Blogging after a long hiatus feels kind of funny. What have I been doing that has kept me away?
We've been busy at Champlain and last week, our hard work has recognized by our peers: Champlain was awarded ACRL's Excellence in Academic Libraries Award.
Needless to say, everyone at the Library was delighted. Andy talks about the application process in his post and I couldn't agree more that the writing of that kind of award was enormously gratifying. For me, hearing the Teaching Librarians talk about our information literacy program and our team-based design process as what they are most proud of made me so proud of the work we have done here. Being part of such a collaborative, creative team that takes risks and faces challenges is pretty special and I value it deeply.
Champlain College Librarians and Staff....superstars.
Showing posts with label Champlain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champlain. Show all posts
30 January 2012
02 December 2010
15 September 2010
Overprepared? Maybe.
As is the case for many of us, it's instruction season at the college library. For us at Champlain, that means crunch time for the Teaching Librarians. As I have mentioned in the past, Champlain's instruction program is an embedded, incremental program. What does that mean? It means that we are embedded in the Core curriculum. It means that we are seeing students in a coordinated progression every semester for the three years. This allows us to create an equally coordinated, progressive, incremental curriculum. We don't have to worry about covering everything in one shot. Rather, we can spread out what we want students to know and what the skills we want them to learn over their college career.
We're pretty lucky.
But, there are some drawbacks in paradise. One of them is that teaching is extremely coordinated. Every teaching librarian is teaching the same content, at the same time, using the same pedagogy. I am always concerned about balancing this need for consistency in the teaching with academic freedom. The last thing I want is to cramp any teacher's style. Which is why I really have to think carefully about what it means to be a teacher. Hence my post last week at ACRLog. As I said there, there are many ways to prepare yourself to teach. But can we be overprepared? Can we beat a lesson to death before we even walk into the classroom?
Here's where I am coming from. I help all the Teaching Librarians prepare for our sessions. Now, we design, create, and tweak these lessons as a team. So we all have a say every step of the way in what we want to do and how we want to do it. But, we are all very different teachers and very different people who prepare to walk into the classroom in very different ways. Some of us are more nervous than others. Some of us are more comfortable with the possibility of failure or with student apathy than others. And sometimes, I struggle with the needs, concerns, and fears of my fellow librarians, as incredible as they are, and balancing my own way of teaching. I like to keep a level of spontaneity and experimentation in my teaching. More, perhaps, than they do. But in working hard as the head of this group and as the Assistant Director and the one responsible for information literacy at the College....well, I have had to give up what works for me a bit. I have had to overprepare. I have had to anticipate many possible outcomes, problems, difficulties, and responses to our lessons. I have started to question whether the level of creativity and innovation we bring to our design is truly sustainable.
To be honest, that doesn't feel good. It's really hard for me to deal with. To surrender to.
Yet, at the same time, I find an incredible amount of reward in seeing my colleagues level of comfort increase. Today, one of my colleagues said that they feel ready, prepared. And another chimed in as we rehearsed our session that it was "pretty amazing". I beamed.
One thing I am learning is how true it is that we prepare for teaching in different ways. And what is overprepared to one person is just right for another. And not enough still for someone else. The Goldilock's syndrome. The real challenge I face, personally, is not how to maintain my enthusiasm in the classroom. That's what students just do to me. But how to support my team, as a group and as individuals. How to listen to their needs and offer them the right opportunities as well as when to push the responsibility onto them for their own classroom experience.
It's really hard. And I hope that I am doing a good job of it. I wonder how others handle these situations. How you balance these seemingly competing needs. How you grow and sustain. I wonder.
We're pretty lucky.
But, there are some drawbacks in paradise. One of them is that teaching is extremely coordinated. Every teaching librarian is teaching the same content, at the same time, using the same pedagogy. I am always concerned about balancing this need for consistency in the teaching with academic freedom. The last thing I want is to cramp any teacher's style. Which is why I really have to think carefully about what it means to be a teacher. Hence my post last week at ACRLog. As I said there, there are many ways to prepare yourself to teach. But can we be overprepared? Can we beat a lesson to death before we even walk into the classroom?
Here's where I am coming from. I help all the Teaching Librarians prepare for our sessions. Now, we design, create, and tweak these lessons as a team. So we all have a say every step of the way in what we want to do and how we want to do it. But, we are all very different teachers and very different people who prepare to walk into the classroom in very different ways. Some of us are more nervous than others. Some of us are more comfortable with the possibility of failure or with student apathy than others. And sometimes, I struggle with the needs, concerns, and fears of my fellow librarians, as incredible as they are, and balancing my own way of teaching. I like to keep a level of spontaneity and experimentation in my teaching. More, perhaps, than they do. But in working hard as the head of this group and as the Assistant Director and the one responsible for information literacy at the College....well, I have had to give up what works for me a bit. I have had to overprepare. I have had to anticipate many possible outcomes, problems, difficulties, and responses to our lessons. I have started to question whether the level of creativity and innovation we bring to our design is truly sustainable.
To be honest, that doesn't feel good. It's really hard for me to deal with. To surrender to.
Yet, at the same time, I find an incredible amount of reward in seeing my colleagues level of comfort increase. Today, one of my colleagues said that they feel ready, prepared. And another chimed in as we rehearsed our session that it was "pretty amazing". I beamed.
One thing I am learning is how true it is that we prepare for teaching in different ways. And what is overprepared to one person is just right for another. And not enough still for someone else. The Goldilock's syndrome. The real challenge I face, personally, is not how to maintain my enthusiasm in the classroom. That's what students just do to me. But how to support my team, as a group and as individuals. How to listen to their needs and offer them the right opportunities as well as when to push the responsibility onto them for their own classroom experience.
It's really hard. And I hope that I am doing a good job of it. I wonder how others handle these situations. How you balance these seemingly competing needs. How you grow and sustain. I wonder.
30 August 2010
Going Manager, or, Big News-Part 2
It's been a month since I last posted and part of me wants to apologize. But I think something I have to learn and practice for the next few months (or maybe the rest of my life) is that I can't do it all. Some things have to slide over to make room for the bigger, more pressing things.
An aside: it's funny to me to use words like "bigger" and "pressing" now that I am having a baby. Ha!
This is all a lead up to part two of my big news: my promotion. In July, I was promoted to Assistant Director of our library. When it rains, it pours!
The last two months have been a bit of a whirlwind. But I didn't want to jump into the school year without really sharing, and thereby processing, what this change has been like and means for me.
What does it mean to Go Manager?
Well, one thing I've learned is that you work past five, you bring work home with you, and you work on the weekend. I say that in jest but it is also true. I have more work to do. I have less time to chat, less time to read articles or blogs, less time to do things I feel like doing versus things that need doing. My to-do list has changed. My way of looking at my to-do list has changed. My way of prioritizing is changing. My willingness to say "yes" is changing. And with these changes come some concerns, some of which I anticipated and some of which I am starting to look at and question.
One of my biggest hesitations to taking on this increased responsibility was that I loved my job. As Information Literacy Librarian, I was responsible for the IL program at the college. It was my responsibility to keep up on the literature in the field, to brainstorm, to generate ideas, to collaborate, to make things happen in the program. Sure, there were parts that were less than wonderful (scheduling), but by and large, I loved the commitment I was able to make to IL. And as a manager, I have to put that part of my job in a silo. I have to look at it sometimes and say, "Not right now". It doesn't mean I love IL any less or am any less committed to the program. But I am having to broaden my gaze. And that frightened me. Which is why it was so important for me to do it. Being afraid of it means it is going to be challenging and as a young librarian, I want challenges. Building a program from scratch was a challenge and one that I have looked in the face and smiled at. That hasn't gone away. But a new challenge adds a layer of complexity to my daily work and to my thinking over time.
A concern I am also thinking about is how to "Go-Manager" and still be accommodating. As I said, my willingness to say "yes" is changing. There are some requests, some preferences, some suggestions, that I just can't accommodate. And that hurts. I hate to disappoint people and I have to have to say no. But I am learning a bit more about how pieces of the puzzle fit together rather than looking at individual pieces. It's hard.
And I guess that's what I am finding and thinking about: making the shift to manager is hard. I feel incredibly supported in doing it and I feel like there are a plethora of resources available to me to do it well. But that doesn't change the fact that there are things to think about, to reconcile. And while I might post even less (is that possible?!), I intend to make this blog a space where I do that. Where I talk about this transition and reflect on the kind of manager I want to be. And what it means to Go Manager.
An aside: it's funny to me to use words like "bigger" and "pressing" now that I am having a baby. Ha!
This is all a lead up to part two of my big news: my promotion. In July, I was promoted to Assistant Director of our library. When it rains, it pours!
The last two months have been a bit of a whirlwind. But I didn't want to jump into the school year without really sharing, and thereby processing, what this change has been like and means for me.
What does it mean to Go Manager?
Well, one thing I've learned is that you work past five, you bring work home with you, and you work on the weekend. I say that in jest but it is also true. I have more work to do. I have less time to chat, less time to read articles or blogs, less time to do things I feel like doing versus things that need doing. My to-do list has changed. My way of looking at my to-do list has changed. My way of prioritizing is changing. My willingness to say "yes" is changing. And with these changes come some concerns, some of which I anticipated and some of which I am starting to look at and question.
One of my biggest hesitations to taking on this increased responsibility was that I loved my job. As Information Literacy Librarian, I was responsible for the IL program at the college. It was my responsibility to keep up on the literature in the field, to brainstorm, to generate ideas, to collaborate, to make things happen in the program. Sure, there were parts that were less than wonderful (scheduling), but by and large, I loved the commitment I was able to make to IL. And as a manager, I have to put that part of my job in a silo. I have to look at it sometimes and say, "Not right now". It doesn't mean I love IL any less or am any less committed to the program. But I am having to broaden my gaze. And that frightened me. Which is why it was so important for me to do it. Being afraid of it means it is going to be challenging and as a young librarian, I want challenges. Building a program from scratch was a challenge and one that I have looked in the face and smiled at. That hasn't gone away. But a new challenge adds a layer of complexity to my daily work and to my thinking over time.
A concern I am also thinking about is how to "Go-Manager" and still be accommodating. As I said, my willingness to say "yes" is changing. There are some requests, some preferences, some suggestions, that I just can't accommodate. And that hurts. I hate to disappoint people and I have to have to say no. But I am learning a bit more about how pieces of the puzzle fit together rather than looking at individual pieces. It's hard.
And I guess that's what I am finding and thinking about: making the shift to manager is hard. I feel incredibly supported in doing it and I feel like there are a plethora of resources available to me to do it well. But that doesn't change the fact that there are things to think about, to reconcile. And while I might post even less (is that possible?!), I intend to make this blog a space where I do that. Where I talk about this transition and reflect on the kind of manager I want to be. And what it means to Go Manager.
01 July 2010
Join Our Team!
My library is looking for a new addition! So if you, or someone you know, is on the market, Champlain is seeking a pretty awesome person to become our Scholarly Resource and Academic Outreach Librarian.
Here is a link to the posting where you can submit your application.
And what is this job? Here is a snippet of the job ad:
I can't wait to welcome a new librarian in this position and onto our team and I'm sure Andy B feels the same. So spread the word!
Here is a link to the posting where you can submit your application.
And what is this job? Here is a snippet of the job ad:
Job Description:
Champlain College seeks an enthusiastic, collegial and service-oriented Librarian to serve as an integral member of a team providing high quality academic library services in an innovative setting. This position will coordinate all aspects of Champlain's collection development and management program, including both print and electronic resources, to ensure that the library's collections and procedures remain vibrant and responsive to our academic environment. Responsibilities for this position include: continuing a well-developed faculty outreach program; developing and managing the library's print and online collections; negotiating contracts; participating in curriculum review; managing the production and analysis of statistics related to the library's collections and their use; creating and maintaining appropriate policies; and contributing to the library website. This position will also participate in the library's course-embedded inquiry-based information literacy instruction program, and will share in reference and other outreach services.
I can't wait to welcome a new librarian in this position and onto our team and I'm sure Andy B feels the same. So spread the word!
13 November 2009
You Never Know
Like many librarians that design IL curricula and especially librarians that teach, you really wonder if what you are doing is having impact. Am I getting through to the students? Did that student walk away from the class with an idea of how to move forward in their head?
Or even at reference: is the patron leaving our time together thinking I was helpful?
Is this work I'm doing working?
This week, I was surprised by how many ways the answer came to me. And that the answer was yes.
Yes, our IL curriculum is making students think differently about information. It might not always be obvious from how they participate in class or how they look while we are up in the front of the room, but this students' post reminded me that the work we are doing does work.
That alone would have been enough for me. But the love just kept on coming! Yesterday, a faculty member sent this email out to all faculty:
I was beaming when I read that. I'm not the librarian mentioned in this email. But I don't care. It was a fellow librarian, someone I work with and love, and yup...they rock. Getting an email like this was incredible.
More incredible was the wealth of response this sparked:
Be still my pounding heart!
What's the point here? The point is that you never know when your work is truly making a difference. You never know the value of your helpfulness. You never know how much you are appreciated. That is until someone kindly shares it with you. But even if they don't, you never know. You might be making the world of difference.
Believe it. Surprises abound.
Or even at reference: is the patron leaving our time together thinking I was helpful?
Is this work I'm doing working?
This week, I was surprised by how many ways the answer came to me. And that the answer was yes.
Yes, our IL curriculum is making students think differently about information. It might not always be obvious from how they participate in class or how they look while we are up in the front of the room, but this students' post reminded me that the work we are doing does work.
That alone would have been enough for me. But the love just kept on coming! Yesterday, a faculty member sent this email out to all faculty:
Dear Colleagues,
Our librarians are wonderful. A little while ago I asked them to find a photograph of Friederike Maria Beer-Monti. “Friederike who?” you ask. Exactly - her only claim to fame these days is that she was the one person to be the subject of portraits by both Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele.
In less than an hour, (librarian x) found me a usable photo in which Friederike Maria Beer-Monti’s pose resembled that in the Klimt portrait.
Impressive, wouldn’t you agree?
Best regards, (professor A+)
I was beaming when I read that. I'm not the librarian mentioned in this email. But I don't care. It was a fellow librarian, someone I work with and love, and yup...they rock. Getting an email like this was incredible.
More incredible was the wealth of response this sparked:
-Our Librarians are the best!!!
-I couldn’t agree more. Our librarians totally ROCK!
-I'd like to chime in with high praise as well. I insist that my art students find their way to that nice building on the hill every semester. As much as they may enjoy their cozy computers, when students conduct research in the library or consult the staff there, they invariably discover that Champlain is blessed with a stellar library staff that simply couldn't be more supportive.
-Oh yeah, and the students actually look INTERESTED when the librarians at the reference desk are talking to them. They work magic for sure!
-I am going to jump on the bandwagon and say that I too, think that we have a truly crackerjack library staff. One of the things that I find to be most impressive is that in a time when Universities are closing libraries, we have a thriving one due to our staff of professional’s abilities to seamlessly integrate “old school” and new school ways of getting at information. Kudos to the whole crew at MIC!
-I assign a lot of research papers and projects, and always recommend that students use the Librarians for what they are, a critical resource in their learning. Of the students who do tap into this valuable resource, all of them report back to me how helpful the librarians have been. You all DO rock!
-I'm not usually one to hop in on the emails in praise of X, but for the librarians, I happily will. "Helpful" is a nice little adjective, but it doesn't really capture the MIC folks, for whom "above and beyond the call" is the norm. I loudly second Professor A+'s laudatory comments.
Be still my pounding heart!
What's the point here? The point is that you never know when your work is truly making a difference. You never know the value of your helpfulness. You never know how much you are appreciated. That is until someone kindly shares it with you. But even if they don't, you never know. You might be making the world of difference.
Believe it. Surprises abound.
03 November 2009
Awesome Ahead.
Champlain is in the midst of working on our next Strategic Plan: Champlain 2020. As such, the Library is engaging in some forward thinking about what we think the library might look like in ten years.
Ten years.
It doesn't sound like that far away, especially because ten years ago felt like yesterday. But in truth, ten years, especially when we think about the rate of change in technology, is a different world in libraries.
Do I mean that?
Yes and no. Academic libraries have changed a lot in the last ten years, twenty years, fifty years. But at their core, libraries have remained something very stable. They are weavers of intellectual fabrics. They are a place for all members of all communities. They are a place of expansion, learning, exploration, growth. That is true. That is solid. But how we are manifesting that has changed immensely. Social media, Library 2.0, information commons, user-centered design...there are more examples than I could possibly think of. Yet, at their core, libraries remain committed to supporting and engaging our users in learning, community, and pleasure.
So what does that mean in an academic library?
Andy and I got to thinking about it in front of a white board. Here's what we came up with:
Some of these are pretty space oriented. I want to be out from behind the desk. Librarians on every floor, walking with hand held devices to provide instant access to information.
The thing about that, is that libraries could be doing that already. Whether anyone is, is a different question. But they could.
And that’s the thing about this question of what the library should look like in ten years. We can’t really answer it when it comes to space or technology. Or users. What we can do is answer it in terms of attributes. Qualities.
That’s exactly what happened in our meeting the other day. The question shifted to “What do we want to be known for in 5 years?” I couldn’t help but blurt out “awesome”. And my awesome boss actually wrote that down. I mean, it’s not going into our actual document but she took it ran with it. Because seriously, how much better can it get than trying to figure out what awesome means.
AWESOME.
What does it mean to you?
To your library?
To your patrons?
Ten years.
It doesn't sound like that far away, especially because ten years ago felt like yesterday. But in truth, ten years, especially when we think about the rate of change in technology, is a different world in libraries.
Do I mean that?
Yes and no. Academic libraries have changed a lot in the last ten years, twenty years, fifty years. But at their core, libraries have remained something very stable. They are weavers of intellectual fabrics. They are a place for all members of all communities. They are a place of expansion, learning, exploration, growth. That is true. That is solid. But how we are manifesting that has changed immensely. Social media, Library 2.0, information commons, user-centered design...there are more examples than I could possibly think of. Yet, at their core, libraries remain committed to supporting and engaging our users in learning, community, and pleasure.
So what does that mean in an academic library?
Andy and I got to thinking about it in front of a white board. Here's what we came up with:
Some of these are pretty space oriented. I want to be out from behind the desk. Librarians on every floor, walking with hand held devices to provide instant access to information.
The thing about that, is that libraries could be doing that already. Whether anyone is, is a different question. But they could.
And that’s the thing about this question of what the library should look like in ten years. We can’t really answer it when it comes to space or technology. Or users. What we can do is answer it in terms of attributes. Qualities.
That’s exactly what happened in our meeting the other day. The question shifted to “What do we want to be known for in 5 years?” I couldn’t help but blurt out “awesome”. And my awesome boss actually wrote that down. I mean, it’s not going into our actual document but she took it ran with it. Because seriously, how much better can it get than trying to figure out what awesome means.
AWESOME.
What does it mean to you?
To your library?
To your patrons?
28 August 2009
Some things remain the same
It's a beautiful day in Vermont. Sunny. The perfect temperature and a gentle breeze. Today is the last day that I could bring Rigi to the office. He's spent three or sometimes four days a week curled up on a chair in my office throughout the summer. 
School starts on Monday and the first year students descended onto campus today. I had hoped to listen to the President's welcome out on the quad but as soon as people started clapping, Rigi perked up a bit too much. So we went for a walk.
As we were walking, I came up to four neighborhood kids selling lemonade. 10 cents a cup. And I started thinking about selling lemonade when I was a kid. And about my parents dropping me off at college. What a sunny, beautiful day that was. How excited I was. How nervous I was. How strange it was for my parents to be dropping me off. How strange it was to see my dad well up with tears as they pulled away from the gates at Smith.
Today, as I met parents and eavesdropped on their conversations as I walked around, their excitement for their son or daughter was palpable. And so was the undercurrent of nervousness emanating from the students.
iPhones. Facebook. Twitter. Ebooks. Kindles.
The essentials for college life may change.
Some things remain the same.
School starts on Monday and the first year students descended onto campus today. I had hoped to listen to the President's welcome out on the quad but as soon as people started clapping, Rigi perked up a bit too much. So we went for a walk. As we were walking, I came up to four neighborhood kids selling lemonade. 10 cents a cup. And I started thinking about selling lemonade when I was a kid. And about my parents dropping me off at college. What a sunny, beautiful day that was. How excited I was. How nervous I was. How strange it was for my parents to be dropping me off. How strange it was to see my dad well up with tears as they pulled away from the gates at Smith.
Today, as I met parents and eavesdropped on their conversations as I walked around, their excitement for their son or daughter was palpable. And so was the undercurrent of nervousness emanating from the students.
iPhones. Facebook. Twitter. Ebooks. Kindles.
The essentials for college life may change.
Some things remain the same.
13 March 2009
Percolating the Power of Play, ACRL 2009
We just finished presenting our paper, "Percolating the Power of Play" at ACRL. What a terrific turnout for 8 am! We were very fortunate to have such a terrific group of presenters before us, " We're Not Playing Around: Gaming Literate Librarians = Information Literate Students" from three librarians at Washington State University-Vancouver. I am especially glad to have met Nicholas Schiller. He and I seem to be eye-to-eye in our thinking that by talking to students about how they play games can and will help them understand how information literacy is already a valuable part of their lives.
Also great to see Jenny Levine in the audience! It was her creation of the ALA TechSource Gaming and Libraries Symposium that hatched the idea of an info lit game at Champlain in the first place. As I look back at my thoughts on that conference, I am reminded of how much I expanded my view of gaming from it and how much working with gamers has expanded my view of the role gaming can play in libraries and information literacy instruction.
If you want to have a look at our slides, please do and feel free to ask questions! The audiece asked some terrific questions, which is always the best part of presenting!
I am off to my next session. ACRL Rocks.
Also great to see Jenny Levine in the audience! It was her creation of the ALA TechSource Gaming and Libraries Symposium that hatched the idea of an info lit game at Champlain in the first place. As I look back at my thoughts on that conference, I am reminded of how much I expanded my view of gaming from it and how much working with gamers has expanded my view of the role gaming can play in libraries and information literacy instruction.
If you want to have a look at our slides, please do and feel free to ask questions! The audiece asked some terrific questions, which is always the best part of presenting!
Percolating the Power Of Play
View more presentations from Sarah Cohen.
I am off to my next session. ACRL Rocks.
08 October 2008
Met the Author: T.C. Boyle
Every year, Champlain selects a Community Book for the campus to read and come together to discuss. The highlight to the experience is the author's visit to campus. This year we had T.C. Boyle. I'll be blogging more about the program and his visit at Champlain on our library blog but I wanted to take a moment here to talk about how AWESOME a person "Tom" was. We've met a number of authors at Champlain but this was the first one who was genuinely interested in getting to know us, the people that brought him here, and share a bit of himself with us. What's amazing is that this is an author who is often known as a renegade. But I, and I feel comfortable speaking with my fellow committee members here, found him to be warm, funny, engaging, and just plain cool. And what's best is that our students felt the same way. They laughed at his stories. They asked him questions. They introduced themselves and talked to him about their interpretations of the book, his experience as a writer, his perspectives on the issues he delves into in his books. It takes a lot to bring authors to campus but those few hours, those few precious hours when you see a student really learning something, really experiencing something by meeting the author...it makes it so worth it. We never know what will put students onto their paths, something that Tom talked about in his lecture and reading. I hope that some student looks back on this visit as a moment that helped them realize there are a lot choices, some of them different than what they find in the box.
If you have a Community Book, whatever you call it, that brought the author to campus, I'd love to hear which authors you've had and how your students reacted to them. We are always thinking about next year's book.
However, I think T.C. will be a hard act to follow.
03 October 2008
Doing a lot with a little
I love when other librarians blog conferences. It lets me feel like I am included without having to be present. With such a heavy teaching load these last few weeks and having just returned from a conference, I decided to skip Dartmouth Biomedical Library's October Conference. I know. This is a great conference. Believe me, I hear you. And great conference less than two hours away is a real rarity in Vermont.
Even though I wasn't able to make it, I was excited to see the Multitasking Librarian blogging away about it. Amanda seems to have interest in a lot of the same topics as I do because she hit all the presentations I would have checked out. Her posts really gave me a sense of the presentation: the issues, the questions, the opportunities, the obstacles. Great job!
Even though The Sheck couldn't make it to Dartmouth, I was excited that my director, Janet Cottrell, was slotted to speak, and even more excited to see Amanda's description of the presentation. Champlain has done an awful lot from within in a short period of time to make the library the epicenter of campus events and an essential part of the intellectual fabric of the college. Between our Events and Displays, our cool use of technology, especially photo sharing, we might be small but we are mighty!
In a way, it's much like blogging. As I said about Amanda's posts, they are informative albeit informal. It might take only a little to post but it offers others quite a lot.
And it brings me back to Champlain. I happen to be at one of those libraries where every one on staff is putting in 110% and doing it creatively, passionately, and collaboratively. So while we often can't do everything on our wish list, the real point is that our wish list is long with awesome ideas. So as I sat here on a Friday, getting ready for a much needed weekend, and I saw a post about Janet's presentation, it reminded me that even though I am busy and sometimes struggling to keep up...I have a great team around me. Small but mighty. Doing a lot with a little. But making an impact in big ways. Happy Friday.
Even though I wasn't able to make it, I was excited to see the Multitasking Librarian blogging away about it. Amanda seems to have interest in a lot of the same topics as I do because she hit all the presentations I would have checked out. Her posts really gave me a sense of the presentation: the issues, the questions, the opportunities, the obstacles. Great job!
Even though The Sheck couldn't make it to Dartmouth, I was excited that my director, Janet Cottrell, was slotted to speak, and even more excited to see Amanda's description of the presentation. Champlain has done an awful lot from within in a short period of time to make the library the epicenter of campus events and an essential part of the intellectual fabric of the college. Between our Events and Displays, our cool use of technology, especially photo sharing, we might be small but we are mighty!
In a way, it's much like blogging. As I said about Amanda's posts, they are informative albeit informal. It might take only a little to post but it offers others quite a lot.
And it brings me back to Champlain. I happen to be at one of those libraries where every one on staff is putting in 110% and doing it creatively, passionately, and collaboratively. So while we often can't do everything on our wish list, the real point is that our wish list is long with awesome ideas. So as I sat here on a Friday, getting ready for a much needed weekend, and I saw a post about Janet's presentation, it reminded me that even though I am busy and sometimes struggling to keep up...I have a great team around me. Small but mighty. Doing a lot with a little. But making an impact in big ways. Happy Friday.
25 August 2008
The Sheck READS
Reading...It Never Gets Old.
Soon to be the Sheck's Staff picture on the Library Contact Page.
13 August 2008
"I" is for Inspiration, "L" is for "Loving It"
It's been a whirlwind since I returned from San Diego. We are in full countdown-to-school-starting mode at the Library and that means PROJECTS and PLANNING.
From an IL point of view, all those exercises and handouts from Immersion have really paid off. The incredible team of librarians at Champlain have been 100% on board with our planning for a big year of teaching and I am so grateful. We are working together to develop programmatic goals, create activities for students that are creative and meaningful (it sounds so easy, doens't it), and prepare ourselves for a heavy teaching schedule this fall. It's a lot for me, as I am sure it is for them. But we are talking it out, especially in thinking about what we need to succeed. Here are a few of the things that have made it to our list:
1. A shared vision. CRUCIAL. One of the things I wish for most is for all of the librarians embrace the program but also the reason behind the program. One of the first things we have done is to develop a list of goals that is meaningful for all of us and that we all can stand behind. It has been a wonderful way of learning about how we each understand and imagine an IL program.
2. Awareness of our differences and styles. Again, so important. One of the things that really stuck with me from an Immersion reading was Parker Palmer's belief in maintaining your identity and integrity in the classroom. While we have goals and outcomes to meet in each session, each librarian is their own person and their own teacher. We will approach classes in our own ways. I appreciate that difference and am glad that this was brought.
3. Openness to Failure. This is a new initiative at Champlain and a new way of teaching for many of us. For myself, the Immersion mantra "Fail Often to Succeed Sooner" is a hard but important one for me to chant. I am an overacheiver and have high expectations for myself and others. I know this about myself. Failing is always hard for me. But, learning is not. And that is how we are going to view our failures, as an opportunity to learn and celebrate our efforts. We are trying new things, and that is such an incredible acheivement for a group to do together.
4. Communicate. Whether it be to ourselves, to our director, to the faculty, to the students, to the division...in order for us to succeed in the coming year we need opportunities to share experiences and ideas with one another.
Again, I am reminded again and again how lucky I am to work with these librarians. They are facing the challenge of a new program with such grace, enthusiasm, and determination. For example, while talking about what some of the opportunities for the coming year may be, one colleague said that the new IL program was an opportunity for personal growth. She was looking forward to trying new things. So inspiring.
Finally, speaking of growth and inspiration, Champlain has welcomed a new librarian to the fold. Andy Burkhardt is our new Emerging Technologies Librarian. He blogs over at Information Tyrannosaur and you can read his brief intro to our college community at our library blog. I am thrilled to have Andy with us. In just a few short weeks, he is generating a ton of great ideas. Awesome.
From an IL point of view, all those exercises and handouts from Immersion have really paid off. The incredible team of librarians at Champlain have been 100% on board with our planning for a big year of teaching and I am so grateful. We are working together to develop programmatic goals, create activities for students that are creative and meaningful (it sounds so easy, doens't it), and prepare ourselves for a heavy teaching schedule this fall. It's a lot for me, as I am sure it is for them. But we are talking it out, especially in thinking about what we need to succeed. Here are a few of the things that have made it to our list:
1. A shared vision. CRUCIAL. One of the things I wish for most is for all of the librarians embrace the program but also the reason behind the program. One of the first things we have done is to develop a list of goals that is meaningful for all of us and that we all can stand behind. It has been a wonderful way of learning about how we each understand and imagine an IL program.
2. Awareness of our differences and styles. Again, so important. One of the things that really stuck with me from an Immersion reading was Parker Palmer's belief in maintaining your identity and integrity in the classroom. While we have goals and outcomes to meet in each session, each librarian is their own person and their own teacher. We will approach classes in our own ways. I appreciate that difference and am glad that this was brought.
3. Openness to Failure. This is a new initiative at Champlain and a new way of teaching for many of us. For myself, the Immersion mantra "Fail Often to Succeed Sooner" is a hard but important one for me to chant. I am an overacheiver and have high expectations for myself and others. I know this about myself. Failing is always hard for me. But, learning is not. And that is how we are going to view our failures, as an opportunity to learn and celebrate our efforts. We are trying new things, and that is such an incredible acheivement for a group to do together.
4. Communicate. Whether it be to ourselves, to our director, to the faculty, to the students, to the division...in order for us to succeed in the coming year we need opportunities to share experiences and ideas with one another.
Again, I am reminded again and again how lucky I am to work with these librarians. They are facing the challenge of a new program with such grace, enthusiasm, and determination. For example, while talking about what some of the opportunities for the coming year may be, one colleague said that the new IL program was an opportunity for personal growth. She was looking forward to trying new things. So inspiring.
Finally, speaking of growth and inspiration, Champlain has welcomed a new librarian to the fold. Andy Burkhardt is our new Emerging Technologies Librarian. He blogs over at Information Tyrannosaur and you can read his brief intro to our college community at our library blog. I am thrilled to have Andy with us. In just a few short weeks, he is generating a ton of great ideas. Awesome.
30 May 2008
What Does It Mean to be Green?
I've been thinking about sustainability an awful lot lately. And in a lot of ways.
I am the co-chair of Sustain Champlain, Champlain College's campus wide sustainability initiative. In about an hour, I am meeting with our college president to advocate for the overwhelming need on our campus for a sustainability coordinator. While Champlain does an incredible job of improving our facilities to be more energy efficient, a key component to sustainability, we have, in my opinion, a ways to go in terms of developing a culture of sustainability on campus.
Ryan Deschamps wrote a terrific post on sustainability based on a conversation we had back in April. As he pointed out, doing the bare minimum is no longer enough in the library community. We need to be leaders in sustainability on our campuses. ACRL seems to agree as sustainability is one of the tracks at the bi-annual conference next year. Frankly, I am really looking forward to hearing what libraries are doing to lead sustainability efforts on their campuses. But I am more interested in hearing what sustainability is to libraries, and to institutions of higher education as a whole.
Admittedly, I might seem "hard core" to some people, especially people that don't live in Vermont. I ride my bike or ride the bus to work. We have one car. We recycle. We are avid gardeners. We compost. We use phosphate-free soaps and detergents. We keep our heat at 68, maybe 70 in the dead of winter.
Funny that those actions are even remotely considered hard core. As I type them up, they seem minimal to me.
And that gets at what I think is the biggest problem on our campus, and on most campuses: a culture shift. Michael Stephens highlighted a great post by Nicole Engard, a new blogger to me about not giving out handouts during classes or conference presentations. At the end of her post, Nicole said "I feel for everyone who had to make this decision because they’re going to be bombarded with librarians complaining about not having handouts!" This gets at what I see as the overarching problem: the prevailing view that my individual preferences override the societal need for change in order to preserve our society. Better that I have a handout that I invariably will toss than have to keep the conference books with presenters information, take notes, or pay attention or care enough about what I hear to seek out information when I get back to my desk. This, from a profession that is trying to teach students that there is more to searching and information seeking than the easiest thing available. Steven Bell, who commented on this post, mentions that the paper is recyclable, so it's not so bad. Perhaps, but I have yet to be in any conference, classroom, store, or street where recycle bins are as prominent and available as garbage cans.
There are a lot things to think about as libraries, educators, and just plain people decide to go green. It is about infrastructure, leadership, accountability, engagement, regulation, fiduciary responsibility, resource allocation, longevity…the list goes on. But I think that as bedrocks of education and knowledge in practice, we need to set examples for our students as they head out into a world that is going to change because of energy, water, carbon, and waste. We need to show them and offer them tools to conceptualize, apply, and develop new ways of learning, doing business, and living in a way that not only mitigates but improves our spaces. If not institutions of higher ed, then who?
I am the co-chair of Sustain Champlain, Champlain College's campus wide sustainability initiative. In about an hour, I am meeting with our college president to advocate for the overwhelming need on our campus for a sustainability coordinator. While Champlain does an incredible job of improving our facilities to be more energy efficient, a key component to sustainability, we have, in my opinion, a ways to go in terms of developing a culture of sustainability on campus.
Ryan Deschamps wrote a terrific post on sustainability based on a conversation we had back in April. As he pointed out, doing the bare minimum is no longer enough in the library community. We need to be leaders in sustainability on our campuses. ACRL seems to agree as sustainability is one of the tracks at the bi-annual conference next year. Frankly, I am really looking forward to hearing what libraries are doing to lead sustainability efforts on their campuses. But I am more interested in hearing what sustainability is to libraries, and to institutions of higher education as a whole.
Admittedly, I might seem "hard core" to some people, especially people that don't live in Vermont. I ride my bike or ride the bus to work. We have one car. We recycle. We are avid gardeners. We compost. We use phosphate-free soaps and detergents. We keep our heat at 68, maybe 70 in the dead of winter.
Funny that those actions are even remotely considered hard core. As I type them up, they seem minimal to me.
And that gets at what I think is the biggest problem on our campus, and on most campuses: a culture shift. Michael Stephens highlighted a great post by Nicole Engard, a new blogger to me about not giving out handouts during classes or conference presentations. At the end of her post, Nicole said "I feel for everyone who had to make this decision because they’re going to be bombarded with librarians complaining about not having handouts!" This gets at what I see as the overarching problem: the prevailing view that my individual preferences override the societal need for change in order to preserve our society. Better that I have a handout that I invariably will toss than have to keep the conference books with presenters information, take notes, or pay attention or care enough about what I hear to seek out information when I get back to my desk. This, from a profession that is trying to teach students that there is more to searching and information seeking than the easiest thing available. Steven Bell, who commented on this post, mentions that the paper is recyclable, so it's not so bad. Perhaps, but I have yet to be in any conference, classroom, store, or street where recycle bins are as prominent and available as garbage cans.
There are a lot things to think about as libraries, educators, and just plain people decide to go green. It is about infrastructure, leadership, accountability, engagement, regulation, fiduciary responsibility, resource allocation, longevity…the list goes on. But I think that as bedrocks of education and knowledge in practice, we need to set examples for our students as they head out into a world that is going to change because of energy, water, carbon, and waste. We need to show them and offer them tools to conceptualize, apply, and develop new ways of learning, doing business, and living in a way that not only mitigates but improves our spaces. If not institutions of higher ed, then who?
22 May 2008
Where is the Busy Bee? Busy.
One might think that when students leave campus, work slows down. Not so. The last three weeks have been a whirlwind at Champlain as we held the Faculty Collaborative. As part of this three week event, I hosted a workshop on the power of Annotated Bibliographies in generating better researched, more well written and more organized research papers. The 12 faculty that attended all were very supportive and interested in both using annotated bibs but also incorporating an exercise I developed into their class time to bring the bibliographies to life for students.
I then participated in a discussion on The Role of Technology in our Classrooms. It was a fascinating discussion and certainly made me think about the write up I am doing of CiL presentation on taking 2.0 to Faculty. One of my key points is about faculty perceptions of technology and this talk made me focus in on that topic once again.
But for the last week, I have been pushing info lit on our General Education faculty (the Core Division, as we call them at Champlain). Champlain redesigned our gen eds a year ago and first year of the new curriculum was reviewed, discussed, and revised. There was a lot of positive feedback on the information literacy efforts. By far the biggest challenge is trying to remind faculty that information literacy is not just about finding information for a research paper. It is a life skill, rather than something you just do for school. But the faculty at Champlain is so extraordinary in their willingness to collaborate that I have no doubt that we will make great strides in our efforts.
So what am I getting at? Like the rest of you, I've been busy. But I have been also feeling guilty about not taking the few minutes I've had at my computer to blog. But between ACRL Immersion, which I will be prepping for and attending in late July, and designing the 2nd year curriculum, I will be back to blogging as a venue for bouncing ideas around and seeing where they land.
I then participated in a discussion on The Role of Technology in our Classrooms. It was a fascinating discussion and certainly made me think about the write up I am doing of CiL presentation on taking 2.0 to Faculty. One of my key points is about faculty perceptions of technology and this talk made me focus in on that topic once again.
But for the last week, I have been pushing info lit on our General Education faculty (the Core Division, as we call them at Champlain). Champlain redesigned our gen eds a year ago and first year of the new curriculum was reviewed, discussed, and revised. There was a lot of positive feedback on the information literacy efforts. By far the biggest challenge is trying to remind faculty that information literacy is not just about finding information for a research paper. It is a life skill, rather than something you just do for school. But the faculty at Champlain is so extraordinary in their willingness to collaborate that I have no doubt that we will make great strides in our efforts.
So what am I getting at? Like the rest of you, I've been busy. But I have been also feeling guilty about not taking the few minutes I've had at my computer to blog. But between ACRL Immersion, which I will be prepping for and attending in late July, and designing the 2nd year curriculum, I will be back to blogging as a venue for bouncing ideas around and seeing where they land.
18 February 2008
We Are Hiring!
My Library is looking for a new librarian! And it is an exciting, new position: Emerging Technologies Librarian. So so cool. Here is the posting:
If you or anyone you know is interested in applying, please upload your resumes/cv at www.champlain.edu/hr.
Job Description:
Champlain College seeks an enthusiastic, collegial, and service-oriented Librarian to serve as an integral member of a team providing high quality academic library services in an innovative setting. The position will play a lead role in expanding the Library's outreach through thoughtful and effective use of emerging technologies.
Design, create, and maintain internet-based library services for online, distance and residential students, including web-based tools, real-time interactive tools, and similar functions; coordinate the planning, development, implementation and support of online library technologies, systems and services; keep current in the latest developments in library technology, web-based support, and other emerging technologies; share new technologies within the Library and beyond; share in reference, collection development, instruction, and other public services.
Requirements:
The successful candidate will show creativity, initiative, and flexibility, and will work collaboratively within the library, on campus, and in the profession. We seek a team player who will contribute to a technologically dynamic organization and help shape the future of a growing college library.
Masters degree in library science or related field from an ALA-accredited program; demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills; ability to work effectively with students, faculty and staff; plan projects, manage a variety of responsibilities, and apply new technologies to library operations; familiarity and experience with emerging technologies for synchronous and asynchronous library service delivery; and demonstrated expertise in web design and website maintenance. Applications are welcomed from experienced professionals as well as recent graduates.
If you or anyone you know is interested in applying, please upload your resumes/cv at www.champlain.edu/hr.
27 December 2007
Learning More IS Doing Something: HESA and Focus the Nation
This past year, I signed on to be an ACRL Legislative Advocate. It has been a fascinating appointment in the huge machine of ALA: I send information about important legislative issues out into my community to rally support from my college and immediate community while informing them of the issues that impact their ability to access information as well as remind them of their power as voters.
One particular issue that I am excited to support is the HIGHER EDUCATION SUSTAINABILITY ACT. Here is an update by Kara Malenfant, our contact as Legislative Advocates:
Forget crossing my fingers: I am putting this out there for anyone and everyone that reads this blog to contact your congressional representatives to support HESA. Environmental literacy is vital to our ability to fight global warming in a longterm, sustainable, and proactive way. Turn your community on to it.
And, if you haven't heard of Focus that Nation, check it out! Champlain is joining more than 1000 other institutions nation-wide on January 31st to bring our attention to finding solutions for Global Warming. Champlain is excited to welcome Bill McKibben as our keynote speaker and we have a bunch of events lined up. It is not to late to bring Focus the Nation to your school! If nothing else, to put up a display on climate change. Make your library a partner in change! I always remind students that learning more is doing something.
One particular issue that I am excited to support is the HIGHER EDUCATION SUSTAINABILITY ACT. Here is an update by Kara Malenfant, our contact as Legislative Advocates:
On November 9, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller unveiled the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 (HR 4137) that reauthorizes the Higher Education Act. At the request of many of the 17 co-sponsors of HESA, Chairman Miller included HESA in HR 4137.
Subsequently the Higher Education Sustainability Act of 2007 (S. 2444) was introduced into the Senate on December 11 by Senator Patty Murray. HESA is co-sponsored by Senators Bingaman, Dodd, Kennedy, and Kerry. Such a powerful list of Democratic co-sponsors puts HESA in an excellent position.
The House is expected to vote in mid-January on the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (HR 4137) that reauthorizes the Higher Education Act and also includes HESA. If it passes, then the conference between the House and Senate (which has already passed their new Higher Education act) should occur shortly thereafter. This conference will decide which of the 30+ new programs including HESA make it into the final bill.
Forget crossing my fingers: I am putting this out there for anyone and everyone that reads this blog to contact your congressional representatives to support HESA. Environmental literacy is vital to our ability to fight global warming in a longterm, sustainable, and proactive way. Turn your community on to it.
And, if you haven't heard of Focus that Nation, check it out! Champlain is joining more than 1000 other institutions nation-wide on January 31st to bring our attention to finding solutions for Global Warming. Champlain is excited to welcome Bill McKibben as our keynote speaker and we have a bunch of events lined up. It is not to late to bring Focus the Nation to your school! If nothing else, to put up a display on climate change. Make your library a partner in change! I always remind students that learning more is doing something.
14 November 2007
YouTube as a vehicle to social change
This week is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and 50+ students at Champlain are recognizing it by participating in Tent City. This week-long on-campus student-led service project designed to simulate homelessness and raise money for Burlington's COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter) program.
If you were on campus, you wouldn't be able to ignore the issue of homelessness. But what about those that aren't on campus? For that, there's YouTube.
Thanks to the ever inspiring Rob Williams for getting out there and talking to our students about this project. But more so, thanks for putting this out into the world for others to catch.
I've posted before about the value of YouTube, but it this notion of YouTube as a vehicle for social change that I think is particularly interesting and exciting. Perhaps it's the Henry Jenkins I've been reading, but the opportunity for students, or in this case faculty, to use social media as a way to increase awareness and participation without having to wait for the powers that be to come down to see the work in progress seems pretty radical, pretty exciting, and pretty 2.0 to me.
"Come on, Sheck," one might say, "look at how much ridiculous stuff is out on YouTube." Perhaps. But look at how much ridiculous stuff is on our traditional news sources as well. This reminds me of this interview I read in MIT's Technology Review with Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg. He points out that there is a wide variety of stories that come across Digg, and that it is up to users to determine what is going to be on the front page. The same is true for YouTube. During the protests in Myanmar, YouTube was a vital site for seeing what was really happening.
The same is true for its effectiveness in connecting students with homelessness at Champlain. By posting it in YouTube, we are able to archive the experience and the importance of TentCity for our students or anyone that searches Champlain College in a popular site like YouTube. If nothing else, hasn't the infatuation with reality tv and YouTube shown that we all like to be movie stars? Doesn't our highlighting it in such a way also encourage participation and demonstrate value beyond the traditional community to our students but also to the homeless community in Burlington? Isnt' that taking us further down the road to awareness and action and social change?
If you were on campus, you wouldn't be able to ignore the issue of homelessness. But what about those that aren't on campus? For that, there's YouTube.
Thanks to the ever inspiring Rob Williams for getting out there and talking to our students about this project. But more so, thanks for putting this out into the world for others to catch.
I've posted before about the value of YouTube, but it this notion of YouTube as a vehicle for social change that I think is particularly interesting and exciting. Perhaps it's the Henry Jenkins I've been reading, but the opportunity for students, or in this case faculty, to use social media as a way to increase awareness and participation without having to wait for the powers that be to come down to see the work in progress seems pretty radical, pretty exciting, and pretty 2.0 to me.
"Come on, Sheck," one might say, "look at how much ridiculous stuff is out on YouTube." Perhaps. But look at how much ridiculous stuff is on our traditional news sources as well. This reminds me of this interview I read in MIT's Technology Review with Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg. He points out that there is a wide variety of stories that come across Digg, and that it is up to users to determine what is going to be on the front page. The same is true for YouTube. During the protests in Myanmar, YouTube was a vital site for seeing what was really happening.
The same is true for its effectiveness in connecting students with homelessness at Champlain. By posting it in YouTube, we are able to archive the experience and the importance of TentCity for our students or anyone that searches Champlain College in a popular site like YouTube. If nothing else, hasn't the infatuation with reality tv and YouTube shown that we all like to be movie stars? Doesn't our highlighting it in such a way also encourage participation and demonstrate value beyond the traditional community to our students but also to the homeless community in Burlington? Isnt' that taking us further down the road to awareness and action and social change?
10 October 2007
Champlain Gamers...up, up, and away
Rock on Jenny Levine, (aka the Shifted Librarian) for highlighting Champlain College's gaming students in this post. Our gamers really are amazing and I wish them the very best of luck in this hard core contest. I know they will rock it in Orlando!
These are the same students that are working with the Library to develop an information literacy game to complement are developing IL program. We met for a brainstorming session last night and they are a rowdy, smart, creative bunch. They latched onto key IL concepts and ran with it, offering a slew ideas as to how to make information literacy exciting to college kids everywhere.
More to come on the project. Exciting stuff coming out of Champlain...
These are the same students that are working with the Library to develop an information literacy game to complement are developing IL program. We met for a brainstorming session last night and they are a rowdy, smart, creative bunch. They latched onto key IL concepts and ran with it, offering a slew ideas as to how to make information literacy exciting to college kids everywhere.
More to come on the project. Exciting stuff coming out of Champlain...
04 September 2007
Insanely Busy and Insanely Great
School started today and getting the Library ready for the influx of 475 new first years as well as returning students, new faculty, new deans, and new adjuncts has been a whirlwind. But the results are outstanding. Largely this is due to our library crew embracing and taking technology to a whole new level. We are starting out the year with a series of new initiatives that are pretty cool. Here are some of the highlights:
1. We have started using wikis to create subject guides. What a relief! You can actually update and modify the pages to accomodate instructor's needs, students' feedback and new additions to the collection. Awesome and very well received. Hopefully they will be very used.
2. We are trying chat reference. We've held back from chat in the past because we are such a small staff but with more of our students going abroad and a new librarian in the mix, we thought it was time to give it a go. More on that as the school year progresses...it's hard to know how that's working on day 1.
3. We are blogging. I wish my co-workers were a little more active in posting but we are maintaining a library blog to highlight events at the library but also things the librarians think are cool. (Oh, there are so many). And hey, if you are checking that out, you will deja vu this post.
4. We are tracking reference questions using a free, online tool from zoho. We just stareted it today but it was so much easier to keep track of questions. We kept the screen open and the form is easy to fill out and WHAM, we've got improved data on reference.
5. We have been spending most of the summer adding our newest additions to the collection into Flickr. This is my personal pet project and it has been a lot more work than I thought it would be but if I can devote the time to tagging in it as much as I would like, I think it will be a cool way for faculty to share books with one another, comment, suggest other books, and get to know our collection better, which is changing rapidly.
I have to give credit to my co-workers (and I don't think they are even reading this). Some of them are more resistant to technology than others but they have shrugged off their reticence in favor of experimentation. Not all of these initiatives will be successful in the long term but by trying them out, the Library is leading the way on our campus for innovation in technology. And that is where the library needs to be, at our school and I bet at many others. We are giving it a go and I am so proud to work somewhere that is willing to take that chance. It's a great way to kick off the school year: invigorated, excited, and trying new things. It might make me insanely busy, but it feels insanely great.
1. We have started using wikis to create subject guides. What a relief! You can actually update and modify the pages to accomodate instructor's needs, students' feedback and new additions to the collection. Awesome and very well received. Hopefully they will be very used.
2. We are trying chat reference. We've held back from chat in the past because we are such a small staff but with more of our students going abroad and a new librarian in the mix, we thought it was time to give it a go. More on that as the school year progresses...it's hard to know how that's working on day 1.
3. We are blogging. I wish my co-workers were a little more active in posting but we are maintaining a library blog to highlight events at the library but also things the librarians think are cool. (Oh, there are so many). And hey, if you are checking that out, you will deja vu this post.
4. We are tracking reference questions using a free, online tool from zoho. We just stareted it today but it was so much easier to keep track of questions. We kept the screen open and the form is easy to fill out and WHAM, we've got improved data on reference.
5. We have been spending most of the summer adding our newest additions to the collection into Flickr. This is my personal pet project and it has been a lot more work than I thought it would be but if I can devote the time to tagging in it as much as I would like, I think it will be a cool way for faculty to share books with one another, comment, suggest other books, and get to know our collection better, which is changing rapidly.
I have to give credit to my co-workers (and I don't think they are even reading this). Some of them are more resistant to technology than others but they have shrugged off their reticence in favor of experimentation. Not all of these initiatives will be successful in the long term but by trying them out, the Library is leading the way on our campus for innovation in technology. And that is where the library needs to be, at our school and I bet at many others. We are giving it a go and I am so proud to work somewhere that is willing to take that chance. It's a great way to kick off the school year: invigorated, excited, and trying new things. It might make me insanely busy, but it feels insanely great.
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