Annual Evaluation Time

The deadline for our annual evaluations has been extended a bit due to HR rolling out new software (there were a few glitches...). So, last week, I submitted my information. I have to admit, there were definitely a few things that made me giggle, particularly when the program scanned for language/replacement suggestions (see below).

This only reinforces my knowledge that computers are only as smart as the people who programmed them. It suggests I change "Young" to "lack of experience."

No, dear computer, I would not like to make it "lack of experience Adult Book Club."

Snowy Second Semester Library Instruction

This semester has started of cold and snowy. Between pop-up blizzards, two rounds of a polar vortex coming through, and the fact that it is Iowa in the Jan./Feb., I think it is safe to say it is officially winter (and I think students, faculty, and staff are all feeling it).

This semester I am fortunate to be embedded with a wide variety of classes once again, as well as work with other classes on an individual-request basis.  I'm working with a Core Seminar I Class, two literature classes, an education technology course, and a sprinkling of biology, business, English, and nursing classes, among others.

It is always idea-inspiring to see how other instructors approach structuring, leading, and assessing their courses. (And we get the neat perspective of seeing a wide variety of disciplines/departments/content!) As library instructors, we ask for professors to contact us in advance and provide their assignment descriptions (and, if their students are choosing to research a wide variety of topics, examples of what they have chosen).  Instructors tend to also send along their syllabi, which helps give us further context when approaching lesson plan/activity development. Then, depending on the course, I may independently develop a lesson or work with my colleague, Dan, to brainstorm approaches together (or modify what might have been done in past semesters).

Here Dan is our a central coordinator, the initial contact for most instruction (particularly one-shot sessions), though instructors I have worked closely with in the past have contacted me and I have arranged for their sessions, as needed throughout the semester (we usually request they be in touch before the semester begins to get the session up on the calendar, but do accept requests throughout the semester). I know at other institutions, sometimes professors fill out an instruction request form instead of emailing.

Does anyone out there feel strongly one way or another which system works particularly well? Or has your library devised another system? I'm curious!