Tuesday morning I did complete my instruction session. I was twenty minutes post session start due to nature exploding in lightning, wind and rain. The storm was beautiful, but I played safe and took a later departure to my building.
The class was larger than I anticipated, yet they were awake and fully engaged. Then I remembered: this is a class of teachers. Their faculty introduced the literature review thoroughly, so I was able to move into demonstration mode right away. I began review of my subject guide and made mention of the RefWorks software. I am interested in ensuring these teachers have all of the services they need to enhance their research experience while on campus and away in their home schools during the academic year. Their research projects result in completion of their capstone in the program as well as result in review and improved services or programs within their schools.
The mention of RW derailed us slightly. I offered another session to their instructors. The time on task is so limited while they are in campus I feel remiss not having reviewed through all of the resources and provided hands on time. These teachers do have my contact information and know I am available for email, phone and f2f consultation.
So my lesson learned is that I need very much to condense the presentation time. Distillation is an art, and I need to work more with my canvas.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Creating the Instruction - Session 1
Tuesday morning I'll join instructors in our Catholic education leadership program. I'm excited at the prospect, happy to provide current primary and secondary teachers and administrators with connections to the wealth of information we have. I'm still a little timid in stepping up as authority. I respect the hands-on authority the teachers have, and remind myself that this is a partnership. I hold knowledge about using our resources and using them well, the teachers hold the content and will fill in the gaps with their knowledge and understanding of the classroom.
I'm in awe of these teachers, who are using appreciative inquiry fundamentals in their action research proposals. Learning to envision, implement, interpret and evaluate programming changes is an exciting place to be. That the home schools for these educators and administrators support their work leaves a smile on my face as I know the schools are doing the right thing by allowing those with their hands in the mix each day to look for continuous improvement and make it happen. I appreciate the hard work they will be doing to make sure the teaching gets done along with the programs and research they are doing in addition to the day-to-day shepherding of developing children through their days of learning.
So as I consider the outcome, the goal for each of these teachers, I must do the same for my own planning.
I'm in awe of these teachers, who are using appreciative inquiry fundamentals in their action research proposals. Learning to envision, implement, interpret and evaluate programming changes is an exciting place to be. That the home schools for these educators and administrators support their work leaves a smile on my face as I know the schools are doing the right thing by allowing those with their hands in the mix each day to look for continuous improvement and make it happen. I appreciate the hard work they will be doing to make sure the teaching gets done along with the programs and research they are doing in addition to the day-to-day shepherding of developing children through their days of learning.
So as I consider the outcome, the goal for each of these teachers, I must do the same for my own planning.
- Resources outlined? Check.
- Examples readied? Check.
- Plans for a great night of sleep? Check.
- Joyful attitude supported by coffee? Check.
- Commitment to bringing my skills to bear? Check.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Days gone by transform to happy accidents
Dring this week's staff training institute I was often reminded of where I have been in my nearly sixteen years here at MPOW. It has been a long and winding road, and one with few regrets. I began working in academic libraries as an undergraduate and returned as a staff member following a less-than-satisfactory trip through the world of retail management.
I came to MPOW as a result of marrying and needing and wanting a job in proximity to my husband. The first academic library fit I found and matched was here, and after two years in a branch support position I was moved into desktop technology support. I should mention here I lack any sort of formal technology training, or did at the time. I believe that my penchant for troubleshooting and curiosity about how things work contributed to my success as a technical support analyst.
I was fortunate to have arrived where growing into a position was acceptable. I moved again to a client management position. This is a double entendre. I managed the desktop client software for our client-server integrated library system as well as the clients receiving service support from our department. I became known for patience and ability to translate technical information to borderline technophobes or at the very least, technoresisters.
My ability to analyze needs and documentation grew exponentially in this position. I grew a bit burned out though. I had no technology degree, had taken a programming class to see if I could move up in that Direction (it did not interest me), so I did what I should and returned to library school for my Master of Library Science. I was eight years invested in MPOW by this time and not likely to move. librarianship had been a good fit for me so far, and so I applied. I sincerely thought I would move into Collection Development, but was recruited for an internal job heading up an acquisitions department. Back into management went I.
The work was transformative and worked well for an introduction to technical services and developments in that area. I stayed three and a half years and moved into a more focused job as gifts acquisition librarians. Working with donors who had curated their own collections over time or who had inherited collections from family members touched and opened my heart. I knew we would not acquire all materials and I used my voice and heart to help donors understand our collection needs and space limitations. I talked with them about the need for charitable donations of all kinds, and helped to find other institutions who might be a better match for the onations. I worked with the development staff as well to sharpen policies and procedures that had been honed by tradition and ran close to infringement possibility, in the end I moved on from this position as a result of library reorganization. Looking back, that is a wealth of experience in the course of fifteen years.
I benefit greatly from the knowledge I gained in my current role providing outreach and instruction to graduate students. I am able to think broadly across our library services and technology needs when considering new implementations of service or outreach design. I am happy in this role and privileged to work with dynamic, forward thinking team members.
I encourage professional development and embracing change for anyone who works in a service or outreach role. Our world changes rapidly and the needs of users and ourselves changes too. Aptitude for change, placcing a premium on professional development and finding tools to maintain current and trend awareness is essential to success. Embrace it. Give it a try. You may find things that dont fit, that feel uncomfortable and that are outright wrong for you, and yet you may also have that moment, that moment so fittingly characterized by artist Bob Ross: a happy accident.
I came to MPOW as a result of marrying and needing and wanting a job in proximity to my husband. The first academic library fit I found and matched was here, and after two years in a branch support position I was moved into desktop technology support. I should mention here I lack any sort of formal technology training, or did at the time. I believe that my penchant for troubleshooting and curiosity about how things work contributed to my success as a technical support analyst.
I was fortunate to have arrived where growing into a position was acceptable. I moved again to a client management position. This is a double entendre. I managed the desktop client software for our client-server integrated library system as well as the clients receiving service support from our department. I became known for patience and ability to translate technical information to borderline technophobes or at the very least, technoresisters.
My ability to analyze needs and documentation grew exponentially in this position. I grew a bit burned out though. I had no technology degree, had taken a programming class to see if I could move up in that Direction (it did not interest me), so I did what I should and returned to library school for my Master of Library Science. I was eight years invested in MPOW by this time and not likely to move. librarianship had been a good fit for me so far, and so I applied. I sincerely thought I would move into Collection Development, but was recruited for an internal job heading up an acquisitions department. Back into management went I.
The work was transformative and worked well for an introduction to technical services and developments in that area. I stayed three and a half years and moved into a more focused job as gifts acquisition librarians. Working with donors who had curated their own collections over time or who had inherited collections from family members touched and opened my heart. I knew we would not acquire all materials and I used my voice and heart to help donors understand our collection needs and space limitations. I talked with them about the need for charitable donations of all kinds, and helped to find other institutions who might be a better match for the onations. I worked with the development staff as well to sharpen policies and procedures that had been honed by tradition and ran close to infringement possibility, in the end I moved on from this position as a result of library reorganization. Looking back, that is a wealth of experience in the course of fifteen years.
I benefit greatly from the knowledge I gained in my current role providing outreach and instruction to graduate students. I am able to think broadly across our library services and technology needs when considering new implementations of service or outreach design. I am happy in this role and privileged to work with dynamic, forward thinking team members.
I encourage professional development and embracing change for anyone who works in a service or outreach role. Our world changes rapidly and the needs of users and ourselves changes too. Aptitude for change, placcing a premium on professional development and finding tools to maintain current and trend awareness is essential to success. Embrace it. Give it a try. You may find things that dont fit, that feel uncomfortable and that are outright wrong for you, and yet you may also have that moment, that moment so fittingly characterized by artist Bob Ross: a happy accident.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Semantic silos. Is that a good thing?
Today was the last day of our week- long staff training institute. The annual programming helps us to sharpen our saws and bring our knowledge about ourselves and our profession to one another. This year each of our library programs (née departments) was asked to design the programming. Today our social sciences, sciences and business program invited our Alexander Street Press representative to join us and talk about the offerings and new platform.
The rep began talking about the ASP semantic searching and philosophy, and in the course of discussing the application and design use the term "semantic silos". Boy and howdy was I concerned. When I think of silos I think of information held captive and separate from users and uses. Yet she went on to talk about the need to use the discipline or collection specific terms and searching. Cross searching the collections is important yet abusing able to narrow and drill down with known, discipline specific terms and indexing is a big part of the power for the product.
As a user of streaming video I am happy to learn the application will be checking my (and my users') bandwidth to ensure that buffering is minimized or elimated based on the actual capability of the network connection. Selective snipping is also a possibility.
So where does this leave me as an instructor? I envision being able to advocate for the use of the resource with the teachers in the ACE program here on campus. The important piece is making the content availability known to the broad audience of users, and for respecting the useful silos that make searching more productive.
The rep began talking about the ASP semantic searching and philosophy, and in the course of discussing the application and design use the term "semantic silos". Boy and howdy was I concerned. When I think of silos I think of information held captive and separate from users and uses. Yet she went on to talk about the need to use the discipline or collection specific terms and searching. Cross searching the collections is important yet abusing able to narrow and drill down with known, discipline specific terms and indexing is a big part of the power for the product.
As a user of streaming video I am happy to learn the application will be checking my (and my users') bandwidth to ensure that buffering is minimized or elimated based on the actual capability of the network connection. Selective snipping is also a possibility.
So where does this leave me as an instructor? I envision being able to advocate for the use of the resource with the teachers in the ACE program here on campus. The important piece is making the content availability known to the broad audience of users, and for respecting the useful silos that make searching more productive.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Social media in the workplace
This week I began upping my social media profile. I am not sure what spurred the interest, yet I am concentrating on daily professional and personal blogging. Feels great and let's me record some of my thoughts about libraries and self before the thoughts fade away.
For the Graduate Student Professional Development Team, I am reading a book called Where Good Ideas Come From. I am enjoying the read so far and what I have taken away to date is the need to consciously track one's thoughts. While they may not be joined today they can certainly come together in one's mind over time. Darwin and Freud are cited as prominent examples in the first chapters of the book.
Given the number of simultaneous and convergent projects and initiatives that I have on my plate right now, I have lots of ideas and threads to track. I am loving the creative process involved and only wish I could read more and more quickly. Anyone who can give me tips on speed and comprehension building is welcome to sound off and contribute.
I am also the newly designated Facebook page administrator for MPOW. I welcome any tips and best practices for planning our outreach with this media. Experiences on crafting a plan for message and staying on point for target audience is knowledge I need right now.
For the Graduate Student Professional Development Team, I am reading a book called Where Good Ideas Come From. I am enjoying the read so far and what I have taken away to date is the need to consciously track one's thoughts. While they may not be joined today they can certainly come together in one's mind over time. Darwin and Freud are cited as prominent examples in the first chapters of the book.
Given the number of simultaneous and convergent projects and initiatives that I have on my plate right now, I have lots of ideas and threads to track. I am loving the creative process involved and only wish I could read more and more quickly. Anyone who can give me tips on speed and comprehension building is welcome to sound off and contribute.
I am also the newly designated Facebook page administrator for MPOW. I welcome any tips and best practices for planning our outreach with this media. Experiences on crafting a plan for message and staying on point for target audience is knowledge I need right now.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Turning the tide on traditional scholarship: Digital scholarship and what's in it for me?
I am a member of our Center for Digital Scholarship implementation team. I am honored to be working with such fine team members, both those assigned to the core initiative like I am and those who are more transitory in their work and with us for a short time.
Digital scholarship, work that is performed with computing equipment and applications and can expedite compilation, research management, analytical and scholarly output processes, among other things, is a buzzword in my industry, but one that has been here and is here to stay. It's not a threat to traditional scholarship and the academy, but rather it's an opportunity for enhancement. I am amazed by the things that can be done now as compared to my own research done more than twenty years ago.
This week, our library employees are engaged in a week-long, six hour a day training institute. It's an annual tradition with changing format. This year we reflect the internal workings of our library and staff following a broad-sweeping reorganization over the past year. We really needed to take a look at who we are and what we do, both individually and as a team now that the dust has settled.
Today we had two external speakers on our agenda. The first talked about change and the opportunities and challenges it presents. I'd heard the speaker before. Denny Faurote is a legend among those who have taken our University's leadership and supervisory development series. He speaks with humor and impact, and his audience is justly rewarded for substantive participation, both during and after the session. The second speaker was internal to the University. Elliott Visconsi has been appointed to Chief Academic Digital Officer at Notre Dame. Today is the second opportunity I've been given to hear Elliott talk about the future of digital scholarship at the University and in the broader scope of academe.
Elliott is part of a team that has developed an app for iPod to bring multi-dimensional study of Shakespeare to the world. The team selected the Tempest as their first offering, and the platform is interactive and social while being informative and engaging. This speaks to the changed(-ing) face of scholarship for Generation Y. In recent days I've been exposed to some discussion online of the needs for this generation to meet its learning outcomes. The social media experience is core to learning, despite the feedback we've received from select groups of students here who *do not want* the academy in its social networking space. Rather, as this article from online news source Take Part states, learning does not need to take place in the classroom. The article discusses the online charter school movement. I'm anxious to hear how this worked for a friend of mine--her family participated last year as they didn't think the kids were getting what they needed in their local school system. Tools for exploring literature and the arts, such as the Tempest will be a boon to this audience. I was discussing with a colleague before the presentation that the reason Hamlet resonates with me so much is that we pulled it apart and put it back together again. I love seeing adaptations of Shakespeare to this day to watch the content as reflected through new lenses. Knowing that more titles are yet to come excited me.
The further benefit of this development is that a model is born. At some point the platform can be applied to other texts and content selections. It's a great way to move scholarship forward at any level. Of course, as our first speaker today talked about change, he shared with us the first question that arises when change is noticed or announced. The answer to the question can make or break the success of any change process: What's in it for me? In this case, a world of opportunity is the response I find most fitting.
Digital scholarship: What's in it for you?
Digital scholarship, work that is performed with computing equipment and applications and can expedite compilation, research management, analytical and scholarly output processes, among other things, is a buzzword in my industry, but one that has been here and is here to stay. It's not a threat to traditional scholarship and the academy, but rather it's an opportunity for enhancement. I am amazed by the things that can be done now as compared to my own research done more than twenty years ago.
This week, our library employees are engaged in a week-long, six hour a day training institute. It's an annual tradition with changing format. This year we reflect the internal workings of our library and staff following a broad-sweeping reorganization over the past year. We really needed to take a look at who we are and what we do, both individually and as a team now that the dust has settled.
Today we had two external speakers on our agenda. The first talked about change and the opportunities and challenges it presents. I'd heard the speaker before. Denny Faurote is a legend among those who have taken our University's leadership and supervisory development series. He speaks with humor and impact, and his audience is justly rewarded for substantive participation, both during and after the session. The second speaker was internal to the University. Elliott Visconsi has been appointed to Chief Academic Digital Officer at Notre Dame. Today is the second opportunity I've been given to hear Elliott talk about the future of digital scholarship at the University and in the broader scope of academe.
Elliott is part of a team that has developed an app for iPod to bring multi-dimensional study of Shakespeare to the world. The team selected the Tempest as their first offering, and the platform is interactive and social while being informative and engaging. This speaks to the changed(-ing) face of scholarship for Generation Y. In recent days I've been exposed to some discussion online of the needs for this generation to meet its learning outcomes. The social media experience is core to learning, despite the feedback we've received from select groups of students here who *do not want* the academy in its social networking space. Rather, as this article from online news source Take Part states, learning does not need to take place in the classroom. The article discusses the online charter school movement. I'm anxious to hear how this worked for a friend of mine--her family participated last year as they didn't think the kids were getting what they needed in their local school system. Tools for exploring literature and the arts, such as the Tempest will be a boon to this audience. I was discussing with a colleague before the presentation that the reason Hamlet resonates with me so much is that we pulled it apart and put it back together again. I love seeing adaptations of Shakespeare to this day to watch the content as reflected through new lenses. Knowing that more titles are yet to come excited me.
The further benefit of this development is that a model is born. At some point the platform can be applied to other texts and content selections. It's a great way to move scholarship forward at any level. Of course, as our first speaker today talked about change, he shared with us the first question that arises when change is noticed or announced. The answer to the question can make or break the success of any change process: What's in it for me? In this case, a world of opportunity is the response I find most fitting.
Digital scholarship: What's in it for you?
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Hiatus Over
My writing has been on a hiatus. Not by intention, of course. Busy has been at work and taking my time away. Since July 2012 I have been swept up in learning new job responsibilities that came my way as a result of a library-wide reorganization.
I hope to keep up with the life I am living and the services I provide on behalf of our library. It's an amazing place to be, and we do wonderful things when we allow ourselves to be of service to others.
I want to be successful, and yet I had habits in the past that I needed to eschew. One is that I am an excellent multitasker. I woke up. So my own guideline for success focus on the priorities. I received a tweet from @healthyliving -- a HuffPost service. It was about 26 things a woman should know about success. Smack in the middle of reading the list, I see,
So now I bid goodnight, and challenge myself to return to writing again, here in this space.
I hope to keep up with the life I am living and the services I provide on behalf of our library. It's an amazing place to be, and we do wonderful things when we allow ourselves to be of service to others.
I want to be successful, and yet I had habits in the past that I needed to eschew. One is that I am an excellent multitasker. I woke up. So my own guideline for success focus on the priorities. I received a tweet from @healthyliving -- a HuffPost service. It was about 26 things a woman should know about success. Smack in the middle of reading the list, I see,
7. That thing you're doing isn't multitasking. "Multitasking is a myth -- what we actually do is task-switching," psychology professor Amishi Jha said. "Out of all the things our mind does, that switching function is the most depleting." Psychologist Donna Rockwell put it a little more bluntly, "There's no such thing as multitasking -- you're just not doing anything well." (see: huff.to/19nf6Wp ) for the full list.
So now I bid goodnight, and challenge myself to return to writing again, here in this space.
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