Top Ten List: Number Ten

From the Iowa Library Association/ACRL Conference, in reverse chronological order:

10. Seeking Wisdom in Community: Shaping a First-Year Research Experience given by Andi Beckendorf, Germano G. Streese, of Luther College (Go Norse!)

• This session was particularly interesting to me, partially because I'm a Luther grad, and also because this program targets first-year students and their learning experiences. As a transfer student into Luther, I did not take Paideia. While I had heard stories about the course from my friends, this session allowed me to see the instructor side of the course. Germano and Andi provided a brief history, how they identified the need to modify the program (both the course and library approach). With new needs identified, the library was able to utilize LibGuides to support student learning. This integration lead to changes in what was observed at the reference desk; questions shifted from the seemingly simple "how do I," skill-based questions (that can be answered with a set of directions), to more complex, strategy-based questions.
  

Week Ten: On the Road

Week ten was filled with road trips, random music, librarian chats, conference sessions, and (of course) a Pulitzer Prize winning musical. The week began with the faculty and staff gathering to listen to run-through presentations for those presenting at the Iowa Library Association/ACRL Conference and the Library Technology Conference. The run-throughs allowed presenters to share what they are doing and work out some of the bugs before the "real deal." It was also a good reminder to me about what is expected of presenters (not that I haven't seen my fair share of conference presentations*).

Becky Canovan, Reference and Instruction Librarian at UD, and I then hit the road for the Twin Cities. She was presenting at LibTech and I was planning on going before I even knew that I would be at UD for my internship, and certainly before I knew she'd be presenting. It worked out nicely that we could carpool together. We arrived in the Twin Cities on Wednesday, in time to grab dinner with some awesome folks. Becky and I were staying with her friend from grad school, Amy Commers (Youth Services Librarian at South St. Paul Public Library), and met up with Rachel Slough (E-Learning Librarian at UW La Crosse) and Vicki Gruzynski (Information Services Instructor at South East Missouri State). Rachel was a classmate of mine at Indiana University, and Vicki is another IU alum. I always love spending time with librarians who love their jobs--thanks for being an inspiration, ladies! Throughout the next couple of days we attended sessions, shared ideas, caught up on some of the things happening in each others' lives. After LibTech wrapped up, Becky and I hit the road to Pella, this time for the ILA/ACRL Conference. Stay tuned for my "Top Ten List" of Library-Related Conference Sessions (a la The Late Show with David Letterman)! I wrapped up the weekend by visiting with a former teacher-colleague of mine, spending time with family, and catching Next to Normal with some Dorian Camp counselor friends at the Civic Center in Des Moines. Busy is the best way to be--especially when your time is shared with folks who are so excited about what they do and who they help.

* So far I've attended the following library-related conferences:
ILA/ACRL, Pella, IA, March 2011
LibTech, St. Paul, MN, March 2011
Brick & Click, Maryville, MO, November 2010
ILA, Coralville, IA, October 2010
ILA/ACRL, Cedar Rapids, IA, April 2010
Non-library-related conferences:
Iowa Music Educators Association, Ames, IA, November 2005-2010 (serving as Assistant to the Conference Registration Chair, 2007-2010)
International Society of Bassists Convention, Oklahoma City, OK, June 2009 (assisted with merch and registration)

Article 8: Developmental Relationships in the Dynamic Library Environment

Murphy, S. (2008). Developmental relationships in the dynamic library environment: Re-conceptualizing mentoring for the future. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(5), 434-437.

Libraries are shifting from focusing on physical pieces to focusing on learning outcomes for library users. Library-oriented career paths are no longer well-defined and work relationships beyond hierarchical mentoring need to be considered to support new workers through this change. Currently, the literature emphasizes formal mentoring, despite research indicating informal mentorship is more effective. Information is often subtly transferred from person to person; informal mentoring recognizes this and capitalizes on learning through stories and observations. Mentoring in this new environment is a tool to ensure succession planning, to help with future staffing needs by developing mentees into leaders in emerging areas of librarianship. Peer mentoring, informal mentoring, multiple or shorter-term mentoring experiences (i.e. dialogue groups, networks, mentoring circles, reverse mentoring) are all discussed. Mentee benefits include understanding of organizational culture, networking, personal guidance, career development, learning from role models, receiving advice, and development of friendships. Mentors also benefit from learning the mentee’s perspective and actively reflecting on current practices. This reconceptualization of mentoring, as it adapts to changing technologies, is key to the future success of librarianship and libraries.

Article 7: Communities of Practice at an Academic Library

Henrich, K. J., & Attebury, R. (2010). Communities of Practice at an Academic Library: A New Approach to Mentoring at the University of Idaho. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(2), 158-165.

Communities of Practice are made up of a group sharing a common goal. The environment created is one in which participants feel safe to share professional ideas. Benefits include efficiency of professional development; innovation, collaboration, and project success; and raised awareness about current happenings within the larger organization. Best practices for creation of Communities of Practice in libraries include having a common interest in the topic, inclusion of information and communication technologies, sharing common knowledge and experiences, promotion of publishing opportunities; and ensuring leadership is done from within the group. Promoting a Sense of Community, and making the Community of Practice meetings as part of the professional workday help add legitimacy to the development and sharing process. Challenges to Communities of Practice include finding and maintaining focus on the issue/s, allotting the time and effort to the group (it is a commitment), it can be difficult to sustain and leadership may lose momentum. When forming the group, the librarians at the University of Idaho kept the following points in mind: the goal is to benefit all members; they outlined how the time would be spent, who the facilitator was, what the goals were, how disagreements would be handled, and how they would stay on track. The group was limited to library faculty and they discussed research ideas and gave feedback to their peers. Participation was voluntary, and the environment was promoted as one that was confidential and an open space for sharing ideas without the threat that their research idea would be stolen. Meetings were held once per month the structure was that of presentation and discussion.

Article 6: Effective Mentoring

Freedman, S. (2009). Effective Mentoring. IFLA Journal, 35(2), 171-182.

Mentoring is guided learning to promote the development of skills and knowledge and happens in various points throughout a librarian’s career. Libraries are in a time of organizational change; many librarians are retiring, leaving professional gaps in experiential knowledge; the scope and approach to librarianship continues to adapt with changing technologies. By mentoring the incoming workforce, that experiential knowledge gap can be bridged, and new librarians are provided with the support they need to help libraries (and themselves) transition into the changing library & information services environment. Mentored workers feel supported by their colleagues, are given feedback, participate in professional development activities to aid with improving performance, and are socialized to their new work environment. Mentors may feel personal satisfaction and a renewed enthusiasm for their profession. The employers may see improved employee retention, and improved leadership throughout their organization. While there are many advantages, some disadvantages do exist, including mismatching mentor partnerships, lack of mentor expertise or commitment (feeling forced to mentor), and organizational cultural barriers. Formal, informal, peer, group, self managed, or professional association mentoring models may be considered or incorporated into mentoring practices.

Article 5: Practicums and Service Learning in LIS Education

Ball, M. (2008). Practicums and service learning in LIS education. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science, 49(1), 70-82.

There has been a struggle in library school curriculum between the emphasis placed on theory and the emphasis placed on practice. Service learning combines theory with practice by highlighting reflection throughout the practicum experience, and embedding specific learning objectives tied to course offerings; personal and professional growth are emphasized. The term "service learning," as used by Ball, involves student civic engagement and development. Though more research needs to be done in regards to experiential learning and LIS education (moving away from anecdotal accounts toward qualitative and quantitative studies), the benefits of practical application of, and reflection about, classroom theory include, but are not limited to: student confidence & comfort in the profession, an appreciation for the field, and assists the student in realizing and defining professional goals and values. Student journaling and reflection add critical thinking skills to the professional experience. Barriers to service learning in LIS education include administrative costs and supervision and financial considerations (to pay, or not to pay students for their work).

Week 9: Humanities, Technology, and Presentation Preparation

The week of March 7th was filled with great discussions, observations, and reference work, and instruction experiences. Monday I observed additional RES104 Humanities sessions and worked with the students to understand the Humanities in relation to their next paper. In Humanities Day 1 the students worked in groups to find resources to provided questions. They then gave an informal presentation demonstrating how they found a resource containing the requested information.

I taught the "Q" section of Research 104 and we discussed finding credible resources to be used for their Humanities paper (we focused on web evaluation and finding relevant articles/books for their annotated bibliography, due shortly). The students submitted their website examples and, as a class, we discussed what aspects of the website made us think it was credible, and what aspects made us hesitant to use it to write papers. I also showed them a couple of databases and where to find humanities resources on the library's website. The students came up with great topics and I was excited to hear their paper ideas.

We had another Web Committee meeting, discussing more details of the changes we would like to make on the "How do I?" page. There are lots of pieces we'd like to see incorporated (embedding Jing videos, mobile interface, continuing to tweak/modify language and categories for tutorial content and other questions). In addition to technology related to the website, we are looking at bigger-picture issues such as the use of QR codes, computing in the cloud, and other software and technologies that can help UD grow in terms of technology offered to help students, faculty, and staff be their most effective.

The rest of the week was spent tweaking my ILA/ACRL presentation, "Cultivating Future Librarians: Turning Students into Colleagues Through Mentorship."