The last week of library school

Yes, that’s right.  I’ve finally made it.  This was a longer road than I had anticipated but it was worth it just the same.  I learned much more than I ever thought there was to librarianship.  It’s not just putting books on a shelf it’s customer service, accounting, managing, training, cataloguing, researching and being technologically savvy.  You have to know patrons, staff, leaders, collection, resources, policies, databases, procedures, laws, communities, schools, etc. etc.  That book you check out at the library was chosen for you and is available to you because of a librarian who worked hard to research it’s value, gather funds for it, catalogue it, get that book into the collection, and send it off to whatever library branch you chose.  I’m glad that I learned so much and know there’s a lot more I need to know once I step into the library as an employee.  I also was inducted into the Epsilon Omega Epsilon honor society last week, which is something I never thought possible. 

I’m finishing up my final Personal Management Theory paper which is “In some ways this paper is the scholarly culmination of your diary” that we’ve kept all through the term regarding our readings and personal experiences or initial reactions.  Therefore, with the diary already worked through and the outline finished, this was much easier than I thought because there was a lot of re-using quotes and references and merely restating my reasons for including it in my theory (or definition as we called it in the diary) of Library Management.

Anyway, I’ve just submitted my final paper now and I don’t see any other assignments I need to turn in.  I think I’m done.  My final grades will post on May 19th and then I’ll be official.

With that said, I’m not sure how much I can keep this blog up these days.  I’ll keep applying for jobs and posting any new, interesting developments I run across (or find a completely new way to use the site) but, sad as it is to admit, I think my “grad school blog days” are coming to an end.  For now at least.

I’ll post my regular goings on at The Tales of Missus P. instead.  Thanks for everyone who’s helped me out thus far on my endeavours in librarianship.  I’ll be in touch!

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.

End of Fall 2010 Term

Next Monday I’ll have my final project, a book trailer, submitted in for my Children’s and YA Literature course.  I’ll also have to finish up my Info Sources project, a Pathfinder on Southern Cooking, by Thursday.  For the most part, aside from a few discussion board responses, that means I’m done for the term.  I’m totally relieved.  I’ve really had a rekindling of love for the library and I know I want to get into the school or academic library (later on if I get some experience and a PhD under my belt).  I’m a bit over it with the courses though.  Burned out I guess you could say.  I’m ready to have a week where I don’t have to think about what homework I have to do.  Saying that, I’ll probably have to do some teacher training courses once I move, but I’m not really unhappy about that.  Hands-on experience and doing something for my career puts you in a different mindset than just sitting and a computer all day typing up papers.  These projects have been killers but get me the head knowledge and the grades I need.  It’s a whole different world from the English/Writing/Education field I was in before.  It’s a lot of fact finding and opinions based on fact rather than creative ideas.  Not that a librarian doesn’t have to be creative, it’s just that there’s a whole science to how the library runs, just like a court of law.  There are ways to do things and the librarian just has to know these ways (and get better ideas for different ways by studying other libraries and librarians.)

I hope that soon I can write more detailed stories of my time at the library.  I’m working on it and I know I’ll get there soon.  May 2011 will be the month of MLS magic!

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".

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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Tagging and CSS

Web Development class assignment

Wow.  That CSS stuff threw me for a major loop this morning! I was using the Castro book but the introductory chapter she had on CSS was only 7 pages long.  It explained how to type up code for headers, font, colors, etc. but not how to incorporate it into the HTML document.  So I read ahead and asked Steve (He’s such a great help to me!) if I needed to remove the HTML colors and such now.  I don’t.  I made the separate CSS file document, read the next chapter about linking that style sheet into the homepage file and let it at that.  No clue what else I could have done with it at this stage.  I can manipulate code, and I have for a while, but making it from scratch is a whole frustrating, separate issue.

I also mentioned in my survey that “I don’t mind using IE as our browser even though so many people like Firefox and Chrome. I find IE the easiest especially since I use Norton and it saves my passwords for me.”

Web Development class discussion

Context of Social Network Metadata: Do users tag for the group(s) of people they associate with?

It is the easiest to take children or young adults and think about how they speak, when thinking about how groups of people tag according to whom they associate with. To them “English” would be their Language Arts 8^th grade class in room 207. To someone outside their community “English” would mean English language, English classes in general, English people, etc. As their teacher, if I used the term “static” as a key word in their terminology for the class, they would tag this for anything discussing characters in their assigned stories. However, if someone who isn’t taking the course or is not as familiar with “static characters” as a term in literature, it would be considered as the dictionary meaning. The tagging for a group of students in the same course, especially if they are working on an assignment, would be tagging in the same way, with the same key words.

Personal stuff

I decided to use my Blogger website as another mirror for this site as well.  There are so many librarians who use Blogger so I can follow those sites there (and vice versa I hope) there as well.  I used that account when I was taking a different class.  It still has some of the assignment posts on there, but no matter, at least I’ll remember what things I learned.  That’s been the objective for my having a library blog to begin with.

I watched Entre les Murs (The Class) which was very good.  It was interesting to see that the same junk that happens in classrooms in the U.S. can happen in Europe where they are more refined and better educated (in comparison with our standards.)  I also gave Pride and Prejudice another whirl this morning.  Nope, just not that interesting to me.  And Flixster makes my Norton software have a fit.  Keeps telling me that site is unsafe.  Maybe it is and I should try something else, huh?

This weekend will be the push to complete the Collection Development project. 

I still am reading Alice, I Have Been.  I’ve slacked on it for the past couple of days though. 

Speaking of which, today is Friday, which means I’m off to the library in a bit!

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