And we come now to the end...

The last assignment is handed in, the last class attended, and 643 draws to a close. But, as class pointed out on Monday, it's not the end. There are still fun and exciting tools to learn and play with, old skills to refine, and, of course, once you do learn them, they will change. So, class is over, but the fun is just beginning.

The next step is to come up with a plan for your own professional development. We talked and read about the 23 things, and while we learned about it in a larger context (at the organizational level), there is no reason why you can't come up with your own personal 23 things. Or maybe you could partner up with classmates. Lots of possibility.

I don't have a plan yet, but I want to make one. Whatever your summer goals and plans are, I wish you luck!

And more webinars

I have already written about webinars, but I watched a few more on Monday, and wanted to point out some things I noticed. So, here goes:

1. Some of the moderators made sure to greet everyone as they joined the webinar, and I really thought this was a great touch.
2. I think some people learned from other groups' technical difficulties, which was smart of them. They did sound checks before we actually started the webinar--smart.
3. I liked the pictures people posted of themselves. It was nice to put a face to a name.
4. One of the advantages of webinars is that you can use notes, which didn't work so well for me during the screencasts. But you don't want to sound like you are reading them. So even though you are presenting to a screen, you still have to draw on your public speaking skills.
5. One drawback to elluminate was that you lost your links when you uploaded the slides. Did anyone find a way around that?

I was really impressed with everyone's webinars. The topics were all really good, and I think everyone did a terrific job presenting their material.

Webiwhat?

Webinars. Lots and lots of webinars. That is what is on this week's agenda, so I hope you aren't burned out yet.

Have you ever thought you knew what you needed to know, only to find out what you didn't know you needed to know when it was a little late in the game? That's how I felt about using elluminate. It all made a lot of sense in class on Monday, and I thought, okay, I'll go play with it and figure it out. And I did play with it a little bit. But there were a lot of things I didn't think to ask because I didn't know I needed to ask them until I actually encountered them, which happened to be while we were broadcasting live. If I had it to do over, I would do a tutorial or something, and hopefully know a little bit more. I know, obvious.

We did know our material, and we had some good resources, so at least there was good content to make up for the technical issues. I think we could refine it and improve it, of course, but that's all part of the ADDIE process. I did get my first taste of creating an online survey, which was a good experience, and I'm more familiar with elluminate and what I don't know about it. Part of learning is finding out what you don't know, right?

One funny story: after we were done with the webinar, there were some people still in the 'room' trying to figure out how to get out. So, while we were working on helping them, we started chatting, just casual conversation, because we thought that we had stopped the recording. Turns out we hadn't, so the whole casual chat is preserved, our behind-the-scenes footage, if you will.

Obviously, there is a lot left to learn about webinars, and I'm interested to try some other tools. I think this one is a little more difficult than some of the other tools we have used because there is so much going on that it requires more attention. I do like that there is a live audience (unlike with the screencast), and that you can read notes, which didn't work so well for screencasting. I think out of all the tools, I prefer the face-to-face activities best, which is funny because I am not much of a public speaker. Face-to-face, you don't have to worry as much about the technical aspect (it's important, but not as critical). Not that I'm anti-tech. I'm just a terrible multitasker and can only focus on one thing at a time. But I also like being able to see who I'm talking to for some reason. It's more personal, and for some unfathomable reason, I appreciate that.

Well, I wish you luck in your webinars. I'm sure I'll sit in on some of them, and I can't wait!

To Tweet or not to Tweet

Hello all. This week, our reading consisted of Tweets, which seems kind of odd. But that's what the syllabus said.

To begin with, confessions: I confess that I already had a Twitter account. I set one up because my sister-in-law was having a giveaway on her food blog, and she gives away some great gifts. So, one of the ways to get an entry was to follow her on Twitter. I was lured in by the potential of winning cool kitchen gadgets, what can I say. I also confess that until this assignment I had never actually sent a Tweet. My last confession: I still don't get Twitter.

I noticed a couple of trends on Twitter. First, I see a lot of potential for marketing. I really do think it's a great tool for spreading the word about the events going on within your organization, and I find that aspect of it quite useful. But other than that, I am not sure what the point is.

A lot of the Tweets I saw were rather mundane things, like, "I just did this part of my job" or "I'm bored at work." Which , given the prompt Twitter offers ("What's happening?") and the character limit, is unsurprising. I couldn't think of anything worth mentioning, which is one of my aversions to Twitter to begin with. It's enough to live it, do I really need to tell the world about it?

Then there were the posts about professional related happenings. The frustrating thing was that there was no context, so it was kind of a 'had to be there' thing. Not understanding what they were talking about, I had little interest in the tweet.

Then there were the link tweets. (I confess, I posted one of these. Ironically, it was an article in part about Twitter contributing to information overload). But the links aren't very helpful because they don't give information about what the article is about, so you don't know whether it's worth looking at, and really, I have so many other things I could be doing, it's highly unlikely I'm going to be looking at any of them unless it's something a really close friend posted, and even then it's not highly likely.

I did find one feed that I'm interested in following after the assignment is over. It's GoArchivistJobs, I think, and it will be interesting to see what results it yields. 

So, I guess the end result is, as a professional tool, Twitter definitely has its place, but honestly, I just can't get that interested in reading about what everyone is doing all day long. And I hope no one is going to be super disappointed at the lack of output from my personal account, because I have a feeling it will be pretty limited in the future. (Although, there won't be much to miss. I can't be overly critical of anyone's tweets, because mine were abominable). And, just so the avid Twitterers out there know, I have nothing against you, and I'm glad you enjoy it. And who knows, maybe I'll figure out the appeal someday.

One Shot Workshops, Embedded Librarians, and Webinars

Well, there certainly is a lot of material to cover today. First, a recap of our one-shot workshops. Other than having seven workshops in our group which made everyone feel kind of rushed, it was a  great and informative evening. We covered some really interesting topics, including filtering, the value of Twitter, the process for pulling books and how to deal with it, and copyright. And of course, there were two others, and ours, but they escape me at the moment. It made me wish there were more time to have a full length workshop on the topics, because there was so much to learn.

On to this weeks readings. On the docket, we have:
"The Embedded Librarian Online or Face-to-Face: American University's Experiences" by Michael A. Matosa and Nobue Matsuoka-Motley and William Mayer

"Online Webinars! Interactive Learning Where Our Users Are: The Future of Embedded Librarianship" by Susan E. Montgomery

and chapter 7 from How People Learn.
The first two articles addressed the idea of embedded librarianship, both traditional and hybrid approaches. This is a practice found on college campuses and academic libraries, in which a librarian is deployed to a specific department. This can occur to different degrees. The librarian can be a liaison, based from the library but working with a particular school or department. By working in the the school, librarians are better able to understand user needs and breaks down the barriers between librarian and user, in this case faculty and students.

Montgomery also points out that embedded librarianship provides a unique chance to incorporate new technologies into education. She points out that the internet and internet tools are a must to attract this generation of students. Email, Facebook, Twitter, and other web tools are a part of the university educational experience, and librarians can harness these tools. More and more reference questions come in via email, chats are becoming a standard reference tool, and webinars provide an excellent way to conduct training for distance learners or other non-traditional learners. Webinars in particular are an excellent library instruction tool.

How People Learn Chapter 7 breathes new life into history, mathematics, and science. It analyzes the approaches of successful teachers in teaching these subjects. The big takeaway is that a teacher needs to have a deep knowledge of their subject and they need to be knowledgeable on teaching methods that help students to learn and ask questions.

So, my thoughts. First, I was delighted with the examples on teaching history. I think history is one of the most undervalued subjects, and in my view its a real shame. But How to Learn does an excellent job of demonstrating the difference teaching methods can make in bringing a subject to life and engaging interest. In terms of math, I had a roommate who taught third grade math, and she was actually using these concepts. Its very different from the way I learned math. Students not only learn how to do the problem, they learn to identify the why. In my day, you learned the formula and applied it, with the exception of an excellent calculus teacher. (Have I told this story before? Skip to the next paragraph if I have). We had all heard of the dreaded derivative and knew that someday we would be forced to do battle with it. One day in class, our teacher started out with a typical graph. Then he asked another question we knew the answer to, and continued to build on each step. Then, he announced, "That is a derivative." And I thought, "That's it? But that's easy!" That is the closest my math education ever came to the approach from chapter 7, but I have never forgotten that experience.

Chapter 7 does omit one particular benefit of its recommended approach. Back to my derivative example: because we were engaged in the learning process and it built on knowledge we already had, it stuck better. I feel that I needed less practice and reteaching because of that. We were also confident in our ability to explain it to other people, and when you can teach something, it helps you understand it better. I think this is another advantage of these strategies. By involving the students in learning, they have a chance to participate in the teaching, which means they are improving their learning.

I do wonder how these teachers have time to teach like this. It's amazing, and wonderful, and I have nothing but respect, but I still wonder how they do it.

And, webinars. I really did participate in a webinar this week. It wasn't one on the list, and I want to watch one of them too. But I had a webinar for training on a program we are using in another class. It was helpful. Overall it was really helpful. One thing I really liked was they had a demonstration where they showed what they talked about. Also, they paused frequently for questions. It was also nice because I was able to apply it directly to my project while the webinar was going on.

I'm really interested for class, to see how all the readings come together and connect to webinars. I'll see you there!

Let's Eat: A meal approach to workshops

I really liked the way Kristin presented putting together a workshop. Looking at it as courses to a meal is a really helpful strategy. There were a lot of things I had never considered. I tend to focus on the content of a presentation, rather than the basics that other people will be worrying about. When I am in the audience, I think about a lot of other things besides the content, so it makes sense to consider that as the presenter. And in terms of content, I usually tend to think about the new ideas I want to present, rather than considering what they already know and how I can build on that, how I can connect to the audience. I haven't ever done anything quite on the scale of a workshop, but I think these same principles could apply in other situations.


It was also interesting to participate in the discussion with Bobbi Newman. First, I just have to say, as wonderful as chat is, it has its limits. Every now and then, my siblings (I have 7) and I end up in a big chat, and it really is like everyone in the room talking at once to everyone. I'd almost rather have the conversation in a room, because then at least I don't have to read everything to follow the mini-conversation I'm part of! (And, then I'd be hanging out with my siblings, which is a definite bonus!)

But I really did get more out of the discussion than "large chats can be chaotic". First off, I really appreciated that Bobbi was able to step back from the emotions of the HarperCollins situation. I think that our first reaction can cloud our thinking and keep us from finding out all of the facts. Also, from just reading on the web, you get the feeling that everyone in libraries is irate about this, but Monday's discussion gave a different perspective. Once you know that there are publisher's that don't distribute e-books to libraries, all of a sudden the whole situation seems less dramatic. That's not to say that the HarperCollins debate is a non-issue. Obviously there are concerns, and decisions that need to be made. But having broader background knowledge, for me at least, changed how I understand the situation and the problem. It also made the response by ALA and OverDrive more appropriate.

The discussion my cohorts and I had before we had the discussion with Bobbi Newman was also enlightening. The issue certainly didn't arouse passions - it concerned us, and got us thinking, but I don't think any of us felt passionate enough to boycott or write letters to our congressmen. The discussion we had generated some interesting thoughts. One thing we discussed was how people are becoming like libraries. People felt like the HarperCollins policy was differentiating libraries from regular customers, which, they are in a way. I buy a book, and I can loan it to people, but that's not why I buy the book. A library buys a book to loan to people. But what is interesting is how people are becoming more like libraries. I can buy music on itunes and play it on a certain number of computers, and then transfer it to other devices, as well. And, from what I understand, certain ebook vendors are doing the same type of thing. We didn't really have time to finish the discussion, and I'm not sure what the implications are or what I feel about it, but it is interesting to consider.

All in all, it was another great class with great discussion. Stay tuned - great same blogspot, great same amateur blogger - for the details of our workshop!

And the results are in...

First item of business: Book Clubs. How did yours go? The book clubs I participated in were interesting. We had great chats about death. Really, it was a fun experience. My group went first, and so I think everyone was a little shy at first, and we were a little unsure of ourselves, but we got good feedback. It was interesting to watch the dynamics of each group. I have been part of a book club before, but I never gave the process a lot of thought before. I read the book and discussed it and that was that. So it was an interesting experience to approach it from a planner's perspective. I picked up on things I had never considered before. For example, the way you introduce characters into the discussion can limit how the discussion about them progresses. Pretty obvious, but not something you'd give a lot of conscious thought to unless you were in a situation where you had to--like this one. Also, (and I know this wasn't something that could be helped in our situation), the seating arrangement is pretty important. I have a new appreciation for sitting in a circle to discuss a book.

On to this weeks readings. Just to recap (yes, I reviewed the guidelines, and remembered why I was reviewing the readings. I have seen the error of my ways and am getting back on track), here's this weeks readings:
First, the ALA Code of Ethics. This document contains the guidelines for library professionals. They give a very useful definition of an ethical dilemma as a conflict of values. One of the points that stood out to me was that this is a framework that professionals can use to guide their behavior and make it ethical. I thought it worth noting that personal beliefs should remain separate from professional responsibilities. It is definitely something that every professional or future professional needs to contemplate and prepare for. I found the emphasis on continuing education exciting and encouraging.

The next article, by Mosley, was about the workshops for faculty. This was a really cool article. First, I think it was great that they included the role plays and materials. I think their approach to conducting these workshops was so logical, and I appreciate logic and common sense. The assignments were really practical. I actually wouldn't mind going to this workshop. In relation to the Code of Ethics, I noticed that throughout the workshop, they emphasized the importance of being respectful of faculty and not trying to demean them. I think it also demonstrates the mission of the profession and their guideline to be organized, make information accessible, and so on (Guideline I).

On to the hot topic: HarperCollins and their decision to limit use of e-books. I decided to read the HarperCollins letter, the statement released by OverDrive, the response by the ALA, and the article from CBC (Canadian news). I think the general response to HarperCollins' decision has been pretty negative, and I found their statement vague. If you knew absolutely nothing about the subject, you'd think they were trying to do the best thing for everyone, and maybe they really perceive themselves in that light. But they don't really say anything--it is very political, in the sense that they say something without saying anything. OverDrive seemed to be more to the point. I noticed they were still very diplomatic, but they seemed to explain their position a little better. I also note that their response was fairly level-headed. They expressed their concern, and their solution, but their response wasn't rash. The ALA was somewhat indefinite as well. Their overall response seemed to be, "We're looking into it." I don't think that's a bad thing, necessarily. While it would be nice to get a firm stance, I appreciate that this is unprecedented and it does require thoughtful study. The trick is to study it within a reasonable amount of time. Last of all was the CBC article. It was interesting to me that they didn't necessarily disagree with HarperCollins theory, but they did feel that the implementation was inappropriate. They were able to acknowledge HarperCollins perspective, but they make a very valid argument about the 26 uses idea.

It was interesting to read these perspectives on the issue and to read it in terms of ethics. I can understand HarperCollins reasoning--they are a business and they are concerned with the bottom line. Particularly if digital books do take over, then the effect on publishers has to be considered. However, I don't think HarperCollins has chosen the best option. I tend to think they chose the option that they liked best and that liked their bank accounts best, and then tried to present it as rational. I sympathize more with libraries and honest patrons. This is definitely an issue, and I think it's great that the discussion is taking place. I'm not sure what the best solution is, but I am sure this isn't it. What are your thoughts? Any solutions?