Ok, All revved up to start posting regularly and my wheels are spinning off. Great start to the school year but have jumped in full speed ahead. Focus is on planning for the year and trying to get teacher's attention. Lucky for me I have a few who are keeping me busy!
Have spent today trying to get ahead of the curve and figure out the best way to teach MLA formatting with newly installed Word 2007. (What the heck is up with Google and the Calibri font?) I will post on this topic very soon. I've come up with some great questions regarding the level of teaching to do on this topic and some great solutions with various levels of student input.
Serendipitously, today I came across the answer to a question that I have been asked a bizzilion times (almost). Can I put a YouTube video on my PowerPoint? Well, yes Virginia, as of MS 2007 you can do exactly that! And it is easy and fun! Check out the video below for step by step details of what to do and how to do it. (Might look a little scary for non-techies but very simple when following this recipe.)
This video assumes an active and unfiltered access to the Internet. For districts that still block YouTube and other video sites other options do exist. The same author who produced this video offers a second video describing a rather complicated method. I prefer the much easier method of using Zamzar.com or other similar file conversion site to rip the video into a format that can be saved on the hard drive and played locally.
When streaming video directly from YouTube, there are no copyright implications (see previous posts in this blog). In any case where the video is removed from its source (converted and saved on your computer) it is important to remember to give credit to creators!
Have a great day!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Explosion of Expression
Welcome to the Grand Illusion . . . Not exactly sure why but these Styx lyrics popped into my head when I finally realized I was going to give myself permission to write again. My fingers are twitching I am so excited!
Yes, gave myself permission. I am behind on some projects that I really need to get done and I have stopped myself every time I tried to express my thoughts here with the admonition that I should be using my time wisely to get my projects done. Months have gone by and that strategy has not worked and so today I am giving in and will look for new motivation on those other fronts.
I have had a great summer with the family. We enjoyed several weeks at the lake and a couple other roadtrips to add a little spice. I worked a little and played Mr. Mom as my wife embarked on a new career. Perhaps most enjoyable, we actually made time to do a few projects around our own house this summer.
I had one great interview for a secondary position. It would have been a great job for me and, though it meant cutting lake time short I was very excited. Turns out over 60 people applied including five with professional library experience. Of the 60, eight were interviewed and three called back to teach a lesson. It sounds as if I was a strong second choice but was edged out by one of the more experienced candidates.
My strengths, according to the interviewer who notified me of the results were my knowledge of technology but more importantly, my understanding that technology is not the answer without a strong curricular link. He said my answers that focused on a scaffolded approach to teaching 21st Century Skills and preparation of students for life beyond high school with regards to research and presentation were very impressive.
Alas, summer is over and the job did not come my way but I am blessed that I have such a fantastic venue to continue to learn and grow as an educator and librarian. Our team, two librarians, two clerks, and myself returned intact to greet a new year in a freshly painted and exciting library. The computers are warmed up and the books dusted and we are ready to go!
Perhaps it is a line later in the song, "deep inside we're all the same," that made this song relevant to me today. Though I am technically still a Teaching Assistant, in my mind this year I am a librarian and plan to conduct myself as one at every opportunity.
Yes, gave myself permission. I am behind on some projects that I really need to get done and I have stopped myself every time I tried to express my thoughts here with the admonition that I should be using my time wisely to get my projects done. Months have gone by and that strategy has not worked and so today I am giving in and will look for new motivation on those other fronts.
I have had a great summer with the family. We enjoyed several weeks at the lake and a couple other roadtrips to add a little spice. I worked a little and played Mr. Mom as my wife embarked on a new career. Perhaps most enjoyable, we actually made time to do a few projects around our own house this summer.
I had one great interview for a secondary position. It would have been a great job for me and, though it meant cutting lake time short I was very excited. Turns out over 60 people applied including five with professional library experience. Of the 60, eight were interviewed and three called back to teach a lesson. It sounds as if I was a strong second choice but was edged out by one of the more experienced candidates.
My strengths, according to the interviewer who notified me of the results were my knowledge of technology but more importantly, my understanding that technology is not the answer without a strong curricular link. He said my answers that focused on a scaffolded approach to teaching 21st Century Skills and preparation of students for life beyond high school with regards to research and presentation were very impressive.
Alas, summer is over and the job did not come my way but I am blessed that I have such a fantastic venue to continue to learn and grow as an educator and librarian. Our team, two librarians, two clerks, and myself returned intact to greet a new year in a freshly painted and exciting library. The computers are warmed up and the books dusted and we are ready to go!
Perhaps it is a line later in the song, "deep inside we're all the same," that made this song relevant to me today. Though I am technically still a Teaching Assistant, in my mind this year I am a librarian and plan to conduct myself as one at every opportunity.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Student learning is our priority
Alison Zmuda opened her day-long conference, Librarians as Learning Specialists, with the statement, "Without a curriculum and a robust assessment system school librarians cease to exist." I was invigorated to hear the repetition throughout the day that, "Student learning is our priority." She focused on ways to re-design our lessons and align our standards with content curriculum areas and standards.
Two weeks later I had the opportunity to attend a conference hosted by Dr. Ross Todd on the topic of Evidence Based Practice and School Libraries. He spent the early morning describing our "invisible evidence syndrome," and the afternoon focusing us on "learning outcomes" verified by "evidence based practices." His message and Alison's mirrored and complemented each other. They both agree, and write and speak about ways to alter the image and, in fact, the reality of what school librarians do and how we do it.
Alison offered more suggestions for effective teaching opportunities, while Dr. Todd filled in the blanks with more concrete examples of learning-focused, lesson-based feedback and assessment collectibles. Talking with other conference attendees I discovered that my comfort level with this dialogue of true curricular collaboration and measurement of outcome extends from my business background. Two other librarians at my table, responding throughout the day with nods and smiles, also came from previous business experience. The two career librarians at the table generally agreed with what they heard, but did so with trepidation.
Four years ago in the first paper I ever wrote about school librarians, a literature review based upon current school and library journals including quotes from Dr. Todd, I lamented the need for librarians to map their curriculum to blend with content areas, to find ways to assure progressive information literacy development from year to year and to find ways to document progress and achievement. I am not sure what topics my classmates chose but even as an outsider I saw the need for this change in focus. My advocacy has continued in verbal and written reflections for LIS classes and in my job as a high school library teaching assistant.
Working in a school population nearing 1500 students, this knowledge has been a painful load to carry as I have had difficulty figuring out any consistent ways to measure student achievement or growth across the information literacy continuum. Collaborative opportunities are frequent, but convincing all teachers in a given content area / grade level to approach a project in the same way to allow us to give similar lessons and collect uniform data has proven virtually impossible. As if a symbol of the failure, much to frequently, we are asked to do a "quick, basic database intro," or worse, teachers with low expectations assign information-driven projects without library support.
Coinciding with the conferences I attended, however, I had the opportunity, as part of a required practicum, to work for five weeks each in two different smaller schools, a middle school and an elementary school, both with populations of closer to 500. Suddenly the lights are coming on. When all teachers for a subject / grade level can be counted on one hand (sometimes one or two fingers) the needs and opportunities are easier to identify. As both Zmuda and Todd and other authors I have read admit, the process is still not easy or quick but I am beginning to see light in the woods that may indicate a path.
The beginning of the path lies in continued movement away from "the database lesson" and toward true collaboration with teachers to design lessons, deliverable products, and grading criteria. As teacher-librarians, even as "information specialists," we need to step away from the role of information, material, space and student managers and aggressively into the role of information literacy teaching specialists. It goes without saying that we must be comfortable with the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, but to achieve success we must think simultaneously about core content area standards and how to blend the curricula to achieve success.
I still find humor in the sign in the back office of one school library I visited that says, "If it's not barcoded, it doesn't exist," but as I see our budgets crunching and librarians losing clerks or losing their jobs to clerks, and as I see librarians taking over book-rooms and managing study halls, I am increasingly concerned that we must pursue education over management if we are to survive. I certainly do not have all of the answers; in fact I believe I still have more questions than answers but I am agressively seeking ways to make an impact, even one student or one teacher at a time.
Two weeks later I had the opportunity to attend a conference hosted by Dr. Ross Todd on the topic of Evidence Based Practice and School Libraries. He spent the early morning describing our "invisible evidence syndrome," and the afternoon focusing us on "learning outcomes" verified by "evidence based practices." His message and Alison's mirrored and complemented each other. They both agree, and write and speak about ways to alter the image and, in fact, the reality of what school librarians do and how we do it.
Alison offered more suggestions for effective teaching opportunities, while Dr. Todd filled in the blanks with more concrete examples of learning-focused, lesson-based feedback and assessment collectibles. Talking with other conference attendees I discovered that my comfort level with this dialogue of true curricular collaboration and measurement of outcome extends from my business background. Two other librarians at my table, responding throughout the day with nods and smiles, also came from previous business experience. The two career librarians at the table generally agreed with what they heard, but did so with trepidation.
Four years ago in the first paper I ever wrote about school librarians, a literature review based upon current school and library journals including quotes from Dr. Todd, I lamented the need for librarians to map their curriculum to blend with content areas, to find ways to assure progressive information literacy development from year to year and to find ways to document progress and achievement. I am not sure what topics my classmates chose but even as an outsider I saw the need for this change in focus. My advocacy has continued in verbal and written reflections for LIS classes and in my job as a high school library teaching assistant.
Working in a school population nearing 1500 students, this knowledge has been a painful load to carry as I have had difficulty figuring out any consistent ways to measure student achievement or growth across the information literacy continuum. Collaborative opportunities are frequent, but convincing all teachers in a given content area / grade level to approach a project in the same way to allow us to give similar lessons and collect uniform data has proven virtually impossible. As if a symbol of the failure, much to frequently, we are asked to do a "quick, basic database intro," or worse, teachers with low expectations assign information-driven projects without library support.
Coinciding with the conferences I attended, however, I had the opportunity, as part of a required practicum, to work for five weeks each in two different smaller schools, a middle school and an elementary school, both with populations of closer to 500. Suddenly the lights are coming on. When all teachers for a subject / grade level can be counted on one hand (sometimes one or two fingers) the needs and opportunities are easier to identify. As both Zmuda and Todd and other authors I have read admit, the process is still not easy or quick but I am beginning to see light in the woods that may indicate a path.
The beginning of the path lies in continued movement away from "the database lesson" and toward true collaboration with teachers to design lessons, deliverable products, and grading criteria. As teacher-librarians, even as "information specialists," we need to step away from the role of information, material, space and student managers and aggressively into the role of information literacy teaching specialists. It goes without saying that we must be comfortable with the AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, but to achieve success we must think simultaneously about core content area standards and how to blend the curricula to achieve success.
I still find humor in the sign in the back office of one school library I visited that says, "If it's not barcoded, it doesn't exist," but as I see our budgets crunching and librarians losing clerks or losing their jobs to clerks, and as I see librarians taking over book-rooms and managing study halls, I am increasingly concerned that we must pursue education over management if we are to survive. I certainly do not have all of the answers; in fact I believe I still have more questions than answers but I am agressively seeking ways to make an impact, even one student or one teacher at a time.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
What is technology?
One of our teachers poised the question last week, "What will our classrooms look like five years from now?" He declared that teacher laptops and ceiling mount projectors are not viewed as "new technology" but are embedded and required components for today's teachers. His question was primarily rhetorical; despite some suggestions, he offered no answers but it certainly got me thinking.We work in a well-funded district that has pursued technology including the tools described above, wireless laptop labs, Elmo visualizers, PolyCom distance learning equipment, and a variety of other hardware and software solutions. Our teachers use the available technology throughout the curriculum in a variety of ways. I've argued repeatedly and usually with the majority, that technology is only beneficial when it improves the learning experience or helps to prepare our students for college or professional experiences.
This argument tends to open far more windows of opportunity than it closes. The use of all types of hardware and software technology in business and in higher education is expanding exponentially. Teachers who create successful technology based lessons increasingly focus upon creating better and more encompassing future lessons. The question is more than valid and worthy of discussion; so, what will classrooms look like five years from now?
These were my thoughts when I read Ben Grey's recent post, "Excessive Inaccessibility", in the Tech & Learning Advisor Blog. Grey relates a conversation with a student, recently returned from
Quickly, I remembered that not all education is the same. Though a digital divide does exist in our district, I had not really focused on its impact on student education in quite a while. The wake up call that Grey delivered in this piece, though, is way more than a digital divide. It is a digital and educational chasm. And the reality is that we need not travel to As I contemplate my future employment I admit that I would consider myself honored to teach and serve a student community regardless of the level of technology (or library) funding. I would, however, work within any community that I serve to foster and nourish any programs that will lead to the most complete and well-rounded education possible.
So, what will our classrooms look like five years from now? Obviously, this will depend greatly upon what they look like today and what funding can be generated in the coming years for upgrades and improvements. Our goal should be to work within our schools and as part of the greater education community to identify and refine our most pressing needs and to pursue them with passion.
The teacher that initiated my thoughts argued that projectors and teacher laptops are no longer technology. Grey countered that, "a pencil is technology." Upon reflection that has included memories of my grandmother's stories about teaching in a cold and drafty one room schoolhouse where all writing was done on a piece of slate because no one could afford paper, I agree that a pencil is technology.
I also agree with Grey and with the teachers in my school, and probably all over the world, that it is not enough. It was not enough for my grandmother who taught for almost 40 years and it is not enough for our students today, no matter where they live. I guess the greater frustration is that we may never feel we have enough regardless of our level of funding or support.
I must therefore conclude that while planning and goal setting for the integration of technology in the future is critical, it is more critical that we identify every way possible to draw the most benefit from the tools that we do have available to us. This is a topic for a whole series of posts that I will not be writing now but which we should all explore.
How can we make the most of what we have? How can we share and use the technology and resources that we have to their fullest extent to fortify our student's educational experience? These are questions to which we can respond and directly affect on a daily basis. We do not need additional financial investment or approval of any board to increase the efficiency of the tools that we have.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Marketing opportunities abound !!
My son is running to replace himself as treasurer of his school student council - a job he thoroughly enjoyed last year. While assisting him to prepare his speech we addressed the age-old sales technique of putting the product in the buyer's hands. I suggested that he exchange, "if you vote for me," for a more powerful, "as your treasurer," to begin a paragraph.
As librarians, we need to constantly assert our facilities and services in many, many ways. Like a good salesperson, we need to constantly be "on" and ready to sell our product in a way that motivates our ever-changing audience. Our sales must be a blend of great service, great timing, and a measure of initiative toward self-promotion.
Today, I motivated several patrons to "love" the services I offered and the library I represent. I was motivated to post this entry, however, by another librarian's motivated and motivating self-promotion of the Rochester Public Library over the weekend on a local radio, call-in, talk show and the buzz it created on our list-serve.
Linda Cruttenden from the Rochester Regional Library Council explained and complemented another Linda, from RPL, "I was listening to the Jim Salmon Home Repair Clinic on WHAM1180 this weekend, when he suggested that a caller consult a particular reference book for his/her answer. The next caller was “Linda from RPL” who let the listeners know that RPL was ready to help, and that the reference book could be found at the downtown branch!!"
As librarians, we need to constantly assert our facilities and services in many, many ways. Like a good salesperson, we need to constantly be "on" and ready to sell our product in a way that motivates our ever-changing audience. Our sales must be a blend of great service, great timing, and a measure of initiative toward self-promotion.
Today, I motivated several patrons to "love" the services I offered and the library I represent. I was motivated to post this entry, however, by another librarian's motivated and motivating self-promotion of the Rochester Public Library over the weekend on a local radio, call-in, talk show and the buzz it created on our list-serve.
Linda Cruttenden from the Rochester Regional Library Council explained and complemented another Linda, from RPL, "I was listening to the Jim Salmon Home Repair Clinic on WHAM1180 this weekend, when he suggested that a caller consult a particular reference book for his/her answer. The next caller was “Linda from RPL” who let the listeners know that RPL was ready to help, and that the reference book could be found at the downtown branch!!"
"After her call, Mr. Salmon mentioned that he 'never thought of the library any more' and that he appreciated Linda’s call. Congratulations to Linda for helping the listeners, and getting some good promotion done for RPL’s libraries!" Librarian responses on our listserve included Coleen Hopkins from SUNY Geneseo, "Great work Linda and shame on Jim Salmon, he is missing a major resource for himself and his listeners," and Wendy Stephany from Byron-Bergen Middle School, "That's a great example of taking the opportunity to remind people that the library is there and willing to do anything to help."
Certainly, we all thank Linda from RPL for being in the right place and doing the right thing to "sell" our facilities and services, but the real question is, do we step up and do the right thing when we have the opportunities? Perhaps we don't all have the gumption or the opportunity to garner FREE radio advertising, but what do we do to guarantee our jobs in the 21st century?
I miss many opportunities and many days, should probably be beaten senseless by my own words, but today I enjoyed some successes. Like Linda's success, I will share and celebrate these here and now, but the goal and focus needs to be to find a way to replicate library marketing success every day. Today I . . .
Certainly, we all thank Linda from RPL for being in the right place and doing the right thing to "sell" our facilities and services, but the real question is, do we step up and do the right thing when we have the opportunities? Perhaps we don't all have the gumption or the opportunity to garner FREE radio advertising, but what do we do to guarantee our jobs in the 21st century?
I miss many opportunities and many days, should probably be beaten senseless by my own words, but today I enjoyed some successes. Like Linda's success, I will share and celebrate these here and now, but the goal and focus needs to be to find a way to replicate library marketing success every day. Today I . . .
- Helped a teacher convert an unreadable file to one she could use with the Zamzar file conversion Website. I "made [her] day!" I am confident she will come back the next time she has a problem.
- I got unruly, beginning-of-school-year, not-yet-ready computers to work for vast majority of students in classes increasing teacher confidence in our available technology.
- I offered suggestions that were accepted and appreciated to a group of teachers that are collaborating to develop a new research assignment. These suggestions will lead to increased research and synthesis by students completing this project.
- I delivered a cart of books that another teacher and I had discussed to support a project her classes are completing.
- And my favorite, when overhearing a student comment that she "found the perfect article but [she was] not going to pay for it," I asked if I could help. When the article happened to be from our local newspaper, available through a database purchased by our local library, I showed her how to log on using my library card number. When the article popped up she commented, "You can do that with a library card? I'm gonna have to get one of those."
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Google deep links -- You can too
Almost a year ago I allayed fears of many librarians who have created lists of Web Links that bypassed Website main pages, in order to land directly on content desired for specific lessons or projects. I wrote in a post titled Linking is Legal that,
For those who missed this previous wave of relief, you can now be assured that before the copyright police come for you, they will make a stop at Google headquarters. In his article, Jump to the Relevant Section of a Google Search Result, Alex Chito describes a new "Jump to" feature released by Google and points out that,
Check it out! I'm reading, learning, thinking, and commenting on others blogs! Congrats to me! Its also very late and I should be zzzzzzzzzzzz
“deep linking,” linking to “a particular page within another site (i.e., other than its homepage)” has never been identified by a court as either copyright or trademark infringement.This information was gathered from the article, "Linking to Copyrighted," 2008.
For those who missed this previous wave of relief, you can now be assured that before the copyright police come for you, they will make a stop at Google headquarters. In his article, Jump to the Relevant Section of a Google Search Result, Alex Chito describes a new "Jump to" feature released by Google and points out that,
Google's goal is to send you directly to the right answer for your question, even if that means bypassing the homepage of a site, ignoring Flash intros or finding information from the snippets.How can you not love Google?
Check it out! I'm reading, learning, thinking, and commenting on others blogs! Congrats to me! Its also very late and I should be zzzzzzzzzzzz
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tech Integration -- Expanded definition of digital divide
In a review of embedded curriculum and the potential for student success, Patrick Higgins at Chalkdust101 identifies the apparent failure of his (and many) schools with regards to technology integration.
As well equipped as we are, I cannot help thinking about the opportunities that we miss: lessons we could improve, social networking or blogging opportunities that are unavailable to us, and classes that can't (equipment not available) or won't (technophobe teacher) take advantage of the available technology. As a parent and citizen, it saddens me that there can be so much variation in the level of technology available from teacher to teacher, school to school and district to district.
I understand that funding varies and even understand that local environments are different but once they graduate, the vast majority of these young adults will be vying for the same opportunities without regard for background or level of technology integration in their high schools. Whose responsibility is it to prepare these students, if not ours? It may be a long and winding road but it is one that is definitely worth traveling.
Luckily, as time passes, lower cost hardware solutions are constantly being developed from the newly popular NetBooks to the SmartVine virtual monitors that allow up to 11 users to share a single computer. There are many, many very stable FREE software solutions available and constantly being developed (Audacity, GoogleEarth, Camtasia, and many more). While these solutions may not be acceptable in many districts, we should celebrate each success and improve upon each failure. Hopefully true technology integration will continue to grow across our country, continent, and world.
As we proceed, in addition to students, teachers, and administrators, we need to build relationships and with our network administrators. I have seen too many articles and blogs recently discussing the failed marriage of educational tech integration and the network administrators or IT departments. Among them, Higgins wrote on the subject in August drawing from a related article with a suggested solution by Jim Moulton in his Future of Education blog. Tech & Learning magazine published a brief article on the topic, focused primarily on the positive, in their September print and online issues.
I certainly don't have the answers but know that whether in a school with 20 computers or one with hundreds, until every student has access in all schools to computers, software, web based information and appropriate web utilities, our journey will not be complete. I'm so glad to be back at school! Sorry to take on such a loaded topic so early in the year . . . .
"In our district, every teacher from grades six through twelve has a laptop . . . Our teachers are very wired, but our kids don’t have the same access. . ."He gives credit to a job candidate in an interview for enlightening him,
"the next big hurdle for schools [is] to put the power to learn back into the hands of students."In pursuit of this goal, he concludes his post,
"We have to start tipping the scales in favor of the question “what could they do if they had…” and go from there."I am lucky to work in a district that has spent generously on computers, software and peripheral equipment. I get to work one-on-one and with large groups of students, collaborating with teachers to embed this technology into individual lessons and the curriculum. When I graduate (this spring) and accept a job in another district I will assuredly look back at this experience as, "the good old days."
As well equipped as we are, I cannot help thinking about the opportunities that we miss: lessons we could improve, social networking or blogging opportunities that are unavailable to us, and classes that can't (equipment not available) or won't (technophobe teacher) take advantage of the available technology. As a parent and citizen, it saddens me that there can be so much variation in the level of technology available from teacher to teacher, school to school and district to district.
I understand that funding varies and even understand that local environments are different but once they graduate, the vast majority of these young adults will be vying for the same opportunities without regard for background or level of technology integration in their high schools. Whose responsibility is it to prepare these students, if not ours? It may be a long and winding road but it is one that is definitely worth traveling.
Luckily, as time passes, lower cost hardware solutions are constantly being developed from the newly popular NetBooks to the SmartVine virtual monitors that allow up to 11 users to share a single computer. There are many, many very stable FREE software solutions available and constantly being developed (Audacity, GoogleEarth, Camtasia, and many more). While these solutions may not be acceptable in many districts, we should celebrate each success and improve upon each failure. Hopefully true technology integration will continue to grow across our country, continent, and world.
As we proceed, in addition to students, teachers, and administrators, we need to build relationships and with our network administrators. I have seen too many articles and blogs recently discussing the failed marriage of educational tech integration and the network administrators or IT departments. Among them, Higgins wrote on the subject in August drawing from a related article with a suggested solution by Jim Moulton in his Future of Education blog. Tech & Learning magazine published a brief article on the topic, focused primarily on the positive, in their September print and online issues.
I certainly don't have the answers but know that whether in a school with 20 computers or one with hundreds, until every student has access in all schools to computers, software, web based information and appropriate web utilities, our journey will not be complete. I'm so glad to be back at school! Sorry to take on such a loaded topic so early in the year . . . .
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Summertime And the livin' is easy
Wow! How do the days pass so quickly?
My kids had a great summer with play as a priority. We travelled many miles between Rochester and the Rideau Canal in Ontario trying to earn a living, enjoy life, and help our parents as much as we could. Though it is easy to feel as though we failed on all counts, there is no doubt we extended our best effort and enjoyed a personal best in the category of balance of our many responsibilities.
While we hope our parents appreciate the efforts we made on their behalf, and beat ourselves up when we feel we haven't done enough, we are proudest of the time we spent with our own kids camping, fishing, swimming, boating, skiing, kayaking, canoeing, bike riding, reading, playing the alphabet game in the car and board games at night and enjoying life along the way. (One of our highly recommended summer vacation destinations - Lloyd's Cottages -)
Though I took a break from classes, I am satisfied that I read some great books over the summer and am excited about the beginning of a new school year. I fell WAY Behind in reading of other blogs and advancement of my knowledge as a librarian but hope to catch up as the new year gets underway. I hope also to comment on this blog as I read, learn, and investigate new things.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Quality service = Priority one
"Why can't librarians learn to serve?" OK, maybe I shouldn't try to re-write My Fair Lady, "Why can't the English learn to speak," and maybe I shouldn't judge librarians before I technically am one, but with budget cuts and the pressure to compete against book stores, the Internet, television, and more, I believe that as individuals and as a group, when we are faced with an opportunity we need to step up.
In the last several weeks I have observed some exceptional librarians: ones who can answer multiple requests simultaneously and who can often predict upcoming questions; who in many cases have prepared pathfinders and brochures to answer them before they are even asked. I have seen librarians doing three different things at once with ten successful results and am in awe of how they do what they do!
Sadly though, not all librarians are as talented or as committed. I have seen school librarians create atmospheres that cause teachers and students to stay away; whose strategy seems not to be to collaborate but to hibernate. I am frustrated each time I see a school where the library seems "off-limits" and the librarian unreachable, but I am just as frustrated each time I visit a community library where patrons are not offered the best service possible.
A couple interactions I witnessed at a larger, local public library recently are representative of the type of failure that I find most irritating. I was aware of complaints regarding the service at this library but was truly frustrated to witness the lack of motivation firsthand. I was trained in retail with a customer first mentality and I believe, as did my reference professor who works as the head of reference at a local university, that librarians should be pro-active, often in front of the desk, in their approach to library service.
Contrary to this approach is the lack of service I saw offered during a one hour visit last week. In one instance, a young adult patron asked where the Stephanie Meyer books were located. The YA librarian, as indicated by a badge she was wearing, who was building a rather pathetic display, answered, "They'd be under MEY in the next aisle, but they're all on waiting lists right now because they are so popular." With this she ended the conversation. She made no effort to offer this student the option to join the waiting list and, in my opinion, more importantly, she made no effort to conduct a readers advisory interview and suggest possible alternative books.
In another case, just a few minutes later, a patron approached the reference desk while I was seated nearby. This patron asked if the library could get copies of a rather obscure television program from the 1970's that he had already discovered was owned by another branch. The librarian checked and told him the tape was checked out and not available. Again she did not offer a hold or any other alternative and was in the process of turning the patron away.
In both cases I took it upon myself to help the patrons, the first one without the librarian's knowledge, and the second right in front of the librarian at the reference desk before she had time to dismiss him altogether. The first patron, a veteran of Harry Potter and Eldest series', left the library with the first two books in the series by Rick Riordan beginning with The Lightning Thief. (I have not read them but my son has and says they are very good.) I suggested to the librarian and the second patron as he was leaving the desk, that all 24 episodes of the TV series he was looking for were available on Hulu.com and showed him, on library computer I was using, how to access the site.
Both patrons, and a third that I assisted before leaving the library, thanked me. The reference librarian (working the desk) also thanked me, claiming she had never thought to search Hulu, but sadly, she never thought to search anywhere. She and the other librarians at this branch and, sadly, many others are willing to put forth minimal effort and the easy answer without regard for the true, often underlying needs of our patrons. If our patrons can't get more from us than they can from their own search online or poring through the stacks themselves, what good do we serve, and what right do we have to be employed in this "non-essential" service position?
Part of what we learn as librarians and what good salespeople and retailers and even doctors, lawyers, and therapists learn is that customers, patrons and patients do not always know how to ask for what they want or need. It is the job of the professional to discover and to satisfy the true want or need. If we do not step up, as individuals and as a group, to make this satisfaction a priority, we will, as individuals and as a group, be out of a job.
Putting our current economy aside for a moment but not putting aside the reality of our modern, techno-savvy environment and communities, it is my opinion that library services and hours are not usually cut because of lack of need, but because of lack of perceived value. It is our job as professionals to prove our worthiness every day through the benefits that we return to our patrons and community. If we do not offer these services and benefits, the perceived need for the library and the librarian plummets and it becomes our own fault that jobs are lost.
In the last several weeks I have observed some exceptional librarians: ones who can answer multiple requests simultaneously and who can often predict upcoming questions; who in many cases have prepared pathfinders and brochures to answer them before they are even asked. I have seen librarians doing three different things at once with ten successful results and am in awe of how they do what they do!
Sadly though, not all librarians are as talented or as committed. I have seen school librarians create atmospheres that cause teachers and students to stay away; whose strategy seems not to be to collaborate but to hibernate. I am frustrated each time I see a school where the library seems "off-limits" and the librarian unreachable, but I am just as frustrated each time I visit a community library where patrons are not offered the best service possible.
A couple interactions I witnessed at a larger, local public library recently are representative of the type of failure that I find most irritating. I was aware of complaints regarding the service at this library but was truly frustrated to witness the lack of motivation firsthand. I was trained in retail with a customer first mentality and I believe, as did my reference professor who works as the head of reference at a local university, that librarians should be pro-active, often in front of the desk, in their approach to library service.
Contrary to this approach is the lack of service I saw offered during a one hour visit last week. In one instance, a young adult patron asked where the Stephanie Meyer books were located. The YA librarian, as indicated by a badge she was wearing, who was building a rather pathetic display, answered, "They'd be under MEY in the next aisle, but they're all on waiting lists right now because they are so popular." With this she ended the conversation. She made no effort to offer this student the option to join the waiting list and, in my opinion, more importantly, she made no effort to conduct a readers advisory interview and suggest possible alternative books.
In another case, just a few minutes later, a patron approached the reference desk while I was seated nearby. This patron asked if the library could get copies of a rather obscure television program from the 1970's that he had already discovered was owned by another branch. The librarian checked and told him the tape was checked out and not available. Again she did not offer a hold or any other alternative and was in the process of turning the patron away.
In both cases I took it upon myself to help the patrons, the first one without the librarian's knowledge, and the second right in front of the librarian at the reference desk before she had time to dismiss him altogether. The first patron, a veteran of Harry Potter and Eldest series', left the library with the first two books in the series by Rick Riordan beginning with The Lightning Thief. (I have not read them but my son has and says they are very good.) I suggested to the librarian and the second patron as he was leaving the desk, that all 24 episodes of the TV series he was looking for were available on Hulu.com and showed him, on library computer I was using, how to access the site.
Both patrons, and a third that I assisted before leaving the library, thanked me. The reference librarian (working the desk) also thanked me, claiming she had never thought to search Hulu, but sadly, she never thought to search anywhere. She and the other librarians at this branch and, sadly, many others are willing to put forth minimal effort and the easy answer without regard for the true, often underlying needs of our patrons. If our patrons can't get more from us than they can from their own search online or poring through the stacks themselves, what good do we serve, and what right do we have to be employed in this "non-essential" service position?
Part of what we learn as librarians and what good salespeople and retailers and even doctors, lawyers, and therapists learn is that customers, patrons and patients do not always know how to ask for what they want or need. It is the job of the professional to discover and to satisfy the true want or need. If we do not step up, as individuals and as a group, to make this satisfaction a priority, we will, as individuals and as a group, be out of a job.
Putting our current economy aside for a moment but not putting aside the reality of our modern, techno-savvy environment and communities, it is my opinion that library services and hours are not usually cut because of lack of need, but because of lack of perceived value. It is our job as professionals to prove our worthiness every day through the benefits that we return to our patrons and community. If we do not offer these services and benefits, the perceived need for the library and the librarian plummets and it becomes our own fault that jobs are lost.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Woohoo! What a great job!
Woohoo! What a great job! Every once in a while, after successfully assisting three or four (or maybe even only one) student in a row, I just have to smile! Topics today included finding resources about airline regulation, tests and treatments for ailing heart muscles, teen stress, self mutilation, biographical info on great American women, and sources for poetry criticism. I helped a small self-contained class of high-needs students create citations for a paper they are writing and felt the wash of relief when our network came back up (after being down) just as a class walked in the library door.
Sometimes things just go right! I am reading again (for YA resources & services class) and loving it. I have thoroughly enjoyed books in the last couple weeks by Joan Bauer, Melodie Bowsher, K.L. Going, and my favorite of the week, Orson Scott Card. I became so caught reading about 11 year old video gamers in Ender's Game, a science fiction novel, that I couldn't put the book down. I have always loved YA fiction and the opportunity to immerse myself in some of the best that is out there is very satisfying.
Trying to build LibraryThing account with books I have read recently (to help my failing memory, remember). As many things as are right with this application, and there are many, there are also quite a few that are wrong! I am a new user and may be missing something but in early use, I am amazed at some of the things that are missing:
Sometimes things just go right! I am reading again (for YA resources & services class) and loving it. I have thoroughly enjoyed books in the last couple weeks by Joan Bauer, Melodie Bowsher, K.L. Going, and my favorite of the week, Orson Scott Card. I became so caught reading about 11 year old video gamers in Ender's Game, a science fiction novel, that I couldn't put the book down. I have always loved YA fiction and the opportunity to immerse myself in some of the best that is out there is very satisfying.
Trying to build LibraryThing account with books I have read recently (to help my failing memory, remember). As many things as are right with this application, and there are many, there are also quite a few that are wrong! I am a new user and may be missing something but in early use, I am amazed at some of the things that are missing:
- No tag prompts or suggestions -- when user begins typing a tag description, it would be beneficial if the program prompted or suggested "most popular / similar" tags. For example should the tag be Young Adult, YA, YA fiction, ya fiction, young adult fiction, teen fiction, etc. (This is essentially what Google does when typing into the search bar.)
- No tag pool to select from -- when tagging a book, it would be beneficial if user did not have to type every tag. Available pool to "quick pick" from could be tags previously used by the user, tags previously used by other users to describe the book, or a combination of the two. (Blogger does this if you are familiar with this host site.)
- Tags can not be reorganized -- would be nice if tags for each book could be reorganized alphabetically or even by priority or relevance. They seem to remain, forever, in the order they came to mind and were typed into system. (Blogger automatically alphabetises.)
- Unable to create different shelves -- I may be wrong, but have not found way to create separate shelves with, for example YA lit, children's lit, and career focused materials.
Ahh well, not to ruin a great day with complaints. Hopefully someone out there will write to correct, and explain to me, how each of these issues I describe can be corrected. I am sure the sun will be shining and the temperatures warm when I head for home. OK that went over the edge. Trying to limit my sarcasm. It truly has been a great day!
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