes start each Monday and the students have 120 days to complete the class. Due to the student driven schedule, there are no discussion boards, no interactions among the students and little student teacher interaction. While the instructors claim to give individual feedback to their students, they also are unaware of exactly how many students they have in their class at any one time. One instructor had been teaching a course continually.

There are a lot of problems with this outlook of online education. Let’s just discuss a few. 1) No time for reflection. With no breaks how can faculty update the material and quizzes. Information changes, trends occur, when will it be possible to change a lecture or resource if you don’t know where several hundred students are in the class? 2) No break to keep up with current trends/information. Faculty need a breather- I truly believe this- to get a fresh perspective, have a break from grading and have time to read, consider and evaluate what is going on in the field. 3) The educational structure is being used solely to generate profits and not used as a format to create deeper understanding and foundation knowledge for students in core classes.

This article discusses the sincere dilemma we are facing in building online programs. If the leaders of these programs are approaching online education as the correspondence programs where approached (Avoiding the Quality/Quantity Trade-Off in Distance Education), history will repeat itself and unfortunately fail.

LJ Article: Go 'Title Rogue'

2010-10-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Read it for your self here.

LYL 2010

2010-09-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

Why yes, I do have a favorite shirt. It says Love Your Library and I wear it once a year at the Love your Library event we hold for EOP (Equal Opportunity Program) students. It is so much fun. It is the main summer outreach we do and this year there were 140 students. I taught a session using clickers in the back of the reference area. Every single student is from California and they all thought their pizza for dinner was horrible! You know, very valuable information to find out :) We did tell them about all the help they can get after hours and about library collections and showed them a really great study space. All in all, we got good ratings for our station and lots of laughs. I even had three students volunteer to sing the Sonoma State hymn. It was great!

Teaching Load

2010-09-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have been teaching between 5 and 7 classes each week this semester. This is one of my lightest weeks so far with only 4 classes. Two Articles, Books & Beyond drop-in workshops (no one showed up today) and two University 102 Library Introduction classes. The class I had yesterday was hilarious, I don't know what it is about some classes that make the chemistry so electric. The University 102 course is an intro course to the university and the majority of teachers (some sections are vastly different than others) are striving to let students know of the different resources on campus. I gave a presentation to the faculty in August to highlight the different options available to the UNIV 102 instructors through the library. Our requests increased by 230% (10 sessions to 23). Since we are down in librarians, I have been teaching all of them, which means upwards of 7 classes a week in the first weeks of school and then they taper down through October.

We have been collecting some information with clickers from the students such as if they are comfortable using the library, and if they found the session useful. I average about 85% of students finding the session useful, with about 5% maybe and 9.5% no. Today I had a really fun class and 100% of the class found the session useful. It was a great day!

What I find interesting is the debate that often goes on about the validity of these library introduction courses. Are they worth it? Does it help orient the freshmen to the Library and do they use these skills later? We will find out what the freshmen think after the end of the semester with the statistics. Regardless, I will have reached over 550 freshmen in the first two months of the school year! How can we pass up an opportunity like this, even if they are short introductory sessions.

Books of Hope Project

2010-09-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

I volunteer each year to be a mentor to a group of high school students in a nearby city. They are working on their senior exiting project and these students elect to do a project called the Books of Hope Project. I think it is an exceptional program. The students will create hand made books and they get sent to a school in Uganda as textbooks for children. The grade levels are assigned so the high school students have to fund-raise to be a part of the program which is about $300 (which covers the cost of the program and shipping three boxes). This years students are also going to make a bunch of fleece blankets and they will raise about an extra $100 for the cost of fabric. They spent the entire summer collecting recycling and saved $115. Do you know how many cans that is?! I am going to try my luck at sending around an e-mail at work on our list serve asking for $5 donations. It would be great if even 10 people donated money (the equivalent of about 2,000 cans right?)

Last year when I mentored I wanted to make a book, maybe this year it will actually happen!

To Buy or Not to Buy

2010-09-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

I am seriously considering buying my own copy of Captivate. It is a tutorial building software program by Adobe for PCs. It is what I use at work to build our Library tutorials. As a grad student (or instructor) there is a discount which is quite large. The software would run about $300. Hmm, is it worth buying my own personal copy so that I can create tutorials and add them to the content in my courses when getting students to do research and learn simple concepts? What do you think?

Beginning of the Fall!

2010-09-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Work is unbelievably insanely busy right now. Between the TEN anniversary event marketing and the tutorial re-design and the explosion of library introductions to the UNIV 102 classes I am going 100 miles a minute. The very refreshing thing is the caliber of students we have this semester.

I always forget each year how much I love the Fall, there are new freshmen and new transfers (in abundance) and a lot of general basic questions. The sort of "umm, hi, I have never been here before" and then the pause, so that you can give them an introduction or query more in to what they really want to know because the student was nervous to start with and now they realized they don't actually have a question either. I think this is my favorite kind of reference. It is so refreshing when students come in and want to be there even without an assignment.

I had a student come in to my drop-in workshop the other day and he was the only student. At the end I asked him if there were other questions he had. Through our talking he reminded me of how often I take for granted the knowledge that articles in databases and books in the catalog don't look that wildly different when you are looking at results pages. Especially if you are using our new quick search feature. It would be easy to confuse (if you have limited library experience and NO database experience) the results from a quick search which is still framed within our website page and the results from a catalog search. Now that we get images result images within our quick search results list and streaming media and e-book results within our catalog searches that also have icons, it would be easy to assume that both of these searches are actually looking in the same place. It was just an overall beginning of the year reminder to simplify!

CARL conference notes up...

2010-09-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

I have been updating my resume this wonderful three day weekend and realized all my publications are not up to date. When I went looking for one I ran across the CARL notes from the conference in Sacramento this past Spring. I think they did a really nice job posting the proceedings. To see what we did for the discussion session and the poster session click here.

The nerd in all of us

2010-08-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

I used to think that it was weird, sitting at home thinking about IL instruction, but now...I really don't. I spent all day at work re-creating our tutorials because of our website re-design and getting edits to re-structure our annual report (which are going to make it a million times better) and now I am at home planning out like a fiend what I am going to do for my final Masters project, which of course will be an IL course. I am almost giddy with the opportunity (excuse really) to create a Moodle course and add podcasts, tutorials, videos, etc. to it. Not only will I be able to learn how to use moodle but I will be able to practice podcasts and maybe try a new screen capture software program. I have not yet tried Camtasia and have been wondering how it compares to Captivate (which I have been up close and personal with-can we say 25+ hours a week). I wonder if there is a free trial??

"I Feel Like A Ceo" said the 6th Grader

2010-08-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

I just read this great article from one of my classes. It is about a sixth grade class doing a radio show. The school was one of the first to start failing after No Child Left Behind and this radio show and changes in the teaching brought the test scores way up. Quick, good read.

2000 versus 2010: Neat facts!

2010-08-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

I have been looking up some stats and neat facts for a display case I am working on and came across this fantastic look at 2000 versus 2010 in Newsweek. Our library is celebrating it's 10th year in the building and we are putting up displays around this idea. Our first round of ten displays are centered around these five themes:

1) 10th anniversary (Highlighting the anniversary and all the events)
2) World Snapshot (2000 versus 2010)
3) 10 Decades of Technology (we are borrowing some amazing items from the IT collection)
4) Ten Years in Libraries
5) Literary Anniversaries (highlighting our regional collection)

Current Favorite Movie

2010-08-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

This has been going around work. It is currently my favorite library spoof:

Classes Scheduled Already

2010-07-31T16:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast the summer is going by. I got a phone call yesterday from an instructor wanting a library session for her UNIV 102 course (an introduction course to the university). I think that is a good sign, with it being JULY and the request being for September. I have a feeling it will be a crazy semester and I can't wait. Summers while fun because they are project based are also very quiet with only summer school students. Do I really have to wait a month for the students to get back??

Where have I been?

2010-07-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have been missing in action for months now. In the last 4 months I have completed my certificate in online teaching and learning, finished my first year of teaching online, given a poster session and discussion session at the bi-annual CARL conference, submitted two articles for publication (still pending) gotten a glorious greyhound named Duke, had a solo art show and started to work on my exit project for the Masters in Education degree. I have been slightly busy. However, I am now BACK to blog.

Humor from co-workers

2010-07-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

Humor is always appreciated by me! I have one particular co-worker who makes it his specialty. Check out the funny pictures he sent us to remind us of payday (such perfect money socks). If only it had worked....sadly I still forgot to pick up my paycheck!

Score one for paper reference

2010-02-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

I tried an experiment yesterday while at the reference desk. I was coming on to my shift and overheard the last question from a patron already being helped by a colleuge. Whenever this happens, I listen to the question (unless it is a good moment when I can take over the reference interaction) and then I search for the answer as well. Sometimes I try and find the answer choosing a source I would go to (for speed) or sometimes I choose a resource that my collegue did not choose (to see if there is useful information in another source).

This time I wanted to compare paper reference versus electronic reference and see which one could answer the question faster. The question: what is the origin of the word peat? So while my colleague looked for the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology I looked for an etymology dictionary in the catalog. The results from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: 1.
peat XIV . — AL. peta ( XII ), also in petamora ‘peatmoor’, petaria , -er(i)a peat-bog, perh. f. the Celt. base * pett- , which is prob. the ult. source of PIECE . (not very helpful)

I found two promising paper reference results in my catalog search. The first did not look promising but I double checked and peat was not listed. The second source was very promising and had the desired item. When I came back to the desk my colleague was looking through more online etymological dictionaries for the history of the word. Score 1 for paper reference.

Start of New Semester

2010-01-29T20:08:00.000-08:00

It has been very hectic these past few weeks. I started teaching Reference Materials this week at PCC. It looks like I have a really great group of students and I am excited to start the semester. there is going to be a lot of work, so it should be fun. Reference Reference Reference!

What is your favorite oddball reference material?

Mine is the Encyclopedia of Hair (Sarah Jessica Parker even has a place in the Encyclopedia!)

Website Accessibility Testing Tools

2010-01-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

We have been working on testing accessibility in websites this week in my online course. There are a lot of interesting tools that I had never heard of to emulate what it is like if you use screen readers, or are color blind. Here are my favorite two tools for the week:

WAVE: tests the accessibility of the entire website in a visual way, letting you know what the error is in your site
Vischeck: this allows you to see what a website looks like to someone who is color blind

I have heard and read a lot about accessibility, but nothing really hit home about the severity of website design implications until I started trying these types of tools (and navigating websites using only the tab, space and enter keys).

Paper versus Online, What is the ratio?

2010-01-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

How often do you use paper versus online reference sources? What type of library do you work at? Does this make a huge difference. I am prepping for my next online class at PCC and got a very timely question while on the reference desk yesterday. The student was doing a paper on the reference interview and was wondering about how often I use paper versus online resources to answer reference questions. I go to the library databases more than any other resource, primarily using Virtual Reference, Ebsco databases, and CQ Researcher for database and online searches. I also use a lot of our specialized databases but much less frequently and lastly I use paper reference. Why is this? I think it has to do partially with my approach as a researcher. Having gotten a degree completely online, it made me adept at finding what I need (in traditional paper reference) in the online versions of those resources. I also think that a lot of my peer reference staff use different ratios of paper and online resources based on their perceptions of ease and experience with the different formats.

Yola site up and running

2010-01-16T12:05:00.001-08:00

Well, I have been working hard this last semester, at the library, and with teaching my first online course at Pueblo Community College and getting another Masters degree in Education from CSU Eastbay.

I have really been enjoying my current course at CSU Eastbay. The course is on technology tools for the classroom. I have been experimenting with online quiz software and survey tools for the last week and just finished building my basic site on Yola. Check it out here.

Yola

2010-01-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

I am hooked on Yola. I am being required to create an instructor website for the class I am taking on Tech Tools in the Classroom. I highly recommend Yola. It is free (for the basic version) and is as easy as setting up a blog. I don't know all the features yet, but it has a good range of templates to choose from as well.

Fall Semester is Under Way!

2009-08-29T00:32:00.001-07:00

I have been a busy beaver over here trying to get ready to teach my LTN 101 course. It starts on Monday and I am almost ready. I had no idea how many hours went to the technology side of working with an online class. I really have to give my Masters program teachers credit. Everything from our end as students seemed so smooth. I only hope I can get all the assessments, quizzes and discussion postings to leak out at the correct time!

On another note. The students are back in the library with the Fall semester under way. I am glad to see it is business as usual (so far) even with all the severe budget cuts. We (the university) of course are not business as usual, but I am glad that the students can at least still get in to some classes and start the process of getting adjusted to the semester. It already seems like there are less students on campus, which is unfortunate, they are the best part of my job.

Bead Library, Glendale, AZ

2009-08-11T22:00:00.001-07:00

I was recently in Arizona and went to Glendale for the day with family. We stopped to look at the Bead Museum. It was incredible, the range of beads and history behind them were awesome. I loved walking through the different styles and there was just too much to look at, I know I missed a ton because there was so much.

There was also a library within the museum. On the door I noticed that you could ask permission to enter the library at the front desk. I peeked in through the window and looked inside. It was a small room with a center table and an adjoining room which I couldn’t see in to. I gained access to the library because a volunteer was present and was greeted by a very friendly young woman, who offered to help in whatever way I needed. I signed in and began to look around. I noticed two things, which are regular observations of collection, and I think they are real pitfalls of libraries as a whole; they both have to do with library service.

The first is the human error involved in shelving and maintaining collections. The first book I pulled off was an overview of different types of beads. When I went to put it back, it was unbelievably out of order (it was an LC classification system, so it should have been extremely easy to keep correct with so few visitors- I am so Dewey challenged). The second service pitfall of libraries is the lack of access to in-person collections. A lot of libraries are getting much better with their electronic collections access and allowing patrons the ability to troubleshoot when the library is closed (through guides, automatic password resets, etc.). The library was open but appointments were preferred. If you were already there, than you could ask to be let in (if a volunteer was present). I think it is important to make clear signs and advertise the services when available, or ask for a grant to staff the library, or market the library for volunteers. There are so many people who would love to volunteer or work in a library! It is crucial to allow access to these collections, otherwise they are pointless. Who cares how many books and resources there are if only a few people can access them. These are just two observations I think we need to continuously strive to improve.

What services would you like to be changed in your library, or what negative trends do you see, that we can fix?

Guest Post: Screenwriting Library Thoughts

2009-08-10T20:51:00.001-07:00

Here is the highly sought after guest post by an avid library goer and aspiring screen writer:
I wish that everyone who has a passion in life had access to a library devoted to their subject of interest. For me that passion is writing, particularly screenplays, and that library exists in Beverly Hills, California. It is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Academy Foundation library, known otherwise as the Margaret Herrick Library. The library was named after a former Academy librarian. How many librarians out there aspire to have a library named after them?

I went to Southern California on personal business, and took a detour to go the library to review some screenplays. The library's focus encompasses the motion picture industry. As stated in the library’s brochure, the library is used by approximately 14,000 persons a year and houses a collection that includes books, periodicals, scripts, and photographic materials as well as a special collections and files that document the history of Hollywood and the contributions of many well known individuals. The users of the library typically are researchers, students, educators and those associated with the entertainment industry.

Because the collections are irreplaceable, the security at the library is very high. I was greeted by a security guard at the main entrance and required to show a picture ID and complete an application form for a one-day library pass. With these documents in hand, I was then allowed to go upstairs to the library sans any backpack or notebooks having pockets. As I entered the library, I was visually pleased by its adequate supply of library tables and rows of books as well as a smiling librarian. She took my picture ID and application, and gave me a one day library pass.

I then wandered over to what I thought was a reference desk (I'm not sure - I must admit I'm an amateur when it comes to the technical terms of a library). I wanted to review three screenplays from the library’s core collection. As the librarian pulled the screenplays, I momentarily sat myself at one of the tables set aside for review of items from the library's special collection. Had I wanted materials from the special collection, I would have had to call and make an appointment. I then would be directed to sit at one of the reserve tables, which were within laser eyeball view of three librarians. Once they called my name and I received my material, I was able to wander to the other side of the library where I found approximately five long library tables. I saw as many as six different people working at the library (maybe some volunteers), and about 15 patrons of the library (hey, I'm catching on to these terms).

The screenplays I reviewed were unique in that they were all winners of the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenplay competition put on by the Academy. In my opinion, the Nicholl competition is the gold bar standard for all screenplay competitions. All fellowship winners (as many as five screenplays every year) have their screenplays bound and added to the collection. As an entrant to this contest for the last four years, I wanted to review some prior winners to see if I had the "look and feel" of the successful screenplays. The time I spent reviewing the screenplays was invaluable. I had an opportunity to see how flawless and engaging the winning screenplays were. At the same time, I also got a confirmation that my style and format was similar. So, now all I have to do is raise the bar on the final product.

I turned in my one day library pass in order to get my picture ID back. The librarian asked to look through my pad of paper and flipped through every page ensuring nothing belonging to the library was leaving with me. This is a library I will visit again. I can only hope that one day I will be able to visit the library and ask to see a bound screenplay in their core collection with my name on the title page. I guess it's time to start working on my next screenplay.

Guest Blogger

2009-08-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

I am always fascinated by other types of libraries since I have only worked in a law library and an academic library. This weekend there will be a guest blogger discussing a screenwriting library in CA and I will be on shortly after to discuss a bead library from my trip to the bead museum in AZ. Watch for it!

Why isn't it on your website?

2009-08-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

I was staffing QuestionPoint today. It is our chat cooperative my library is a member of. I really enjoy providing chat reference and I think it pulls on different skills than the traditional in-person reference interactions. It is also more difficult to find out the actual piece of information the patron needs. I was working with a student today at a distant junior college. The student had basic questions about loan periods for books, movies, journals and holds. I scoured the website and couldn't find it ANYWHERE! I mean really, anywhere. I thought, either I am loosing my touch, or it is a badly designed website. I finally decided that I had looked too long (I had already updated the student to let them know I was still searching- but with online reference the need for speed is felt more greatly) and I called the junior college library. I asked for all the information, and was given that and more. I also asked if the info. was on the website. No! They did not have the information on their website, they "hadn't put that information up yet."

I can't believe that. So often libraries put up information about special programs, instruction, special facilities, technology, info on the librarians and nice pictures of students. How can the most basic of information be left off? It is crucial to the students to know about borrowing privileges, it is the foundation of every library: their service and their collections. Why do libraries make it difficult??

Recent Good Reads

2009-07-29T21:04:00.001-07:00

I always love reading books that have a local feel. Or remind me of places and cities I have lived in. I just finished Lethal Vintage. It is a murder mystery set in the Napa Valley which is right near where I live. I love mysteries (both video and books) and highly recommend this book. It was the kind of mystery that makes you cringe with suspense. I also just finished Memory Keepers Daughter and Wistful Drinking (written by Carrie Fisher-what a fascinating life, after being a teen babe). Anyways, Wistful Drinking was quit funny and Memory Keepers Daughter was extremely extremely sad, but very riveting. I am recommending all three.

Library Comic

2009-07-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

A humorous library comic.

Great Library Games

2009-06-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Does this ever happen to you? You think you have this great idea and then you work up a little mock-up of the idea or a quick text layout of something- anything and then you forget completely about and the idea and it gets filed in your "ideas" folder in which you stumble upon much later (and then ofcourse think it is fabulous again!).

I was e-mailed about this site: The University of Sydney iResearch Games

I played the games, which were excellent and thought it was the greatest thing (then I found a poster I had made today from a year ago about the same resources)...oh well.

Here are some screen shots. I highly recommend checking out the site for ideas, they did a great job.
Find that cheese:

Book shoot games:

Practice game on creating citations:

Prezi for presentations

2009-06-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of prezi? I am using it with a colleague to create a presentation for our annual Love Your Library event. We are going to do user testing on our Library Channel (where we keep our tutorials on how to use the library) for our station. You can create a presentation in a much more visual way than powerpoint with prezi. You can place text and images and when you click next the software zooms out of the current slide and into the next slide, which can be flipped, turned side ways, or past another slide. It is sort of like mapping a presentation out in all different angles and then zooming in and out to keep students awake! Our library does an incredible job making everything accessible. Prezi is not accessible so it isn't something we would ever likely use. It has been fun to explore with it and after time fooling around with it, I feel pretty comfortable. There was a very bizarre limbo stage where I noticed that the help guides on the (free) program are extremely limited. Lots of trial and error...

Once our finished presentation is done, I will link to it. What do you use besides powerpoint and prezi for presentations?

Is someone really interested in that?

2009-06-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

Do you ever find things in your library collection where you think 1) who bought that? 2) who would write it? and 3)who on earth would read it?

I have that feeling regularly in bookstores and libraries (including mine). I was recently at Walmart and I had a moment of- oh my gosh, people must be sooo lazy to purchase that product. I was in the plastic bag aisle buying sandwich bags and I saw a box with throw-away crock pot liners. You are supposed to put them in the crock-pot, cook your dish like normal, then throw them away with no clean-up! Atleast that was the pitch. I'm sorry, but really? Someone would spend 50 cents to not wash a crock-pot (4 for $2). It started me thinking about all the books I would never read. Here are a few of mine:
Beyond Leaf Raking
Salt: A World History
Facebook for Dummies
Laguna Beach: Life Inside the Bubble

What about you? Are there books you either wouldn't read, or books that are in your collection that you think who bought it, who would write it or who would read it?

Still Worried about the Budget

2009-06-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, my thoughts are still on the budget and the California economic situation. We have been getting a lot of e-mails about furloughs and different options for the CSU system. I really hope that if furloughs prevent layoffs then they start furloughs next month so we can start saving jobs immediately. I just keep waiting for the ball to drop...

Worried about the budget

2009-06-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

I am so consumed with the California budget. We don't officially know the impact that the budget will yet have on our campus and specifically in the library. I have heard numbers of a CSU budget deficit of 400 to 700 million. The deficit would be the equivalent of shutting down two large campuses in the system. I have no idea what is going to happen and if this means that 40,000 students will be denied admission system wide, or if it means that thousands of staff will be laid off or cuts in pay or furloughs. I keep trying to check the CSU budget central information, but there is no new information.

I am also waiting to find out what this means for our public libraries. Is their funding going to be short if the governor borrows money from the CA cities? In a way, I just sort of want to know how bad it will get so I can brace myself (in a perfect world), and I really will be upset if layoffs start....

Public Library Changes

2009-06-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

My public library has changed two things recently which I have been waiting to weigh in on until I got used to both and could assess based on patterns and problems/benefits I encountered.

1) The switch to automated check out stations. When this was first done it meant longer crankier lines of patrons unable to check out their materials and figure out the system. I have to say that I love it. There is one huge glitch though. I few weeks ago, me and the hubby went to check out audio books (the main reason we use the public library) and checked out four items. When Zach went to renew the items a few weeks later they were not on his account. So I looked up the books online in the catalog and all four books said they were "claims returned". So we went in to the library to find out what was going on, and it turns out that the person in front of us never checked out of their account. So even though we scanned Zach's library card, the system still registered all 4 of our books on that patrons account, who then called the library wondering why the heck 4 audio books were on his account. This scenario made me a little paranoid and now I keep checking to make sure my account is cleared every time I go to the library.

What I also don't like about this is the human factor. I think it is one more way to give less service to patrons. If patrons want to self check out, then fine, but the option to have a circ staff there should also be available- after all, a lot of the patrons I get at the circ desk are happy to talk, laugh and share information about the resources they are checking out or just about their day. The more positive human interactions we have in our spaces the better.

2) The switch to making everything you check out due on the same check out date (with a few exceptions like the 7 day new fiction books). This means the books, cds and movies are all due at the same time: 3 weeks away. I found this very surprising and was not pleased by the thought of people having movies for three weeks, because I thought it would dwindle down the constantly small amount of available movies. However, I have found that I love this new switch to having the same due dates. It makes a lot more sense in conjunction with the self check out machines; you just have to get everything listed on your account!

OUCH outreach

2009-06-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

I was driving towards the public library the other day and I saw this big sign that said "OUCH". It caught my attention immediately and I kept reading. The full sign said "OUCH $1000 fine for fireworks" (they are illegal in our city). I thought this was an awesome marketing tool created by the city police. It really caught my attention and made me curious (and that really is an ouch).

What could we do? "OOPS, your library books are due" or "Yikes, you already paid for the library services" (Not nearly as good as OUCH).

Captivate Breakthrough

2009-05-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

I had two breakthroughs at work today, both Adobe Captivate related (the software we use to make our online tutorials). I can't get enough of the Captivate program, there are so many options and so many visual opportunities to brand our library and our "library channel". We were having trouble with the new quiz that we are making to test students. We have built tutorials around all of the fundamentals we teach in the drop in "Articles, Books & Beyond" workshop. When we are done with the quiz we will have a nice package: students can watch all the tutorials and take the quiz and get a certificate saying they passed the quiz to take to their instructors. The quiz was causing some problems, I messed around with countless options so that the students can move forward (they get two attempts until they get no credit for the question and then the quiz continues). The second breakthrough had to do with the certificate at the end of the quiz. In Captivate 4 there is a feature to add in a certificate. The generic certificate was in there, but today I learned how to import a customized certificate and use the object variable feature with a text box to put the students name in the certificate (they enter their name on the first slide). It is just too cool.

Good-bye Info Career Trends

2009-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

I am really disappointed that Info Career Trends is on an indefinite hiatus, but it is completely understandable. I don't know how Rachel was able to keep that baby going for so many years without making any money for all the time spent. That is serious dedication!

This month's issue was good as usual, check it out here.

Reference Desk Humor (and woes)

2009-05-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

I am always humored by some of the limits that the students come to the reference desk with. Last week I was told that a professor had said her students needed to find articles that were longer than 20 pages. I asked if the professor had wanted the students to find scholarly articles and discussed the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly articles. The student said "I don't know, I just have to have articles that are 20 pages or longer". So the hunt began. We found a lot of really good articles on her topic that were 13 to 17 pages which we did not select. We were on a time crunch, it was before the class it was needed and what ended up happening was that we found one 20 page article and passed over quite a few good scholarly articles to settle on a 5 page article right before the deadline. Arrghh.

Promotion at work

2009-04-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

I got a promotion at work last week and am very excited about the new responsibilities. I am now the student outreach coordinator. While this is a big shift from what I have been doing, I am looking forward to the challenge and looking at this as a growth opportunity. As with any shift in an organization, it will take time for me and everyone to adjust to the change. I look forward to working with the different departments to achieve our goal of outreach to students. I am also really appreciating the side comments of encouragement and support by my co-workers in a time of extreme budgetary and staffing concerns for the Cal State system and the state as a whole.

I had my first official meeting on Friday in regards to the new outreach position. It was extremely enlightening in hearing the suggestions and comments from the rest of the group. I am really appreciating the range of ideas that came from the group and the topic is so large, I am looking forward to the continued opportunities for discussion.

Progress on 2009 Book List

2009-04-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

I have been doing very well on my reading list so far. I am up to 10 books since the start of 2009. The goal this year is 50 (!). I was snooping at my parents house the other day and ran into an old stash of my children's books. I absolutely loved Roald Dahl as a kid and found the book The Witches. I immediately sat down and read it. What a read! I have added a section of the 2009 booklist titles Roald Dahl, and I can't wait to get started. I loved the children's lit class I took in grad school, I forgot the huge variety in children's literature and all the different genres. (I just opened up The BFG and saw a hand written note ;) How cute, she got me The BFG for Valentine's Day when I was ten, what a mom!)

Life Long Learning class

2009-04-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, I got the opportunity to teach a class to an Osher Life Long Learning group. It is a program at the school that is for continuing education students. I think there is an age requirement, I think it is for 55+ years only. They were fantastic. It was so fun to work with them. I don't know if it is something the library will do in the future, it was a trial and it was in three parts. There were three of us that taught the classes, the first was on campus e-mail, the second was on the open web and the third was on library resources. I got to teach the third class and designed this flyer for them to take with them (I think they were excited by the flyer). I wanted to highlight some of the things we would cover and some of the things they could explore on their own, with the home base of the library homepage. We did a book search, looked in a few databases and set everyone up with their pins. They all had laptops and could follow along, or watch each little demo and have time to work and search on their own. A librarian and myself went around and helped trouble shoot and answer questions between demos. It was fun; if I get the opportunity to work with this group again I will definitely take it.

Article Published

2009-04-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this last month when it came out. My article Determining Your Niche through Continuing Education, from the March issue of Info Career Trends.

Facebook Crazy

2009-04-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

I joined facebook about a month ago, and my interest has kind of exploded. Don't be surprised if I friend you, I have been going on a friend request craze this evening! I even put up photos on my profile. So here is my question. Do you mix professional with personal (friends and co-workers)? Since nothing I ever do in life is scandalous, I plan on mixing both. What do you do?

Jealousy at the ref desk

2009-04-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes don't you just wish you got to the ref desk sooner? This journal article was on the desktop when I arrived at the desk the other day..."Subjective and physiological reactivity to chocolate images in high and low chocolate cravers." Now why can't someone ask me about chocolate?

Tutorials on our "Library Channel"

2009-03-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

One thing I really enjoy about my current job is the constant opportunity for learning. We had two trainings today, one on Web of Science and then a second training on EndNote Web, which I will be using later tonight to research a new article idea.

Since being assigned as the production assistant to our e-learning group at the beginning of the semester (I was always working with that team, but it is now much more formalized, with almost a quarter of my time devoted to building the tutorials) we have completed a number of new tutorials. I am getting in to the "Library Channel" as we call it. We have six tutorials up now. We are using the program Captivate which is a PC program, and I highly recommend it. Here are links to our tutorials:

Find Books
Find a Journal
Create a Library Pin
Choose a Database
Locate Reserve Items
Locate eReserve Items

I've been hired!!

2009-03-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about a new opportunity I have been given. I have been hired to teach several classes in a Library Technician program in Colorado. The teaching will be done online (my favorite way to learn) and they will start this summer! I will be teaching classes on library circulation and reference. I just received notification that my vocational credential for the state of Colorado has been cleared and I can't wait to get started. I am already working on curriculum. I can't wait to meet my students....

Seattle Public Library (WOW) and Potholes

2009-03-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

I booked it down to the Seattle Public Library on my lunch break today to check out the AMAZING building. Once I got here and walked up to the tenth floor (not a typo) and took pictures. I noticed something called the Seattle Room. It looked like it had a lot of historical books and maps on Seattle (I will post all the photos I took when I am back at home with my laptop). I decided to look up something that the tour guide discussed yesterday on the tour. Forgive my probably incorrect repeat of what he said- BUT apparantely there were a bunch of potholes where people actually died from falling into them. The tour guide said that they were even put on Seattle maps to help with safety. So I wanted to find one of these maps. I went to the reference librarian and got a dirty look (um actually- twice; I think this is deja vu and I have written a post like this before). I asked for help and she told me that the tour guide was incorrect, but she would show me were the maps were and could I please be very careful because they get out of order easily. We walked right by the maps that were actually made during the 18th century (which were HUGE and just sitting on the shelf in the open) and she took me to the contemporary maps of what the city looked like in the early 19th century. She then said that the maps I was looking for, they didn't have in the collection. I flipped through the maps and snuck back to the 18th century maps, where I quietly heaved them on tables and looked for potholes (it was very fun, I now have rust all over my coat and was out of breath because they were so heavy, that has not happened to me with research in a long time). I have spent about 20 minutes using a combination of the library catalog, library databases and Google (more on that in the next post). At this point, while I would really like a pothole map, I just want to find a book that mentions them- I will say I went down to a second reference desk and was given a reference book to peruse through. The book seems to be on target (great job reference librarian!) but has no mention of potholes....more to come on the topic when I reach success.

Staff at conferences- justified?

2009-03-12T18:50:00.001-07:00

I just ran into an acquaintance at the ACRL conference that asked a question which made me ponder leadership. I had run into this person at a state meeting several weeks ago. The library I work at, hosted the annual state meeting, which this librarian attended. When I just ran into her today at the vendor exhibits she looked at me with recognition, and I said "Hi, we met at the state meeting." She then remembered where she new me from and immediately says "aren't you a staff member, wow that's really great your institution allowed you to come". I then felt obligated to state that my library didn't pay for all my attendance and I was really lucky for what they had funded (which I really am) and that I had to apply for a grant to get partial funding. What strikes me the most is that the question was raised as to -basically- my legitimacy for attending a conference as a staff member. I will always always appreciate being a staff member (one day when I am a librarian, and even further in the future as a library director) for the simple fact that I will ALWAYS appreciate the hard work and dedication of EVERY staff at each and every library. Our libraries would not survive and function as well as they do without the commitment, loyalty, ethics, and innovation of our staff, who deal with cranky patrons, take assignments they don't always want, are extremely flexible with schedules, difficult personalities and constantly changing demands. While this comment from the librarian initially made me feel compelled to state that I have the MLS- (so somehow it must be different) I left thinking about what I would do if I were in a leadership position- which is to make sure that each and every staff and librarian at every level, realize how valuable they are. I once thought circulation was something I didn't want to do (and while I much prefer outreach, reference and instruction) I have a real necessary and true appreciation not only for the staff who work it (myself included) but really for the fundamental role it serves the library. Patrons will ALWAYS remember circ staff, because they are usually the first and last contact, will they remember the ref desk, or the instruction librarian throughout their college careers?? Just some thoughts.

No Knitters So Far! Will this continue?

2009-03-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

I have seen no knitters so far at the ACRL conference (of course I have only been to the keynote and the lights were dim). This pleases me very much. I constantly see this at conferences and I always think, why aren't you taking notes? why aren't you paying attention? can you really be that casual at a conference. I have seen this take place at numerous conferences as well as meetings and chapter meetings. I have even discussed this with some of my colleagues. Why do people do it? Please tell me...

Article Review: No One Taught Me How to Teach

2009-03-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

I was looking for an opportunity to catch up with some of my professional reading. The second flight last night was a good time to do that. I am a regular reader of Info Career Trends (editor is Rachel Singer Gordon, who I consider a real role model in the field). I hadn't yet read the March issue and two articles specifically intrigued me. The first: No One Taught Me How to Teach by Veronica Arellano. This started out as an all too familiar personal story about the lack of instruction in library science programs on teaching. (I focused on reference and instruction in my program and still only had one class really focused on curriculum and then had to seek out my internship and extra curricular opportunities to supplement this). This article was very informative on how to work with coworkers to create an environment for learning about teaching: starting a brown-bag instruction group, team teaching, getting peer feedback and even taping yourself for review later (scary!) What I found most helpful was some of the resources I was unaware of and will be looking at: the ACRL immersion program and the Teaching, Learning and Technology Group (TLT) as well as two websites: the ACRL instruction session, and the LOEX Clearinghouse for Library Instruction.

The article ended with the action plan of setting one or two small goals for yourself. I am going to start by setting the goal of reading two articles or chapters on instruction a week. Then I will start pulling together all my lesson plans and teaching tips in one binder (and that will include useful technology resources, instructional design information, classroom management etc.) Article assessment: Overall a quick and useful read, for the shared experience and the useful resources.

Impact of Teachers

2009-03-06T23:23:00.001-08:00

I have had some really great teachers throughout my life. One, who virtually changed it's course forever, I have continued to send a birthday present to, every year since I graduated. I don't even sign my name anymore, he just knows it is from me. The art teacher then takes what he wants from his birthday gift and cuts it up and discards the rest. I work on it a little bit throughout the year and then mail it off whenever it is done (usually several months late). With a gift as nice as this, I don't think it really matters how late it is. Here is the front:

Each piece of paper is stitched together to the next one, and then I make an envelope of the two sides. Then the envelope is stuffed with additional pieces of paper to chine colle (collage in during the printing process when creating prints- which is what I have a BFA in). As a printmaker, I am a paper hoarder. Any scraps I have in the studio I keep in a pile for later use and some of them I set aside for this project. I know being an instructor in library science is different than being one in art classes where you work closely with students for several years; but just getting to work the library students assistants at work, and help them find research, listen to their problems and write letters or recommendations makes me feel like I am making a small contribution like this teacher did for me. It is really rewarding. Sometimes you don't know how to thank people who have changed your life...I hope this helps him understand how much I appreciate his time and energy.

ACRL is almost here!

2009-03-06T23:12:00.001-08:00

I am getting really excited for ACRL. I have most of the sessions planned out in my itinerary, plus extra time to check out the public library and some local attractions the morning before it starts. I had been waiting for my virtual conference access so I could take a look at some handouts of sessions I was deciding between and they are finally up! I even checked the weather channel. I hope to see you at my roundtable. Here is the flyer, and it is also on the virtual conference. I would like to spend the first part on the logistics of spaces and then wrap up with programming, but I am also going to be very flexible with what the attendees want to discuss:

Drop-In Workshop Compliment

2009-02-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

I got a really nice compliment today in my drop-in workshop. A student came up to me and said she really understood all the material I discussed and that I explained everything in a very easy format. She said she had come to the same workshop a year ago and left really confused. So when her current instructor told the class to come to a drop-in this semester, she decided to come back and try another one to see if she could understand more.

I have also been working a lot on our tutorials and so I did a little user testing today on the Create a Library PIN tutorial. Usually I walk the students through the PIN creation process verbally and then have them create pins on the instruction laptops (I always want to wait to pull out the laptops because I don't know how many people will show up each week and I want to make sure I place out the correct amount- so right at the end we have to pause the class so I can pass out laptops). I wanted to see if I turned the tutorial on, if it would allow me enough time to get laptops and pass them out along with filling out attendance sheets for those who needed them. I wanted to see if there were any questions after the tutorial about the pins, or if it did a complete job answering them. It worked great. I got a little user testing on the tutorial, which got rave reviews, and it cut a few minutes off of down time. I could also fill out sheets of attendance for those that needed them.

Congratulations Sofia!

2009-02-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

A big congratulations to Sofia (one of my loyal blog readers) and one of my favorite circ students (oh wait I mean not my favorite, because you shouldn't have favorites!) for getting accepted into the library science program at San Jose State University. I look forward to talking with you over the next couple of years about your opinions in the field and can't wait to see what you contribute to the profession! Let me know if you need anything!

SoThink Video Converter

2009-02-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

I think it is official, I really might need a new hobby. The reason I say this is because I am currently at my public library (after working a normal 8 hour day at an academic one) after just going to an art opening at the library (and waiting to clean up the opening) and I just hopped on a computer to write a blog post. Oh well. If you love libraries and library stuff, then I guess you wind up at your public library at night. We just got a new staff member (who I really like) and she is also cracking me up with her public library habits. She came to us about 2 months ago from a public library and when I see her in the evening when she is about to get off, she always says, I really have to run, I need to go to the other library to pick something up...I think it is great.

Okay, the point of this post is to discuss the new(to me) software SoThink. I think it is an Adobe software(?) that transfers Captivate files (the software that I use to create our online tutorials) into avi files, which is the format needed to post videos on youtube and blogs. I downloaded a trial version yesterday and played around with it. I highly recommend it. I think we are going to purchase the program so we can start getting our movies ready for a youtube page. The only problem I was having was the resolution (which probably means I need to reshoot the whole video in Captivate in a smaller size before I use SoThink) and the question/answer features we have in our tutorials. Currently at the end of each tutorial we have an interactive section where a student/viewer needs to select an answer to continue with the movie. In the conversion software it requires me to click the answer (with out much highlight as to the answer or the selection, so it is confusing to the viewer because only a little dot next to the correct answer appears and then the video continues to the next page). It will take some tweaking on my end to get the video ready for a youtube appropriate format but I was really pleased with the SoThink software.

Youtube video on Bob Nugent

2009-02-17T20:07:00.000-08:00

I got an e-mail a few days ago from the new assistant to my former boss, Quinn (aka the old me). She was letting me know about a video that is up on Youtube. It is about a 300 foot drawing (a football field is about 360 feet the long way) that my old boss, Bob Nugent was working on. Bob is an artist and I was his artist assistant for about 2-1/2 years while I was an undergrad and then as a grad student in the library science program. That is where I got my art installation skills and interest in designing marketing materials (how convenient for my current job!). Quinn and I are also featured in the eight minute video. Here it is:

A cover of the book I edited (yes a plug) is below as well. There is a section in the book devoted to the huge drawing, which will go on display next month at a museum in Brazil. Our library purchased the book and it is really fun handing the book to people who check it out, knowing that my picture is in it! Here is the publishers site.

Blink

2009-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

I had originally written about this book and was not very positive (maybe 80 pages in). I thought it was good story telling and that it was well written but past that was unimpressed. I take it all back... I loved this book. The thin-slicing examples were excellent and it was a very engaging read. The shocking mistakes and sad examples of what can happen in a split second decision with police and fire fighters really summed up how important it is to not over think things. I will be starting Tipping Point by the same author and am looking forward to it. Highly recommended!!

Public Service and Signage

2009-02-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get so caught up in the library world that I forget all businesses and organizations have the same problems and challenges that libraries do. This weekend we went away for Valentine's Day and there were two examples of other businesses having problems with both signage and public service. Here they are:

This little cafe that was inside a mall we went to. There were two entrances with a roped line and a pick-up counter for sandwiches, a pick-up counter for coffee, two registers and a sandwich bar. There was a variety of employees in the background and it was difficult to tell where to order or pay for anything. All I wanted was a cup of coffee, so I walked in through one line entrance and went up to the register. An employee saw me and then walked right by. I even asked if I was in the right place to place an order. She ignored me and kept walking. Several minutes later someone did help and the coffee was worth the wait. However the problem with the signage was confusing and I saw numerous people also walking in and looking around as if they didn't know where to go. The product in this case was worth the confusion, but what if this happens in the library? What if our signage is so bad and confusing (which the LC system does trip up a number of students) and then the book isn't on the shelf? The product will not be anywhere near worth it because they were confused and then disappointed. Will they come back the next time?

The second incident had to do with our hotel. It was a Westin. It was a great hotel and we had a nice city view on the 14 floor. We had a full day, went to a spa, went to Chinatown, did some shopping and then went back to the hotel at about 8:30pm. We heard noise off and on above the bed but thought it was the person above us walking around. We didn't pay too much attention to it until we were trying to go to sleep. Or should I say, could not go to sleep. It was a loud whining sharp long noise that occurred about every 10 to 15 seconds. The man above us also decided to start singing (loudly). It was impossible to sleep. The hotel was sold out and they couldn't move us. By 2am I had gone down twice to complain and they had already sent security up twice to the room above us. At 2am I asked for a manager and told her about our problem (my husband was actually upstairs packing up our things, we were going to scrap the entire next day and just drive home at 2am). The manager was extremely understanding, she took $170 off of our bill and sent an engineer up to close the outside vents above our room which she thought might be causing the noise. The noise didn't change but the empathy of the manager as well as the adjustment of the bill made it possible for me to get a few hours of sleep. I will never again stay at another Westin. However, I am not mad about the bad night sleep either, so technically it is probably a wash for their business (except of course that I am blogging about the bad experience). The original person I spoke to was not very friendly. She didn't care that we couldn't sleep and she couldn't move us. So, what kind of impression are we giving as the front of our library. I think that the general public forms an opinion of the entire library based on the level of knowledge and politeness of the front person. Our students and circulation staff who often get first contact with a patron are of vital importance. Are we confusing our patrons? Do they want to come back? Is there a problem with our public service? Will it matter?

At this point I relate everything to the library. I think these were two good examples of what is often wrong with organizations and libraries and I hope I can continue to remember my frustration with these experiences when trying to show empathy to panicked students and community members needing help understanding our policies.

What type of book is this?

2009-02-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

I got a really interesting question today at the ref desk. A student came up to the desk with a book in hand (Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World) and asked if it was a history, biography or historical fiction book. He had written a paper on it and it was supposed to be scholarly but his teacher had seen the book and wasn't sure if it was scholarly. She told him to come to the reference desk and if the person at the desk said it was not historical fiction she would then grade his paper (what power! just kidding). It was actually tough. The book screamed casual writing and so I initially leaned towards historical fiction. However, I immediately checked the subject headings printed in the beginning of the book and none of them were fiction. Sometimes I have also seen historical fiction (or just fiction books) that give a little blurb about the book being based on history but having fictional elements in the front matter. There was no such blurb. So then I became very suspicious- very casual writing, no fiction subject heading and no fiction blurb with an index and chronology at the end. I then went to ODLIS to look up "historical fiction" for some additional clues. The one main clue that was relevant was that historical fiction generally contains dialogue. I asked the student if he read the book in full and if there was dialogue: yes and no. Okay, another clue. We went to Amazon because I wanted to read what the publisher said about the book and found several reviews that basically said it was a very reader friendly biography. SOLD! The student and I had a fun time hunting down what the book was (I find it so fascinating that it was not easy to tell) and I got the opportunity to show him what subject headings were and why they were important, the front matter in a book, Worldcat, our catalog, ODLIS and amazon review features. I love random interactions like this. Has this ever happened to you? Where you just really question what a source is?

EndNote

2009-02-11T21:52:00.001-08:00

We just learned how to use EndNote in our reference meeting today. It is so easy to use. I had heard of it but never tried if before. We are getting to use the web version with a new database we subscribe to. We had the training in the afternoon and then at 4pm during my ref shift a student was desperate to save her sources for later. Luckily the student had a few minutes for me to retrace the steps to create an account and we could register her and export all of her records. I don't get that very often, usually students only want to print or e-mail what they find and don't want to revert back to previous records. It was one of those perfect moments at the desk, when you think, ahh I just learned that.

TripIt

2009-02-10T08:07:00.000-08:00

I went to the presentation on the 2009 Horizon Report yesterday. We get lucky really lucky and have the opportunity of having Rachel Smith from the New Media Consortium come to the library each year and give a talk to the campus community about the upcoming education technologies The report is divided into what technologies to watch over the next year, the 2-3 year mark and the 4-5 year mark. I am always interested in what is cutting edge, and more than anything enjoy all the examples which are astounding. One I tried from the presentation was TripIt.com. You forward your e-mail confirmations of trips (planes, conferences, events) and TripIt organizes the content for you into an itinerary. What is also great is that you can add directions, maps and activities to your trip. I will probably TripIt with the ACRL conference. I spent about 10 minutes this evening doing our trip into SF and everything is now organized with maps and driving directions and notes and contact info. It is so easy to use. I highly recommend it.

"Librarian" by Microsoft office

2009-02-09T22:00:00.000-08:00

I was looking through some microsoft office clipart and found this image of "librarian." I think it is potentially the funniest "librarian" image I have every seen. Directly from the Microsoft Office site. I mean really, is that a nose, a hat, what? and where exactly is that book going?

More SP heroes

2009-02-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

I am on a roll! I just can't stop making superheroes with the SP-Studio. Here are a few more:

Bulletin Board Superhero

2009-02-03T22:27:00.001-08:00

I maintain the downstairs interactive bulletin board in our library (which I know I have mentioned before). I have been thinking about spicing it up with some new images. Each semester I run through about 6 different topics. I am going to change the layout of where I put the question signs and am going to change the paper sizes so that it is clear by those walking by that the board has changed. I am going to do a board that asks "Who is your favorite hero?". I am then going to post some images of some contemporary heroes and some cartoon heroes. I was looking at different websites where you can create cartoons. I found several and thought it would be neat to create a set of cartoon super heroes to put up. I am not in to South Park but I really liked the south park creator. Here is the one I made:

Roundtable at ACRL

2009-02-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

I am getting very excited about the ACRL conference in March. I will probably start to plan out the sessions I am going to attend on Saturday (my first Saturday off since I switched to a new schedule). I just got notified that the Roundtable I applied for was accepted. Here is my proposal:
The Art Side of the Library: Running Exhibition Spaces
Art exhibition spaces are popping up in a lot of academic libraries. Topics will include the practical aspects of running the spaces. What does your library do with its art/exhibition space? Is the space maintained by art faculty, outside curators or librarians with an art background? What are the focuses of the space: information literacy components or are they strictly for student artwork?

I will be creating a flyer soon as well, once I decide on what my final material is and will post it here. I hope to see you at the roundtable!

Art Show at Library

2009-01-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

Here is the poster I just finished for the art show at my local public library in Rohert Park. See you there....

2009 Booklist

2009-01-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

I am working up my yearly booklist. For 2009 I would like to read 50 books. I think having a list really helps so I am going to continue that this year. There will be 5 themes, each with 10 books on the list. The themes thus far: Jane Austen, new non-fiction, history and professional development/whatever.

I am starting the list on this post and will continue to update it throughout the year, including the last theme.

Anything Jane Austen
1) Sense and Sensibility
2) Pride and Prejudice
3) Mansfield Park
4) Persuasion
5) Emma
6) Mansfield Park
7) Northanger Abbey
8) Lady Susan
9) Love and Friendship
10) Sandition
11) The Watsons
12) Mr. Darcy's Daughters

Non-fiction
13) Blink
14) Tipping Point
15) Outliers
16) The Glass Castle
17) Wistful Drinking

Roald Dahl classics
18) The Witches
19) The Magic Finger
20) The BFG
21) George's Marvelous Medicine
22) Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fiction
23) Brida
24) The Gatecrasher
25) Fashionably Late
26) All we ever wanted was everything
27) Memory Keepers Daughter
28) Lethal Vintage
29)
30)
31)
32)

History
33)
34)
35)
36)
37)
38)

Poetry
39) Sources
40)
41)
42)
43)

Professional Development/Whatever
44) Art of Living
45) Choosing Civility
46) The UltraMind Solution
47) Desk and Beyond: Next Generation Reference Services
48) Research Within the Disciplines
49) Reference Collection, a Development Manual
50) The Academic Librarian

New Books

2009-01-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, this ridiculous hiatus is over...I have been reading a lot lately. I just finished Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. It is really hard to pick a favorite between the two. I think I have to go with Sense and Sensibility, it was my original favorite.

I am reading an interesting book right now called Blink. I think it is in the self-help category but I am not really getting much out of it, a lot of what I think the self help "parts" might be are common sense. However, it is extremely interesting and I would recommend it. I actually got interested in it because of a faculty member who came in looking for the new book Outliers which I want to read. When I went to the bookstore to buy Outliers (because every library we borrow from had it checked out) it was only out in hard back. Since I can't stand reading hard back I am going to wait to read Blink and Tipping Point first which are both also by Malcolm Gladwell.

Chronicle of Higher Education- Paper Plane

2008-12-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

I regularly read the Chronicle of Higher Education. I find it really informative about the landscape of higher education, and enjoy reading the career section (if only to be relieved I am not out on the market). Anyways, I read a short piece last week on a paper airplane that a scientist wants to launch into space (made out of one sheet of 8-1/2 by 11 paper). His name is Shinji Suzuki and he wants the paper plane to be sent back to earth from the International Space Station. He thinks that because the plane is so small, it should not create a lot of friction and heat when it enters the atmosphere. The Chronicle of Higher Education is a subscription based publication, but if you want to read about the paper plane, here is another quick read about it from the Discovery Channel.

Art Library Committee

2008-12-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

I have started volunteering for the local library art committee and I had my first meeting on Monday. It should be a fun group. The committee puts only two shows on a year, usually one photography show and one painting show. I might try and spice it up a little. I have volunteered to create a color flyer for the event, which seems to be my assignment everywhere I go (which I really enjoy)! Once I get several mock-ups done, I will post them here.

Great co-workers are a must

2008-12-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

I got really lucky at this job. Out of about 35 staff/librarians, we just have really good people. We got two fabulous new employees and I feel really lucky because they are going to be so easy to work with and are so knowledgable. I made both of them scones for their first day of work. Who wouldn't want scones for their first day of work?? Can't wait to get to know them and have them be apart of the team.

Here are some examples of how pleasant some of the employees are: There are a lot of people at the library and in the community going through the online MLIS program at SJSU. Since that is were I got my MLIS I get asked a lot of questions about classes and assignments and the program. I edited a paper for one of my co-workers, really no big deal at all, because it was an interesting paper, and I walked into my desk area last week and there were flowers waiting for me! It was soo generous, I just love flowers. Then I walked in to work today at 3:45am because I had the morning shift for the 24 hour study hall and my co-worker had brought me some delicious coffee cake, bottled water and a granola bar to help me make it through my shift. I have always had good work environments, but the diversity of personalities and overall generosity of this library really takes the cake.

My finals are over!

2008-12-16T04:20:00.000-08:00

Whew! I am done with finals! 6 units didn't seem like a lot, but working full time and taking Photoshop 2 and Indesign (and everything else) was a little much. I am glad the semester is over and can now focus my attention on the panicked students (poor guys).

Speaking of panicked students. What do you do with study rooms? Do you have study rooms at your library? Does the circulation staff maintain them or are they open for students to drop-in and use? The weekend before the semester gets really really hectic with study room keys here. A lot of arguing goes on about who can and cannot check out rooms and who can renew their reservations. My co-worker Liz had a great idea for this problem when I was discussing with her the difficulty I have on that one Saturday before finals each semester. We handed out half sheets of paper with the study room reservations that said "Due to high demand during finals week for study rooms we will not renew/extend room reservations. Please be sure to clear your belongings out of the study rooms before you return the key."

It worked extremely well coupled with a sign that said the days date and that there would be no study room renewals and with the verbal saying of what the half sheet of paper said. Overall, we kept it very positive, and were friendly and just let the students know it was because of the increased traffic and would only be on that day. We then would offer to make appointments for Sunday, which helps out the Sunday crew.

On a side note, I find it extremely interesting what I have been more prone to blogging about. When I started this blog I thought it would be more theoretical discussion about my thoughts on the profession. What I am finding in addition to this, is just a real interest in the public face and public service- and more specifically the nitty gritty on how to provide the best. Little tricks like this idea that Liz came up with, make a huge difference for the public representation that the library is showing.

Crazy Book Titles

2008-12-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

I have been keeping an assorted listed of bizarre book titles lately for pure pleasure, so far, here are several of my favorites:

Living with crazy buttocks
The toothpick: technology and culture
Fancy Coffins to Make Yourself
Dyer Consequences (a knitting book)
Elephants on acid: and other bizarre experiments

Some of these I got from the web (who knows where, and some from our PL catalog). I also know there are some crazy book title awards. More later.

Reflections on the students

2008-12-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

I was meeting an old friend for lunch today and he was nice enough to come on campus and meet me. We were meeting outside but I sat for awhile inside another building and watched for him through the windows because it was so cold out. It was fun to sit next to all the students on the campus in a non-staff member capacity and to hear their conversations and see them working. It really bothers me that our state budget is in such a state of disrepair that we are doing mid-year cuts, which means temp-faculty losing their jobs and the students not being able to get their classes, and having it take longer to complete their degrees than 4 years. It has hit a time of panic for the students which can be seen at the ref and circ desks, and I always feel for them in these last couple of weeks of the semester.

I think I need to get out more on campus and, well, actually evesdrop on their conversations. So that I can hear what they are going through and their perspectives as students. I am not saying I want to only try and understand their perspective, but it would be a nice reminder in my moments of "they really need to learn this because it will help them throughout their entire life" and realize that they also just need a job and benefits and the practical things when they get out. How can I make their daily life better with better resources and an ability to evaluate sources?

Cell Phones

2008-12-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

It is so difficult to decide on cell phone rules in the library. We did a LibQual+ survey a few years ago and got a lot of complaints about cell phone useage. So much so (I mean really, it was somewhere around 400 comments) that we limited cell phone useage to the 1st floor and 2nd floor entrance. (Out of 3 floors). At this point in the semester there are so many cell phone users in the 2nd floor reference area (north end), and the volume of noise is so high, it is virtually impossible to regulate the cell phones. What I really would like to see is a potential space for the three types of users: 1) a space for no talking, no cell phones 2) talking with no cell phones 3) talking and cell phones. It is the #2 space that is hardest to make work. The level of volume goes so up and down throughout the day in the #2 designated area, that at certain times it is laughable to have to walk up to a student and ask them to get off their phone, on the other hand 30 minutes later it is such a quiet space with 40 people all quietly working and one cell phone conversation really disrupts the students. This is something I have really been pondering lately, and although it seems like a very practical simple matter, there are definately consequences to students satisfaction with the library, with any decision made.

Crossing Borders: 21st Century International Librarianship: CLA Conference

2008-11-20T19:41:00.000-08:00

This was an overview of international librarianship, what it is, the different opportunities for librarians and libraries to exchange staff. The different associations, and organizations that help fund projects like this and some stories about the exchanges and Fulbright that the speaker obtained. This was by far my favorite session, it really inspired me to get involved and I imagine I will apply for, and hopefully one day be able to participate in some of the opportunities provided to librarians.