Last week I had the privilege of visiting the magnificent library here on campus. Upon entering the building, I was joyously greeted by a librarian who was happy to answer any questions I had. I truly believe that she was an agile librarian for the following reasons. First, McKnight has persuasively argued in her authoritative tome The Agile Librarian’s Guide to Thriving in Any Institution that a truly agile librarian puts the client first by ensuring that their experience is positive. By greeting me so graciously, she clearly believes that the client’s experience is a top priority. McKnight also maintains that an agile librarian delights in providing important services & saving the client time. Since the librarian I encountered was clearly very excited to show me how to use the library’s computer system to search for books, I believe she fulfills the former requirement; by sharing her knowledge of a system as essential as the library computers, she helped me save time by helping me use this efficient system instead of leaving me to figure it out myself, simultaneously fulfilling the latter aspect. For these reasons, I maintain that this librarian was agile rather than rigid.
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I briefly explained that literacy is important for the community, which Natasha appeared impressed by. Given her reaction, I believe this left enough of an impact on her that she would share this information. I believe that celebrity posters can have a positive impact in that the people pictured are role models for many students.
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I believe literacy initiatives should be supported for two important reasons. First of all, illiterate adults typically work and earn less (Roseman, 2009). Secondly, it has been demonstrated that achieving literacy at a younger age leads to more favorable outcomes later in life (Shipley & Gluszynski, 2011). These are both critical reasons to promote literacy.
References:
Roseman, E., 2009. Illiteracy costs Canada, individuals. Toronto Star.
Shipley, L. & Gluszynski, T., 2011. Life-path Outcomes at Age 25 Associated with Reading Ability at Age 15. Statistics Canada.
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How did participating in the Human Library activity impact your perception or understanding of the facts the human book presented?
I learned much from the human library project. For example, I learned about the hard work that goes into detecting & removing software glitches. I also learned about the work paramedics do.
How does hearing someone’s lived experience of facts affect your perception or understanding of the facts?
Hearing about the work paramedics do greatly changed my perspective of this field. I learned how different their work is from how it is commonly portrayed in the media. I feel that my understanding is now more informed than it was before.
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What worked well with our speed dating event? What didn’t work well? How would you improve or modify this event if you delivered it at the DC/UOIT library?
One aspect of the activity that worked well was the efficient speed & pace of the activity. On the other hand, I felt hat some students being left out due to an odd number of participants was a major drawback. If I was to deliver this event at our library, I would ensure the presence of a sufficient amount of participants.
Record yourself delivering your booktalk.
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What worked well with our Readers Theater event? What didn’t work well? How would you improve or modify this event if you delivered it at a school library?
I felt that it worked well in that everyone in the class was able to participate. I thought that it could be improved by giving some people more to do. If I delivered it at a library, I would ensure that everyone had enough to do.
How did participating in the Readers Theater activity impact your perception of what it is & how to deliver it?
I thought it was essentially the same as staging a play, but I learned about the significant differences.
Record yourself reading a picture book. Cite three recommendations you followed reading your book.
Per “kettlehp”‘s article How to Read a Picture Book to a Preschool Class, I read slowly, sat up & spoke clearly.
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CS1 – Homework and In-class Activities – post 7 – special libraries
Visit the Oshawa Public Library or Pickering Public Library website, or other public library where you have a membership AND can access Lynda.com. Log-in to Lynda.com. Browse the workshop options. Select ONE of the workshops to view that you believe might be useful to an LIT working in a special library. Watch the session that you selected. Be sure to take notes about the information being presented.
When you are finished watching the Lynda.com workshop, complete the following:
Summarize the information that you learned in the Lynda.com tutorial. Please cite the Lynda.com tutorial at the end of your report. Post your report on your course webpage.
I watched the video about the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which might be useful for special librarians situated in a hospital. The FMLA was passed in 1993 for the purpose of balancing an employee’s productivity with any medical problems that they may encounter. It covers companies with at least 50 employees living within 75 miles. To be eligible, an employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours for the company in the past year. The Department of Labor requires specific forms for employees & companies. The following events are valid reasons to apply for leave: birth or adoption of a child, caring for a spouse, child or parent with a serious condition, health conditions that leave the employee unable to work & conflicts that arise from a spouse, child or parent being deployed in the military. The act grants employees a total of 12 weeks of leave a year.
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Family-Medical-Leave-Act-FMLA/628692/680505-4.html
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Reflect on your small group assignment then answer the following questions. Post your answers on your WordPress website on the CS1 page:
What worked well? Why?
I felt that each group member focusing on one skill for the demonstrative portion of the presentation worked well, as this allowed us to focus more on our chosen technologies.
Did having class time to work on the assignment help ensure your group was successful? Why?
While I feel that providing class time for the groups to meet is beneficial, I do not believe that it had a significant effect on this particular assignment. Each group member focused on a completely different aspect of the presentation, rendering collaboration moot.
Group work is one of the most important skills identified by employers and members of the LIT Program Advisory Committee. One of the skills that this assignment was designed to allow you to practice and demonstrate was your ability to “interact with others in groups or teams in ways that contribute to effective working relationships and the achievement of goals”. How effective was this assignment in helping you learn to work with others to achieve a goal? Why? What did you learn?
As stated above, I feel that this particular assignment was not as effective in promoting collaboration as it could have been. While other groups (e.g. the walking tour group) worked together towards one goal, each member of the makerspace group focused on one form of technology and as such performed a different task. Group work is clearly essential, but I do not believe that the makerspace group was the best demonstration of this fact.
Please provide constructive feedback about the group work aspect of this assignment. Complete the group evaluation sheet distributed in class (on Tuesday November 20th). Submit it at the beginning of class on Monday, November 26th.
As I have stated twice now, I feel that the group work aspect of the makerspace group was lacking compared to the other group assignments.
Adam's Portfolio 