Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Last Journel Entry
We have finished our CPCP project and have created a really nice vision for the future of 21st century schools. This was a real learning experience for me because I'm not a teacher much of this territory is quite new. I have finished my pathfinder and S&D questions in time to be able to touch it up a little. This was a great class I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and have learned quite a bit. One thing that will stick in my mind forever is the difference between bibliographies and indexes. All in all looking towards my future as a librarian I can see using what I learned in this class significantly. I have always enjoyed using reference materials to find the answers to my questions, so it was a real treat to learn to use them more in depth. See you in the Fall!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Article #3
Wagner, A. B. (2007). Onsite Reference and Instruction Services: Setting Up Shop Where Our Patrons Live. Reference & User Services Quarterly v. 46 no.4 p. 60-5
This article was very interesting because it helps define what a reference librarian should do now that the Internet has taken over the reference section. The author uses examples from colleges in New England and how the librarians on campus have started working proactively to get in contact with more students physically rather than virtually. Email and virtual reference is good and works well but it still will not make up for a reference interview face to face. What these colleges have decided to have is an unconsolidated reference desk and created "field librarians". Now they have librarians acting as specialists for different school departments and curricula. This way students do not have to visit the big scary centralized information desk, now they can go to their respective major's librarian and ask for help. There have been mixed results from faculty and students alike and the success of the program has been based only in some course areas. I agree this would help tremendously in certain fields. I remember many times wondering around the ASU library for hours trying to find articles on obscure objects in Anthropology. To have had a field librarian there to help me would have been invaluable and probably helped my grades a little. There were to many times that even the librarian had no clue on how to approach certain areas in my major. After the article explains about this new approach to being a reference librarian, it explains how to get this new program off the ground. First, make sure management has approved this approach and will back you in your efforts. Next, is to market yourself making as many people as possible know what you are doing and how you can help. Lastly, is to follow through and follow up with your patrons. Provide them service like they have never seen before and this will keep them coming back to the library for help. I agree with all parts of this article and think it would be a fantastic idea for all universities to offer something like this. It would really benefit the students and professors to know exactly who to contact for information regarding their courses and majors.
This article was very interesting because it helps define what a reference librarian should do now that the Internet has taken over the reference section. The author uses examples from colleges in New England and how the librarians on campus have started working proactively to get in contact with more students physically rather than virtually. Email and virtual reference is good and works well but it still will not make up for a reference interview face to face. What these colleges have decided to have is an unconsolidated reference desk and created "field librarians". Now they have librarians acting as specialists for different school departments and curricula. This way students do not have to visit the big scary centralized information desk, now they can go to their respective major's librarian and ask for help. There have been mixed results from faculty and students alike and the success of the program has been based only in some course areas. I agree this would help tremendously in certain fields. I remember many times wondering around the ASU library for hours trying to find articles on obscure objects in Anthropology. To have had a field librarian there to help me would have been invaluable and probably helped my grades a little. There were to many times that even the librarian had no clue on how to approach certain areas in my major. After the article explains about this new approach to being a reference librarian, it explains how to get this new program off the ground. First, make sure management has approved this approach and will back you in your efforts. Next, is to market yourself making as many people as possible know what you are doing and how you can help. Lastly, is to follow through and follow up with your patrons. Provide them service like they have never seen before and this will keep them coming back to the library for help. I agree with all parts of this article and think it would be a fantastic idea for all universities to offer something like this. It would really benefit the students and professors to know exactly who to contact for information regarding their courses and majors.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Journel Entry #8
Today I have been working relentlessly trying to finish tying up loose ends for my classes. The pathfinder for 5020 was the major project for today and I think it turned out quite well. It was not the easiest thing to complete because finding resources for my topic of fishing was a little difficult. Once I got it started though the information flowed freely and I ended up with what I think is a pretty comprehensive guide to fishing North Carolina waters. I think an avid fisherman would enjoy the links and resources I included for their search. The next thing on the agenda is to get with Kecia and work out the final vision statement for our CPCP project. Once that is finished I will need to get one more article for read for this class, then dare I say I'm finished. Probably not I'll find something else that needs work.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Article #2
Chalton, Mary K. (2006). Perspectives on Practice: Young Adult Collections are more than Young Adult Literature. Young Adult Library Services. 4(3), 10-11. Retrieved from Wilson Web database.
Summary:
Chalton explains in this article that as a Young Adult librarians should be up to date with the newest media formats. This will help keep young people using the library for more than just homework. It tells of how through the years libraries have had to adapt to fast changing technology. No longer are we talking about YA fiction novels as the most important section for young people. Now it has changed more to magazines and surprisingly more non-fiction materials. She explains that children today need to have variety so they do not get bored. She makes the point to have a variety of magazines available based on the observed interests of young patrons. Information pamphlets based on issues facing these young adults everyday as well as local, regional, and national newspapers. Now that most information can be located on the internet it is important to have multimedia formats of different library products. Audiobooks are becoming more popular but most are in CD format which many children do not use anymore. They want books to be available for download to their IPOD or other Mp3 players. The main idea of this article is keep your YA section up to date and research what young people like and focus on technology. Do you research carefully because you do not want to spend your money on materials no one will use.
Reaction:
This article is extremely important, especially in today’s society. With technology growing so fast it is hard for libraries to keep up. Plus, technology is expensive so money has to be spent wisely. I really liked the fact the article spoke about how non-fiction is becoming more popular with the young adults. Catering to this trend is a way for libraries to use materials already in the library, just promote them differently toward young people. Multimedia resources are a definite for a YA section nowadays. Kids have active lives and television has made it hard for them to sit down and read. Having audiobooks on hand is important so these kids can have a “real” book read to them. I think the Kindle offered by Amazon.com is a fantastic way for young adults to get their literature. It meets the latest technology fashion: it’s small, electronic, has other features, and will keep kids’ attention. I think these should be available in all literature classes from ninth grade through college. The library could become an outlet for this type of media. Meaning, where young people can come and download anything they want for free (or small fee).
Summary:
Chalton explains in this article that as a Young Adult librarians should be up to date with the newest media formats. This will help keep young people using the library for more than just homework. It tells of how through the years libraries have had to adapt to fast changing technology. No longer are we talking about YA fiction novels as the most important section for young people. Now it has changed more to magazines and surprisingly more non-fiction materials. She explains that children today need to have variety so they do not get bored. She makes the point to have a variety of magazines available based on the observed interests of young patrons. Information pamphlets based on issues facing these young adults everyday as well as local, regional, and national newspapers. Now that most information can be located on the internet it is important to have multimedia formats of different library products. Audiobooks are becoming more popular but most are in CD format which many children do not use anymore. They want books to be available for download to their IPOD or other Mp3 players. The main idea of this article is keep your YA section up to date and research what young people like and focus on technology. Do you research carefully because you do not want to spend your money on materials no one will use.
Reaction:
This article is extremely important, especially in today’s society. With technology growing so fast it is hard for libraries to keep up. Plus, technology is expensive so money has to be spent wisely. I really liked the fact the article spoke about how non-fiction is becoming more popular with the young adults. Catering to this trend is a way for libraries to use materials already in the library, just promote them differently toward young people. Multimedia resources are a definite for a YA section nowadays. Kids have active lives and television has made it hard for them to sit down and read. Having audiobooks on hand is important so these kids can have a “real” book read to them. I think the Kindle offered by Amazon.com is a fantastic way for young adults to get their literature. It meets the latest technology fashion: it’s small, electronic, has other features, and will keep kids’ attention. I think these should be available in all literature classes from ninth grade through college. The library could become an outlet for this type of media. Meaning, where young people can come and download anything they want for free (or small fee).
Journel Entry #7
All is going well with the CPCP project. Kecia has just emailed all of us the preliminary vision statement and we are now going to each add our ideas. When this process is completed I think we will have a great vision for the future of our schools. Other than that I am just trying to get everything completed for all of my classes. I will never take three classes again in the summer. It is far to much work to try to complete properly.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Journel Entry #5
Everything is going well with the CPCP project but unfortunately I had to miss last night's meeting due to a stomach virus. It was a light meeting anyway because most of the group members are on vacation for the 4th. I contacted my group today to see what I had missed and they filled me in on all that was discussed. Kecia is putting together a preliminary vision statement so we can all change it with our ideas on the next meeting. I think this is a great way for us all to be able to add our different ideas and make sure that the vision is a compilation from all of our backgrounds. The S&D questions are going pretty quickly now that we all know how it needs to be done. This has been a great project to be able to learn how to use all types of reference materials. I'm glad the indexes section was explained a little better, it makes it a lot easier knowing the differences between indexes and bibliographies.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Journel Entry #4
I also had another meeting last night with my CPCP group where we continued to discuss our vision for education in the 21st century. The main topic was how to integrate technology into all school subjects. It was easy to come up with ways for math, science, and social studies. But it was difficult to come up with ways for english, art, music, and etc. these classes are not traditionally technology heavy. being one of the only non-teachers in a group of teachers can be frustrating at times because I have no classroom experience. It seems most of my ideas would not work in a real world setting but are more hypthesis like. It is hard to discuss in depth over the chat sessions because technical difficulties. A lot of what was said last night I missed because of people not having microphones installed properly or volumes were incorrect. I guess it is just hard to get everyone on the same page. Next time I am going to insist we use text chat instead of voice chat that way everyone is heard and ideas are properly discussed. I do like that Kecia has stepped up and taken the intititive to create outlines for the meetings. This helps us all stay on track and avoids tangents. We are all falling into our roles well and each of us is participating regularly. I know a couple of our group members have yet to join a meeting and I know they are having difficulties with the virtual world. We are keeping them informed of what was discussed so when they are finally able to join us they can step right into the conversation. Our next meeting is next Wednesday the 1st and I like that we found a time we can all meet on a regular basis. It really helps keep us organized.
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