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On being thoughtful

March 1, 2011 by 0 Comments

I was reading one of Jenica’s recent posts and was struck by one of her comments: “We’d rather be outraged than thoughtful.” While she was speaking to age/generation issues, the truth of this statement rang out, at least to me. As a profession, we are quick to jump on twitter/blogs/other social media and shout about how wronged libraires are. Perhaps if we were more thoughtful, we wouldn’t find ourselves in the constant reactionary positions we seem to be in. If we could position ourselves better, we might not need to rage so much. Sarah points out, in an interesting counterpoint to the recent HarperCollins debacle, we (libraries) are often in a weak negotiating postion – would thoughtfulness help this? I would hope so.

There is a time and place for shouting about libraires;  in fact, it is important to make noise. If we were more thoughtful though, we might find ourselves in better positions to fight for our libraries, and maybe, not lose our voices with the shouting.

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Stealth librarianship or just good librarianship?

February 28, 2011 by 0 Comments

I’ve heard about stealth librarianship and the manifesto associated with it. Kendra’s  post over at Library Attack about stealth librarianship got me thinking about it again. I’ve read a few posts on stealth librarianship, including John’s original post and Andrew’s call to ninja librarianship, which has some good modifications to John’s manifesto. I do agree that librarians, especially libraries that promote specific subject expertise, should be involved with and engaged in their subject communities. This is not necessarily new concept (I know it’s something both my colleagues and I practice) – a point Kendra raises quite well (among others).

My question is whether this really needs to be termed as stealth librarianship? Using this term,  it seems more sneaky and underhanded than it needs to be. I don’t think quietly infiltrating is the right answer – and I know this isn’t exactly where the manifesto is going – but then why call it stealth librarianship? There is nothing wrong with proudly representing your profession among those who can value your expertise.

These thoughts may be coming on the heels of the HarperCollins affair – we’re being loud and clear in our dislike with the present circumstances (though again, we seem to be in the reactionary position). Maybe it’s our raised voices that’s making me think negatively about the “stealth” aspect of the manifesto.

Regardless, being involved in our communities – both librarian and user – is the essential thing. And isn’t that just plain good librarianship?

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eBook User’s Bill of Rights

February 28, 2011 by 0 Comments

If you haven’t heard, there was lots of talk in the twitter verse and elsewhere this weekend. Ebook talk exploded over the weekend as HarperCollins announced restrictions on the number of uses per ebook for libraries. This could be a dangerous slope, with HarperCollins being the first publisher to limit ebooks in this way. Librarians have been all calling for bans on the publisher. Sarah Houghton-Jan and Andy Woodworth have created the ebook user’s Bill of Rights. A first read through, it seems pretty good.

The eBook User’s Bill of Rights

Every eBook user should have the following rights:

  • the right to use eBooks under guidelines that favor access over proprietary limitations
  • the right to access eBooks on any technological platform, including the hardware and software the user chooses
  • the right to annotate, quote passages, print, and share eBook content within the spirit of fair use and copyright
  • the right of the first-sale doctrine extended to digital content, allowing the eBook owner the right to retain, archive, share, and re-sell purchased eBooks

I believe in the free market of information and ideas.

I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can flourish when their works are readily available on the widest range of media. I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can thrive when readers are given the maximum amount of freedom to access, annotate, and share with other readers, helping this content find new audiences and markets. I believe that eBook purchasers should enjoy the rights of the first-sale doctrine because eBooks are part of the greater cultural cornerstone of literacy, education, and information access.

Digital Rights Management (DRM), like a tariff, acts as a mechanism to inhibit this free exchange of ideas, literature, and information. Likewise, the current licensing arrangements mean that readers never possess ultimate control over their own personal reading material. These are not acceptable conditions for eBooks.

I am a reader. As a customer, I am entitled to be treated with respect and not as a potential criminal. As a consumer, I am entitled to make my own decisions about the eBooks that I buy or borrow.

I am concerned about the future of access to literature and information in eBooks. I ask readers, authors, publishers, retailers, librarians, software developers, and device manufacturers to support these eBook users’ rights.

These rights are yours. Now it is your turn to take a stand. To help spread the word, copy this entire post, add your own comments, remix it, and distribute it to others. Blog it, Tweet it (#ebookrights), Facebook it, email it, and post it on a telephone pole.

To the extent possible under law, the person who associated CC0 with this work has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work

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LibDay6: Day 5

January 28, 2011 by 0 Comments

Last day of LibDay6. Hopefully this week has given a glimpse into the types of things I do as an academic librarian. I really do love what I do – I get to work with great students and faculty, I get to teach, I get to play with and keep up with technology and it’s implications for libraries and higher ed. I also hope this week of posting has started to form into a bit of a habit and may result in more activity here. Regardless, here’s my life as a librarian today:

  • A most rare occurrence – I had no meetings today, so I worked from home. My intention was to concentrate on my OLA presentation, but I spent most of the day working on trying to get things together for next week.
  • Worked on a handout for a Classics TAs and fine tuned a ppt presentation. I’ll be teaching the TAs what they need to teach their students for a library assignment I helped create.
  • Started working on pulling together a group to examine mobile options for our library catalogue.
  • Finally did a little work on my OLA presentation.
  • Renewed ALA membership and got an ACRL membership (and threw in LITA for good measure), so I can attend/present at ACRL
  • The list of things not done should also probably be included when talking about Libday6, since it’s rare for one to finish everything. Among those things still on the list (most likely weekend work): more OLITA prep for the OLA Super Conference next week, more OLA prep, quiz prep
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Libday6: Day 4

January 27, 2011 by 0 Comments

Today feels slightly unproductive when I consider the extent of my week so far. Here’s how it went:

  • Meeting with my OLA presentation group to discuss some of the finer points of the presentation
  • Set up some student research consultations
  • Met with a prof to talk about possible involvement in a conference I’m helping organize (Canadian Network for Innovation in Education aka CNIE) that will be held on campus this May
  • Office hours in the Classics department, complete with a student drop-in consultation and chatting with faculty
  • Worked on a prezi version of a presentation I’m giving to a Communication Studies and Multimedia class. I’ve given this presentation a number of times so I thought I’d try something new. I’m not convinced I won’t make someone ill with motion sickness…
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Two, two, two days in one!

January 26, 2011 by 0 Comments

Yes, I will admit it. I just didn’t have the energy yesterday to post my LibDay6: Day 2, it was, after all, a 12 hour day with 6 hours of teaching. So today, you get two days in one!

Libday6: Day 2

  • Started the day checking email and social networks (from now on, assume this is done at the start of everyday)
  • Attended a liaison meeting where we learned the basics of systematic reviews. They’re big in health sciences and seem to be increasing in popularity recently. We’re even getting requests from social sciences. I’d love to learn more about the differences, if there are any, between health sciences and social sciences systematic reviews. I’d also love to learn why social sciences has started using them. Add that to the research list pile of things to do.
  • During this meeting, having taken my laptop, I had a few IM chats with faculty and students. Note to self: I must remember to turn on my away message more often. I am really excited to see people using my IM widget though. I’m in 14 classes (9 are sections of the same course) in our learning management system and have included a private google IM widget. I’m surprised by the amount of up-take. The just-in-time help I can provide seems to be working well and I hope it continues.
  • Student dropped by my office for a consultation – it was only afterwards that I realized that it was during my office hours. I have only placed this office hours on my liaison contact page and don’t promote it very well. I’m not certain that the student came because of the posted hours, but it is nice to think that students are finding me.
  • The rest of the day was spent teaching. This is the second time I see this class and it’s an interesting session, as I get to go over web searching and evaluation, talk briefly about new media, copyright, and finding creative commons images. These are things that I don’t get to teach very often. On top of it, half of the class is spent creating videos in the new media centre. We’re seeing more options for digital projects on campus and this session introduces them to the space they can use to create them. Some of the sections of this course will have the option to create videos or graphic novels as the major project, so it’s exciting to offer this session to them.

Libday6: Day 3

  • The day consisted primarily of teaching (7.5 hours of it) – the same inquiry class as yesterday.
  • Contacted the Centre for Student Development to make accommodation arrangements for an online quiz that will be offered in a couple of weeks.
  • Teleconference – introduction to a new committee I’m on, the Technical Advisory Group for Scholar’s Portal
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Libday6: Day 1

January 24, 2011 by 0 Comments

Working from home means more always gets done. It seems today was no exception.

  • Started the day the same as everyone else: checking email and social networks.
  • I sent in a small piece on QR codes for our library newsletter. As part of the Teaching with Technology committee, we try to have a small piece about new, interesting or useful technology. Previous posts have included web apps like dropbox and TED talks.
  • I updated the first 4 of 9 presentations that I’ll be doing this week for social sciences inquiry. More on that tomorrow
  • Pulled together a short reading list on presentation skills for a prof to offer his students. I hope to teach this to them in the future.
  • As a research day, it wasn’t until afternoon that I actually began my research. I rarely get to take research days but it was nice to have some time to devote to preparing my OLA presentation. I’ll be presenting on virtual embedded librarianship. It’s interesting research (both the virtual aspect and embedded librarianship) and I’ll post more on it after the conference.
  • Helped organize the library portion of a visit of crown ward students. Instead of a creative writing exercise, I’ve suggested bringing them to the digital media centre to create something (a video, slideshow, song…) as they are more likely to use digital media than do creative writing in university. The idea seems to have gone over well, so we’ll see.
  • checked in our local student social network and answered library questions
  • did a little more research/reading and some association work for OLITA – worked on pulling together a report for the AGM and filled in a colleague for a teleconference I filled in for.
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Library Day in the Life 2011

January 23, 2011 by 0 Comments

Well, the new year has not seen much on this blog but what better way than to try to get back into the swing of things than by participating in the next round of Library Day in the Life! If my to-do list is any indication, it should be an interesting, if not full, week of my library life. This round will be a combination of tweets and blogs, so stay tuned for the excitement!

Academic Librarianship - info lit

Learning, not teaching

December 8, 2010 by 0 Comments

I recently read an article in University Affairs, co-written by my university’s new president that calls for more emphasis to be placed on learning than teaching. I think there is merit in this argument, but there are implications for library instruction as well as regular classroom instruction.

I’ve been lucky to be involved in inquiry courses (social sciences inquiry, arts and sciences inquiry) that place the emphasis on the learning and questioning process. Even the classrooms have been designed differently, so there is no front of the classroom, no sage on the stage. With the emphasis on questioning and research, I am able to do more with the students in terms of research skills – it’s not the standard rushed one shot library instruction session. While inquiry is not the only method to emphasis learning, it has offered me opportunities that other instruction librarians may not as easily achieve.

If universities moved to learning-based curriculums, rather than teaching-based curriculums, what would the impact be for library instruction, if any? What if all classes were inquiry based, problem based, or some new form of learning style? Would there be a huge impact? Many librarians already incorporate active learning in instruction, which would presumably align with learning-based curriculum ideals. I would hope to see more integration of research skills into programs and less one-shots, but librarians are actively moving in that direction as well. I believe that learning-based rather than teaching-based universities might offer us some new opportunities and am still trying to discern what these might be.

What are your thoughts ? I’d love to know!  Is your library instruction learning-based or teaching-based? How would you fit it into a learning-based curriculum? What would a learning centered library session look like? Do you see much difference for your instruction if the change were made?

 

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The Librarian Lecturer and Other Info Lit Thoughts

November 15, 2010 by 0 Comments

Now that much of my teaching is done for the term, I seem to be reading more about instruction now. A recent post from Iris caught my attention. In the post she writes about one shots and the idea that she should approach them as a lecturer might – not teaching everything in the limited time given but getting students excited about the topic instead. I kind of love this idea. It does seem impossible to teach all the skills we’d love them to have in an hour. At best, I hope that they remember where they can get help when they’ve forgotten everything I tried to teach them. I like the idea of using that session to teach them a few basic skills but using that time to also get them excited about research. I hope to try to incorporate this into my teaching and this will mean approaching it in a whole different light.

Another post I recently read discusses a phenomenon I’ve been noticing in my research consultations. In a post related to the recent release of the latest Project Information Literacy report, Barbara Fister talks about students drowning in information. Students can find information – in fact, they find too much information. The problem often lies in not understanding what they’re trying to find and thus they find too much. They need to find the right resources. I’ve seen an increasing number of students looking for help before they even know what the research question means – starting is the issue, finding is not. They don’t understand the topics well enough to identify the best places to start, let alone which items are best in the thousands of items returned. I’ve always tried to steer students to the best starting places in my classes and it seems there may need to be more emphasis placed here and on identifying the best sources.

So in light of these two posts, I’m starting to rethink my instruction approach, as well as the conversations I need to have with faculty. Many professors expect a one shot to be enough to pass on the skills they need for research for their entire academic careers. We may have some convincing to do to make them see us as lecturers, who won’t teach everything they need in 50 minutes, but I think it might be worth the fight. As a librarian who’s no longer on the reference desk, I’ll also have to figure out what this change in approach might mean for me in workload – if I can’t get all of the skills covered in class (a feat which is difficult even in the traditional one shot), will I have more research consultations, what will be the impact on the research help desk? Instead of skills, can I concentrate on starting research and the things you need to consider, including starting resources and best resources? The new term may be an interesting instruction term!