Comments on: 5 Things I Didn’t Realize I’d Be Working on…

By: Realizations and Fun « The Waki Librarian

Realizations and Fun « The Waki Librarian — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:26:44 +0000

[...] think that this blog entry, 5 Things I Didn’t Realize I’d Be Working On, should be required reading for any new or aspiring librarians. I have to say that it rung true for [...]

By: ‘5 Things I Didn’t Realize I’d Be Working on When I Decided to Become a Librarian’ - 5? Try 50! « mavergames.net

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:26:51 +0000

[...] 13, 2009 So, I read this post the other day from the ACRLog where these 5 things are listed as described [...]

By: Leslie L. Morgan

Leslie L. Morgan — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:52:14 +0000

One more thing, our success at this level depends on us viewing the library services from a student’s view; it equals success on so many levels

By: Leslie L. Morgan

Leslie L. Morgan — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:50:25 +0000

I am grateful for the fact that my First Year Students are eager and willing to become scholars at the beginning of their experience as undergraduates at Notre Dame. This has made all the difference. Prior to becoming an Academic Librarian, I had the privilege to have worked as a Student Affairs professional in which I was able to link extra-curricular programming with courses being taught. That experience solidified for me, that an academic career is warranted and the fact I can be as creative, dynamic, and still not lose the “intellectual discourse” components required of me as the First Year Librarian. While a Library Science student at Wayne State University, I took advantage of my graduate student access, by taking some courses/workshops on teaching, instruction, etc. I also took the time to engage T&R faculty in friendly banter on how they work with their subject librarians; most of them did not, but I think I pushed the issue along enough for them to consider developing a relationship with their campus librarian. I have been thinking about expanding my creativity into making YouTube videos to continually “bring home” the idea of getting help from the library. As a First Year Experience Librarian we are at once:
Librarian
Actor
Motivator
PR Expert Extraordinaire
Professor/Instructor/Teacher
Always willing to try new ideas in getting students to see that its important that they develop skills necessary to becoming critical consumers of information.
This changes daily of course, but thats what makes this piece of the Academic Library puzzle fulfilling and rewarding!

By: Rbuerkett

Rbuerkett — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:22:49 +0000

I posted this on the SU MLIS blog, and added my own spin – thanks for this!
http://blogs.iis.syr.edu/mslis/?p=94

By: MSLIS News » Blog Archive » A plug for the SU MLIS program

MSLIS News » Blog Archive » A plug for the SU MLIS program — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:14:41 +0000

[...] to one of my fellow MLIS students, Ana Canino-Fluit, for finding this blog posting by onellums: 5 Things I Didn’t Realize I’d Be Working on…When I Decided to Become a Librarian [...]

By: J. E. Luedke

J. E. Luedke — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:35:56 +0000

I encounter all of these issues almost daily.

1. Authentication
One way to eleviate this problem is through what our school calls its “portal”. I believe many schools now offer something like this. It allows you to login with your school email and password to gain access to your student account, library resources, etc. all in one place. However, it does seem that in this age of technology, “authentication” could be made much easier.

4. Unofficial Student Technical Support
I think this is a huge problem in every library. Not having in-house tech support can be very challenging for patrons and staff. Since I teach library instruction classes from what is otherwise a public terminal, I frequently encounter technical problems caused harmlessly and unknowingly by patrons. Of course, these problems are often realized only minutes before my class is scheduled.

5. Making and Editing Videos
I have been experimenting with a software that allows me to create screencasts. I can record my screen actions, narrate and even video myself while demonstrating how to use various library technologies. Screen recording software also allows for lecture capturing, all of which can be easily uploaded to a website, LibGuide or emailed to faculty and students. The software I have been experimenting with is called ScreenFlow. Others include Adobe Captivate, Camptasia. I’ve just found out about some free online screen recording software. Some of these are: Screencast-O-Matic, GoView, ScreenToaster, Skoffer. Reviews about these online screencasting software are here http://www.labnol.org/software/web-screencasting-apps-create-screencasts-online/6038/.

As for learning the software, I would say that a small amount of tech savviness is necessary, but most importantly is that you understand the capabilities of the software and be curious and enthusiastic to learn how to harness those capabilities. I am cetainly on the low end of the tech savvy scale, but I knew that screen capturing software would give me the freedom to create everything from a short tutorial on “How to Renew Library Materials Online” to full library instruction sessions for distance learning classes.

By: onellums

onellums — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:43:05 +0000

Ameet – I think librarians with real programming skills are understandably in high demand. I took an introductory computer programming class last spring & now feel ‘code literate’ — I wish I had learned the basics earlier.

David – It’s always changing, but currently we only use ProQuest for access to the Wall Street Journal. Other libraries where I worked previously had ProQuest databases, but I don’t know the reasoning behind any of these decisions.

By: David

David — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:13:28 +0000

Do you not have ProQuest? That was one of the favorite ones I used to use.

By: Ameet Doshi

Ameet Doshi — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:59:51 +0000

I agree that librarians at service desks are de facto tech support; as such, continuous learning should extend to new versions of software, hardware, mobile devices, etc.

Furthermore, there are times when I think that librarians (all librarians) should start hacking code… remember when HTML was relegated to the IT backrooms? Now, it seems that professionals of all types need to be proficient, or at the very least, familiar with the principles of web design and coding.