Digitization 101: Education

Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Wayback Wednesday: Upping Your Library Intelligence

Thinking

In 2017, I wrote a series on upping your library intelligence. The first post began with this text:

Late in the spring, I had a short conversation with Rachel Clarke about MSLIS students and in which areas we thought they (the generic "they") needed to grow. A number of people are attracted to M.S. in Library and Information Science programs who do not have deep library experience. For them, their lack of library experience may inhibit these students from learning and applying new concepts quickly. Rachel and I realized that these students would be helped by engaging in activities that would allow them to increase ("up") their library intelligence. While we promised to continue the conversation later, I've decided to develop a series of blog posts as a way for me to explore the topic and - hopefully - create content which will help current and future MSLIS students, and LIS professionals.

This is still an need for those considering entering the library profession. You will gain more from your education - the MSLIS degree - if you have some background knowledge. Even now, with the world seeming a bit precarious, you can build that background knowledge. If you decide to work in a library for a while, before obtaining your MSLIS degree, this knowledge will serve you well because you will not be starting from ground zero, which your boss will appreciate. Finally, if you are finishing your MSLIS degree and waiting to land your first position, now is a great time to continue learning. Besides what is below, consider thinking about the reopening of libraries and COVID-19. Again, your thoughts, questions, and knowledge will be appreciated by your future employer.

By the way, I know people are worried about job hunting in the wake of COVID-19. Yes, jobs are still available. Organizations are still hiring. You, though, may need to be a bit more flexible, including a willingness to move geographically. You may need to take a position for 1-2 years that is not your ideal, but will help you gain in experience. Remember that you are developing a career, which is more than just your first position.

The Series

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Monday, October 07, 2019

#ALISE19 : Copyright and LIS in a Global Context: Current Knowledge and Future Trends

Presenters

Laura Saunders, Allison Estell, Deborah Charbonneau and Dick Kawooya

Abbreviated session description

Copyright impacts nearly every aspect of an information professional’s job, across all settings. The centrality of copyright to the information professions suggests that LIS professionals need a strong grounding in this topic, and indeed the American Library Association considers knowledge of copyright to be a core competency...Together [four panelists] will share the results of five separate studies to provide a broad overview of the need for copyright knowledge in the field, and discuss the current preparedness of LIS professionals and students. The first panelist will report the results of a study on self-perceived copyright awareness and training needs of academic librarians highlighting copyright, fair use, and intellectual property. The second panelist will discuss the results of a content analysis of job postings for librarians, to examine trends in expectations for copyright knowledge. Finally, two panelists will discuss a series of surveys that put copyright knowledge and literacy in a global context. The first survey gathered current practitioners’ self-reported knowledge of copyright issues in the United States. Data from this study was pooled with data from the same survey distributed across 13 countries for a cross-country analysis. The second survey tested American LIS students’ copyright knowledge and gathered their feedback on actual copyright instruction within their LIS programs. The survey of LIS students has been replicated in 14 countries and while data is still being analyzed, the researchers will share preliminary comparative data. After sharing the results of each of these above-mentioned studies, the panelists will discuss implications for LIS education.

Notes

Copyright librarians - areas/requirements?

Because of my focus on copyright, this was a fascinating and important session. I know that many MSLIS courses touch on some portion of copyright and licensing, but that there are few regularly given courses on copyright in MSLIS programs. Given all of the electives a student could take, being able to take a course in copyright is a luxury that not every student can take advantage of.

For me, these things stood out in the session:

Members of our profession believe that copyright is an important topic for them to understand. People have taken advantage of a number of different ways in order to learn about copyright. Among those, who responded to a survey on this topic, most believed that they felt prepared in terms of copyright. However, the survey asked for their opinion and did not assess their actual knowledge.
People (including students) turn to library staff when they have copyright questions. In other words, people count on librarians understanding copyright and being able to answer questions appropriately.
More job ads are asking for copyright (or licensing) related knowledge. This seems to have exploded since 2013. It was noted that although copyright knowledge is desired, there is no widespread hiring of people with law (JD) degrees. Rather they expect librarians to have this knowledge.
Members of our profession believe that copyright should be in the LIS curriculum. Because every MSLIS student needs copyright knowledge, the speakers felt that copyright should be woven into (and across) existing courses.
Members of our profession also felt that there needs to continuous learning in this area. Once you learn about copyright, you need to refresh that knowledge, especially given that the courts do set new precedents regularly.

In term of weaving copyright into exist MSLIS courses, this would mean including such topics as:

What is intellectual property?
What is covered by copyright (Title 17, Sections 102-105)
The rights of the copyright owner (Sections 106-106A)
Fair Use (Section 107)
Reproduction by libraries and archives (Section 108)
First sale doctrine (within Section 109)
TEACH Act (within Section 110)

I've included the specific sections of the law above for two reasons. First, I think it demonstrates that this needs to be more than just a mention of a specific area, but rather what do we mean by "X". Second, I do think that students should become familiar with the law itself, in addition to using other resources, including articles and textbook.

These topics could be connected to courses such as:

Introduction to the profession
Reference
Information literacy
Library instruction
Collection development
Information policy
Materials for... (or classes such as Youth services)

However, the program would need to map which topics are being covered (and where), in order to ensure that students are receiving the copyright knowledge they will need as a practitioner. Of course, it may be impossible for every course to contain a copyright assignment, but courses could have appropriate lectures and readings. If classes are taken in a specific order, perhaps a later classes (e.g., Information policy) could contain an assessment which would require students to use all of the copyright knowledge that they have gained.

There were other topics at ALISE, where the answer was "this needs to be infused in the curriculum." Doing all of those changes would be a huge coordinated effort, a task that would not be for the weary. An alternative would be to take some topics or subtopics and create a way for students to engage in self-education. A student should know that they cannot learn everything in their MSLIS program; to do so would require much more than 36-42 credits. Therefore, students should be motivated to learn outside of the structure of the curriculum. In regards to copyright, a program could develop a list of external resources (books, articles, webinars, ecourses, etc.), which the student could engage with in order to learn the topic. While the program would not assess the student's learning, the student should be ready and willing to discuss what they have learned during an employment interview. Some students may find other ways of demonstrating their knowledge (e.g., articles, blog posts, etc.), which could be seen by prospective employers. Of course, some learning options might have their own built-in assessments.

I left this session very happy, because of my love of teaching copyright. I hope that others have taken what they heard back to their programs and are thinking of what they might do with this knowledge. I know that I am!

Resources

These are articles I found online and were not mentioned during the session.

Allison Estell, Laura Saunders (2016) Librarian Copyright Literacy: Self-Reported Copyright Knowledge Among Information Professionals in the United States, Public Services Quarterly, 12:3, 214-227, DOI: 10.1080/15228959.2016.1184997
Deborah H. Charbonneau, Michael Priehs (2014) Copyright Awareness, Partnerships, and Training Issues in Academic Libraries, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 40, n. 3-4, 228-233, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2014.03.009
LeEtta Schmidt, Michael English (2015) Copyright Instruction in LIS Programs: Report of a Survey of Standards in the U.S.A., The Journal of Academic Librarianship, v. 41, n. 6, 736-743, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.08.004

Addendum (Nov. 11): As an FYI, ALISE has reported this information about the conference:

A total of 282 people, including 76 first time attendees, traveled from eight countries - USA, Canada, China, Germany, Jamaica, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom - to participate.

Monday, September 30, 2019

#ALISE19 : Understanding information seeking behaviors within a community

The word KNOX made from large pieces of wood

Last week was the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Annual Conference in Knoxville, TN. This year's theme was "Exploring Learning in a Global Information Context." Part of the global context is diversity and a number of sessions connected with that specifically. A thread that crossed several presentations and posters was the information seeking behaviors within a community, however, that community is defined.

Information and Under-represented Communities

In the juried paper, "Information and Under-represented communities: LatinXs Finding InformaXion in Boston" by Monica Colon-Aguirre and Janet Caja Alcal, we learned of the information seeking behaviors of those who speak Spanish in the LatinX community. A 2015 Pew Research study found that LatinXs are less likely than other groups to know about the services offered by their public libraries. LatinX communities are the largest minority group in the U.S. and have complex information needs. Colon-Aguirre noted that LatinX populations are not monolithic, which means that we need to be careful about any assumptions we might make about their information needs.

Through 13 interviews, Colon-Aguirre and Alcal found that educational attainment and English language acquisition impact the use of library collections and facilities, and whether that use is for the person or for their child. For example, someone with a higher levels of education would use the library for themself, while a person with lower levels of education would seek services for their children.

Colon-Aguirre recommends that LIS educators prepare future professionals with the knowledge and skills to foster cultural competence. She also said we need to encourage students to acquire proficiency in languages used in our communities, other than English. She noted that LatinX communities are less likely to learn English than other migrant groups, mainly due to ethnic enclaves in cities around the U.S. Of course, the optimal solution would be to hire librarians that represent and look like the people in their communities.

Colon-Aguirre also recommended that libraries:

Employ community engagement strategies
Develop more programming
Build rapport with community members, especially those who are gatekeepers
Create bilingual catalogues

Besides being proficient in another language, library will want to build cultural competence. Cultural competence is a set of attitudes, skills behaviors and policies that enable a person to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. Rajesh Singh (St. John's University) and Beth Patin (Syracuse University) have MSLIS courses on this and others may also exist.

Chatman Revisited

LaVerne Gray and Bharat Mehra were two of the panelists in the session entitled, "Chatman Revised: A Panel Reexamining and Resituating Social Theories of Identity, Access, and Marginalization in LIS." Gray joined the SU iSchool in August, so she's been educating me about Chatman for a while! Mehra was her doctoral advisor and remains a collaborator.

Elfreda A. Chatman (1942-2002) was "well known for her ethnographic approaches in researching information seeking behaviors among understudied or minority groups." (Wikipedia) Chatman studied information seeking behaviors, and then created theories about them.

Because I will not be able to fully articulate her work, I encourage you to locate information on Elfreda Chatman. Two articles, which I quickly found, are:

Chatman, E. (1996) The Impoverished Life-World of Outsiders.
Burnett, G.; Jaeger, P.T.; Thompson, K.M. (2008) Normative Behavior and Information: The Social Aspects of Information Access.

When we look at a community, we will consider if the community has an abundance of information or is information deficit. We might ask whether the community seeks information from within itself or if it goes outside its boundaries to locate information. Chatman focused on how communities sought information from within itself. She saw an information deficit because a community - for whatever reason - might not go outside of itself for helpful information. Chatman created the theory of "life in the round", which explains why members of a community might seek information from within its boundaries.

Rather than seeing the abundance of information within a community, Chatman saw a deficit. Rather than seeing external forces that created the confined community and questioning those forces, Chatman focused on the community as is. Mehra looks at Chatman through fresh eyes and is willing to question her theories, recognizing that doing so is uncomfortable for some.

Epistemicide

Listening to Mehra and Gray reminded me of conversations with Beth Patin about community knowledge, especially in ethnic and indigenous communities and epistemicide (the destruction of traditional knowledge). That destruction begins with devaluing the knowledge held within a community. The community knowledge is held as being deficient, while knowledge from outside the community is held as being more valuable and important.

For example, using Chatman, the knowledge of an Amish community might be seen as deficit, because the community does not reach outside itself to enhance what it knows. Thinking of epistemicide, the external world seeks to destroy the traditional knowledge of the Amish people because it is not based on broader concepts and is not valued.

Did I Get it Right?

As I've written this, I have gone back through my notes and looked at relevant tweets. I'm thankful for those people who tweeted the sessions, because they captured ideas in real-time that were taking me longer to parse. However, now it is your turn. If you were at ALISE or are steeped in these areas, did I get it right? What should be added or corrected? Please leave comments and let me know.

Wednesday, August 07, 2019

The difference between a graduate student and a graduate scholar?

As a follow-up to my first post today, here is a short video I did in 2010 on the difference between a graduate student and a graduate scholar?

By the way, the auto-generated subtitles are accurate, but the subtitles in the video itself are not.

Are you committed to learning?

This is off-topic, so feel free to stop reading. However, if you're interested in learning, keep reading.

Last month, I wrote about a section in Seth Godin's book Stop Stealing Dreams: What is School Good For? The book is available online for free in full-text. That post is The Standardized Mass Contract. With the outdoors beckoning, I am slowly making my way through the rest of the book. As an instructor-teacher-professor, my mind keeps being drawn back to this section:

27. The decision

We don’t ask students to decide to participate. We assume the contract of adhesion, and relentlessly put information in front of them, with homework to do and tests to take.

Entirely skipped: commitment. Do you want to learn this? Will you decide to become good at this?

The universal truth is beyond question — the only people who excel are those who have decided to do so. Great doctors or speakers or skiers or writers or musicians are great because somewhere along the way, they made the choice.

Why have we completely denied the importance of this choice?

In less than three weeks, the fall semester classes will begin on many college campuses. Students will walk into classrooms expected to be educated. They will sit and expect that the information delivered will make them more employable after 2-4 years. There are many reasons why students head off to college. I wonder how many are fully committed to the educational process, which includes a high level of commitment inside and outside the classroom. I also wonder how many come expecting - and wanting - their thoughts and world-view to be challenged. If your thoughts aren't being challenged, are you learning anything new?

In section 44, Godin writes:

Teaching is no longer about delivering facts that are unavailable in any other format.

You may need to read that twice. In most classes, students are expected to learn how others have thought about that subject. They need to get their thinking in line with everyone else on that topic. However, what we need is to have students committed to learning what others think and then taking the next step and thinking radically about the topic themselves. They need to question the topic with questions grounded in what is known, with an eye towards what's next. Imagine a student who could ask what would happen if "X" occurred, and did so with the knowledge of A-W.

In the movie, Hidden Figures, one of the characters implores his team to "look beyond." To look beyond, a student needs to be committed to learning, questioning, exploring...and not to obtaining a specific grade. Going for the grade is easy. Looking beyond is where the opportunities are.

If you're heading to school, to a conference, or to a workshop, are you committed? Will you look beyond?

Monday, July 16, 2018

IMLS report on Positioning Library and Information Science Graduate Programs for 21st Century Practice

In November 2017, IMLS hosted a meeting on "Positioning Library and Information Science Graduate Programs for 21st Century Practice." The 40-page report from that one-day event is now available. The three overarching themes, and places for continued work, were:

Recruiting Students
Educating Students
Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining LIS Professionals

It is important for us to remember that the diversity in our profession does not match the diversity in the U.S. For example, the U.S. is approximately 18% Hispanic/LatinX, while only 3% of our credentialed librarians are Hispanic/LatinX. The report includes tables on race/ethnicity on page 31, which use the ALA Diversity Counts statistics.

I expect all of the ALA accredited MSLIS programs will be reviewing this report. It will be interesting to see how this influences their future.

Friday, February 09, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Juried Papers (Friday)

Approach to Harmonization of Entry Requirements for Graduate Program in Information Science at European Higher Institutions EINFOSE Project

Tatjana Aparac-Jelisic

Description: Various aspects of harmonization at European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that offer programs in Library and Information Studies (LIS) have been studied since early 1990s. Since 2004-05 – when a project on Curriculum Development was funded through Erasmus program – up to 2016, there were no projects on education in Library and Information Science funded by European Union. The main goal of this paper is to present and discuss the results after the first year of the Erasmus plus project entitled European Information Science Education: Encouraging Mobility and Learning Outcomes Harmonization (EINFOSE).

Project’s web site is at Http://einfose.ffos.hr

Hypothesis: Common entry might requirements mitigate or eliminate the differences in enrollment procedures at different HEIs that offer programs in IS and might contribute to the higher enrollment of students with different educational background at the graduate level in IS.

The project seeks to investigate how these barriers could be eliminated or lowered.

One goal is to make it easier and more desirable for students to spend time “abroad” in programs in other European countries.

Summary: This project brought together several schools to develop and test a summer school, which provides basic information on several I.S. topics. The idea is that students learn information and skills which will put them all on a common knowledge level. Students attend the summer school once (approx. 1 week) on-site. Feedback from the students was very good. They made suggestions for additional topics as well as for expanding the length of the summer school.

My thoughts: In the U.S., every MLIS program has an introductory course. Is there an opportunity to collaborate on a shared introductory course? With many programs now being online, could that shared introductory course be offered in different regions of the country? It would provide a face to face opportunity, give students a shared experience, allow them to build relationships across institutions which could be helpful after graduation, and give those students the same foundational/core skills. I could imagine the shared course being cross-listed at each institution.

Building Connections between LIS Graduate Students and Undergraduates: A Case Study in Curricular Engagement

Eleanor (Nora) Mattern

Flight 93 National Memorial contains over 800 audio interviews. Some have been transcribed and some have been digitized. That place became the site of a project for the students:

Archival Access, Systems, and Tools - MLIS students - Created a finding aid for the oral historian collection and tested the oral history metadata synchronizer (OHMS).
First Experiences in Research - undergraduate students - Engaged in research projects using the oral histories.

Students from the two classes were connected indifferent ways:

Social event
Visit to the Flight 93 National Memorial to learn about oral history project
Day-long workshop on OHMS and collection of undergraduate feedback on tool and documentation.

It was useful for the MLIS students to work with the undergraduate students, because it taught them how the content will be used. It also taught them (practical experience) about working with volunteers.

Undergraduate students gained an insight into terminology (e.g., metadata). It taught them, for example, how metadata affects them in everyday life. It also taught them about working with an archivist and the skills an archivist needs.

Benefits:

She noted that there is literature in STEM on undergraduate and graduate students working together, and the benefits on the undergraduate students.
STEM literature notes that graduate students gain experience in mentoring and leadership. It provides experience in supervising others.
Students noted that having more meaningful, sustained and regular interaction between all of the students would have been a benefit.

Does this provide a pipeline to the LIS profession?

Finding a faculty collaborator is key for reaching undergraduate students
Offices of Undergraduate Research can serve as a conduit to undergraduate students and provide infrastructure

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Digital Literacy in the Era of Fake News: Key Roles for LIS Educators

Heidi Julien (ALISE president), Michael Seadle (Executive director of the iSchool Consortium), Dietmar Worfram, (moderator) Clara Chu

Digital literacy in the era of fake news: How to respond - Seadle

What is fake news? The intent to mislead the reader in ways that serve a social or political goal. It cannot be verified.

How we understand truth is a western concept tied to the ability to create and reproduce scientific results.

Fake news undermines the foundations of the scientific methods.

Trust comes from the ability to produce reliable tools. However, governments have made claims that no one could believe and that sowed distrust in our institutions.

Fake news allows people to find excuses for what we want to believe.

Fake news mean unreliable sources. Reliability is a scale.

Lies can give help.

One role information professionals can play is to uphold standards for quality and reliability.

Who will be soldiers against untruth?

News Know-How: How to get news you can trust for study, work, play and community - Clara Chu presented the paper by Barbara Jones, who (at the last minute) was unable to attend

This presentation is an outgrowth of the news literacy project.

In 2017, Jones worked on a new faked news project in Illinois.

Themes:

Participants define their news landscape.
Participants encounter examples for fake news.
Participants find out why the library is the best place to get news.
Engage participants to consult the library and to gain fact-checking skills.

Truth decay: erosion of clear line between fact and fiction, widespread lack of trust in the news.

News versus editorials/opinions

What news do you receive close to home? Where does it come from? Is it correct? How do you know?

Look at the local news. What are the sources?

Look at the state and where you are getting that news.

Where do we get national news?

Where do we get international news?

Chu showed a legitimate article, where the accompanying photo was a mashup/fake.

There are handouts already that can be used in teaching how to discern fake news.

Jones is developing slides that could be used broadly to teach how to discern fake news.

Preparing Information Professionals to Teach Digital Literacy - Heidi Julien

Information professionals have skills and content knowledge.

Where do information professionals learn to teach? Very few actually learn how to do teaching as part of their MS programs.

Teaching is a skill set, science and art.

Subject knowledge is insufficient,

Teaching is not well learned on the job.

Teaching is core to the work that most information professional do.

Teaching to teach requires a host of skills and many elements that go into good teaching. Additionally, they need to understand some specifics around fake news.

There are a range of cognitive challenges that must be overcome, including that impressions once formed will endure, confirmation bias, and resistance to change. People may selectively avoid new information. It can be easier to identify weaknesses in the arguments of others, but not in one’s self.

Pre-service preparation is critical for our emerging information professionals.

Discussion:

Is there an opportunity to collaborate with journalism faculty? There could be informal and formal collaborations. An example that has occurred was an unconference.
Noted that there are other people besides journalists with whom we could collaborate.
Journalists are reliant on libraries.
Can we help end users understand how news stories are created? That would be helpful for our students.
School librarians can have a role in helpful us tech how to teach.
Digital natives are skilled with technology, but not necessarily with understanding the content.
We are asking people to be skeptical, which requires more thought.
Can we (academics) encourage with the public and uphold our profession?
Is trust declining in libraries, which are civil institutions? We know that trust is declining in civic institutions, but there is limited data on libraries (outside of Pew data).
Fake news is entertaining and is part marketing. Can we deliver information in a way that is more eye catching?
Will our associations and institutions support us in the public sphere if we confront fake news, teach about fake news, etc.? Will our associations help us make positive social impact? Will our academic institutions support us, rather than limit our engagement? There is a social risk to this work.
Can we get resources out into our community? For example, getting students and alumni to go to town halls, etc., to answer questions from participants with verifiable information. An example of this is Radical Reference, which began during the Republican convention under George W. Bush.
Can we engage with peoples’ rational minds? Engagement requires respect and openness.
There is a difference between access to information and impact of information.
Can we (librarians) be one of the voices on TV as commentators, etc., talking about sources, etc.? Can we do that recognizing that the work would be fraught with emotional and social peril for the individual?
Can we work with search engine and online social networks to help them filter out fake news?
These issues exist outside of the U.S., although sometimes in different ways.

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

Thursday, February 08, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Information Literacy and Continuing Education

Give me some slacks Public Librarians LINQ Together for Professional Development

Vanessa Irvin (presenter) and Wiebke Reile - University of Hawaii

LINQ is used on Hawaii

Inquiry-based professional development model for public librarianship

Incorporates online collaboration platforms for discourse

They use Slack.com, which is free and easy. Cloud-based which allows for a variety of different content to be incorporated. It can be real-time or asynchronous. Online collaboration platform. Conversations were in different topic channels.

A place to pose questions and have meaningful exchanges.

Librarians were about to share artifacts, including documents and photographs.

LINQ data in LIS 601

Sharing research data in the classroom

Hear what front line librarians are thinking, discussing, and sharing

Brings the wisdom of practitioners into the classroom

Disrupts the controlled environment of the classroom

Shows practitioners are experts

In using this data with their class last spring, LIS students wanted to ask a question in LINQ. Faculty facilitated the interaction.

Now some faculty are using Slack to teach their classes. There are private channels on Slack. She is using it for submitting assignments.

Faculty insights:

Coursework becomes more collaborative
Questions seem more welcomes as sites of inquiry and reflection
Student output more

Role of LIS Schools in Continuing Education

Valerie Karno, Lauren Mandel, Mary Moen (presenter) - University of Rhodes Island

Background / Problem

CE a necessity as libraries transform

Challenge - identify competencies

Challenge - delivery formats

What is the role of an LIS program?

They did a qualitative study with focus groups

Data collection

1) Competencies gallery walk

2) Worksheet and consesogram about preferred delivery formats

Data analysis led to finding common themes on competencies.

Findings:

Image of more findings related to preferred delivery formats

Role of LIS programs:

One shot workshops or series
Faculty expertise
Pull from existing content
Online courses
Post graduate certificate

Considerations:

Demand for interactive online learning - CE for faculty
Workshops - faculty service or compensation
Develop faculty expertise in identified topics or bring in others
How do make sustained CE worth their time and money?
How to competencies needed and format intersect?

Conclusions:

Interest in CE
Challenges application to all higher Ed
Need to explore options
As a public university, need to be accountable to the community

Learning by Doing: Using Field Experience to Promote Online Students’ Diversity Engagement and Professional Development

Denice Adkins (presenter), Jenny Bossaller (presenter), Beth Brendler, Sarah Buchanan (presenter), Heather Moulaison Sandy (presenter) - University of Missouri

Challenges:

Lack of professional socialization for online students
Lack of student diversity awareness

Solutions:

Experiential learning
Field experience
Diversity focus

Kolb experiential learning theory - teaching and learning spiral

Theory feeds practice and practice feeds theory

Diversity - theories

Contact theory - contact between different groups increases acceptance
Inclusive excellence
Diversity levers - social justice, human dignity, equity in access to information, equity in information preservation. Where in the LIS curriculum does this occurs naturally?

“Practicum in information agencies” is the one required course where this can occur.

This can also occur as a class assignment. Adkins and Buchanan walked through an example. Students worked with materials at the Black Archives of Mid-America during a fall course (2016) and then during spring break (2017).

Another way to put students in a diverse setting is through study abroad: South Africa, Ireland/UK, and St. Lucia. Students wrote reflections everyday on the trips, which helped them learn from the experience. Also did a service learning trip in Joplin, MO.

They also have a service learning class on community leadership.

The digital libraries class worked with the Cambio Center on a project.

They noted that they still have challenges. The tools that measure changes in beliefs about diversity are subjective and imprecise.

Final takeaways from the presenters:

These are things that we can do, e.g., teaching with Slack
Bring people of color into online discussions
Have students lead in-Service training
Good to see people trying new things

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Juried Papers (Thursday)

Teaching the ACRL Framework: Reflections from the field

Melissa Gross, Don Latham, Heidi Julien

The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education was adopted January 2016.

They did a national survey of instructional librarians. 622 responses. Respondents were generally positive about the Framework. Most had yet to modify their Information literacy instruction in significant ways,

They then did a interview study with 15 instructional librarians. Semi structured questions. Conducted through Skype. Looked for successes, challenges, and evaluation techniques. Asked about pedagogy techniques.

Pedagogical strategies:

Framework provides for structure
Provides guiding ideology
More conversational
More hands on, peer to peer teaching

Most successful strategies:

Conversations or training with other librarians on site
Ditto with faculty
Using the frame to develop learning outcomes
Implementing the frames over time

Greatest challenges:

Time
Concepts are vague
Scalability
Librarian resistance to the Framework
Requires lots of preparation
Buy in from faculty
Faculty still want skills-based instruction

Respondents noted a wide variety of ways for assessing student learning, including no assessments yet.

Discussion:

The Framework does require a change in thinking.
Difficult to fit the Framework into the typical one shot session
Harder to assess student assimilation of Framework ideas
Librarian attitudes about the Framework vary.

Implications for LIS education:

We should encourage our students to engage in critical reflection and debate about the frameworks strengths and weaknesses.
We should move away from a strictly skills based approach.
Need to help student develop assessments

There is more research that needs to be done on the adoption of the Framework.

What are best practices in LIS programs for teaching students to then teach using the Framework?

E-Advising: Expanding Advising for Distance LIS Students

Sue Kimmel, Elizabeth Burns, Jeffrey DiScala, Meredith Parker - Old Dominion Univ.

Challenges:

Navigating online systems and technologies
Lack of confidence
Need for advising and support services
Lack of contact with faculty or a designated program coordinator
Need for more detailed information about university expectations
Access during university business hours

They have:

Online office hours
Blackboard site that hold info that students will need
A lecturer as an overarching advisor from first contact through graduation

Students actually want help 24x7.

Their students are nontraditional with jobs and family. Few access existing resources for help.

Students into program complete coursework during times other than traditional business hours. After 6 p.m. and on the weekend.

At the time of their survey, they did have a requirement that students come to campus for a three day boot camp (summer institute).

For ODU students, online, asynchronous learning was very important. They would not have been able to enroll otherwise. Most of their students are from Virginia. All are school media students.

What do their students perceive to be the benefits on online advising?

Why do students seek assistance?

Plan of study - most frequent
Registration financial aid
Technology
Program advise
Navigating the ODU website
Conflicts with groups
Other requirements

What resources do they used? Most frequent:

Email my advisor
Online office hours
Classmates
Email the instructor

Online advising is seen as being convenient. It allows students to feel a sense of community.

Improvements and adjustments:

More frequent access to the program advisor
Promote the resources more frequently
Obtain more advanced notice of deadlines, etc.
Standardize office hours across courses and faculty

(Re)Discovering LIS Education Identity, Image, and Purpose in Engaged Scholarship

Laurie Bonnici, Jinxuan Ma

“...increasing difficulty in maintaining coherence of identity, image, and purpose.” - Cronin, 2002

Their research is using the @BlueZones and their work is not yet finished.

Engaged scholarship: education applied to social problems and issues faced by individuals, local communities, organizations, practitioners, and policymakers.

Community engaged learning is a course, internship, or program in an institution of higher education that includes:

Working with the community
Addressing societal needs
Intentional integration of learning objectives
Student preparation, ongoing reflection, and critical analysis
Reciprocal benefits
Ability to explore one’s civic identity

Community engagement is at the center of research, teaching, and service.

Image of University and Commuity Engagement

#ALISE2018 : A Critical Dialogue: Faculty of Color in Library and Information Science

Monica Colon-Aguirre, Nicole Cook, Renata Chancellor, Joe Sanchez, Bharat Mehra, Vanessa Irvin, Tonia Sutherland, Renee Hill, Amelia Gibson

This session is based on a 2017 paper of the same title.

Prompts for each speaker will be the same.

Tell us about a time when you experienced discrimination as a faculty member.

Backhanded compliments in student evaluations.
Micro-aggressions.
Comparisons that are racist.
Harassing emails because of someone’s research focus
Question: Are our associations and institutions ready to support faculty who are being harassed because of the faculty member’s diversity?
Inappropriate questions from students and faculty.
Colleagues who do not openly support a faculty member of color and do not confront people who aggressive towards faculty of color. Support needs to be open, loud, constant, continuous. We need our colleagues to not be cowards.
When a faculty member of color’s story is not believed.
Comments about appearance.
Being challenged in class and on student evaluation because the faculty member’s intelligence is not acknowledged.
Needing to conform to the decorum of the majority.
Inappropriate assumptions based on a person’s last name.

What do you want the rest of the world to know about the experiences and/or needs of faculty of color?

“It was that traumatic that I can’t forget it.”
Realize that faculty of color are not being too sensitive.
That it takes a lot of work to educate individuals one at a time so those people can provide the support and protection that is needed.
It is everyone’s job on the faculty to understand the situations that are having a negative impact on faculty of color.
The stress is real and it can cause illness.
Retention is an issue.
The initiatives that are bringing faculty of color into academia do not assure retention.
Faculty of color tend to follow research agendas which may require more work due to the level of community engagement require. That may mean that the person may have fewer publications when going through tenure review.
Faculty of color are expected to over perform in order to be seen as equal.
“We are enough.”
You cannot just hire one person from a diverse background. That person will be seen as a token and that person does not adequately represent the diversity in the community. Develop cohorts who can support each other.
Be willing and able to listen to people of color who are speaking up and placing information in the public forum.
Don’t just invite people of color for photos. Invite people of color to be a part of your research team (co-PI).
If you are researching diverse populations, do that work with faculty from those diverse populations.
LIS associations need to do more than talk about diversity. Can they do something to broaden the diversity of the associations?
That faculty of color need communities of support inside and outside of academia.
Know that some faculty will be unable to change so they are fully accepting of faculty of color.
Faculty of color need to keep themselves safe, sane, and healthy. Respect that need.
Support for faculty of color needs to begin when they are doctoral students.

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Innovative Pedagogies SIG

Expanding LIS Education Universe

Suliman Hawamdeh, Univ. of North Texas

We are anxious about new things and how to incorporate those things into our pedagogy.

He connects data science with knowledge management and LIS.

Challenges facing LIS programs

Declining enrollment
Outdated curriculum
Changing market and workplace
Technological changes
Changing roles, tasks and functions of the traditional LIS profession
Competing discipline (data science, data analytics, knowledge management, etc.)

Expanding curriculum:

Expanding roles and responsibilities
Collaboration across disciplines
Collaboration across areas of expertise
Emerging competing professions
Growth necessitate change
Digitization, curation, and sustainability of the digital world
Innovative Pedagogies - teachers as facilitators

Graphic which relates different parts of the information profession

The information profession - Rethinking DIKW

Master of Data Science at UNT

Designed to meet the rising need...

Check their web site for a list of core courses and electives.

Expanding thr Creative Side of the LIS Education through Acts-Informed Visual Research
Anh Thu Nguyen - University of Toronto, hanhthu.nguyen@mail.utoronto.ca

INFI 300 (Foundations) was a mandatory course, but is now an elective.

Students do a visual research project using a draw-and-write technique. (LibSquares) This follows the idea of the iSquares project. (ISquares.info)

Students learn to conduct original research.

In the end,students can choose to do a paper or a creative arts deliverable (paintings, sculpture, music, etc.). Students write an artist’s statement with the deliverable. Students also learn to showcase and display their work.

There is an article on this in JELIS.

There is also a traveling exhibit.

Question: if students draw an information professional, would the drawing be different than a librarian?

Deborah Hicks, University of Alberta, Deborah.hicks@ualberta.ca (a continuation of the same topic)

Image and Identity

Librarians have been concerns about stereotypes since the early 1900s.

Identity Discourses of Librarianship

Image versus identity

Image is how others see librarians

Identity is how librarians see themselves

Professional Identity - five discourses

Advocacy
Services
Insider-outsider
Professionalism
Change

Practical and pedagogical responses

Counter stereotypes through actions
Interrogate and reflect on emerging professional identities
Critical approaches to LIS

Consider having students draw what they believe librarians so and then have them reflect on the difference between the drawing and what they have said about librarians. For example, did a student say that librarians are involved in technology, but the person drew a person surrounded by books?

From MLIS to MI: Changing a Program to Expand Community and Opportunity.
Lilia Pavlovsky, Rutgers University

Her school has over 3000 students (School of Communication of Information)

The MLIS is a medium fish in a big pond.

The MLIS

Declining enrollment

Changing job market

Technological change

Call from faculty for new program

They formed a task force in 2013. Final report in April 2014.

Job market analysis
Stakeholder analyse
Curriculum review
Competitor analysis
Internal assessment of student community

Undergraduate students were not coming into the MLIS program because of the program name and image.

Key decision points

Flexibility

Inclusiveness

Relevant to broader info landscapes

Collaborative

Maintain core LIS values

They decided not to create a second degree program but to renovate the current degree. It became the Master of Information (MI). At Rutgers, you cannot change the curriculum when you change the name. Official state in fall 2015.

MI structure

4 foundation courses - 2 of 4 must be taken

1 technology requirements

3 zero credit courses

7 concentrations - electives

Opened up many more options for students

Notion of curriculum as product

Reorganization of current assets

Creation of integrated program that leveraged expertise. Collaborative.

They now have a dual degree pathway with the undergraduate degree.

Currently 10-20 applicants per semester.

Outcomes:

Enrollment has gone up. 130% growth.
Marketing became clearer.
Diversity in student population.
More professionals in the program.
More international students.
Curriculum became cleaner.
LIS traditional still the anchor store and a vibrant community.
Clarity of identity.

Key lessons learned:

Program improvement never ends.
Change is the new normal.
Innovation as practice.
Complacency should be questioned!
Review of markets ongoing.
Assessment/evaluation.

The curriculum committee had 10 people. They met sometimes several times per month.

In terms of manpower, some of the work was done on-load. Some course revisions were done with buyouts or additional pay. They had practitioners help redesign courses. They used adjuncts to fill-in teaching slots.

They see no problems with their upcoming ALA accreditation review.

They communicated frequently with their alumni, and included data.

Comment: Make as many changes in the current structure as possible, then change the formal structure to match it.

Most of Rutgers programs are 100% online and 100% on campus.

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

Wednesday, February 07, 2018

#ALISE2018 : The Benefits and Challenges of Allied Programs and Specializations in LIS Units

Dietmar Wolfram began by talking about some of the current specializations that exist in MLIS programs and allied degree programs. ALISE wants to expand to include the emerging and expanding areas that our programs/schools are engaged in.

Anne Gilliland, UCLA

Archival education

Over 30 schools in North America

An expansion of scope -> archival studies

Archival studies was established at UCLA in 1995

There is one mandatory course, then students select courses that match the person’s trajectory. Some courses are offered in over academic programs.

Courses emphasize the proactive roles of archivists. UCLA’s Department of Information Studies emphasizes social justice.

How has the department benefited from archival studies?

Increased enrollment.
Emphasis on evidence supports the school’s social justice concerns.
Multiple points of intersection with other areas of the department, as well as other academic departments.
Built tighter connections with external communities.

Challenges include:

Had to overcome stereotypes.
Balancing faculty workload.

Best pedagogical practices include:

Helping students to connect between their background and communities to their future careers. The classroom must be a safe space.
Rethinking class lengths to allow for more depth during a class session. For example, having a class that meets in 8 hour blocks several times a semester.

Suliman Hawamdeh, Univ. Of North Texas

Trends:

Branding and repositioning
Relocation and merger with other programs
Expansion of programs and specializations
Pedagogical shift - move to more on campus courses for international students ( mostly from India)
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary
Move to focus on the broader information science

Opportunities and challenges include:

Need for a different level of competencies
Nice to learn vs need to learn
Rich flexible curriculum

ALISE Academy Questions:

What is the LIS profession? Who are our students?
How can we brand our programs to demonstrate the versatility of our degrees?
Given demographic trends, how can the many related associations be sustained?
Should ALISE be the leader in developing alternatives to....?

UNT uses (informal) ”programs of study” to provide breadth to the MLIS program.

Their PhD. program uses 33 external faculty who are involved with supervision and mentoring. This is in addition to 16 faculty in I.S. One I.S. Faculty member must be on the student's committee.

Howard Rosenbaum, Indiana University

The School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering

Department of Library and Information Science

One PhD, two master’s degrees, and some certificates.

M.S. of Information Science - 5 dual degree options

M.S.L.I.S. - 14 dual degree options

In a dual degree, the number of credits is reduced. This is helpful particular for students who want to go into academic libraries, where a second master’s will be particular helpful.

Most specializations have a faculty lead. That person advises all of the students in the specialization.

It every specialization or dual degree has students all the time, but all have had students in them.

Specializations have required electives and free electives.

The specializations help with course scheduling and the hiring of adjuncts. Once you know how many students are in a specialization,who can figure that out.

Challenges include:

Assuring faculty to teach
Low enrollment in classes
Dual degrees must be approved by each department/school, then the campus, and the state. Specializations are approved by the Board of Trustees. He noted that most employers do not ask to see a student’s transcript.

Most students now take core classes in their first year, which helps with course planning.

Almost engaged in constant curriculum review.

Paul Sherman, Kent State

From a user experience program.

The global information challenge - bad actors

Dark pattern problem -> the fear of missing out -> isolation

How can we help? Sherman delivered a call to action, rather than talking about what his program does.

Discussion:

Should ALISE be the leader in developing alternatives to....?

Gilliland asked what is the profession that we are trying to serve? Are these professions ready for the changes our students might bring with them?

Rosenbaum - the problem of recruiting diverse populations has been a concern since his work in academia since the 1980s. He noted the lack of diversity in the room.

IS students are not interested in the L.

Sherman - we should be looking at educational programs, not just those that grant degrees. We need to be aware of our competition.

Question about competencies

Hawamdeh - can people do the job? That is more important that a grade. How do we integrate competency based education into what we do?

Rosenbaum - competencies depend on where the student is going to work. What is the profession that we’re trying to education students for?

Gilliland - she talked about this from an archives point of view. The archival field has two “mistresses.”

To what extent do undergraduate programs affect the culture of your school?

The MLIS degree requires a demonstration of LIS overarching concerns. How does this work with the structures that were discussed?

Rosenbaum - capstones for the specializations

Sherman - they offer a range of culminating experience. They suggest that students look for projects that will be relevant to hiring managers or projects at their current workplace.

Hawamdeh - have advanced seminars and independent studies. Students might produce a publication.

Gilliland - her university requires either a thesis or a portfolio option.

Comment about the lack of diversity. Research has shown that students before the age of 10-11 have decided/learned what they cannot be. We need to get outside of our “world.”

In what way do knew programs contribute to the information professions? How do they affect our mission?

Sherman - concentrate on mission. It is a losing proposition to focus on defining what you are.

Rosenbaum - They looked at their undergraduate students and creating undergraduate majors. About 10% of undergraduates do not know what they want to do. What could they go with that 10%? They looked at what they could do with that group? They allow students to take graduate classes in their senior year, so that students can quickly get an M.S. degree. Most though are currently interested in the I.S. Degree.

Wolfram - Introducing students with related undergraduate classes can provide a gateway to the LIS degree. It opens up career options for students.

What kind of value proposition to your pick to a partner in a dual degree program?

Hawamdeh - Students want to know what the degree will do for them.

Are programs aware of how many of their students are already practitioners?

Gilliland - Some applicants in archives enter the profession because they feel their community has not been well served by the archives profession.

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Will “online” go the distance? The quality of teaching and evaluation in online LIS education

32 of the yet 65 ALA accredited programs are fully online.

John Burgess, Univ. Of Alabama

Learning by play: an online approach to teaching the reference encounter

Their MLIS program is offered in two modes: face to face and synchronous online

Want a parity in lesrning experience

Humanistic method

Parity can be challenging in subjects which require developing empathy, perception, and non-verbal communication as learning outcomes
Expectation of autonomous practice

Shari Lee, St. John’s University

Student centered learning

Rapid increase of online programs, including LIS

Ubiquity of the Internet and the development/evolution of technology

To be successful, we need a change in focus in how we teach

Demonopolisation

Students become active participants. Student centered learning moves students from being passive to being active.

James Vorbach, St. John’s University

Managing and evaluating an online group project

The group project is in a web design course which uses WordPress for the web design. It is a six week project.

Project development stages

Group selection and client selection
Initial group meeting
Research
Design and implementation

Assessments : Status reports (1 page each), progress report (longer, half of the final report), presentation, final report (progress report plus other information), web site, and peer review survey (SurveyMonkey).

Evaluation : points are given for the presentation, final report, web site, and peer review. 40% of the final grade.

Summary from our groups discussions:

Establish the rapport that communication is always open, using the tools available.
One group discussed assessment and evaluation of group work and then deviated into talking about student feedback on their group mates. Talked about communicating with students. Keep in mind that in the work world, not everyone works at the same level and assessing your peers in normal.
Failure is okay. Getting comfortable with teaching online, etc., takes time.
How do we support the technology for online education? Where are the resources for supporting the instructors?
Faculty are hired for research, yet are told that they need to keep up to date on teaching technology. Faculty may be required to troubleshoot the technology problems for their classes, because there is no IT support.
Does the university value online the same as face to face?
When you teach online, be explicit with the instructions you give students.

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

#ALISE2018 : Critical Thinking

Cultivating a critical thinking mindset among new information practice in an era of “alternative facts”

Rajesh Singh & Kevin Rioux

Lots of evidence of the erroneous reliance of “common sense” instead of critical thinking in recent discourse on misinformation, fake news, and propaganda. Common sense is not based on systematic observation.

How can we teach critical thinking so students can distinguish sources and teach the skill to others?

They used two cases with students (online class) and then studied the results. Both cases provided ethical and managerial dilemmas. The study was qualitative. They identified three type of mindsets: idealist, pragmatic, and skeptic based on students written discussions. They looked for thoughtful, analytical and reflective discussion as well as leadership, decision making and problem solving skills. Did students Apple management and ethical theories?

Implications:

Utilizing problem based case studies in learning activities is an effective approach for cultivating a critical thinking mindset.

Responsive. Curriculum design to intellectually engage and challenge students in order to cultivate critical thinking mindset in addition to professional skills.

FYI: “Writing Case Studies: A Manual”

Health literacy and physical literacy: public library practices, challenges, and opportunities

AND

Understanding physical activity in public libraries

Noah Lenstra and Ellen Rubinstein

They began with a discussion of what health literacy is and provided definitions from the World Health Organization and others. Then there was a discussion of physical literacy. “Physical literacy is the ability, confidence, and desire to be physically active for life.” - Aspen Institute Sports and Society. Physical literacy does not assume physical ability.

Oklahoma is the 43rd worst state in terms of the health of its residents. Rubinstein interviewed library staff about health and health literacy. Lenstra did research in North Carolina. NC is in the “middle” of the country based on health metrics and physical activity levels (https://stateofobesity.org). He also interviewed staff.

Jointly their study is “Movement based programs in the U.S. and in Canada: A survey.” Their survey received responses from 1418 different public libraries. Responses came from urban, suburban, and rural libraries. Programs are being offered for all age ranges. They are still digging through the data.

There is an ongoing debate about the role of libraries in community physical activities.

There are libraries that have gym passes which can be checked out.

How do we educate students they are prepared to foster these literacies? Should they be prepared? If yes, can they be prepared to work with people of all physical and cognitive abilities?

Edited for types and reformatted: Feb. 11, 2018

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Webinar: Getting the Most Out of Your MSLIS Program

Graphic promotion of Nov. 15, 2017 webinar

In November 2017, I gave a webinar on how to get the most out of your MSLIS program. After the webinar, one MSLIS student, Allison Keough, listened to it and create a blog post with all of the resources, etc., I had cited. So if you are in an MSLIS program or considering entering an MSLIS program, this one-hour webinar recording and companion blog post have good information for you!

Webinar Description:

In our November [2017] webinar, join Professor of Practice Jill Hurst-Wahl for advice on how to make the most out of your time in an LIS program. This webinar is for both current and future LIS students at any university.

Congratulations, you are now in a Master’s of Library and Information Science program and working quickly towards becoming a professional librarian. The time you are spending in your MSLIS/MLIS/MLS program will go by quickly. What do you need to be doing to ensure that you get the most from it?

This webinar will give you actions to take to position yourself for success in your program and afterwards as an LIS professional. By the end of the webinar, you will have a series of tried and true steps on which to embark.

Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Next Steps for a Beyond Horizons (2.0) Community

In December 2017, the world learned that the organization known as the New Media Consortium (NMC) was proceeding through chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. NMC was known for its Horizon Project, which created well-received reports on education technology (edtech). After the shock of the news, the NMC community has begun to regroup. Lisa Gustinelli, Jonathan Nalder, and Paul Signorelli collaboratively wrote and published a piece about the loss of NMC and the future of the NMC community. As a teaser, I'm publishing part of the article below. Please go to Paul's blog to read it in its entirety, if you are interested in how a technology community keeps going in the face of loss.

Those of us who were part of the NMC (New Media Consortium) global family, tribe, and community of learning for many years were stunned, a couple of weeks ago, by the sudden, completely unexpected news that our NMC friends/staff/colleagues had been suddenly laid off during the holiday season and, as the official (unsigned) statement distributed by former Board President Gardner Campbell via email noted on December 18, 2017, the “NMC will be promptly commencing a chapter 7 bankruptcy case. A trustee will be appointed by the court to wind down NMC’s financial affairs, liquidate its assets and distribute any net proceeds to creditors…” Those who loved the ed-tech reports issued through NMC’s Horizon Project, which documented ed tech projects, developments, trends, and challenges across both formal and informal learning sectors, are concerned that a project with more than 16 years of insights and impact worldwide could die along with the NMC.

Again, you can read the complete post on the Building Creative Bridges blog. And here is a link to the 2017 Horizon Report.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Upping Your Library Intelligence: Vacuum and Use

Thinking

In this final post in this series, I think it is important to talk about two things: vacuum and use.

This series has given you ways of increasing your library intelligence. Wherever you are in the library and information science field, you need to continue to increase your knowledge of the field. You also need to increase your knowledge of what is happening in other areas.

If your library is expected to react to the world around it, then knowing what is happening around you is important. You cannot live in a vacuum. You cannot make the library your fortress against outside forces. You cannot ignore what is happening out in the community. You must be aware of what is happening and take time to learn about non-LIS things.

Take time to understand what is happening in your larger community - whatever that community might be. What are its issues, concerns, or joys? What is changing or needs to be changed? What's happening with the budget, land use, etc.? What are people protesting and why? Learn this so that when you need the information or a point of reference, you have it. Learn this so if something occurs that requires the library to act, you can do so quickly.

You can learn what's happening outside of the library through interacting with your community and your larger organization. You should also be paying attention to the news sources, which are relevant for your community. While you may be unable to read, listen, or watch everything that is relevant, you can read headlines and table of contents, and then read any articles that seems particularly useful. You might want to attend relevant meetings or information sessions in your community, as a way of learning more about what your community is discussing. Of course, don't forget that social media can help you stay on top of what your community is discussing. Just be sure that you're hearing from multiple sides on an issue.

As for use, this new knowledge which you have garnered is only effective if you utilize it. Be willing to be part of library conversations, whether that is with LIS students, LIS professionals, or members of your larger community. Share what you know about libraries but remember:

Do not use library jargon. Please don't use library jargon with members of your larger community, because if you use words that they do not understand, they will just stop listening to you. Limit your use of library jargon with other members of the LIS profession, because the breadth of the profession means that we all don't actually understand each other's jargon.
Listen. The saying is that you have two ears and only one mouth, so you'll listen twice as long as you speak. When you listen, you will actually have a better idea of what you should be talking about. If you're unclear about what you should be saying, ask open ended questions. By the way, some members of our community are rarely listened to. Being willing to listen actively and openly is a wonderful gift.
Acknowledge that you don't know everything. There will always be topics that you don't understand. If it is a topic that you really do need to know more about, use your library skills to learn about it.

When I started this series, my main focus was on LIS students, but it quickly broadened to other members of the LIS profession. In addition, the topics in this series grew more than I anticipated. I'm sure there is more to say, but I will stop here. If you have comments, questions, concerns, or ideas, I hope that you will post them as a comment. If you have found this series useful, please comment and tell me why. (I enjoy good news!) And if you know someone who should read this series, please pass it along to them.

Previous posts in this series:

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Tuesday, August 08, 2017

Upping Your Library Intelligence: An Ongoing Need

Thinking

This - I think - is the second to last post in this series. In this post, it is time to confront a reality. That reality is that some graduates of academic programs believe that they need to learn nothing more than what their degree program taught them, and then get frustrated when they learn that isn't true. Many of us have heard a graduate lament that his/her academic program did not teach them everything. That fact, though, should not be a surprise. No industry - including the information industry - is stagnant. There is always something new to learn.

If you are currently in an academic program and looking forward to a professional position OR you are in your first professional position, there are two points to keep in mind:

Many employers will immediate teach a new employee specific skills for that work environment. Rather than being frustrated at this, recognize this as an opportunity to learn more. If what you are being taught is different than what you learned in your academic program, judge neither as being wrong but rather as being options to carry with you into the future.
Employers will want you to continue to learn, whether that employer is able to fund that activity for you or not. You will need to identify - perhaps with input from your boss and your colleagues - what you need to learn and the best way to learn it. It is then up to you to pursue that learning whether it is through reading, podcasts, webinars, seminars, workshops, conferences, or academic classes.

Yes, the need to increase your library intelligence will be continual, because libraries are constantly changing. That means that your job will constantly change. I encourage you to be proactive in your learning. Don't wait until your boss must force you to learn something new.

In terms of professional development, I have written several blog posts on attending conferences. Those tips can be applied to many different professional development situations. I also have a post on reading and listening recommendations for MSLIS students.

By the way, if you are still in school, your academic program should teach you - implicitly or explicitly - how to be a lifelong learner. If it isn't obvious to you how your academic program is doing (or did do) that, ask.

Previous posts in this series:

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Thursday, August 03, 2017

Upping Your Library Intelligence: Put in the Time

Thinking

There is no shortcut to upping your library intelligence. There are things you must do, and those things will take time. Let me say that we all have the same amount of minutes is a day. That means that we all have the same opportunities to increase our knowledge of libraries and the information field. The question for you to consider is... How are you going to fit the necessary activities into your day?

People like Tim Ferriss, Malcolm Gladwell, David Allen, and others have thoughts on how to learn something new, how to fit learning into your day, or how to make time for the things you need to be focusing on. It all, though, boils down to putting in the time.

We each have 1440 minutes in each day. Generally, we spend 480 minutes sleeping and 420 (or more) minutes working (that could be working a job or going to school). That leaves 540 minutes for the other things we need to do, including meals, commuting, taking care of your family and home, etc. In those 540 minutes, can you dedicate 20 minutes to increasing your library intelligence?

20 minutes a day may not seem like much, but if you spend 20 minutes per day on a learning activity, and do that five days per week, every week, that is 5200 minutes per year (86.66 hours).

One key is dedicating time on your calendar. Yes, put that 20 minute block of time on your calendar and keep that meeting with yourself! This meeting with yourself could be done anywhere (home, car, work, parking lot, park). Some days, you might use that time to actually meet with someone or to attend a training session. This suggests, by the way, that the 20 minutes might not occur always at the same time each day and that is okay. What is important is that you do it! Will you do this for the a year or for the rest of your life? That is up to you and what your goals are.

I have had long periods in my life where I needed to dedicate a specific length of time each day in order to accomplish "X". In one nine-month period it was indeed a learning activity and I did it every day, seven days a week. Keeping that time was difficult when I was traveling (like at a conference), but I still tried my best to do it, because I of its importance.

If this idea resonates with you, go to your calendar and begin to schedule that time with yourself. You might use the first few 20 minute periods to organize your learning and networking activities, then use future periods to do those activities.

Resources and Inspiration:

How to Get Things Done When You're Not Inspired - Cory Doctorow on London Real (Hint: Put in the work)
Getting Things Done (podcasts)
Getting Things Done (book) by David Allen

Previous posts in this series:

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