At the university I work for, the freshman composition class has regular instruction sessions scheduled as part of their course syllabus. The session is designed by a committee, and is designed to cover a certain number of speaking points decided upon for optimum user education. There are quite a lot of these sessions, and this term I signed up to teach four.
The first class I taught yesterday afternoon and was, I could say, not my best teaching experience ever. The room in which we do the teaching is very, very hot. I was rather ill and had taken decongestants. The combination of the two made the atmosphere rather somnolent. It was hard to keep my bearings, and I sort of felt like I was going to totter over most of the time. It was also the first occasion I had used clickers in my classroom, and I was nervous about them.
Second time around went much better, despite the room still being about ninety degrees and my congestion not being much better. I felt more confident in my material and more capable to guide the students through the process. This sort of confidence, I feel, only comes with teaching repeatedly. At the close of this session, I wrote down several things to improve upon for next time. The major issue I need to work on is having actual examples ready to pull from when I describe searches. I tend to do my best when I have something memorized, and then deviate from it - sort of a planned ad-lib. This planning needs to include specific examples because, although I can joke and lead a class pretty well on the spot, I am horrible at coming up with examples on the spot.
Interestingly enough, this is something I've been warned about when I first started doing instruction. I didn't necessarily ignore it, but I just didn't necessarily realize for these specific classes I would need examples prepared. For the next round of classes, I'll be sure to have a safe pool of examples to pull from.
These classes brought to mind a general point about user instruction for "beginning" students. Where exactly do we start? Although the freshman compositions have assignments designed for library use, the first session is meant to be more of an introduction to the library, explaining how to be analytic about sources, and what sort of things the library HAS. The way this session is set up, students are shown where to find and how to analyze sources first, then have the difference between scholarly and popular articles explained to them. This seemed confusing to me, and perhaps counter-intuitive. Then I realized that the opposite way is equally counter-intuitve and it is sort of a "chicken and egg" situation. Students need to know what is available before they have the difference between said things explained to them. However, it is very tough to explain a database vs Google without the concept of scholarly articles being explained.
After talking to my mentor, I realized that the reason scholarly vs popular was held off on because the first goal was to have students look critically at sources, no matter where they come from. This was a good thing to realize because I had taught certain aspects of the session with much more of a "scholarly vs. popular" agenda than was necessary or appropriate. The simple fact is, no matter where a resource comes from, it should be looked at critically in order to be a good scholar.
Hopefully practice will continue to make perfect, and the next round of sessions will be even better than these were.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
on providing an adequate guide to the library
As a project for the university I work for, I'm trying to design some sort of "aide" or "guide" to the library, which individuals new to the library, or who need guidance, can use to find their way around. My mentor advised me to not "reinvent the wheel" as several of these sorts of guides are already in place.
I feel as though I've hit a wall in this area. I made a list of all of the various guides and aides to the library and counted fifteen. Fifteen, many of which show up in multiple places. At least a third of these guides are extensive. It seems as though there are a large number of potential solutions, many of which had been tried. The question is, when adding to this corpus of materials, is redundancy useful? With the way people access and look for information, is it better to have as many different ways to find and use that information as possible? Or is it simply just redundant.
A possible idea was to create a video tour of the library, but the question is whether such an item would be useful, or more to the point, used. The central issue is that a guide to any place is most used within the place for which it was composed. This creates issues for the library because it requires a computer, and (at least as I had envisioned it), audio. This need produces several further steps for users to follow before they can even access the guide. It seems unlikely that, unless it has some intrinsic humorous value or something equally entertaining, any student is going to sit and watch a YouTube video showing her how to check out a book from the library.
So I am left with three major questions:
1. How redundant is too redundant?
2. What format will students find easily accessible, that hasn't already been used covered?
and most importantly
3. What is it exactly that users need to know about the library?
I feel as though I've hit a wall in this area. I made a list of all of the various guides and aides to the library and counted fifteen. Fifteen, many of which show up in multiple places. At least a third of these guides are extensive. It seems as though there are a large number of potential solutions, many of which had been tried. The question is, when adding to this corpus of materials, is redundancy useful? With the way people access and look for information, is it better to have as many different ways to find and use that information as possible? Or is it simply just redundant.
A possible idea was to create a video tour of the library, but the question is whether such an item would be useful, or more to the point, used. The central issue is that a guide to any place is most used within the place for which it was composed. This creates issues for the library because it requires a computer, and (at least as I had envisioned it), audio. This need produces several further steps for users to follow before they can even access the guide. It seems unlikely that, unless it has some intrinsic humorous value or something equally entertaining, any student is going to sit and watch a YouTube video showing her how to check out a book from the library.
So I am left with three major questions:
1. How redundant is too redundant?
2. What format will students find easily accessible, that hasn't already been used covered?
and most importantly
3. What is it exactly that users need to know about the library?
Friday, October 16, 2009
technology issues
An immense portion of the questions I field at the desk is some version of "I'm trying to print something, but it won't work." This question, as well as all of the other technology-related issues that come to the "Ask Here" desk make me uncomfortable. While I can figure out most minor computer problems on my own, the questions not simple based in technology ignorance that come at my university are often more complicated than that.
I am starting to wonder if librarians would do well to have some sort of double major being IT professionals. When so many of our resources are online, and so many library spaces double as computer lab, it just makes sense. But other than simple things, technology issues create deep feelings of dread in my stomach. I am beginning to wonder what the baseline for technological knowledge should be for librarians. It seems like maybe it should be more extensive than my own.
But, perhaps not. Maybe these conclusions are coming from my deep-seated shame at having to run into the technical services office to ask them how the scanners work, or why the printer is leaving a watermark, or any other sort of thing. Perhaps it comes from my inherent desire to know everything. This desire, I'm finding, is going to get me into a world of career trouble if I don't chill out a bit.
I am starting to wonder if librarians would do well to have some sort of double major being IT professionals. When so many of our resources are online, and so many library spaces double as computer lab, it just makes sense. But other than simple things, technology issues create deep feelings of dread in my stomach. I am beginning to wonder what the baseline for technological knowledge should be for librarians. It seems like maybe it should be more extensive than my own.
But, perhaps not. Maybe these conclusions are coming from my deep-seated shame at having to run into the technical services office to ask them how the scanners work, or why the printer is leaving a watermark, or any other sort of thing. Perhaps it comes from my inherent desire to know everything. This desire, I'm finding, is going to get me into a world of career trouble if I don't chill out a bit.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Where have you looked before?
Last week at the desk was the first step in a process focused on making sure I follow every step in the reference interview with every patron. In order to do this, I focused on one part of the interview and made sure I always did it, that being restating what the patron asked.
This week it is asking where they have looked. So far this has been a bit overwhelming, as this question often leads to a frantic response of "Well, I couldn't find anything in x y and z and my paper is due in five minutes annnnd I am so stupid and..." It is hard for me to know how to respond to this.
I tend to be a person who responds to everything very quickly, especially in terms of mental process. As I've mentioned before, it is difficult for me to hear questions and not immediately start figuring out how to answer them before the asker has even finished her question. While restating the request has helped to calm this tendency, when a patron begins to get frantic, I feel frantic as well.
I've been observing the seasoned librarians as they deal with questions and I am noticing a certain level of detachment, as though nothing is a problem at all, ever. This is something I need to keep in mind - although every reference interaction is my concern, it is never my problem. I think I am making things too personal - as though finding the perfect resource in the quickest amount of time will somehow elevate my librarian status. This just makes me anxious and perform less well than I would otherwise. I need to look at interactions from a more distant perspective in the future.
This week it is asking where they have looked. So far this has been a bit overwhelming, as this question often leads to a frantic response of "Well, I couldn't find anything in x y and z and my paper is due in five minutes annnnd I am so stupid and..." It is hard for me to know how to respond to this.
I tend to be a person who responds to everything very quickly, especially in terms of mental process. As I've mentioned before, it is difficult for me to hear questions and not immediately start figuring out how to answer them before the asker has even finished her question. While restating the request has helped to calm this tendency, when a patron begins to get frantic, I feel frantic as well.
I've been observing the seasoned librarians as they deal with questions and I am noticing a certain level of detachment, as though nothing is a problem at all, ever. This is something I need to keep in mind - although every reference interaction is my concern, it is never my problem. I think I am making things too personal - as though finding the perfect resource in the quickest amount of time will somehow elevate my librarian status. This just makes me anxious and perform less well than I would otherwise. I need to look at interactions from a more distant perspective in the future.
Friday, October 9, 2009
mental lists.
One of the most difficult things for me to do when working at the reference desk is to stop my brain from instantly running whenever a patron comes to the desk and begins to ask a question. I have a mental list of databases, books, and other reference resources which my year of library school has firmly implanted in my brain. When I hear the word, "literature," or "film," or "business," my brain instantly starts chanting various ways of finding information across the subject area.
MLA... Web of Science... Music Online... LION...
All this chanting gets a bit loud, and it gets sort of difficult to hear what the patron is actually asking me. Shutting it off takes a fair share of effort, usually. In a training exercise on Wednesday, I was told to just stick to the reference interview and to opening questions and they would help quiet the voices (and if that phrase doesn't make me sound insane, I don't know what does). I've been trying it out since then, but it's still very difficult, especially when a business question comes along. If I have a subject area that is my nemesis, it is business. I panic that I don't know what the proper resources are, or even what the person is asking, and then the list-recalling begins in earnest.
Today was an interesting practice in this. Typically the questions I hear are simple, "Do you have this book?" "Where is room 130?" "How do I check this out?" and the dreaded, "This ______ (insert some piece of technology here) isn't working. Can you help me?" But today, the question was longer than usual. In fact, the lead-up to what the patron actually wanted was twenty minutes of rapid, non-stop discourse on a research study he was beginning. There was no room in my brain for lists. There was no room for anything other than listening to the rapid delivery of useful information and desperately trying to hold on to key points.
So I did. And when he finally finished up with, "So really that's what I need from you." I was forced to stop and put the pieces together. In order to be sure what he had asked in the first place, I had to paraphrase it. Obviously, I couldn't use the handy trick of repeating it back, because that would take another twenty minutes. So I tried my best. The patron was really impressed, and my paraphrasing helped bring out a key part of his search that he hadn't really known how to qualify before.
Well how about that, the reference interview actually works. Not only did repeating his question help me to understand what he was asking, it also made him visibly swell with happiness that I had actually listened to all he had said, and pulled information out of it that even he had not been aware of. After that, I really didn't have many questions to ask, other than when he needed the information, thanks to his long introduction. But somehow, restating what he wanted helped me to know what direction to point him. And yes, it was a business question, and yes, I still feel like I don't know anything about business research as a whole.
Regardless, I pointed him towards some resources, and they turned out to be useful for him. Furthermore, they showed us the roadblocks that he was going to come across in finding the right information - things he could discuss with the subject specialist in order to refine what he was looking for. I could tell when he finally left the desk, after literally forty-five minutes that he felt empowered, as though this trip to the library was worth every second of his time and energy. I felt empowered too, as though following the simple initial step of the reference interview had really honed my energy in a positive and useful direction for both of us.
MLA... Web of Science... Music Online... LION...
All this chanting gets a bit loud, and it gets sort of difficult to hear what the patron is actually asking me. Shutting it off takes a fair share of effort, usually. In a training exercise on Wednesday, I was told to just stick to the reference interview and to opening questions and they would help quiet the voices (and if that phrase doesn't make me sound insane, I don't know what does). I've been trying it out since then, but it's still very difficult, especially when a business question comes along. If I have a subject area that is my nemesis, it is business. I panic that I don't know what the proper resources are, or even what the person is asking, and then the list-recalling begins in earnest.
Today was an interesting practice in this. Typically the questions I hear are simple, "Do you have this book?" "Where is room 130?" "How do I check this out?" and the dreaded, "This ______ (insert some piece of technology here) isn't working. Can you help me?" But today, the question was longer than usual. In fact, the lead-up to what the patron actually wanted was twenty minutes of rapid, non-stop discourse on a research study he was beginning. There was no room in my brain for lists. There was no room for anything other than listening to the rapid delivery of useful information and desperately trying to hold on to key points.
So I did. And when he finally finished up with, "So really that's what I need from you." I was forced to stop and put the pieces together. In order to be sure what he had asked in the first place, I had to paraphrase it. Obviously, I couldn't use the handy trick of repeating it back, because that would take another twenty minutes. So I tried my best. The patron was really impressed, and my paraphrasing helped bring out a key part of his search that he hadn't really known how to qualify before.
Well how about that, the reference interview actually works. Not only did repeating his question help me to understand what he was asking, it also made him visibly swell with happiness that I had actually listened to all he had said, and pulled information out of it that even he had not been aware of. After that, I really didn't have many questions to ask, other than when he needed the information, thanks to his long introduction. But somehow, restating what he wanted helped me to know what direction to point him. And yes, it was a business question, and yes, I still feel like I don't know anything about business research as a whole.
Regardless, I pointed him towards some resources, and they turned out to be useful for him. Furthermore, they showed us the roadblocks that he was going to come across in finding the right information - things he could discuss with the subject specialist in order to refine what he was looking for. I could tell when he finally left the desk, after literally forty-five minutes that he felt empowered, as though this trip to the library was worth every second of his time and energy. I felt empowered too, as though following the simple initial step of the reference interview had really honed my energy in a positive and useful direction for both of us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
