02.03.10
Volunteer for ALA Committees
Do you want to get involved in ALA? A good way to start is by volunteering to serve on a committee – and the time to volunteer is now!
Most committee appointments are made in the spring and start after ALA Annual (the summer meeting in late June). To volunteer, you’ll need to find the online volunteer forms for the divisions you belong to (ACRL, RUSA, etc.), login, and complete the forms. If you go to the division site and search for “volunteer,” the form should pop right up.
ALA is becoming more supportive of virtual service, so even if you cannot travel to two ALA conferences a year, you can volunteer. Just be sure to check the option for “virtual service” when you complete your form.
Divisions set their own deadlines for volunteer forms. I can only see the forms for divisions I belong to, however ACRL’s are due February 15 and RUSA’s are due March 1, so it seems likely forms for other divisions are due in the next weeks as well.
01.25.10
Library Day in the Life
LIS students – wondering what librarians *really* do all day long? Check out the blog posts, twitter feeds and flickr photo streams at Library Day in the Life.
Bonus! At least one author that we read in reference and in instruction is represented here – can you find her?
And, hey, alumni readers – consider contributing to this communal effort!
Recommended Reading – More by Melissa Gross
January is the time I catch up on my professional reading. Since I have a few weeks off between the holidays and the start of classes, I can work my way through the stack of journals I’ve been meaning to read, as well as organize all those articles I read during the fall and set aside in a pile vaguely labeled as “good – do something with.” This is one I read back in September (!) and am just now unearthing again.
Gross, Melissa and Don Latham. “Undergraduate Perceptions of Information Literacy: Defining, Attaining, and Self-Assessing Skills.” College and Research Libraries 70.4 (July 2009): 336-50.
In my reference and instruction courses, we read an article by Melissa Gross about competency theory (Gross, Melissa. “The Impact of Low-Level Skills on Information Seeking Behavior.” Reference & User Services Quarterly 45.2 (2005): 155-63). This article, which says that people with low level skills, the “incompetent,” generally do not recognize their own lack of skill, usually sparks a vigorous discussion.
Those of you who enjoyed that discussion may want to read this recent article. Here, Gross and Latham interview college students about their conceptions of information literacy and their experience conducting research. The article references competency theory, as well as the imposed query model and Christine Bruce’s The Seven Faces of Information Literacy. Very interesting article, especially for those of you interested in reading further research on some of the ideas touched on in class.
01.17.10
Recommended Reading – Serving Students with Learning Disabilities
Chodock, Ted and Elizabeth Dolinger. “Applying Universal Design to Information Literacy: Teaching Students Who Learn Differently at Landmark College.” Reference and User Services Quarterly 49 (2009): 24-32.
We all have students with learning disabilities in our classes. However, since learning disabilities are often invisible to casual observers, we may not realize it. In addition, the one-shot nature of standard library instruction often precludes getting to know our students well or learning about any special needs prior to the start of class. Therefore, it behooves us to work from the beginning to design information literacy sessions that are accessible to a wide range of learners.
In this excellent article, two librarians from Landmark College, which serves students with learning disabilities, share nine principles of “universal design,” or methods that make instruction accessible to all learners. The nine principles are clearly explained and accompanied by specific examples and applications for library instruction. This article is an easy read with loads of practical advice that you can start using immediately – highly recommended.
12.02.09
Selecting References
Recently I’ve had students emailing me for job searching advice, so I thought I’d post a bit about selecting references (for more on asking for references, see this post).
Whoever you select should be able to speak to your skills, knowledge and aptitude for professional librarianship. Although advertisements often request three references, job seekers often will have a pool of five or six people willing to serve as references and then use the three most appropriate names for a given application (or they will provide more than three names).
Potential References include:
- Professional Librarians – If you have library experience, whether paid or through an internship, practicum or other volunteer gig, it would be best to use your supervisor as a reference. If your supervisor is unable to provide a reference or you are concerned that he or she did not see enough of your work to write a good letter, you can ask a colleague. In fact, if you have any library experience, you may be able to find more than one reference from that experience (ideally people who can speak to different aspects of your work).
- LIS Faculty – As a new graduate without library experience, it would be appropriate (and expected) to use faculty from your MLS program as references.
- Non-LIS Faculty – If you have another graduate degree and it is both recent and relevant to the position, you could list that individual. For example, if you have a master’s in history, are applying for a tenure track position in a library, and plan to continue researching the history of libraries as part of your scholarly contributions to librarianship, it would be appropriate to list an advisor who oversaw your research in history.
- Other Employers – If you have work experience in another setting, you should consider listing a supervisor from that position. Supervisors, regardless of the nature of the work, should be able to speak to your interpersonal skills, initiative and creativity, etc., which will be of interest to a future employer. However, consider this carefully. If you worked for years in the publishing industry and are now earning an MLS and moving into librarianship, you would definitely want to list a former supervisor or colleague. If, on the other hand, you’ve been a full-time student and your last job was two years ago, working the checkout counter in a drugstore, listing a supervisor from that job may be less relevant (you’d probably be better served by listing another LIS faculty member who can speak to your grasp of professional issues).
When you provide a list of references, give the full name, title and contact information (mailing address, email, phone) for each person, as well as an indication of your relationship (phrases like, “Practicum Supervisor” or “Professor for 3 LIS courses, including Instruction in Libraries”).
09.27.09
Tips for Success in Distance Education
Last fall I had a group of new students struggling to adjust to the unique demands of online education. Since fall is here again and I have a lot of new students, I thought I’d post some basic tips for success.
The most important thing is to have self-discipline. Since you aren’t “going” to class every week, it may feel like nobody will know if you don’t keep up and it becomes very tempting to fall behind. But, if you fall behind, you hurt your own learning and cause yourself even more stress. You must have the discipline to keep yourself on track.
- Set a schedule for schoolwork and stick to it. Most students are balancing multiple responsibilities, including work, family and school. You need to be sure school doesn’t become your last priority and that you are realistic about setting aside the time needed to do well in your studies. In addition, setting a predictable schedule can help you manage the expectations of your family. For example, I try not to work on Saturdays, which is a day to rest, run errands and spend time with family. But, I do work much of Sunday, something my family knows to expect.
- Devote two or three big chunks of time every week for concentrated study – reading, working on assignments, etc.
- Put all your school-related due dates on your main calendar – you want all your important dates in one place. Having assignment due dates on your calendar will also keep you from making mistakes like volunteering to chaperone a school event the day before a big paper is due.
- I find it helpful to print syllabi and schedules and check things off as I get them done – it is an easy way to keep myself organized and not miss anything, plus I have a visible reminder of what I am accomplishing. A former student created a weekly “to do” list of readings and assignments, including an item for mandatory forum participation – this ensured she kept up with participation, since she had to check it off each week after she posted a contribution.
I invite those of you who are more seasoned distance education students to share your ideas as well. Just as someone helped you, this is your chance to help someone else!
ACRL’s Internet Resources
Students often ask me how I learn about the various websites I highlight in my courses. Like most librarians, I learn about sites from various sources – links from other blogs, recommendations from friends, and reviews in print media.
One source you can use for web reviews is Internet Resources, a monthly column in College & Research Libraries News. Each column focuses on a timely topic, such as healthcare reform, providing information on 15-20 relevant, good quality websites. The columns are also available (free!) on the ACRL website and can be browsed by topic or date. A wiki provides additional and updated resources.
Reading “Internet Resources” is a good method to build your own knowledge of what is available on the web. You can also browse past columns when you webliography of good sites on a particular topic to create a library guide or to prepare an instructional session.
09.12.09
Managing Forum Posts
Course discussions are an essential part of the learning experience. In distance education, these conversations may happen primarily or exclusively in the forums. This makes forum reading an important part of your coursework.
- Read forums at least every other day, if not daily. If you read forums frequently, they stay manageable (and you’ll have an ongoing feeling of being “connected” to your classmates).
- Figure out if there is a pattern to posts. In my classes, there’s usually a pattern of when people post the most (often near the end of the weekend, when they’ve been reading course materials and are ready to discuss them). This can let you know what to expect in terms of reading load on a given night, and can also be a great time for you to post and get a response.
- Prioritize forums like “news and announcements” where you would expect to see posts from the instructor. These are essential reading and instructors will assume you’ve seen them.
- Subscribe to important forums, such as “news and announcements” or one for your project team, to be sure you see any new messages.
- Look for ways to manage your reading, such as options to mark posts as read, flag important posts, etc.
09.02.09
Do You Love Dictionaries?
A student once posted “I love dictionaries!” in response to a sources assignment. (Yes, folks, that’s how great my assignments are – they lead unsuspecting students to infatuation with inanimate objects.) I’ve always remembered that quote because it captures the enthusiasm librarians have for even the simplest of reference tools, as well as the joy many of us had when we got to library school and realized we’d found a group of like-minded people who love reference books as much as we do (not to mention, we got college credit for studying the dictionary! how cool is that?).
One of my current students shared this link to a TED Talk about the future of the dictionary (thanks, Anne!).
Erin McKean Redefines the Dictionary
This is a thought provoking talk about the future of the dictionary and, by extension, all reference sources. Very interesting if you love reference books and the dictionary.
08.27.09
Broken Links in the Syllabus?
As the semester starts, I thought I’d offer some practical advice on locating a website when the link you have doesn’t work. Many faculty ask students to read articles or other items from websites. Although we may provide a working link on the syllabus, URLs do change and the link you have may not work by the time you need to read the material. So, what to do? Before you contact the faculty member for an updated link, try the following:
- Search the sponsoring organization’s website by the title of the document (e.g., if you need to read ALA’s “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education,” you can go to the ALA website and search for the document).
- Use the link to work back to the sponsoring organization or author (e.g., Christine Bruce’s “Seven Faces of Information Literacy in Higher Education” was at http://sky.fit.qut.edu.au/~bruce/inflit/faces/faces1.htm; if I cut the URL back to her personal page at http://sky.fit.qut.edu.au/~bruce I see a link to the document, which is now at http://sky.fit.qut.edu.au/~bruce/il/faces.jsp).
- Search Google by the title of the document. Google may provide you an updated link. In addition, Google “caches” images of websites, so if a document has actually been removed from the web, you may be able to see an archived image.
Broken links in a syllabus can be frustrating, but are often beyond the instructor’s control. Use this as an opportunity to practice your web searching skills – after all, one day you want to get paid to do this at a reference desk, right?
