ALA Midwinter 2015 - Sunday Notes

My morning began with breakfast with a state librarian from another state (whom I consider a friend as well as colleague) and a vendor which let us talk about our vision of the future for delivering e-books to state populations.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity, at two different times, to visit the exhibits. It is always interesting and a way to find out about new technology and trends. E-book platforms (delivering materials from various vendors/sources) seems to be a growing field. Maybe this falls under the topic of “user experience.”

My lunch was at the OCLC Update which is always a well-attended event. I had the opportunity to spend a little bit of social time with someone with whom I had spent some time in service on ALA Council.

The Washington Office program “Tell the IRS” was disappointing and encouraging at the same time. The IRS representative did not make it to the conference due to the weather. However, it was Emily Sheketoff, Director of ALA’s Washington Office who ran the program and committed to getting libraries/librarians at the table in discussions with the IRS.

2015 Chicago Blizzard from the
Conrad Hilton Suite

I was pleased to see the attendance at the BARC/Division Leadership Meeting. There were many more people who attending this year that I remember from when I was on the Planning and Budget Assembly or on the ALA EB Finance and Audit Committee.

The PLDS Statistical Report Advisory Committee Meeting was very focused on that particular survey.

My official day ended with a gathering to remember Don Sager. Don was long active in ALA and was someone who had quietly helped me in my days on Council. Don also was the husband of former ALA President Sarah Ann Long.

I watched the Super Bowl with mostly Seahawks fans in the Conrad Hilton Suite. The suite sits very high, at the top of the Hilton on Michigan Ave. The snow was swirling and I could hear the wind constantly whistling (in the fireplace of the suite).

ALA Midwinter 2015 - Saturday Notes

First thing on Saturday, I attended the ASCLA Board Meeting. Since I am standing for election as President, I figured that it would be good to show up, and see who is currently on the Board, and meet those whom I do not already know. As a bonus, I got to hear two of the ALA Presidential candidates. After the business part of the meeting, the Board began a discussion related to the developing new ALA Strategic Plan. I had to leave to go to other events.

I briefly attended the beginning of the Digital Inclusion Survey: Update. Since I serve on the Advisory Committee, I did not stay because I

• Had heard some of the info before and
• Knew I would hear more at the committee meeting.

I briefly attended the discussion which was preparation for the RUSA President’s program at Annual. That will be a presentation by dana boyd and discussion of her new book It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens (available for free download at http://www.danah.org/itscomplicated). I have now downloaded it to my phone (my first iBook), and have started reading it.

Lunch turned out to be an interesting vendor presentation. It was billed as “The Big ‘B’ - What branding can do for your library” presented by Springer. There was some “content” followed by presentations on how they are working with libraries in trying to apply some of the concepts. Their campaign is called “Where do you library?”

The Digital Inclusion Survey Committee Meeting may have been the last, and certainly was one of the last. We reviewed a number of issues about the data collection and about the reports.

The ALA Presidential Candidates Forum was an opportunity to hear all four of the candidates. I even had the opportunity to ask a question!

Various receptions offered an opportunity to meet with friends and make new ones. My evening ended at ALA-APA Networking Reception. The Library Support Staff Certification Program is near and dear to my heart. This was a chance to chat with some others who share this passion and the staff who are the ones who actually make it all work.

ALA - Midwinter 2015 - Friday Notes

I attended the meeting of Managing With Data: PLAmetrics. That meeting focused more on the practical issues of running the survey.

Later I was at the beginning of the RMG Annual Presidents’ Seminar. This program has been going on for 25 years, and traditionally occurs on the Friday afternoon of Midwinter. This year, I was only able to stay for the beginning of the introductions (in part because the Scheduler listed it as starting at 1:30, and RMG listing it as starting at 2 pm). I left to go to the informal (i.e., not in the ALA Scheduler) ASCLA E-Books Interest Group which was held in the Executive Director’s Suite. There is a separate blog post about that.)

The evening ended with the Retired Members Round Table Dinner which was a wonderful event where I was able to meet up with a number of colleagues, some of them recently retired. This one was organized by Michael Gorman (former ALA President).

ALA Midwinter Schedule - 2015

This is tentative, and, as always subject to change. Unlike my friend Aaron Dobbs, I did not break the scheduler this year.

Teaching is hard - more reflections

I recently posted on Facebook. Here is what I said:

Teaching is hard. I always knew that, I just did not quite appreciate how hard until (a couple of years ago) I started teaching some classes in our courses for the Library Support Staff Certification Program (LSSC). It requires not just knowledge of the subject, but also creating a way of presenting the information which will make sense to someone else. [Creating well designed "learning objectives" is one key.]

I wish that those who are trying to regulate the education process would teach some courses to begin to understand just how much work it really is.

I guess this is a little bit of "now I get it" for my friends and family members who are teachers and have been doing it for a while.

That post received 60+ likes, 1 share, and 9 significant comments. 


I keep thinking about this. First some background: As a librarian, I am always teaching. Sometimes it is small, short teachable moments (as a parent, also). Other times it is more formal and structured. I have taught as part of Boy Scout adult leader training (Wood Badge, Powder Horn, various other leader training). I have taught one-time presentations. In my current position, the last category has been the most common. A fair amount of the former has been material which was developed by others, and all I had to do was make the presentation, and answer the (inevitable) questions.

Back in 2009, the State Library of Louisiana became one of the pilot agencies for the Library Support Staff Certification Program. (The certification is offered through the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association.) The first course we offered was Supervision and Management.

This is the fourth time we have created a course. Why does it seem so much harder this time? Perhaps because the other courses were specifically skill oriented, and this one is much more philosophical in nature. I guess that is reflected in why my friend Gina said:

The learning objective is the foundation for any learning event (any stage of learning) in my opinion. It becomes a constant beacon by which you determine what content to share. I'm a fan of the "performance objective" personally. Not so much answering what the learner will learn, but what the learner will be able to DO or achieve as a result of the learning.

This course, unlike Reference Services, or even Supervision and Management, does not really have a "DO" aspect to it. It feels mostly like a KNOW class. And that may be why I have been struggling.

Tom (W.), who recently retired noted: 

I feel your pain (and sometimes joy!). I'm happy to be no longer involved in teaching, but I miss the joy of having someone "get it" all of a sudden, especially when it's someone you thought would never get it! Trying to segment learning experiences meaningfully, especially online, so that all the dots are connected by the end of the semester is a challenge, but as a practitioner, you get to weave together the theoretical stuff with the practical stuff, and that is what most students see as the most valuable learning they get.

There is both the joy of seeing someone "get it" as well as the pleasure of building a relationship. Unlike the students Tom was teaching, these courses are specifically aimed at people who are working in libraries, and (for the most part) are not going to go and get the Masters. These are the folks who really make a library run.

One last comment shared (from a Canadian colleague, and I did not change her spelling): 

I taught in both the technicians programme and the masters programme. Students are demanding, prep is critical. I adored teaching -- HATED marking . I send props out to anyone who teaches full time.

That is the part that I dislike the most, the grading, the marking, the judging. I know I am told it is assessing and a way to judge how well I/we communicated the content. That does not mean that I have to enjoy it.

I wrote all of that before starting. It was still a bit of a struggle, but I have now made it through the first two classes, and passed the baton (for a bit, and please pardon the pun) to the other instructor for a couple weeks. However, that does mean that the part I like the least - grading - is up for the one set of homework completed, and the next about to flood me.

I am grateful for the positive feedback from those taking the course, many of whom have taken other courses I have taught. It has been an enlightening growth experience.