What makes it all worthwhile

This was a really tough quarter at Rockford. I didn't have time to get all the things done that needed to be done. Anytime I actually had time on my calendar something would come up and my time would be gone.

Anyway, what made it all worthwhile was the feedback I got from students, though not through Survey Monkey (see earlier post). It all started with the winner of Matt's Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad....Business World game. Matt did a short interview with Damon Thomas and here is the relevant part:

Gargano: “Do you have a favorite staff member?”

Thomas: Yes. Cynthia Reynolds because she’s always happy and always greets people with a smile. She makes me feel comfortable.”

During the last week of classes, another student came by to thank me for all the help I had given her and a classmate. She said that she wouldn't have gotten her paper done without my help. Two students asked me to come to their business class while they did their presentations. I had a voicemail waiting for me when I arrived the other day from another student. He wanted to thank me for listening and understanding and to share the grades he was getting. While I was composing this post, a student came by to thank me for all of the help I had given her with her computer class. (And I repel technology!) So, at the end of the day, this is what makes my job meaningful and why I look forward to coming to work.

Collection Development & Faculty Development

I wish I could take credit for this, but that goes to my Dean, Heather. Heather knows how I struggle to get faculty recommendations when it comes time to place library resource orders. Her idea this quarter was to devote some faculty development time to recommending resources. Last night at the end of faculty development, I handed out publisher catalogs and resource recommendation forms, and put the URLs for RCL Web and Choice on the white board, and let them have at it. Unfortunately, Choice was inaccessible, but faculty still came up with over 40 requests. Also, there was positive feedback about it in the faculty development evaluation. I believe the plan is to continue to incorporate this into the faculty development sessions.

Magnolia sites and new library webpage

On our call today, we discussed how to better utilize our Magnolia links. I've been working on the MLT page for the new library webpage, and I tried something to make it easier to zoom in on the relevant MLT links.

When I tag a Magnolia link as MLT, I also try to give it a more specific tag, such as a hematology or microbiology. On the MLT page of our Springshare library site, I've been able to include links right to the specific tag.

If you'd like to see what I've done, go to our library page http://rasmussen.libguides.com and the view the MLT page.

Disruptive Patrons

I’ve had several incidents this week with disruptive patrons and was wondering if my fellow librarians had any tips. During finals week a certain “seriousness of purpose” takes over normally sociable students, stressed out by the prospect of taking final exams. I feel bad for these students when other, disruptive patrons (not always students, sometimes their children, etc.) create disturbances in the library.

Many libraries have a “Patron Code of Conduct” which outlines acceptable behavior in the library and how to remedy situations. We are not a public library, and I’m not saying we should take the time to compose a Patron Code of Conduct, but it is an idea. I really liked the Mooresville Public Library Patron Code of Conduct (http://www.mooresvillelib.org/index.php/Patron-Code-of-Conduct.html). Personally, I have dealt with every item on the “Various Behavior Problems” list except for smoking and loitering.

In the past week, I had a student carry a boom-box into the library playing loud music and they were appalled when I told them to turn it off. I have dealt with students using obscene language very loudly and sounding threatening. Others have played Youtube™ clips at full volume on their laptops and turned loose their kids to wreak havoc on the library. I know many of you encounter the same issues, so please share your ideas/experiences.

Rockford Study-A-Thon

Rockford had it's first study-a-thon last Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It started in the student lounge with food and from there students could go to different rooms for help. All of the full time faculty were here to provide help in the different program areas. There were also a couple of adjuncts that came in to help with math and English. I was in the library for research and paper writing. A total of 32 students participated in the event. There were some instructors who had no students and some who had several. I had about five students in the library. After it was over, I had two students come in who needed help with their papers and I worked with them the rest of the day. The event was organized by the Mentor Center Coordinator. I would say that it was a successful first attempt. We may revisit the date and time for future study-a-thons.

Success - Monthly Display

Emily suggested I share this with the team :-) ... For the Fall diversity displays, we have branched out of the library into the Student Lounge. We took over one of the larger bulletin boards & my student assistants have created colorful and informative displays. In addition, we have books and handouts on one of our study tables in the library. (I'll get the pics on FLICKR sometime in the near future...) For December, we're doing Spiritual Awareness Month. I've noticed students reading the material on the board, and one student checked out a book the other day!

Interesting article (since we've been discussing (in passing) oursourcing our IM). I was very surprised at the amount though (would like to see the break down in services, hours, etc. to get to that amount).

Library for Hire: Johns Hopkins U. Sells Services to an Online College

Scavenger Hunt in Success Strategies

I did a version of the "Library Scavenger Hunt" in multiple Success Strategies classes this quarter and all seemed to enjoy it. I divided it into three parts: Part 1 finding electronic resources, Part 2 finding print items in the library and Part 3 citing these items using NoodleBib. I did a mock "hunt" while the class was viewing my search via the Proxima, then let them work on their hunt by program area for about 20 minutes then we went to the library . This does take more than the usual 45min.-hour workshop time and all the classes needed additional time the following class to finish up. I gave them a handout with the assignment and our SurveyMonkey workshop address at the bottom. My handout is on Googledocuments if anyone would like to use it.

Book Displays

Friday I received new display shelving. I was finally able to remove my book displays from the actual book shelves (where they tend to get lost) to the revolving pyramid display furniture. Since it has three sides, I was able to do three displays. I included the books for Spiritual Literacy Month, along with New Books and Books for Break. Yesterday four books were checked out from the display, so it appears to be working.

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.

Trial- Guide to Reference

While taking a break from finishing up my term paper (haha), I found this free trial for Guide to Reference. Here's the link with the info http://www.guidetoreference.org/HomePage.aspx

ALA July 2009

Registration rates are now available for the Annual Conference in Chicago. Registration begins Jan. 5 http://staging.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/upcoming/annual/2009/registration.cfm
ALCTS has added pre-conference & program information for the Annual Conference http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/index.cfm

-->If you would like to get an idea of what schedules look like, the "full daily schedule" is online for Midwinter. Although, keep in mind the Annual Conference has programs and meetings, while MW is primarily for "business of the association".

Collaborating with Associate Director of Admissions

I have two areas to do books displays no bulletin boards. I knew that one had to be spiritual but I was not sure what I was going to put in the new area. I looked at the topics Emily put on the calendar for us and I became interested in the Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness month because I have had friends and relatives touched by this problem. I realized that I did not have much on the shelves for this topic and I wanted this display to be more informational so I contacted Jen, Associate director of Admissions, and asked her if we had any partnerships with banks. Jen goes out into the community and creates partnerships with businesses among other community activities. Jen was excited that I asked and immediately hooked me up with a rep from the local Wells Fargo bank. He came in and we discussed what they could offer. Starting Thursday we will have a display up on Identity theft in the library and on Wednesday the rep will be coming to the school to present in Success Strategies and Accounting 1. He will also do an open workshop just before night classes. I will do the advertising but he will do all the talking. I have also set him up with an instructor for next quarter that would like him to come in and present on the same topic. I'm so excited that this display will go further than just that! Jen told me that if I can come up with other topics that would reach out into the community she will help me bring them in and we can do more of the same! What fun this will be, my displays can come alive because they will be more than something to look at.

Survey Monkey surveys

I have checked my results in Survey Monkey for both the general and workshop surveys, and the number of results are disappointing. I have had 11 completed for workshops and 4 for the general satisfaction survey. In workshops, I distribute handouts that have the link on them and tell the students at the beginning and end of the workshop that they will be entered to win a $50 Target Gift Card if they fill out the survey. I have signs in the library promoting the general survey along with slips of paper on the tables and on my desk with the information. What are you doing to get students to fill out the survey?

ESL Article

I found a great article through WebJunction (but published elsewhere) that discusses how some libraries are reaching out to Spanish-speaking populations. Most of the libraries are public, but I think they include some good ideas - and all of the suggestions could work for other non-Spanish ESL learners.

http://www.criticasmagazine.com/article/CA6606945.html?nid=2712&rid=reg_visitor_id&source=title

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.
   

Collaboration!

I wanted to share with all of you a recent experience working together with faculty. Earlier this week, one of my English Comp. instructiors had both of her classes watch "An Inconvenient Truth," and after a break, I came in to do a workshop on finding/using library resources. I structured the class around the topic of environmentalism and climate change, and showed the students very specific places to conduct their research. I narrowed their resources to three types - Books, Articles, and Websites - and demostrated how to find resources on environmental issues in all three.

I first showed them the difference between keyword and subject searches in the online catalog, using "global warming" and "climate change" as my examples. Then, I showed them Points of View, which has an entire category of "Earth and Environment." Last, I explained Ma.gnolia, and showed them how the tag "environment."

I also used a hybrid of Dennis's half-sheet response and Amy's workshop quiz to gain feedback.

I noticed that many of the students (most of which had already attended a workshop) started to understand the different types of resources, once the topic had already been chosen for them. I got responses such as "I learned about Ma.gnolia for the first time" and "I learned how to navigate the system," even though I know that this class had received such information before. I think the success of the workshop stemmed from a combination of: 1) having a topic area already selected for them; 2) showing them specific examples of finding information on that topic; and 3) choosing a topic that many people have an opinion of already. I also think that the quiz/response kept them on task and forced the students to think about the ideas I was presenting.

My workshop story

As some of you may know, I have a business instructor who I call the "Passionate Professor." He brings his classes to the library on field trips and has workshops for every single class. Today I had my fourth workshop for him. I decided it was time to change things up since many of the students had been in other workshops with me this week. There were only 7 students in the class. I went in and passed out note cards. I asked the students to write down what they wanted to get out of the workshop. I told them if they didn't list anything that we would go back to the same old PowerPoint. So everyone listed things except for one student who couldn't come up with anything. She said she knew enough and that she used Noodlebib all the time. So, I invited her to teach Noodlebib at the end of the workshop. She was open to it and it was great! Afterwards, I used Dennis' idea of the half sheet response. All of the responses were positive and everyone said that they had no unanswered questions. One student wrote, "If I have questions, I'll just go see Cynthia in the library." After the workshop, many of the students remained in the lab working on their research and I was able to stay for awhile to help.

Using movie reviews to teach students how to evalutate websites

I used one of the assessment ideas that was discussed at our team meeting. I had students do this assessment in Success Strategies.

It was a great success. I picked out 2 websites about the death penalty. One is a blog with an anonymous author that calls himself "The Exterminator." The other site is a government site with statistics about capital punishment. I explained the Who, What, When, Where, and Whys of evaluating websites, and most students did a great job deciphering if the websites were credible. See below. Notice the stars :). After the students completed the evaluating exercise, I had the students enter these websites into Noodlebib and print out a reference page.

I am going to load this document into Google Docs.