Time: 2pm-3pm; 3pm-6pm (4)
Hours completed (IST): 36.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 15/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 51.5/150
Today I had a meeting with my practicum supervisor and began work on a new project. After discussing the schedule for the week, we talked about other projects I could work on. We decided that a working on a LibGuide would be a good thing to work on. I was unsure exactly what I was going to work on yet, but Tammy suggested that I go ahead and begin looking at other LibGuides to get a sense of how I want to construct mine. Also, it was necessary to wait to get added to the system before I could do any real work.
I began study LibGuides by looking at both those created on campus as well as those listed on LibGuides Community. While I am still unsure of my topic, I am more interested in creating a LibGuide that is part learning module and part resource module. Several that I looked at from other institutions use things like short tests or small interactive activities. Using different approaches at the same time, much like in the classroom, seems like a good strategy.
Now just to get a topic and get set up in the system.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
February 12, 2015 (Thursday)
Time: 9am-11am; 11am-6pm (9)
Hours completed (IST): 32.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 15/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 47.5/150
Today I co-taught a BI with Tammy and finished the collection development project. I was a little nervous in front of the students but not much. It had been a long time since I presented material using a computer and projector so it was a little awkward. I pushed a bit to get a any sort of interaction out of the students: jokes, raising hands, what have you. To me, it's better to tell a bad joke every now and then to bring students back into the lesson.
I felt liked I talked too much, though that wasn't the case. I knew there were things that I forgot as soon as I handed things over to Tammy. After class Tammy spoke to me about my performance. She said that she was overall very pleased and that I came across well. She liked that I worked a little harder for audience participation and encouraged me to keep honing that style.
Tammy also told me that I totally forgot to explain the Ask Us page (which provides all the contact information for the library:phone, in person, IM, email, etc.). I knew that I forgot something but I felt encouraged by the experience nonetheless.
The collection development project came out well, I believe, and was emailed to the History subject librarian. I also recommended a book to the History librarian which I heard about on the way to the library that day. I suggested Eric Foner's Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad because it fit well with the teaching and research focus of many members and students in the history department. She agreed that it would be a nice addition to the collection.
Below are the results of the collection development project, which are also available here in spreadsheet form.
Hours completed (IST): 32.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 15/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 47.5/150
Today I co-taught a BI with Tammy and finished the collection development project. I was a little nervous in front of the students but not much. It had been a long time since I presented material using a computer and projector so it was a little awkward. I pushed a bit to get a any sort of interaction out of the students: jokes, raising hands, what have you. To me, it's better to tell a bad joke every now and then to bring students back into the lesson.
I felt liked I talked too much, though that wasn't the case. I knew there were things that I forgot as soon as I handed things over to Tammy. After class Tammy spoke to me about my performance. She said that she was overall very pleased and that I came across well. She liked that I worked a little harder for audience participation and encouraged me to keep honing that style.
Tammy also told me that I totally forgot to explain the Ask Us page (which provides all the contact information for the library:phone, in person, IM, email, etc.). I knew that I forgot something but I felt encouraged by the experience nonetheless.
The collection development project came out well, I believe, and was emailed to the History subject librarian. I also recommended a book to the History librarian which I heard about on the way to the library that day. I suggested Eric Foner's Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad because it fit well with the teaching and research focus of many members and students in the history department. She agreed that it would be a nice addition to the collection.
Below are the results of the collection development project, which are also available here in spreadsheet form.
| TITLE (PARTIAL) | LoC CALL # | CURRENT LOCATION | RATIONALE FOR MOVE | NOTES | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| off site | Main | ||||
| The Progressive Era | E661 .J395 2005 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age | E661 .U66 2009 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Modernity and National Identity in the US and East Asia | E661 .7 .C44 2010 | 1 | newer material | copy in Spec Coll | |
| The New Empire: an Interpretation of American Expansion | E661.7 .L2 | 1 | 3 copies in stacks | depends on circulation record | |
| Harry M. Daugherty: Attorney General 1921-1925 | E664 .D23 G55x c.2 | 1 | Thesis from 1964 | copy in Spec Coll | |
| George Keenan and the Russian Empire | E664 .K344 H85 2000 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Selected Essays/with memoir by Evelyn Schuyler Schaeffer | E664 .S4 S4 | 1 | available on Google Books | ||
| Politics, Principles, and Prejudice | E666 .C84 | 1 | 1969 edition also in stacks | depends on circulation record | |
| Life of Andrew Johnson | E667 .J75 1955 | 1 | available on Google Books | ||
| The Reconstruction Era | E668 .D545 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Reconstruction | E668 .F39 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Reconstruction: After the Civil War | E668 .F7 | 1 | 2 copies and 1994 copy in stacks | depends on circulation record | |
| Reconstruction Era: Primary Sources | E668 .G85 2004 | 1 | newer material | ||
| To Live and Die in Dixie | E668 .H46x | 1 | thesis from 1978 | micro and Spec Coll copies avail. | |
| Invisible Empire | E668 .H78 1972b | 1 | 1973 edition also in stacks | depends on circulation record | |
| Reconstruction Era: Almanac | E668 .H86 2004 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Reconstruction Era Reference Library Culmulative Index | E668 .H86 2004 Index | 1 | newer material | ||
| The Facts of Reconstruction | E668 .L98 | 1 | available on Google Books | 1968 edition also in stacks | |
| Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction | E668 .M156 | 1 | 3 copies in stacks | depends on circulation record | |
| Ulysses S. Grant | E672 .A43 | 1 | available on Google Books | ||
| On the Trail of Grant and Lee | E672 .H64 | 1 | available on Google Books | ||
| The Life of Rutherford Birchard Hayes [2 vol.] | E682 .W7 | 1 | available on Google Books | OPAC link goes to v.1; v.2 searchable | |
| Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion | E695 .29 2000 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Major McKinley | E711.6 .A76 2000 | 1 | newer material | copy in Spec Coll | |
| The Spanish American War | E715 .H48 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| The Old Guard in 1898 | E725.4 3rd .L97 2007 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Bullets and Bacilli | E731 .C57 2004 | 1 | newer material | ||
| A History of Our Time | E742 .H57 1983 | 1 | 1991 edition available | ||
| A History of Our Time | E742 .H57 1991 | 1 | newer material | see row 30 above | |
| Miracle of '48 | E742.5 T65 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia | E743 .A44 2006 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Brinkley's Beat | E743 .B756 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| American Ascendant | E743 .C277 1998 | 1 | important scholar/work | subjective | |
| The Red Scare, Politics, and the FCC | E743.5 .B736 2004 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers and the Schism in the… | E743.5 .H55 A44 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| The Communist Controversy | E743 .S498 2004 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Red Spies in America | E743 .S498 2004 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Presidential Decisions for War | E744 .H495 2001 | 1 | newer material | 2001 ed. SALEM; 2009 ed. STARK | |
| The Impact of Public Opinion on US Foreign Policy since… | E744 .S747 2001 | 1 | newer material | ||
| United States Marine Corps Generals of WWII | E745 .C43 2008 | 1 | newer material | ||
| George S. Patton: A Biography | E745 .P3 S65 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| War Monuments, Museums, and Library Collections of 20th… | E745 .R35 2002 | 1 | newer material | ||
| The FDR Years | E747 .P43 2006 | 1 | newer material | ||
| James Burnham and the Struggle for the World | E748 .B8866 K45 2002 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Politician Extraordinaire: The Tempestuous Life and Times of… | E748 .D213 V395 2008 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Joseph P. Kennedy | E748 .K376 S39 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| The Napoleon of New York | E748 .L23 J44 2002 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Discussing Hitler | E748 .M66 D57 2003 | 1 | newer material | ||
| Adlai Stevenson's Lasting Legacy | E748 .S84 A64 2007 | 1 | newer material | ||
| TOTAL | TOTAL | ||||
| 35 | 14 |
February 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Time: 7pm-8pm (1)
Hours completed (IST): 30.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 38.5/150
Tonight I spent an hour preparing for tomorrow's BI. I mainly focused on general library information : the Ask Us, KentLINK, Discovery, and VPN features. I will be doing the first half of tomorrow's presentation with Tammy coming in to show the students specific search strategies.
I feel prepared, but I guess I'll know for sure tomorrow.
Hours completed (IST): 30.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 38.5/150
Tonight I spent an hour preparing for tomorrow's BI. I mainly focused on general library information : the Ask Us, KentLINK, Discovery, and VPN features. I will be doing the first half of tomorrow's presentation with Tammy coming in to show the students specific search strategies.
I feel prepared, but I guess I'll know for sure tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
February 5, 2015 (Thursday)
Time: 2pm-4pm (2)
Hours completed (IST): 29.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 37.5/150
The BI today was mostly straightforward and consistent with those which I had observed recently. Tammy, at one point, asked me to give a brief explanation of how I found the resources that we gave them on the additional handout. The students were left with about fifteen minutes at the end to workshop and a few asked questions.
The two things that stuck out were that the class was quiet and the professor insisted on leading the students into places they did not need to be. The first is self-explanatory: each class is "different" and part of doing a successful job instructing them is to pick up on what kind of class you have and to adjust accordingly.
The faculty member, on the other hand, was more difficult. She was insistent that we show a class of freshmen students how to find full-text theses and dissertations. Part of this was because she wanted them to see a proper abstract. We pointed out that the abstracts in databases should be more than sufficient as they either came directly from the author or were likely written by professionals. For my part I suggested that authors may not always write the best abstract themselves. This was just an awkward situation because theses and dissertations aren't appropriate resources for people in their first few years of school. This problem was further exacerbated when she asked us to search the thesis and dissertation database in front of the class because she was certain that many papers had been written on a topic that a student in her class was doing. It was something along the lines of General Custer and Manifest Destiny. The search returned many hits but there was nothing readily apparent on this exact topic. She asked Tammy to search a few more times and there was still nothing. The faculty member assured her student that it was there somewhere and after this let her students search on their own with the remaining time.
This was an awkward position to be in. First and second year students should not be diving into the dense morass that is graduate school writing but, at the same time, we were just librarians there to assist the class. It can be really frustrating to know what you're talking about but know that it's best to just smile and try your best rather than making an issue of it.
It was a difficult reminder to a hard-learned lesson.
Hours completed (IST): 29.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 37.5/150
The BI today was mostly straightforward and consistent with those which I had observed recently. Tammy, at one point, asked me to give a brief explanation of how I found the resources that we gave them on the additional handout. The students were left with about fifteen minutes at the end to workshop and a few asked questions.
The two things that stuck out were that the class was quiet and the professor insisted on leading the students into places they did not need to be. The first is self-explanatory: each class is "different" and part of doing a successful job instructing them is to pick up on what kind of class you have and to adjust accordingly.
The faculty member, on the other hand, was more difficult. She was insistent that we show a class of freshmen students how to find full-text theses and dissertations. Part of this was because she wanted them to see a proper abstract. We pointed out that the abstracts in databases should be more than sufficient as they either came directly from the author or were likely written by professionals. For my part I suggested that authors may not always write the best abstract themselves. This was just an awkward situation because theses and dissertations aren't appropriate resources for people in their first few years of school. This problem was further exacerbated when she asked us to search the thesis and dissertation database in front of the class because she was certain that many papers had been written on a topic that a student in her class was doing. It was something along the lines of General Custer and Manifest Destiny. The search returned many hits but there was nothing readily apparent on this exact topic. She asked Tammy to search a few more times and there was still nothing. The faculty member assured her student that it was there somewhere and after this let her students search on their own with the remaining time.
This was an awkward position to be in. First and second year students should not be diving into the dense morass that is graduate school writing but, at the same time, we were just librarians there to assist the class. It can be really frustrating to know what you're talking about but know that it's best to just smile and try your best rather than making an issue of it.
It was a difficult reminder to a hard-learned lesson.
February 4, 2015 (Wednesday)
Time: 9pm-12pm (3)
Hours completed (IST): 27.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 35.5/150
I spent the evening preparing for the next day's BI in an undergraduate English class. The first thing I did was study the handout that is typically used for the English Comp classes. I spent time running searches in the various tools that the handout covers (such as the Discovery Layer, Academic Search Complete, and KentLINK) to get a better sense of them if a student asks me a question. I also began reviewing the book Derelict Paradise, which I recently received a copy of and would be the focus of a BI in March. I was mostly concerned with getting a sense of the book's argument and setting, but also spent some time looking over its bibliography and mining its index to get understand which types of resources the author used. Because of my own research background in Ohio history, Tammy thought this would be a good session for me to run on my own. Of course, she and I would have to feel that I was ready.
Tammy also informed me that this class was working with the concept of Conflict Theory and Native Americans. I spent some time coming up with keywords to use for Conflict Theory and Native Americans and also compiled a list of different online resources on Native Americans that the students could use while researching. I sent the list to Tammy to see if it would help her while teaching but she decided that it was better as a tool to give directly to the students. She added content on Stasis Theory and Presentation Resources, then turned it into a handout.
Hours completed (IST): 27.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 35.5/150
I spent the evening preparing for the next day's BI in an undergraduate English class. The first thing I did was study the handout that is typically used for the English Comp classes. I spent time running searches in the various tools that the handout covers (such as the Discovery Layer, Academic Search Complete, and KentLINK) to get a better sense of them if a student asks me a question. I also began reviewing the book Derelict Paradise, which I recently received a copy of and would be the focus of a BI in March. I was mostly concerned with getting a sense of the book's argument and setting, but also spent some time looking over its bibliography and mining its index to get understand which types of resources the author used. Because of my own research background in Ohio history, Tammy thought this would be a good session for me to run on my own. Of course, she and I would have to feel that I was ready.
Tammy also informed me that this class was working with the concept of Conflict Theory and Native Americans. I spent some time coming up with keywords to use for Conflict Theory and Native Americans and also compiled a list of different online resources on Native Americans that the students could use while researching. I sent the list to Tammy to see if it would help her while teaching but she decided that it was better as a tool to give directly to the students. She added content on Stasis Theory and Presentation Resources, then turned it into a handout.
Monday, April 6, 2015
February 3, 2015 (Tuesday)
Time: 10am-11am; 7pm-9pm (3)
Hours completed (IST): 24.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 32.5/150
Today I attended a departmental meeting and spent some more time learning the new ACRL Framework. Much of the meeting was spent with librarians updating each other on the current state of projects. We were also given a new project assignment: Instruction Services was tasked with reviewing our core skill modules (n=5) to determine what needs to be updated, changed, or fixed about them. This will be an initial step before fully redoing these modules at a later date. Each member of the group was given a number of modules to check with a specific web browser on a specific platform. Because I was the only member of the group with Windows 8.1, I was asked to review all the skill modules with Internet Explorer, Fire Fox, and Chrome. We were given about three weeks to have this done.
We also planned to discuss the ACRL Framework at the next meeting, specifically how it may or may not change how we provide instruction and do assessments. So that I am able to participate, Tammy asked be to read the Framework. It is an interesting piece of writing but I am unsure how effective it will be. It also seems too post-modern and too detached from actual instruction to be worthwhile. For example, Authority is Constructed and Contextual is absolutely true but are we, as instructors, meant to understand the truth of this or meant to convey this to students. If the latter, how do we do this without undermining our arguments about why Wikipedia is not a good source?
I'm skeptical, but not against; however, I feel it's going to take a lot more reading before I know what it is that I am dealing with.
Hours completed (IST): 24.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 32.5/150
Today I attended a departmental meeting and spent some more time learning the new ACRL Framework. Much of the meeting was spent with librarians updating each other on the current state of projects. We were also given a new project assignment: Instruction Services was tasked with reviewing our core skill modules (n=5) to determine what needs to be updated, changed, or fixed about them. This will be an initial step before fully redoing these modules at a later date. Each member of the group was given a number of modules to check with a specific web browser on a specific platform. Because I was the only member of the group with Windows 8.1, I was asked to review all the skill modules with Internet Explorer, Fire Fox, and Chrome. We were given about three weeks to have this done.
We also planned to discuss the ACRL Framework at the next meeting, specifically how it may or may not change how we provide instruction and do assessments. So that I am able to participate, Tammy asked be to read the Framework. It is an interesting piece of writing but I am unsure how effective it will be. It also seems too post-modern and too detached from actual instruction to be worthwhile. For example, Authority is Constructed and Contextual is absolutely true but are we, as instructors, meant to understand the truth of this or meant to convey this to students. If the latter, how do we do this without undermining our arguments about why Wikipedia is not a good source?
I'm skeptical, but not against; however, I feel it's going to take a lot more reading before I know what it is that I am dealing with.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
January 29, 2015 (Thursday)
Time: 7:45am-9am; 9:15am-1:45pm; 2pm-3pm; 3pm-5:30pm(9.25)
Hours completed (IST): 21.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 29.5/150
This was a busy day and my longest so far. I observed four BIs (two of them very short), worked on the collection development project, and had a short meeting with Tammy.
My first two instruction sessions of the day were in English Composition courses. The professor wanted the briefest of introductions to the library and to the tools available for students. Each of the sessions were about fifteen minutes in length and, quite frankly, should be called an introduction session. Later, I was told this type of restricted BI can be fairly common as professors want librarians to present this information to maintain a relationship with the library, but not at the cost of losing class time. While part of me fully understands this, the other part realizes that this makes these situations make it impossible to teach students who to use library tools effectively or to even scratch the surface of information literacy skills.
Later in the day I observed a BI for a Human Development class. This was an upper-division course so the instruction was more advanced and specific than many that I have observed thus far. This session was taught directly to the students current assignment, which seems to produced much better results than generic instruction or, worse, teaching to an assignment that the students have yet to begin. The librarian used several different techniques including: having students write their topic on a dry erase board (to help direct instruction and examples), complete and discuss a short "find the mistake" assignment for APA, and a Q and A-style section on literature reviews. The students were also able to engage in some workshop time at the end where the librarian and I were available to answer questions. Aside from learning a lot of great techniques for formative assessment and student engagement, this session reaffirmed the importance of having sufficient time with students (the session was over two hours).
My final BI of the day had me observing two librarians co-teaching an upper-division Exercise Physiology course. This BI was very similar to the one I observed earlier in the day aside from the co-teaching aspect. To my surprise it worked very well. At times I still think of the instructor-student relationship more in the terms of my time in the history department where something like this would probably not work. The librarians did a great job of supporting each other as they taught. It was obvious that they "divvied up" the sections that they would discuss, but the transitions were fairly seamless and the often interjected into each others' lectures in a way them felt organic. This approached seemed to make the students more comfortable with engaging the material and the librarians, though a few students began to be disruptive.
I also spent a few hours working on the collection development project and had a short discussion with Tammy about co-teaching.
Hours completed (IST): 21.5/135
Hours completed (Kara Robinson): 8/15
Accumulated on-site hours: 29.5/150
This was a busy day and my longest so far. I observed four BIs (two of them very short), worked on the collection development project, and had a short meeting with Tammy.
My first two instruction sessions of the day were in English Composition courses. The professor wanted the briefest of introductions to the library and to the tools available for students. Each of the sessions were about fifteen minutes in length and, quite frankly, should be called an introduction session. Later, I was told this type of restricted BI can be fairly common as professors want librarians to present this information to maintain a relationship with the library, but not at the cost of losing class time. While part of me fully understands this, the other part realizes that this makes these situations make it impossible to teach students who to use library tools effectively or to even scratch the surface of information literacy skills.
Later in the day I observed a BI for a Human Development class. This was an upper-division course so the instruction was more advanced and specific than many that I have observed thus far. This session was taught directly to the students current assignment, which seems to produced much better results than generic instruction or, worse, teaching to an assignment that the students have yet to begin. The librarian used several different techniques including: having students write their topic on a dry erase board (to help direct instruction and examples), complete and discuss a short "find the mistake" assignment for APA, and a Q and A-style section on literature reviews. The students were also able to engage in some workshop time at the end where the librarian and I were available to answer questions. Aside from learning a lot of great techniques for formative assessment and student engagement, this session reaffirmed the importance of having sufficient time with students (the session was over two hours).
My final BI of the day had me observing two librarians co-teaching an upper-division Exercise Physiology course. This BI was very similar to the one I observed earlier in the day aside from the co-teaching aspect. To my surprise it worked very well. At times I still think of the instructor-student relationship more in the terms of my time in the history department where something like this would probably not work. The librarians did a great job of supporting each other as they taught. It was obvious that they "divvied up" the sections that they would discuss, but the transitions were fairly seamless and the often interjected into each others' lectures in a way them felt organic. This approached seemed to make the students more comfortable with engaging the material and the librarians, though a few students began to be disruptive.
I also spent a few hours working on the collection development project and had a short discussion with Tammy about co-teaching.
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