Looking back on webinars -- they were all quite interesting and informative. I did reference my group's webinar in last week's post, even though we weren't required to write one. I figured it would be easier for me to write about it the day we did it, instead of a week later when the experience wasn't so fresh in my mind. When it comes to the webinars I attended (4 of them), I really like the diversity in topics that were covered. It seemed to me, for all the webinars that I attended, that the presenters were all quite well prepared.
Back in my sophomore English class in undergrad the final paper's topic had to be what we wanted to be our final career...Kinda like 500, blech. Anyway, that English paper that I wrote was about Library 2.0 and the Young Adult patrons in a public library. It was interesting for my professor to read considering I was at a strictly business school. But she was cool with it because her husband had just graduated from Library school. :) She even had him read it to make sure I had all my bases covered. I went searching around for that paper when I started the readings for this week to see how I could change it to be more aligned with the new technologies that have emerged in libraries since 2007...unfortunately, I couldn't find it. I know I have a hard copy around somewhere in storage, but that's 150 miles away.
I feel that if I were to rewrite that paper now, all three of the readings for this week would be cited numerous times. I appreciated how the Fontichiaro (and the Blowers and Reed) article(s) point out that librarians -- and teachers -- should keep up-to-date with new 2.0 tools and technologies and then share their knowledge and skills with other librarians and teachers. This is going to become crucial as my classmates and I head out into the professional workplace in -- hopefully -- the next couple of years. We're also going to have to share our skills and knowledge with others in our workplace, and above all, with patrons. The Semedini article was similar to the others seeing as how it dealt with different technologies and how to deal with problems that cropped up using 2.0 technology. Overall, I really liked the readings for this week, because they talk about issues that will be very relevant for my future career.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Presenting a Webinar
Today, #TeamHAAK presented our webinar about catering to LEP patrons in libraries. Thanks to the Elluminate crash course we went through during class, we were able to get through our webinar without too many problems...until we were waiting for it to save. :P Yes we all exited out of it, and waited anxiously for the next five minutes to pass so we could get the link to the archived webinar. However, after about 10 minutes, it still hadn't shown up, and we were all getting a little more than slightly stressed out. We went back in to the room to see if we could retrieve the recording, and did all kinds of stuff to try and fix it. There was still someone else in the room when we went back in, so we figured we could try and all exit out again and wait for an agonizing 5 minutes for it to hopefully save. AND THAT WORKED! Thankfully. We were all quite relieved to say the least -- and we all realized what Kristin actually meant when she said that we HAD to exit out...otherwise it wouldn't save. We closed the program under the impression that just we had to close out of the program, not everyone else in the webinar. I feel like this was actually clarified in class -- given the amount of times Kristin repeated it, but for some weird reason, it just never clicked in any of our brains...But everything is all saved. Yay! And the correct link is now posted in the wiki. :)
As a group, we are EXTREMELY glad that we got together the night before to do a cold run-through. the Pre-Meeting allowed us to work through the numerous technical we had concerning the Powerpoint presentation, and do a trial run of the presentation pointed out where some additional information/slides were needed. We were also able to get a rough estimate of how long it would take us to present, and we were all able to become more comfortable with what would be happening when we presented the webinar live.
While the actual presenting of the webinar did have some issues, such as quite a bit of lagging when we went on the web tour, and some audio issues, I feel that overall, the webinar went pretty well. We had some good chat going on in there, and the results of the polls were interesting. Overall, I feel that the webinar experience was a great way to put new information out there. And it was good experience for what we may be facing in our future careers.
My reaction to the webinars I have/will be attending will most likely be the content of next week's blog post. :P
P.S. I actually just finally noticed how incredibly annoying it is to read tiny white text...just in case you were wondering why the design suddenly changed...
As a group, we are EXTREMELY glad that we got together the night before to do a cold run-through. the Pre-Meeting allowed us to work through the numerous technical we had concerning the Powerpoint presentation, and do a trial run of the presentation pointed out where some additional information/slides were needed. We were also able to get a rough estimate of how long it would take us to present, and we were all able to become more comfortable with what would be happening when we presented the webinar live.
While the actual presenting of the webinar did have some issues, such as quite a bit of lagging when we went on the web tour, and some audio issues, I feel that overall, the webinar went pretty well. We had some good chat going on in there, and the results of the polls were interesting. Overall, I feel that the webinar experience was a great way to put new information out there. And it was good experience for what we may be facing in our future careers.
My reaction to the webinars I have/will be attending will most likely be the content of next week's blog post. :P
P.S. I actually just finally noticed how incredibly annoying it is to read tiny white text...just in case you were wondering why the design suddenly changed...
Sunday, April 3, 2011
What can I say? Twitter is slightly annoying but also a slight necessity? Hmmm, yup, I think that's how I feel about the site. Kinda annoyed, but kinda intrigued. I suppose it was a good idea to have the class get a Twitter account as an assignment, otherwise I most certainly would have refrained from it all together.
I have discovered that I feel Twitter is more of a time-sucker than Facebook. I really don't understand the point of just seeing other peoples statuses that are under 140 characters. I know a lot of people love twitter because of the job-posting possibilities, and all that other fun jazz. I actually did link my Twitter account to my Facebook account, so that my Twitter statuses would go to Facebook automatically. And some of the features of Twitter, such as the retweeting was fun. I did seem to get caught up in some conversations -- with Ayla. :P
I can see how Twitter is invaluable in the library world, because everyone involved can stay up-to-date (by the second) with everything that is happening in the industry. Book recommendations can reach countless people in a matter of minutes. News travels so fast over Twitter, that it's mind boggling. Maybe in a few years, I will come to like Twitter, but for now, I just really don't have too much of an interest in the site. I feel like Facebook is more useful to keep in touch with the people in my network. I do realize that Twitter is a good way to meeting people outside your own personal network, with comes in handy when it comes to the job-postings. So, that is the positive side I see in Twitter. And of course, #TeamHAAK!
#filethisloc
I have discovered that I feel Twitter is more of a time-sucker than Facebook. I really don't understand the point of just seeing other peoples statuses that are under 140 characters. I know a lot of people love twitter because of the job-posting possibilities, and all that other fun jazz. I actually did link my Twitter account to my Facebook account, so that my Twitter statuses would go to Facebook automatically. And some of the features of Twitter, such as the retweeting was fun. I did seem to get caught up in some conversations -- with Ayla. :P
I can see how Twitter is invaluable in the library world, because everyone involved can stay up-to-date (by the second) with everything that is happening in the industry. Book recommendations can reach countless people in a matter of minutes. News travels so fast over Twitter, that it's mind boggling. Maybe in a few years, I will come to like Twitter, but for now, I just really don't have too much of an interest in the site. I feel like Facebook is more useful to keep in touch with the people in my network. I do realize that Twitter is a good way to meeting people outside your own personal network, with comes in handy when it comes to the job-postings. So, that is the positive side I see in Twitter. And of course, #TeamHAAK!
#filethisloc
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Week 10 Webinars & Effective teaching
I found the readings this week to be quite interesting, and I'm sure that Mallorie loved the fact that VANDERBILT was mentioned...ok, yeah, that's besides the point. Anyway, the readings this week have proved that the position of a librarian is not just the typical "behind the desk" stereotype that the public generally makes. Working as a librarian, and as an instructor is much more than that.
The Montgomery article was chuck full of statistics, that even though they seemed boring, proved a point. More and more students in today's society are using the internet and social networking sites to gain information and interact. This is why librarians have learned to adapt, and have found it necessary to reach out to patrons through library websites, chat functions, emails, and texts. And this is why webinars have become a tool very valued in the library. This article used statistics to prove that virtual library resources are becoming more important or just printed, on-site materials. Because more students and patrons are using electronic means of accessing materials, libraries, and librarians have had to adapt.
The M-cubed article was great -- specifically because the music librarian wrote part of it. Just kidding...but seriously, come on...nothing is cooler than a music librarian. Nothing, absolutely nothing. except maybe eating from the peanut butter & jelly combined jar with croutons. and Blogger is telling me that croutons is spelled wrong...I liked how both types of embedded librarianship were touched on in the article. The music librarian being more of the "traditional" embedded librarian with the business librarian being the virtual embedded librarian.
As for the classroom activities of one-shot workshops...I like snacks. :) The workshops were fun. There was a lot of variety in topics, and I learned a lot from each one, with good discussions all around. And I actually joined Twitter because of Heidi & Abby's workshop. Weird, I know. I joined Twitter before I was actually required to for class. Let's just say I don't really like Twitter, but @2servingsofcute is already blowing up my Twitter feed. #filethisloc. Long live #TeamHAAK.
The Montgomery article was chuck full of statistics, that even though they seemed boring, proved a point. More and more students in today's society are using the internet and social networking sites to gain information and interact. This is why librarians have learned to adapt, and have found it necessary to reach out to patrons through library websites, chat functions, emails, and texts. And this is why webinars have become a tool very valued in the library. This article used statistics to prove that virtual library resources are becoming more important or just printed, on-site materials. Because more students and patrons are using electronic means of accessing materials, libraries, and librarians have had to adapt.
The M-cubed article was great -- specifically because the music librarian wrote part of it. Just kidding...but seriously, come on...nothing is cooler than a music librarian. Nothing, absolutely nothing. except maybe eating from the peanut butter & jelly combined jar with croutons. and Blogger is telling me that croutons is spelled wrong...I liked how both types of embedded librarianship were touched on in the article. The music librarian being more of the "traditional" embedded librarian with the business librarian being the virtual embedded librarian.
As for the classroom activities of one-shot workshops...I like snacks. :) The workshops were fun. There was a lot of variety in topics, and I learned a lot from each one, with good discussions all around. And I actually joined Twitter because of Heidi & Abby's workshop. Weird, I know. I joined Twitter before I was actually required to for class. Let's just say I don't really like Twitter, but @2servingsofcute is already blowing up my Twitter feed. #filethisloc. Long live #TeamHAAK.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Reflection - Book Club
The book club was great! I probably ate around 9 cookies...could life get any better? I submit that it could not! Ok, but anyway, I really did enjoy the book club. All of the stories were interesting and the group had a lot of discussion going on. I found that the spirited discussion helped me to better understand the themes and issues presented in each of the stories, and because there were different viewpoints in some areas, there was also some great debating.
When it came to leading my group with Ayla...I think that we both had stuff that we saw in the story that we wanted to share, that in some ways, it was more like we were participating that leading. Not that participating in the discussion was wrong, but we probably could have done a better job of leading it. In the end, it was a fun experience, and I got snacks. :)
I really enjoyed class last week, because the webinar was great. It was nice to see how we are supposed to have our webinars work, and to have Bobbi Newman talk about the HCOD issue was really awesome. It was nice to hear how she feels about the whole debate, and how it will effect librarians and libraries in general.
When it came to leading my group with Ayla...I think that we both had stuff that we saw in the story that we wanted to share, that in some ways, it was more like we were participating that leading. Not that participating in the discussion was wrong, but we probably could have done a better job of leading it. In the end, it was a fun experience, and I got snacks. :)
I really enjoyed class last week, because the webinar was great. It was nice to see how we are supposed to have our webinars work, and to have Bobbi Newman talk about the HCOD issue was really awesome. It was nice to hear how she feels about the whole debate, and how it will effect librarians and libraries in general.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Ethics & Workshops
The code of ethics pages for the ALA and the Medical Library Association where both short, sweet, and to the point. I think it's a good idea to read the code of ethics as in intro for the ethics lecture/discussion. And both of these pages were a good base for the Lenker article about ethics in the library workplace. Reading through this article was very helpful for me. All of my past library experience has been in a tiny tiny seminary library. Well, seminaries are associated with churches...so all the patrons I worked with were studying to become ministers...and this may seem stereotypical towards ministers...but ethical issues rarely came up in my workplace. So to read through this article and see some of the issues of ethical questionability (that's not a word, but you get my point) that could potentially arise, it was slightly scary to me. I don't know if I would be able to handle it. Not saying I'm not ethical, because I am, at least in my opinion, but some situations could get dicey.
The Mosley article was also an interesting read. I find that I can get more out of a class lecture when I have some relevant readings under my belt before hand. I appreciate that the assigned readings really do relate to class. Anyway, the Mosley article about workshops gave a lot of good ideas about how to design an effective and interesting workshop that will benefit those who take part in it. This makes me look forward to the one-shot-workshops we're going to be doing soon.
Should be fun.
The Mosley article was also an interesting read. I find that I can get more out of a class lecture when I have some relevant readings under my belt before hand. I appreciate that the assigned readings really do relate to class. Anyway, the Mosley article about workshops gave a lot of good ideas about how to design an effective and interesting workshop that will benefit those who take part in it. This makes me look forward to the one-shot-workshops we're going to be doing soon.
Should be fun.
Book Club - Clubs
I found that all of the stories were quite interesting, and seemed to be spread out over target ages.
Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman.
Ok, I'm not going to lie, but I didn't quite get the point of this story. Maybe it's because I read it sometime last week at about 2 in the morning, and just didn't get it. I did get that the aunt was killed by the tiger, and the tiger got Cinnamon to talk... But why did she go off into the jungle with the tiger. I mean, she was a princess -- stay in the palace! So much more comfortable than the jungle. So, yeah, that's what I got out of that story.
The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank Stockton
Very interesting. I really really enjoyed this story. The king's way of judging people to be innocent or guilty seemed to be a simple if not quite just way of solving the "problem." But really, someone could be guilty and still open the door to the lady, and he would get married, and everybody would forget about the crime that was committed...How realistic is that? Ummmm, not very. On the other hand, even if the person on trial was innocent, and he opened the door to the tiger and subsequently died, that's not quite realistic either.
The point of the story...the princess's actions of showing the lover which door to choose when she knew what was behind each door. And then not telling the reader what door she chose...that's some smart writing. It was a great story overall, and I really enjoyed it.
The Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm
I have always loved stories by the Brothers Grimm, and this story is no exception. I thought that this story was a great children's story. Some of the other original Brothers Grimm story are not so appropriate for children, but The Goose Girl is are fun story that can teach lessons to children of all ages. I thought the real princess was quite selfless...but then again I thought that she could have stood up for herself just a little bit! And then the maid in waiting...more like a witch (replace the first letter of that word with a different letter at your leisure). But the real princess didn't complain, and she won out in the end.
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov
I thought this story was also very good, and what made it even better was that it was written in 1956. That Isaac Asimov could see the future! :P The story brought up a lot of interesting themes that could relate to today's times. The use of energy, the advancement of computers, and people's reliance on computers...All issues of today. I thought it was an interesting story, and way ahead of its time...even if we're not ever going to be moving to different planets and galaxies.
Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman.
Ok, I'm not going to lie, but I didn't quite get the point of this story. Maybe it's because I read it sometime last week at about 2 in the morning, and just didn't get it. I did get that the aunt was killed by the tiger, and the tiger got Cinnamon to talk... But why did she go off into the jungle with the tiger. I mean, she was a princess -- stay in the palace! So much more comfortable than the jungle. So, yeah, that's what I got out of that story.
The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank Stockton
Very interesting. I really really enjoyed this story. The king's way of judging people to be innocent or guilty seemed to be a simple if not quite just way of solving the "problem." But really, someone could be guilty and still open the door to the lady, and he would get married, and everybody would forget about the crime that was committed...How realistic is that? Ummmm, not very. On the other hand, even if the person on trial was innocent, and he opened the door to the tiger and subsequently died, that's not quite realistic either.
The point of the story...the princess's actions of showing the lover which door to choose when she knew what was behind each door. And then not telling the reader what door she chose...that's some smart writing. It was a great story overall, and I really enjoyed it.
The Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm
I have always loved stories by the Brothers Grimm, and this story is no exception. I thought that this story was a great children's story. Some of the other original Brothers Grimm story are not so appropriate for children, but The Goose Girl is are fun story that can teach lessons to children of all ages. I thought the real princess was quite selfless...but then again I thought that she could have stood up for herself just a little bit! And then the maid in waiting...more like a witch (replace the first letter of that word with a different letter at your leisure). But the real princess didn't complain, and she won out in the end.
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov
I thought this story was also very good, and what made it even better was that it was written in 1956. That Isaac Asimov could see the future! :P The story brought up a lot of interesting themes that could relate to today's times. The use of energy, the advancement of computers, and people's reliance on computers...All issues of today. I thought it was an interesting story, and way ahead of its time...even if we're not ever going to be moving to different planets and galaxies.
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