The portable MLIS : insights from the experts / edited by Ken Haycock and Brooke E. Sheldon. Chapter 14 Reflection

So here we are on Chapter 14 of The Portable MLIS titled Reader Advisory Services: How to help Users Find a "Good Book" authored by Mary K. Chelton, Professor at Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. My experience with book clubs, which fall under the RA umbrella, is limited. I was part of one when our kids were younger and sleep was at a premium. I found it difficult to keep up with the readings so I graciously bowed out. Aside from my inability to keep up, the discussions often switched gears from reading to parenting. Tangents that were perhaps welcome at the time, but distracting to the purpose of a book club.

The concept of a book club being a facilitated through the library is unfamiliar to me. I love this idea. Our village library was, up until 3 years ago, run under a regime of sorts that was built on “shushing” and overdue fines to fund its budgetary requirements. Our new librarian is excellent. While she has changed the culture and pioneered a new structure over her short tenure with us, she has focused most of her RA intentions on noninteractive services. That said, she has this on her list of to-dos this coming year. The most appealing notion of a book club organized through the library is that it is at a neutral facility - void of distractions – and that the facilitator could be a trained individual. Aside from that you don’t have to know someone to be part of it.

The ah-ha moment for me in this chapter was in the section titled "Face to Face Readers Advisory Encounter" (Chelton, 2008). In an effort to avoid the egregious pitfalls of OPAC dependency and author association I've latched on to Chelton's suggestion for our patrons: "ask them either to describe a title they've loved and enjoyed, or if not that, one they've loathed." It has become my latest mantra in a series of many from this book.

Spring,

Kate

Chelton, Mary, K., (2008). Reader Advisory Services: How to help Users Find a "Good Book" . In K. Haycock & B. Sheldon (Eds.), The Portable MLIS (pp. 159-167). Westport, CT:Libraries Unlimited.

Notes for personal future reference: Joyce Saricks (fiction), Neal Wyatt (non-fiction) intrinsic characteristics, www.bookletters.com, www.nextreads.com

Reflection on The portable MLIS : insights from the experts / edited by Ken Haycock and Brooke E. Sheldon. / Chapeter 11

The concept of storage and retrieval are often times a challenge for me. So you can imagine it was a relief when I read Chapter 11 authored by Judith Weedman in The Portable MLIS; it appears I'm not the only one. Ahh - there is comfort in numbers.

In my family I assumed the roles of bill payer, budget creator, checkbook manager, and paperwork filer so that I can later access it as our "accountant". You can imagine what worked for us 5-10 years ago is no longer. We've moved our computer to the kitchen in light of our children's online usage and the rise of e-statements and online banking has streamlined my once cumbersome filing system. I mention this victory because I still struggle with my closet! If only it could look like the catalogs that grace my doorstep.

Despite this victory my husband doesn't know the intricacies of my storage and retrieval system. This is where Chapter 11 takes hold. Once a system is shared, we need to collectively understand the indexing terms and how we could best query the system to locate the desired item.

As I shift gears and imagine the body of work that the Internet has access to - I can imagine the challenges that indexers are faced with when supplying results to queries with terms that hinge on context. Unlike Medline - a system with a defined body of work - the general nature of the Internet must be problematic. It will be my job as a library media specialist to educate children on the nuances. For instance, when searching for a seasonal image in Flickr the Boolean search allows us to specify an image that may be tagged with "fall or autumn". This would minimize the occurrence of photographs of water falls, for instance, and increase the occurrence of accurate hits with "autumn" lending context.

The issue I fear are the items that may not be located just because a tag or indexible matter is inaccurately indexed. Specifically, Weedman shares the example from the book looks at the works of "Nancy Van House" (Weedman, 2008). We can see that the various systems are compromised by various unofficial spellings of her name. While the Internet may give one presumably broader access, in this instance, the unknowing questioner's knowledge base may be compromised as well.

Spring,

Kate

References:
Weedman, J. (2008). Information retrieval: Designing, querying, and evaluating information systems. In K. Haycock & B. Sheldon (Eds.), The Portable MLIS (pp. 112- 126). Westport, CT:Libraries Unlimited.

Reflection on The portable MLIS : insights from the experts / edited by Ken Haycock and Brooke E. Sheldon. / Chapeter 9

Hello Information Springboard Readers:

Last semester I had a fieldwork assignment with an elementary school. One of my tasks was to perform a collection development of the classic fairy tale collection. I was ready to embrace change on this dated collection. Nonetheless, I wish I'd read Chapter 9 of The Portable MLIS written by G. Edward Evans prior to the project.

As I reflect on the process, I found myself hanging in the balance between executive decisions and thinking - who am I to tell these people what to order? I knew Cinderella and the like would be popular to many of the young girls, but thought it would be nice to have an Eastern European and Indian version to include the growing diversity of the district. For that matter, what would appeal to young boys? In addition, I wanted to know what the teachers needed. What materials were they using in class? What did their curriculum call for? Lastly, what did the other schools in the district offer in terms of depth and breadth and were they being circulated? G.E. Evans clearly summarized my sentiments in the four needs assessment areas; “normative, felt, expressed, and comparative needs” (2008, 88).

Scanning was critical to not only determine who was using this collection, but it also played into my process of scanning reviews to determine what would meet their needs. Ultimately, Evans’ regard for relationship building is, in my mind, a key component. While I didn’t deal with the vendor directly due to budget freezes, I found my communication with the LMS, teachers, and children was integral to develop a suggested list of wants through Titlewave.

Spring,

Kate

References
Haycock, K., & Sheldon, B. E. (2008). The portable MLIS : Insights from the experts. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.

The portable MLIS : insights from the experts / edited by Ken Haycock and Brooke E. Sheldon.

Over the course of Chapter 1 of The Portable MLIS titled "Stepping Back and Looking Forward: Reflections on the Foundations of Libraries and Librarianship", I wrote down several thoughts that occurred to me; three of which I highlighted below:

1) Several missions of libraries were presented over their history. But what is the mission of the librarian?

Further in the chapter I came across the shared beliefs of librarians. Specifically, Rubin claims the "belief in intellectual freedom", "the public good", "education", and "value of the past: preservation", are beliefs essential to the success of a librarian's mission. (2008, 10-12) Lucky thing, I must be in the right discipline - I hold them near and dear as well.

2) Can libraries spur development of undeveloped countries?

Perhaps this is hypothetical. Is it possible to plant a library and watch a society grow? Or do libraries grow with society? I came across the Rubin's notion that "There is a forest (the society as a whole), as well as the trees (each individual library user). The beauty of libraries is that in serving the latter, the former is also served" (2008, 12). This is an interesting concept - one I'd like to explore further in our studies.

3) Finally I wrote; my fascination with libraries is their preservation of the past in the interest of furthering future knowledge.

Little did I know the chapter would close with a similar notion. "The librarian knows that the failure to maintain the past sets the present adrift, without context...ideas of the past must be part of the repertoire of knowledge to which everyone must have access" (2008, 13).

Tally-ho! Things are just starting to get exciting!

Spring,

Kate

References
Haycock, K., & Sheldon, B. E. (2008). The portable MLIS : Insights from the experts. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.

I came across a cool vodcast that led me to this site: http://www.mindbites.com/

Here's the argument for using it as a teacher (really cool!):
http://3.gvt0.com/videosearch?q=jonathan+bermann&emb=0#q=mastery+learning&emb=0

It might not fit every discipline and content but it turns education on its head a bit. Kids do like to veg out after school...why not watch a lecture then instead of a TV show? The video is about 21 mins. and worth every one.

This could be cool resource - check it out. http://www.mindbites.com/

I picked up The Portable MLIS from Bird earlier this week with the intent to dig into it today. As I study the cover I notice it was edited by Ken Haycock - small world. It just so happens that last month I exchanged emails with him as I collected data for Dr. Small. Now that's cool!