Information Literacy in Public Libraries

From The Shifted Librarian blog comes a great post about Information Literacy in Public Libraries, from the Internet Librarian conference session Session B103 — Information Literacy in the Public Library. Here's a link to the PowerPoint (you'll need to scroll down the page to find the session).

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.

ILR/MPR Joint MLA Conference Program

The Information Literacy Roundtable and Marketing & Public Relations Roundtable invite you to their joint MLA Annual Conference Program on Friday, November 9 from 9 - 10:30 AM.
Our speakers are Angela Maycock, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Michigan State University, and Amy Sayles, Marketing Officer, Jackson District Library. They will discuss
trends in library marketing and illustrate accessible resources for developing marketing materials. You will also learn about their experiences marketing special and information literacy programs in their libraries.

Standards for proficiencies for instruction librarians and coordinators

These Standards for proficiencies for instruction librarians and coordinators were approved by the ACRL Board on June 24, 2007.

Fast, Cheap, and in Control: Web Search and Technology for Your Library

Please join us for the MLA Information Literacy Roundtable's spring workshop:

Fast, Cheap, and in Control: Web Search and Technology for Your Library

Join us for a day long interactive workshop that focuses on librarians using Web search and other technologies to improve information literacy for their patrons. Keynote speaker Michael Lorenzen, Head of Reference Services at Central Michigan University, will reveal the secrets of search engines, giving librarians a better understanding of how search works, and discuss the ongoing competition librarians face working with and against Google.

Attendees will put new ideas to work in our hands-on sessions. Along with Stacy Nowicki, Director of Kalamazoo College’s Upjohn Library, you’ll put search engines to the test, and discover which are the best to share with your users and integrate into your own library’s toolbox. Ed Eckel, Science Librarian at Western Michigan University, will show you how to use RSS, blogs and other free web technologies to push resources to users. Both sessions will be offered in the morning and afternoon, so every participant can attend each.

To close out the day there will be a “Show and Share” poster session that will highlight best practices, and tools to use both in and out of the classroom. Come have a cookie, mingle with colleagues, and get some great ideas to take back to your library!

March 9, 2007
9:15am - 3:45pm
Central Michigan University
.4 CEUs

Register on the MLA Website:
http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/events/programs/form_workshop_registration
SPACE IS LIMITED, so please register early!

If you are interested in presenting a poster, see the ILR website (http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/ilr) for requirements and the submission form (poster proposal deadline: January 17, 2007).

See the attached flyer for additional information about the program. We hope you will join us at the ILR Spring Workshop!