Actually, that was yesterday, but this is the only time I have so far to do any kind of reflection. My brain is full, as the old line goes. I think that when the time comes for the evaluations to be filled out, I will be putting that down as a point to improve. At any rate, the event started in full yesterday (Saturday). Many interesting things and a very fast pace make for an intense immersive experience. So, I got up at 5:00am today. The apartment is quiet; Isis (one of my cats) is climbing on my bookshelves in my workstation, and I have some time before I have to get ready to get back into town. Great, now she decided to lie down across my binder. That's a cat for you. I think I took some good notes so far, and I will be posting those later. I think I will probably be unpacking what I learn in these days months after I am done. As they said in the first plenary, "epiphanies will continue long after." Reminded me of that essay I wrote years ago about epiphanies for our teachers' writing group back when I taught high school. The theme was epiphanies. I heard one that an epiphany is a sudden revelation into the essential nature of life.
I did the readings, but I am finding that I would like to reread a few things. Again, looks like some of that will have to wait. We'll get there.
I heard two interesting questions yesterday. Well, I heard more than two, but these two have stuck with me. One, what do we do when we have other librarians at our institutions who won't or can't teach? The actual question was do we leave them be, or do we try to change their minds and gradually move them? It's a good question to which I wish I had an answer. My personal impulse is to leave them be, but that comes from the fact that I believe in the old adage that says if you want something done right, you do it yourself. I heard this one early in the day during the first plenary. I think someone in the program track asked it, but I am not certain. The question stuck also because later during dinner I was sitting with a couple of the faculty, and they observed that it seemed some of the program people where asking institutional culture, especially internal culture, questions. In other words, they were concerned about questions like that. In the long run, by the way, I am coming to realize I may have to do the program track in the future. I am looking way ahead when I say that, but it leads me to the second question.
During dinner, my faculty member asked me during casual conversation where I wanted to be in a few years from now. The exact question was, "what's your next job going to be?" The question was not what struck me, though she was very casual about it. Folks, over time, I have discovered that experienced teachers have ways of knowing things about you that you may not even know. She knows something. Going back to the question, what stuck with me was my answer, "I'll be coordinator someplace." In other words, I will be managing my own program, and with that comes the realization that I will be leaving my current position to advance. I suppose that I have known this, but to actually be able to confidently say it without even having to think, well, it makes for a small epiphany. Of all the things I learned in the first day in sessions and from the people around me, this is the thing that is floating in my mind. It feels silly in a way. I have been listening to all this material on assessment and information literacy, had an afternoon where we got to talk about teaching, and all I am thinking about while it's still dark outside on a Sunday morning is a question of what will I be doing next. Epiphanies can be large revelations, but they have that way of being just that little thing you come to realize that stays with you.
During the teaching session, the one about the "authentic teacher," we had a chance to draw ourselves as teachers. I have to warn readers. I used to be able to draw decently back in high school, but as I have not practiced since then, stick figures is about as far as I can go. The scary thing is I saw someone with a digital camera taking photos of the drawings we posted, so someone could put that up on a blog someplace, thus the warning. Anyhow, for me, I drew two things. One, I drew a stick figure on a high wire, walking it while he was juggling a lot of balls. That would be the part of my job when I have to teach and keep the students entertained with amazing feats of bibliographic instruction. I was going to draw a second square with simply the word "splat" on it in bold letters, which would be what happens when the search I am showing does not work for instance. I have had a splat moment or two. It's not the end of the world folks. You laugh a little; you explain, and you move on. More like the splat in a cartoon. Instead, the second square was a desk, a man behind it with one of those little disk things old fashioned doctors wear on their heads. By the way, I had to look it up, and it turns out that little disk is called a "head mirror." So, I drew my doctor figure behind a desk with a computer, and I put a chair next to the desk with a sign over the desk that says "the doctor is in." It's supposed to be reminiscent of Lucy in Peanuts where she would open her booth for psychiatric help. I do a lot of that as well in the form of research consultations. In fact, day before Immersion started (Thursday), I had a student come in asking for research help. His face was familiar, but I could not place him. He had enough mercy on me to remind me that I taught for his English class last spring. He must have noticed my brief puzzlement. He was now taking a criminal justice class, and he needed to know how to find some articles on victimology; I think he had to write a critical review. I showed him how to access Sage Criminology and ran some sample searches; I asked him a little about the assignment, and once he felt comfortable, off he went to try it out. I do a good share of repeat business in my work. By the way, I joked at my table that I could have drawn a confession booth instead. After all, I have these little theories about librarians as confessors. I know I am going to have to write out that idea in more detail some day, not sure anyone would publish it, but let's put it here then.
One final epiphany for this morning. Some day, I would like to be doing what the Immersion faculty are doing. I am probably invoking hubris for pretending I could do what they do, but part of the reason I take that risk is idealistic. Remember I mentioned that my faculty member knew something about me. The librarian who simply told me in graduate school that I would be a good librarian probably saw something as well. Folks, I have been fortunate in the sense that people often had faith in me and saw things I may or not have seen. I think a way to pay back that librarian will be if someday I can help train other librarians. Stacey, if you ever find your way to this blog, I wish I could tell you how those simple words have made a difference for me. Thank you for writing that letter of recommendation and helping me get on the path that got me here today.
Well, I could sit here and ponder some more, but the birds are singing outside, and the sun is rising, which is my cue for getting ready to leave the apartment. So, I better go for now.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Article Note: On a Library Instruction and Information Literacy Bibliography
Article citation:
Johnson, Anna Marie and Sarah Jent. "Library Instruction and Information Literacy--2004" Reference Services Review 33.4 (2005): 487-530.
Read via Emerald.
Rather than a formal note, this is more like a meandering reflection. If you want the quick, the answer is: yes, if you work in Instruction and Information Literacy, you probably should look this over. By the way, for library students and some new people, this article is an example of something a librarian can publish. Find a good topic and create a good bibliography of it. These types of articles are plentiful in the library literature, and depending on the topic, they can be great lifesavers. There, now you can go about your business.
What? You are still here? OK, read on then.
It is mid-afternoon on a Friday, and I am sitting at the Information Desk, where things are fairly quiet. I can't quite do any complex tasks, but I can do enough to read over this. Now, readers may be thinking only a librarian would be caught reading a bibliography. Well, for me, this is a list of works in my field of work, so I am sort of double-checking how my "keeping up" is doing. If I strictly go by this bibliography, maybe not so good. I was feeling all proud that I had read the book they mentioned at the opening, and I have read some pieces. However, reading this has shown me all the other stuff that I would have wanted to read, and now I feel a bit bad I have not. I am not sure why, maybe I am beating on myself. A quick glance at my blog's cue and a small search shows I have been doing some reading and reflection on what I read. Yet a part of me wonders how the heck did I miss some of these. At any rate, I am now marking on the list some items that I want to read and some that I may want to read but not sure they are urgent. Maybe this illustrates the old adage about so many books (or articles) and so little time.
What I also found out as I was looking over the list was items that I would think our library has, but it turns out we do not have them. Some I can request from our larger sister campus, which has some of them. Then I realize that when it comes to Instruction, I am the Instruction Librarian. If I want them, I have to get them. They may be for me, or for another instruction librarian (there has been talk of hiring a second one), or for a successor if I ever decide to move up the ladder. We have never been terribly systematic about buying LIS materials. The subject specialists may get things related to their areas, but the basics get done when someone actually remembers to do it. It's haphazard, and while I am not a believer in talking much about my place of work, this is one of those little things that make me go "hmm." Maybe the fact that I am still fairly fresh out of library school makes me aware of this, since back then I was surrounded by the stuff I needed and wanted. What worries me now that I am out here, do some librarians lose their desire or ability to keep up as time goes on? I do a good share of work to make sure I keep up in and out of my areas, and it is work. Interesting at times, but it does take some effort. Is this what some of the younger, or should I say, newly minted librarians worry about when it comes to their older, or should I say, more seasoned colleagues? I hope not. I think I have been trained well enough to value keeping up and finding ways to do it. I have faith I am not the only one who was well trained in that regard. By the way, isn't rss wonderful, for instance?
That question leads me to realize, well, I have been reading quite a bit via blogs and other online items that have rss. Those don't get listed in annual bibliographies, unless it is places like the work Walt Crawford does with Cites and Insights. Somebody should declare that man a "National Treasure" when it comes to library science. I guess the point is one will never read everything, but one can be selective in what one reads. And this takes me back to where I started. I am marking items that I want to look at later. Hopefully not too much later. In this line of work, waiting for free time may mean you will never get the reading done.
And while we are talking reading, my trip back to basics starts tonight with a social function. I will be immersed for a few days. I hope to make notes of what I learn in the blog, but don't expect live blogging. That's for "them folk who need their umbilical cord to the computer." OK, I admit, that was snarky (it did give me a smile there for a moment), but I am not the type of guy who freaks out if he does not have a laptop and access to WiFi or other wireless options. Part of being a gypsy in spirit is being free. Point is I will write my reports in time. After all, I will need something to keep the director happy and reassured I am doing something, haha. More importantly, I will blog because I learn when I write, because it is another way in which I make meaning, and I will remember what I learned by making a record of it.
Johnson, Anna Marie and Sarah Jent. "Library Instruction and Information Literacy--2004" Reference Services Review 33.4 (2005): 487-530.
Read via Emerald.
Rather than a formal note, this is more like a meandering reflection. If you want the quick, the answer is: yes, if you work in Instruction and Information Literacy, you probably should look this over. By the way, for library students and some new people, this article is an example of something a librarian can publish. Find a good topic and create a good bibliography of it. These types of articles are plentiful in the library literature, and depending on the topic, they can be great lifesavers. There, now you can go about your business.
What? You are still here? OK, read on then.
It is mid-afternoon on a Friday, and I am sitting at the Information Desk, where things are fairly quiet. I can't quite do any complex tasks, but I can do enough to read over this. Now, readers may be thinking only a librarian would be caught reading a bibliography. Well, for me, this is a list of works in my field of work, so I am sort of double-checking how my "keeping up" is doing. If I strictly go by this bibliography, maybe not so good. I was feeling all proud that I had read the book they mentioned at the opening, and I have read some pieces. However, reading this has shown me all the other stuff that I would have wanted to read, and now I feel a bit bad I have not. I am not sure why, maybe I am beating on myself. A quick glance at my blog's cue and a small search shows I have been doing some reading and reflection on what I read. Yet a part of me wonders how the heck did I miss some of these. At any rate, I am now marking on the list some items that I want to read and some that I may want to read but not sure they are urgent. Maybe this illustrates the old adage about so many books (or articles) and so little time.
What I also found out as I was looking over the list was items that I would think our library has, but it turns out we do not have them. Some I can request from our larger sister campus, which has some of them. Then I realize that when it comes to Instruction, I am the Instruction Librarian. If I want them, I have to get them. They may be for me, or for another instruction librarian (there has been talk of hiring a second one), or for a successor if I ever decide to move up the ladder. We have never been terribly systematic about buying LIS materials. The subject specialists may get things related to their areas, but the basics get done when someone actually remembers to do it. It's haphazard, and while I am not a believer in talking much about my place of work, this is one of those little things that make me go "hmm." Maybe the fact that I am still fairly fresh out of library school makes me aware of this, since back then I was surrounded by the stuff I needed and wanted. What worries me now that I am out here, do some librarians lose their desire or ability to keep up as time goes on? I do a good share of work to make sure I keep up in and out of my areas, and it is work. Interesting at times, but it does take some effort. Is this what some of the younger, or should I say, newly minted librarians worry about when it comes to their older, or should I say, more seasoned colleagues? I hope not. I think I have been trained well enough to value keeping up and finding ways to do it. I have faith I am not the only one who was well trained in that regard. By the way, isn't rss wonderful, for instance?
That question leads me to realize, well, I have been reading quite a bit via blogs and other online items that have rss. Those don't get listed in annual bibliographies, unless it is places like the work Walt Crawford does with Cites and Insights. Somebody should declare that man a "National Treasure" when it comes to library science. I guess the point is one will never read everything, but one can be selective in what one reads. And this takes me back to where I started. I am marking items that I want to look at later. Hopefully not too much later. In this line of work, waiting for free time may mean you will never get the reading done.
And while we are talking reading, my trip back to basics starts tonight with a social function. I will be immersed for a few days. I hope to make notes of what I learn in the blog, but don't expect live blogging. That's for "them folk who need their umbilical cord to the computer." OK, I admit, that was snarky (it did give me a smile there for a moment), but I am not the type of guy who freaks out if he does not have a laptop and access to WiFi or other wireless options. Part of being a gypsy in spirit is being free. Point is I will write my reports in time. After all, I will need something to keep the director happy and reassured I am doing something, haha. More importantly, I will blog because I learn when I write, because it is another way in which I make meaning, and I will remember what I learned by making a record of it.
Pondering Current Awareness and RSS
About a month ago, Professor Michael Stephens, of the blog Tame the Web, posted an e-mail correspondence he had with David Rothman on "Selling RSS to Medical Librarians." Mr. Rothman discusses in a clear way how he has been selling RSS to his medical faculty. The subject may be specialized, but the ideas are applicable to any academic library. To me, this offers a very intriguing idea. The librarian is taking a very active role. He asked the physician exactly what he wanted for his current awareness needs. The librarian then created an account on a feed aggregator for the professor with feed subscriptions to the sources the professor wants. The beauty of this is that it requires minimal work on the part of the physician (replace physician with any faculty member in any other setting). We know faculty love things that take minimal work, and I am not saying they are lazy, just that they like things easy so they can devote more time to their research. The process as outlined by Mr. Rothman let's the librarian create a "package" for the professor and just pass it on to him when it is ready. It makes a nice example of personalized service. The idea behind this is to provide a more effective alternative to the TOC services that many libraries have. Mr. Rothman chose Google's Reader for his needs, but I am sure this may work with other aggregators like Bloglines.
In my setting, we do not provide TOC services to our faculty. For a moment, I am curious how they keep up their awareness. Ok, not that. What I am really curious about is if they expect such a service, but they have not mentioned it. The level of knowledge when it comes to rss is variable between faculty who know what it is and likely use them already and those who have no idea. Part of what got me thinking when I saw the post is that, a while back, I was having a conversation with a faculty member, and I casually mentioned that I kept a blog, and that I used a reader to keep up with a lot of things in my field. He was intrigued, but it was the end of the semester, things got hectic, and we did not get to talk again. But I have thought about that conversation, and I wondered how many professors might be able to make use of their own customized rss for their fields of endeavor. I know there is an opportunity there, but given how things are a bit tight for me now in terms of time, I have to let it wait. Probably a project for the fall term? We'll see.
Additionally, I would like to play with rss a bit further. Right now, I have a good share of journals that I have on e-mail TOC alerts. I use a feed reader, but I usually use them for blogs (Bloglines) or for some news sources, mostly alternative and some Spanish (Newsgator). I have not really used a reader to set up a very customized feed, and I would love to play with the idea a bit more too. But, if we could tell professors, "we will help you set this up to get the information you want with ease," I think it could go some ways into building some good will as well as just serving our faculty.
Update note (7/24/2006): Another resource in this regard is Professor Bhatt's presentation given to the HigherEdBlogCon on April 12, 2006. The presentation on rss to increase user awareness has some ideas that may be useful for our setting. The poster presentation he displays has a nice set of content. The information on it is the type of stuff we could be presenting to our faculty. There are other ideas on the presentation as well. This presentation adds a bit more to my understanding, and it gives me an idea or two for making a presentation for our faculty at some point on this topic.
In my setting, we do not provide TOC services to our faculty. For a moment, I am curious how they keep up their awareness. Ok, not that. What I am really curious about is if they expect such a service, but they have not mentioned it. The level of knowledge when it comes to rss is variable between faculty who know what it is and likely use them already and those who have no idea. Part of what got me thinking when I saw the post is that, a while back, I was having a conversation with a faculty member, and I casually mentioned that I kept a blog, and that I used a reader to keep up with a lot of things in my field. He was intrigued, but it was the end of the semester, things got hectic, and we did not get to talk again. But I have thought about that conversation, and I wondered how many professors might be able to make use of their own customized rss for their fields of endeavor. I know there is an opportunity there, but given how things are a bit tight for me now in terms of time, I have to let it wait. Probably a project for the fall term? We'll see.
Additionally, I would like to play with rss a bit further. Right now, I have a good share of journals that I have on e-mail TOC alerts. I use a feed reader, but I usually use them for blogs (Bloglines) or for some news sources, mostly alternative and some Spanish (Newsgator). I have not really used a reader to set up a very customized feed, and I would love to play with the idea a bit more too. But, if we could tell professors, "we will help you set this up to get the information you want with ease," I think it could go some ways into building some good will as well as just serving our faculty.
Update note (7/24/2006): Another resource in this regard is Professor Bhatt's presentation given to the HigherEdBlogCon on April 12, 2006. The presentation on rss to increase user awareness has some ideas that may be useful for our setting. The poster presentation he displays has a nice set of content. The information on it is the type of stuff we could be presenting to our faculty. There are other ideas on the presentation as well. This presentation adds a bit more to my understanding, and it gives me an idea or two for making a presentation for our faculty at some point on this topic.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Booknote: Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez Vol. 1
Title: Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez Vol. 1
Various authors. Featuring the art of George Pérez.
Publication Information: New York: Marvel Comics, 2005
ISBN: 0-7851-1725-3
Genre: Fiction
Subgenre: Graphic novels and comics, action/adventure/science fiction
The first volume of the Marvel Visionaries series featuring the art of George Pérez, it collects various issues of the Fantastic Four magazines from the seventies. Marvel is compiling various issues of its properties under the Visionaries label featuring popular authors and artists. Unlike other collections, such as the Essential series, it is centered on an author or artist. Due to this focus, some of the storylines are not fully continued; issues get skipped, but usually there is a recap on the issues to give readers a sense where the story stands. Roy Thomas is the editor and writer for most of the issues in this collection, and he brings in a certain humor we don't see in more recent works. Fans of the Fantastic Four will enjoy these series. The trade paperbacks are published in full color, which may be more enjoyable for some readers. In terms of plots, Mr. Fantastic loses his powers, and his son is kidnapped among other adventures. This is definitely an item for public libraries with graphic novel and comics collections. I will be seeking out the others in the series.
Various authors. Featuring the art of George Pérez.
Publication Information: New York: Marvel Comics, 2005
ISBN: 0-7851-1725-3
Genre: Fiction
Subgenre: Graphic novels and comics, action/adventure/science fiction
The first volume of the Marvel Visionaries series featuring the art of George Pérez, it collects various issues of the Fantastic Four magazines from the seventies. Marvel is compiling various issues of its properties under the Visionaries label featuring popular authors and artists. Unlike other collections, such as the Essential series, it is centered on an author or artist. Due to this focus, some of the storylines are not fully continued; issues get skipped, but usually there is a recap on the issues to give readers a sense where the story stands. Roy Thomas is the editor and writer for most of the issues in this collection, and he brings in a certain humor we don't see in more recent works. Fans of the Fantastic Four will enjoy these series. The trade paperbacks are published in full color, which may be more enjoyable for some readers. In terms of plots, Mr. Fantastic loses his powers, and his son is kidnapped among other adventures. This is definitely an item for public libraries with graphic novel and comics collections. I will be seeking out the others in the series.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Short Booknotes on Graphic Novels 3
Beatty, Scott, et. al. Batman Begins: The Movie and Other Tales of the Dark Knight. New York: DC Comics, 2005. ISBN: 1-4012-0440-6.
This volume collects the official comic adaptation of the movie by the same title. In addition, it contains four more tales from various Batman comics that range from dark to darkly humourous. One of the tales is the origin story as it appeared in the comics. Overall, it is a nice small collection of Batman stories that fans will likely enjoy. Since the tales come from different comics, I found it interesting to look at different artist styles as well.
Whedon, Joss and John Cassaday. Astonishing X-Men, vol. 1: Gifted. New York: Marvel Comics, 2004. ISBN: 0-7851-1531-5.
The first volume in a new X-Men series. Cyclops and Emma Frost reform the X-Men. Things spin when there is word that a cure for the mutant condition has been found. However, not all is what it seems as the X-Men have to confront the mysterious Ord, an alien, and at the same time deal with S.H.I.E.L.D., who may or not be part of the conspiracy. To make things worse, one of the X-Men wonders if he should take the cure or not. An excellent start to this new series written by Joss Whedon, who is known from hits such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Great art by John Cassaday. This is definitely one I would highly recommend.
Whedon, Joss and John Cassaday. Astonishing X-Men, vol. 2: Dangerous. New York: Marvel Comics, 2004. ISBN: 0-7851-1677-X.
The second volume collecting the X-Men series written by Joss Whedon. Ord is still out there, there is a terrible death, and as if things could not get worse, now the heroes face an enemy from within, one that they did not expect and knows their strengths and weaknesses. Like the previous volume, I definitely recommend this one.
This volume collects the official comic adaptation of the movie by the same title. In addition, it contains four more tales from various Batman comics that range from dark to darkly humourous. One of the tales is the origin story as it appeared in the comics. Overall, it is a nice small collection of Batman stories that fans will likely enjoy. Since the tales come from different comics, I found it interesting to look at different artist styles as well.
Whedon, Joss and John Cassaday. Astonishing X-Men, vol. 1: Gifted. New York: Marvel Comics, 2004. ISBN: 0-7851-1531-5.
The first volume in a new X-Men series. Cyclops and Emma Frost reform the X-Men. Things spin when there is word that a cure for the mutant condition has been found. However, not all is what it seems as the X-Men have to confront the mysterious Ord, an alien, and at the same time deal with S.H.I.E.L.D., who may or not be part of the conspiracy. To make things worse, one of the X-Men wonders if he should take the cure or not. An excellent start to this new series written by Joss Whedon, who is known from hits such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Great art by John Cassaday. This is definitely one I would highly recommend.
Whedon, Joss and John Cassaday. Astonishing X-Men, vol. 2: Dangerous. New York: Marvel Comics, 2004. ISBN: 0-7851-1677-X.
The second volume collecting the X-Men series written by Joss Whedon. Ord is still out there, there is a terrible death, and as if things could not get worse, now the heroes face an enemy from within, one that they did not expect and knows their strengths and weaknesses. Like the previous volume, I definitely recommend this one.
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