May the Fourth Be With You

Posted on April 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

You have exactly one month to plan a Star Wars-themed event for your library. Whether you run a college, public, or school library, I feel pretty certain that your patrons would appreciate such an event. And it does not have to take a ton of work to make it special. You’re welcome!

That's worth a buck.

Making it real: Find your local 501st Legion, an all-volunteer organization of awesome folks who dress up as Imperial Army crew (including Stormtroopers, Jawas, and Vader himself.) They are the preferred costuming group of Lucasfilms when Stormtroopers are needed for events. They LOVE doing community service and you can request an appearance. Plus, since they do this all of the time they are sources for what works and what does not.

Don’t forget the Rebels! See if your area has a Rebel Legion, recognized by Lucasfilms as a premier volunteering and costuming group. They might be able to supply a Wookie, Princess, Jedi, or Rebel Pilot for your event.

Neither group is affiliated with Lucasfilms, but are formally recognized by Lucasfilms for their high standards of costuming, volunteerism, and professionalism. Did I mention they do this for FREE? And most of them do it to share the love, so they tend to be really good with people.

They will not engage in any kind of mock fighting with your patrons (a good thing!) We are taking care of this by posting signs around reading: “Use of light sabers or other weapons strictly prohibited and punishable by Imperial Law.” We plan to have the roaming Stormtroopers “arrest” anyone faux fighting. They will have to have a friend or loved one come get them released from “jail.”

There is no try in origami, only fold.

Activities: There are tons of Star Wars-themed origami projects ranging from easy (Vader) to harder (various ships). You can tie these directly to the popular (and really good) Strange Case of Origami Yoda books which follows a 6th-grade boy who talks to his classmates through a origami Yoda, who seems to know a lot about life and things like when pop quizzes will happen.

Teach patrons how to speak a Star Wars language so they can understand Jabba or the Ewoks without subtitles! This guide includes history of the languages and sound clips. Have your patrons play word games or charades with their newfound skills.

If you’ve got space, build a Death Star Maze! Create a maze out of black butcher paper, black fabric, or boxes painted black and piled up to resemble the outside of the Death Star. Maybe hide a “reactor” inside that they must find and destroy (by writing their name on it) then find their way out of the Death Star before the Imperial Army finds them (you can have Stormtroopers hiding in the maze!)

Pumpernickel bagels substitute nicely for real hair.

Have your patrons create Jedi outfits out of brown paper sacks or brown t-shirts (depending on your budget.) This blogger offers easy directions for making Jedi tunics out of paper bags. Offer Princess Leia hair tutorials or styling.

Geek party planner extraordinaire Chris-Rachael Oseland (author of the SteamDrunks: 101 Steampunk Cocktails and Mixed Drinks) suggests having patrons decorate pretzel sticks with neon-colored frosting and black licorice whips wrapped around the bottom to create edible light sabers. You can get more food ideas from the official Star Wars cookbook, Wookiee Cookies. And this awesome mom and her 3 sons offer great ideas for food ranging from complex (Princess Leia cupcakes) to simple (Han Solo Rolos) to just fun (Stormtrooper Cheese Ball!)

This how-to-draw Star Wars characters guide is great for teens. The results are a bit Manga-y. And the official Star Wars activities page is excellent, offering ideas ranging from a Hannukah Droidel to Admiral Sackbar Puppet.

Don’t forget to put out books, movies, and other items in your collection related to Star Wars. Think broadly and include topics like fencing, Zen Buddhism, physics, and astronomy.

Finally, have your staff dress up as secondary or made-up characters (unless one of you can pull of Vader, costume and all.) Patrons love being their favorite character and so we should be nice and let them play Han. We all plan to go as Jedi Masters (easy costuming) in order to keep the peace and guide our patrons through their experience.

Keep that Force with you.

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Posted in Activities and Programs, Community outreach

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A few of my favorite resources and suppliers

Posted on March 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

There is no trying outreach; there is only do.

The internet is awash with idea purveyors and suppliers of stuff. I depend heavily on word of mouth and recommendations before committing my time and money. To help you with your outreach activities, I’ve compiled resources and suppliers I can trust. Interestingly, many of my best ideas come from outside LibraryLand. I love adapting the ideas of homeschooling parents and crafty remodelers in my attempt to engage and enlighten. I created this list with public, school, and academic libraries in mind (a bit ‘o’ something for everyone.) I receive no benefits from promoting any of these suppliers or resources.

(And yes, I’ve been remiss on posting lately; we are in the midst of updating systems and getting ready for a new president, so sadly my time has been co-opted with other issues.)

Supplies:

  • T-Shirts: I’ve used many suppliers and CustomInk flew to the top of my list for their customer service and high-quality product. They are comparable to many sites, but offer many more t-shirt and ink colors. Additionally, when I submitted my design, I got a call from a designer who worked with me over the phone to tweak my design! She made it much better. Plus, they have excellent graphics and fonts you can use to do direct design in the site. These are the only t-shirts my student staff wear outside the job.
  • Button-maker: do not do not do not buy the cheap ones as good of a deal as it seems at the time. They work a few times and usually break. They do not produce a high-quality button. Go for the more expensive one. Consider buying one with other offices or departments (go in with the Dean of Students or both the children’s and teen departments can purchase one together.) I like the ones at ButtonBiz.com because it’s the same product but slightly cheaper than from other suppliers and they do free shipping. It’s survived three years of heavy use including 10 community events. I also purchased the backs with magnets so folks have a choice between buttons or magnets. I would suggest the graphic punch over the circle cutter, but they are SHARP and require adult supervision.
  • Banners and magnets: I do a lot of community events to promote our activities. I host a stall at our summer farmer’s market and camp out at family events throughout the year. I use VistaPrint for banners and magnets. The quality is good and affordable. Plus they send 25% coupons with each order and free magazine subscriptions (a great way to get stuff for your library!). I don’t use them for t-shirts or other promotional items because I can get more options and a better price elsewhere, but for these basics in my outreach toolkit, I love me some Vista.
  • Fun junk: I really hope I don’t find out that Oriental Trading is involved in shady business.  I try not to think too hard about how this fun junk is produced so cheaply. It’s a good resource for all of my programming. From glow sticks for student orientation to craft kits for family programs, Oriental Trading is my go-to source. It’s worth calling to order because their representatives are great at pointing out clearance items and offering up great suggestions.

Activities:

The Weasley's clock!

  • Star Wars Blog Activities: crafts, games, and more whether you’re doing a floor program for a dorm or putting on community programs.
  • Pinterest: If you still have not joined, email me (ezitron@carthage.edu ) and I’ll send you an invite. Embrace the fastest-growing new social media as you will find other librarians and more Hunger Games party ideas than you can shake a stick at. And when will Adult Services host a Mad Men party for the adults?
  • All Things Thrifty is a home remodeling/decorating blog, which has WHAT to do with libraries? Everything. Get great ideas for teen programs or help freshmen outfit their dorm rooms with one of her cool projects. These are DIYs that your teens and college kids will actually want to do. Get your teens to make some of the easier projects that don’t require a table saw to help update and outfit your teen space. Think of the ownership they’ll take by helping to decorate their space or even reupholster the chairs. No, I am not kidding about that either. Or just make a duct tape purse.
  • Little Shop of Physics is an excellent Mr. Wizard-like show created by the Colorado State University. This is a great resource for mad science programs.
  • The best Harry Potter party I’ve ever seen by the Young Adult Book Council.

    One of Homeschool-Activities many cool crafts

  • Homeschool-Activities is run by a creative, fun woman who was homeschooled herself. She has really good ideas ranging from hands-on science experiments to engaging toddlers and preschoolers. She encourages creative expression and exploration (wait until you see the felted owls her kids made!). A great site if you work with all ages of youth.

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Shameless self-promotion!

Posted on March 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sorry to self-promote (especially when I have not posted for a bit here!), but you can vote for ALA Annual programs! Voting starts today, and the public voting process will be open through Sunday, March 25   To vote for your favorite Conversation Starter program proposals, just log in to Connect and click on the up or down arrow on each proposal to vote for it.

I have a proposal in there, “Working with Flamethrowers: How to Fuel Innovative Outreach in Academic Libraries.” (In case you wanna vote for it.) I’ve proposed it with the intrepid Rudy Leon who is starting an an outreach program at UV-Reno and Matt Upson of Library of the Living Dead fame. You can vote here (and thanks!): http://connect.ala.org/ala12csvoting

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Posted in Uncategorized

Getting faculty on your side

Posted on February 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

I gave a tour to librarians from another academic institution to discuss ways to co-locate other student-centered services and make badly needed changes to their library. When we discussed changes to collection development and our technological systems, one librarian asked, “how do you deal with pushback from faculty?” It’s a valid question. Many faculty are much more in love with the idea of physical books. Even if those books are The Guide to Careers for Men from 1982 and features a man with blonde feathered hair on the cover. Many faculty lament that students no longer use periodic guides or indexes. They require students to use REAL journals, not those online things.

We use a number of formal and informal channels to deal with. Granted, we are an institution with about 150 full-time faculty and numerous adjuncts. But the point is, we use proactive, positive means to get faculty on our side so that the day when we majorly pare down our print reference collection, we hope to have less protests and more excitement.

  • Wine and cheese function: one of my colleagues is tasked with getting faculty to use more technology in teaching. She’s hosting a wine and cheese “buffet” at which faculty can drink while browsing tables hosted by their colleagues who already use technology. Soooo, we get ’em with free food and drink. We’ve got a higher administrator supporting the value of the program. We then have their peers show off projects. And we hopefully reach some technophiles by showing them how technology can support research and teaching. (We are sneaky this way.)
  • Monthly electronic newsletter: we write a few articles that are campus-specific, but we try to be broader. This month I’m writing about Pinterest: what is it, how I use it personally and professionally, and ways they can use it personally and professionally. I have a student who writes regularly on the kinds of technology he and his peers are using (so, instead of having him dust, he’s developing his writing skills and using his strengths.) We use the newsletter to convey campus news, but to also highlight cool digital archives available. We use it to build buzz about upcoming changes; framing them as things to look forward to.
  • Formal liaison: most libraries do this. It’s great and it works. Something we do as part of our program is to invite ourselves to department and division meetings once a semester. As a group, we figure out what we want to highlight in our 15 minutes. So maybe we’ll preview a new database we’re thinking of getting and solicit feedback. Then we’ll talk quickly about how we just subscribed to PollEverywhere and show it off. We use the time to show them what we’ve got in addition to asking what they want.
  • Bait and Switch: at the liaison meetings we’ll often show off great new resources. I’ll host Resource of the Month booths- I set up computers with cookies and folks can check out what the resource of the month is. We’ll write newsletter articles about wonderful new resources. We frontload heavily with what’s great, hopefully getting faculty excited about what we offer. Some faculty will complain when we weed out books, but the hope is to heavily promote what’s good. The better defense is a good offense.
  • The reality of books: I have this grand idea that when my friend Rachel Wightman returns from having worked in a library in Uganda for the past two years of having her come talk about her experience. Rachel has learned that books are important (especially when your electricity is always going out or your wireless runs out), but they do not stand the test of time and stop meeting needs at some point. She wrote a wonderful blog post about books donated to her library in Africa that anyone weeding should read.  She offers a common-sense look at the reality of books: they are not all sacred. Sometimes we have to…gasp…throw them out. You should have Rachel come talk to your faculty and administrators if they’re the sort who cringe at getting rid of a 1963 Emily Post Etiquette for Weddings.
  • Be savvy: okay, that’s vague. But here’s what I mean: if you are making changes let the administration know. Explain to the provost (or have your boss do it) why this will support teaching and learning. Let the president/chancellor know what day you are throwing all of those books out. Then make sure your staff don’t put them in the dumpster until pick-up day!
  • Get partners in crime: or create them! I asked to meet with a faculty member who asked me about periodic guides to show him some databases. He was very resistant to students getting away with “easy” research, but I kept at him and showed him the marvels of modern technology. He never stopped telling students about his old research days, but he does invite me to do library instruction every semester. I regularly email faculty when we acquire a new database in their field or when I find a digital collection or technology I think they would like. First, it let’s them know we’re trying to meet their needs, but it also opens the door for conversation. It takes about three minutes of my time to email the English faculty when we get a cool new literature series.

There will always be faculty who complain. And who complain to higher-ups. By using some proactive, positive formal and informal means of communication, we hope to get and keep faculty on our sides.

Many of you at larger institutions could do some of this on smaller levels. Instead of hosting a wine and cheese event for the entire faculty, why not do it a division or college at a time? Think about how our ideas could fit into your institution, with a little tweaking.

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Posted in Faculty-specific outreach

Outreach is…education

Posted on February 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Librarians are educators. Sometimes we teach users how to navigate databases. Other times we help them discover new books or movies. We show them how to use the copier, where to get tax assistance, and how to buy a used exercise bike off of Craigslist. When we do these things we also teach users the value of libraries and librarians. We help them discover the roles we can play in their lives. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

Instruction is a fear that many librarians avoid overcoming. It’s also a beloved activity many librarians strive to get better at. Whether you are standing in front of  a class, working one-on-one or handing out swag at a community event, you are doing some kind of instruction. Here are a few ideas for the myriad types of instruction we do that have worked for me or fellow librarians.

  • Think in terms of learning outcomes. I do this even for fun programs I plan or tours I give. What do I want people to learn? Do I want them to learn how to find full text outside of a database? Do I want them to learn how to contact the library if they need help? Do I want them to connect our collection to an interest of theirs? Do I want them to discover the personal value libraries have to them?

    Here’s a guide to get you started thinking in terms of learning outcomes. And here is a good list of verbs to use when creating LOs, based around Bloom’s Taxonomy. Learning outcomes help me really think through my goals and expectations for what I do.

  • Potentially assess the LOs you care most about. As my teacher Melissa Wong shared, this is not about assessing YOU, but about assessing what people learned. In instruction classes, I hold competitions (“first group to find a peer-reviewed article about Lady Gaga using a database wins a rubber ducky!”). The winners then have to come up to the front and show their process in order to obtain the priceless rubber ducky.

    With tours I might do a scavenger hunt which people really DO love especially if there is a prize at the end, even something simple like a pencil or bookmark. Sometimes assessment for me comes in touchy-feely ways such as when students come to me saying a friend recommended they see me for help. Or when I get asked a question on research in the weight room.

  • Start out group instruction or group tours with a think-pair-share.  Ask them to discuss a question with someone next to them and be prepared to share answers. Questions I like include: what’s the most intimidating thing about using the library/doing research? What kinds of resources and services do you want from the library? What’s your favorite thing about libraries?A think-pair-share establishes from the get-go that folks will be expected to participate. I call on them at random to share, which lets them know anyone can be called upon! Plus it helps loosen them up and establishes that this tour/instruction is for them. I can then tailor my outline to their needs.
  • More words of wisdom from Melissa Wong: if people leave with a sense of confidence, they will be satisfied. This could mean leaving confident in the fact that a friendly librarian will help them.When I give tours I always stop at the service desks and ask the students working there: “so, what do you help people with?” This gives the listeners a sense of not only what they can get help with, but hopefully a sense of confidence in the staff working there. They are no longer strangers behind a desk: they are people with help to offer…willingly! A personal connection makes people more confident and comfortable.When I use a culminating exercise to give students a chance to show off what they have learned, they hopefully take with them a sense of accomplishment and confidence in using the library. And yes, I know, sometimes it might be a false one.  Which is why I try to hit more the idea that we are here to help and point out self-help options, too.
  • When I give tours or instruction for classes, I ask the instructor if I can assign them some work. Most are willing to do this and add the points to their cumulative while some say no and others offer it as extra credit. I usually ask them to find something fun (an encyclopedia article on gnomes plus the call number for a book on gnomes in our collection) and email me by a certain time.
  • Make them teach. I’ve done this for both tours and instruction. I divide them into groups and give each group a series of tasks to figure out. Figure out how to find a peer-reviewed article on racism in high schools from Academic Search Premier. Figure out how to search our catalog for Magic School Bus books, find one on the shelf and bring it back. Figure out how to check out a DVD, renew it and return it.  Each group gets 20 minutes to complete their tasks and then they have to come back and show their classmates/fellow tourists how they did. I find this works especially well with Adult Education students who are more willing to explore and then share mistakes made in the process. The mistakes they make are often the most helpful for me and them: I can see common mistakes I might need to address and they get to see that everyone else is having trouble using the library!
  • A favorite instruction activity for classes: have them make lists on giant Post-Its of all of the reasons why they might have trouble finding research for an assignment. Then I show them all of the potential solutions. Sometimes the solution might be “change your topic.” But it gives them a chance to air excuses and me the chance to address them head-on.

A few resources I love for instruction:

  • Adventures in Library Instruction podcast: a monthly podcast about teaching info lit in library instruction.
  • Edutopia.org: funded by George Lucas, this org rewards and promotes best practices of innovative teaching with lots of focus on technology. I never fail to learn something new about teaching from this, even if I’m reading about a second grade class learning social studies in New Orleans. Covers many topics we care about such as the Digital Divide.

I believe all librarians teach. It’s one of our greatest legacies as service-providers.

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Posted in Activities and Programs, Outreach librarianship, Student-specific outreach

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Update your skills freely (or at least cheaply)

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 1 Comment

Time is of the essence, especially we are asked to do more with less. That includes more professional development in less time and with less money. What’s a librarian to do? Beware of Googling for library-related professional development. You’ll run into some outdated links and abandoned blogs. Check out some of these resources that cover a wide variety of topics:

  • YALSA Academy: newly launched short and sweet web videos including using Twitter and customer service basics for working with teens. It’s just getting started, but look for more videos to come and considering submitting your own. These could be great for library staff to watch, too. And check out YALSA’s Professional Development Center online, too.
  • ACRL’s Online Toolkit: helpful information on advocacy, communication, info lit and outreach.
  • Attend conferences virtually: more conferences are offering virtual components to their real-life conferences. At a fraction of the cost, you can garner the benefits of conferences without waiting in line at Starbucks for 45 minutes. Of course, you’ll miss the swag and tequila shots…
  • Webinars: take advantage of these! ALA does a great job of keeping members informed of regular webinars on a variety of topics. Those not sure the price of membership is worth it should understand that joining entitles you to such professional development tools. Many companies are also supporting/hosting webinars. You can find out upcoming ones at places like School Library Journal or American Libraries. But we aware that companies hosting webinars are oftentimes hoping to interest you in their product. Still, it’s a chance for free information.
  • Subscribe to a listserv, or two, or three: ok, so this seems like a no-brainer that they tell you in library school. But are you doing this? Are you active on at least one? I get tons of ideas by querying both YALSA and ACRL listserv folks. They will tell you when something’s a good idea, or not. Learn about products before they hit the market. Stay connected through listservs. Here’s a good list courtesy of the Library of Congress.
  • Twitter: librarians are voracious Tweeters, as are many authors and techies. Here’s a good list to get you started.
  • Favorite blogs, sites, & wikis: a few I love and always get something out of include Against the Grain, The Scholarly Kitchen, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, A Library Story, Librarians Matter (check ou the post on 100 Articles Every Librarian Should Read), and Educause.

Hopefully this should get you started. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some DOWNTON ABBEY to catch up on.

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Book club with a twist

Posted on January 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dear public, school, academic and special librarians: have I got an idea for (most of) you: professional book club. As in book clubs for professional settings. Let me explain.

My friend Sarah is at a school dealing with transition across the board. Morale is bumpy, state funding is being cut and many administrative positions are empty. She decided to deal with the change by establishing a book club open to all staff, faculty and administration. They would read books on change, motivation, conflict-resolution and other issues she and her colleagues were experiencing. She started out small and informal, but word spread and more folks wanted to join.

The book club became a safe, structured space in which to discuss these issues. The books provide a framework from which to discuss and potentially solve issues. Plus, Sarah chooses books that mix theory and practical application well (a good mix for academia in which we could get lost in the theory and never find an actual solution!). She has opened the book club to interested parties outside the school. It makes for a richer conversation and gives her colleagues valuable outside perspective.

We meet every two weeks in a conference room during lunch. It’s often enough to keep momentum going, but not so often that it feels like a burden. Currently, we are reading Carol Dweck’s Mindset, which explores the difference between fixed and growth-oriented mindsets. In reading the book, it’s given me insight not just into my professional and personal self, but into our profession. We are a growth-oriented profession; those with a similar mindset are the ones keeping up with and enjoying change. They are the librarians embracing e-books, Facebook and Pinterest. They are the ones no one thinks Google will replace.

Choosing your audience and purpose are key to starting this up. Do students need to prepare for grad school or the job market? Is morale low at work? Is your place of worship struggling with change? And it doesn’t have to be “in your face.” Sarah casually promotes the book club as one centered around professional issues in academia. But it’s become a safe place in which to approach the stresses she and her colleagues face.

The book club: it’s not just for talking about the Oscars anymore.

 

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Posted in Activities and Programs

Tagged

Getting student feedback

Posted on January 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

How students sometimes feel about giving feedback. (No librarians or students we harmed in the making of this photo. Thanks, Marta, Amy, and Maureen!)

Getting student feedback is a huge challenge. We compete with already full schedules, reaching those off-campus and convincing students their feedback will result in actual change. What we plan to do in 2012 is to gather student feedback more intentionally, to include them in the process and help shape that process. I feel these initial activities and partnerships can lead to finding better ways to assess our outreach activities, and many of our other programs and services.

Town hall meeting: each year our president does a state of the union with students only. It’s very well and broadly attended. Working with the dean of students office and student government, we will begin hosting town hall meetings for students each semester. Students can ask any question and we expect the first ten minutes to be fairly negative. I’m asking people who have good senses of humor and strong knowledge to serve on the panel. Student government is helping to promote and host it. Dean of students staff will be on hand to help should problems arise. These town hall meetings will also offer us the chance to promote changes long before they happen to start minimizing annoyances. And we plan to host them at night, after evening classes are held, when students are used to events being held for them as opposed to scheduling when convenient for us.

Student advisory board: this is already a well-established activity in many public libraries. Many colleges and universities are following suit: UNC’s SLAB, Lewis & Clark’s Student Advisory Committee, Cal Poly’s SLAC, and Temple’s SLAB are among schools with strong student advisory boards. I am coordinating with our Student Government and Residence Life Council to get ideas from them on how best to recruit students and run meetings. The biggest challenge will be to recruit and maintain a student from our adult education program. Being flexible on meeting times and providing food will be a must.

Giant Post Its around the library: I love giant Post-Its. I use them for a regular Question of the Week (which sends message we want this info and allows me to take the answers to meetings.) I make giant to-do lists on them. In the spring semester, students will find giant Post-Its and markers placed around rooms and zones. The Post-Its will feature questions such as, “what do you use this space for?” “what do you think this space is intended for?” “could we use this space better or differently?” and so forth. We will begin to redefine our space over the next few years and think this could be a productive way to gather feedback from students.

I hope to hear from you ways in which you have successfully gathered and used student feedback. Join the conversation!

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Posted in Student-specific outreach

End of year wrap-up: my favorites

Posted on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

2012 is peeking its brand spankin’-new head around the corner. Which means before we can look forward to all of the weight we are going to lose next year, we must look fondly back on the year 2011. Since librarianship is all about education, information and access, I’m not sticking to a Best Books List or Fave Apps rundown. Here are the best books, media, practices, etc. in librarianship for 2011, according to me. And sorry, calendars with nekkid librarian dudes is not on the list.

  • “Down the Mysterly River” by Bill Willingham (YA book, middle grades and above). I am disappointed to not see this book on more best of lists. The ending is a bit weak and slightly unsatisfying, but the meat of the book more than makes up for it. Max the Wolf, a Boy Scout, finds himself in a strange forest where he meets three talking animals. The four must figure out where they are, what are they doing there and how to stay alive as they are chased by the Blue Cutters, which are just what they sound like. Very satisfying tale for anyone who loves Story.
  • DIY librarianship, or service outside the box: we are not the sum of our books or the walls around us. This young couple in Mexico has created their own bookmobile with a suitcase  one afternoon a week. The Little Free Library offers any interested party with $350 the opportunity to share information freely. And of course, the Occupy Wall Street Library movement illustrates how freely accessible information is indeed the cornerstone of democracy.
  • “Video Game Collection Development and Management“  by JP Porcaro and Justin Hoenke. JP and Justin are an academic and public librarian, so they know how to talk both sides of the street. These two young movers and shakers offer a guide for anyone wanting to start a video game collection, but might have last played Frogger. Or might never have picked up a joystick in their lives. No longer do libraries need to have someone “in the know” in order to provide this resource to their patrons.
  • Database and catalog changes for the better! Databases and catalogs seem to have been changing A LOT this year with the actual searching preferences of users in mind. MP3 downloads of articles, experimentation with “find more like this” features, and more clearly defining types of sources discovered have all earned raves from our students. Plus I’m very excited for OCLC’s WorldShare to start popping up all over LibraryLand. General users want to find everything in one place, but most federated search functions are clunky at best and the physical results make my eyes bleed. I think those who start using WorldShare now will be glad they did when it becomes the norm in 10 years.
  • “It’s A Book” by Lane Smith. (Also “It’s a Little Book,” the board book version). A young monkey tries to figure out what the heck this thing is. Is it for eating? For emailing? My three-year-old nephew laughs every time I read it. And he’s three, so I read it a lot.
  • YALSA’s App of the Week blog posts. I don’t have an iDevice, so I depend on this blog to keep me abreast of what’s new and noteworthy in the app world. Since my ideal app would tell me whenever a rerun of 30 Rock was playing, these posts provide excellent information for keeping up on ALL of the media our patrons want to consume. And if you only know Angry Birds, you need to start reading this column.
  • Pinterest.com. (I have invitations, so hit me up if you want one! Lizz@carthage.edu). Finally, a way to organize visual information that is VISUAL! Pinterest is an online bulletin board that allows users to “pin” pics and videos to any number of boards they create. I love Pinterest so much I want to marry it. Most bookmark tools are so linear and text-based that the visual people out there get the shaft. Pinterest has become the YA librarians tool of choice (craft ideas!) and I am hooked myself. Pinterest has a sparse aesthetic to keep from competing with all of your pics. I’m working on getting our theatre department to use it. It’s the perfect tool for costume designers to collect ideas for characters and comment on the process without wasting tons of paper and color ink cartridges.
  • Under 20s getting on Twitter. They said it couldn’t be done. That under 20s would NEVER join Twitter because it was already out of date and unfashionable. They said teens would by-pass it and wait for the NEXT BIG THING. But they didn’t. Thanks to celebrities both witty and plain stupid, Drunk Hulk, and prolific authors, Twitter is enjoying a new, decidedly adolescent crowd of Followers. Libraries who gave up on their Twitter accounts last year can revive them in 2012 knowing it’s worth tweeting about. (Nathan Fillion, Neil Gaiman, Mindy Kaling, Feminist Hulk and numerous librarians are my favorites.)
  • The release of the second-to-last Twilight movie. Because then maybe it will go away, please.
  • YA and kidlit in general. I think the best, most innovative, interesting reading comes out of these genres. Love zombies? We’ve got hundreds of books for you way before the adultlit world or cable TV picks up on the trend. Looking for positive gay characters who worry more about a prom date than whether something’s wrong with them? Or perhaps you want a scathing, hilarious satire on society. YA and kidlit have it all. And because these books must appeal to kids in varying stages of emotional and intellectual development, they must be better-written to catch fans. Look beyond the Hunger Games series (which is wonderful) and see all that YA and kidlit have to offer. Plus it’s fun to finish a book in three hours.
  • The Zombie Guide to the Library. Yeah, this thing just rocked our worlds this year.

Thanks for reading. As always, I welcome your comments and offers to guest post!

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One more adventure in reference…take that, Google!

Posted on December 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

Thanks to all who contributed and passed around the post on reference adventures. To celebrate the end of our semester (and maybe yours), I offer a GEM of a story.

Sarah Howison, Youth Services Specialist at the Bethel, OH Branch Library emailed me such an amazing story on December 4, that I had to copy, cut and paste it rather than risk spoiling the story by paraphrasing: “Today I tagged a deer for a patron, online. I have never been hunting in my life, but this guy seemed to think I was some kind of deerstalking ninja, just because I found all of the information he needed and helped him type it up. Then he asked me if I wanted to see the deer, because “it was right outside” in the back of his truck. I declined, but I checked the security camera footage later and…yep, buck in a truck.”

I think we can all agree that Sarah wins the prize.

Please keep me posted on your library adventure. What are your goals for 2012 in terms of outreach? Mine includes developing tools (both qualitative and quantitative) to assess my outreach activities. I’ve got a few tried and true tricks in my bag, but it’s time to see how effective they are. Additionally, many of you have stated the need to produce quantitative results to your supervisors showing the value of outreach work.

Happy holidays!

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