There’s a lot to right about. This weekend, food, and a webinar I attended are only some of the topics I wish to cover today. So to accommodate all the information, I will be posting a few times today. Here is the first.
The webinar that I attended was one for librarians regarding serving a physical and digital population of patrons. In this day and age when so many services are being offered both in-person and online, I think it's important to see what libraries (in the case of this webinar, academic libraries) are providing to their local and distant patrons, and how equivalent services are being offered and conducted for both groups. For schools that offer distance education, I can see how valuable equivalent services become for DE students. From the standpoint of a librarian, I would want to ensure that students are getting the best and most helpful and relevant services available. From the standpoint of a student (and being a DE student myself), I want to know that I can get the resources and services that I need to successfully complete my program. DE students should never feel short-changed because they are not located on or near their school’s campus.
One of the panelists who presented at the webinar offered a lot of suggestions that I really liked and would like to implement at the school I currently work at. Things like online tutorials for database searching, using the school library’s OPAC (in layman’s terms: online catalog), even things like working out math problems or a specific objective from one of our programs—done by an instructor of course—would be very helpful both for our on-campus students and our students currently taking online classes. I could get really creative and even do virtual tours of the library, showing where everything is located and how to find physical materials. One thing about our library’s website is that it has a lot of text—not overwhelmingly so, but enough that upon reflection I realize many of our students would not find it attractive. So in order to make it attractive to our students, I’ll need to add more in the way of other mediums to get our information to them.
Another panelist talked about a number of “untraditional” projects that the library on his campus sponsored. This did two thing: effectively got the name and presence of the library out to the students on campus, and created things that student want and continuously use. A few examples: a piranha tank with a live piranha donated by a student, a Frisbee golf course, a skateboard half-pipe, and a music recording studio. These were all projects that fit that population of students well, they add a new dimension to the campus’s student life, and they really made the library known around campus. While these projects would not be possible at my school, they do open the door to more creativity that what is “normally” found in a library. Plus, it gives me inspiration for projects that the student leadership team could develop and initiate, with the help of the campus library of course.
There were a lot of helpful ideas and advice given by the panelists of this webinar. One goal I’m setting for myself is to come up with my own creative contribution to the school that can inspire students and possibly help spread the name of the library. This summer would be the perfect time to get started.
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