I did a presentation today for a speech class that is part of our honors program. They are doing deep research into a range of topics. The faculty member asked me to do a session for them about bias and approaching new topics. It was a fun session, so I thought I’d share my slides. Naturally, this session ended with a conversation about the Illuminati, which, I guess, comes with the territory (not a part of the slides below). Self-Protection: Your Brain, Experience, & Bigfoot ——- Troy A. Swanson is Department Chair and Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley […]
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Since I have shared some of our planning on my library’s Graphic Novel Symposium in TTW posts (see Behind the Scenes of the Graphic Novel Symposium & Grahpic Novel Symposium–#comicculture), I want to share our final video that summarizes our event. You can watch our faculty lectures from the Graphic Novel Symposium at: Moraine Valley Graphic Novel Symposium, http://www.morainevalley.edu/comicculture/. Graphic Novel Symposium at Moraine Valley —– Troy A. Swanson is Department Chair and Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College. He is the co-editor of the upcoming book from ACRL, Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How […]
A new project explores and challenges traditional library dissemination. The tools are taken from gamification which intentionally uses game elements to involve and engage users. A virtual tour of a city uncovering hidden treasures, small engaging ways of improving existing services and a new digital experience at the library – this is what the joint project Gamification – activating cultural dissemination resulted in. A project taken on by three libraries: Guldborgsund Public Library, Aarhus Public Library and Hjørring Public Library in their attempt to involve users in their services more actively. Each library contributed with a sub-project exploiting gamification, […]
Our college’s design team has been doing a series of videos on our library’s upcoming Graphic Novel Symposium. (I posted video 1 back in May and video 2 in June.) Our library is fortunate to have such talented individuals who make us look good. Learn more about the Symposium at our website. Behind the Scenes: Graphic Novel Symposium Event Planning —- Troy A. Swanson is Department Chair and Teaching & Learning Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College. He is the co-editor of the upcoming book from ACRL, Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think About Information. You can follow […]
It seems like I’ve been here forever, but as of this month I’ve been at the Chattanooga Public Library for 1 year, 4 months. In that time, we’ve accomplished a lot of great things for the Chattanooga community. At the same time, I haven’t been able to share as much because….well, things just got really busy in a good way! So this post is my Chattanooga catch up post….a way to share all of the positive things that have been happening around Chattanooga over the past few months. Management One of the big new things in my world is library […]
The discussion around ACRL’s new Information Literacy Framework for Higher Education is quickly growing and deepening. As a member of the Task Force that created the Framework, it is heartening to see. (As I have noted in the past, I am a member of this Task Force but I do not speak on behalf of the Task Force here.) One area of discussion that interests me has arisen from librarians interested in critical pedagogy and critical information literacy (the application of critical pedagogy to information literacy instruction). In response to the second draft, a group of librarians has issued a […]
Our college’s design team has been doing a series of videos to highlight their awesome work on our library’s upcoming Graphic Novel Symposium. (I posted on this back in May here.) Our library is fortunate to have such talented individuals who make us look good. Behind the Scenes: Graphic Novel Symposium Graphic and Web Design
This past semester I had the opportunity to take part in Michael Stephens’s Hyperlinked Library course. The course, especially the readings and discussions on reflective practice, teaching, and learning brought together for me the professional and the personal. A little bit about my background: my previous career was in German Studies, but a couple years ago my contract as an Assistant Professor wasn’t renewed. My wonderful, supportive colleagues said again and again that it was due to budget pressures, but deep down and for quite a while I felt I had failed. What the experience offered me, though, was a […]
I have written several times on this blog about ACRL’s draft Information Literacy Framework that is set to replace the Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education. The new Framework has generally been well-received, and the Task Force is working diligently to address questions and concerns expressed by members’ responses to previous drafts. (As I have noted in the past, I am a member of this Task Force but I do not speak on behalf of the Task Force here.) The new Framework is built upon a set of threshold concepts that define a continuum between novice and experienced researchers. Threshold […]
A big AHA! moment about 21st century participatory librarianship came from an unlikely source: a book about ancient pueblos of the American southwest. The author observed that each pueblo was comprised of a collection of living spaces surrounding a large common area – first, the Great Kiva, and later, the plaza. Every living space faced into this common area, which was the hub of pueblo life and ceremony, because, as the author noted, every community needs a center (Scully, 1988). That’s it! I thought.That’s the 21st century library. The 21st century library is some combination of physical and virtual space […]