Library Display: September 2014

This month (yes, all month) we are celebrating Banned Books Week!  The ALA promotional material features a "Have You Seen Us" missing poster.  (That's the one in the middle of the window.)  So we riffed on that and made more missing flyers, and created tear-offs at the bottom with the call numbers on them.

But what to do with the display shelves?  The missing flyer theme would be sort of boring, so we brainstormed until we remembered the milk cartons which feature missing children.  Score!  We tried to figure out a way to use real books, but eventually decided to go with a true milk carton look.

First we took cardboard strips and taped them to the front of the shelves to make more support for the paper.  Then we took bulletin board paper (brown on one side, white on the other) and folded it to for and taped it up.  We used red paper for the sides.  The top was created with white poster board, and the blue straw actually goes all the way to the shelf, where it is taped down.  We went through a few iterations of this, but the straw finally "broke the camel's back"...  ::heh:: and gave us the support we needed.  The white lettering is all just printed and cut out, and the red checkerboard and lettering are printed using Publisher and taped on.  Same is true with the book images.

We are pretty proud of this one, and it's been getting attention.  Win!

Library display: May 2014

It's graduation time!

We love flowers, though, and decided it was imperative to continue having flowers on the display.  And since we have a lovely tie-in sign from last year (reduce, recycle, reuse!) it was a win-win.

Spring into Graduation!

This was another easy one to do, except for the little "graduation caps".  And really, those weren't all  that difficult, either.

Black poster board cut into 8"x8" squares.  A triangle for the back with the tip cut at an angle to make a "stand".  I followed these instructions at Sew4Home to make the tiny tassels out of basic embroidery thread (that I had in my crafty box at home).  Then I poked a hole through the center and fed the thread through and taped it on the back side.  Cut a little circle of poster board to make the button.  Used a white paint pen to write on them.  Making the tassel required a few trials, but they took me about five minutes each after I got going.

For the front window we just made a new sign and printed ebook covers.

And finally (my favorite, of course) the welcome dry-erase board:

Fun!!

Library Display: April 2014

Our campus has a huge Earth Day event every year.  It's basically a street fair with a farmer's market, recycling, free food, live music... party!

This year we decided to do our April display to go along with that theme:

You can see what we did there, right?  That shamrock from last month suddenly became a tree!  I brought in some flower pots from home and made "book flowers" with info on them.  And of course we had to have a copy of The Lorax!  Compared to others, this was a really easy one to do.  (Which is a good thing, since April is such a busy month!)  Books on the earth and recycling and gardening and conservation added color and interest to the shelves.

I got a bit whimsical with the dry erase board, but hey - that never costs anything so I can be as creative (or as boring!) as I'd like to be, right?

Finally, we dressed up the front window with a few flower cutouts and some leaves we made for a past display.  (Yes, we keep everything... who knows when you might need it and don't have time to make it again?)

Library Display: March 2014

We went all St. Patrick's Day this year, and picked up some cheap decorations at the party store (because you can never have enough glittery shamrocks, am-I-right?

We also bought rolls of crepe streamers to make the rainbow.  It was a little tricky making them line up, but it added a cool effect down to the pot of gold (black poster board and a printout of a pile of gold coins taped to the top!)  We made the big shamrock with bulletin board paper.

The books were all about the Irish - histories, authors, anything we could remotely tie in.

Then we did the front window with eBooks:

(and more glittery shamrocks!)

Finally, the most difficult part of the whole thing was the dry erase board.  

Nope, the lettering is not a stencil.  It's all done freehand.  I actually cleaned up the knot a bit after I took the pic because some of the lines didn't meet up right.  (Me, OCD?  Not on your life, she said, straightening the pencils in the cup holder.)

Library Display, February 2014

Oh, February, you busy, busy month.  How can you pick one theme for February?  There is just TOO much going on! Black History Month, Valentine's Day, the Olympics, Presidents' Day... just to name a few.

Well...

we gave up and decided to do them ALL!

Nothing fancy here, though we did give the color printer  a workout.  We decided to do a small banner for each event, and coordinate the main "logo" with our top banner.  We removed a shelf to make room, and... voila!

 

Our front window had the same tag line, and as always we pulled eBook covers from Overdrive and our Ebrary / Ebsco databases.

 

Yeah, even our sign was boring this month.  March will be better, I promise!!! 

Library Display, January 2014

So I live in Georgia.  Despite all the polar vortex visits this January, we actually don't get much snow.  So we decided on a snowflake theme for January...  ::brrrrr::

We're hoping folks will get the idea that we have a bunch of different genres, not just the dry dusty stuff for class.  (That's what the little shelf talkers are - the genre.)


And because it's cold and showy, we kept our Christmas fireplace and added a snowy window (recycling some of the black poster board from our haunted house...)

Our window keeps the theme

And of course I love to play with the dry erase markers!

Nuts and bolts:

Not nearly as interesting as the October display, but at least we got to make a bunch of paper snowflakes using paper we already had.  Win!!

September Library Display, 2013

Banned books week!

I give my library associate FULL credit for this one.  She did the signage, and she came up with the design.

"Celebrate the Freedom to Read"

 What's more iconic to Banned Books Week than burning books?

And my favorite Ray Bradbury quote....

Nuts and Bolts:

I brought in a few branches from my back yard, and we crumpled up some packing paper.  Easy peasy.  We cut the flames out of colored paper (not so easy peasy .... actually very annoying!)  But the smart thing we did was be very sparing in our use of tape so we could make sure we can reuse stuff like that.

We displayed books from the banned and challenged lists, and really got students talking about it.  Yay!

October Library Display, 2013

This is my most favorite display EVER.  I don't know that we'll ever top it!

"Books that go BUMP in the Night"

Yes, indeedy.  We turned our shelves into a haunted house!!
 

And the front window was spooky as well.

Of course, I couldn't resist doing something fun on the dry erase board!

Nuts and bolts:

The house was hard.  I used an old cardboard box, LOTS of tape, and a good bit of under-my-breath muttering to make the roof.  It looks fine on the front side, but if you look at the back you'll see all the bits and fakery I did to make it come out right.  I spent several hours off and on working on it (yes, I am nuts).

For the black part I bought four sheets of black poster board.  I wanted it to be stiff, not floppy like bulletin board paper.  Again, I just cut strips and pieced it together based on a sketch I did beforehand.  We used yellow as a background to make it look like light shining out windows.  I was going to add doors to the bottom shelf, but I eventually a) ran out of time, and b) decided it would get in the way of the computer to the left.

The books are all books about ghosts and ghost stories.  We even have a few about famous college ghosts!  (And of course the obligatory "13 Georgia Ghosts and Jeffrey".)

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!

An Update

As anyone who has moved and changed jobs both at the same time knows, you have little time for anything else in those few weeks.  We got moved in (with only minor problems) and I've been working for nearly a month now.  The folks I work with are fantastic, and troopers to boot.  I came onto the scene in the midst of an enormous renovation project.  Not one aspect of the library facilities was to remain untouched, and not one aspect of the project to date had gone smoothly (nor has it yet).  Contractor and subcontractor problems on top of just general utter chaos and not being able to find anything anywhere... you can imagine.  But to be honest, I think the best way to get to know your colleagues is to be thrown into the same chaos they're dealing with and work together to get things done.

A week into my new job we got to attend the Atlanta Area BIG (Bibliographic Instruction Group) day-long conference, and that was a good opportunity to get to know other folks in the area as well.  I am also looking forward to an excursion to Seattle next month for a week long immersion program on teaching, run by the Association of College and Research Libraries.  Since I'll be spending a good bit of time in the classroom, this opportunity comes at the perfect time.  I'm sure I'll have lots of thoughts on that once I return home!

In the meantime I'm going to rest up on the weekends, because there's lots of shifting and moving shelving to be done - and all this *before* I have to start working on the campus library where I'll be permanently located!

To Boldly Go....

Starting June 1, I will have a new job. (!!!)  My husband and I have been frantically looking for a house (and trying to sell our current one) for the last month, and it looks like that part of the process is coming to a close.  Yes, literally.  May 2 is our current closing date on our New House.  We're only moving about 80 miles, across a state line, and we will be Much Closer to a metropolitan city that offers lots of opportunities for an itinerant philosopher and a librarian.  I'll be running a branch campus library of a medium-sized community college - I'm very excited, but as always with a new job, approaching the change with a bit of fear and trepidation too.

The other librarians I've met seem like great folks, as do the folks on the campus where I'll be.  Even more fun and interesting?  I'll be working to set up the Brand New Library.  The campus is actually housed in a historic building downtown, and the new library will be a floor of the historic courthouse next door.  So the renovations are running apace, and I will get to be part of the set-up and implementation.  This will be the fourth such venture I've been a part of, and I'm hoping the last.  We would really like to settle down in one spot and finally take root in a community.   This one seems like a really good fit - for both of us - the location is good, the timing is good, and so as Julian of Norwich said; "All will be well and all will be well and all manner of things will be well."  Amen!

Why Books Are Not Dead

HarperCollins bites the big one.

Yes indeed, they want to LIMIT the number of times an eBook can circulate.  Can publishers do this for print books?  Not on your life. As long as a library can repair the binding, a book can circulate.  (And the software will never have to be upgraded... but that's another issue entirely, right?)

Long live the BOOK!

Google Metadata and Librarians

I went to an amazing library conference last November - the Charleston Conference.  During the last plenary session, we got to hear Jon Orwant, a Google engineering manager, talk about the Google Books project.

Now, you've probably seen old-fashioned librarians like me reel and hiss at the very idea, nay, the very notion, of Google presuming to scan books and make them wholly or partially available online.  Yes, there are plenty of lawsuits out there.  Yes, of course, having Google send a very charismatic speaker to a premier conference is self serving and in their best interests.  And yes, there are issues about intellectual property rights and access and digitization, and the fact that so many cataloging mistakes have happened, and all that other stuff.

But this guy was COOL.

I won't go into the more technical aspects of his talk.  But I do want to tell you about one thing he shared with us.  One of the reasons for this project is to facilitate research, and Google gives academic scholarships and access to their databases for various projects.  Back in the 1950s, a definitive book about the Victorian era was published.  To write it, the author basically read every book he could get his hands on that was written during that time, and mined them for data about language, and custom, and culture, and so forth. 

Google gave a grant to a group of scholars who wanted to recreate this guy's work, but digitally.  Since so many books from that era have now been digitized, keyword searches can be used now instead of tedious page-by-page reviewing.  So this group of folks (I think they were from George Mason University, though I may be wrong on that) gained access to the Google databases and used a set of 50 keywords - words like "leisure" and "work"- then tracked their usage over time to see how common they were.  And in fact, the word "leisure" started to disappear over the era, and the word "work" increased exponentially.  Ok, so that's cool already, right? 

Well, this Google engineer went one better to show us how digitization could expedite research.  He created a graph of every book published by date and subject, that could then be zoomed in on specific periods.  So at the dawn of the printing press - BOOM - a spike in books.  Zoom in on French literature from 1650 to 1750 - BOOM - you see a spike because of the French Enlightenment.  (It was really funny - he zoomed in on that quite by accident, and said "Huh - I wonder why there's a spike here?" And the room of 1000 librarians all started shouting "It's the French Enlightenment!"  Heh.)

COOLEST THING EVER.

I wish he'd put that chart online so folks could play with it - heck, for those of us at his talk we'd probably be willing to pay!

Reading and Writing (but no 'rithmetic)

I want to do a social research project.  Anyone who's been a librarian, or a teacher, or even a parent has heard the notion that "people who read a lot are better writers than those who eschew reading".  That just sounds completely true, right?  It's a no-brainer!  But there have been very few empirical studies done to prove that fact.  And really, it would be nearly impossible to do - you'd have to get permission from the students you surveyed not only for the survey about their reading habits, but you'd need to get other data about them - from their professors - on how well they write.  That's the only way you can get reliable data.  But research projects these days are very, very sensitive to the participants' identities, so I just don't know how you could do it so that the results are actually meaningful.  You absolutely HAVE to be able to compare the two, and that can only be done if someone working with the study knows the identity of the participants.

Technically, it would be very simple - ask a series of questions like "How often do you read material that is not course-related?" and "What kinds of materials do you like to read {books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc)?" and "Now that you are in college, do you find you read more for pleasure or less?"  Then you take those students' answers, and compare them to their writing ability (preferably judged by someone who has experience grading and evaluating writing).  Then see if there's a correlation between those who read more for pleasure and those who are better writers.

Still, I can't figure out how to get around the privacy issues.  Maybe if I partnered with English or Composition faculty who worked that in somehow as part of a course?  What if you took blind surveys of students taking one of the many "fun" classes universities offer now (like mini-semester courses on Tolkien, or other popular authors) and compared that with a blind survey of the same level of student in a regular comp class.  You could make the assumption that the students interested in Tolkien are probably "readers", but I still don't think that would give you reliable data in the long run.

If you have any good ideas, let me know.  In the meanwhile, off and on as I have time, I'm going to continue to look for work others have already done on the subject. I've seen several on reading and general academic level, but I want a more granular study targeting writing ability!