Group activities can be really enjoyable if teacher librarians are aware of the best management strategies to use. Chaos and high decibel noise can take over in a hurry if proactive steps aren’t taken in getting the groups started. For example, instructions to simply discuss without producing a tangible product can prove to be a disaster. Our friends at Edutopia, offer strategies, tips and tools that enhance group engagement while curbing the chaos. Hmmmm….some of these strategies could work in librarian working groups too!
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Kristina Litvjak), licensed under CC0 1.0
If you missed our November 18, 2014 copyright event with Nancy Sims, we are truly sorry for your loss. Nancy referred to a number of resources during her presentation, which we promised to share broadly with everyone. She did a great job of explaining fair use and shared relevant examples to allow us all a bit of time to wrestle through the fair use process too. Much to the consternation and sometimes delight of participants, copyright is not black and white, and often, we have more ability to make a case for fair use than we may have thought! Today we share a treasure trove of Best Practices to help guide your fair use decisions in specific areas!
Visit Best Practices in Fair Use to receive additional guidance on specific areas of fair use as listed below. Tip: zero in on a relevant area and consider downloading or bookmarking the PDF to keep handy for all of your staff members to use as a reference tool when making internal decisions about fair use. The list of best practices includes…..
Image by bibigeek. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
In an earlier post, I mentioned a thread of programming at the fall MLA Conference about mindfulness and reflective thinking, as it relates to librarians. This idea keeps coming back to me. From a review of the literature, and from conversations with librarians embracing mindfulness, I believe it has value to our practice. Professional and personal growth can increase if we slow down and take the time to understand mindfulness. A few key things to consider about this concept include:
If we embrace a state of being aware, focused and present in the moment, we can reduce job-related stress and improve the quality of library services.
Multitasking is finally being questioned, and not necessarily valued as it was in the past.
“Monkey-mind syndrome” describes a state of being where thoughts continually flit in and out of our minds. This is often caused by too much multitasking or by continually shifting gears or changing priorities without tools to manage it.
In MLA president Kristen Mastel’s article about mindful librarianship (see end of post), she talks about “beginner’s mind” and the challenges of achieving beginners mind. As you may guess, it is harder to achieve this state when you have been in positions for long periods of time.
Mindfulness can be used anywhere or anytime, making it the ultimate mobile device!
As we embark on the 23 Mobile Things program in mid-January, CMLE staff will inject a mindfulness thread in the program, to help participants manage their focus and enhance their learning outcomes.
Mastel ends her article by saying, “Mindful librarianship—practiced with awareness, intention, and open mind, and a spirit of compassion—could make the difference in the success of our students, our profession, and ourselves. Read the full article: Insights and Practical Tips on Practicing Mindful Librarianship to Manage Stress
Is your school talking about or moving into a one-to-one computing (1:1) movement in your school? Or, are you still trying to figure out how to best grab hold of or understand this shift in education? CMLE staff are compiling a list of best practice sites, articles, and other key resources (some of you are in the current list), and we value your opinions on this subject! We invite you to take a moment to nominate your favorite 1:1 resources (could be yours) in the comments area following this blog post. Too many to share in the comments area? Send an email containing your favorites to cmle@stcloudstate.edu with a subject line of “1:1”. Our staff will compile the list and produce a subject guide for our 319 libraries in our twelve county region. Thanks in advance for working with us and sharing with your colleagues in Central Minnesota. We are stronger by working together!
The ACRL publication Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report is a review of the quantitative and qualitative literature, methodologies and best practices currently in place for demonstrating the value of academic libraries, developed for ACRL by Megan Oakleaf of the iSchool at Syracuse University. The primary objective of this comprehensive review is to provide academic librarians with a clearer understanding of what research about the performance of academic libraries already exists, where gaps in this research occur, and to identify the most promising best practices and measures correlated to performance. Find the following items at http://www.acrl.ala.org/value/
Full report (PDF)
Executive summary (PDF)
Bibliography (PDF)
Report author Megan Oakleaf and ACRL President Lisa Hinchliffe discuss the report in this ACRL Podcast
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
Group activities can be really enjoyable if teacher librarians are aware of the best management strategies to use. Chaos and high decibel noise can take over in a hurry if proactive steps aren’t taken in getting the groups started. For example, instructions to simply discuss without producing a tangible product can prove to be a disaster. Our friends at Edutopia, offer strategies, tips and tools that enhance group engagement while curbing the chaos. Hmmmm….some of these strategies could work in librarian working groups too!
