Until Spring 2011…

I’ve finished my courses for the term, officially.  I just submitted a Pathfinder for Information Sources (Reference Librarian class) on American Southern Cooking.  It was really tricky since it had to include almanacs, yearbooks, handbooks, encyclopedias, directories, indexes and the like.  With cooking you basically have magazines, books, television programs and some websites.  But I dug through and found enough things to list so tonight I just added a few more sources, annotated what I had and submitted it.  I was only one day and 15 minutes late on it too – that’s not too bad. 

I ended up with a 950 out of 1000 in my Children’s and YA Literature class as well so my grades should be pretty good.  I want to apply for membership to Epsilon Omega Epsilon (EOE) in January.  I missed the deadline this term so I want to make sure to join before I graduate in May.  I’ll be able to use the insignia on my cover letters and mention my membership in my resume.  Not too shabby.

Knowing that I’ll be graduating in May next year makes me very relieved.  I honestly am not going to be interested in getting into another college program now that I’m a married woman with a life to live.  Before it was just me and trying to get whatever head knowledge and skills I could to get put into some kind of career that I could stay in.  Now that I’ll have my Professional Teaching Certificate in Florida and my MLS degree I will be armed with the tools I need to get into a School Librarian position, should one come up.  Granted, as I said last post, there are stipulations for becoming a teacher in the UK that differs vastly to the requirements from state to state.  That’s one thing I may have to get into – more teacher training.  But no more Master’s degree programs for me for a while at least, until I really have to get one.  I just hope I won’t end up needing an IT degree – I don’t know if I could deal with that much techy coursework.

Now, again, the thing I don’t love about the library degree is that it’s just a lot of fact-finding.  That’s the main reason why I’m glad it’ll be over.  The course work offers little for creativity.  Granted there is some when we have to create pretend events or new programs at the library.  But just talking about the surface of the book and not analyzes the contents and how we can use them is dull after a while.  Now, the Children’s and YA Lit class really gave me the room to read, analyze and discuss how I’d use the books in library or school situations.  That’s what made me really think I wanted to work at the School Library.  It also means there won’t just be a public service vibe to my job.  I understand that it’s more than that, but when I was volunteering I just felt like I was back at Winn-Dixie again, ringing up people’s groceries and giving them money for their returned items.  Plus, when it’s public domain you get the odd balls whom, yes, I sympathize with, but I don’t want to have situations again where I have to call the police because some random person stole some random item off the shelf.  I’ve done that way before I had an education and I’ve no interest in going back there.  (Even though I probably will when I have to gather up some experience at the public library next year.)

Anyway, so Christmas break for me is here and I couldn’t feel less Christmassy.  There’s a slim chance I’ll get an approval email on my Visa next Monday or Tuesday but if not, that means I won’t be going over to be with Steve until after the holidays.  Complete bummer.  If this were April or something and there wasn’t much going on aside from Easter, I wouldn’t feel as bad but Christmas is a biggy and we still have not spent our first Christmas together as a married couple.  Again, major bummer but by going over after the holidays the flights and delays and crowds will be less of hassle to deal with so there is a bright side to this after all.

Week 11? Really?

Information Sources class discussion

Multiple Intelligences (H. Gardner)

“The theory of multiple intelligences suggests that there are a number of distinct forms of intelligence that each individual possesses in varying degrees. Gardner proposes seven primary forms: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, body-kinesthetic, intrapersonal (e.g., insight, metacognition) and interpersonal (e.g., social skills). “

Principles:

1. Individuals should be encouraged to use their preferred intelligences in learning.

2. Instructional activities should appeal to different forms of intelligence.

3. Assessment of learning should measure multiple forms of intelligence.

Reference:

http://tip.psychology.org/gardner.html

To me this is the best choice because most people do not learn in one certain way. We learn different things in different ways. I love listen to audio books over reading a lot of the time. I can “see” the images better by hearing them. Music has a rhythm that makes words and stories easy to remember. Working with others helps understand what you know and what others know so you can learn from one another. All lessons are like this because we have links to see graphs and charts. We work with one another. We physically go to the library to observe and research so our bodies are involved. I just wish we had more pictures in Library Science. I mean, I know our books are data-packed but couldn’t they add some fun color photos once in a while? Maybe the TWU MLS program should come up with a channel on Youtube to show us how the library works in various training videos. Now that would be cool!

Learning something about your own learning style will help you as you prepare instruction for others with different learning styles.  Take the Learning Style Questionnaire located at the following website:  http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

I'm sort of surprised that I do not have a high tendency for any certain learning style.  I'm in the middle for most of them.  I'm a little higher in the visual learning only because I knew those questions were asking for that kind of learning.  I know that the activities that I learned from best were based in the visual.  I always loved maps and charts on the board to explain concepts in literature, history and science.  I am not a math fan and I was only able to do well in math when I had a couple of teachers who did equations that were not just in the regular long formula mode but explained in association with other daily concepts, or having equations put into a table when doing variables.  I love using movies in a classroom but even that confuses some students who don't "get it" even after seeing it.  So for people like me (and for every library and classroom around that is full of people with various learning styles) there has to be various types of help.  Signs, verbal instruction, charts or anything else that will appeal to people's different personalities.  This is why our school implemented "Thinking Maps" campus wide.  Having students learn concepts in visual/doing/seeing/thinking/hearing/habitual mode is the only way for them to understand and get the concepts.

Children’s and YA Literature class discussion

Just want to say thank you, Dr. Vardell, for adding this section to our curriculum.  Before I thought fantasy fiction was Harry Potter or Twilight or something with dragons and pirates or something that I wasn't interested in, in the slightest.  (Reminds me too much of those boys in elementary school playing Dungeons and Dragons.)  Anyway, I'm loving this section and keep looking for more books to read within the genre that don't require wands or blood letting.

It also makes me know that I can really enjoy being a Children's or School Librarian in the future.  I've loved being exposed to these different books in each module.

I know this is a simple approach to finding new literature, but I thought I'd post it anyway.  I used this when doing my project for Collection Development class.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Fantasy-and-Adventure/379002217/?cds2Pid=17547&linkid=1640528

My favorite category is "Edgy Stories for Teens".

Week 9

I’m getting less inventive with my subject headings, I admit.  I’m just counting the days until this term is over.  Not because I’m glad to be finished with my studies, really, just because I’m excited to start working in the libraries.  I honestly have really enjoyed doing this work, especially the work with the Children’s books.  I hem and haw about what library career I want but I think I do want to work with the kids. 

Information Resources and Sources discussion

This week I had to discuss the March 2005 ALA newsletter about Enabling Learning: Proposing a Collaborative Framework for Library Staff Development.  Our question was, “Is this a good staff development plan?  Why? or Why not?  Would it work in your library?  If you are not currently working in a library, would it work in any library with which you are familiar?”  I responded with:

“1) The need for achievement, 2) the need for affiliation, and 3) the need for power, or in this case, more specifically, the need to af­fect change.” I can understand how many jobs give people a need for power though it can be abused. I’m glad to know that in a librarians’ case it means that they have a say so in the changes made at their library. I think that would be pertinent at any library too.

“ While individuals can work to de­velop skills to assess and adapt their professional outlook…Advocacy can become aligned with that sense of purpose we often long for in our lives, and with that sense of service that draws many of us to the profession.” This almost makes it seem that librarians will only be fulfilled and have a sense of purpose by having to take matters into their own hands. “Some staff resist taking on the Protean role of todayʼs librarian and others are motivated but susceptible to negative ‘group think.’” Again, it seems as if this article wants the librarians to learn coping skills and know how to work well with others.

“Self-guided Assessment Tools for staff to as­sess and align their own needs in relation to those of the organization.” I see a red flag right there. I’ve volunteered at a library but worked at schools for years. If they wanted me to self-assess, that would cause me to think there was some kind of managerial spy tactic going on to make me have to take the blame for something that wasn’t getting done. However, “Online discussion groups or blogs for staff at all levels to share stories and resources” always are nice to have at any job. Again, thought, “’Menu for Mentoring’: a means of matching willing ‘experts’ of identified competencies and skills with eager ‘learners’” is another one that looks like it can cause problems and resentment really easily among the staff.

All in all, I just don’t think a librarian would look at this and feel like it’s something to help them. It seems like it’s something to make them take on more responsibility. They have to learn more, teach more, develop more skills, etc. While training is fine, this seems as if the whole answer to the issues within the library is to give librarians something else to do. Again, it makes it seem like they’re being called incompetent (though I know the intent isn’t as such.) Granted, as a teacher, I know we had to learn a lot and it helped our job immensely, so maybe a librarian in the field wouldn’t feel as put off my this article.

I don’t think my opinions were very well received.  Granted, yes, we are all lifelong learners and patrons come to use daily for our expertise.  However, it just seemed like the way to have librarians all get along and feel less stressed was to have them self-assess and learn new skills.  I don’t think that’s the librarians’ main complaint.  I think it’s budget, long hours, not enough hours, patron complaints, overloaded work week…  That was all I was thinking;  just in the mindset of a librarian already working her tail off just to be told, “now, assess yourself and we’ll have you make sure you do a better job.”  Not something that would come by easily to some, I don’t think.

I also had to write some annotations on Chicago Manual of Style 14th Edition which has an updated online version.  I accessed the information on the printed book through Books in Print.

Children’s and YA Literature

I found YA Historical Novels on Goodreads to share for the class.  This week I’m reading Chains, Catherine Called Birdy, and The Wednesday Wars.  I’ll update my Unfinished Book Reviews for those books next week.

Analysis for YA Book Shelf

Children’s Literature class discussion

I’ve been checking out YA Book Shelf for a while now. I started chatting with the blog author on Twitter when I started studying the YA Books for my Collection Development class. She (Melissa) always has lots of interesting book contests that intrigues her readers. She’s very well read and gives great insight and suggestions on new and old (classic) books to read. As you can see from her most recent post on the YA novel Hush, Hush she really tries to get involved in her own review of the book as well as how it is received in the public. You can tell that she really loves what she does and reading her posts you can see what new books are coming up, including events online regarding books. She’s very willing to discuss the books with you. She has a very modern website and includes all sorts of links plus book trailers if anyone wants to see more examples. This website really inspired me to create my blog that I started and will now use for my class book reviews.

http://www.yabookshelf.com/

http://twitter.com/YABookShelf

In other news:  9 days left until the wedding!

My own Wiki

Collection Development class assignment

You will create a marketing visual to advertise your new collection. This can be a flyer, bookmark, web page, blog page, handout, etc., but it must be visual, graphic, and eye-catching.

http://schultzstm.pbworks.com/Young-Adult-Readers-%40-the-Titusville-Library

Since we've been talking about Wikis so much in this class as well as my other courses, I decided to try my hand at this.  I found a local librarian who has a Wiki for her YA Collection (http://sbateensread.wikispaces.com/)  while doing my Collection Development Project.  I used a lot of her ideas, then changed the information to reflect what my collection contained.  I'm not really good with this yet, as you can see, but I tried to make it sort of like I would a blog.

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Collection Assessment

Collection Development class discussion

This question focuses on different collection evaluation methods. The textbook and the articles talk about different methods to evaluate collections. Please pick one method and talk about it. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?

Circulation studies seems like a fairly easy method to deciding if the materials on the shelves are something your patrons are interested in. If you have a collection with books that have not been checked out in several years, maybe it’s time to add that to the library book sale next time and look for books that will be of more interest. However, if we look at the circulation as “the adequacy of the book collection is directly related to its usage” idea, then we may be weeding out some valuable, classic literature that just hasn’t been checked out for a while (Evans 326). That is not to say that a student in the near future will not want to do a project on Mark Twain and will be interested in checking out his works (for example).

This module is all about collection evaluation and collection assessment. For the collection that you are developing in this class, what are the methods you would use to assess your collection and why?

For my YA serialized novel collection, I would definitely have to keep tabs on the circulation of each book. Even if it’s something I view as good as an expert (choosing something recommended in Booklist or something I saw at the bookstore that seemed interesting) that doesn’t mean my teen patrons will be interested. I would try to “push” a book like that through the Book Club and Teen Space website, but if that fails, I would look to see the use of other libraries statistics. If the book is doing well at another county library, then I’ll keep the book on the shelf for longer in hopes the interest will pick up.

Teaching

The semester is almost over and I keep getting late work turned in.  This weekend will be all about me getting these last grades in for their Drama Unit and then by next Wednesday all the Literary Criticism work (and the inevitable last minute work) will be turned in.  I’ll also have to give them the Final Exam that day too.  Then finals will be done, grades will be put in and everything will be done for the term.  It’s been fun.  I’ve enjoyed working BCC quite a lot. 

Personal stuff

Once school is over, I’ll be doing mad cleaning and getting ready for Steve to arrive.  Then it will be Disney vacation time!

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Assignment Completed: Collection project

Comments to my professor:

I know we didn’t have to write a reflection, but I wanted to mention that I have 7 total items because the assignment says “at least three other formats.” I found this assignment very difficult just in time consumption. Every book has positive reviews but since I’m working with sets, it was harder to find a positive review for each book in every set that I had wanted. I thought I’d be smart and find books in Booklist first, then find a second positive review. I went to a couple of libraries numerous times as well as looking through the Teen Fiction section of Barnes and Noble. There’s plenty to choose from and I feel I only scratched the surface.

This helped me learn a lot though. I enjoyed the project all in all but this was the toughest assignment I’ve ever come across. Would we have to start from scratch like this a lot as a librarian, or does a vendor make this part easier?

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Whilst waiting at the Post Office

Collection Development project is organized and I know what to do. It's the taking the notes and putting them into my fancy Word document, tables and all, that is what I have to spend this week doing. We have to find two justifications for each book or material we list. So that's the main part that gets complicated - I've used actual "Booklist" magazines to find recent YA books that have good reviews. Then I have to find a second positive review by using "Books in Print" for example. But, again, I have a clear grasp on the whole thing, it's just the organization of it. And I love organization and book shopping so it's actually quite fun.
My classes will be doing their own Literary Criticism projects in the library this week. By May 6th they'll have their Finals done and the term will be over.
Our vacation is all arranged and I'll just have to get our Disney tickets before Steve gets here. We're both excited.
Okay, out of line at the Post Office. There had to be 20 people in there waiting!
Off to the store...


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Location:Barna Ave,Titusville,United States