Librarians who teach are always looking for ways to get patrons more actively engaged in instruction sessions. Research has shown that active learning can have positive effects on student learning and certainly helps to get students to reflect on the application of what they’re learning. In large lecture classes, most active learning exercises simply aren’t … Continue reading Click Here to Engage
When I think of history, two quotations come to mind. One, by Marcus Cicero, says history illuminates the present; the other, by Henry Ford, says we must live in the present: “History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us … Continue reading The Librarian’s History of the Library
At the recent Public Library Association conference in Philadelphia, my friend and Booklist columnist David Wright, who was giving a presentation on literary fiction, used a term I had never heard, translit, to describe that boundary-breaking kind of novel that shatters all the too-often pigeonholing categories we use to compartmentalize modern fiction. The term, David … Continue reading Translit: New Genre Collapses Time and Space
Chances are, your library is chock-full of people. Some are staff and there may be the occasional vendor. But the vast majority—those who visit libraries—are part of a group that library workers have had significant trouble defining. How library workers view library patrons reflects our philosophical worldview. Much has been written on how patrons perceive … Continue reading Just Whom Do We Serve?
What is your favorite library space? Perhaps a school library reading nook, or the august reading room from your university days, or maybe the balcony stacks in your hometown? The architectural design—and of course, a facility’s resources—draws you to these places and encourages you to stay awhile. That’s why American Libraries features new and now library … Continue reading Of Design, Danes, and Daffodils
Many librarians are already exploring new ways to engage, embed, and integrate libraries into the life of their communities. Academic librarians are eager to deepen their engagement on campus—embedding services in the teaching, learning, and research processes. School librarians strive to collaborate more closely with teachers and integrate their programs directly into the curriculum. Public … Continue reading The Conversation Continues @ your library
ALA’s Executive Board discussions during the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Dallas focused on some key Association initiatives. The ALA Strategic Plan (PDF file) outlines Association goals and objectives and provides a framework for plans, strategies, and initiatives on a day-to-day and year-by-year basis. This past fall, the board met with the leadership of ALA’s 11 … Continue reading Key Strategies Discussed
Have you heard of Khan Academy? Sal Khan started the organization in the belief that people could learn by watching short, targeted videos online. Subjects run the gamut: from algebra to art history to the principles of banking to taking the SAT. He began by remotely tutoring his cousin in 2004 and created videos to … Continue reading It’s Always Time for CE-TV
You know that feeling you get when you come home from a conference, and it’s all kind of a blur? That’s been my post-Midwinter experience. Of course, it came right after being housebound for several days during a rare Seattle snowstorm, so I was happy just to be somewhere sunny and warm, no matter how … Continue reading A Hazy Shade of (Mid)winter
Age among librarians used to be fairly easy to determine, but no longer in our era of nips, tucks, Botox, and hair coloring. You can’t just come out and ask someone his or her age. We all know that in today’s world such a question is not only impolite but possibly even discriminatory. My suggestion … Continue reading The Coolness Factor
I was never any good at science, whether it was dissecting a frog or—God help me—completing a science-fair project. My personal nadir came on a chemistry exam in high school. I like to think my score of eight points out of a possible 100 remains, these many decades later, the worst officially posted number in … Continue reading Science for the Nonscientist
We librarians are experts at collecting. Our jobs, our departments, our very buildings have been designed to acquire content. There is, however, another side to content that many libraries haven’t yet fully explored, and that is content creation. Yes, we have books about how to create a graphic novel, how to learn a musical instrument, … Continue reading Create a Library “Tech Shop”
