November Library Display, 2013

We went historical for November.  We dug up books about the early colonization of America, books about Native Americans, and tossed in some kids' books on Thanksgiving to make it bright.

 "Happy Thanksgiving"

 So we went with the fall theme, and created a tree.  (Well, sort of... if you squint just right...)  Someone brought in a bag of decorative winter squash a few days later and filled the bottom shelf with those (but slacker that I am I didn't get a pic of that.)

Our front window became a cornucopia, spilling out fruit, veggies, and ebooks!

And because I could, I drew a cornucopia on the board as well.

Nuts and Bolts:

The tree was a pain.  I didn't want to waste a lot of paper, so I pieced together strips and tried to cover the seams with leaves we cut out of colored copy paper.  We did the same thing for the cornucopia in the window.  We found simple clipart that we printed large onto colored paper, and used gel pens to add extra color.

December Library Display, 2013

So here's a new idea.  I'm going to start making posts about our library displays each month.  How we came up with the idea, how we executed, and so forth.

Boring?  Why, yes, it is!

But I do spend a lot of time online looking for display ideas, and if our humble efforts can inspire someone else, then how awesome is that?

So I'll be working in reverse....

Here's December, 2013!

"Get Wrapped Up in a Good Book"

This is our actual display shelf.  It's really the only place we can put books, so we have to be really creative with making it look interesting.  We're lucky in that we have bulletin board paper we can use to put in the background.

 This was our first effort to decorate the circulation desk - we reused the flames from our banned books display back in September, and with a little donated tree made it look very cheerful.

 

Our library is in a building shared with other tenants (not part of the college).  We are on the first floor, right next to the main door.  So our interior windows face the hall, and we like to do something on those that match our display theme inside.  Usually we have print books inside, and we highlight various ebooks on the window.

 Finally - my favorite.  The dry-erase board!  We have a board on wheels that we roll into the hall each morning, and it usually says something like "Welcome to the library". I love drawing, so I decided to start making the welcome sign more festive!

Nuts and bolts:

I try not to spend more than a few dollars on the displays.  We get some supplies from the main campus library (which has several huge bulletin boards).  Sometimes I bring in stuff I already have (like the tree) or I'll go to the dollar store and see what I can scrounge up.  The ribbon was left over from a project at home, and I didn't mind using the remainder at work.  We're fortunate to have a color printer, so we use that for the MS Publisher signage and the book covers.

Finding books to go with our theme is the most difficult.  We're a tiny library, so sometimes we just don't have enough books in the stacks to fill the display shelves.  But we're lucky in that we can have books sent from some of our other campus libraries, and fill in that way.  (And that also lets our patrons know that we have access to more than what they see!)

We decided to go with interesting books you might give as gifts.  We looked for ones with interesting covers or unusual subjects.

And that's December!

A Visit to the Georgia Archives and the National Archives at Atlanta

Last week I attended a meeting that included tours of the Georgia Archives and the National Archives at Atlanta.  You might find this tidbit interesting - Georgia is the only state where the regional National Archives is next door to the state archives.  Pretty cool, huh?

(picture from the Clayton County Information site)

The National Archives is the building on the left, and the Georgia Archives is on the right.

Here's a better picture of the state archives building - you'll note it's very shiny!

(picture from the State Archivists website)

As we were touring the state archives I thought several times, "Oh, I wish I had my camera!"  We got to see the preservation and conservation rooms, plus walk through some of the not-open-to-the-public vaults.  Yes I am a librarian, and yes I am a nerd, so this was totally filled with awesomeness!

Another interesting tidbit:  this building was constructed specifically as an archive.  It's got all sorts of protective stuff built in.  The way the foundation and the supporting walls were created, if there was a flood (even of Biblical proportions), the entire vault would pop up and FLOAT before it would be breached.  I have to go all Keanu Reeves on that and say "woah, duuuude!"

We left the state building, and moved across the courtyard to the National Archives.

(photo by yours truly)

So as you'll note in that last caption, *I* took this picture.  Yeah... I'd forgotten I had my iPad tucked into my bag.  ::sigh::  But at least I had it out for pictures during the next tour!

The main lobby of the National Archives at Atlanta...

 Again, we got to go behind the scenes (and when you're a librarian in a huge archive, that's the best place to be!)

The National Archives at Atlanta is the repository for all the original draft cards from World War I.  Over 24 million of them.  The archives director Rob Richards, above, shows us one of those cards.  Wow.  They've digitized them (with the help of Ancestry.com, I think) but of course the originals were kept. 

The NAA's primary collection focus is federal records originating in or about the seven southeastern states.  And that includes the time before the American Revolution.

Some of these bound books are admiralty manifests and records from the port of Charleston pre-1776.  And a lot of them are from ships classified as sloops.  And you know what group of folks favored sloops at that time?  Pirates.  So we have PIRATE LOGS!  Arr, me hearties!!!!!!

I don't think I can adequately describe how massive the vaults are in this place, but here's a picture I took from about *halfway* down the aisle.

And this was about halfway down the main corridor between the aisles.... and this is just one of the vaults.  They have four.

So it was a fantastic trip. I encourage you to hook up with a large group of librarians and finagle yourself a behind-the-scenes tour.  If you're nerdy like me, you definitely won't regret it!

Bibliography

This is an "under-construction" bibliography for the workshop I am presenting at the ACL conference in June.  I'll be adding to it (even after the conference!), so check back!

BOOKS

Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. New York: Crown Publishers, 2012. Print.

Jeffries, William C. True to Type: Answers to the Most Commonly Asked Questions About Interpreting the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Norfolk, VA: Hampton Roads Pub. Co, 1991. Print.

Jung, C G. Psychological Types. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1971. Print. 

Keirsey, David, and David Keirsey. Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis, 1998. 

Kolb, David A. Experiential Learning: Experience As the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1984.

Kolb, David A. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory: LSI Workbook. Boston, Mass: HayGroup, 2007. Print. 

McHugh, Adam S. Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2009. Print.

Michael, Chester P., and Marie C. Norrisey. Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Types. Charlottesville, Va: Open Door, 1984.

Myers, Isabel Briggs, and Peter B. Myers. Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type. Palo Alto, Calif: Davies-Black Pub, 1995. 


WEBSITES

Myers-Briggs Foundation

Too much or too little?

I've been thinking about my teaching pedagogy again, and trying to decide what makes sense.  When you teach a one-shot, fifty minute class you're up against a lot of obstacles from the get-go.  The students don't know you, so you haven't developed a rapport.  They don't think "the librarian" can teach them anything.  They'd rather goof off on facebook - hey, it's the first class they've had in the computer lab so why not take advantage of it?

I started off by trying to hit everything, at least briefly.  Searching for books, searching for articles, search strategies in general, different databases, lots and lots of content.  But you know what?  I don't know that more than a tiny handful of students took anything away from that, other than "yeah, I think I might recognize the librarian" and "databases are complicated, so I'll stick with Google".

So I've modified my pedagogy.  I've decided that there are three main things I want the students to take away from my time class.  1) There are folks who can help you.  2) There's lots of great stuff out there.  3) Databases are not scary. 

So I spend the first part of class talking about the library, and how they can get help.  I tell them how to contact me, and how to contact other librarians though a whole host of social media, chat, text, and tweets.  I started including lots of suggested database links on my guides.  I don't go into detail, but I point them out as great starting places.  And then reiterate - over and over and over - that I am there to help them, whenever they need it.

Finally, I compare database searching to Google searching.  I try to show them that - just like Google - they can jump in feet-first and still get good results.  I show them helps; tell them that ... just like Google ... they can play around with searches and use the links on the left to narrow results.

And you know what?  I think it's working!  I've had more students this semester request books, ask for research help, and actually use library services.  And I'd like to think that in the classes I'm getting at least a few nods of appreciation (instead of blank stares).

Breakthrough!

LSI and MBTI and Pedagogy

Sounds daunting, right?  Well it is, in a way.  I mentioned in my last post (which was ::shudder:: almost two months ago... abject apologies!) that I did some seminar work on Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI).  I've also done a good bit of work with the MBTI - the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, in the abbreviated form of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter.  I was thinking this week about the correlation between the two and how it could make for an interesting workshop at the right conference.

The MBTI looks at your personality type in several directions: Introverted-Extroverted, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, Judgment-Perception.  (There are several online versions of the survey... here's one if you're interested.)  It's interesting to see how your personality "scores", and makes you think about how you react to different situations... and how you teach!  I generally score as an INTJ, but I'm right on the line between Thinking and Feeling so depending on my mood when I take the survey, I will sometimes come out as an INFJ.  Heh.  If you're not familiar with the MBTI, here's a good place to visit for an excellent description!

So that's all about personality preferences.   (Note I say *preferences* - the survey doesn't give you hard-and-fast results that means That's What You Are Forever.  It's a moment in time, and indicates your personal preferences.)

The LSI looks at learning styles, specifically the one developed by David Kolb.  I talked about that a little in my previous post, so I won't bore you with the details again.

So why do I bring this up?  I'm working on a workshop proposal for a library conference next June!  It will look at these two instruments and then relate them to pedagogical styles in the classroom.   Thoughts?  Comments?  Am I certifiable, or just slightly nuts?

Learning Styles, Learning Outcomes, and Learning to Teach

At the end of July I had the incredible opportunity to attend the ACRL Immersion 2011 program in Seattle; the track dedicated to helping librarians become better teachers.  It would be impossible to blog about everything I learned in that five-day period, but it was amazing.  I won't say I agreed with everything I learned, or that I'll put every idea into practice.  But it did tell me a lot about myself and how I interact with students in the classroom, and give me some good ideas on tweaking my pedagogy in order to be more effective as I teach library instruction sessions.

So, what three most important things did I take away?

1) Just like there are different personality styles, there are also learning styles.  (This wasn't really *new* information for me, but it got unpacked in a way that helped a lot.)  Most folks are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (ISFJ here!).  The Kolb Learning Styles Inventory is similar, giving you clues as to how you best learn.  (I'm an Assimilator - is that a surprise to anyone?)  Of course none of these types are set in stone, but they do help understand how you - and your students - learn.  It's also no surprise that you tend to teach to your preferences.  So what do I do?  I lecture!!!  But now I know I can tweak my class, and create more hands-on type stuff for my students.  It might not be what I'd want to do, but hopefully it will be beneficial to them.

2) We also spent a good bit of time on learning outcomes - how to write them, how to design them, and how to build a class around them.  "Focus, focus, focus!" is the mantra - decide what you want your students to learn, and then tailor the outcomes to those goals.  I struggled with this, and it's likely I will continue to struggle.  As one of the instructors said "designing outcomes are an art, not a science - you'll always find ways to tweak and improve what you teach!"  But it did help me to realize that I can't teach everything in one 50-minute class.  I need to focus on the two or three critical skills I want students to learn while I'm there (in conjunction with the course instructor's goals, of course).  Then if the faculty member wants me to do more, I can either add that info into a LibGuide, or schedule another time to visit their class again.

3) Really, though. the most important thing I will take away from the experience is all the connections I made to other librarians doing the same thing I do.  I met several librarians from Georgia, and I hope we can meet again at other state events.  I also made connections with folks from as far away as Ontario, San Fransisco, and Vermont - each of whom offered something really interesting to my experiences in Seattle.

Here's my cohort, just after we finished out teaching presentations.

Kate, Melissa, me, Amy, Emma
Katie, Julie, Erica, Amanda, Karen (our instructor), and Kelly

A great group of ladies, and I'm delighted to call them friends and colleagues!