IST 611 Blog Discussion

Now that I have backed up and listened to the learning module podcast and read the resources, I know that I'm supposed to respond to the discussion questions HERE ... not on the facilitator's blog. (Sorry Julie!)

What's that about a cart before a horse?

Syracuse University

The week done

The group assignment for IST 511 was presented this afternoon as a poster session. My group's poster was discussing the arguments for policies in public libraries that either restrict the use of their public meeting space or do not have any restrictions. The topics needed to be those in which there is not a consensus among librarians, and judging by the wide-ranging policies we found in public libraries across the nation, there is no one standard in use. Although libraries may want to provide equal access to space, there are practical considerations that often result in policies that place restrictions on who or how or why. Our poster explored these issues.

It's been a long week. I'm glad to have been able to devote my whole week, morning, noon and night, to this endeavor. There are several classmates who went home at night to be mommy or daddy or dish-washer or dog-walker, and I can't imagine trying to integrate the week into my home life. However, I *AM* glad that I didn't stay on campus. Driving Rte. 20 each day through the beautiful apple orchards and up and down the rolling hills was a good way to prepare for the day and then unwind again. I miss living in Central NY, and it was a soul-restorative to drive in from Skaneateles to S.U.

The downward slope

One more day left of Library School Bootcamp, and although tired, I have held up pretty well. (Which is more than I can say for my car, which died in Skaneateles this morning, but is hale and hearty again... $229 later.)

I am getting a much better grasp of the multifaceted world of Librarianship, and don't feel nearly as overwhelmed at the prospect of changing careers as I did a week ago at this time. I don't know that a residency is necessary to achieve this introduction to LibraryWorld, but I suppose there has to be some way to verify that we distance students actually exist.

We talked about unrestricted access a lot this week, and especially today. I have trouble accepting the professional ethics that place access above parental authority and common sense (which I have blogged about previously, I believe). Maybe 99% of the time, librarians should provide unfettered, unmediated access to information resources. But to push that "ideal" too far is no service to our patrons.

Wiki as life ring

I am new to Librarianship. I love finding out all about this new professional cuture with its ways and means. I love the patron-centered organization of information. I am enjoying hearing from librarians of different stripes about their career paths and job responsibilities and joys. It is, however, a bit disconcerting to have to guess at the meanings of library terms and acronyms and references to professional software systems while digesting the actual point of a lecture as well. In an effort to be a part of adjusting the learning curve, I posted the following in a class discussion board. I am hoping to start a public discussion that encourages and promotes all of our class experiences.

In speaking with some other classmates who don't already have library experience, I've been thinking of ways to ease the transition for newbies into the world of Library acronyms and library-speak. Perhaps a solution for this is a remedial session on iLMS or a wiki with a glossary of sorts. It would be useful to include the names of all these library systems as well (Polaris, etc). The more basic, the better. This way, those with library experience don't wade through an explanation of every term in class, but those of us new to LibraryWorld aren't at sea and struggling to just figure out the terms.

Anyone else have input on this idea?

Day Two

Day two of IST 511

I love the federated searching of the new SU library site. I'm glad to know that searching technology is headed in this direction. I also learned a term called "pearl-growing" for cultivating the citations in a resource to find further resources. I've been doing that for years, and am glad to know it's an actual research technique!

Two representatives from Razorfish spoke to the class after the regular session was over. I was curious about the concept of librarians helping guide user-centered web development, but discovered that the culture and goals of this and similar companies don't really appeal to me.

IST 511

Today was the first day of IST 511, the week-long introduction to LibraryWorld. The guest speakers today were really good. I am considering Public Librarianship and so the overview of contemporary issues and insights into that world were very helpful to me as I consider my own future in libraries. I was especially struck by Kate McCaffrey's advice to get outside the library building and into your community to keep a finger on the pulse of the community. I also noted Bev Cholcto-Devlin's statement that the "roots of the public library should not be left behind" in our quest to evelope technology in our services to patrons.

I also had not considered prison librarianship, but McCaffrey worked in a minimum security prison and spoke highly of her experiences there. Considering the concentration of corrections facilities in my home area, it's a distinct possibility as a short-term career choice for me.

Our group is meeting up online tonight to choose our poster topic.