Self-Regulated Learning at the Reference Desk

Hello there! My colleagues on the Information Literacy Roundtable asked me to inform you all about an article of mine that has just been published in the latest issue of Reference & User Services Quarterly (Fall 2007). The article is called "Fostering Self-Regulated Learning at the Reference Desk" (pp.16-20).

Here is a short abstract:

"The independent research skills that are an integral part of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education have a great deal in common with the educational concept of self-regulated learning. A self-regulating researcher is able to formulate a research plan as well as monitor and control
progress toward the completion of the research. Furthermore, this self-regulation is an essential aspect of information literacy that is short-changed when librarians at the reference desk, with the best of intentions, insist on finding answers for students. This article focuses on the one-on-one nature of reference interactions, and how they relate to tutoring interactions. It argues that, in approaching reference interactions as tutorial interactions, librarians can scaffold the self-regulation of student researchers and thereby more effectively support their emerging information literacy."

MLA Conference Program

The ILR/MPR Joint Program at the MLA Annual Conference was informative, educational and entertaining! Many thanks to our speakers, Amy Sayles of Jackson District Library and Angela Maycock of Michigan State University, for leading such an engaging program.

You'll find the notes from the group brainstorming activity on the ILR website. Thanks everyone for participating, and the great marketing ideas.

Here's the links to the resources discussed at the program:

Conduit: Create a free toolbar for your library http://www.conduit.com/
The ALA RUSA online course: Marketing Basics for Libraries (next offered Feb 25-Mar 28, 08)
WebJunction Marketing (Online Community for Library Staff http://www.webjunction.org)
Library Marketing: Thinking Outside the Book A blog from Jill Stover at Virginia Commonwealth
The "M" Word: Marketing Libraries A blog from Nancy Dowd, the Marketing Specialist for New Jersey State Library

Undergraduate Research Project at URochester

Steven Bell posted a link on the ACRLlog last month to the PDF of the new book by Nancy Fried Foster and Susan Gibbons that describes the several year ethnographic study of how students do research at the University of Rochester. The book is called Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester. You can download it for free at the link above. I've just started reading it and it is utterly fascinating. It gives a real deep look into how our students do research and what the faculty expect of their work. This is exactly the kind of information that we IL librarians need to begin to rethink how we teach our students. The study resulted in a number of innovative changes in how the River Campus Libraries served their students.

Ed E.

CamStudio: Free Screen Capture Software

Want to create some online learning modules, demonstrations, etc. for your users but don't have the budget for software. Try CamStudio.