Info Lit Faculty Packet work sessions

This week I held two work sessions for faculty members so that they could receive help on completing the annotated bibliography from the Info Lit training packet. I think the sessions were quite revealing.

We began by going over the history of the Info Lit committee and the introduction included at the beginning of the packet. After highlighting the contents of the packet, I explained the purpose for the annotated bibliography component, and then we went to work. There were very few questions about the packet, and I was never asked why they were being given a task to complete.

Seven instructors and campus leaders (all of whom teach classes now and then) attended. Within the group, there was quite a range of experience with scholarly research and library databases. Some were old pros and got right to work; others could not log into the portal or find the databases without assistance. (Two who couldn't log in had attended database training a year ago, so that shows me how little they've used what I taught them.)

One of my intentions in holding a work session was so that the instructors could share strategies and learn from each other, and that is exactly what happened. I was impressed at the amount of peer teaching that took place. Also, I had hoped that holding a work session with librarian and peer assistance would decrease the anxiety of those who were less familiar with research and citations. I think that was accomplished, but to a lesser degree.

So what did I learn?
1. I need to make a quarterly effort to provide database instruction to adjuncts and full timers, regardless of how long they've been teaching here or whether they attended an intense training session a year ago.
2. Even if someone has been taught how to access to resources, they may not have ever used the electronic library or catalog in a practical application. I think that's true not only of faculty but also of students.

If you have not already done so, I'd encourage you to host a work session for your faculty members as they complete their annotated bibliographies. My faculty members expressed that they were grateful that I had held the sessions.

100th Post & Bibliographies

Greetings Team!

Congratulations to Krista (and the whole team, really) for the 100th blog post yesterday. I am pleased with ALL of your efforts and participation in this environment, and I think that it has been extremely beneficial as a professional development & discussion tool.

On to other matters!

Please don't just use your catalog to search for items to add to your bibliographies. You may have missing items that you have not yet deleted (you may not even know that they are missing). If you want to use the catalog for an initial search, fine, but please pull the books from the shelves to verify they exist. The last thing we need is to have someone come in searching for (or requesting) a book that you don't actually have.

If nothing else, think of the bibliographies as a most excellent collection development tool. By knowing your gaps, you can seek to improve your collection rather precisely.

-E

Ma.gnolia Is Coming

As you may know, one of the tasks Emily assigned to me this semester was to pick a social bookmarking site to host the program links. After casually looking at a few options, it came down to Del.icio.us and Ma.gnolia. They're both free, popular and relatively well established as social bookmarking sites. In the end, I suggested Ma.gnolia for a couple of reasons.

• Visually, it's more appealing.
• The are many different RSS feed options available including simple feeds that only list the title of the website and more advanced feeds that include a thumbnail glimpse at the website. Additionally, all the coding is already written out for you.
• The content of the main page of the bookmarked site is saved so even if the site disappears, you should be able to access the content of that original page to see what was once there.
• Bookmarks can be rated from one to five stars. If there is a site we feel is especially good, it can be stressed with these ratings.
• It's more social. While Del.icio.us has networks, Ma.gnolia has groups. Groups consist of many different users adding bookmarks into a common area. The great thing about groups is that more than one user can rate the bookmarks. Theoretically, the bookmarks could be opened to ratings by professors and students. Right now, there will be only one user account but starting in Ma.gnolia will make the transition to a group easier should that route be chosen.
• Different tags are separated by commas when they're being entered. For instance, if I were to add tags to this blog in Ma.gnolia, I could have a tag "Rasmussen College Library." If I were to enter that same tag in De.licio.us, Rasmussen, College and Library would be considered three different tags. If I wanted all of that information in one tag, I'd have to write RasmussenCollegeLibrary.

Those aren't the only benefits to Ma.gnolia but they are a few of the main reasons I chose it over Del.icio.us. It's not without its faults. It can be slow. It also doesn't have the user generated additional applications like Del.icio.us does. Still, I think it'll work well for Rasmussen College links.

I know you guys are having a webinar introducing you to Ma.gnolia if you aren't already aware of how it works. I don't want to repeat too much of what you'll cover tomorrow so I will just leave you with a link to a written tutorial on Ma.gnolia's site.

Ma.gnolia tutorial

Add-Ons:

Here is a link sto Ma.gnolia's page of draggable boomarks to add to the browser. The link they provide here only gives you a link to bookmark a page. It does not take you to your links.

Online Courses Catch On in U.S. Colleges

Series I heard on NPR's Morning Edition. Second part will air Thursday morning.

To WOW or to MOM - that's the question...

I love this post from the Annoyed Librarian. I think it brought up some very good points. A good librarian should be dedicated and dependable. A good librarian should be "happy to help". A good librarian should be a "cheerleader" to their clientèle.

I do not agree, however, that we shouldn't market ourselves or that we should be "boring", but I get the point of the anonymous blogger.

Librarians should be welcoming but not too pushy, helpful but not too invasive. Librarians should say, come on in, sit down, have a cuppa, and tell mom what you're looking for.

Read the comments too! Lots of thoughtful feedback.

What do you think?

Blerb for Admission Reps

I'm meeting with my campus' admission reps on Friday to tell them what TO say (and what not to say) to prospective students. Has anyone else done so? Success? What exactly did you tell them? Any and all guidance and particulars would be appreciated!

Pillars of the Earth

I have Pillars of the Earth on my list of books to read.

If any of you are planning on using this book for a book club, I thought you might be interested in this game.

Cataloging Links

Greetings,

I've stretched my 2.0 "legs" to offer you the links that were provided at the Cataloging Training from last week, via Delicious:

http://del.icio.us/edoc918/cataloging

Adding Links to Posts

Greetings,

Many of you have done a great job posting in the past few weeks. I wanted to add a tip for you - adding links to other websites in your post. Blogger makes this task extremely simple, and they provide a how-to in the Help File.

Essentially, this tool allows you to add in a link without having to worry about the HTML tags (who wants to deal with that, anyway?) and without having the whole link listed in-text in the blog.

Happy Linking!

How-To Tip of the Day: Win Zip

Good Afternoon:

Many of you have asked about creating or using Zip files as a way to compress and send documents via e-mail. This is especially useful when you are sending large documents (such as Publisher files or videos) or when you are sending multiple files in one e-mail (like when you are sending me or your dean your monthly reports).

I am a big fan of the Win Zip software. It's easy to use and free to try for the first 45 days or so. After that, it costs around $30 (which can be expensed); you can also try talking to your IT person about getting a free copy.

You can find other Zip software programs at The Free Site.

No matter what program you use, they all have some basic properties. Essentially, you have to create a Zip file (the equivalent of a new folder). Once you have named your folder and put it somewhere (Your Documents, H Drive, etc.), you then add the files to it that need to be compressed. Some programs will compress the files automatically; others, you will need to click somewhere or execute the file in order to compress it.

Some programs give you the option of making the file "executable"; meaning that the file that you send via e-mail can automatically be opened by the user and decompressed. Fair warning if you do not select that option, as the user will have to have the same software as you in order to access the files.

The help files for most of these programs should give you sufficient "how-to", but there are plenty available on the web for the use of these software. If you are using WinZip, a very good tutorial is avaialble at this website. A quick Google of "how to use Win zip" yields about 2 million results.

Distance Learning

Nicole over at What I Learned Today posted a list of Distance Education Programs offered by various Colleges and Universities across these great United States.

Some of the programs are for MLS, other Doctorate. Now, I'm not suggesting that any of you try to tack on another degree, but you may want to consider taking a course or two to improve a specific skill set.

The college does offer some tuition reimbursement and other benefits for continuing education. Most of you do have some kind of monies available for professional development beyond your State Conference and the Team Meeting - so if you choose to invest it this way, so be it.

As we seek out ways to share internet links more efficiently (i.e., social bookmarking), we will work to specifically identify free resources for Professional Development for librarians.
-E

New electronic book reader--maybe this one will stick around???!?

Article on new reader sold through Amazon.com. Kinda slams it on the tech/aesthetics side of it--I found it more interesting about the other 'plastic' paper that has been created.

Amazon.com Hopes To Kindle Interest With E-BookAmazon's e-reader is supposed to be the future of books. So why does it look as if it was built last century?
By Andy Greenberg

View the Article Here

Personality Surveys

I was just reading through the Survey Monkey comments (for those of you who have not yet completed your survey - that would be around 8 of you - SLACKERS!)... and one of the comments mentioned that we didn't discuss our personality types.

I meant to mention them during the Dean-Librarian Communication presentation, but it slipped my mind. As mentioned, though, your own understanding of your personality type is critical to understanding how you work (alone) and how you best work with others. It also speaks to the areas that you may need improvement - for example, an introverted person may have fears when presenting to a group, etc.

I am an INFJ: Introverted (57%), Intuitive (91%), Feeling (55%), & Judging (55%). I find it interesting that in three of the categories, I almost could have steered either direction.

I especially like this quote from the definition of an INFJ:
"They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the wordl. On the contrary - INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few..."

So...

1. What were your results?
2. Do you agree/disagree and why?
3. How do you think that you can use this information to improve your relationship with your Academic Dean or other managers on your campus/in our system?
4. If you've taken a similar test in the past, are your results close or not at all alike?

Microsoft Office 2007 Ditties

Greetings Librearthlings (that would be a cross between Librarians and Earthlings):

In an effort to prepare ourselves a bit for the onslaught of Microsoft Office 2007 questions, I've provide a few resources (below) for your perusing and experimental (the G-rated kind) pleasure:

Microsoft Office Trial - The trial is for Excel, Word, and Access (Publisher may be included but it looks the same to me). It will run in full-version for 60 days. Word 2007 will not work as your text editor for Outlook 2003, FYI.
Many Training Courses - You can access training videos for both 2007 and 2003 here. No downloads required. I recommend starting with Word first and working your way to the more complex programs.
Demos - The product demos are also pretty clever.
The Compatibility Pack - allows you to open, edit, and save documents, workbooks, and presentations in the file formats new to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.

More to come....

Internet Librarian 2007

"Information Today, Inc. returned to Monterey in 2007 to present the 11th annual Internet Librarian – the ONLY conference for information professionals who are using, developing, and embracing Internet, Intranet, and Web-based strategies in their roles as information architects and navigators,Webmasters and Web managers, content evaluators and developers, taxonomists, searchers, community builders, information providers, trainers, guides, and more."

I so would have loved to have gone! Lots of Web 2.0 topics. I've been following a number of library blogs about the conference, and now presentations have been posted. Enjoy perusing!

• Information Discovery & Search
• Public Libraries
• Web Design & Development
• Strategies & Best Practices
• Learning: More than Teaching
• Enterprise Trends
• Organization & Roles
• Virtual Worlds & Libraries
• Gadgets, Gadgets, & Gaming!
• Search Engines
• Content Management (CM)
• Digital Libraries, Systems, Operations
• Games, Videos & Libraries
• Mashups and Gaming: Leveraging Social Phenomena
• WEB 2.0 -> LIBRARY 2.0
• Information Literacy and 2.0 Technologies

Cultural Component of Plagiarism

I just read an article that emphasized the different international perceptions of plagiarism. There are international societies that believe information is shared and therefore owned by the whole society. 85% of the "scholastic dishonesty" cases at the U of M were from non-native speakers of English! I think that being knowledgeable about this cultural issue can only help us as librarians to be more aware of the needs of our international students.

Click here to read the C & RL article.

An older article on the same topic.

Library Team Meeting - Pictures, Survey, & More

Librarians:

Thank you for an EXCELLENT meeting on Thursday and Friday. I enjoyed meeting with all of you. I appreciate your attentiveness and your active participation with one another and with our speakers.

Below are some pictures from Thursday's Dinner. Enjoy!

Please take this Library Team Meeting Survey before the end of the week to help me improve our future meetings and events.

Thank You!

Faculty Workshop

My first faculty workshop was held this morning and I think it went fairly well! Three faculty members were in attendance (there were only 4 on campus) and they all seemed interested and engaged. The session was informal and purposely conversational.

I began by showing them the library's page on CHIPSnet and the guides we've created, which they seemed to appreciate. Next, I had fun showing them some of EBSCO's advanced features, such as the Visual Search, Subject Headings, the Index, and the Advanced Search tab. They were super impressed with the visual search, and agreed with me that there are visual learners that may be more comfortable with databases if presented through the visual search.

We also spent some time looking at the features in newspaper databases and at some subject specific databases. Our Massage Therapy instructor was very impressed with CINAHL and the Evidence Based Care Sheets - we agreed that her students have no excuse for not finding reliable information!

Some pointers and things I will keep in mind for the next faculty workshop: 1) Offer one session on a Friday or a day when most faculty are available - offering several sessions provides too many options and then no one attends! 2) Food might be something nice to offer faculty - although one would hope it's not a requirement! 3) Hold separate sessions for each major discipline or subject area. I found that I wanted to go much more in-depth on each database, but lacked the time because I was attempting to show too many subject-specific databases.

Issues w/ Wikipedia

I read the article from the Chronicle about the Wikipedia. It's interesting and kind of ironic that not only Rasmussen College students use heavily the Wiki, but that my University of Florida students, who are supposed to be more "serious" and "academic", also tend to use it at the beginning of the semester. On the second essay, though, that they are assigned, they quickly eliminate the source from their papers. I tend to agree with the Chronicle statement and the owner of the WIKI.

On the other hand, though articles taken from "general encyclopedias" should not be used in serious papers, specialized articles from "subject" or "discipline-oriented" encyclopedias CAN be used, and should be used, especially if they are signed articles. The information contained may be useful in the introduction or background of the paper. So encyclopedias are also valid sources to use in a serious academic essay.

Extra Credit

Do any of the instructors on your campuses offer extra credit for their students if they attend a library workshop?

It's just an idea I have to increase attendance at my workshops. I'd appreciate your input.

Thank you!

Free Stuff From Database Vendors

The following info came from the latest ALDirect (American Libraries)...



Enjoy!

Marketing for workshops or study-a-thons

Here is the signage that we used for the most recent study-a-thon at Eagan.. I think this creative signage is what brought a lot of students to campus.. Also, free food always helps.

I think creative signage could definitely draw students for workshops too. My open workshops have really low attendance..

Creating AutoText

Librarians:

I have finished creating the "General Survey" in Survey Monkey.

The direct link to this survey is:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Lo7kv1LqQ946LlxZ2f1l0Q_3d_3d

You will probably not want this survey in every e-mail that you send, so I suggest that you create an AutoText that you can add to your e-mails at your whim.

To create an AutoText:

1. Open Microsoft Word
2. Type in the text just as you want it to appear in your e-mail (including hyperlinks)
3. Highlight the text with your mouse.
4. Click on the Insert Menu, then AutoText, then New.
5. Name your text (for the sake of this conversation, I named mine survey).

Now, when you want to enter it in an e-mail, click on your Insert menu, then AutoText, then select "survey" from your list (in my list, it is under Normal).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Fighting the good fight

Interesting article on what campus librarians are doing to hold back federal intelligence agencies:

Campus Librarians Fight Proposed Expansion of Surveillance Powers, from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2517/campus-librarians-fight-proposed-expansion-of-surveillance-powers?at

Dumb girls asks for a hamburger at a library

Really funny! I guess I would share w/ you some humor. Hope you enjoy. Here is the url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHX2mvFVQMs

Serafin

Social Networking ...or how I learned how to use Facebook...and why I think we ALL should!

I am teaching two sections of Success Strategies. I actually love teaching and enjoy the challenge to juggle both librarian and faculty duties.

One section is a Monday night class. The other is Tuesday and Thursday morning ... 8 am. Unfortunately, the students in the 8am class aren't what I would call "morning people." To make it more interesting, I'm a bit tired on Tuesday mornings from teaching the night before.

One Tuesday morning a few weeks ago, I was teaching on the topic of how to find information on the internet effectively. The 6 students in the class were following along with me on their own computers as we were looking at meta search engines and subject directories online. For some reason, I mentioned Facebook, and how I had just made an account with my Rasmussen.edu email. I opened up Facebook to show them my account, and I was stunned to see 5 new "friends" notifications! They were from 5 of the 6 students in the classroom! These students have since then "thrown ghosts", waved, shared pictures on their profile I can use as "fodder" in class (nice costume, Caleb!).

I definitely think students, especially of that particular age group that is not afraid to use technology, will find me more approachable. The students who are willing to try new technology (like the 6th person in the classroom who didn't yet have an account) has tried it out and feels more like the other students, despite the age difference.

Facebook is only one of many social networking tools that librarians obviously are using to their advantage (see all of the library-related groups available)! I'm attempting to load meebo.com as a widget on the site as well.

Feel free to add me when / if you have a Facebook account. It's pretty darn fun besides.

Study tool

Has anyone heard about or used this study tool called "StudyPerfect"? It was reviewed in one of my geek blogs I follow called "Cool Tools". There is a cost of $25 per license, with discounts for multiple licenses, but it does offer a free trial download for 30 days.

One of my "high-maintenance" students is primarily an auditory learner, and she is having a difficult time in her Medical Terminology. I've passed this on to her with the thought that this might be a possible solution to her situation.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any other suggestions for this particular student?

THANKS!

Office 2007

I am looking at all that is available for Office 2007, trying to decide what to purchase for the library. There are step by step books, teach yourself visually books, plain and simple books, and bibles. So my question to those of you who are familiar with any of these resources is what do you like/dislike about them and why.

Another Introduction Post

I see I'm not the only one who had the idea to make an introduction today. I'm glad; it makes this somewhat easier now that Serafin has gone first. My name is Krista Jacobson and I am the new Online Library Intern. I am thrilled to have been chosen out of a candidate pool of...one. As you can see, it wasn't exactly my resume that blew Emily away but instead the fact that I was ready and willing. That said, I actually feel incredibly fortunate as the topic of how Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 can enhance the distance learning experience has been of particular interest to me ever since I studied it as part of an Academic Libraries class. (In fact, if you're interested, you can check out a blog I created for the class examining both the positive offerings of Web 2.0 as well as some of the negative implications of the movement. It was an assignment and nothing groundbreaking but here is a link if you're curious. )

My background:

I am originally from WI. I attended UW Madison where I majored in French and Spanish. I then went to my hometown (Stevens Point) where I followed in the footsteps of my teacher parents and pursued my degree in education. After I graduated, I went to France where I taught English at the I.U.F.M. d'Angers (Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres), a post graduate program for future teachers in France. After returning to the States, I taught French in a high school in IL for a year. I was planning on continuing to teach once I moved to the Twin Cities but I found a job outside of education while exploring what it would take to get a MN teaching license and discovered that I didn't miss being in a high school. I didn't want to leave education completely, however, and enrolled at the College of St. Catherine in the MLIS program.

To start, I'll be researching instant message programs for future instant message reference and social tagging software for the libraries. I know Amy from a class and I hope I'll get to meet the rest of you in the future. Unfortunately, I have a 8-5 job that prevents me from being able to participate in the phone call conferences and I'm not sure yet whether or not I'll be able to take a day off in two weeks for the full meeting. I hope so.

~Krista

Tidbits from a Hybrid

The title might be a bit strange, Tidbits from a Hybrid, but it does reflect my academic training and interests throughout my career--I only have 7 more years to go. I obtained my first degree 35 years ago in the field of anthropology and psychology. It was a mere bachelor of arts degree, but something was something. I had been just recently discharged from the Army after my Vietnam tour in 1968-69. My Vietnam experience has had a lasting impression on me. But I have been able to cope with it all these years.

Shortly thereafter, I entered my first Masters program in library science, finishing the degree in two (2) full years with summers. I worked in residence; that is, there was no such a thing as "online" versions of obtaining a master's or doctorate degrees. I view negatively the "online" environment of obtaining a full education. A few years later, and working as a librarian in a local university in Puerto Rico, I went on to the obtain a second Master's degree in folklore and literature. Again, a residence program; no "online"; just plain old scholarship, reading and writing papers. It took me 2 years to finish it. By that time I was working at Gary Public Library (Indiana) as a reference and local history librarian. Immediately after graduating I went on to The University of Chicago to obtain a certificate of advanced studies beyond the Masters.

As you can see, I have been constantly studying and working for many years. It was a challenge to be both student, worker, husband and father, but the Lord helped me out; not to abandon my wife and children. They represented (and still do) the great priority in my life. About 2 years ago (I had been working on a doctorate in English language and literature for some 5.5 years), I was awarded a doctorate (non-online) in English from the University of Puerto Rico, with a specialty in Anglo-Caribbean literature. I have also been teaching English for the same amount of years. I guess, as you can appreciate it, I am a kind of hybrid, being a librarian, folklorist, professor of literature, poet and short story writer. It is probably this that gets me many times into trouble with supervisors.

I hope you enjoy this posting. By the way, this is my first or second posting, and I am just experimenting. I also have been blogging for a few years, and you can view my students' blogs at the following url: http://www.srs-pr.com/blog-2/ Sorry if I sound ego-centric; I am not, once you get to know me. See you all in two weeks or so ...... God bless. / Serafin Roldan