Karl Fisch, at the Fischbowl (a staff development blog for high school teachers), summarizes the report “How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning?” http://tinyurl.com/2n5544 This stuff always intrigues because I want to make sure we are doing the right things in class. Fisch provides his summary via a multiple choice question: So, let me summarize (bias alert! bias alert!) via a single multiple choice question: 1. According to this report: a. Grades are pretty much a non-factor in the hiring process. b. Multiple choice tests are an unreliable predictor of success. c. Employers are pretty much satisfied with the […]
Categories Education
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Jeff Trzeciak, University Librarian at McMaster, reports: I am very pleased and proud to announce that the McMaster University Libraries are the recipient of the *2008 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award* from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The press release announcing the award is available at http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/january2008/academic08.htm. Sponsored by ACRL and Blackwell’s Book Services, the award “recognizes the staff of a college, university and community college library for programs that deliver exemplary services and resources to further the educational mission of the institution.” Mary Ellen Davis, president of ACRL calls the award a “tribute to a library […]
Dear TTW: I’m taking a little one-credit class called “The Thoughtful Professional” in my library school. One of the requirements of the class is to send the professor a short email with a “Heretical Idea” about libraries. During the last 30-minutes of each class we discuss the idea. The author remains anonymous.I wanted to share mine with you because a photo you put in your Flickr stream inspired me. Here it is: Throw away the library policy book; toss aside the library rules! Most library rules and policies serve no one, except the ineffective managers who implement and administer them. […]
I’m attending a meeting this afternoon on campus as part of a discussion of emerging technologies and teaching. A few of us were given ten minutes to talk about what emerging technologies we use in our classes. I’ll be highlighting blogs and RSS (and a few other social technologies) for my segment. I’ll be using this post for the brief “show and tell.” Blogs in the Classroom: In 2004, Merriam Webster online announced the most-searched word of the year was blog and noted that one of the most talked about online innovations of Web 2.0 was the use of blog […]
Dominican Commencement, January 12, 2008 Originally uploaded by mstephens7 An overdue post! Congrats to all of our winter graduates at Dominican University!
Excelent piece from John Berry at LJ. He mentions that he teaches at Dominican (!) and sums up very well what I’ve also observed in library school and in our realm here: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6515838.html Like those who came before them, the current cadre of librarians bring new tools for the job ahead, technologies that make access to information much easier but just as corruptible. They bring that vitality and spirit that, in themselves, are enough to force change and even shape its outcome. At first, those in power will hang on, as they did decades ago. Ultimately, if we remember the […]
Courtesy of blogger Lauren Pressly: http://laurenpressley.com/library/?p=462 A snippet: The panel switched gears to talk about software of participation and software of aesthetics Pointed out LibraryThing has a lot of reviews, Amazon trusts their users enough to let them post reviews that say, “you know, you suck.” OCLC isn’t getting much engagement in their reviews. It’s not about letting users do things, but encouraging them to do so. Aesthetics is important: you see it with iPods, Bibliocommons, it really matters (but we don’t see it much in libraries) Aesthetics in buildings, too…. how to incorporate technology in an aesthetic way Ebooks […]
Almost done with the semester! Originally uploaded by leah the library student Leah the Library Student posts a nice photo and update that she is almost done with the semester. And she links to a post about her survey concerning the perceptions of librarians: http://yolaleah.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/books-glasses-and-a-shushing-action-figure/ And still, the best answers can even come from librarians themselves: “Stuffy and boring, book-centric out-of-touch old lady with applique sweaters of teddy bears holding balloons. Sadly, I know this isn’t true, nonetheless it is the first thing that comes to mind. Mainly due to the root of the word “libr,” meaning book, and the […]
Faculty Seminar Series, Tuesday, December 4 at 12:30 p.m. in the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (Parmer 115C). Michael Stephens (Graduate School of Library and Information Science) will present Weblogs, Libraries & Librarians. Lunch will be available (a chili bar, including meat and vegetarian chili). Yesterday I had the honor to talk about my research and the Biblioblogosphere with faculty from all over the university. It was a great experience – and oh boy was I nervous! The presentation went well as did the discussion after. And the vegetarian chili rocked. I promised all who attended a copy of […]
Don’t miss the resources and Slideshare of Elyssa Krsoki’s presentation to ACRL New York: http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/acrl-ny-social-software-in-academic-libraries/ Many HOT examples in her straight-forward, concise style!