Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Library's Instructional Tech Team: annual summary of activities

The library's instructional tech team was created in summer 2008. The initial meeting involved a number of library staff working in areas of technology and instruction, in which we defined instructional technology, generated goals for the team, listed current projects, brainstormed various ideas, and created high/low matrix to prioritize all these possibilities. After this meeting the team consisting of Beth Filar Williams, Lynda Kellam, Amy Harris and Hannah Winkler, began meeting every other month and have accomplished a number of items - with help of others - over the past year:
  • Created and maintaining a weekly podcast blog of events, news, interviews - and now including videos created by BFW's LIS practicum student over the summer - relating to UNCG library called Irma Minerva's Audio Magazine. So far we have created 31 podcasts (or blog posts).
  • Shift Jackson Leaks from PDF newsletter format to blog format with 51 posts as of today.
  • Started the UNCG library's Professional Dev blog with 50 posts as of today.
  • Training and assisting librarians w/ Blackboard portal push of resources.
  • Netopschool software now installed in citi lab (thanks ERIT!) and has been used by several librarians for workshop/classes.
  • Clickers have been borrowed from TLC and used now in several classes and presentations
  • Worked with Terry & BethB to make sure the AskUs! icon, link and/or widget is embedded/available from a failed search in our catalog and in some of the major databases.
  • Created a blog for the instructional tech team to post links, ideas and cool tools.
  • Pre and post tests in Blackboard have been tested and now promoted with other librarians.
  • Tutorials: tested numerous tutorial software packages, and finally due to budget cuts, decided on using the free Jing software. Created over 20 new tutorials - mainly Flash screencast type with audio. Created a best practices guide for using Jing to create library tutorials. Also created a tutorial web page to better organize and make accessible these library tutorials. Tutorials are being disseminated through course guides and blogs as well.
  • Created a library Slideshare account to post presentation slides in blogs. (see Lynda for more info)
  • Facebook and twitter are now being used actively by the team to promote and inform others about library resources, services, and events.
  • Before budget freeze in spring, the team researched and purchased a video camera, tripod and wireless mic, for video tutorials & video podcasts.
  • Creating video introductions for librarian liaisons to use throughout the website/Blackboard. (Example on Steve's Econ Page)
  • Met with WFU and NCSU libraries for a multi-library instructional technology sharing day, which will be repeated each semester.
  • Assisted (Danny & Richard) with content for the creation of an assignment calculator which will assist students in planning their research papers, which is now available (eventually will also be available in blackboard)
  • Taught a few library instructional tech workshops such as on Zotero (w/ Lea!) and Intro to Creative Commons.
  • Created form & guide for planning an online class using Elluminate software. Taught one online class (BFW & MaryK), and are now promoting this service with all disciplines. The library now has its own "room" w/ Elluminate to teaching online workshops not connected to a specific course. (see BFW for details)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Lilly Conference 2010

The 2010 Lilly Conference will be February 5-7, 2010 with the theme "Evidence-based learning and teaching." It will be held at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. The call for proposals is out now, due by Nov 9. There are also mini-grants available through the TLC for UNCG faculty but there may be a limit on how many are awarded this year.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Notes from Liaison Brown Bag Meeting

Liaison Brown Bag
Brainstorming about Liaison Qualities

From Stephen Dew:

On August 20, the Library Liaisons gathered in Jackson 574 for a Brown Bag Luncheon to discuss ideas and mutual concerns as the new academic year approached. Steve Cramer facilitated the discussion, and the brainstorming session resulted in the following list of qualities that are desired for liaisons, as well as the additional lists of actions that would support four of the desired qualities.

Q: What qualities would faculty like in their liaisons?

A: The liaison should be…
  1. Proactive
  2. Able to listen
  3. Flexible
  4. Informed about the department
  5. Responds to questions promptly
  6. Involved with teaching
  7. Informed about the discipline
  8. Open to change
  9. Communicates new trends in libraries
  10. Not annoying
  11. Available but not pushy
  12. Informative

Q: What can a liaison do to exhibit each quality?

We discussed the following four qualities:

Staying informed about the discipline:
  • Get a degree in that field
  • Read professional listservs and blogs; read library specialty listservs
  • Peruse the core journals
  • Work with student groups
  • Learn what the PhD students are working on – they are often more cutting edge than the faculty
  • Read the syllabi, especially for seminar classes
  • Ask
  • Join the academic (not librarian) professional association

Informed about the department
  • Go to faculty meetings
  • Review curriculum changes we learn about through Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
  • Keep up with Information Literacy mandates and plans, and info lit ideas
  • Use the Statement of Needs forms
  • Stay in touch regularly
  • Read their publications/listen to their performances: These are often posted on the departmental web site and NCDOCKS
  • C.V.’s posted online; Research projects (don’t always become peer-reviewed articles); Web of Science
  • Research assignments: Ask about; Talk to T.A.’s about; Get added to Blackboard; Bulletin; Look for syllabi posted online

Being available but not pushy
  • Have office hours
  • Reminders of your availability
  • Leave things in the student lounge / utilize those spaces
  • Attend receptions, events, special lectures – be seen, especially outside of normal business hours
  • Cold calls to teachers
  • Short visits
  • Use the Blackboard library interface; use liaison chat widgets

Don’t be annoying:
  • Limit your communication to important things
  • Don’t go to all events
  • Ask how you should communicate
  • AA = Avoid Acronyms
  • Stress positivity (remain realistic)
  • Remain user-centered, not library-centered