Banging two rocks together

thoughts on teaching

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:56:13 GMT

i. research skills and paper writing

so after watching the foundering of first-year college students on both reading and writing, especially in online forums, i find myself wondering how to teach how to read for uni, and how to teach what to read.

ergo, the first thought is to structure a few research papers with a contained set of readings and source materials - i.e produce a paper on the same hypothesis, or set thereof, all using a controlled set of readings, or a controlled set of research sources. I'd have to teach the basics of writing the research paper first, from the one-line topic/narrowtopic/hypothesis/argument/evidence/conclusion right up to my own quick n' dirty methods of writing research papers (hello encyclopedia). But once that's in place, knowing that information exists isn't helpful to the unguided student. they just take the whole shelf on a subject and pray to find the right evidence.

so a controlled set of resources, even to the point of pre-selecting evidence and giving them multiple options to create the argument might be a good thing. a lot of work, not too hard to mark and see progress (or not).

once the understanding of creating an argument through evidence is established, then could i meander to introducing the basic research sources in a controlled set, to work on when and how to use them. eventually one works up to just supplying a controlled set of materials, using a predetermined set of arguments. and then the final question is: can they do the whole shebang on their own...

things to ponder

last refdesk shift in this institution

Thu, 28 May 2009 20:36:09 GMT

and it's still giving me weird questions.

sometimes, you just don't know where they're going, and you have to suspect, neither do they.

patron: who do i talk to about courses at X?
me: You wish to take courses at X?
patron: yes, thanks.
me: ok, you need to go out to the main elevators, outside the library, and go up to the 4th floor to speak with the registrar (include normal semaphore signals here).
patron: the elevators?
me: yes... the elevators in the library only go to the 3rd floor and there's no access to the 4th floor from inside the library. so you need to use the main building elevators.
patron: so how do i get to the 4th floor then?
me: you would use the elevators in the main building, just outside the entrance and to the right. you can't miss them.
patron: how to they work?
me: how do the elevators work?
patron: no, the 4th floor. if you can't get to it from the 3rd, how can it be the 4th?
me: miss, there are 12 floors in the main building, all of which are serviced by the main building elevators. you can get to any floor using the elevators (repeat semaphore and directions).
patron: can't i apply here?
me: no, miss, this is the library, not the admissions desk, or the registrar's office. you need to go to the 4th floor.
patron: i don't want to. i want to apply here.
me: ...

or alternately, the google generation really isn't stopping to think about the work involved in instant gratification.

patron: why don't you index all the authors in all the journals you have in your main catalogue? why do i have to search the databases? that's just silly.
me: so what you would like is for the library to index every author of every article published every month in the main catalogue, and i presume to make sure that every author of every article published in every journal that we have access to, for the entire run of those journals, is indexed in our catalogue.
patron: yes. that's pretty easy isn't it?
me: let's see... we have access to roughly 54,000 journals, which i would guess each publish about 10 articles a month, with anywhere between one and three authors on average - let's say 2 then. so indexing for one month would mean (some margin for bad math), creating records, cross-linking records, and verifying about a million entries each and every month, not including trying to get the back records produced for oh, say 60 years of publishing.
patron: that's not hard is it?
me: you've never heard of 'authority control' have you?

I had this one before, but they ran off before i could fiddle with the numbers. anyone got time to enter 3/4 of a billion references?

patron: [points at reference collection behind me] are those the stacks?
me: no. those books are our reference collection. the main stacks are on the 2nd floor [insert more semaphore and directions].
patron: well, if they aren't your stacks, you should get rid of them. that's just confusing.
me: thank you. I'll look into that right away.

and on another note, i was listening in to the conversation of a couple of good friends of mine at a recent burnt-meat fest, on the topic of leadership, and it occurred to me that a good argument was made that librarians ought to be aware of:

most organizations hire someone to do a task because they have a technical proficiency at that task (one presumes). if they're really good at this task, they might be asked to train or supervise other people doing that task. if they're really unlucky, management will presume that proficiency at that task also equals proficiency at leadership/supervision/management.

so i know a fair number of librarians who are all good at what they do. but the tasks of librarianship (cataloguing, reference, instruction, patience), while varied and useful, aren't always skills that encompass good management. so i also know a number of librarians who because of their proficiency in their field, are also supervisors. i accept the caveat that some people will innately be good at it, but most aren't. most people need training or mentorship in being a leader, and a lot of librarians never want to be leaders in the first place (let alone be bothered by the great unwashed masses).

ergo, why do we hire/promote people who aren't qualified to lead people just because they're good at a specific task? why not hire HR specialists and then train them in the culture of libraries, rather than taking a good librarian off desk (for instance), and expecting them to figure out HR?

and yeah, i know this happens all the time elsewhere, but it's irksome. /rant.

and in 25 minutes, refdesk here ends. I'm sure i'll find some frightening instances to regale you with in the near future.

the thing about librarianship

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:57:51 GMT

is that you almost need to have a love/hate relationship with the patrons. some days i'm totally game for whatever questions they bring and others i despise the bastards for the dumbassery [invented word, i know] they bring to my desk.

much of the love/hate depends on the nature of the interaction, and I suspect this is true of virtually all public/service encounters. what i don't understand is how the patron generally doesn't understand the nature of the library and the functions of its staff. for example: we're not a daycare/coffee shop/printer/fax service/dentist/reception/hotel/etc/etc. we provide access to information and a certain degree of training in the use/finding of that information. at this kind of library, a certain amount of basic technological literacy is expected of the patron.

-we are not a used bookstore, sir. no, you cannot buy that nice big reference book from us. no, we do not offer to take pictures of pages in our reference books that you like. if you have a digital camera, you could take a photograph of that page yourself. no, we do not sell digital cameras. this is an academic library at the University of X, not a public library nor a camera store. yes, i could see how that's a disappointment. no, sir, i am certain that those books over there will not be on sale here next week. yes, you may be able to find a copy at a used bookstore. good luck.- [interaction not ten seconds ago]

the fundamental premise of a librarian is to ask questions. i've encouraged my students to ask questions like a demented nine year-old, because without that endless curiosity, there's not much point in the reference side of the job. and i say ask questions because there aren't always answers, or easily available answers. but the habit of asking produces a habit of looking further and further afield for answers; indeed i think it produces an experience that better teaches how certain kinds of information can be found, where that information is likely to be, and what that knowledge can in turn lead to. the structure of information is better understood by exploring it than just by telling of its existence.

it's just a shame that i can't do the same thing with patrons. they want the answer, not the question. my experience is that if i try to get them to do that sort of searching, it produces frustration and stubborn refusal. i'm sure it may just be the method. but to think that a library contains knowledge that is immediately available and absolutely relevant to their question is expecting instant gratification in a way that not even the daunted Google can provide. hence library staff get this line of inquiry:

"where's the book i want? it's not on the shelf where it should be. why not? don't you know where your books are? you're a librarian, you should know what i'm looking for and where it is. why haven't you read all the books here? what's the best book on [insert amazingly obscure topic]? etc, etc."

thus i'm never sure whether to love 'em for asking questions, or hate them for expecting answers. maybe if we could all learn to ask better questions then the answers would be closer.

refdesk hell

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:52:13 GMT

ah, and just for the mad, mad fun of it, the powers that be have made our workstations able to read USB keys and do word-processing. I shall blog my opinions about this later, when my total lack of interest in helping with IT issues kicks in.

refdesk, double shift, plus headache = less than stellar service

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:40:59 GMT

to add to that i have about 30 students in a librarianship for teachers course [insert scorn and derision here] running around with various degrees of competency generally refusing to read things (library policies, hours of operation, where books are located, etc).

plus there's an all-day symposium on, which is bringing more than the normal share of the public into the library. Some are under the delusion that we're just part of the TPL reference library, while others have decided that it's free daycare. It's the latter that annoy me the most:

public: could you watch my kids for half an hour? I've a meeting i need to attend.
me: madam, this is a library, not a daycare. if you leave your kids here unattended I will be forced to call the police.
public: but why??? can't i just leave them in the corner?
me: no. i am a librarian, and this is a library. this is not a daycare.
public: you don't have to tell anyone.
me: ok, you go right ahead.
public: really, so you'll watch them?
me: no, but you go right ahead and leave the kids here, and i'm sure that you'll hear from the Toronto Police Department soon enough.
public: asshole.
me: yup.

plus the symposium seems to have brought in a team of the mentally challenged (i'm not kidding) to work the coffee/muffin table. thus in addition to regular questions, i'm having the joy of deciphering the questions of said team, which range from 'who am i?' all the way to 'why do we have books here?' and lastly, 'can any of the computers play games?'.

there is, i must admit, something refreshing about dealing with challenged patrons. you know they're challenged (instead of having to assume collossal stupidity fighting for control of the voice), the questions follow in logical order (why, when, how, who, where, repeat), and when you get done, they're genuinely happy. i had a couple of regulars at fairview that were challenged, and apart from having to set a few boundaries, they were amongst the most pleasant patrons we had.

plus one of my old students just came by, so it's not all bad.

otherwise, today, i hate people.

refdesk

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:56:58 GMT

where do i find x call number?
stapler
i have a pension number for X university; how do i take books out?
have you found any lost student cards?
do you have any sheets showing the subjects for Dewey?
where do i find x call number?
where do i find x call number?
where are the stacks?
where are the journals?
where is the women's washroom?
how do i make photocopies?
pearson science and technology?
nelson science and technology, grade 7?
science and technology?
how do i log into the workstations?
can i get a guest password?
are there any photocopiers that just take change?
how do i put money on my student card?
where is the cash to card machine?
can i take books out here?
where is the 2nd floor?
(someone's dumped a special needs kid here. they're doing laps of the main floor)
if i open up a word document from a usb drive, where can i print it?
stapler
where is the librarian on the 3rd floor? there isn't one, just on the main floor
why not? we can't afford to have reference desks on each floor and there's no real demand for them
you mean i have to find the books myself? That's not fair. right...
where is the thesis collection?
where do i find x call number?
(special needs kid proceeds to stand in front of perodical stacks and give itself a wedgie. purpose unknown.)
what does curriculum resource mean?
poetry for students?
are there any computers in this library that you do word processing?
what does this number mean? I tried calling it but it doesn't work. That's a call number for a book, not a telephone number. But it says 'call' number! A slight misunderstanding...
where do i find x call number?
how do i find and use databases?
how do i combine searches?
what are descriptors?
do you teach here? no
what is fox stink?
i need a guest password
what does EJ******* mean?
how do i find the journal X?
what if i log off, do i need another guest password?
stapler

alas, the erg is but furniture

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:46:27 GMT

and for anyone wondering why joyous posts about rowing have been absent, it's because late last year i injured my left achilles tendon (acute achilles tendonopathy), and thus rowing is out of the picture. I've been off to physiotherapy for a few weeks now, but if anything, the pain is increasing and I have doubts about the effectiveness of it all.

and thus my erg, the lovely concept 2, sits in my room and just looks pretty. it's very sad.

muffins

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:50:15 GMT

So i get a phone call on the desk

patron: I'm wondering if the book "blah" is available and could you put a hold on it for me?
me: Are you looking at the catalogue right now?
patron: yes, and the book says it's in, but i want to put a hold on it. I'm at X library (5 mins walk away).
me: well, if you're in the catalogue you can put a hold on the item by following the 'request an item' link. It's generally easier for you to do it than for me to do it over the phone.
patron: But I'm at X library. I want to make certain the book is on the shelf, so can you put a hold on it?
me: Miss, if the catalogue says it's in, then there's about a 75% chance it's actually on the shelf.
patron: Fine. I guess I'll just come over and look for it.

Why is this a dumbass call? Because a) if the catalogue says it's in and you're on campus, you're expected to walk over and try to find it yourself; and b) putting it on hold means that it'll be taken off the shelf (probably by me out of sheer bloody minded bureaucratic spite), sent to processing, and the patron will get it in about 3 days (rather than 20 minutes later).

Asking us to run up to the stacks to secure a book when the patron is 5 mins away makes me wish to say something like: "oh, muffin..."

and you wonder why i despair for the future...

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:26:50 GMT

refdesk, saturday shift, kingdom of dumbass.

patron: What does 'author' mean?

patron: So if the call number is 'PER' where is that?
me: 'PER' stands for 'Periodicals'. Current periodicals are shelved in this area near the reference desk, and older issues, from before 2008, are shelved downstairs. Everything is organized in alphabetical order.
patron: Oh, ok, thanks. [Buggers off downstairs to look for an issue. They are away for 10 minutes before returning to the desk]
patron: I can't find the journal i need.
me: Okay, what's the title of the journal?
patron: "Canadian Journal of blah"
me: Well, we have that in the catalogue and it's in the collection. Did you check all the shelves in the 'C' section?
patron: No, because you said journals begin with 'PER', and I couldn't find any that begin with 'PER'.
me: Ah, right. The 'PER' in the catalogue just lets you know that all of our journals our housed in our Periodical stacks, which again, is right over there for current journals, or downstairs on the concourse level. All of our journals are shelved in alphabetical order.
patron: I don't understand. What does 'alphabetical order' mean?
me: ...
me: It means that each journal is shelved according to the title, by the letters of the alphabet. So your journal is shelved in the 'C' section of the stacks, and which is after the 'B' section, but before the 'D' section. Does that make sense?
patron: I'm not an idiot. You could just have said in the 'C's. So none of them have the call number 'PER' before the title?
me: No. Just by title.
patron: Then why does the title give the call number as 'PER'?
me: ...

[it turns out that this patron is a teacher for a nearby schoolboard. god help us]

refdesk - power behind the throne

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:43:59 GMT

Occasionally I have students or potential students who come to the refdesk that seem to think that this is the place where they apply to the school, fill out forms, etc. I answer a certain degree of those questions if they apply to my baliwick or are phrased well, but most of the time it's a redirection to the appropriate office.

Part of the problem is that if you just enter the lobby of my building, there's very little in the way of direction to places like Student Services, or the Registrar's Office; ergo people walk into the library to look for help.

However, today was a special day. I had several foreign students come to the desk and start showing me various papers - immigration, visas, medical, transcripts, recommendations. This happens and I generally try to inform them that they need to speak to the Registrar about application. Alas, the conversation went something like this:

me: These are papers that you'll need to show to the Registrar for application to the [program/school]. You need to go to the 4th floor and the people in the main office will be able to help you. That's room X.

patron: I've just come from [a meeting/discussion/interview] with the [Registrar/director/office person]. They said that I [won't/can't] get into [program/school] because of a problem with [form/transcript/GPA].

me: I'm sorry to hear that. Is there something that I can help you with?

patron: Yes. I want you to help me get into the [program/school].

me: Sir/Miss, I'm a librarian here at X. I'm not involved with the application procedures. If you need advice on applying to the school, might I suggest talking to either Student Services on X floor, or speaking with the Registrar's office about the problem?

patron: No, I don't want to talk to them. I need to get into the [program/school], and I want you to help me. You [work here/are an important person], so you must be able to help me get into the [program/school].

me: Again, I am a librarian and I have no influence or power in affecting the application process. You have to speak to the appropriate people in the Registrar's office about your application. Is there anything research related that I can help you with?

patron: Look at [form]. They said that I can't get in because of this. How do I change this [form] so that they will let me in?

me: Sir/Miss, that [form] is a official document. Altering it in any way constitutes fraud as well as being a violation of academic conduct. I will not be able to assist you with this.

patron: I need to get into the [program/school]. They won't let me in, and if they don't, then [insert sob story]. You work here, so you must be able to overlook this [form] in my application. No one will know, and you'll be helping [me/my family/etc] and then I might be able to help you with something in return.

me: Sir/Miss, I appreciate that you wish to enter [program/school]. However, I cannot help you with the process. I have no way to assist you other that to redirect you to either the [program/school] website where you can have another look at the application process, or I can recommend that you speak again with the staff at [program/school]. If you do not have a question related to research or resources, please step aside and let me assist the other patrons.

patron: But...

I appreciate that in these people's culture (and yes, I know I'm making either assumptions or stereotyping), negotiation is a norm, but a) I can't and won't do anything to help; and b) this is an anglo-american academic institution. I'm sure there is some negotiation that occurs, but talking to the librarian isn't going to help.

When i was an instructor I had a couple of students try similar tactics, ranging from emotional appeals to outright bribery. It's bizarre enough to get it as a teacher, but a librarian at a refdesk? I only wish we were the power behind the throne.

IM refdesk - if only we were adults...

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:15:37 GMT

guest: theres someone next to me with a fairly noisy wrapper of some sort. can you tell them to stop making noise?

guest: There's a person with their feet on one of the chairs. I don't think that's sanitary. Can you send someone to tell them to put their feet down?

guest: I'm looking for a book with the call number HC***. It's not on the shelf. Could you show me where it is?

And in regular reference:

patron: I need a class of novels.
me: A class? As in a genre of novels?
patron: No, I'm teaching high school literature and i need a class of novels.
me: I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by a "class of novels".
patron: Well, do you have Moby Dick here?
me: Yes, we have two copies in the children's literature collection. Would you like the call number?
patron: Two? I need 35 copies for my class and I want you to let me take them out for the whole semester.
me: ...
me: Miss, this an academic library, not a teacher's resource centre. If you need that many books for your class, I suggest you talk to your principal. I can give you the call number for the two copies of Moby Dick we have here at X library, but you can only take them out for two weeks.
patron: Well, do you have Call of the Wild?
me: Yes, we have several copies in the system. Would you like the call number and location?
patron: I need 35 copies of that book and I want to take them out for three months.
me: Miss, there are not that many copies in the system and they are available at different libraries. You could go to each library and take them out, but only for two weeks. We do not supply high school classes with texts or textbooks for each student. You need to speak with your principal about that.
patron: Oh, okay. How about Lost in the Barrens? How many copies of that do you have?
me: *headdesk*

refdesk

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:08:04 GMT

Where are the books located?
I need a copy of the play "The Line"
Where is the 3rd floor?
What kind of pen is that?
Can i have it?
Where do i find call number ***?
Can i take books out here?
Where are the washrooms?
Where do i find call number ***?
Is the 3rd floor on the 2nd floor?
Do you have books here?
Over the phone: is the article "Effects of a Graduated Instructional Sequence on the Algebraic Subtraction of Integers by Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities" available at your library?
Are there microwaves available for use here?
Where do I find volume 11 of Test Critiques? It's not on the shelf.
Where are your older journals located?
How can I do photocopying?
Which computers have MS Word on them? Why not?
Where can I find the journal World Development?
How do I get to Robarts Library?
Are you open Saturday?

two important things learned today

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:17:31 GMT

1) The smell of fear is that of crab salad.
2) Jesus could walk on custard.

Ah, librarianship - the learning never ends.

Less verbosity

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:36:18 GMT

To clarify for myself (mostly), the issue is this: I can bugger off to Oz as a librarian (or at least with that as the selling point) within a year (+/- X depending on bureaucracy, where X = unknown time). If I want to change careers in any significant way, i.e becoming a teacher or a welder, etc., then the Oz experience is delayed anywhere from 2 to 5 years - time to get new qualifications, plus 3 years or so experience.

I can only get into Oz before I'm 45, and I'd rather do it sooner rather than later, though the things that slow other people down like relationships, children, and buying homes, a) haven't happened, and b) are receding as possibilities. Please don't argue this last point.

So the real connundrum is the choice between doing something new and interesting and outside my experience, and doing what i know in a new and challenging environment.

Australia and other options

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:35:19 GMT

So it has been an idea for some time to look at working in Australia for a couple of years - if only for the warm weather and change of pace. I've been eyeballing the visa requirements and the skills that are in demand, and thus considering career change much sooner rather than later.

I could probably get work in Oz as a librarian, and I could get past the visa requirements (a point system for entry with sponsorship from family), but my profession is not one in demand and thus it's a little tricky in places. I've been looking at other career options, based on health needs and current burnout - options which I may take within the year. If I wanted to work in Oz immediately, I could probably be there by the end of the year.

The choice to go and work in Oz also affects which options I have. I can carry on with professional jobs with up to another Masters degree for flexibility; or I can get started in a trade and see if I could spend my time in Oz as an apprentice, or at the very least as a junior journeyman. I know I need a change of environment and of pace at the very least if I remain a librarian. If not, then more education of some sort is necessary.

So considerations are both time and expense. I don't want to get started on a career change that will delay Oz for more than three years; and I don't want education that will drive my debt up to a point of foolishness. I can definitely work part-time, which will keep some expenses to a minimum. Certain trades will have me out of school and working within 5-7 months; certain post-degree certificates will have me fully qualified within a year and a half.

It's undoubtedly easiest to apply as a librarian, and hope some community at the back of the beyond needs my skills. So many choices.

casual vs hardcore

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:27:14 GMT

So as I've not had a question on the desk for nearly 50 minutes (a rarity), I figured I'd chime in for my own benefit regarding casual vs hardcore raiding. All the non LIS/WotLK types can ignore this post, and frankly even the gamers/library loonies can as well.

As a gamer, and probably as a professional I really respect competency over most other attributes. I'm a pretty good reference librarian, a decent if unmotivated cataloguer, and I've at least cut my teeth on teaching. I spend a fair amount of time reading and researching the theory and practice of two of those, and at least occasionally eyeball the third. As a WoW player I read extensively on my class, on raid and group theory, and I keep up with the debates about the game. I have somewhat less opportunity to try to practice, but I get some in weekly and I definitely try to make sure people know I'm learning.

Which brings one to the idea of casual vs hardcore. I don't belong to a hardcore "we raid nightly, must be geared, please show vanilla/TBC progression" guild. I belong to a rather laid back, casual, and mostly social guild. At first, i have to say that just knowing some players of a similar age and experience was pretty satisfying, but of late it's wearing thin. I've hit 80 on my druid, spent a fair bit of time getting some basic epics and working on spell rotations. Thus a casual social guild is no longer meeting my inherent desire to be a proficient healer. I do a couple of pugs a week, but i generally find the experience horrendous - bad leadership, lots of qq'ing, little role knowledge, and thus wipes/partial runs.

So what i want is a more focussed guild - somewhere that a new player can go to in order to learn and practice their role in a group of more experienced players. I want mentorship from an experienced resto druid, and the chance to build up competency and then gear in an environment where such goals are respected an encouraged. That's not yet hardcore - becaus this is a game and while I enjoy playing, i don't want to raid more than a couple nights a week. I like life outside the screen.

Being a librarian carries much the same ambition. I like the academic atmosphere (even if I have a bias against most of the actual academics themselves), and this level of librarianship has been a good learning experience. However, I miss the pace of the public desk (and it's relative idiocy). I wouldn't mind looking into more concentrated research positions (even business), or opportunities in wildly different environments. The difficulty in the RW is that I'm not a hugely self-motivated person. Instead, i prefer to seek the environment that is challenging rather than finding new challenges in existing ones. to shrug responsibility: i am basically human in that i don't like peace and quiet, i have a limited capacity for dull, and i'm self-destructive.

so i'm a casual player with hardcore tendencies, and i similarly, a casual librarian with ADHD. I'll play WoW until there aren't significant role challenges (and I know this is a source of irritation because Forgotten Hope 2 is looking very sexy once again); and i suspect I'll be an academic librarian only long enough to find another environment where skills are challenged, competencies must be acquired, and carving out a respected niche is demanding.

will a short-term fix solve a long-term problem?

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:16:34 GMT

Dear AM,

I've heard recently that student application numbers have been down, and you're in a bit of a fuss about that because your whole academic plan is predicated on ever-rising enrollment. I also know that every full-time equivalent student you admit is worth about 12k of the budget, so a shortfall in enrollment has a pretty serious impact on both ambitions and maintenance.

However, you've been hiring faculty like crazy, even when the rest of the university is in a hiring freeze, and to compound it, we're suddenly in a recession. Ergo, shit happens. You won't fire new faculty, so if the budget has to shrink, you'll scrap staff first. Things students have been calling for for years, like a co-op officer, will be shelved. IT may have to cope with less. Paranioa and panic will soon roam the halls, and thus good luck maintaining a happy atmosphere.

But all this doom and gloom isn't what I'm writing about. What I am concerned about is where you're placing blame for this state of events. Low student numbers is a serious problem. But the scuttlebutt is that you are pinning all your hopes on the new website, which seems odd because the earliest that we'll see the site is mid-February, with final applications due in by the end of April. It would seem that if the recruitment year starts once the previous year's students are selected, around mid-June, then you've had seven months to advertise, get the word out, recruit, and wave the flag. Or am I mistaken?

The website bears some responsibility for recruitment, but by no means should it be the primary means by which you attract new students. Rather, the website is a static information source that will help make the choice of where to go for those students considering the options. It can be bright and shiny, but I honestly doubt that most people will base their choice solely on it.

When I considered coming to the school, I asked people in the field for recommendations, spoke with current students, and compared course offerings and course evaluations. The website was helpful to some degree in that, but what made the difference was the communications I had with past and present students and professionals. Thus perhaps you should be wondering what people actually think of the school and the program, what they say are high points and low points.

The alumni I spoke with didn't recommend the program as a whole, but rather they recommended the fact that it was in a major city which would give me better options when I finished. They were sceptical of the faculty, and doubly so of the courses, and overwhelmingly I was told to take important courses outside of the faculty, particularly in management. At that time the school still more or less wanted to teach librarians, and location and access to resources/contacts was my deciding factor.

The old website was pretty confusing, full of outdated information, and required a lot of communication with the registrar to understand the process. But thankfully the staff were patient and helpful, and I got in.

So what's the upshot of this? The new website may be many things, but it's not your primary recruitment tool. Your current degree programs, the students in those programs, and the almuni should be your primary tools. If they're satisfied with the degree and find it exciting and challenging, then they'll tell people that. If not, then you've got some areas to address and quickly, because if numbers are low because of widespread dis-satisfaction, no bright, shiny, sparkly website is going to change it.

FYI.

how is it Thursday?

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:34:29 GMT

it may be a comment on the predictability of my existence, but where did Wednesday go? I keep losing track of days.

the personal relationship with the librarian

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:02:45 GMT

So I've been at the new school for a few months now doing reference every day, teaching the occasional research class, and only recently recovering enough professionalism to get back into regular cataloguing. In that time I've made a couple of connections with students who've come to the desk, either with really challenging questions (and a requisite degree of humility), or who are feeling overwhelmed with grad school (the volume of reading, papers, etc).

What stands out for me is the length I'm willing to go to for a patron who's been polite, friendly and in need of both research assistance and someone to tell them it'll be okay. The vast majority of repeat patrons don't bother with polite interactions, they just dump the question and go off. That's fine, it's the nature of the work. But for those very few who bother to treat one as a person, then reciprocity works wonders. I know that's somewhat unethical - i should treat all patrons the same and provide the same level of service regardless of their interaction - but the reality is that someone who's polite and friendly will get better service or more indepth research assistance from me than from the ordinary patron who regards you as a slightly defunct computer system.

I also admit that cuteness plays a role, and I challenge any reference monkey to say that it doesn't. I have one gentlemen who is the spitting image of a young Paul McGann, only taller, and showing him how to do journal searching is a good interaction between eye-candy and information resource. Admittedly, cute and as dumb as a bag of hammers wears thin, but you don't know till you try.

In writing this it's the students who are overwhelmed that stand out for me. If you've not been exposed to the demands of grad school before, or don't take the 'expectations' with a fairly large grain of salt, then those first weeks are hell, and likely a hell that doesn't lighten up. I've had a few students at the desk either in tears or nearly there because no one's shown them the ropes, explained the process of reading, or just said "Welcome to hell. Breathe, and then calm down, because you can do this."

Is it the role of the librarian (or reference monkey [and by this I mean any barely evolved hominid like myself]) to help these students, or to answer those questions? Possibly not, but if they've come to me, it probably means they've got fuck all help from other sources. perhaps it's lucky that i recently survived grad school and remember the first-week panic all too well.

The moral of this wibbling? Be nice to your librarian. Introduce yourself, talk about your research, ask questions and thank the reference monkey for their help. Smile even. It makes a difference.

the alma mater - FIS

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:33:21 GMT

I'm wondering what the general opinion on the state of the Faculty of Information Studies is these days. I've heard that the disconnect between the school and the profession grows ever larger (OLA roundtable members complaining that new grads don't have skills, only theory); that the children's aspect of the LIS program is just about dead (and that students wanting courses in this aspect have been forced to justify why to the faculty); and lastly that the new curriculum will kill any actual cataloguing skills (though gossip also says that the current prof is doing that pretty well without help).

But I'm biased, and have been, and will be. My views on the state of the school and the competency of much of its faculty are well-known. But I know a few readers here are students/alumni, and thus I ask your opinions: Is the change to an iSchool a good thing? What impact will it have on the students, and on the education? Would you go there to be a public librarian/academic librarian/archivist, or would you recommend other schools? In short, has it improved since you've arrived?

refdesk

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:46:04 GMT

Delayed musings on the Kingdom of Dumbass

So I've just been posting WoW topics of late, because it's my habit and it's a pretty involved habit between game mechanics and social dynamics (aka whining), but I thought for my dear readers, all 3 of you, that I should return to tales of the refdesk.

So today I have 2 young women walk up to the desk, and ask me about textbooks for math.

Me: Are you looking for any particular grades?

Them: Er, well, like... like grade two? Or like grade one?

Me: Are you just looking for basic arithmetic or things like geometry, measurement and fractions?

Them: What are fractions?

Me: ...

Them (to one another): God, math is like soooo hard! Oh, I know, and like, I'm going to have to teach this soon.

Me: You're M.ed students?

Them: Yeah, second year. I'm on practicum soon.

Me: ...

Which really wasn't as bad as the student who didn't understand how Dewey works. Not that it's numbers, but that it's sequential numbers - 001-999 - that confused them ("why can't everything be in alphabetical order? What are the numbers for?"). I may have then introduced them to the much more simple counting process of "One, Two, Many, Lots".

And continuing my total lack of respect for faculty, a woman came in looking for a 3 CD set of Thomas King. She proceeds to tell me she's faculty and that she shouldn't have to do this herself, thus earning points. I found her item in the catalogue, gave her the call number, and said "Go through the green doors, two floors up, and it'll be on the left side in the stacks."

A few minutes later she comes down.

Her: "I can't find it. I want you to find it."

Me: I check the catalogue record, and say "It should be in the 2nd floor stacks. It may have been mis-shelved, so you may want to look at the shelves nearby."

She goes off in a bit of a huff. I think "Oh, muffin..."

Another five minutes pass and she comes back.

Her: "I can't find it. It's not there and you said it would be there. Where is it? I need it!"

Me: "I'm afraid if you can't find it, it may be in use by another patron, or it could be missing. You are welcome to fill out a search form at circulation, and we should have a response within 24 hours."

Her: "But I need it now! You're not being very helpful. I want you to go find it for me!"

Me: "Miss, I'm afraid that as the only reference librarian on duty, I cannot leave the desk to look for a missing book. If it is not on the shelf, then as I said, it may be missing or in use. Please speak with circulation about running a search."

She leaves in a huff, speaks with Circ, and then proceeds to stomp back to my desk. "You said it was two floors up. They said this is on the 2nd floor, in the stacks!"

Me: "Yes, if you go through the green doors, and climb two flights of stairs, you come to the 2nd floor. The floor above us is the mezzanine, and then there's the 2nd floor."

Her: "But two floors up is the 3rd floor! You sent me to the wrong place!"

Me: ...

She eventually found the CDs. I take comfort in the fact she has a Phd. I really do.

And I'm getting quite used to being asked to write papers for a student. I have the question about once a week. It usually begins with me finding a couple of resources in the catalogue. When I've found those and given directions, they will pull out the whole reading list and start to go through it. I intercede and show them how to find it themselves. This usually starts the following conversation:

Me: "...so you then click on the details and you can tell which library it's in and where. There you go."

Them: "Can't you do this for me? You do it so fast."

Me: "No, I am available to give you a hand with your research and to teach you how to use the catalogue or journal databases. For this kind of simple searching, it only takes a couple minutes to learn. Would you like me to show you again?"

Them (being cunning): "Yes. Show me using these three."

Me: "Okay, I'll do the first one slowly, and you can do ther other two." I go through the basic search procedures.

Them: "Okay, I think I have it but can you do the other two to make sure?"

Me: "Take a seat here and I'll watch you do them, and make sure you've got the process."

Them: "No, that's ok." -Pause- "Are you sure you can't do the list for me? I mean, you're just sitting here anyways."

Me: "As a graduate student you have to be able to do this kind of search yourself. It's a mandatory part of the research process. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Them: "Well, could you write the paper for me? You're so good at finding information - you could just fill in the blanks for me."

And in our liberal country, I'm not allowed to shoot people for this.

Threads to watch (as reference for myself) on being a Resto

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:02:16 GMT

http://hotstree.blogspot.com/2008/11/pre-naxx-resto-druid-gear.html
http://treebarkjacket.blogspot.com/
http://www.resto4life.com/
http://swiftmend.blogspot.com/
http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t40221-resto_pve_healing_discussion/
http://elitistjerks.com/f73/t37578-restoration_itemization/
http://onehotnelf.wordpress.com/ (OoD but interesting)
http://www.plusheal.com/
http://www.talentchic.com/Druid/Restoration

nerves shot to hell by fast instance runs

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:42:11 GMT

So I was happily mucking about getting coins of the Ancestors last night when a guildie, Warpedmama, came on and asked if I could help her with the Elders of the Dungeons achievement.

I've been trying to do the Azeroth-based achievements, but as I rather inherently don't like dungeons, I've been avoiding that one. Still, I'm the novice healer and healing a guildie or two while we go through LK dungeons would be good practice. Then when i noticed a general post from a BE RetPally called Manathirst lfg to do the same dungeons, I figured, "Hey, why not?" A bigger party means a faster route to the Elder in each dungeon.

How little I knew. Manathirst is #8 on the Llane server (according to Warcrafter.net) and in a top-ranked guild. He's been playing since the game began, and has it down to an art. He brought in a couple of other players (all top-ranks) and we went through dungeons faster than I've ever done. I spent all my time desperately keeping HoTs on Manathirst, and trying to offset spiky damage by overhealing. I got some good advice from Servantes on the use of Nourish, which wasn't in my immediate healbot lineup. We wiped once on the 2nd boss in Utgrade Pinnacle, when I didn't stay out of melee range; but otherwise stayed alive for runs through five other instances.

I found the speed of Manathirst unnerving - we'd no sooner survived one fight before he was on and into the next. I never had a chance to sit and mana up - rather I found myself watching the HoTs on the group, and counting out the mp5 rule - so that roughly every ten seconds of casting allowed me 5 seconds of not casting, and thus good mana regen in bursts. I only used Innervate when we faced bosses, and only dropped one runic mana potion the whole time (what is with the new 1 potion per fight rule? i don't mind a 1 min CD, but when a boss fight requires more than 2 mins, it gets a little hairy).

By the end, which was about an hour and half later, i was pretty pumped on adrenaline, jumpy and twitchy. Healbot is solid, especially now that i have a better grasp on the keys and my spell rotation. But little Filibrarian (whose name I will change shortly), has a case of shot nerves. I learned a lot moving at the pace, but I can't decisively say I enjoyed it.

But on a lighter note, the Wintergrasp arena is easily the most PvP fun I have. It's not easy getting ranked as a resto, but I usually have a catapult fairly early on, and from there run amok with the flame till I'm killed. Good times!

Problems with being a resto druid

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:20:19 GMT

And for those of you who don't understand that phrase, please go forth and get yourself a 10-day free trial.

Now, admittedly, the number of WoW players who might read this blog is very small, but nonetheless, I feel the need to vent and ask advice.

I've finally hit 80 on Llane as a tauren druid, and have been speccing back and forth between balance for solo questing/rep/gold grinding, and resto for a few guild and PuG runs. I really enjoy the role of healer in a 5-man dungeon, but there are a few things that just wind me up.

First, I make it clear to non-guildies in a group that I'm learning to heal. I've done 6 runs now, and a couple of lower level instances, and one heroic. I'm not an old hand at this and so I'm going to make mistakes. When I'm not at work (and when I am and it's glacial), I'm spend a lot of time reading forums on resto gearing, mana efficiency and spells, tanking theory and practice, etc., so that i can learn to be a better healer.

So when we do wipe, and it happens, I get pissed because people assume it's my fault. In the six runs i've done, including the heroic, I've wiped 3 times. I wiped once in Heroic UK at the end boss because I wasn't watching my positioning (I've noticed that I spend a lot more time watching my Healbot bars than I do actually watching the action, and thus get a bit static) and got munched by a big stun; and the other two were in UK - one when I pulled too much aggro and was too distant from the tank; and the second b/c the main tank left and we tried 4-manning the boss (which I knew was going to be a wipe).

So I know why we wipe, or at the very least have a good idea. I apologize if it's my fault, but if it's not, or someone died during the fight, I figure you shouldn't automatically get pissy with the healer. Or even get whiny in general. If you're not the MT and you snuff it, it happens. If we wipe, it sucks for everyone - get over it, correct the tactics, move on. But I've heard a lot of QQing because i didn't battle rez them, or they pulled aggro and got munched while I was keeping the MT alive, etc.

Which leads me to thinking that MT'ing and healing are amongst the most thankless jobs in a group. My mate, Groknigz, is our guild tank, and generally I won't run without him since he's a good raid leader. I've done a couple without him, usually with tanks I've met elsewhere, but since Grok is vocal, in charge, and patient, I prefer to learn healing with him.

So QQ'ing. Which sucks to get, and causes drama.

Second, rez ettiquette. If we do wipe, then I figure everyone should run back into the instance. It saves some time on building up health/mana, and builds a little cohesion because everyone shares in the corpse run. If one or two players wipe, I'll rez them, no worries. I haven't mastered battle rezzing yet (simply b/c the time it takes to rez a dps is time away from keeping the MT alive). So it bugs me after a wipe when a player says, "going afk, can you rez me, kk?". Ah, so not only do i spent my time watching your health bar and keeping you alive, but when we wipe, you go get a drink/fuck off while i get to run in, rez, mana up, rinse, repeat. On the other end of the spectrum are players who tell me to hurry up (as if I should go faster just for them) when they're not corpse running. Is there a good reason that you're not corpse running? Or are you just too lazy to endure the same shit I do?

/rant

Now for the questions: Does anyone know of any good guides to becoming a healer? I read about tanking so that i know what the MT and OT's jobs are, and how to let them keep aggro. I know I need to work on my battlefield awareness and mobility, as well as not overhealing (and thus wasting mana). But a guide to good healing? I've not yet found one that's current. There are guides written pre-BC and post-BC, but not at the WotLK level, nor with talent and spell changes.

I've also noticed that i tend to run out of mana, which is probably a result of overhealing too early and too much, and then casting innervate a bit too late to keep a full mana pool. My gear is focused on mana regen and spirit to offset this, but is there more i should/could be doing?

saturday morning on the refdesk

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:02:28 GMT

and at 10:02 am, it's deserted. 7 hours to go...