Intro to Library Presentation: Success!

Since Jan was out today, I volunteered to take over her presentation to a mid-start Success Strategies class. All that I know was that the instructor had given me about an hour to talk about the resources in the Online library.

Normally when I give this presentation, I run through the resources (sometimes with students following along, sometimes not) and the results are the same: students' eyes glaze over, they play solitaire or work on assignments, etc. It's frustrating to me, in part because I believe I deserve their respect, in part because I know that I'm sharing information that will be valuable to them down the road - probably a very short road.

I came up with a solution this morning as I was waking up. I'm only blogging about it because it happened to be successful, I think. After I set up the laptop, I passed out 11x14 sheets of paper to each student. I had the entire class turn off their computer monitors. Then, we talked about maps. I talked about how a map gets a person from one point to another, that the legend usually identifies rivers, railroads, Chuck E Cheeses, etc. (they laughed).

Then, I asked them to use the paper to create a map that they could use to navigate the library website. I told them that they could write all text, or they could draw out a map with pictures and arrows, etc. I encouraged them to include the key resources that they thought would be helpful in their program. I also told them that their instructor would collect them at the end of class to take a look at the maps, and then hand them back so that the students could use them as a guide.

The instructor did not know in advance. Thankfully, she likes me.

We walked through the catalog. I identified each of the databases by program, and we took a look at Academic Search Complete and Points of View (may favorite, but all of the students liked it). We looked at the Magnolia sites, and then APA tools. I showed them Noodlebib and how to create a APA-formatted paper using the export feature (they loved it). I showed them Ask a Librarian, and then logged into Meebo and chatted with myself.

They had questions! They asked about getting back into the databases, using Noodlebib, using MEEBO, and about the Magnolia sites. I stayed to watch the instructor collect the maps, and a couple of students were really worried that they wouldn't get them back! Many of the students asked about the assignment that they have for their Success class (a six page paper - egads!) All of the maps contained substantial notes, and many had visuals (arrows, images). I believe that it's a legitimate assessment for what is otherwise a potentially mundane and/or overwhelming workshop.

I need to get back in the classroom more often. I love doing workshops and I miss connecting that way with students.