Wiki for Annual 2009 in Chicago

Usually updates more often than the website- http://wikis.ala.org/annual2009/index.php/Main_Page

I've been back... just been busy & am catching up on things at the campus! Will send a message by Fri w/info from Midwinter.

Preliminary program is on the website


Reference & User Services Association (RUSA) Programs-
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/events/annual09/index.cfm

Chat Reference

I love chat reference and our Meebo sessions. I wish it was available to our students 24/7, but I certainly do not want to be the person working in the wee hours of the night. :)

One of the sessions that I attended at the MLA Conference (November 2008) was about a digital reference services that is 24/7. In the future, we might want to consider a similar option through a cooperative service. This service is through Minnesota Libraries and QuestionPoint, a National Reference Cooperative.

Name of the session: AskMN: The Librarian Is In

This session explained how many libraries are teaming up to have 24/7 instant messaging services for patrons. They are now able to have the librarians at a site get first “dibs” on a question posed by their patron. If the librarian at that location is not able to answer the question after a certain period of time OR if their library is closed, the question will be picked up at another location. The participating libraries pay for this service. They provide logins and passwords so librarians that are not working for the institutions where the questions are posed are then able to access the same databases granted to those patrons. Therefore, they are able to “see” what the virtual patron is navigating. This would be a great service for Rasmussen due to the 24/7 availability. The only login and password would be needed as the Non-Rasmussen librarian logged into the Student Portal. The website for this services is AskMN.org, and participating libraries can put the widget on their library homepages. The libraries that are currently utilizing this service are both academic and public. This session was led by Carla Steinberg Pfahl from MINITEX.

Categorizing Grid CAT

Last week I did a workshop for Intro to Criminal Justice. Since the majority of the class was first quarter students, the instructor asked for an overview of the library resources. When he saw the PowerPoint for using the library for great research, he decided to go with that. For assessment with the Intro to Library Resources workshops I had been using a questionnaire based on the one that Amy created. I wanted to try something different this time, so I did the Categorizing Grid, where students had to put the terms under the proper category. It was a simple assessment that didn't take much time to create or implement, and only a few of the students got a couple of the terms mixed up.

Problems with Plagiarism

Recently, our campus has experienced a few plagiarism issues with students. I have been asked to read over papers in question and comment on the citation or lack there of. Our dean has since asked me to provide a handout for faculty and for students with concrete examples of proper and improper paraphrasing and quoting. Searching for these examples I have come across a couple universities that provide some well done examples Princeton's:
http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/plagiarism.html

Indiana University's
http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/example1paraphrasing.html

Let me know of any others you suggest or content you think might be appropriate.
Thanks,
Beth

Resources for Foundations of English

Two quarters ago, students came to me with issues about online Foundations of English class. I quickly found out that the class did not have a text book and the students were struggling. One of our adjuncts had recommended the book, Writers Inc: A student handbook for writing and learning. I have two copies - one for reference and one for circulation. This book proved to be quited helpful with that class. The circ copy gets checked out, and just came back yesterday.
The other recommendation I had from another adjunct, now full-time instructor, was Painless grammar. I again ordered two copies and the circ copy is currently checked out.

Both books have been helpful to me when I am assisting students. For those of you who do not have the books already, you might consider acquiring them for your library.

Timely news

I'm always glad when students take time to sit on our sofa and read the paper, or read newspapers online. And I always try to incorporate some news in each month's themed display. For "Financial Wellness Month," I have info on Rhode Island Sen. Claiborne Pell, who passed away New Year's Day at age 90. In the 1970s, he spearheaded the program that is now known as Pell Grants. Of course that program means so much to so many of our students.

In past months, I had articles on Seminole tribe events and Hispanic award programs. Often the local papers' coverage dovetails with our library themes. There will be a lot of news for Black History Month!

Circ Success

One of the displays we're doing this month is on fiction (regular popular novels... FIC :-) I've advertised this in the weekly announcements & on our kiosk. Amazingly, students have been checking out books! Another "gimmick" is that I point out to students that we have a few titles in the collection written by a Gen Ed instructor.

Why our team meeting will never be in Bismarck

Yesterday, our low tempertature was -44 degrees. The high temperature for the day was -19 degrees. Yes, that was the high.

How cold is -44? That's just as far from the freezing point as is 108 degrees.

I'll stop pressuring the rest of you to visit Bismarck. Now I understand why the answer is always no. :)

Chinese proverbs

One of my ask a librarian questions this week was about Chinese Proverbs. The student was given the following proverb.

“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.”

Here is the assignment:

(1) defining what the quote is about; (2) challenging your assumptions about what it might be saying - that is, not jumping to an initial emotional response; (3) collecting any pertinent factors about the author or statement - as in the author's biography or the craft of the writing (check the Internet!); (4) evaluating the quote in its own context and not just your own frame of reference; (5) finally, offering your own "informed" opinion of the quote in relation to the truth of "You and the Humanities."

Has anyone seen this assignment before? I could find the proverb, but nothing about it or the author.

Any suggestions?

In two weeks I have done 7 presentations. 5 were done in the Allied Health field. As I was presenting last night, I found myself pausing, I couldn't remember what to say about a database! And I felt like I was repeating information that I already told the students but I am pretty sure it was information given in another presentation. Do you ever second guess yourself as your presenting or do so many of them that you forget what has been said in the one you are doing? I am trying to present the resources in different orders and stopping to ask if there are any questions and moving around so that I can get students to talk back to me. Let me know what you do, other than claim age as the culprit or the frigid weather in Minnesota!

More on Faculty Collaboration

I have the good fortune of having one of the authors of "First-Year Writing Teachers, Perceptions of Students' Information Literacy Competencies, and a Call for a Collaborative Approach" here at the Fargo campus. We are in the planning stages of a joint presentation for the faculty based on this paper and its findings. I have attached a link for you to view.
http://www.comminfolit.org/index.php/cil/article/view/Spring2008AR1

13 things you should do when you think you don't have anything to do

Because I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you have stopped reading my e-mails to you...

1. Add your best formative assessments to the FA Best Practices folder on Google Docs.
2. Help your follow librarians by adding their FA Best Practices.
3. Update your binder. Make sure you have the most current worksheets, policies, procedures, etc. (If you aren’t sure, ask).
4. Pre-plan your next book or board display. Take pictures of your current display and post them to FlickR.
5. Pick the brains of faculty, staff and students for purchasing ideas – even if it means leaving the library for a bit and chilling out in the lounges.
6. Order publisher’s catalogs online or over the phone.
7. Make sure your professional development is up to date, signed by your Dean, and in your binder.
8. PDF copies of professional development handouts and notes to Google Docs.
9. Review our policies and handouts. Is one missing or does something need updated? Check with Emily to get the Word version, then create or fix it.
10. Work on your campus or program websites.
11. Craft an email reminder about our resources for your programmatic/subject faculty.
12. Call Steve Wettergren and find out if you can help provide resources for a course build.
13. Call Emily and find out what project she’s six months behind on.

Hurrah for books!

" ... There is fantastic information in books. Often when I do a search, what is in a book is miles ahead of what I find on a Web site,” according to Sergey Brin, a Google founder and its president of technology, as quoted in the Jan. 5, 2009, edition of the New York Times.

Brin was interviewed in the story "Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books," by Motoko Rich, who covers the books beat for the Times. The article does a good job giving an update on the Google book project, the recent copyright lawsuit settlement, etc...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/technology/internet/05google.html

Workshop scheduling

Last quarter (also my first quarter) was a mess when it came to workshops. In some cases, I was asked to give a workshop on using the library on my second day (it wasn't pretty), and in other cases, I never even met a faculty member until there were three weeks left in the quarter, and he asked me to teach how to use the library, research a topic, and create APA citations - in one night. Ugh. I just tried to do the best I could and spent a lot of time on damage control.

But this quarter, I am far more organized, and am ready to approach workshops in a new light. My dean and I worked together and came up with a great gameplan. First, she told new faculty that I would be coming into their classes to conduct workshops - so rather than waiting for them to come to me, the faculty already expect that I will be a part of their lesson plans from the beginning. Also, I sat down with my dean and brainstormed how to break down my topics into smaller chunks - so although I will be giving more frequent workshops, the students will (hopefully) absorb more and learn more.

I hope that these steps will 1) provide more interaction and collaboration with the faculty (esp. since my dean actively encourages faculty to work with me), and 2) engage the students and encourage more information literacy. We'll see!

Collaboration (CD/Assignments) with Faculty

I thought I would share a recent collaboration, of sorts, that developed with one of our instructors. After adding a significant batch of new materials to the collection, I email the list of titles to the faculty, AD, DSL, and Campus Director. This is also a good project for a student assistant- to type up the title list from invoices, and send to you. Rarely, do I hear any feedback from the faculty, but they are kept in the loop as to what has been added to the collection. At the end of last quarter, one of our Allied Health instructors came by to tell me she had noticed a title on the list, looked at it, loved it, and was going to develop an assignment requiring students actually use the set of books! I spoke with her today, and she has incorporated this assignment into her syllabus for this quarter. ...In addition, the list helped with a prior accreditation list in that the CD rec'd a question, remembered that I send out the list, and since I save them was able to show an example.

A Process, Not an Event

Sometimes it's hard to tell if library circulation is increasing. Sure, there are the rush weeks when papers are due. But other than that, it's sometimes hard to tell if all that spending and cataloging have had any effect. Well, in the 2.75 years since we put shelves and books in our campus library, growth in item circulation has been more of a process than an event. I didn't see the growth happen, but it did!

• 2006, 92 items checked out (3 quarters)
• 2007, 268 items checked out
• 2008, 612 items checked out

Pretty good for a campus with fewer than 500 students (many of whom live outside of the area) and about 1100 items!

Blogger's Block

Well, I have finally posted to the Blog. (Emily I hope you are seated). One of my New Year's resolutions was to post, so now I can check it off the list! The second resolution is to get more organized, well I'm more like organized chaos grounded in the Meg Wheatley theory of Chaos. http://www.well.com/~bbear/wheatley.html

I'm working on collaboration this upcoming quarter, and that means sharing more original works on the blog!

I am putting together a faculty packet of useful information. With that I created a cover letter in a bulleted format of the things we have to offer the students and faculty. It isn't complicated, but I think it serves two purposes. One, the faculty will think about what we have to offer, and two maybe sneak a peek for their own knowledge to possibly update their skills. It is a start...