Library Day in the Life: Reflection and Immersion

Last Friday, I mentioned that I would be participating in the Library Day in the Life Project once again.  What I didn't mention was that the "Library Day in the Life" week overlapped with the week that I would be spending in Seattle at Seattle University for the ACRL Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program.  I had anticipated blogging from the program, but ended up being so busy during the week that I didn't get the chance to sit down and talk about it until, well, this morning!  More on this in a bit...but first, a very, very quick recap of my week:

I arrived in Seattle last Sunday evening, not entirely sure what to expect.  I was attending the Immersion program for the Teacher Track, a week-long series of workshops designed to help librarians become better and more effective teachers.  I won't go into great detail about the specific activities, but I will say that we spent a lot of time going over learning theories, learning styles, assessment ideas, leadership concepts, and practicing effective presentation techniques.  We had fun, too, spending one evening at an improv theater, and several evenings exploring Seattle with the new friends we were making.

On Friday, when we wrapped up the week with assessments, evaluations, and skits.  We all "graduated" from the program, and then went our separate ways.  As I sat in the airport shuttle, then the airport, and then the plane, I started thinking about what a unique experience the week had been.  Although I appreciated the new ideas and friends that I had connected with, I think that one of the major benefits of the week was that it allowed me time to consciously reflect on my practice as a librarian.  During the school year, and even the summer, the pace of the work week (and the weekends) is so intense and crazy that the element of reflection often gets lost in the insanity.  Writing posts for this blog does allow me the opportunity to reflect, sort of in bits and pieces, on what I do on a daily basis, but being able to focus, for an entire week, on improving my practice as a teacher and a librarian was truly a special experience.  I am inspired by all the librarians that I met, and enthused to come back to work tomorrow and start enacting the new ideas that I gained last week.

Today, I've been thinking about how I can continue to hang onto this attitude of reflection.  Obviously, I can't just take a week off once a month, or even once a semester, to think about my job.  But I can incorporate this into a smaller, daily practice.  Can I take a few moments after a reference interaction or class to really think about the exchange?  Or maybe just one morning a week to set goals and think about what I can work on.  I'm sure there are ways, and I really hope to work this practice of conscious reflection into my work at Virginia Tech.

So, I leave you with two images.  The first one is fairly self-explanatory; the second is a photo of a skit we performed the last day at Immersion.  I'm the one in the pink tutu ;)  Enjoy!

Performance piece:  "A good teacher"

On Librarians...

Last winter, I wrote a series of posts that were part of a national project--the Library Day in the Life Project.  This national project occurs twice a year, and I will be participating in it again next week!  Watch the tag librarydayinthelife for those posts.  The point of the project is to make the roles and work of librarians more transparent to those that we work with.  I just came across a fantastic set of images from the site MastersinEducation.org that takes stab at visually describing the international significance of librarians.  While their sources are cited in a rather haphazard way at the bottom of the image, they are indeed authoritative sources.  So take a look and ponder a librarian's worth on this Friday!

++ Click to Enlarge Image ++

ImageSource: MastersinEducation.org

Around the Web: On Science Blogs (Part I)

Happy Blogaversary to us!  One year ago today, this blog was born.  During the past year, I have really come to appreciate the way that writing a regular blog makes me think about my work in an entirely new way.  Of course, I also love to be able to communicate important and timely information to you.

I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate today with a few links on the phenomenon of science blogging.  Take a look, and see what other people are doing and saying about science blogs:

• The Changing Role of Blogs in Science Information Dissemination
• Why Science Blogs are Worth Your Time
• Using Blogs in Science Education
• The Hottest Thing in Science Blogging

There's actually a lot more where this came from, so stay tuned for Part II of this post.  I'll also editorialize a bit on the other positive elements of science blogging, especially in this age of digital scholarship and communication.  Until then...Happy Blogaversary to us!

Tutorial: Creating a Basic Bibliography in EndNote (X4 or X5!)

Have you ever wanted to create a simple bibliography from an EndNote library?  I mean, creating bibliographies with EndNote is easy enough when you're using the Cite While You Write feature...but what if you're not writing a paper?  What if you just want to create a list of (properly formatted) references with the items in your EndNote library?

It's really as easy as 1-2-3:
(Click on the little square in the lower right hand corner to enlarge the tutorial)



Specifically, the steps are:

(1) Open your EndNote library and highlight all of your references (click on one, then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A)

(2) Go to the Edit menu (top left of the EndNote program) and select "Copy formatted" from the list

(3) Open a word document, then right click and select "paste" or use the keyboard shortcut for pasting (Ctrl + V)

You've just created a simple bibliography with EndNote!

iPad Ideas: iMedicalApps

According to my Google Analytics numbers, the three posts that I recently wrote about my iPad and an app for searching PubMed were the most popular that I've written in months!  It seems that there's a lot of interest in iPads and various research-related apps.

So, today I'm reviewing a website completely devoted to medical apps:  iMedicalApps.  I'll continue reviewing individual apps in my next iPad post, but today it seems appropriate to focus on a website whose entire purpose revolves around locating and reviewing apps for medical professionals.  The site, which includes reviews for Android, Blackberry, iPad, iPhone, and Windows apps, is run by medical professionals and medical students who control the content of the page.  The "About Us" section indicates that the site receives over 400,000 reviews a month, and only posts the most relevant.  The site does include third-party advertisements, but other than that, the site is laid out well, with easy access to the most popular reviews.

The reviews all seem to include a good bit of contextual information (i.e., describes situations in which the apps have been/might be appropriate) and are well-written, in general.  The only slightly frustrating part of the site is that most of the apps reviewed are not free.  While most mobile apps are not expensive (usually in the $1.99-$19.99 range), I still appreciate the free ones!  Overall, I definitely recommend checking out this website just to get a good idea of the types of apps available for all healthcare professionals.  Take a look when you get a chance!

New Books: June 2011

Yes, even though it's summer, we're still getting new books in the library!  As always, here are a few that you may be interested in.  You can view the entire June 2011 new books list here, or just click on the titles below that look interesting to you.  You can check out all the books (provided that they aren't already checked out), and even request that I purchase something for you!

Beaten, seared, and sauced:  On becoming a chef at the Culinary Institute of America

Read a few reviews!

Kitchen confidential:  Adventures in the culinary underbelly

Read a few reviews!

Turning the tables:  Restaurants and the rise of the American middle class, 1880-1920

Read a brief summary

Health at every size:  The surprising truth about your weight

Read a brief summary

The Oxford handbook of health economics

Read a brief summary

Culinary History Highlight: Cookery for Patriots

Although I'm a bit late in posting an Independence Day-related item, I felt that it had to be done, especially when I came across Practical American Cookery and Household Management.  One of the digitized items in our Culinary History Collection, this 1885 publication was written by Miss Juliet Corson, a cooking school leader in the late 1800s.  According to the book's preface, Miss Corson carries out a "long-cherished purpose" in publishing this book devoted to American cookery; apparently, her teaching often focused on the cuisine of Europe (particularly France), and the then-United States Commissioner of Education (Hon. John Eaton) suggested that she write a book proving "her assertion that genuine American cookery is both wholesome and palatable, and has lost none of the traditional excellence which characterized it in our grandmothers' days."

If that's not patriotic cookery, then I don't know what is!  The book includes tips and information about American household management, American etiquette, American ways of preparing nearly every type of food, and even suggestions for the "diets of invalids and children."

You can view the physical copy of this book in University Libraries Special Collections, but you can also read the entire book through our digital library:  http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/digital_books/pdf/TX715.C843_1885.pdf.

Enjoy, and Happy (late!) 4th of July!