Banned Books Week – Recap

Banned Books Week Exhibit, University of Arizona Main Library

As most librarians know, last week was Banned Books Week, and I was involved in a number of events in the library and in collaboration with the Progressive Librarians Guild – UA Chapter. See our library news story on how we celebrated.

First, we installed an exhibit in Research West. Almost all of the books were lent by library staff and students, leaving our own collection available for circulation during this important week. We covered the four glass exhibit cubes in black cardboard, caution tape, and warning signs, with small peep-holes for those daring to view the challenged literature. Already, we have had a great response from students. In fact, several people have said that they have never seen the exhibit so busy with people stopping to take a look! We certainly got their attention.

Banned Books Week Exhibit, University of Arizona Main Library

UA News decided to publish a story on our events, and then we even got the university’s UATV and Daily Wildcat interested, who interviewed me and did a story on the week’s events:

As mentioned in the video, we had an event (held last Wednesday night) which included a film screening, a “Read Out!” and a panel discussion. It was well attended with participants ranging from students to professors to community members. About a dozen participants went to the podium to read from challenged books as part of the Read Out, and following I performed a Pecha Kucha titled, “Challenging Censorship: Libraries as advocates for freedom and democracy.” Concluding the program was the panel which included two librarians and one English professor, who discussed issues ranging from dangerous publications about bomb-making to historically challenged classics to LGBT literature being banned in college classrooms. Audience members engaged in Q&A with the speakers, and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening which wrapped up soon after 8pm.

Banned Books Week Panel Discussion

LOEX Presentation: Developing an Online Credit-bearing Information Fluency Course: Lessons Learned

Last Friday, I presented at the LOEX Annual Conference with colleagues Leslie Sult and Yvonne Mery. The title of our talk was, “Developing an Online Credit-bearing Information Fluency Course: Lessons Learned.” We reviewed how we developed, implemented, and evaluated the undergraduate Skillful Researcher (UNVR195a) course. To get some backgound, you can take a look at my post from last April when the class was first approved.

We had a good turnout, and the audience actively participated by asking questions and sharing their own experiences. It seemed like a very timely topic, as many other instruction librarians are going towards both online teaching and credit-bearing courses.

Here is our powerpoint to give you an idea of what we talked about, I hope others find this helpful and share any comments:

We also had a handout with a list of things to Try and to Avoid in online instruction, which I’ll share here:

Try It	Avoid It
Establishing and following course objectives	Designing as you go
Keeping tutorials short	Trying to put everything in one tutorial
Keeping text to a minimum	Overusing text
Using smart graphics	Using images that are purely decorative
Including audio	Overusing PowerPoint
Using provocative discussion questions	Making assignments the discussion questions
Including self-assessments	Depending only on quizzes for students’ assessment
Participating in discussions	Assuming students will participate in  discussions on their own
Grading discussions	Having optional discussions
Writing clear directions	Assuming students will know what to do
Paying close attention to course navigation	Over-depending on the navigation in the CMS
Responding to students promptly	Assuming that students do not need immediate feedback
Listening to feedback	Ever thinking you’re “done”
Preparing for a significant time commitment	Assuming teaching will be less work because it’s online

What Librarians Can Learn from E-Learning Professionals

Last week I attended the E-Learning Guild Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. It was something a colleague had run across a couple of months ago and thought would be appropriate to attend, as we are in the process of creating another online course.

It was absolutely enlightening! There is a whole world of E-Learning professionals out there that I didn’t even know existed. Primarily those that attended the conference were instructional designers (IDs) that either work for a corporation or non-profit or are consultants. They receive content from subject matter experts (SMEs) that they are then to make into an online learning object, and distributed across the country (or world) to the company’s employees. It’s for training purposes, mostly.

These E-Learning professionals have been doing this sort of thing for years, becoming experts in the fields of displaying online content, designing for online learners, and assessment through online mechanisms.

I can’t possibly share everything that I learned, but I will share some key points that are important to us as librarians.

1. Rapid e-learning tools are fantastic, and there are plenty of them out there. You don’t need to learn Flash or XML. At my library we already have Articulate, which is a big one, but I learned about other options such as Adobe Presenter, FlyPaper, Raptivity, and Lectora. There’ s also programs like CodeBaby where you can create animated characters who speak to each other. Very cool. They can be expensive, but these companies often offer academic discounts, and you can usually get a trial to test it out and see if it’s worth the money. Why is this a big deal? By taking advantage of these tools, librarians will no longer have to go to their software programmers or try to learn programming skills to create this stuff. These tools can usually be self-taught and require little technology-savviness. And they have great help forums.
2. Designing instruction for online learning is far different than designing it for face-to-face sessions. But fortunately, there is a lot of research and a ton of books out there on how to design effective online instruction. Check out Empowering Online Learning, Making Sense of Online Learning, the Online Learning Idea Book, and the E-Learning Handbook (which are all now on my Goodreads “to read” list). Here are some tips I picked up:

• Don’t make them read. Construct your use of text very carefully. Use tables and graphics and images where appropriate. Always set a context for the learner. Always make the experience a conversation between teacher (or computer) and learner. Read Letting Go of the Words (the author, Ginny Redish, was a conference speaker on this topic and was fantastic).
• Take a lesson or two from infomercials. Find ways to draw your student in by telling them what this will do for them, and why it’s worth their time. Keep it simple, but incorporate stories, and use testimonials and quotes from experts to further convince them that this instructional tutorial is worth their time.
• Aesthetics matter, so remember a few simple rules. Use just one font type in one section, reserving any alternate font for important messages you want to get the students attention. Use different font sizes to distinguish headers from main points from supporting points. Don’t use decorative fonts, ever. And be consistent. Use good color schemes – Adobe Kuler is a great resource for selecting attractive color schemes.

I believe as instructional librarians are getting more pressure to produce online tutorials, classes, and other content – we should reach out to those that are experts in exactly that.

If you are involved in building online instruction or tutorials, I highly recommend attending a conference geared towards e-learning professionals. In addition to the E-Learning Guild conference, there is DevCon and DevLearn both happening this year. I have to say it’s possibly the most worthwhile and practical conference I’ve been to since becoming a librarian!

Utilizing Technologies for Engaged Instruction

I presented this to the library on Friday so thought I’d share it here:

Not at ALA, it’s time for some reflection

I was lucky enough to go to ALA Annual the past two years (New Orleans and D.C.), but I didn’t make it this year. It’s actually pretty ironic, since I just got my MLS this past December and now have a librarian job, but it just didn’t work out. A lot of people on my work team are going, which means a few of us are needed to cover the reference desk, and there was also confusion over what I could get funded (since I have a strange temporary/permanent/special assignment status).

The good news is I plan to go to Midwinter, which I haven’t done before, and not going to Anaheim right now makes that more realistic.

So what am I doing this weekend? Preparing a 40 minute presentation for an interview I have in a couple of weeks – for a permanent position. And reflecting a little bit on the past 6 months since I graduated.

I don’t usually like to talk about the job search on this blog since it’s so public and you have to be careful, but I will say that this will be the third librarian position I am interviewing for this year. The second presentation. I was actually offered one of the two earlier positions but unfortunately had to turn it down.

For those that may not realize this, the interviews for academic librarian positions are a full day. They usually follow a phone interview, which is the first round, and then less than a handful of candidates are invited for round two. In my first one of these, there was an informal dinner the night before, then a full day 8am-4pm. In the second, there was also dinner the night before, followed by breakfast first thing the next morning and a full day until 5pm. The one in a couple weeks starts at 8pm all day and ends with dinner. Exhausting!

Although reflecting on my experiences I think they are a good thing, and in those jam-packed 8-12 hours you really get a feel for whether or not the position is right for you, and the librarians on the other side of the table get a chance to do the same. As another librarian once told me, you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. Another once told me that once you’re past the phone interview phase they know you’re qualified for the position & would do well at the job; the question is whether or not you fit in the organization. It’s true, and it’s good advice. It’s best not to think of it as the “scary interview” where you try to answer their questions the way you think you’re supposed to, as I always perceived it before. Approaching it in this other way eases the pressure – at least a little bit – and makes the interview process more of a learning experience, and a decision for both parties involved.

Living the Future – We Did It!

Last week the Living the Future 7 conference took place, and it was fantastic! Much of my time was dedicated to logistics, staffing the registration table, coordinating the volunteers, and communicating with the hotel reps, but I did get to squeeze in some great sessions and have some inspiring conversations with participants from around the world (yes – we had attendees from Canada, Hawaii, and Africa!).

First I’d like to share the key points I walked away with:

• From Peter Senge’s keynote speech: Aspiration, Vision, and Purpose. Sustainability. We are born to learn. We need to spread knowledge.
• From the CoLAB Planning Session: we share commonalities, we share ideas; if we make connections and take the time to learn about one another’s assets, we can make true collaborative projects successful.
• From the receptions: librarians are fun and inspiring (as if there was any doubt).
• From the breakout sessions: virtual presentations can be successful! But more importantly… we need to work closer with our faculty. And form closer relationship with our students and campus partners. We need to get out there in our campus community. Successful partnerships are the key to our future.
• From the closing session: talk with each other, and then go back and do something.

As far as the planning goes, we received a lot of positive feedback from participants, speakers, and former members of the planning group. So that’s a very good thing, especially with all us newbies. Here’s a review:

• Only one member of the planning group had done this before, all the rest of us were brand new to the experience. Yet we had more participants registered than in any year past!
• We had a world-renowned keynote speaker, Dr. Peter Senge, who is very difficult to get. We had about 40 people register just to see him speak. He was inspiring.
• We coordinated the first “virtual presentation” to be held at Living the Future – John Shank presented through Elluminate from his office at Penn State. Despite a small audio glitch half-way through, it went smoothly.
• The conference was dedicated to Shelley Phipps, our recently-retired Associate Dean who participated in all previous planning groups to make this happen. She was surprised to see her face on our welcome poster!
• At closing we specially recognized Liz Bezanson, who has also worked on all previous LTF conferences, including this one. She retires at the end of this month and it was a pleasure to work with her. She will be missed throughout our organization.

Yesterday we set up a Google Group to faciliatate continued discussions now the conference has ended. I hope you join us: http://groups.google.com/group/living-the-future.

Best Practices for Instruction of Diverse Learners in a Nutshell

As the final assignment for my Designing Instruction course, we were asked to create a presentation outlining best practices in instruction specifically garnered to diverse learners. This includes learners with disabilities, second-language learners, those with cultural differences and those with different learning styles. In the spirit of sharing knowledge I have attached my slide show presentation here:

What I took away from AzLA

I went to the annual AzLA conference this week held in Mesa, AZ. I was really impressed with a number of presentations I was able to attend. Here are a few highlights:

• Who Is Driving the Higher Education Train? Including the Academic Library in the Assessment Process
  • Presented by Trevor Smith, my former Intro to Information Technology (IRLS571) professor, & his colleague Gail Staples. This was a discussion of assessment of information literacy at the program level; librarians at Cochise College developed an assessment plan based on the college’s structure assessment process that involved looking at the bibliographies found in student research papers.
  • Results showed use of overwhelmingly poor information resources. Steps were taken to improve library instruction and over the past few years results of the assessment have shown significant improvement.
  • Key lessons learned: assessment can be done using few resources if we partner with faculty to assess assignments that have already been created and/or graded; a key way to improve the effectiveness of information literacy initiatives is to create a structured assessment plan; assessment has the benefits of increasing the visibility of the library’s role on campus, enhancing faculty support of library instruction in classes at all levels, and building stronger relationships with faculty and how information literacy can be incorporated into the curriculum.
• Library Magic: Getting and Keeping Your Students’ Attention during Instruction
  • Presented by Mary Evangeliste & Leslie Sult, my two favorite UA Librarians (see my other recent post on their presentation at SIRLS). They discussed how to utilize classroom management, incorporate different learning styles into your instructional strategies, and use modeling and demonstration to improve student learning outcomes. They covered a number of things. Some key points are – don’t overload your students; when you only have an hour or even less be sure to just pick two or three things you want them to walk away with. Also, don’t just teach content; teach your students how to apply that content by allowing them to practice.
  • Key Lessons Learned: remember why you got into librarianship in the first place, know why you are teaching the students & and have a passion for doing what you’re doing; read The First Days of School and The 11 Commandments of Good Teaching.

  
  

• Podcasting 101/InfoTech Interest Group Meeting
  • This presentation by ASU’s Tammy Allgood & Matthew Harp demonstrated how ASU has created podcasts for a number of purposes for distribution through its Library Channel, including virtual tours of the libraries, exhibit information, and interviews with librarians and other players on campus.
  • Key Lessons Learned: podcasting is really very simple and requires minimal equipment and technical skills; placing podcasts on a blog as ASU has done is an effective way to enable their syndication; podcasting ought to be utilized as a technology for marketing the library’s resources and events; it has the ability to improve the library’s image as a fun and relevant place for its users.

The Symposium

This past Saturday was the 3rd Annual SIRLS Graduate Student Symposium.  After months of planning, organizing, and waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it, it all came together.  And I think it went fantastically.  We had one presenter cancel at the last minute due to illness, but other than that everything went smoothly.  The technology worked, the presentations were great, and we stayed on schedule.  I saw a presentation on searching behavior of avatars in Second Life, Learner-Centered vs. Teacher-Centered Instruction, and Learning Styles in Library Instruction.  They were all wonderful and I was very impressed with the quality of content presented by these students.  I delivered my own presentation on Access to Information in the Czech Republic and received positive feedback, although unforunately it ran a little long leaving little time for discussion.  I probably should have gone for the 50-minute slot, after all.  You can see more details on the day’s presentations online here.

We had 5 posters at the poster session and there were some great discussions surrounding virtual searching, library environments, and the library needs of young children.  The only real negative feedback we got for the event was that the room we held this in was too small.  It doesn’t surprise me, since I found it to be crowded myself, so lesson learned for next time.  I was very excited to have a poster session for the first time; we had attempted this last year but to no avail.

Chris Dodge delivered the keynote presentation and discussed inconsistencies between ALA’s core values and the practice of librarians, including equal access, diversity, and intellectual freedom.  I found it quite fascinating.

Unfortunately people seemed to dwindle a little bit near the end.  While we had approximately 60 attendees at the Symposium overall, there were only 42 at the closing keynote and probably 20 people at the reception that followed.  It is always a hard thing to judge.  Overall, though, I was very happy with the turnout and it was the largest that we’ve seen at the annual Symposium.  So that’s a very good sign.

A number of faculty from SIRLS were in attendance, including director Jana Bradley; also attending was Nancy Ledeboer, director of the Pima County Public Library.  Three university librarians came as well as a number of library staff and student workers.  I heard a lot of positive feedback on the organization of the event and the program.  The three student presenters that flew in from Maryland also said they were impressed with the event, which was great to hear. 

It’s finally over so that I can stop worrying about what may or may not happen.  I do believe that all the hard work was worth it.  The students got a lot out of it, and it increases the visibility of the SIRLS program & its students within the library community.

Just for fun, here are a few quotes from attendees:

“The Symposium was a spectacular success!” – Jana Bradley, SIRLS Director

“This conference was way better than any ALA program I have ever attended.  The subject matter was rich and the participants were enthusiastic.” – Mary Evangeliste, University of Arizona Librarian (you can see her whole blog post on the event here). 

“This is an event that will stay in my memory for the rest of my career, and I’m pleased and proud to have been part of it.” – Liz Danforth, SIRLS Student and Symposium Presenter

“Kudos to the committee and the presenters for the wonderful job they did on the SIRLS Graduate Symposium which happened this Saturday. I think the presentations I attended were great and had the largest audiences I have seen at the Symposiums!!!” – Carrie Larson, UA Library Information Associate

How to Rock that Presentation

This past Thursday the wonderful and inspiring UA Librarians Mary Evangeliste and Leslie Sult visited SIRLS, facilitating a session on “Producing Successful Presentations.” There was a small student audience, and the session began with introductions followed by a facilitated discussion. We shared our own experiences, talking about what it is we have seen that’s made an impressive and memorable presentation, what it is that terrifies us the most about giving one of our own, and what we can each do personally to make our own experiences a little bit better. A number of things were suggested by the librarians and by the audience, and we walked away with notes on some important tricks of the trade, summarized here:

• If you’re in control of the topic of your presentation, be sure to pick something you are truly interested in. Talking about something you’re passionate about will create a much more engaging and meaningful presentation.
• Know your material. This is an easy one, and all it requires is time. But prepare, and really know your material. Know it inside and out so you can jump around, improvise, and respond to questions easily. You can also go off topic and change gears depending on reactions from the audience. Knowing your material will allow you to be more flexible, and flexibility can be a great advantage.
• Anticipate questions the audience might ask, especially if a topic is controversial. If you can’t answer a certain question that’s ok, just be honest that you don’t have the information at this time to answer it and move on.
• Feel good about sharing your knowledge and realize that you are doing the audience a favor. The audience wants to like you. Relax.
• When possible, begin to practice your talk at least 48 hours before you are going to give it. This allows you to get comfortable with your thought process and gives you enough time for the content to process and sink in. It will help you reach the whole “knowing your material” thing.
• Don’t just memorize. And don’t read from your paper or read from your PowerPoint. Speak like you’re a real person. You can be “professional” while still being genuine. Ideally, you should just have a brief outline to refer to if needed.
• Keep things interesting and have fun with it. Heck, bring candy or other goodies to throw to people in the audience. Ask them questions at unexpected times. It can be surprisingly effective and will help create enthusiasm among your audience.
• Do things that make you comfortable to help get rid of the nerves. You can talk to people in the audience before you begin your presentation; get to know them on a basic level as real people and it might make you less nervous. When you are able to, position yourself the way you feel the most comfortable – figure out if you prefer standing up behind a podium, walking around the audience, speaking from the back of the room, sitting down, etc. Find out what feels best to you and make your own style.
• If you are using a PowerPoint, use it mostly for visual clues. Don’t just put your outline up on your PowerPoint, and you should really only use one if it actually enhances your presentation.
• Know why you’re presenting in the first place. Think about why what you are talking about is important, and what you want the the audience to walk away with. Don’t try to squeeze in too much information. Present no more than 5 key points. You can always use handouts to give the audience further resources.
• Feel good about presenting. You are sharing your knowledge with others, and this is a very powerful thing.

The session is now up on YouTube so be sure to check it out. I want to say a big THANK YOU to Mary and Leslie for taking the time to share your wisdom, you are both fabulous