A Midsummer Day's Blog

Well, it is officially July, which means from here on out I'm constantly going to be wondering aloud where the summer has gone (likely to the point of annoyance for those around me).  Since my last post we've completed Summer Institute here at Grand View.  Summer Institute is an intensive planning and development time for faculty and professional staff.  This year GV brought in Jared A. Danielson, a speaker from Iowa State University, who shared strategies for efficient and effective assessment.  His workshop was titled Evolution, Not Revolution: Curricular Design as the Natural Outcome of Data-Driven Decisions (and how to write test items to produce the right data...), and we discussed and worked through different types of test questions to better gather authentic data.  As someone with a background in education, much of what Danielson shared was review (particularly because of the emphasis placed on assessment and effective test question writing in my undergraduate program--when you're a music teacher, you need to constantly gather and share assessment data in order to help justify your program, and Luther well-prepared its music education majors to do that).  It is nice to have a few packets to reference as we move forward in creating pre- and post-tests for our Core Sem I classes.  The rest of Summer Institute was broken up into departmental workshops, with the final day being an off-campus retreat for lunch and strategic planning for the entire campus.  

For our departmental retreat we discussed our planning for the upcoming fall semester, focusing on Core Sem I which begins the roll out of the new core (in which IL is a key outcome).  We laid the groundwork for pretesting and a series of post-tests in those classes, along with periodic informal (or formative) assessment of in-class activities (including assignments, Blackboard discussion posts, and other activities).  For the library, we are aiming for three main IL outcomes for students to reach a level of satisfactory or above (though students will also learn to apply an even wider range of IL skills, these are the ones we are focusing on at the first-year student level):

• Information gathering: Students will gather quality, research-based information using multiple sources & types
• Evaluation: Students will analyze information for accuracy, authority, currency, relevance, and bias
• Differentiation: Students will differentiate between types of sources and use them appropriately

Our rubric was completed, and will be used to help guide our instruction throughout the semester and will be applied as an assessment tool when looking at the final written assignments.  We also brainstormed 6 sessions/topics that need to be covered in each of the embedded Core Sem I classes, and 4 optional, "a la carte" lessons that may be included if appropriate to the course/requested by the course instructor. Though the direct wording is still being developed, here is a general overview for the 6 required sessions (which may usually be done in any order, depending on the needs/calendar of the course):

• Short introduction with the embedded librarian, and brief introduction to library services (this is required and must be done early in the semester)
• Plagiarism
• Finding and evaluating information: Websites
• Finding and evaluating information: Books
• Finding and evaluating information: Journal articles
• Citations: Annotated bibliography, reference pages, in-text citations, etc. 

The a la carte options include:

• Technology session: Windows MovieMaker, Prezi, etc.
• The research process: creating an outline, drafting, revising, etc.
• Choosing a good research topic
• Understanding the information world

Depending on course calendars, some of these concepts may be combined or introduced with another, but we felt it best to break it down by individual concept first, allowing instructors to easily see how the library has planned to meet the larger objectives while still making it relevant and authentic to the course assignments.  

Our off-campus strategic planning day included all staff and faculty from Grand View.  This was the first year GV has done something like this, and it was an interesting experience to be a part of.  Basically, we all went through the strategic plan, got an update from the President, and brainstormed ways to respond to opportunities & threats by setting measurable goals--the big ones being long-term financial viability/size, academic quality and reputation, and considerations to keep in mind with the populations we serve.  We looked at current strategies in place and, in mixed groups, brainstormed other strategies.  It was really interesting to hear from other departments & have ideas grow from just something mentioned in passing, to something that could actually be implemented.  Below is one of 3 walls that were covered in post-its with ideas for improving university services while remaining affordable and relevant.  

The time after Summer Institute has also been a bit of a whirlwind.  I was away for two and a half weeks working at the Dorian Summer Music Camps as a camp counselor (two of my very favorite weeks of the summer).  This year's counseling staff was fantastic and the campers were absolutely wonderful! After camp, I returned to work for three days and then hopped in my car once again and hit the road for Minnesota be a personal attendant for one of my dear friends.  This week is also a bit of a strange week with July 4th on Wednesday, but after that I think a regular routine will emerge and help me get back into the swing of things.  It is pretty quiet around the library this summer, which is normal.  I know I should appreciate this quieter planning time, but I admit, I miss the hustle & bustle and energy students bring to the campus during the year.   I'm gearing up to finish preparing Becky Canovan's & my presentation for the upcoming Indiana University Libraries Information Literacy Colloquium, working on developing a purchase list for our new leisure reading nook, developing programming for faculty development, brainstorming for a new YA book club, and prepping 7 embedded classes (and growing) for the fall...on top of regular library duties. There's definitely plenty to do, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Week Two: Let the Projects Begin!

This past week I was able to participate in a few meetings and complete some projects (while starting a few others).

Monday was mostly a day for project work. The librarians here have begun preparing for spring instruction sessions, particularly Introduction to Research Writing 104 (Res104) and World View II: Self and Society (WV2). The description for WV2 is:
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In this interdisciplinary experiential learning format, students and faculty address significant issues that challenge contemporary American culture. We analyze these issues and discuss how our values and faith shape our responses to them. This course focuses on the themes of citizenship, social values and vocation (University of Dubuque, 2009, p. 14).
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This course is required for graduation, and has traditionally been done during the second semester of the students’ sophomore year. It will be interesting for me to see the difference between the J-term sections of this course and the spring semester sections. As I may have mentioned earlier, this January is the first time UD has tried J-term. UD has introduced new courses and adapted others to fit the time-frame. WV2 was one of the classes for which the target student audience has changed. Instead of sophomores completing the class (as is traditionally done in their sophomore year’s spring semester), freshmen were required to take WV2 during J-term. Each class will present on their associated charity/non-profit to all other sections of WV2. I am curious what the librarians think of the final outcome as compared to the product put out by the sophomore classes.

As part of my project work I did some pre-searching, finding articles on the course topic (primarily local charities or non-profits). Because of the local, service-oriented nature of this course, many of the articles were found in the Telegraph Herald, the local newspaper. In order to do our best to present a balanced view of the charities, we present positive and negative press (in the form of quotes on our presentation slides). The students are learning to consider the authority and bias of authors.

Another course I began helping with was Res104. In this course,
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Students will conduct introductory research and write papers in three areas: the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Students will work closely with their professor and a reference librarian as they frame research questions, differentiate among various disciplines’ research techniques, explore and analyze scholarly and professional resources, and write clear, effective papers on topics in the three disciplines (University of Dubuque, 2009, p. 13).
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One of the librarians has been preparing for the class by pulling relevant books, preparing Prezi and PowerPoint presentations, and brainstorming relevant topic examples. This spring, Res104 is covering the Mississippi River Watershed (containing areas ranging from Montana to Ohio, North Dakota to Oklahoma and, of course, Louisiana). In past years they have rotated between other areas of the world. My work was to go through the brainstormed list of relevant topics to see if there were enough resources for students to make it a viable topic for their research. While fascinating, this is does also tend to be a time-consuming process. The time it takes to do the research is well worth it if it helps a student be successful in their research. We don’t present the student with the research we’ve done, by any means, but what we do helps us know whether a topic will work for students or if it might be best to steer the student in another direction.

On Tuesday, I participated in a few meetings. The first was an Info Lit meeting, discussing the WV2 J-term sessions presented the week before. Overall the feedback has been positive, both from the librarians/faculty perspective and from the student perspective (which was something we were all holding our breath about, as it’s the first time for J-term and the first time it has been a requirement for freshmen. There were a few miscommunications with professors (some not staying for their classes instruction session or some misreading the instruction schedule) but, for the most part, things went well and when the library instructors encountered the unexpected, they were flexible and adjusted their instruction strategies as necessary. Some things to keep in mind for future J-term classes is that (because the students are meeting in multiple places for the same class, changing locations throughout the day) there were some lost students, so perhaps making sure their Moodle page reflects their locations and times would be helpful.

Another thing we discussed during the meeting was the staffing of the reference desk. Unsure as to when the busiest times would be, Anne Marie examined both the seminary schedule and the J-term schedule to see when class breaks were. By manning it during the 11-1 and 3-5 timeslots, we have found the majority of the reference work happens (particularly from 11-1). The librarians decided to leave the reference schedule the same for the rest of J-term and do a more formal assessment of the reference interactions upon the completion of J-term.

I also met with a Career Services Center representative, Trina. The library has proposed adding a career development component to their current student employment practices wherein students are given the opportunity to consult with Trina as part of their paid employment (allowing for one hour of paid time for this). Though it’s still in the works, this opportunity would allow students to receive services such as career assessment and counseling, resume/cover letter assistance, consultations for awards/scholarships, assistance with graduate school preparations, and interview preparation assistance. During our meeting we discussed some of the work I did, as one of the employees staring up the SLIS Career Center, and hammered out some of the logistics (i.e. a spreadsheet with student names, contact information, etc.) and also talked about the upcoming Career Week (Feb. 21-25) display/programming.

Another fun project I worked on was the Education Blog, covering the recently announced winners of various children’s book/author awards. You can read it here: http://www.dbq.edu/library/education/?p=70). That was particularly interesting to me, as it tied in my coursework from a course I took last semester, “Materials for Youth.”

I almost forgot to mention that I've been doing some collection development work, recommending titles for purchase. Anne Marie purchases for several different liaison departments and wanted me to look through some lists (i.e. Choice Reviews, etc.) to find "the best titles of 2010" to be added to the UD collection (as long as they fall within the scope of the collection). I've begun looking at Natural & Applied Sciences materials, adding them to the pre-purchase cart (to be reviewed more closely) in Books in Print. It's always fascinating to see the new information being presented (or old information being presented in a new way). I even found a few titles to add to my (ever-growing) Goodreads list!

As I’m sure is the case in many places, a lot of informal training and professional learning happens in those interactions that aren’t planned or specific to one area of librarianship. Some of the most valuable learning happens when you’re chatting with a colleague in the hallway, or you just happen to pop into their office to see what’s new in their area, or you pass someone going to lunch as you’re just coming from lunch. It’s nice to be in an environment where this happens on a regular basis.


University of Dubuque. (2009). Undergraduate Catalog. Dubuque, Iowa.