Minnesota Library Assocation Conference - Recap

The MLA conference was held Nov. 19-21 at the Sheraton in Bloomington. Several of the metro-area librarians were able to attend, and for the most part, I think we succeeded in achieving our goals of networking, learning, contributing, and getting lots of free stuff. Ok, I actually take that last one back; I think the vendors were a bit disappointing this year. Space was somewhat limited, and the vendors were located pool-side -- definitely not the best set-up.

Aside from a somewhat lackluster vendor area, the conference went very well. I attended the following sessions:

1) Negativity at work
2) Undergrads in the Reference Stacks? Using Reference Universe for Composition 101 Topics
3) Bridging the Divide
4) Government Information in the 21st Century
5) Everybody on the Bus...Let's Get It Done
6) What Do College Students Learn In High School About Research?
7)Wikipedia and Us

Several other sessions were attended by either Dan, Dennis, or Amy.

I was very interested throughout the session on what high school students learn about research. The presenter had interviewed and surveyed several HS media specialists and collected data and commentary on what IL concepts are taught in their high schools. Overall it appears as though HS students are missing out on a great deal of IL instruction. While they know how to use computers better than a lot of us, the concept of using a database rather than a random website is still foreign to them. It also sounds like HS media specialists experience difficulties with getting classroom time to present IL concepts. Ultimately, it's up to us as college librarians to determine the level our students are at. One suggestion was to simply handout a survey to new students in our IL sessions to ask them what their familiarity is with various items like: using databases, exploring credible websites, writing papers, etc... I may try this in the future.

The other session that really captured my interest was Wikipedia and Us. I, like many other people, will occasionally use Wikipedia. I have always instructed students to only use it as a guide for conducting further research. Most people in the group tended to agree with this; however, we did launch into a rather lengthy discussion on Wikipedia versus Britannica. Both have errors, both face revisions, both are cited as sources and really shouldn't be. If you're interested in learning more about Wikipedia, I have copied the "Wikipedia and Us Suggested Readings" into GoogleDocs.

It was great to have the opportunity to attend this conference. I always enjoy myself and walk away with some new ideas and a more positive outlook.

Successes

I did an "Intro to the Library Resources" for one section of Success Strategies last week and I implemented a couple of new items we talked about at our team meeting.

1. There were ~ 18 students. I had them sit in tables according to the School of their program. They were curious as to why there were more at the table of the School of Allied Health. I took the opportunity to let them know that 50% of the school's students were in that school.
   
2. After showing how the books were organized, I had them in their groups physically take books off the shelves and look at what they had to offer. I've never done this specifically before, and it proved to be a huge success! I gave each one a self-check out form, and I had more than 3/4 of them check out books! A HUGE boon to my circulation statistics. I will expand upon this next quarter and have every introduction workshop have this same sort of component.
   
3. I used Dennis' "half-sheet response' and was delighted to read them afterwards. I will continue doing this type of assessment for me.
   

Intergenerational Classrooms

I would like to study how librarians and faculty can best instruct information literacy concepts to an intergenerational classroom.

Understanding the different learning styles and how students interact will help librarians and faculty meet the needs of students and improve the teaching style for information literacy purposes.

Here are some questions that I have. I would love feedback from librarians/faculty that hold workshops and teach intergenerational classrooms. You can respond by commenting on this blog or by email: amys@rasmussen.edu

1. Who is more likely to participate in class discussion- traditional aged students or non-traditional adult learners?

2. T/F You cannot teach all ages the same way.

3. T/F Traditional aged students view adult non-traditional students as more knowledgeable because they may have more work/life experience.

4. T/F There is limited interaction between non-traditional and traditional aged students.

5. T/F By the end of a course non-traditional and traditional aged students realize that they can really learn from each other.

6. T/F When using or discussing technology in the classroom, there is a wide gap in understanding technology between traditional students and non-traditional aged students.

7. T/F Traditional aged students have a shorter attentional span in the classroom.

8. T/F Outside of class, non-traditional students spend more time on assignments and preparing for class.

Do you have any suggestions for alternative questions?


* This was cross-posted on my blog.

Do students retain information literacy training?

I think that by now.. a lot of you are already reading Stephen's Lighthouse! ... but I thought this article was interesting about how much students retain about IL..

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.