I spent 10 days in the Netherlands last month teaching a class to students in game technology & game design. While there, I worked with the public libraries in Amsterdam and Delft. I was really impressed, so I made this video lesson about what I saw and what we can learn.
Thanks to one of my fellow MLIS students, Ana Canino-Fluit, for finding this blog posting by onellums: 5 Things I Didn’t Realize I’d Be Working on…When I Decided to Become a Librarian (alternate title, Thank Goodness I Went to Syracuse’s iSchool), over at the ACRL blog. As a current SU student, it is very encouraging (and not surprising) to see that others are finding the things we learn at the SU iSchool useful. We have so much excellent information piled on us as students, it can be hard to believe that we will ever get to use it all, but I try to look at each and every assignment as something I may potentially need to use in my job someday. So I’d better pay attention.
I am not a real librarian quite yet so I know this will most likely change when I get out into the real world, but here is my list of 5 Things I Didn’t Realize I’d be Working on… (keep in mind that I am a school media student, so my list is a bit different from the aforementioned blog post).
1. Tech geekery – I was never a technophobe by any means, but since entering library school, I have learned more than I ever thought possible about technology programs, websites, training modules, and online tools. For example, as onellums mentioned, creating video tutorial screencasts using free programs like Jing. Any kind of librarian, academic, public, or school, will find this useful for teaching patrons about library services. Not only am I becoming more techno-savvy, I find that I am equipped to solve glitches, use technical tools to enhance learning, and teach others about useful websites. I suspect that my constant sharing is starting to irritate my friends.
2. Second Life - virtual worlds are not just for gamers anymore. Educators are using Second Life for hosting conference workshops as well as classroom teaching. We’re having our IST611 class discussion in Second Life next week, so we all had to create avatars. Which was an experience in and of itself. Who knew there were so many different miniscule ways to adjust a body? Long or short nose? High or low hair? Perky or droopy boobs? Long or short waist? Love handles or no? It was existential. But I digress.
3. Lesson plans – I think many people think of librarians as resource and support personnel, but we do so much more. All librarians, not just school librarians, are teachers, and we are trained to provide instruction to our patrons on a variety of topics. School librarians in particular receive instruction on developing lesson plans, incorporating learning standards, educational and motivational theories, and literacy development.
4. Planning, marketing, and assessment – people associate marketing with business, but librarians need to not only market their services to users, but also assess the adequacy of our services. Knowing how to create effective project, marketing, and assessment plans is a critical skill, so thank you IST613.
5. Advocacy – before entering library school, I didn’t realize how much advocacy librarians are involved with, and how much support we have available to us from our peers and professional organizations. Library programs are usually supported with public funds and as such, our services can be very vulnerable in difficult financial times. Advocacy takes place on so many levels: with administrators, governing boards, teachers, parents, and patrons. It’s pretty much a constant task in any given day. Fortunately we have a huge support network of other librarians. Librarians not only like to help patrons find information, we like to help each other! For example, when I needed help with my Second Life avatar, I put out an SOS call to the LM_NET listserv and sure enough, an expert librarian contacted me within hours. Now THAT’s service.
There are many, many more cool things that I will get to do once I have a real library job, but these are the first five that came to mind. What about you? What are your five (or more) things? Don’t forget to read the viewer comments on the ACRL blog posting to see what others came up with!
Feel free to comment here or on the Syracuse iSchool LIS facebook page.
Posted by Rebecca Buerkett, Syracuse MLIS distance student, rlbuerke@syr.edu
I am thoroughly enjoying Pam Berger’s online course this semester at SU, IST611, Information Technologies in Educational Organizations. This course is one of those required for school media students at SU. The focus of the course is to explore the use of Web 2.0 technologies in educational settings, and to investigate collaboration opportunities between library media specialists and other members of the school community. The best part of the class so far has been learning about all the Web 2.0 technologies available for use in a classroom or school library setting. Finally, an alternative to boring PowerPoints! How about a Voicethread or Animoto project? Podcast? Vodcast? Class wiki? Mind Map? The possibilities are endless, and new programs are coming along every day. The two sections of IST611 (Pam Berger’s and Steve Nabinger’s) are putting together a wiki highlighting these technologies, which will be an excellent reference when it is completed.
The course instructors have been creative in designing assignments and delivery methods. We were required to set up facebook and twitter accounts, if we hadn’t already, and are developing collaborative on-site technology projects at libraries where we live. Some weeks our class discussions are conducted using Web 2.0 communication tools such as blogs, Skype, and (coming soon) Second Life. For an example, visit the blog I set up for this course: http://rbuerkett.edublogs.org/. Most of the posts are related to IST611, but I intend to continue using the blog even after the course is complete.
One of the most important takeaways from this course is probably an awareness of not only the technology tools, but also the ongoing professional development opportunities afforded by the various social media tools. I know these skills will serve me very well when I’m a Real Librarian! This course would be useful for MLIS students even if they aren’t on the school media track. Related course for non-schmedia students (those types who get to fit electives into their schedules!) are IST 667 Information Technology for Libraries and Information Centers and IST500 Social Media.
Feel free to comment here or on the Syracuse iSchool LIS facebook page.
Posted by Rebecca Buerkett, Syracuse MLIS distance student, rlbuerke@syr.edu.
If you are interested in being involved with the Gaming in Libraries course that will be running in June 2009, then keep an eye on this blog:
http://www.gamesinlibraries.org/course/
That will be the primary hub for the public view of the course, and you will be able to easily find all of the videos through that course.
If you enroll in the class, then you’ll also have access to the backchannel on the LMS, where we will be discussing what is going on in the public view, having in-depth discussions, doing assignments, and all of the normal “course stuff.”
I’ve created a short video talking about some of the Summer 2009 courses.
Here are the courses I discussed:
Maymester
IST681 Metadata
Summer Institute (Campus)
IST600 Knowledge Management
IST600 Being an Information Consultant: Practical Strategies for Success
IST600 Preservation
IST600 Library Budgeting and Fundraising
IST600 Adult Services in the Public Library
IST612 Youth Services in Libraries and Information Centers
IST645 Managing Information Systems Projects
IST759 Planning and Designing Digital Library Services
Online
IST 614 and IST 618
IST500 Social Media
IST552 Info. Systems Analysis: Concepts and Practice
IST553 Info Architecture for Internet Services
IST668 Literacy Through School Libraries
IST600 Gaming in Libraries