Friday, December 14, 2007

Student Orientation

Question .... I'm trying to come up with some fun and interesting ways for the library intro portion of the student orientation. I have a few ideas, but I thought I'd throw this out to the group. :)

10 comments:

Amy Springer said...

I want to hear YOUR fun ideas. Karen, please share. I have none. :)

Chandra said...

I get about 10-15 minutes during orientation. I present the Librarian's Secrets for Success.
1. Use the student portal
2. Check your e-mail
3. Use Smarthinking
4. Use your library resources

While doing so, I have the projector running, and we take a quick peek at each thing I'm introducing.

For the last mid-quarter start, it was a small group and they were in the computer lab for their online orientation, so students logged in and followed along with me as I went through the Secrets for Success.

Chandra said...

The most entertaining part... I'm likely to make corny jokes and trip over the cord at some point during orientation.

KarenE said...

I love the LSS! Great idea.

I am coming up with a silly "What do you think you know about the RCSL?" powerpoint quiz (I found a quiz template from microsoft, so I didn't need to actually create one from scratch!). So far, I have:

* "what do you think RCLS means"
* T/F: This is not your momma's library?
* Guess the number (multiple choice) of full-text articles available.
* Types of library materials available are ....

I wanted to get away from the standard stand up and talk about the resources.

Emily said...

I used to have large index cards with questions on them - you know like "What kind of databases does the library have?" "What can I do with my Student ID?" etc. When I went in (or if the group came to me) I'd tell them that I was pretty absent minded and needed help remembering the questions. Then I'd pick on them randomly - make them tell me their name, etc, and read the card out lout. I'd ham it up "gosh that is a GREAT question"... etc.

KarenE said...

Ok, here's a "silly" question, what CAN students do with their ID cards?

Chandra said...

ID cards serve as library cards for RCLS libraries, and the account on them is needed should a student ever request an ILL from outside the system.

Many businesses offer student discounts. (movie theaters, sporting events, gym memberships)

Some places may even count it as a form of picture ID.

Sara said...

I had one student pick up their ID because (so they said) it was another (legal) form of picture ID. I had another need theirs because they had to send a copy of it along with scholarship forms to try and win a scholarship.

I am not in the orientation sessions anymore; I just take the pictures for the IDs. (they got rid of our 'panel' of staff that would go in and introduce ourselves, give our hours and what we were available for; they now give the library/mentor center one slide on the slide show).

Cynthia said...

The students here are coming to the library in small groups for 15 minutes and the mentor center coordinator and I are doing the "Ron and Cynthia Show." I will use an assortment of your ideas because they all sound good.

KarenE said...

See additonal post for update!